Teachings Of Queen Kunti
A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami
Introduction
The tragic and
heroic figure of Queen Kunti emerges from an explosive era in the history of
ancient India. As related in the Mahabharata, India's grand epic poem of
110,000 couplets, Kunti was the wife of King Pandu and the mother of five
illustrious sons known as the Pandavas. As such, she was one of the central
figures in a complex political drama that culminated fifty centuries ago in the
Kuruksetra War, a devastating war of ascendancy that changed the course of
world events. The Mahabharata describes the prelude to the holocaust as
follows:
Pandu became
king because his elder brother Dhrtarastra had been born blind, a condition
that excluded him from direct succession. Some time after Pandu ascended to the
throne, Dhrtarastra married Gandhari and fathered one hundred sons. This was
the ruling family of the Kaurava dynasty, of whom the eldest was the ambitious
and cruel Duryodhana.
Meanwhile, Pandu
had taken two wives, Madri and Kunti. Originally named Prtha, Kunti was the
daughter of Surasena, the chief of the glorious Yadu dynasty. The Mahabharata
relates that Kunti "was gifted with beauty and character; she rejoiced in
the law [dharma] and was great in her vows." She also possessed an unusual
benediction. When she was a child, her father Surasena had given her in
adoption to his childless cousin and close friend Kuntibhoja (hence the name "Kunti").
In her stepfather's house, Kunti's duty was to look after the welfare of
guests. One day the powerful sage and mystic Durvasa came there and was pleased
by Kunti's selfless service. Foreseeing that she would have difficulty
conceiving sons, Durvasa gave her the benediction that she could invoke any
demigod and by him obtain progeny.
After Kunti
married Pandu, he was placed under a curse that prevented him from begetting
children. So he renounced the throne and retired with his wives to the forest.
There Kunti's special benediction enabled her to conceive (at her husband's
request) three glorious sons. First she invoked Dharma, the demigod of
religion. After worshiping him and repeating an invocation Durvasa had taught
her, she united with Dharma and, in time, gave birth to a boy. As soon as the
child was born, a voice with no visible source said, "This child will be
called Yudhisthira, and he will be very virtuous. He will be splendid,
determined, renounced, and famous throughout the three worlds."
Having been
blessed with this virtuous son, Pandu then asked Kunti for a son of great
physical strength. Thus Kunti invoked Vayu, the demigod of the wind, who begot
the mighty Bhima. Upon Bhima's birth the supernatural voice said, "This
child will be the foremost of all strong men."
Thereafter Pandu
consulted with great sages in the forest and then asked Kunti to observe vows
of austerity for one full year. At the end of this period Pandu said to Kunti,
"O beautiful one, Indra, the King of heaven, is pleased with you, so
invoke him and conceive a son." Kunti then invoked Indra, who came to her
and begot Arjuna. As soon as the prince was born, the same celestial voice
boomed through the sky: "O Kunti, this child will be as strong as
Kartavirya and Sibi [two powerful kings of Vedic times] and as invincible in
battle as Indra himself. He will spread your fame everywhere and acquire many
divine weapons." Subsequently, Pandu's junior wife Madri bore two sons
named Nakula and Sahadeva. These five sons of Pandu (Yudhisthira, Bhima,
Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva) then came to be known as the Pandavas.
Now, since Pandu
had retired from the throne and gone to the forest, Dhrtarastra had temporarily
assumed the throne until Pandu's eldest son Yudhisthira came of age. However,
long before that time Pandu died as a result of the curse, and Madri gave up
her life as well by ascending his funeral pyre. That left the five Pandavas in
the care of Queen Kunti.
After Pandu's
death, the sages living in the forest brought the five young princes and Kunti
to the Kaurava court at Hastinapura (near present-day Delhi). In Hastinapura,
the capital city of the kingdom, the five boys were raised in royal style under
the guidance of Dhrtarastra and the noble Vidura, Pandu's half brother.
But a smooth
transfer of power was not to be. Although Dhrtarastra had at first recognized
the primogeniture of Yudhisthira, he later allowed himself to be used by his
eldest son, the power-hungry Duryodhana, who wished to ascend the throne in
place of Yudhisthira. Driven by uncontrollable jealousy, Duryodhana plotted
against the Pandavas, and with the hesitant approval of the weak Dhrtarastra,
he inflicted many sufferings upon them. He made several attempts on their lives
in Hastinapura, and then he brought them to a provincial palace and tried to
assassinate them by having it set on fire. All the while, the five youthful
Pandavas were accompanied by their courageous mother Kunti, who suffered
Duryodhana's atrocities in the company of her beloved sons.
Miraculously,
however, Kunti and the Pandavas repeatedly escaped death, for they were under
the loving protection of Lord Krsna, who had incarnated to perform His earthly
pastimes. Ultimately Duryodhana, a clever politician, cheated the Pandavas out
of their kingdom (and their freedom) in a gambling match. As a result of the
match, the Pandavas, wife Draupadi was abused by the Kauravas, and the Pandavas
themselves were forced to spend thirteen years in exile in the forest--to the
great sorrow of Kunti.
When the
thirteen-year exile had ended, the Pandavas returned to Hastinapura to reclaim
their kingdom. But Duryodhana bluntly refused to relinquish it. Then, after
some unsuccessful attempts to quell the hostilities, Yudhisthira sent Krsna
Himself to secure the return of the Pandava kingdom by peaceful means. But even
this effort failed--because of Duryodhana's obstinacy--and both sides prepared
for battle. To place Yudhisthira on the throne--or to oppose him--great
warriors from all corners of the earth assembled, setting the scene for what
would prove to be a devastating world war.
Fierce fighting
raged for eighteen days on the historic plain of Kuruksetra (near Hastinapura),
and in the end all but a handful of the many millions of warriors were dead.
Only Lord Krsna, the Pandavas, and a few others survived the massacre. The
Kauravas (Duryodhana and his brothers) were devastated. In a desperate gesture
of revenge, Asvatthama, one of the surviving Kauravas, mercilessly murdered the
five sons of Draupadi while they were sleeping. Queen Kunti thus suffered a
final blow--the loss of her grandchildren.
Arrested and
dragged to the Pandavas' camp like a bound animal, Asvatthama was let free only
by the astounding compassion of Draupadi, the slaughtered boys' mother and
Kunti's daughter-in-law, who pleaded for his life. But the shameless Asvatthama
made one more attempt to kill the last heir of the Pandavas, their unborn
grandson in the womb of Uttara, by hurling the supreme brahmastra weapon. When
she saw the missile flying straight at her, Uttara immediately ran to the
shelter of Lord Krsna, who was just about to depart for Dvaraka, His majestic
capital city. Krsna protected the Pandavas and their mother Kunti from imminent
death by stopping the weapon's uncontrollable heat and radiation with His own
Sudarsana disc.
Having delivered
the Pandavas from this last calamity, and seeing that all His plans were
fulfilled, Lord Krsna was again preparing to leave. For years Duryodhana had
tormented Queen Kunti's family, but Krsna had protected them at every turn--and
now He was going away. Kunti was overwhelmed, and she prayed to Krsna from the
core of her heart.
Kunti was Lord
Krsna's aunt (He had incarnated as the son of her brother Vasudeva), yet
despite this conventional tie with the Lord, she fully understood His exalted
and divine identity. She knew full well that He had descended from His abode in
the spiritual world to rid the earth of demoniac military powers and
reestablish righteousness. Just before the great war, Krsna had revealed all
this to her son Arjuna in words immortalized in the Bhagavad-gita (4.7-8):
Whenever and
wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and
a predominant rise of irreligion--at that time I incarnate Myself. In order to
deliver the pious and annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the
principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.
Krsna had accomplished His purpose of "annihilating the
miscreants" by orchestrating the destruction of the unholy Kauravas. Then
He installed Yudhisthira on the throne to establish the Pandava reign, and He
consoled the slain warriors' relatives. The scene of the Lord's imminent
departure provides the setting for Queen Kunti's exalted prayers.
As Kunti
approached the Lord's chariot and began to address Him, her immediate purpose
was to persuade Him to remain in Hastinapura and protect the Pandava govemment
from reprisals:
O my Lord...
are You leaving us today, though we are completely dependent on Your mercy and
have no one else to protect us, now when all kings are at enmity with us?
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.37)
From this supplication we should not mistakenly conclude
that Kunti's prayers were self-serving. Although her sufferings were far
greater than those any ordinary person could endure, she does not beg relief.
On the contrary, she prays to suffer even more, for she reasons that her
suffering will increase her devotion to the Lord and bring her ultimate
liberation:
My dear Krsna,
Your Lordship has protected us from the poisoned cake, from a great fire, from
cannibals, from the vicious assembly, from sufferings during our exile in the
forest, and from the battle where great generals fought.... I wish that all
those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again
and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and
deaths. (SB. 1.8.24-25)
Kunti's words--the simple and illuminating outpourings of
the soul of a great and saintly woman devotee--reveal both the deepest
transcendental emotions of the heart and the most profound philosophical and
theological penetrations of the intellect. Her words are words of glorification
impelled by a divine love steeped in wisdom:
O Lord of
Madhu, as the Ganges forever flows to the sea without hindrance, let my
attraction be constantly drawn unto You without being diverted to anyone else.
(SB. 1.8.42)
Kunti's spontaneous glorification of Lord Krsna and her
description of the spiritual path are immortalized in the Mahabharata and the
Bhagavata Purana (Srimad-Bhagavatam), and they have been recited, chanted, and
sung by sages and philosophers for thousands of years.
As they appear
in the First Canto of the Bhagavatam, Queen Kunti's celebrated prayers consist
of only twenty-six couplets (verses 18 through 43 of the Eighth Chapter), yet
they are considered a philosophical, theological, and literary masterpiece. The
present book (Teachings of Queen Kunti) includes those inspired verses and
illuminating commentary by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada, Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness and the most renowned Vedic scholar and spiritual leader of our
time. In addition to this commentary (originally written in 1962), Teachings of
Queen Kunti contains further explanations that Srila Prabhupada gave more
recently in an absorbing series of lectures. In those memorable talks,
delivered in the spring of 1973 at ISKCON's Western world headquarters in Los
Angeles, he analyzed the verses in significantly greater detail and shed even
more light upon them.
This new
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust publication, complete with eleven color prints of
exquisite original oil paintings, will be a prized addition to the libraries of
all those who seek a deeper understanding of life's mysteries. Written by a man
of profound devotion and erudition, it will provide every reader with firm
guidance along the universal path to genuine wisdom and spiritual
enlightenment.
--The Publishers
Chapter One
The Original Person
kunty uvaca
namasye purusam tvadyam
isvaram prakrteh param
alaksyam sarva-bhutanam
antar bahir avasthitam
Srimati Kunti
said: O Krsna, I offer my obeisances unto You because You are the original
personality and are unaffected by the qualities of the material world. You are
existing both within and without everything, yet You are invisible to all.
Srimati
Kuntidevi was quite aware that Krsna is the original Personality of Godhead,
although He was playing the part of her nephew. Such an enlightened lady could
not commit a mistake by offering obeisances unto her nephew. Therefore, she
addressed Him as the original purusa beyond the material cosmos. Although all
living entities are also transcendental, they are neither original nor
infallible. The living entities are apt to fall down under the clutches of
material nature, but the Lord is never like that. In the Vedas, therefore, He
is described as the chief among all living entities (nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam).
Then again He is adressed as isvara, or the controller. The living entities or
the demigods like Candra and Surya are also to some extent isvara, but none of
them is the supreme isvara, or the ultimate controller. Krsna is the
paramesvara, or the Supersoul. He is both within and without. Although He was
present before Srimati Kunti as her nephew, He was also within her and everyone
else. In the Bhagavad-gita (15.15) the Lord says, "I am situated in
everyone's heart, and only due to Me one remembers, forgets, and is cognizant,
etc. Through all the Vedas I am to be known because I am the compiler of the
Vedas, and I am the teacher of the Vedanta." Queen Kunti affirms that the
Lord, although both within and without all living beings, is still invisible.
The Lord is, so to speak, a puzzle for the common man. Queen Kunti experienced
personally that Lord Krsna was present before her, yet He entered within the
womb of Uttara to save her embryo from the attack of Asvatthama's brahmastra.
Kunti herself was puzzled about whether Sri Krsna is all-pervasive or
localized. In fact, He is both, but He reserves the right of not being exposed
to persons who are not surrendered souls. This checking curtain is called the
maya energy of the Supreme Lord, and it controls the limited vision of the
rebellious soul. It is explained as follows.
Chapter Two
Beyond the Senses
maya-ja vanikacchannam
ajnadhoksajam avyayam
na laksyase mudha-drsa
nato natya-dharo yatha
Being beyond the
range of limited sense perception, You are the eternally irreproachable factor
covered by the curtain of deluding energy. You are invisible to the foolish
observer, exactly as an actor dressed as a player is not recognized.
In the
Bhagavad-gita Lord Sri Krsna affirms that less intelligent persons mistake Him
to be an ordinary man like us, and thus they deride Him. The same is confirmed
herein by Queen Kunti. The less intelligent persons are those who rebel against
the authority of the Lord. Such persons are known as asuras. The asuras cannot
recognize the Lord's authority. When the Lord Himself appears among us, as Rama,
Nrsimha, Varaha, or in His original form as Krsna, He performs many wonderful
acts which are humanly impossible. As we shall find in the Tenth Canto of this
great literature, Lord Sri Krsna exhibited His humanly impossible activities
even from the days of His lying on the lap of His mother. He killed the Putana
witch, although she smeared her breast with poison just to kill the Lord. The
Lord sucked her breast like a natural baby, and He sucked out her very life
also. Similarly, He lifted the Govardhana Hill, just as a boy picks up a frog's
umbrella, and stood several days continuously just to give protection to the
residents of Vrndavana. These are some of the superhuman activities of the Lord
described in the authoritative Vedic literatures like the Puranas, Itihasas
(histories), and Upanisads. He has delivered wonderful instructions in the
shape of the Bhagavad-gita. He has shown marvelous capacities as a hero, as a
householder, as a teacher, and as a renouncer. He is accepted as the Supreme
Personality of Godhead by such authoritative personalities as Vyasa, Devala,
Asita, Narada, Madhva, Sankara, Ramanuja, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Jiva
Gosvami, Visvanatha Cakravarti, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, and all other
authorities of the line. He Himself has declared as much in many places of the
authentic literatures. And yet there is a class of men with demoniac mentality
who are always reluctant to accept the Lord as the Supreme Absolute Truth. This
is partially due to their poor fund of knowledge and partially due to their
stubborn obstinacy, which results from various misdeeds in the past and
present. Such persons could not recognize Lord Sri Krsna even when He was
present before them. Another difficulty is that those who depend more on their
imperfect senses cannot realize Him as the Supreme Lord. Such persons are like
the modern scientist. They want to know everything by their experimental
knowledge. But it is not possible to know the Supreme Person by imperfect
experimental knowledge. He is described herein as adhoksaja, or beyond the
range of experimental knowledge. All our senses are imperfect. We claim to
observe everything and anything, but we must admit that we can observe things
under certain material conditions only, which are also beyond our control. The
Lord is beyond the observation of sense perception. Queen Kunti accepts this
deficiency of the conditioned soul, especially of the woman class, who are less
intelligent. For the less intelligent there must be such things as temples,
mosques, or churches so that they may begin to recognize the authority of the
Lord and hear about Him from authorities in such holy places. For the less
intelligent, this beginning of spiritual life is essential, and only foolish
men decry the establishment of such places of worship, which are required to
raise the standard of spiritual attributes for the mass of people. For less
intelligent persons, bowing down before the authority of the Lord, as generally
done in the temples, mosques, or churches, is as beneficial as it is for the
advanced devotees to meditate upon Him by active service.
Chapter Three
The Most Intelligent Woman
tatha paramahamsanam
muninam amalatmanam
bhakti-yoga -vidhanartham
katham pasyema hi striyah
You Yourself
descend to propagate the transcendental science of devotional service unto the
hearts of the advanced transcendentalists and mental speculators, who are
purified by being abie to discriminate between matter and spirit. How, then,
can we women know You perfectly?
Even the
greatest philosophical speculators cannot have access to the region of the
Lord. It is said in the Upanisads that the Supreme Truth, the Absolute
Personality of Godhead, is beyond the range of the thinking power of the
greatest philosopher. He is unknowable by great learning or by the greatest
brain. He is knowable only by one who has His mercy. Others may go on thinking
about Him for years together, yet He is unknowable. This very fact is
corroborated by the Queen, who is playing the part of an innocent woman. Women
in general are unable to speculate like philosophers, but they are blessed by
the Lord because they believe at once in the superiority and almightiness of
the Lord, and thus they offer obeisances without reservation. The Lord is so
kind that He does not show special favor only to one who is a great
philosopher. He knows the sincerity of purpose. For this reason only, women
generally assemble in great number in any sort of religious function. In every
country and in every sect of religion it appears that the women are more
interested than the men. This simplicity of acceptance of the Lord's authority
is more effective than showy insincere religious fervor.
Kuntidevi prayed
to the Lord very submissively, and this is the symptom of a Vaisnava. The Lord,
Krsna, had come to Kuntidevi to offer respect to her by taking the dust of her
feet. Because Krsna considered Kuntidevi His aunt, He used to touch her feet.
But although Kuntidevi, a great devotee, was in such an exalted position,
practically on the level of Yasodamayi, Krsna's mother, she was so submissive
that she prayed, "Krsna, You are meant to be understood by the
paramahamsas, the most advanced transcendentalists, but I am a woman, so how
can I see You?"
According to the
Vedic system, there are four social divisions (catur-varnyam maya srstam). The
highest members of the social order are the brahmanas, those who are
intelligent, and then come the ksatriyas (military men and administrators), the
vaisyas (farmers and businessmen), and finally the sudras (ordinary laborers).
One's place in this system is determined by one's qualities and work
(guna-karma). The Bhagavad-gita mentions striyo vaisyas tatha sudrah, and the
Srimad-Bhagavatam speaks of stri-sudra-dvijabandhunam. According to these
references women, sudras, and dvija-bandhus are considered to belong to the
same category. The word dvija-bandhu refers to one who is born in an exalted
brahmana or ksatriya family but who has no qualifications of his own. One's
social standing, according to the Vedic system, is determined by one's
qualifications. This is very practical. Suppose a man is born the son of a
high-court judge. This does not mean that he himself is also a highcourt judge.
Yet because one happens to take birth in a brahmana family, even if he has no
qualifications and is rascal number one, he claims to be a brahmana, and although
his qualifications are less than those of a sudra, people accept him as a
brahmana. This has caused the downfall of the Vedic civilization. The brahmanas
in India are sometimes very much against my movement because I train and accept
brahmanas from Europe and America. But we do not care about their arguments,
nor will any other reasonable man. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said:
prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama
sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama
"In every
town, city, and village of the world, the Krsna consciousness movement will be
preached." How is it, then, that Europeans and Americans will not become
brahmanas? In fact, one who comes to Krsna consciousness has already surpassed
brahmanism. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (14.26):
mam ca yo 'vyabhicarena
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa gunan samatityaitan
brahma-bhuyaya kalpate
"One who
takes to bhakti-yoga surpasses the modes of material nature and comes
immediately to the transcendental platform [brahma-bhuta]." Not to speak
of becoming a brahmana, the person who fully engages in bhakti-yoga attains the
highest transcendental platform.
The stereotyped,
crippled idea that only a person born in a brahmana family can become a
brahmana has killed Vedic civilization, but now we are reviving the correct
understanding that the attainment of perfection is meant for everyone. In
Bhagavad-gita (9.32) Lord Krsna says:
mam hi partha vyapasritya
ye 'pi syuh papa-yonayah
striyo vaisyas tatha sudras
te 'pi yanti param gatim
"O son of
Prtha, those who take shelter in Me--though they be lowborn, women, vaisyas, or
sudras--can approach the supreme destination." Thus although women,
sudras, and vaisyas are ordinarily considered to belong to a lower class, when
one becomes a devotee he or she goes beyond such designations. Women, sudras,
and vaisyas are ordinarily regarded as less intelligent, but if one takes to
Krsna consciousness one is the most intelligent, as stated in the
Caitanya-caritamrta (krsna yei bhaje sei bada catura). And Caitanya Mahaprabhu
says:
ei
rupe brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija
" Among all
the living entities wandering throughout the universe, one who is very
fortunate receives, by the mercy of the spiritual master and the mercy of
Krsna, the seed of devotional service." (Cc. Madhya 19.151) The Krsna
consciousness movement does not consist of wretched, unfortunate men. No. It
consists of the most fortunate. One who has taken to Krsna consciousness is to
be considered the most fortunate because he has found the way to act so that
his life will be perfect. One who is Krsna conscious and discharging his duties
nicely is the most fortunate and the most perfect. This is humbly stated here
by Kuntidevi.
Although Kunti
had the body of a woman, she was a devotee. Therefore she was not like an
ordinary unintelligent woman. Rather, she was the most intelligent, for she
recognized Krsna to be the Supreme Godhead: "He has come to me to offer me
respect, materially appearing to be my nephew, but He is the Supreme
Personality of Godhead." Therefore in a previous verse she said, alaksyam
sarva-bhutanam antar bahir avasthitam: "You are not seen by ordinary men,
although You are everywhere, inside and outside." In another verse also
she said, na laksyase mudha-drsa: "Fools and rascals cannot see You."
This indicates that Kunti saw Him. Unless she were able to see Krsna as He is,
how could she say, na laksyase mudha-drsa? She also said, prakrteh param:
"You are transcendental to this material creation."
Now here also,
in this verse, Kunti continues to express herself with humility. This humility
is very good in devotional service. Therefore Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu
teaches us, trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna: "One should be more
tolerant than the tree and humbler than the grass to make progress in spiritual
life." This is necessary because for one who is living in this material
world there will be so many disturbances, just as if one were traveling on the
ocean. One cannot expect a very peaceful situation on the ocean; even a big
ship may also be unsteady, and at any moment there may be tumultuous waves.
Similarly, in this material world we should always expect danger; one cannot
expect a very peaceful life within this material world. The sastra, the Vedic
literature, says, padam padam yad vipadam (SB. 10.14.58): at every step there
is danger. But if one becomes a devotee, then one can escape (mayam etam
taranti te).
If one takes to
Krsna consciousness, in the beginning there will be many disturbances caused by
Maya, the material energy of illusion. Maya will test us to see how firmly we
are fixed in Krsna consciousness. Because she is also an agent of Krsna, she
does not allow anyone the freedom to disturb Krsna. Therefore she tests very
rigidly to see whether we have taken to Krsna consciousness to disturb Krsna or
are actually serious. That is Maya's business. So in the beginning there will
be tests by Maya, and we shall feel so many disturbances while making progress
in Krsna consciousness. But if we follow the rules and regulations and chant
regularly as prescribed, then we shall remain steady. If we neglect these
principles, Maya will capture us immediately. Maya is always ready. We are in
the ocean, and at any moment we may be disturbed. Therefore one who is not
disturbed at all is called paramahamsa.
Kuntidevi
therefore says, tatha paramahamsanam: "You are meant to be understood by
the paramahamsas." The word parama means "ultimate," and hamsa
means "swan." So paramahamsa means "the perfect swan." If
we give a swan milk mixed with water, the swan will take the milk and leave
aside the water. Similarly, this material world is made of two natures--the
inferior nature and the superior nature. The superior nature means spiritual
life, and the inferior nature is material life. Thus a person who gives up the
material part of this world and takes only the spiritual part is called
paramahamsa.
One should know
that the activities of the body are due to the soul within the body. That is
the real fact. The body is only the outward covering. Similarly, one should
know that Krsna is the real center of all activities, and one who knows this is
a paramahamsa. Thus bhakti-yoga is for the paramahamsa, one who knows that
Krsna is the central fact. Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita, aham sarvasya prabhavo
mattah sarvam pravartate: "I am the source of everything; everything
emanates from Me." So one who knows, not only theoretically but
practically, that Krsna is the cause of all causes--one who is convinced of
this--is a paramahamsa.
Kuntidevi says,
"You are meant for the paramahamsas, not for the rascals and fools. You
are meant for the paramahamsas and munis." The word muninam refers to
those who are thoughtful or to mental speculators, and the word amalatmanam
refers to one who has no dirty things in his heart. The heart of a
materialistic person is full of dirty things. What are those dirty things? Lust
and greed. All materialistic persons are lusty and greedy, and therefore their
hearts are understood to be full of dirty things, but amalatmanam refers to
those who are freed from these two contaminations.
Bhakti-yoga is
meant for those whose hearts are cleansed, not for the lusty and greedy. Of
course, those who are lusty and greedy may try to advance, and gradually they
may do so, but once one is situated in bhakti-yoga there is no more lust or
greed. Viraktir anyatra ca (SB. 11.2.42). This is the test--when one is free
from lusty desires and greed, then he is situated in bhakti-yoga and is
actually a paramahamsa. Kuntidevi humbly submits, "You are meant for the
paramahamsas and munis, those who are cleansed in heart and are engaged in
bhakti-yoga. But what are we? We are simply women. We are in a lower class. How
can we understand You?" Although she understands everything, she still
takes the position of an ordinary woman and says, "How can I understand
You?" This is humility.
Chapter Four
Approaching Krsna, the All-pervading Truth
krsnaya vasudevaya
devaki-nandanaya ca
nanda-gopa-kumaraya
govindaya namo namah
Let me therefore
offer my respectful obeisances unto the Lord, who has become the son of
Vasudeva, the pleasure of Devaki, the boy of Nanda and the other cowherd men of
Vrndavana, and the enlivener of the cows and the senses.
The Lord, being
thus unapproachable by any material assets, out of unbounded and causeless
mercy descends on the earth as He is in order to show His special mercy upon
His unalloyed devotees and to diminish the upsurges of the demoniac persons.
Queen Kunti specifically adores the incarnation, or descent, of Lord Krsna
above all other incarnations because in this particular incarnation He is more
approachable. In the Rama incarnation He remained a king's son from His very
childhood, but in the incarnation of Krsna, although He was the son of a king,
He at once left the shelter of His real father and mother (King Vasudeva and
Queen Devaki) just after His appearance and went to the lap of Yasodamayi to
play the part of an ordinary cowherd boy in the blessed Vrajabhumi, which is
very sanctified because of His childhood pastimes. Therefore Lord Krsna is more
merciful than Lord Rama. He was undoubtedly very kind to Kunti's brother
Vasudeva and the family. Had He not become the son of Vasudeva and Devaki,
Queen Kunti could not claim Him to be her nephew and thus address Krsna in
parental affection. But Nanda and Yasoda are more fortunate because they could
relish the Lord's childhood pastimes, which are more attractive than all other
pastimes. There is no parallel to His childhood pastimes as exhibited at Vrajabhumi,
which are the prototypes of His etemal affairs in the original Krsnaloka,
described as the cintamani-dhama in the Brahma-samhita. Lord Sri Krsna
descended Himself at Vrajabhumi with all His transcendental entourage and
paraphernalia. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore confirmed that no one is as
fortunate as the residents of Vrajabhumi, and specifically the cowherd girls,
who dedicated their everything for the satisfaction of the Lord. His pastimes
with Nanda and Yasoda and His pastimes with the cowherd men and especially with
the cowherd boys and the cows have caused Him to be known as Govinda. Lord
Krsna as Govinda is more inclined to the brahmanas and the cows, indicating
thereby that human prosperity depends more on these two items, namely brahminical
culture and cow protection. Lord Krsna is never satisfied where these are
lacking.
In the beginning
of her prayers, Kuntidevi said, namasye purusam tvadyam isvaram prakrteh param:
"I offer my obeisances unto the person, purusa, who is prakrteh param,
beyond this material manifestation." Thus in the beginning Kuntidevi gave
us the understanding that God is the supreme purusa, the Supreme Person. He is
not impersonal. He is a person, but He is not a person of this material world
or this material creation, and He does not have a material body. This is to be
understood. The poor fund of knowledge held by the impersonalists cannot
accommodate how the Supreme Absolute Truth can be a person, because whenever
they think of a person they think of a person of this material world. That is
their defect. Why should God be a person of this material world? Therefore in
the beginning Kuntidevi cleared away this misunderstanding by saying that the
Lord is prakrteh param, beyond this material creation. Yet He is a person, and
now by the grace of Kunti we can understand that this Supreme Person, although
alaksyam, invisible, has now visibly appeared as Krsna.
Kuntidevi says,
krsnaya vasudevaya. The word vasudeva is sometimes understood to mean "the
all-pervading." The impersonalists have this conception of Vasudeva, and
therefore Kuntidevi points out, "That Vasudeva, the all-pervading, is
Krsna." Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati: Krsna, the
Supreme Lord, is present in everyone's heart. Thus He is all-pervading.
Krsna, the
original person, exists in three features: as the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, as the all-pervading Paramatma (the Supersoul), and as the impersonal
Brahman effulgence. Those who are interested in bhakti-yoga have no interest in
the impersonal Brahman effulgence, which is for common men. If one were an
inhabitant of the sun, what interest would he have in the sunshine? That would
be most insignificant for him. Similarly, those who are advanced in spiritual
life are not interested in the impersonal Brahman effulgence. Rather, they are
interested in purusa, the Supreme Person, Vasudeva. As stated in Bhagavad-gita,
this realization of the Supreme Person takes place after many, many births
(bahunam janmanam ante). The jnanis, the impersonalists, who are attached to
the Brahman effulgence, try to understand the Absolute Truth by dint of their
knowledge, but they do not know that their knowledge is imperfect and limited
whereas Krsna, the Absolute Truth, is unlimited. We cannot approach the
unlimited by our limited knowledge. That is not possible.
By the grace of
devotees like Kuntidevi, we can understand that the all-pervading Absolute
Truth, Vasudeva, Paramatma, is present as Krsna (krsnaya vasudevaya). This
realization of Vasudeva is not possible for impersonalists very easily. Krsna
says in Bhagavad-gita (7.19):
bahunam janmanam ante
jnanavan mam prapadyate
vasudevah sarvam iti
sa mahatma sudurlabhah
"After many
births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing
Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very
rare." The word mahatma means "broadminded." One who cannot
understand Krsna is not broad-minded but cripple-minded. If one becomes
broad-minded, then by the grace of Krsna one can understand Krsna.
The process of
understanding Krsna is sevonmukha--by rendenng service. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau.
Realization of Vasudeva is possible by rendering service, beginning with the
tongue. The tongue has two functions--to vibrate and to taste. So if one
repeatedly hears and vibrates the Hare Krsna mantra and tastes prasada, food
offered to Krsna, by this very simple method one will realize Vasudeva, Krsna.
Krsna will reveal Himself. It is not that by our endeavor alone we can
understand Krsna, but our endeavor in loving service will make us qualified,
and then Krsna will reveal Himself (svayam eva sphuraty adah).
Krsna is very much anxious to take us back
home, back to Godhead, but we are stubborn and do not wish to go. Therefore He
is always looking for the opportunity to take us back home. He is just like an
affectionate father. When a son who is a rascal leaves his father and goes
loitering in the street, with no food and no shelter, and suffers very much,
the father is always anxious to bring the boy back home. Similarly, Krsna is
the supreme father, and all the living entities within this material world are exactly
like misled children of a wealthy man who have left home to loiter in the
street. Therefore the greatest benefit one can bestow upon one's fellow human
being is to give him Krsna consciousness. No kind of material profit will
satisfy the living entity, but if he is given Krsna consciousness he will
actually be satisfied. A bewildered boy loitering in the street may be
reminded, "My dear boy, why are you suffering so much? You are the son of
a very rich man who has so much property. Why are you loitering in the
street?" And if he comes to understand, "Yes, I am the son of this
important man. Why shall I loiter in the street?" he may then return home.
Therefore the best service is to inform those who have forgotten Krsna,
"You are part and parcel of Krsna. You are the son of Krsna, who is full
in all opulence. Why are you rotting in this material world?" This is the
greatest service. Maya, illusion, is very strong, but it is the duty of every
devotee of Krsna to try to enlighten everyone to Krsna consciousness.
Kuntidevi, for example, first said that although Krsna, the Supreme Person, is
within and without, to rascals and fools He is invisible. Therefore she points
out, "Here is the Lord--Krsna."
Krsna is the
all-pervading Supreme Personality of Godhead (krsnaya vasudevaya), but He is
very much pleased to become the son of Devaki (devaki-nandanaya).
Devaki-nandana is also mentioned in the Atharva Veda. Krsna comes as
Devaki-nandana, and His father is Nanda-gopa, Nanda Maharaja. Krsna likes to be
related with His devotees who act as father and mother. Although here in this
material world we try to make our relationship with the Supreme by accepting
Him as father, Krsna wants to become the son. He takes pleasure in becoming the
son of a devotee. Ordinary men want God as their father, but that is not very
pleasing to Krsna because the son always bothers the father: "Give me
this, give me this, give me this."
Of course, Krsna
has immense potencies by which He can supply as much as everyone wants. Eko
bahunam yo vidadhati kaman. He supplies food to the elephant, and He supplies
food to the ant, so why not to the human being? But rascals do not know this.
They work like asses day and night to find bread, and if they go to church,
there also they pray, "Give me bread." They are concerned only with
the bread problem.
Although the
living entity is the son of the richest, most opulent person, he has created a
bread problem. This is called ignorance. He thinks, "If I do not solve my
bread problem, if I do not drive my trucks day and night, how can I live?"
This is the nonsense of our modern civilization. Where is there a bread
problem? Krsna can supply unlimited amounts of bread. There are thousands of
elephants in Africa, and Krsna supplies food to them. So if He can supply food
to the elephants, why not to the human beings? The Bhagavatam therefore says,
"Don't waste your time with this bread problem."
tasyaiva hetoh prayateta kovido
na labhyate yad bhramatam upary adhah
We should not
waste our time with solving economic problems. Economic development is
nonsense. Of course, this proposal is very revolutionary, and people may even
hate me for it. "What is Svamiji saying?" they may ask. But actually
it is a fact. This economic development is madness. Suppose one has a rich
father and enough food. Suppose one knows, "My father is the richest man
in the city." Then where is one's economic problem? Actually, that is our
position. We have no economic problem. Everything is completely provided. We
want water. Just see--there are oceans of water. Of course, we want pure water,
and although the ocean has so much water, when water is scarce we shall have to
take help from Krsna, who will evaporate the water and turn it into clouds, and
then when the rain falls down the water will be sweet. Otherwise we cannot
drink it.
Everything is
under control, and everything--water, light, heat, and so on--is complete.
om purnam adah purnam idam
purnat purnam
udacyate
purnasya purnam adaya
purnam evavasisyate
"The
Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely
perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly
equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the complete whole is also
complete in itself. Because He is the complete whole, even though so many
complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance."
(Isopanisad, Invocation) Krsna's stock is never exhausted. We must simply
become obedient to Him, and the supply will be there. Therefore a Krsna
conscious person has no economic problem; everything is sufficiently supplied
by Krsna. In Los Angeles the neighbors of our temple are sometimes very
envious. "You do not work," they say to our Krsna conscious devotees.
"You have no anxiety. You have four cars. You are eating so nicely. How is
that?" Actually, they are right. Somehow or other we are getting
everything we need, and we have no problems, for if one simply becomes a
sincere servant of Krsna, everything is provided. They are envious of us
because we do not work but still we have so much. But why don't they come join
us? That they will not do. "Come with us," we say. "Chant Hare
Krsna.' "No, no, no. That I cannot do." "All right. Then work
with your trucks." By zooming around in their cars and trucks, they have
made their own lives dangerous, and they have created danger for others also.
At any moment there may be an accident. But they say that this is civilization.
Nonsense. This is not civilization. Civilization means calmness, prosperity,
and santi, peace. In peace and prosperity one should be Krsna conscious always.
People work so
hard, day and night, simply for a little food, not knowing that their food has
already been provided. Avidya karma-samjnanya trtiya saktir isyate (Visnu
Purana 6.7.61). This material world is full of ignorance (avidya). Therefore
our endeavor should be to become free from this ignorance. It is only for this
reason that we should work--to come out of ignorance. We are thinking, "I
am this material body. I have to work day and night, and then I shall get my
food, and I shall live." This is ignorance. We have lived this life of
ignorance in forms other than that of a human being. We have lived in bird
life, in beast life, and so on, but now, in this life, we should be peaceful,
calm, and quiet, and should simply inquire about the Absolute Truth (jivasya tattva-jijnasa,
athato brahma jijnasa). That should be one's occupation.
We are simply
sitting down and inquiring about Krsna, and this is what one should do. This is
life. Why should one work day and night like an ass? What kind of life is this?
No. This is not life. Therefore the Bhagavatam says to one who is intelligent
(kovida), "Your life should be engaged for this purpose--for understanding
the Absolute Truth." Then how will my economic problem be solved? The
answer is that happiness one desires from economic development will come
automatically in due course of time. Tal labhyate duhkhavad anyatah (SB.
1.5.18). We are looking for happiness. Are you looking for distress? "No,
sir." Then why does distress come upon you? If you are not eager for
calamities and distress, why do they come upon you? According to our karma, our
life holds some portion of happiness and some portion of distress. Therefore,
if distress comes without invitation, happiness will also come without
invitation.
We are already
destined to have a certain amount of happiness and a certain amount of
distress, and we cannot change that. The change we should make, therefore, is
to get free from this material condition of life. That should be our only
business. According to our karma, we are sometimes taking birth in a higher
planetary system as demigods and sometimes taking birth as cats and dogs or as
germs in stool. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu said:
ei
rupe brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija
"According
to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire
universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and
some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of
wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to
associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Krsna. By the mercy
of both Krsna and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the
creeper of devotional service." (Cc. Madhya 19.151) Only a fortunate
living entity gets the opportunity to associate with Krsna and Krsna's devotee,
and in this way he gets the seed of devotional service, the chanting of the
Hare Krsna mantra, and then his life becomes sublime.
Kuntidevi,
therefore, is pointing our attention toward Krsna, the Supreme Person, who is
alaksya, invisible to all. Who is that invisible person? Here--Krsna. "Oh,
Krsna," one may say. "There are so many Krsnas." Therefore
Kuntidevi says, "I am offering my prayers to Vasudeva, the son of
Vasudeva." "There are many Vasudevas." "No.
Nanda-gopa-kumaraya: I am praying to the foster son of Maharaja Nanda." In
this way, three times she points out, "Here is Krsna."
Krsna officially
takes birth as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva, but in His childhood He enjoys
the company of mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja. This is Krsna's pastime. A
nanda-lilamaya-vigrahaya: Krsna's pastimes are all jubilant. Anandamayo
'bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.12): He is by nature full of bliss. We shall never
find Krsna unhappy. Krsna is always happy, and whoever associates with Him is
also happy. Therefore He is known as Govinda. The word go means
"senses." We are looking for sense gratification, and if we associate
with Krsna we shall enjoy our senses abundantly, just like the gopis who are
dancing with Krsna. Thus there is no scarcity of sense gratification, but this
sense gratification in association with Krsna is not gross sense gratification;
rather, it is the spiritual sense gratification enjoyed in the spiritual world.
Ananda-cin-maya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya. That ananda, or pleasure, is not the
thirdclass ananda we enjoy with our bodily senses. Such bodily enjoyment is not
ananda but illusion. We are thinking, "I am enjoying," but that
ananda is not factual, because we cannot enjoy this material pleasure of the
senses for long. Everyone has experience that this material pleasure comes to
an end. Spiritual enjoyment, however, does not end; rather, it increases. That
is the difference. Ananda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya govindam adi-purusam
tam aham bhajami (Brahma-samhita 5.32). Therefore we have to associate with
Govinda.
Here also it is
said, govindaya namo namah: "I offer my respectful obeisances to
Govinda." The Krsna consciousness movement is so sublime that it puts one
directly in contact with Govinda. The worship of the Deity of Krsna in the
temple is also direct contact with Govinda.
Sri-vigraharadhana-nitya-nana-srngara-tan-mandira-marjanadau (Sri-gurvastaka
3). The vigraha, the Deity of Krsna, appears by Krsna's mercy. Because Krsna is
alaksya, invisible, He becomes visible to give us the facility to see Him. It
is not that Krsna is stone, wood, or metal. Krsn'a is always Krsna, but because
we cannot see anything beyond material elements like wood, stone, and metal, He
appears in a form made of these elements. But He is neither wood, metal, nor
stone. When we associate with the Deity, we associate with Krsna personally.
Because Krsna is invisible, He very kindly takes a form that is visible to us.
This is Krsna's mercy. Do not think, "Oh, here is a stone Krsna."
Krsna is everything, and therefore Krsna is stone also, but He is not the kind
of stone that cannot act. Even in the form of stone or metal, Krsna can act as
Krsna, and one who worships the Deity will perceive that. Svayam eva sphuraty
adah. The Deity, although apparently stone, may speak with a devotee. There are
many instances in which this has happened.
I am very pleased,
therefore, when my disciples nicely dress the Deity, offer the Deity nice
foodstuffs, and keep the temple very clean. Sri-mandira-marjanadau. Marjana
means "cleansing." Whether one dresses Krsna or cleanses the temple,
the spiritual benefit one receives is the same. Don't think, "I am only a
cleanser, and he is a dresser." No, the person who is dressing the Deity
and the person who is cleansing the temple are the same because Krsna is
absolute. Therefore, one should engage in Krsna's service in any way, and one's
life will be successful. This is the Krsna consciousness movement.
By the grace of
Kuntidevi we can understand that Krsna, Vasudeva, is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. The word vasudeva also indicates that the Lord is understood when one
comes to the platform of pure goodness, which is also called vasudeva, or
visuddha-sattva. Sattvam visuddham vasudeva-sabditam (SB. 4.3.23). To
understand the Supreme Lord, we must first come to the platform of sattva,
goodness, but goodness here in the material world is sometimes contaminated by
the lower qualities ignorance and passion. By hearing about Krsna, however, one
comes to the platform of pure goodness. Srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah
punya-sravana-kirtanah. We should try to hear and chant about Krsna always,
twenty-four hours a day, and in this way the dirty things will be cleansed from
our hearts. It is not that one should only attend a bhagavata-saptaha, an
official reading of Srimad-Bhagavatam for seven days. That is another form of
exploitation. In the Bhagavatam it is said, nasta-prayesv abhadresu nityam
bhagavata-sevaya. The word nityam means "daily" or "twenty-four
hours a day." One should always read Srimad-Bhagavatam and carry out the
order of one's spiritual master. The word bhagavata may refer either to the
spiritual master or to the book Srimad-Bhagavatam. So one should always serve
the person bhagavata or the book Bhagavata. Bhagavaty uttama-sloke bhaktir
bhavati naisthiki. Then one will be fixed immovably (naisthiki) in devotional
service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
In this way, one
should realize the benefits of the Krsna consciousness movement by the
prescribed spiritual process and try to distribute these benefits to other
people. To awaken the dormant Krsna consciousness of others is the greatest
welfare activity in the world. We can actually see that devotees who were not
Krsna conscious four or five years ago have been awakened and are now Krsna
conscious. Similarly, others can be awakened also. There is no difficulty. The
process is the same.
By following in
the footsteps of devotees like Kunti, we shall be able to understand Krsna's
identity. For example, we may ask a person's identity by asking, "What is
your father's name?" So Srimad-Bhagavatam presents God with His father's
name, His mother's name, and even His address. We are not impersonalists with a
vague idea of God. If one takes advantage of the Krsna consciousness movement,
one can understand God perfectly and completely.
Chapter Five
The Vision of Lotuses
namah pankaja-nabhaya
namah pankaja-maline
namah pankaja-netraya
namas te pankajanghraye
My respectful
obeisances are unto You, O Lord, whose abdomen is marked with a depression like
a lotus flower, who are always decorated with garlands of lotus flowers, whose
glance is as cool as the lotus, and whose feet are engraved with lotuses.
Here are some of
the specific symbolical marks on the spiritual body of the Personality of
Godhead which distinguishes His body from the bodies of all others. They are
all special features of the body of the Lord. The Lord may appear as one of us,
but He is always distinct by His specific bodily features. Srimati Kunti claims
herself unfit to see the Lord because of her being a woman. This is claimed
because women, sudras (the laborer class), and the dvija-bandhus, or the
wretched descendants of the higher three classes, are unfit by intelligence to
understand transcendental subject matter concerning the spiritual name, fame,
attributes, forms, etc., of the Supreme Absolute Truth. Such persons, although
they are unfit to enter into the spiritual affairs of the Lord, can see Him as
the arca-vigraha, who descends on the material world just to distribute favors
to the fallen souls, including the above-mentioned women, sudras, and
dvija-bandhus. Because such fallen souls cannot see anything beyond matter, the
Lord condescends to enter into each and every one of the innumerable universes
as the Garbhodakasayi Visnu, who grows a lotus stem from the lotuslike
depression in the center of His transcendental abdomen, and thus Brahma, the
first living being in the universe, is born. Therefore, the Lord is known as
the Pankajanabhi. The Pankajanabhi Lord accepts the arca-vigraha (His
transcendental form) in different elements, namely a form within the mind, a
form made of wood, a form made of earth, a form made of metal, a form made of
jewels, a form made of paint, a form drawn on sand, etc. All such forms of the
Lord are always decorated with garlands of lotus flowers, and there should be a
soothing atmosphere in the temple of worship to attract the burning attention
of the nondevotees always engaged in material wranglings. The meditators
worship a form within the mind. Therefore, the Lord is merciful even to the
women, sudras, and dvija-bandhus, provided they agree to visit the temple and
worship the different forms made for them. Such temple visitors are not
idolaters, as alleged by some men with a poor fund of knowledge. All the great
acaryas established such temples of worship in all places just to favor the
less intelligent, and one should not pose himself as transcending the stage of
temple worship while one is actually in the category of the sudras and the
women or less. One should begin to see the Lord from His lotus feet, gradually
rising to the thighs, waist, chest, and face. One should not try to look at the
face of the Lord without being accustomed to seeing the lotus feet of the Lord.
Srimati Kunti, because of her being the aunt of the Lord, did not begin to see
the Lord from the lotus feet because the Lord might feel ashamed, and thus
Kuntidevi, just to save a painful situation for the Lord, began to see the Lord
just above His lotus feet, i.e., from the waist of the Lord, gradually rising
to the face, and then down to the lotus feet. In the round, everything there is
in order.
If one sees a lotus
flower, one can immediately remember Krsna. For example, if one loves one's
child and one sees any of the child's garments, or his shoes or a small ship or
any of his playthings, one will immediately remember the child: "Oh, these
are my child's shoes. These are my child's playthings. This is his
garment." This is the nature of love. So if one actually loves God, Krsna,
one can remember Him always.
It is not
difficult to remember Krsna. Here Kuntidevi describes Krsna with reference to
lotus flowers. Similarly, when Krsna describes Himself in Bhagavad-gita, He
says, raso 'ham apsu kaunteya: "I am the taste of liquids." So one
can remember Krsna by tasting water. Even if one is drinking liquor, if he
thinks, "The taste of this drink is Krsna," he will one day turn out
to be a great saintly person. So I can request even drunkards to become Krsna
conscious, what to speak of others, because Krsna says, raso 'ham apsu
kaunteya: "I am the taste of liquids." Generally in this context
"liquid" is taken to mean water. But liquor is also liquid; it is
only sugar and molasses or some other combination fermented and distilled. Of
course, it is bad because it creates intoxication. Although in one sense
nothing is bad, liquor is bad because it creates bad effects. In America there
are many drunkards. There is no scarcity of them. But I may request even the
drunkards, "When drinking wine, kindly remember that the taste of this
drink is Krsna. Just begin in this way, and one day you will become a saintly,
Krsna conscious person."
So Krsna is
available under any circumstances, if we want to catch Him. Krsna says in
Bhagavad-gita (10.10):
tesam satata-yuktanam-
bhajatam priti-purvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tam
yena mam upayanti te
"To those
who are constantly devoted and who worship Me with love, I give the
understanding by which they can come to Me." If one is actually very
serious in searching for Krsna, Krsna is everywhere.
Andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
(Brahma-samhita 5.35). Krsna is present within the universe, within our hearts,
and even within the atom. So it is not difficult to find Him, but one must know
the process by which to do so. This process is very simple, and by the order of
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu we are distributing this process to everyone, without
charge. The process is to chant Hare Krsna. As soon as one chants Hare Krsna,
one will immediately understand Krsna.
Similarly,
simply by hearing or chanting the verses of Srimad-Bhagavatam, one can be
purified. Whatever knowledge exists in the world is present in
Srimad-Bhagavatam. It includes literature, poetry, astronomy, philosophy,
religion, and love of Godhead. Srimad-bhagavatam pramanam amalam. If one simply
reads Srimad-Bhagavatam, he gains the topmost education, for if one studies
Srimad-Bhagavatam he will be well versed in every subject matter. Even if one
does not understand a single word of the mantras of Srimad-Bhagavatam, the
vibrations themselves have such power that simply by chanting one will be
purified. Srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah punya-sravana-kirtanah. The word punya
means "pious," sravana means "hearing," and kirtana means
"chanting." One who chants or hears the verses of Srimad-Bhagavatam
becomes pious automatically. To become pious one generally has to endeavor a
great deal, but if one simply hears the verses of Srimad-Bhagavatam or Bhagavad-gita
one becomes pious automatically. Therefore it is a rigid principle in every
temple of our Krsna consciousness movement that there must be a daily class for
hearing and chanting. Our movement is meant for training spiritual leaders, but
without hearing and chanting it is impossible to become a leader. Of course, in
the material world it is possible, but not in the spiritual world.
mali hana sei bija kare aropana
sravana-kirtana jale karaye secana
(Cc. Madhya 19.152)
Hearing and
chanting waters the seed of devotional service, which develops one's original
consciousness.
So here, in
these prayers, Kuntidevi, a great devotee, is giving us an opportunity to
become Krsna conscious simply by concentrating our mind on pankaja, the lotus
flower. Panka means "mud," and ja means "generate."
Although the lotus flower is generated from mud, it is a most important flower,
and Krsna likes it very much. Kuntidevi therefore describes all the parts of
Krsna's body with reference to lotus flowers, so that as soon as one sees a
lotus flower one will immediately think of Krsna: "Oh, Krsna's navel is
just like a lotus, and from Krsna's navel grew the stem of the lotus upon which
Brahma, the creator of this universe, was born. This universe includes so many
planets, seas, mountains, and cities with motorcars and other paraphernalia,
but the entire universe began from that lotus."
Namah
pankaja-maline. From Krsna comes the wonderful lotus flower that contains the
seed of the entire universe. But He is not the source of only one such flower.
Krsna is not so poor that He simply produces one lotus flower and then is
finished. No. Just as there may be a garland with many flowers, Krsna is the
source of innumerable universes, which may be compared to a big garland of
lotuses. This is God. Yasyaika-nisvasita-kalam athavalambya/ jivanti
loma-vilaja jagadanda-nathah (Brahmasamhita 5.48). Krsna is unlimited. We are
very much concerned with this one planet, but Krsna's creation contains an
unlimited number of planets. We cannot count how many planets there are, any
more than one can count how many hairs there are on one's head. This is the
nature of Krsna's creation. To give another example, on one tree there is an
unlimited number of leaves. Similarly, there is an unlimited number of planets,
and there are unlimited universes. Therefore, Krsna is unlimited.
Krsna's navel
resembles a lotus, He is garlanded with lotuses, and His eyes are also compared
to the petals of a lotus (alola-candraka-lasad-vanamalya-vamsi, Brahma-samhita
5.31). So if we simply think of only this one verse, which describes Krsna's
body with reference to the lotus, we can meditate our whole life on how
beautiful Krsna is, how wise Krsna is, and how Krsna manifests His creation.
This is meditation--thinking of Krsna. Dhyanavasthita-tad-gatena manasa
pasyanti 'yam-yoginah. A yogiis one who always thinks of Krsna.
Those who think
of something impersonal are not yogis. Their meditation simply involves undergoing
more and more labor (kleso 'dhikaras tesam avyaktasakta-cetasam), and they
cannot reach anything substantial. Therefore after meditation they say,
"Come on, give me a cigarette. Come on, my throat is now dry. Give me a
cigarette." That is not meditation. Meditation means thinking of Krsna
always (satatam cintayanto mam) and endeavoring to advance in Krsna
consciousness with a firm vow (yatantas ca drdha-vratah).
We have to be
purified. Param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan. Because Krsna is
pure, we cannot approach Krsna impurely. But if we think of Krsna always and
meditate upon Krsna, then we shall be purified. Punya-sravana-kirtanah. That
meditation can be possible by hearing and chanting, and then thinking of Krsna
will automatically come. That is the process of Krsna consciousness. Sravanam
kirtanam visnoh smaranam. The word smaranam means "remembering." If
we chant and hear, then remembrance will automatically come, and then we shall
engage in worshiping Krsna's lotus feet (sevanam). Then we shall engage in the
temple worship (arcanam) and offering prayers (vandanam). We shall engage
ourselves as Krsna's servants (dasyam), we shall become Krsna's friends
(sakhyam), and we shall surrender everything to Krsna (atma-nivedanam). This is
the process of Krsna consciousness.
Chapter Six
The Master of the Senses
yatha hrsikesa khalena devaki
kamsena ruddhaticiram sucarpita
vimocitaham ca sahatmaja vibho
tvayaiva nathena muhur vipad-ganat
O Hrsikesa,
master of the senses and Lord of lords, You have released Your mother, Devaki,
who was long imprisoned and distressed by the envious King Kamsa, and me and my
children from a series of constant dangers.
Devaki, the
mother of Krsna and sister of King Kamsa, was put into prison along with her
husband, Vasudeva, because the envious King was afraid of being killed by
Devaki's eighth son (Krsna). The King killed all the sons of Devaki who were
born before Krsna, but Krsna escaped the danger of child-slaughter because He
was transferred to the house of Nanda Maharaja, Lord Krsna's foster father.
Kuntidevi, along with her children, was also saved from a series of dangers.
But Kuntidevi was shown far more favor because Lord Krsna did not save the
other children of Devaki, whereas He saved the children of Kuntidevi. This was
done because Devaki's husband, Vasudeva, was living, whereas Kuntidevi was a
widow and there was none to help her except Krsna. The conclusion is that Krsna
bestows more favor upon a devotee who is in greater dangers. Sometimes He puts
His pure devotees in such dangers because in that condition of helplessness the
devotee becomes more attached to the Lord. The more the attachment is there for
the Lord, the more success is there for the devotee.
Devaki, the
devotee who became the mother of Krsna, was not an ordinary woman. After all,
who can become the mother of the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Krsna agrees
to become the son only of the most advanced devotee. In their previous lives,
Devaki and her husband underwent severe austerities, and when Krsna therefore
appeared before them, wanting to give them a benediction, they told Him that
they wanted a son like God. But where can there be another person equal to God?
That is not possible. God is asamaurdhva; that is, no one can be equal to or
greater than Him. There cannot be any competition. One cannot say, "I am God,
you are God, he is God, we are all God." No. One who says this is a dog,
not God, for God is great, and He has no competitor. No one is equal to Him;
everyone is lower. Ekale isvara krsna ara saba bhrtya: the only master is
Krsna, God, and everyone else is His servant, including even great demigods
like Brahma, Visnu, and Siva, not to speak of others. Siva-virinci-nutam. In
the sastra, the Vedic scriptures, it is said that Lord Krsna is offered respect
even by Lord Siva and Lord Brahma, the topmost demigods.
Above the human beings there are demigods.
As we human beings are above the lower animals, above us there are demigods,
the most important of whom are Lord Brahma and Lord Siva. Lord Brahma is the
creator of this universe, Lord Siva is its destroyer, and Lord Visnu, who is
Krsna Himself, is its maintainer. For the maintenance of this material world
there are three gunas, or modes of material nature--sattva-guna (the mode of
goodness), rajo-guna (the mode of passion), and tamo-guna (the mode of
ignorance). Lord Visnu, Lord Brahma, and Lord Siva have each taken charge of
one of these modes--Lord Visnu of sattva-guna, Lord Brahma of rajo-guna, and
Lord Siva of tamo-guna. Yet these three controllers are not under the influence
of the gunas. Just as the superintendent of a jail is not a prisoner but the
controlling officer, so Lord Siva, Lord Visnu, and Lord Brahma control these
three gunas and are not under the control of the gunas.
But above all
others, the supreme controller is Krsna, who is known as Hrsikesa. The word
hrsika means "senses." We are enjoying our senses, but ultimately the
controller of the senses is Krsna. Consider my hand, for example. I claim,
"This is my hand. I can fight you with a good fist." I am very much
proud. But I am not the controller; the controller is Krsna, because if He
withdraws my hand's power to act, the hand will be paralyzed. Although I claim,
"It is my hand, and I shall use it," when it is paralyzed I cannot do
anything. Therefore, I should understand that although I possess this hand by
the grace of Krsna, I am not its controller. This is Krsna consciousness.
A sane man will
think, "If this hand is ultimately controlled by Krsna, then it is meant
for Krsna." This is a commonsense understanding. I claim, "This is my
hand, this is my leg, this is my ear." Even a child will speak this way.
If we ask a child, "What is this?" he will say, "It is my
hand." But regardless of what we claim, actually it is not our hand; it is
given to us. Because I wanted to use my hand in so many ways, Krsna has given
it to me: "All right, take this hand and use it." So it is a gift
from Krsna, and therefore a sane man always consciously thinks, "Whatever
I have in my possession, beginning with this body and my senses, is actually
not mine. I have been given all these possessions to use, and if everything
ultimately belongs to Krsna, why not use everything for Krsna?" This is
intelligence, and this is Krsna consciousness.
Everyone is part
and parcel of Krsna (mamaivamso jiva-loke jiva-bhutah), and therefore
everyone's senses are also Krsna's. When we use the senses for Krsna's service,
we attain the perfection of life. Therefore, hrsikena hrsikesa-sevanam bhaktir
ucyate: when by our senses (hrsikena) we serve Hrsikesa, the real master of the
senses, that service is called bhakti. This is a very simple definition of
bhakti. Hrsikesa-sevanam, not hrsika-sevanam--service to the supreme master of
the senses, not to the senses themselves. When we use our senses for sense
gratification, we are in maya, illusion, but when we use our senses for the
gratification of the master of the senses, that service is called bhakti.
In this material
world, everyone is generally using his senses for sense gratification. That is
maya, illusion, and that is the cause of one's bondage. But when one comes to
Krsna consciousness, when one becomes purified and understands that these
senses are actually meant for satisfying Krsna, then he is a liberated person
(mukta-purusa).
iha yasya harer dasye
karmana manasa gira
nikhilasv apy avasthasu
jivan-muktah sa ucyate
"A person
who acts in the service of Krsna with his body, mind, intelligence, and words
is a liberated person, even within the material world." One should come to
understand, "My senses are meant to serve the master of the senses,
Hrsikesa." The master of the senses is sitting within everyone's heart. In
the Bhagavad-gita (15.15) the Lord says, sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto:
"I am seated in everyone's heart." Mattah smrtirjnanam apohanam ca:
"And from Me come remembrance, knowledge, and forgetfulness."
Krsna is so
merciful that if we want to use our senses in a certain way, He will give us
the chance to do so. The senses are not ours; they are Krsna's, but Krsna gives
us the opportunity to use them according to our desires. For example, each of
us has a tongue, and suppose we want to eat stool. We may say, "Krsna, I
want to taste stool," and Krsna will say, "Yes, take this body of a
hog and eat stool." The master is present--Krsna. He will give us an
appropriate body and remind us, "My dear living entity, you wanted to eat
stool. Now you have the proper body in which to do so." Similarly, if one
wants to become a demigod, Krsna will give one a chance to do that also. There
are 8,400,000 forms of life, and if one wants to engage one's senses in a
particular type of body, Krsna will give one the chance: "Come on. Here is
the body you want. Take it." But eventually one will become exasperated by
using one's senses. Ultimately one will become senseless. Therefore Krsna says,
sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja: "Don't act like this.
Your senses are meant for serving Me. You are misusing your senses and are
therefore being entrapped in different types of bodies. Therefore, to get
relief from this tedious business of accepting one body and then giving it up
to accept another and again another in continued material existence, just give
up this process of sense gratification and surrender unto Me. Then you will be
saved." This is Krsna consciousness.
At the present
moment, our senses are contaminated. I am thinking, "I am American, so my
senses should be used for the service of my country, my society, my
nation." Or else I am thinking, "I am Indian, and my senses are
Indian senses, and therefore they should be used for India." In ignorance,
one does not know that the senses belong to Krsna. Instead, one thinks that one
has American senses, Indian senses, or African senses. This is called maya,
illusion. In material life, the senses are covered by designations such as
" American," "Indian," and " African," but when
our senses are no longer contaminated by all these designations
(sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam), bhakti begins.
To think "I
am an American. Why shall I take to Krsna consciousness and worship a Hindu
god?" is foolishness. If one thinks, "I am Muhammadan," "I
am Christian," or "I am Hindu," one is in illusion. One must
purify the senses so that one can understand, "I am a spirit soul, and the
supreme spirit soul is Krsna. I am part and parcel of Krsna, and therefore it
is my duty to serve Krsna." When one thinks in this way, one immediately
becomes free. At that time, one is no longer American, Indian, African, this,
or that. At that time, one is Krsna-ized, or Krsna conscious. That is what is
wanted. Therefore Kuntidevi says, "My dear Krsna, Hrsikesa, You are the
master of the senses."
For sense
gratification we have fallen into this material condition and are suffering in
different varieties of life. Because this is the material world, even Krsna's
mother was put into suffering. Devaki was so advanced that she became the
mother of Krsna, but still she was put into difficulties by her own brother,
Kamsa. That is the nature of this material world. The living entities in this
world are so jealous that if one's personal interest is hampered, one will
immediately be ready to give trouble to others, even to one's nearest relatives.
The word khala
means "jealous." This material world is a world of jealousy and envy.
I am envious of you, and you are envious of me. The Krsna consciousness
movement, however, is meant for one who is no longer jealous or envious. By
becoming free from jealousy and envy, one becomes a perfect person. Dharmah
projjhita-kaitavo 'tra paramo nirmat-saranam satam (SB. 1.1.2). Those who are
jealous and envious are within this material world, and those who are not are
in the spiritual world. Therefore, we can test ourselves. If we are jealous or
envious of our friends or other associates, we are in the material world, and
if we are not jealous we are in the spiritual world. There need be no doubt of
whether we are spiritually advanced or not. We can test ourselves. Bhaktih
paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra ca (SB. 11.2.42). When we eat, we can understand
for ourselves whether our hunger is satisfied; we don't have to take a
certificate from others. Similarly, we can test for ourselves whether we are in
the material world or the spiritual world. If we are jealous or envious, we are
in the material world, and if we are not we are in the spiritual world.
If one is not
jealous, one can serve Krsna very well, because jealousy and envy begin with
being jealous of Krsna. For example, some philosophers think, "Why should
Krsna be God? I am also God." This is the beginning of material life--to
be envious of Krsna. "Why should Krsna be the enjoyer?" they think.
"I shall also be the enjoyer. Why should Krsna enjoy the gopis? I shall
become Krsna and make a society of gopis and enjoy." This is maya. No one
but Krsna can be the enjoyer. Krsna therefore says in Bhagavad-gita, bhoktaram
yajna: "I am the only enjoyer." If we supply ingredients for Krsna's
enjoyment, we attain the perfection of life. But if we want to imitate Krsna,
thinking, "I shall become God and enjoy like Him," then we are in
maya. Our natural position is to provide enjoyment for Krsna. In the spiritual
world, for example, Krsna enjoys, and the gopis, the transcendental cowherd
girls, supply the ingredients for Krsna's enjoyment. This is bhakti.
Bhakti is a
relationship between master and servant. The servant's duty is to serve the
master, and the master supplies whatever the servant needs.
nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam
eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman
(Katha Up. 2.2.13)
The Vedic
literature informs us that Krsna can supply all the necessities for one's life.
There is no scarcity and no economic problem. We simply have to try to serve
Krsna, and then everything will be complete.
If Krsna
desires, there may be ample supplies. In America, for example, there is an
ample supply of everything needed, although in other countries this is not so.
For instance, when I went to Switzerland I saw that everything there is
imported. The only thing supplied locally is snow. This is all under Krsna's
control. If one becomes a devotee, one will be amply supplied with food, and if
one does not become a devotee one will be covered with snow. Everything is
under Krsna's control, so actually there is no scarcity. The only scarcity is a
scarcity of Krsna consciousness.
Of course, the
world is full of dangers. But Kuntidevi says, "Because Devaki is Your
devotee, You saved her from the distresses imposed upon her by her envious
brother." As soon as Devaki's brother heard that his sister's eighth son
would kill him, he was immediately ready to kill Devaki. But Devaki's husband
pacified him. It is the duty of a husband to protect his wife, and therefore
Devaki's husband said, "My dear brother-in-law, why are you envious of
your sister? After all, your sister will not kill you; it is her son who will
kill you. That is the problem. So I shall deliver all the sons to you, and then
you may do whatever you like with them. Why should you kill this innocent,
newly married girl? She is your younger sister, and you should protect her,
just as you would protect your daughter. Why should you kill her?" In this
way he placated Kamsa, who believed Vasudeva's word that he would bring all the
sons so that if Karhsa wanted he could kill them. Vasudeva thought, "Let
me save the present situation. After all, if Karhsa later gets a nephew, he may
forget this envy." But Kamsa never forgot. Instead, he kept Devaki and
Vasudeva in prison for a long time (aticiram) and killed all their sons.
Finally, Krsna appeared and saved Vasudeva and Devaki.
Therefore, we
must depend on Krsna, like Devaki and Kunti. After Kunti became a widow, the
envious Dhrtarastra was always planning ways to kill her sons, the five
Pandavas. "Because by chance I was born blind," he thought, "I
could not inherit the throne of the kingdom, and instead it went to my younger brother.
Now he is dead, so at least my sons should get the throne." This is the
materialistic propensity. One thinks, "1 shall be happy. My sons will be
happy. My community will be happy. My nation will be happy." This is
extended selfishness. No one is thinking of Krsna and how Krsna will be happy.
Rather, everyone is thinking in terms of his own happiness: "How shall I
be happy? How will my children, my community, my society, and my nation be
happy?" Everywhere we shall find this. Everyone is struggling for existence,
not thinking of how Krsna will be happy. Krsna consciousness is very sublime.
We should try to understand it from Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita and try
to engage our senses for the service of the master of the senses (hrsikena
hrsikesa-sevanam). Then we shall actually be happy.
Chapter Seven
Dangerous Encounters
visan mahagneh purusada-darsanad
asat-sabhaya vana-vasa-krcchratah
mrdhe mrdhe 'neka-maharathastrato
drauny-astratas casma hare 'bhiraksitah
My dear Krsna,
Your Lordship has protected us from a poisoned cake, from a great fire, from
cannibals, from the vicious assembly, from sufferings during our exile in the
forest, and from the battle where great generals fought. And now You have saved
us from the weapon of Asvatthama.
The list of
dangerous encounters is submitted herein. Devaki was once put into difficulty
by her envious brother, otherwise she was well. But Kuntidevi and her sons were
put into one difficulty after another for years and years together. They were
put into trouble by Duryodhana and his party due to the kingdom, and each and
every time the sons of Kunti were saved by the Lord. Once Bhima was
administered poison in a cake, once they were put into the house made of
shellac and set afire, and once Draupadi was dragged out, and attempts were
made to insult her by stripping her naked in the vicious assembly of the Kurus.
The Lord saved Draupadi by supplying an immeasurable length of cloth, and
Duryodhana's party failed to see her naked. Similarly, when they were exiled in
the forest, Bhima had to fight with the man-eater demon Hidimba Raksasa, but
the Lord saved him. So it was not finished there. After all these tribulations,
there was the great Battle of Kuruksetra, and Arjuna had to meet such great
generals as Drona, Bhisma, and Karna, all powerful fighters. And at last, even
when everything was done away with, there was the brahmastra released by the
son of Dronacarya to kill the child within the womb of Uttara, and so the Lord
saved the only surviving descendant of the Kurus, Maharaja Pariksit.
Here Kunti
remembers all the dangers through which she passed before the Pandavas regained
their kingdom. In Bhagavad-gita Lord Krsna says, kaunteya pratijanihi na me
bhaktah pranasyati: "My dear Arjuna, you may declare to the world that My
devotee is never vanquished." The Pandavas, the sons of Pandu, were great
devotees of Lord Krsna, but because people in the material world are interested
in material things, the Pandavas were put into many dangers. Their
materialistic uncle Dhrtarastra was always planning to kill them and usurp the
kingdom for his own sons. That was his policy from the very beginning.
Once Dhrtarastra
constructed a house of lac, which was so inflammable that when touched with a
match it would immediately burst into fire. Then he told his nephews and his
sister-in-law, Kunti, "I've constructed a very nice house, and you should
go live there for some time." But Dhrtarastra's brother Vidura informed
them of Dhrtarastra's policy: "He wants you to go to that house so that
you may burn to ashes." When Dhrtarastra's son Duryodhana understood that
Vidura had thus informed the Pandavas, he was very angry. Such is the nature of
politics. Then, although the Pandavas knew, "Our uncle's plan is to send
us into that house and set it afire," they agreed to go there. After all,
Dhrtarastra was their guardian, and they did not want to be disobedient to the
order of a superior. But they dug a tunnel under that house, and when the house
was set on fire they escaped.
Another time,
when the Pandavas were at home, Dhrtarastra gave them poison cakes, but they
escaped from being poisoned. Then purusada-darsanat: they met a man-eating
demon named Hidimba Raksasa, but Bhima fought with him and killed him.
On another
occasion, the Pandavas were cheated in a game of chess in the royal assembly of
the Kurus. Dhrtarastra, Bhismadeva, Dronacarya, and other elderly persons were
present, and somehow or other Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas, was placed as
a bet. "Now if you lose," the Kurus told the Pandavas, "Draupadi
will no longer be your wife." So when the Pandavas lost the game, Karna
and Duhsasana immediately captured her. "Now you no longer belong to your
husbands," they told her. "You are our property. We can deal with you
as we like."
Previously,
Karna had been insulted during Draupadi's svayamvara. In those days a very
qualified princess would select her own husband in a ceremony called a
svayamvara. In modern America, of course, any girl may select a husband as she
likes, although for a common girl this is actually not very good. But even in
those times an uncommon, highly qualified girl who knew how to select a good
husband was given the chance to do so. Even this, however, was limited by very
strict conditions. Draupadi's father, for example, placed a fish on the
ceiling, and he stipulated that in order to qualify to marry his daughter, a
prince had to shoot an arrow and pierce the eye of the fish, without directly
seeing the fish but seeing only its reflection in a pot of water on the floor.
When these conditions were declared, many princes came to compete, for responding
to a challenge is a principle for a ksatriya, a heroic leader.
In the assembly
for Draupadi's svayamvara, Karna was present. Draupadi's real purpose was to
accept Arjuna as her husband, but Karna was there, and she knew that if he
competed, Arjuna would not be able to succeed. At that time it was not known
that Karna was a ksatriya. He was born the son of Kunti before her marriage,
but that was a secret. Karna had been maintained by a carpenter, and therefore
he was known as a sudra, a member of the lowest occupational division of
society. Draupadi took advantage of this by saying, "In this assembly,
only ksatriyas may compete. I do not want any carpenter to come here and take
part in the competition." In this way, Karna was excluded.
Karna regarded
this as a great insult, and therefore when Draupadi was lost in the game, he
was the first to come forward. He was Duryodhana's great friend, and he said,
"Now we want to see the naked beauty of Draupadi." Present at that
meeting were elderly persons like Dhrtarastra, Bhisma, and Dronacarya, but they
did not protest. They did not say, "What is this? You are going to strip a
lady naked in this assembly?" Because they did not protest, they are
described as asat-sabhayah, an assembly of uncultured men. Only an uncultured
man wants to see a woman naked, although nowadays that has become fashionable.
According to the Vedic culture, a woman is not supposed to be naked before
anyone except her husband. Therefore, because these men wanted to see Draupadi
naked in that great assembly, they were all rascals. The word sat means
"gentle," and asat means "rude." Therefore Kuntidevi prays
to Lord Krsna, "You saved Draupadi in that assembly of rude men."
When the Kurus were taking away Draupadi's sari to see her naked, Krsna
supplied more and more cloth for the sari, and therefore they could not come to
the end of it. Finally, with heaps of cloth stacked in the room, they became
tired and realized she would never be naked. They could understand, "It is
impossible."
At first,
Draupadi had tried to hold on to her sari. But what could she do? After all,
she was a woman, and the Kurus were trying to strip her naked. So she cried and
prayed to Krsna, "Save my honor," but she also tried to save herself
by holding on to her sari. Then she thought, "It is impossible to save my
honor in this way," and she let go and simply raised her arms and prayed,
"Krsna, if You like You can save me." Thus the Lord responded to her
prayers.
Therefore, it is
not very good to try to save oneself. Rather, one should simply depend on
Krsna: "Krsna, if You save me, that is all right. Otherwise, kill me. You
may do as You like." As Bhaktivinoda Thakura says:
manasa, deha, geha--yo kichu mora
arpilun tuya pade, nanda-kisora
"My dear
Lord, whatever I have in my possession I surrender unto You. And what do I
have? I have this body and mind, I have a little home and my wife and children,
but whatever I have, I surrender everything unto You." This is full
surrender.
A devotee of
Krsna surrenders unto Krsna without reservation, and therefore he is called
akincana. The word kincana refers to something one reserves for oneself, and
akincana means that one does not keep anything for oneself. Of course, although
actually one should surrender in this way, in the material world one should not
artificially imitate those who are fully surrendered. According to the example
set by Rupa Gosvami, whatever possessions one has, one should give flfty
percent for Krsna and twenty-five percent for one's relatives, who will also
expect something, and one should keep twenty-five percent for personal
emergencies. Before his retirement, Rupa Gosvami divided his money in this way,
although later, when his brother Sanatana Gosvami, another great devotee, was
arrested, Rupa Gosvami spent everything. This is full surrender. Similarly,
Draupadi fully surrendered to Krsna without trying to save herself, and then
unlimited yards of cloth were supplied, and the Kurus could not see her naked.
But then, in the
next game of chess, the bet was that if the Pandavas lost the game they would
go to the forest for twelve years. Thereafter they were to remain incognito for
one year, and if detected they would have to live in the forest again for
another twelve years. This game also the Pandavas lost, so for twelve years
they lived in the forest and for one year incognito. It was while they were
living incognito that Arjuna won Uttara.
These incidents
are all recorded in the book known as the Mahabharata. The word maha means
"great" or "greater," and bharata refers to India. Thus the
Mahabharata is the history of greater India. Sometimes people regard these
accounts as stories or mythology, but that is nonsense. The Mahabharata and the
Puranas are histories, although they are not chronological. If the history of
such a vast period of time was recorded chronologically, how many pages would
it have to be? Therefore, only the most important incidents are selected and
described in the Mahabharata.
Kunti prays to
Krsna by describing how He saved the Pandavas on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra.
Mrdhe mrdhe 'neka-maharathastratah. On the Battlefield of Kuruksetra there were
great, great fighters called maharathas. Just as military men in modern days
are given titles like lieutenant, captain, commander, and commander-in-chief,
formerly there were titles like eka-ratha, ati-ratha, and maha-ratha. The word
ratha means "chariot." So if a warrior could fight against one
chariot, he was called eka-ratha, and if he could fight against thousands of
chariots he was called maha-ratha. All the commanders on the Battlefield of
Kuruksetra were maha-rathas. Many of them are mentioned in Bhagavad-gita.
Bhisma, Karna, and Dronacarya were especially great commanders. They were such
powerful fighters that although Arjuna was also a maha-ratha, before them he
was nothing. But by the grace of Krsna he was able to kill Karna, Bhisma,
Dronacarya, and the others and come out victorious. While speaking with Sukadeva
Gosvami, Maharaja Pariksit also referred to this. "The Battlefield of
Kuruksetra," he said, "wasjust like an ocean, and the warriors were
like many ferocious aquatic animals. But by the grace of Krsna, my grandfather
Arjuna crossed over this ocean very easily."
This is very
significant. We may have many enemies who may be very powerful fighters, but if
we remain under the protection of Krsna, no one can do us any harm. Rakhe krsna
mare ke mare krsna rakhe ke. "He whom Krsna protects, no one can kill, but
if Krsna wants to kill someone, no one can give him protection." For
example, suppose a very rich man is suffering from disease. He may have a
first-class physician, medicine, and hospital available for him, but still he
may die. This means that Krsna desired, "This man must die."
Therefore, the so-called protective methods we have devised will be useless if
Krsna does not desire us to live. The demon Ravana was very powerful, but when
Krsna in the form of Lord Ramacandra desired to kill him, no one could protect
him. Ravana was a great devotee of Lord Siva and was praying to Lord Siva,
"Please come save me from this danger." But Lord Siva did not come.
Then Parvati, Lord Siva's wife, asked Lord Siva, "What is this? He is such
a great devotee and has served you so much, and now he is in danger and is
asking your help. Why are you not going to help him?" Then Lord Siva
replied, "My dear Parvati, what shall I do? I cannot give him protection.
It is not possible. Why shall I go?" Therefore, if God wants to kill
someone, no one can give him protection, and if God wants to protect someone,
no one can kill him. Rakhe krsna mare ke mare krsna rakhe ke.
Thus Kunti is
remembering how Krsna saved her and her sons one time afler another. This is
smaranam, thinking of Krsna. " Krsna, You are so kind to us that You saved
us from many great dangers. Without You there was no hope."
Then the last
danger was drauny-astra, the weapon of Asvatthama, the son of Drona. Asvatthama
performed a most abominable act by killing the five sons of the Pandavas. Of
course, in the Battle of Kuruksetra both sides belonged to the same family, and
practically everyone was killed, but the five sons of the Pandavas survived. So
Asvatthama thought, "If I kill these five sons of the Pandavas and present
their heads to Duryodhana, he will be very much pleased." Therefore, when
the five sons were sleeping, he severed their heads, which he then presented to
Duryodhana. At that time, Duryodhana was incapacitated. His spine was broken,
and he could not move. Asvatthama said, "I have brought the five heads of
the Pandavas, my dear Duryodhana." At first, Duryodhana was very glad, but
he knew how to test the heads to see whether they were in fact the heads of the
Pandavas. When he pressed the heads, the heads collapsed, and Duryodhana said,
"Oh, these are not the heads of the Pandavas. They must be the heads of
their sons." When Asvatthama admitted that this was so, Duryodhana
fainted, and when he revived he said, "You have killed all our hopes. I
had hoped that in our family at least these five sons would survive, but now
you have killed them." Thus in lamentation he died.
Subsequently,
Arjuna arrested Asvatthama and was going to kill him. In fact, Krsna ordered,
"Kill him. He is not a brahmana; he is less than a sudra." But then
Draupadi said, "I am suffering because of the death of my sons, and this
rascal is the son of our guru-maharaja, Dronacarya, who has done so much for
us. If Asvatthama dies, then Dronacarya's wife, our mother guru, will be very
much unhappy. So release him and let him go away." Thus Arjuna freed
Asvatthama. But then Asvatthama, having been insulted, retaliated by unleashing
a brahmastra. The brahmastra is something like a nuclear weapon. It can go to
the enemy, wherever he is, and kill him. Asvatthama knew, "The last
descendant of the Kuru family is Pariksit, the son of Abhimanyu. He is in the
womb of Uttara, so let me kill him also, and then the entire dynasty will be
finished."
When that weapon
was unleashed, Pariksit Maharaja's mother, Uttara, felt that she was going to
have a miscarriage, and therefore she approached Krsna, saying, "Please
save me." Krsna, by His mystic power, therefore entered the womb of Uttara
and saved the child. After the Battle of Kuruksetra, Pariksit Maharaja, who was
still in the womb of his mother, was the last remaining descendant of the
Pandavas, and in mature time, when he was born, only his grandfathers were
still alive. Pariksit Maharaja was the son of Abhimanyu, who was the son of
Arjuna and Subhadra, Krsna's sister. When Abhimanyu was sixteen years old, he
went to fight, and seven great commanders joined forces to kill him. Subhadra
had only one grandchild, Pariksit Maharaja. As soon as he grew up, the entire
estate of the Pandavas was entrusted to him, and all the Pandavas left home and
went to the Himalayas. This history is described in the Mahabharata. Many great
misfortunes befell the Pandavas, but in all circumstances they simply depended
on Krsna, who always saved them. Queen Kunti's response to these misfortunes is
recorded in the next verse.
Chapter Eight
Let There Be Calamities
vipadah santu tah sasvat
tatra tatra jagad-guro
bhavato darsanam yat syad
apunar bhava-darsanam
I wish that all
those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again
and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and
deaths.
Generally, the
distressed, the needy, the intelligent, and the inquisitive who have performed
some pious activities worship or begin to worship the Lord. Others, who are
thriving on misdeeds only, regardless of status, cannot approach the Supreme
due to being misled by the illusory energy. Therefore, for a pious person, if
there is some calamity there is no other alternative than to take shelter of
the lotus feet of the Lord. Constantly remembering the lotus feet of the Lord
means preparing for liberation from birth and death. Therefore, even though
there are so-called calamities, they are welcome because they give us an
opportunity to remember the Lord, which means liberation.
One who has
taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord, which are accepted as the most
suitable boat for crossing the ocean of nescience, can achieve liberation as
easily as one leaps over the holes made by the hooves of a calf. Such persons
are meant to reside in the abode of the Lord, and they have nothing to do with
a place where there is danger in every step.
This material
world is certified by the Lord in the Bhagavad-gita as a dangerous place full
of calamities. Less intelligent persons prepare plans to adjust to those
calamities, without knowing that the nature of this place is to be full of
calamities. They have no information of the abode of the Lord, which is full of
bliss and without trace of calamity. The duty of the sane person, therefore, is
to be undisturbed by worldly calamities, which are sure to happen in all
circumstances. Suffering all sorts of unavoidable misfortunes, one should make
progress in spiritual realization, because that is the mission of human life.
The spirit soul is transcendental to all material calamities; therefore, the
so-called calamities are called false. A man may see a tiger swallowing him in
a dream, and he may cry for this calamity. Actually there is no tiger and there
is no suffering; it is simply a case of dreams. In the same way, all calamities
of life are said to be dreams. If someone is lucky enough to get in contact
with the Lord by devotional service, it is all gain. Contact with the Lord by
any one of the nine devotional services is always a forward step on the path
going back to Godhead.
In this very
interesting verse, it is described that vipadah--calamities or dangers--are
very good if such dangers and calamities remind us of Krsna.
tat te 'nukampam susamiksamano
bhunjana evatma-krtam vipakam
(SB. 10.14.8)
How does a
devotee receive dangers? There must be dangers because this material world is
full of dangers. But foolish people who do not know this try to avoid the
dangers. Thus they struggle for existence. Everyone is trying to become happy
and avoid danger. This is our material business. Everyone is trying for
atyantikam sukham, ultimate happiness. A working man thinks, "Let me work
very hard now and put money in the bank, so that when I get old I shall enjoy
life without working." This is the inner intention of everyone. No one
wants to work; as soon as one gets some money, he wants to retire from work and
become happy. But that is not possible. One cannot become happy in that way.
Here Kuntidevi
speaks of apunar bhava-darsanam. The prefix a means "not," and punar
bhava means "repetition of birth and death." The real danger is the
repetition of birth and death. That must be stopped.
The material
world is full of dangers (padam padam yad vipadam). For example, if one is on
the ocean one may have a very strong ship, but that ship can never be safe;
because one is at sea, at any time there may be dangers. The Titanic was safe,
but on its first voyage it sank, and many important men lost their lives. So
danger there must be, because we are in a dangerous position. This material
world itself is dangerous. Therefore, our business now should be to cross over
this sea of danger as soon as possible. As long as we are at sea, we are in a
dangerous position, however strong our ship may be. That's a fact. But we
should not be disturbed by the sea waves; instead, we should just try to cross
over the sea and get to the other side. That should be our business.
As long as we
are in this material world, there must be calamities because this is the place
of calamity. But even with calamities our business should be to develop our
Krsna consciousness, so that after giving up this body we may go back home,
back to Krsna.
On the Battlefield
of Kuruksetra, Arjuna said to Krsna, "Whatever You are saying is all
right. I am not this body. I am a soul, and this is also true of everyone else.
So when the body is annihilated, the soul will continue to exist. But when I
see that my son is dying or my grandfather is dying and that I am killing, how
can I be solaced simply by knowing that they are not dying, but that only their
bodies are changing? I am accustomed to thinking of them with affection in
terms of the body, and so there must be grief and suffering."
Krsna did not
deny what Arjuna said. "Yes," He replied. "That's a fact.
Because you are in the bodily concept of life, there must be suffering. So you
must tolerate it, that's all. There is no other remedy." As mentioned in
Bhagavad-gita (2.14), Lord Krsna told Arjuna:
matra-sparsas tu kaunteya
sitosna-sukha-duhkha-dah
agamapayino 'nityas
tams titiksasva bharata
"O son of Kunti,
the nonpermanent appearance of heat and cold, happiness and distress, and their
disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of
winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of
Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed."
In America it
may sometimes be very chilly in the morning, and that may make taking one's
morning bath a little difficult. But does that mean that those who are devotees
will stop taking their prescribed morning bath? No. Even if it is chilly, they
must take this regular bath. The duty must be done, even if there is a little
suffering involved. That is called tapasya, or austerity. Tapasya means that we
must proceed with our business of Krsna consciousness despite all the dangers
and calamities of this world. This is called tapasya, or voluntary acceptance
of the difficulties of life.
Sometimes those
who have undertaken strict vows of tapasya will ignite a ring of fire all
around themselves, and in the scorching heat of the sun in the hot summer they
will sit down in the midst of that fire and meditate. Similarly, in the chilly
cold of winter they will immerse themselves in water up to the neck and
meditate. Such vows are prescribed in strict systems of tapasya. But Lord
Caitanya Mahaprabhu does not give us such a prescription. Instead, He gives us
a very nice program: chant, dance, and take prasada, food offered first to Lord
Krsna. But still we are unwilling. We are so fallen that we cannot accept even
this tapasya. Although this kind of tapasya is very easy to perform and very
pleasant (susukham kartum avyayam), still we are not agreeable. We may even
prefer to rot in the street. Some people prefer to drink and have sex and live
in the street. So what can be done?
The Krsna
consciousness movement is giving all facilities so that people may come here,
chant, dance, live very peacefully, take krsna-prasada, and be happy, but
people will not accept it. That is called misfortune. Caitanya Mahaprabhu, portraying
the people of this age, therefore said, "I am so unfortunate that I have
no attachment for chanting Hare Krsna." Lord Caitanya prayed (Siksastaka
2):
namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis
tatrarpita ntyamitah smarane na kalah
etadrsi tava krpa bhagavan mamapi
durdaivam idrsam ihajani nanuragah
Krsna, the
transcendental holy name of God, has all potencies, Lord Caitanya said. Krsna
has unlimited potencies, and similarly in the holy name of Krsna there are
unlimited potencies. Krsna has thousands and thousands of names, of which the
name Krsna is the chief, and there are no hard and fast rules for chanting. It
is not that one must chant at a certain time. No. At any time one may chant.
Furthermore, Krsna's name is identical with Krsna Himself. Therefore the holy
name of Krsna is Krsna.
We should not
think that Krsna is living in His abode, Goloka Vrndavana, and that His name is
different from Him. In the material world, of course, in the material
conception, a name is different from the fact it represents. But in the
absolute world there are no such differences. The name is as potent as Krsna
is. We have a tongue, and if we use this tongue to chant Hare Krsna, we shall
immediately come directly in touch with Krsna, because the name Krsna and the
person Krsna are not different. We may think that Krsna is far, far away, but
in fact Krsna is within us. He is far away, but at the same time He is the
nearest. But even if we think that Krsna is far, far away, His name is present.
We can chant Hare Krsna, and Krsna will immediately become available. Krsna is
available in this easy way, for which there are no hard and fast rules. We can
chant at any time and immediately get Krsna. Just see the mercy of Krsna!
Therefore
Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, etadrsi tava krpa bhagavan mamapi durdaivam idrsam
ihajani nanuragah: "My dear Lord, You have given me such generous
facilities by which to contact You, but I am so unfortunate that I have no
attachment for these things. I have attachment for so many other things, but I
have no attachment for chanting Hare Krsna. This is my misfortune." Krsna
is so magnanimous that He is present before us by the transcendental vibration
of His name, which has all the potencies of Krsna Himself, and if we remain in
contact with that name we shall get all the benefits of Krsna's benedictions.
But still we are not inclined to chant the Hare Krsna mantra. This is our
misfortune.
A devotee,
however, is never disturbed by dangers, reverses, or calamities. Rather, he
welcomes them. Because he is a surrendered soul, he knows that both dangers and
festivals are but different demonstrations of Krsna, who is absolute. In the
sastra, the Vedic literature, it is said that religion and irreligion, which
are complete opposites, are merely the front portion and the back portion of
God. But is there any difference between God's front and God's back? God is
absolute, and therefore a devotee, either in opulence or in danger, is
undisturbed, knowing that both of these are Krsna.
When a devotee
is in danger, he thinks, "Now Krsna has appeared before me as
danger." In His form of Nrsimhadeva, the Lord was dangerous to the demon
Hiranyakasipu, but the same Nrsimhadeva was the supreme friend to the devoted
Prahlada Maharaja. God is never dangerous to the devotee, and the devotee is
never afraid of dangers, because he is confident that the danger is but another
feature of God. "Why should I be afraid?" the devotee thinks. "I
am surrendered to Him."
Therefore
Kuntidevi says, vipadah santu: "Let there be calamities." Vipadah
santu tah sasvat: "Let all those calamities happen again and again."
Because she knows how to remember Krsna at times of danger, she is welcoming
danger. "My dear Lord," she says, "I welcome dangers, because
when dangers come I can remember You." When Prahlada Maharaja's father was
putting him into dangerous predicaments, Prahlada was always thinking of Krsna.
So if we are put into a dangerous position and that danger gives us an impetus
to remember Krsna, that is welcome: "Oh, I am getting this opportunity to
remember Krsna." Why is this welcome? It is welcome because seeing Krsna
or remembering Krsna means advancing in spiritual life so that we will not have
to suffer any more of these dangers. Tyaktva deham punarjanma naiti mam eti so
'rjuna (Bg. 4.9). If one becomes advanced in Krsna consciousness, the result
will be that after giving up the body (tyaktva deham) one will not have to take
birth again in this material world (punar janma naiti). This is to be desired.
Suppose I am
very comfortable at the present moment. My body may be comfortable, but there
will be death, and then another birth. After giving up my present body, if I
get the body of a cat or a dog, what is the meaning of my comfortable position?
Death is sure, and after death one must surely accept another body. We may not
know what kind of body we shall get, but we can know from the sastra, the Vedic
literature. The sastra says that according to our particular mentality, we will
get a particular kind of body. Although I may be in a comfortable position, if
I keep myself in the mentality of a dog, I shall get my next life as a dog.
Therefore, what is the value of this comfortable position? I may be in a
comfortable position for twenty years, thirty years, fifty years, or at the
utmost one hundred years. Yet if, when I give up this body, my mentality causes
me to become a cat, a dog, or a mouse, what is the benefit of this comfortable
position? But people do not consider this. They think, especially in the
present age, "I am now in a comfortable position. I have enough money and
a good estate. I have ample comforts and enough food. When this body is
finished, I am not going to take birth again, so as long as I am living, let me
enjoy life." This is the modern philosophy of hedonism, but it does not
correspond to the facts.
Kunti, however,
is aware of birth and death, and she is anxious not to repeat this process.
This is indicated by the words apunar bhava-darsanam. If one always sees Krsna,
one is in Krsna consciousness, for Krsna consciousness means always thinking of
Krsna. One's consciousness should be absorbed in Krsna thought. Therefore the
spiritual master gives different varieties of engagements to devotees in Krsna
consciousness. For example, under the direction of the spiritual master the
devotees may sell books in Krsna consciousness. But if the devotees think that
the energy invested in selling books should be diverted into selling jewelry,
that is not a very good idea. Then they would become nothing more than
jewelers. We should be very much careful not to be diverted from Krsna
consciousness. Even if there is danger or suffering in Krsna consciousness, we
should tolerate it. We should even welcome such danger, and we should pray in
appreciation to Krsna.
How should we
pray? Tat te 'nukampam susamiksamanah: "My dear Lord, it is Your great
mercy that I have been put into this dangerous position." That is the
viewpoint of a devotee. He doesn't regard danger as danger. Rather, he thinks,
"It is Krsna's mercy." What kind of mercy? Bhunjana evatma-krtam
vtpakam: "Because of my past activities, I was meant to suffer very much.
But You are mitigating that suffering and giving me only a little." In
other words, by the grace of Krsna a devotee may receive only token punishment.
In court an
important man is sometimes found to be a culprit, and the judge may be able to
fine him a hundred thousand dollars and know that the man can pay it. But he
may tell the man, "You just give one cent." That is also punishment,
but it is greatly minimized. Similarly, we have to suffer for our past deeds.
That is a fact, and we cannot avoid it. But karmani nirdahati kintu ca
bhakti-bhajam (Brahma-samhita 5.54): the sufferings of those who engage in
devotional service in Krsna consciousness are minimized. For example, one may
have been destined to be killed, but instead of being killed with a knife, he
may instead get some little cut on his finger. In this way, for those who
engage in devotional service, the reactions of past activities are minimized.
Lord Krsna assures His devotees, aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami: "I
shall give you protection from the reactions of sinful life." So even if a
devotee has a history of very grievous criminal activities behind him, instead
of being killed he may only get a little cut on his finger. Why then should a
devotee fear danger?
We should simply
depend on Krsna consciousness, because if we live Krsna consciously under all
circumstances, we shall not return to this material world (apunar
bhava-darsanam). If we repeatedly think of Krsna, see Krsna, read of Krsna,
work for Krsna, and somehow or other remain in Krsna consciousness, we benefit
in such a way that we shall be saved from taking birth again in the material
world. That is true benefit. But if we become a little comfortable because of
other, materialistic engagements and we forget Krsna and have to take birth
again, then what is our benefit? We should be very careful about this. We
should act in such a way that our Krsna consciousness can under no
circumstances be disturbed, even if there is heavy suffering. That is the
instruction of Kuntidevi.
Before winning
the Battle of Kuruksetra, all the Pandavas were put into many dangers, as
already described in the previous verses. They were given poison, they were put
into a house of lac that was later set afire, and sometimes they were even
confronted with great man-eating demons. They lost their kingdom, they lost
their wife, they lost their prestige, and they were exiled to the forest. But
throughout all those dangers, Krsna was there. When the Kauravas were trying to
strip Draupadi naked, Krsna was there supplying cloth to protect her honor.
Krsna was always there.
Therefore, when
the Pandavas went to see their grandfather, Bhismadeva, on his deathbed,
Bhismadeva began to cry. "These boys, my grandsons, are all very
pious," he said. "Maharaja Yudhisthira, the oldest of the brothers,
is the most pious person. He is even called Dharmaraja, the king of religion.
Bhima and Arjuna are both devotees, and they are such powerful heroes that they
can kill thousands of men. Their wife, Draupadi, is directly the goddess of
fortune, and it has been enjoined that wherever she is, there will be no
scarcity of food. Thus they all form a wonderful combination, and moreover,
Lord Krsna is always with them. But still they are suffering." Thus he
began to cry, saying, "I do not know what is Krsna's arrangement, because
such pious devotees are also suffering."
Therefore, we
should not think, "Because I have become a devotee, there will be no
danger or suffering." Prahlada Maharaja suffered greatly, and so did other
devotees like the Pandavas and Haridasa Thakura. But we should not be disturbed
by such sufferings. We must have firm faith, firm conviction, knowing,
"Krsna is present, and He will give me protection." Don't try to take
the benefit of any shelter other than Krsna. Always take to Krsna.
In Bhagavad-gita
Lord Krsna says, kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati: "My dear
Arjuna, you may declare to the world that My devotee is never vanquished."
Now, one may ask, why did Krsna advise Arjuna to declare this? Why did He not
declare it Himself? The answer is that if Krsna Himself made this declaration,
it might be suspect, because Krsna sometimes violates His own promise. But the
promise of a devotee will never be violated. This is Krsna's concern. "Oh,
My devotee has declared this. I must see that his word is kept." This is
Krsna's position because of His affection for His devotee. Therefore Lord Krsna
said, "You declare it. If I declare it, people may not believe it, but if
you declare it they will believe you because you are a devotee." Even
though Krsna may break His own promise, He wants to see that the promises of
His devotees are fulfilled.
Therefore, we
must take to Krsna consciousness and adhere to this consciousness under all
circumstances, even in the most dangerous position. We must keep our faith in
Krsna's lotus feet, and then there will be no danger.
Chapter Nine
Decreasing the Fever of Illusion
janmaisvarya-sruta-sribhir
edhamana-madah puman
naivarhaty abhidhatum vai
tvam akincana-gocaram
My Lord, Your
Lordship can easiiy be approached, but oniy by those who are materially
exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve
himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education, and bodily
beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeiing.
Being materially
advanced means taking birth in an aristocratic family and possessing great
wealth, an education, and attractive personal beauty. All materialistic men are
mad after possessing all these material opulences, and this is known as the
advancement of material civilization. But the result is that by possessing all
these material assets one becomes artificially puffed up, intoxicated by such
temporary possessions. Consequently, such materially puffed up persons are
incapable of uttering the holy name of the Lord by addressing Him feelingly,
"O Govinda, O Krsna." It is said in the sastras that by once uttering
the holy name of the Lord, the sinner gets rid of a quantity of sins that he is
unable to commit. Such is the power of uttering the holy name of the Lord.
There is not the least exaggeration in this statement. Actually the Lord's holy
name has such powerful potency. But there is a quality to such utterances also.
It depends on the quality of feeling. A helpless man can feelingly utter the
holy name of the Lord, whereas a man who utters the same holy name in great
material satisfaction cannot be so sincere. A materially puffed up person may
utter the holy name of the Lord occasionally, but he is incapable of uttering
the name in quality. Therefore, the four principles of material advancement,
namely (1) high parentage, (2) good wealth, (3) high education, and (4)
attractive beauty, are, so to speak, disqualifications for progress on the path
of spiritual advancement. The material covering of the pure spirit soul is an
external feature, as much as fever is an external feature of the unhealthy
body. The general process is to decrease the degree of the fever and not to
aggravate it by maltreatment. Sometimes it is seen that spiritually advanced
persons become materially impoverished. This is no discouragement. On the other
hand, such impoverishment is a good sign as much as the falling of temperature
is a good sign. The principle of life should be to decrease the degree of
material intoxication which leads one to be more and more illusioned about the
aim of life. Grossly illusioned persons are quite unfit for entrance into the
kingdom of God.
In one sense, of
course, material opulences are God's grace. To take birth in a very
aristocratic family or nation like America, to be very rich, to be advanced in
knowledge and education, and to be endowed with beauty are gifts of pious
activities. A rich man attracts the attention of others, whereas a poor man
does not. An educated man attracts attention, but a fool attracts no attention
at all. Materially, therefore, such opulences are very beneficial. But when a
person is materially opulent in this way, he becomes intoxicated: "Oh, I
am a rich man. I am an educated man. I have money."
One who drinks
wine will become intoxicated and may think that he is flying in the sky or that
he has gone to heaven. These are effects of intoxication. But an intoxicated
person does not know that all these dreams are within the limits of time and
will therefore come to an end. Because he is unaware that these dreams will not
continue, he is said to be in illusion. Similarly, one is intoxicated by
thinking, "I am very rich, I am very educated and beautiful, and I have
taken birth in an aristocratic family in a great nation." That's all
right, but how long will these advantages exist? Suppose one is an American and
is also rich, beautiful, and advanced in knowledge. One may be proud of all
this, but how long will this intoxication exist? As soon as the body is
finished, it will all be finished, just like the intoxicated dreams of a person
who has been drinking.
These dreams are
on the mental platform, the egoistic platform, and the bodily platform. But I
am not the body. The gross body and subtle body are different from my actual
self. The gross body is made of earth, water, fire, air, and ether, and the
subtle body is made of mind, intelligence, and false ego. But the living being
is transcendental to these eight elements, which are described in the
Bhagavad-gita as the inferior energy of God.
Even if one is
mentally very advanced, he does not know that he is under the influence of the
inferior energy, just as an intoxicated person does not know what condition he
is in. Opulence, therefore, places one in a position of intoxication. We are
already intoxicated, and modern civilization aims at increasing our
intoxication. In truth we should become free from this intoxication, but modern
civilization aims at increasing it so that we may become more and more
intoxicated and go to hell.
Kuntidevi says
that those who are intoxicated in this way cannot feelingly address the Lord.
They cannot feelingly say, jaya radha-madhava: "All glories to Radha and
Krsna!" They have lost their spiritual feeling. They cannot feelingly
address the Lord, because they do not have knowledge. "Oh, God is for the
poor man," they think. "The poor do not have sufficient food. Let
them go to the church and pray, `O God, give us our daily bread.' But I have
enough bread. Why should I go to church?" This is their opinion.
Nowadays,
therefore, because we are in a time of economic prosperity, no one is
interested in going to the churches or temples. "What is this
nonsense?" people think. "Why should I go to the church to ask for
bread? We shall develop our economic condition, and then there will be a
sufficient supply of bread." In Communist countries this mentality is
especially prevalent. The Communists make propaganda in the villages by asking
people to go to church and pray for bread. So the innocent people pray as
usual, "O God, give us our daily bread." When the people come out of
the church, the Communists ask, "Have you gotten bread?"
"No,
sir," they reply.
"All
right," the Communists say. "Ask us."
Then the people
say, "O Communist friends, give us bread."
The Communist
friends, of course, have brought a whole truckload of bread, and they say,
"Take as much as you like. Now, who is better--the Communists or your
God?"
Because the
people are not very intelligent, they reply, "Oh, you are better."
They don't have the intelligence to inquire, "You rascals, wherefrom have
you brought this bread? Have you manufactured it in your factory? Can your
factory manufacture grains?" Because they are sudras (people who have very
little intelligence), they don't ask these questions. A brahmana, however, one
who is advanced in intelligence, will immediately inquire, "You rascals,
wherefrom have you brought this bread? You cannot manufacture bread. You have
simply taken the wheat given by God and transformed it, but this does not mean
that it has become your property."
Simply
transforming one thing into something else does not make the final product
one's own property. For example, if I give a carpenter some wood, some tools,
and a salary and he makes a very beautiful closet, to whom will the closet
belong--to the carpenter or to me, the person who has supplied the ingredients?
The carpenter cannot say, "Because I have transformed this wood into such
a nice closet, it is mine." Similarly, we should say to atheistic men like
the Communists, "Who is supplying the ingredients for your bread, you
rascal? It is all coming from Krsna. In Bhagavad-gita Krsna says, `The elements
of this material creation are all My property.' You have not created the sea,
the land, the sky, the fire, or the air. These are not your creations. You may
mix and transform these material things. You may take earth from the land and
water from the sea, mix them and put them in a fire to make bricks, and then
you may pile up all these bricks to make a skyscraper and claim that the skyscraper
is yours. But where did you get the ingredients for the skyscraper, you rascal?
You have stolen the property of God, and now you are claiming that it is your
property. This is knowledge.
Unfortunately,
those who are intoxicated cannot understand this. They think, "We have
taken this land of America from the Red Indians, and now it is our
property." They do not know that they are thieves. The Bhagavad-gita
clearly says that one who takes the property of God and claims it as his own is
a thief (stena eva sah).
The devotees of
Krsna, therefore, have their own form of communism. According to Krsna
conscious communism, everything belongs to God. Just as the Russian and Chinese
Communists think that everything belongs to the state, we think that everything
belongs to God. This is merely an extension of the same philosophy, and to
understand it one simply needs a little intelligence. Why should one think that
his state belongs to only a small number of people? In fact this is all the
property of God, and every living entity has a right to use this property
because every living being is a child of God, who is the supreme father. In
Bhagavad-gita (14.4), Lord Krsna says, sarva-yonisu kaunteya... aham
bija-pradah pita: "I am the seed-giving father of all living entities. In
whatever forms they may live, all living entities are My sons."
We living
entities are all sons of God, but we have forgotten this, and therefore we are
fighting. In a happy family, all the sons know, "Father is supplying food
to us all. We are brothers, so why should we fight?" Similarly, if we
become God conscious, Krsna conscious, the fighting in the world will come to
an end. "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am
Russian," "I am Chinese"--all these nonsensical designations will
be finished. The Krsna consciousness movement is so purifying that as soon as
people become Krsna conscious their political and national fighting will
immediately be over, because they will come to their real consciousness and
understand that everything belongs to God. The children in a family all have
the right to accept privileges from the father. Similarly, if everyone is part
and parcel of God, if everyone is a child of God, then everyone has the right
to use the property of the father. That right does not belong only to the human
beings; rather, according to Bhagavad-gita, that right belongs to all living
entities, regardless of whether they are in the bodies of human beings,
animals, trees, birds, beasts, insects, or whatever. That is Krsna consciousness.
In Krsna
consciousness we do not think, "My brother is good, and I am good, but all
others are bad." This is the kind of narrow, crippled consciousness we
reject. Rather, in Krsna consciousness we look equally toward all living
entities. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (5.18):
vidya-vinaya-sampanne
brahmane gavi hastini
suni caiva svapake ca
panditah sama-darsinah
"The humble
sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned and gentle
brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a dog-eater [outcaste]."
One who is
pandita, one who is learned, sees all living entities to be on an equal level.
Therefore, because a Vaisnava, or devotee, is learned, he is compassionate
(lokanam hita-karinau), and he can work in such a way as to actually benefit
humanity. A Vaisnava feels and actually sees that all living entities are part
and parcel of God and that somehow or other they have fallen into contact with
this material world and have assumed different types of bodies according to
different karma.
Those who are
learned (panditah) do not discriminate. They do not say, "This is an
animal, so it should be sent to the slaughterhouse so that a man may eat
it." No. Why should the animals be slaughtered? A person who is actually
Krsna conscious is kind to everyone. Therefore one tenet of our philosophy is
"No meat-eating." Of course, people may not accept this. They will
say, "Oh, what is this nonsense? Meat is our food. Why should we not eat
it?" Because they are intoxicated rascals (edhamana-madah), they will not
hear the real facts. But just consider: if a poor man is lying helpless in the
street, can I kill him? Will the state excuse me? I may say, "I have only
killed a poor man. There was no need for him in society. Why should such a
person live?" But will the state excuse me? Will the authorities say,
"You have done very nice work"? No. The poor man is also a citizen of
the state, and the state cannot allow him to be killed. Now, why not expand
this philosophy? The trees, the birds, and the beasts are also sons of God. If
one kills them, one is as guilty as one who kills a poor man on the street. In
God's eyes, or even in the vision of a learned man, there is no discrimination
between poor and rich, black and white. No. Every living entity is part and
parcel of God. And because a Vaisnava sees this, he is the only true benefactor
of all living entities.
A Vaisnava tries
to elevate all living beings to a platform of Krsna consciousness. A Vaisnava
does not see, "Here is an Indian, and there is an American." Someone
once asked me, "Why have you come to America?" But why should I not
come? I am a servant of God, and this is the kingdom of God, so why should I
not come? To hinder the movements of a devotee is artificial, and one who does
so commits a sinful act. Just as a policeman may enter a house without
trespassing, a servant has the right to go anywhere, because everything belongs
to God. We have to see things in this way, as they are. That is Krsna
consciousness.
Now, Kuntidevi
says that those who are increasing their own intoxication cannot become Krsna
conscious. A fully intoxicated person may talk nonsense, and he may be told,
"My dear brother, you are talking nonsense. Just see. Here is your father,
and here is your mother." But because he is intoxicated, he will not
understand, nor will he even care to understand. Similarly, if a devotee tries
to show a materially intoxicated rascal, "Here is God," the rascal
will not be able to understand it. Therefore Kuntidevi says, tvam
akincana-gocaram, indicating that to be free from the intoxication caused by
high birth, opulence, education, and beauty is a good qualification.
Nonetheless,
when one becomes Krsna conscious, these same material assets can be used for
the service of Krsna. For example, the Americans who have joined the Krsna
consciousness movement were materially intoxicated before they became devotees,
but now that their intoxication is over, their material assets have become
spiritual assets that may be helpful in furthering the service of Krsna. For
example, when these American devotees go to India, the Indian people are
surprised to see that Americans have become so mad after God. Many Indians
strive to imitate the materialistic life of the West, but when they see
Americans dancing in Krsna consciousness, then they realize that this is what
is actually worthy of being followed.
Everything can
be used in the service of Krsna. If one remains intoxicated and does not use
one's material assets for the service of Krsna, they are not very valuable. But
if one can use them for the service of Krsna, they become extremely valuable.
To give an example, zero has no value, but as soon as the digit one is placed
before the zero, the zero immediately becomes ten. If there are two zeros, they
become one hundred, and three zeros become one thousand. Similarly, we are
intoxicated by material assets that are actually no better than zero, but as
soon as we add Krsna, these tens and hundreds and thousands and millions of
zeros become extremely valuable. The Krsna consciousness movement therefore
offers a great opportunity to the people of the West. They have an overabundance
of the zeros of materialistic life, and if they simply add Krsna their life
will become sublimely valuable.
Chapter Ten
The Property of the Impoverished
namo 'kincana-vittaya
nivrtta-guna-vrttaye
atmaramaya santaya
kaivalya-pataye namah
My obeisances
are unto You, who are the property of the materially impoverished. You have nothing
to do with the actions and reactions of the material modes of nature. You are
self-satisfied, and therefore You are the most gentle and are master of the
monists.
A living being
is finished as soon as there is nothing to possess. Therefore a living being
cannot be, in the real sense of the term, a renouncer. A living being renounces
something for gaining something more valuable. A student sacrifices his
childish proclivities to gain better education. A servant gives up his job for
a betterjob. Similarly, a devotee renounces the material world not for nothing
but for something tangible in spiritual value. Srila Rupa Gosvami, Sanatana
Gosvami, and Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and others gave up their worldly
pomp and prosperity for the sake of the service of the Lord. They were big men
in the worldly sense. The Gosvamis were ministers in the government service of
Bengal, and Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was the son of a big zamindar of his
time. But they left everything to gain something superior to what they
previously possessed. The devotees are generally without material prosperity,
but they have a very secret treasure-house in the lotus feet of the Lord. There
is a nice story about Srila Sanatana Gosvami. He had a touchstone with him, and
this stone was left in a pile of refuse. A needy man took it, but later on
wondered why the valuable stone was kept in such a neglected place. He
therefore asked Sanatana Gosvami for the most valuable thing, and then he was
given the holy name of the Lord. Akincana means "one who has nothing to
give materially." A factual devotee, or mahatma, does not give anything
material to anyone, because he has already left all material assets. He can,
however, deliver the supreme asset, namely the Personality of Godhead, because
He is the only property of a factual devotee. The touchstone of Sanatana
Gosvami, which was thrown in the rubbish, was not the property of the Gosvami,
otherwise it would not have been kept in such a place. This specific example is
given for the neophyte devotees just to convince them that material hankerings
and spiritual advancement go ill together. Unless one is able to see everything
as spiritual in relation with the Supreme Lord, one must always distinguish
between spirit and matter. A spiritual master like Srila Sanatana Gosvami,
although personally able to see everything as spiritual, set this example for
us only because we have no such spiritual vision.
Advancement of
material vision or material civilization is a great stumbling block for
spiritual advancement. Such material advancement entangles the living being in
the bondage of a material body followed by all sorts of material miseries. Such
material advancement is called anartha, or things not wanted. Actually this is
so. In the present context of material advancement one uses lipstick at a cost
of fifty cents, and there are so many unwanted things which are all products of
the material conception of life. By diverting attention to so many unwanted
things, human energy is spoiled without achievement of spiritual realization,
the prime necessity of human life. The attempt to reach the moon is another
example of spoiling energy because even if the moon is reached, the problems of
life will not be solved. The devotees of the Lord are called akincanas because
they have practically no material assets. Such material assets are all products
of the three modes of material nature. They foil spiritual energy, and thus the
less we possess such products of material nature, the more we have a good chance
for spiritual progress.
The Supreme
Personality of Godhead has no direct connection with material activities. All
His acts and deeds, which are exhibited even in this material world, are
spiritual and without affection for the modes of material nature. In the
Bhagavad-gita the Lord says that all His acts, even His appearance and
disappearance in and out of the material world, are transcendental, and one who
knows this perfectly shall not take his birth again in this material world, but
will go back to Godhead.
The material
disease is due to hankering after and lording it over material nature. This
hankering is due to an interaction of the three modes of nature, and neither
the Lord nor the devotees have attachment for such false enjoyment. Therefore,
the Lord and the devotees are called nivrtta-guna-vrtti. The perfect
nivrtta-guna-vrtti is the Supreme Lord because He never becomes attracted by
the modes of material nature, whereas the living beings have such a tendency.
Some of them are entrapped by the illusory attraction of material nature.
Because the Lord
is the property of the devotees, and the devotees are the property of the Lord
reciprocally, the devotees are certainly transcendental to the modes of
material nature. That is a natural conclusion. Such unalloyed devotees are
distinct from the mixed devotees who approach the Lord for mitigation of
miseries and poverty or because of inquisitiveness and speculation. The
unalloyed devotees and the Lord are transcendentally attached to one another.
For others, the Lord has nothing to reciprocate, and therefore He is called
atmarama, selfsatisfied. Self-satisfied as He is, He is the master of all
monists who seek to merge into the existence of the Lord. Such monists merge
within the personal effulgence of the Lord called the brahmajyoti, but the
devotees enter into the transcendental pastimes of the Lord, which are never to
be misunderstood as material.
To be materially
impoverished is the first qualification of a devotee. One who does not possess
anything in this material world but simply possesses Krsna is called akincana.
The word akincana means "one who has lost all material possessions."
As long as we have even the slightest tinge of an idea of becoming happy
materially in some way or other, we shall have to accept a material body.
Nature is so kind that according to the way we want to enjoy this material
world, she will give us a suitable body, under the direction of the Lord.
Because the Lord is situated in everyone's heart, He knows everything.
Therefore, knowing that we still want something material, He will give us
another material body: "Yes, take it." Krsna wants us to have full
experience through which to understand that by material gain we shall never be
happy. This is Krsna's desire.
Because we are
part and parcel of Krsna, who has full freedom, we too have full freedom,
although the quantity of that freedom is quite minute. Although the quantity of
salt in a drop of seawater is not comparable to the quantity of salt in the
ocean, the chemical composition of both the drop and the ocean is the same.
Similarly, whatever we have in a minute quantity is present in its fullness in
Krsna (janmady asya yatah). For example, we have a propensity to steal, to take
things that belong to others. Why? Because Krsna has the same propensity.
Unless the propensity to steal is present in the Absolute Truth, how can it be
present in us? Krsna is known as "the butter thief." But Krsna's
stealing and our stealing are different. Because we are materially
contaminated, our stealing is abominable, whereas on the spiritual, absolute
platform the same stealing is so nice that it is enjoyable. Mother Yasoda
therefore enjoys Krsna's activities of stealing. This is the difference between
material and spiritual.
Any activities
that are spiritual are all-good, and any activities that are material are
all-bad. This is the difference between spiritual and material. The so-called
morality and goodness of this material world is all bad, but in the spiritual
world even so-called immorality is good. This we must understand. For example,
to dance with the wives of others at the dead of night is immoral, at least
according to the Vedic civilization. Even today in India, a young woman will
never be allowed to go to a young man at the dead of night to dance with him.
But we shall find in Srimad-Bhagavatam that as soon as all the gopis, the young
cowherd girls of Vrndavana, heard Krsna's flute, they immediately came to dance
with Him. Now, according to material conceptions this is immoral, but from the
spiritual point of view this is in accord with the greatest morality. Caitanya
Mahaprabhu therefore said, ramya kacid upasana vraja-vadhu-vargena ya kalpita:
"Oh, there is no better mode of worship than that which was conceived by
the vraja-vadhus, the damsels of Vrndavana." After Caitanya Mahaprabhu
accepted the renounced order of life, He very strictly avoided association with
women. Even in His family life, He never played any jokes with women. He was very
humorous, but only with men, not with women. Once He spoke some joking words
with His wife, Visnupriya. When Sacimata, Lord Caitanya's mother, was searching
for something, He jokingly said, "Maybe your daughter-in-law has taken
it." But in His whole life these are the onlyjoking words we find in
relation to women. He was very strict. After He accepted sannyasa, the
renounced order, no woman could even come near Him to offer obeisances; rather,
they would offer obeisances from a distant place. Nonetheless, Caitanya Mahaprabhu
said, ramya kacid upasana vraja-vadhu-vargena ya kalpita: "There is no
conception of worship better than that which was conceived by the damsels of
Vrndavana." What was their conception? They wanted to love Krsna, at any
risk. And this is never immoral.
That which is in
relationship to Krsna can never be immoral. To give another example, Lord Krsna
in His incarnation as Nrsimhadeva killed Hiranyakasipu, the father of Prahlada
Maharaja, while Prahlada Maharaja stood nearby without protesting. Now, is this
moral? Who would like to see his own father being killed? Who wouldjust stand
there and not protest? No one would approve of such behavior and say that it is
moral. Nonetheless, this actually happened. Not only that, but Prahlada
Maharaja even made a garland to place upon the neck of the killer. "My
dear Lord Killer," he said, "please take this garland. You have
killed my father, and You are very good." This must be understood
spiritually. If one's father is being attacked and one cannot protect him, one
must protest and cry for help. But because Prahlada Maharaja's father was
killed by Krsna in the form of Lord Nrsimhadeva, Prahlada Maharaja prepared a
garland for the killer. After his father was killed, Prahlada said to
Nrsimhadeva, "My dear Lord, now that my father has been killed, everyone
is happy. Now please withdraw Your angry mood."
A sadhu, a
saintly person, never approves of killing, not even the killing of an animal,
but Prahlada Maharaja said, modeta sadhur api vrscika-sarpa-hatya: "Even a
saintly person is pleased when a scorpion or a snake is killed." A
scorpion or a snake is also a living entity, and a sadhu is never satisfied
when he sees another living entity killed, but Prahlada Maharaja said,
"Even a sadhu is pleased when a snake or a scorpion is killed. My father
was just like a snake or a scorpion, and therefore now that he has been killed,
everyone is happy." Hiranyakasipu was a very dangerous demon who gave
trouble to devotees, and when such a demon is killed even saintly persons are
satisfied, although ordinarily they never want anyone killed. Therefore,
although it may appear that Lord Krsna or Prahlada Maharaja acted immorally, in
fact they acted in accord with the highest morality.
Krsna is
akincana-vitta, the only solace for one who has lost everything material. In
the Caitanya-caritamrta, Lord Krsna says, "If someone wants Me but at the
same time wants material prosperity, he is a fool." Krsna is so kind that
if one wants material prosperity but at the same time wants to become a
devotee, Krsna makes him a failure in material life. Therefore people are very
much afraid of coming to Krsna consciousness. "Oh," they think,
"my material prosperity will be finished."
Generally,
people go to a church or temple to pray to God for material prosperity: "O
God, give us our daily bread." But although they are approaching God for
material prosperity--"Give me this, give me that"--they are also
considered pious because they approach God, unlike the atheists, who never approach
Him. "Why shall I approach God?" the atheist says. "I shall
create my own wealth, and by advancement of science I shall be happy." One
who thinks "For my own prosperity I shall depend on my own strength and my
own knowledge" is a duskrti, a most sinful person, but one who thinks
"My prosperity depends on the mercy of God" is pious.
It is a fact
that without the sanction of God, nothing can be achieved. Tavat tanur idam
tanupeksitanam. We have discovered many methods by which to counteract distress,
but when freedom from such distress is not sanctioned by God, these methods
will fail. For example, a sick man may have very good medicine and a qualified
physician, but if we ask the physician, "Can you guarantee the life of
this patient?" the doctor will always say, "No, I cannot do so. I try
my best. That's all." An intelligent doctor knows, "The ultimate
sanction is in the hand of God. I am simply an instrument. If God does not want
the patient to live, then all my medicines and all my scientific medical
knowledge will fail."
The ultimate
sanction, therefore, is Krsna. Those who are foolish do not know this, and
therefore they are called mudha, rascals. They do not know that although
whatever they are doing may be very good, if it is not ultimately sanctioned by
God, by Krsna, it will all be a failure. On the other hand, a devotee knows,
"With whatever intelligence I have I may try to become happy, but without
Krsna's sanction I shall never be happy." This is the distinction between
a devotee and a nondevotee.
As mentioned
before, Krsna says, "One who tries to approach Me to become Krsna
conscious but at the same time wants to become materially happy is not very
intelligent. He is wasting his time." Our main business is to become Krsna
conscious. That is the main business of human life. If we waste our time
striving for material improvement and forget to chant Hare Krsna, that will be
a great loss. Therefore Krsna says, ami--vijna, ei murkhe `visaya' kena diba
(Cc. Madhya 22.39): "A rascal may ask some material prosperity from Me in
exchange for discharging devotional service. But why shall I give him material
prosperity? Rather, whatever he has I shall take away."
When our
material assets are taken away, we become very morose. But that is the test.
That was stated by Krsna Himself to Yudhisthira Maharaja. Yudhisthira Maharaja
inquired from Krsna, "We are completely dependent on You, but still we are
suffering materially so much. Our kingdom has been taken away, our wife has
been insulted, and our enemies attempted to burn us in our house. How can this
be so?" Krsna replied, yasyaham anugrhnami harisye tad-dhanam sanaih:
"Yes, that is My first business. If I especially favor someone, then I
take away all his sources of income and place him into great difficulty."
In this way, Krsna is very dangerous.
I have actual
experience in this connection. I do not wish to narrate this whole story, but
it is a fact that I received Krsna's special favor in this way. When I was
twenty-five years old, my Guru Maharaja, my spiritual master, ordered me to go
preach. But I thought, "First of all I shall become a rich man, and then I
shall use my money to finance the preaching work." I had good
opportunities to become a very rich businessman. An astrologer even told me
that I should have become as rich as the wealthiest man in India. There were
very good chances. I was the manager of a big chemical factory. I started my
own factory, and the business was very successful. But eventually everything
collapsed, and in this way I was forced into the position of carrying out the
orders of my Guru Maharaja. When all my material assets were taken away, then I
approached Krsna, saying, "You are the only shelter." Therefore Krsna
is akincana-vitta, the property of the materially impoverished. When one is
bereft of all material opulences, then one turns to Krsna. And now I am
realizing that I have not lost but gained.
So to lose
material opulences for Krsna's sake is not a loss. Rather, it is the greatest
gain. When one becomes akincana, having nothing to possess, Krsna becomes one's
only riches. Expressing this understanding, Narottama dasa Thakura says:
ha
ha prabhu nanda-suta vrsabhanu-suta-yuta
karuna karaha ei-bara
narottama dasa kahe na theliya ranga-paya
tumi vina ke ache amara
"Krsna, but
for You I have nothing to claim. I have no possessions. You are my only
possession, so please don't neglect me."
This position is
very nice. When one does not depend on anything material but simply depends on
Krsna, one has attained the first-class position of Krsna consciousness.
Therefore Krsna is addressed as akincana-vitta. "When one becomes
materially impoverished, You are the only wealth." Namo 'kincana-vittaya
nivrtta-guna-vrttaye. "When one takes You as one's only possession, one
immediately becomes free from the activities of the material nature." In
other words, by accepting Krsna in this way, one attains the transcendental
position of the Absolute. Atmaramaya: "At that time, one becomes happy
with You. Krsna, You are happy with Yourself, and one who surrenders to You
becomes happy, as You are." There is no difference between Krsna's body
and Krsna Himself. He is entirely self, entirely spirit. We, on the other hand,
have a body that is different from ourselves. I am self, but I possess a
material body. But when we actually become dependent on Krsna, who is
completely self-satisfied, we can also be self-satisfied with Krsna.
Kaivalya-pataye
namah. The Mayavadi philosophers, the monists, want to become one with the
Supreme. The Supreme is self-satisfied, and they also want to be self-satisfied
by becoming one with the Supreme. Our philosophy of Krsna consciousness is the
same, but instead of becoming one with Krsna, we depend on Krsna. That is
actual oneness. If we simply agree to abide by the orders of Krsna and have no
disagreement with Him, we are situated in actual oneness.
The Mayavadi
philosophers think, "Why shall I keep my individual, separate existence? I
shall merge into the Supreme." But that is not possible. From the very
beginning, we are separated parts of Krsna. Krsna therefore says in
Bhagavad-gita, "My dear Arjuna, you should know that you, I, and all the
persons assembled on this battlefield were individuals in the past, we are
individuals at present, and in the future we shall continue to remain
individuals."
Nityo nityanam
cetanas cetananam. Krsna is the supreme nitya, the supreme living force, among
the innumerable living forces. We living entities (jiva) are innumerable
(ananta); there is no counting how many we are. Similarly, Krsna is also a
living entity, but He is the chief, the supreme living entity. That is the
difference. One leader may have many followers. Similarly, Krsna, the supreme
living entity, is the supreme leader, and we are subordinate, dependent living
entities.
That we are
dependent is not very difficult to understand. If Krsna does not supply us
food, we shall starve, because independently we cannot produce anything. Eko
bahunam yo vidadhati kaman: Krsna is maintaining everything, and we are being
maintained. Therefore Krsna is the real predominator, and we should be willing
to be predominated. That is our natural constitutional position. If we falsely
want to become predominators in this material world, we are in illusion. We
must give up this illusion and always try to be predominated by Krsna. Then our
life will be successful.
Chapter Eleven
The Touch of Superior Energy
manye tvam kalam isanam
anadi-nidhanam vibhum
samam carantam sarvatra
bhutanam yan mithah kalih
My Lord, I
consider Your Lordship to be eternal time, the supreme controller, without
beginning and end, the all-pervasive one. In distributing Your mercy, You are
equal to everyone. The dissensions between living befngs are due to social
intercourse.
Kuntidevi knew
that Krsna was neither her nephew nor an ordinary family member of her paternal
house. She knew perfectly well that Krsna is the primeval Lord who lives in
everyone's heart as the Supersoul, Paramatma. Another name of the Paramatma
feature of the Lord is kala, or eternal time. Eternal time is the witness of
all our actions, good and bad, and thus resultant reactions are destined by
Him. It is no use saying that we do not know why we are suffering. We may
forget the misdeed for which we may suffer at this present moment, but we must
remember that Paramatma is our constant companion and therefore He knows
everything--past, present, and future. And because the Paramatma feature of
Lord Krsna destines all actions and reactions, He is the supreme controller
also. Without His sanction not a blade of grass can move. The living beings are
given as much freedom as they deserve, and misuse of that freedom is the cause
of suffering. The devotees of the Lord do not misuse their freedom, and
therefore they are the good sons of the Lord. Others, who misuse freedom, are
put into miseries destined by the eternal kala. The kala offers the conditioned
souls both happiness and miseries. It is all predestined by eternal time. As we
have miseries uncalled for, so we may have happiness also without being asked,
for they are all predestined by kala. No one is therefore either an enemy or
friend of the Lord. Everyone is suffering and enjoying the result of his own
destiny. This destiny is made by the living beings in course of social
intercourse. Everyone here wants to lord it over the material nature, and thus
everyone creates his own destiny under the supervision of the Supreme Lord. He
is all-pervading and therefore He can see everyone's activities. And because
the Lord has no beginning or end, He is known also as the eternal time, kala.
What is
explained herein by the devoted Kunti is exactly confirmed by the Lord Himself
in Bhagavad-gita (9.29). There the Lord says:
samo 'ham sarva-bhutesu
na me dvesyo 'sti na priyah
ye bhajanti tu mam bhaktya
mayi te tesu capy aham
"I envy no
one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But one who renders service
unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him."
God cannot be partial. Everyone is God's son, so how can God favor one son
above another? That is not possible. But human beings discriminate. We write,
"In God we trust," but one who trusts in God must be equally kind and
merciful toward all living entities. That is God consciousness.
Krsna says,
"I have no enemies, nor have I friends." Na me dvesyo 'sti na priyah.
The word dvesya means "enemy." We are envious of our enemies and
friendly toward our friends, but because Krsna is absolute, even when He
appears to be inimical toward some demon He is actually a friend. When Krsna
kills a demon, the demon's demoniac activities are killed, and he immediately becomes
a saint and merges into the supreme impersonal effulgence, the brahmajyoti.
The brahmajyoti
is one of three features of the Absolute Truth.
vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvam yaj jnanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmeti
bhagavan iti sabdyate
(SB. 1.2.11)
The Absolute
Truth is one, but is perceived in three features, known as Brahman, Paramatma,
and Bhagavan. The original, complete feature of the Absolute Truth is Bhagavan,
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His plenary representation is
Paramatma, Ksirodakasayi Visnu, who is situated in everyone's heart (isvarah
sarva-bhutanam hrddese 'rjuna tisthati). The third feature of the Absolute
Truth is Brahman, the all-pervading impersonal effulgence of the Absolute.
The Absolute
Truth is equal to everyone, but one will realize the Absolute according to the
way one approaches Him (ye yatha mam prapadyante). According to one's capacity
for understanding, the Absolute Truth is revealed either as the impersonal
Brahman, as the localized Paramatma, or ultimately as Bhagavan.
To explain this
by an example, we may sometimes see hills from our room, although we may not
see them distinctly. In Los Angeles there are many hills, but when we see the
hills from a distant place they look like something cloudy. However, if we go
further toward a hill, we shall find that there is something distinct--a hill.
And if we go all the way to the hill itself, we shall find many people working
there, many houses, streets, cars, and so many varied things. Similarly, when
one wants to know the Absolute Truth by one's tiny brain and thinks, "I
shall conduct research to find the Absolute Truth," one will have a vague,
impersonal idea. Then if one goes further and becomes a meditator, one will
find that God is situated within one's heart. Dhyanavasthita-tad-gatena manasa
pasyanti yam yoginah. Yogis--real yogis--see the form of Visnu within the heart
by meditation. The devotees, however, meet the Supreme Person face to face,
just as we meet face to face and speak face to face. The Supreme Personality of
Godhead orders, "Supply Me this," and the devotee directly serves the
Lord by supplying what He wants. Thus there are different realizations of the
Absolute Truth, and although He is equal to everyone it is up to us to
understand Him according to our advancement. Therefore Kunti says, samam
carantam sarvatra: "In distributing Your mercy, You are equal to
everyone."
The word
carantam means "moving." The Lord moves everywhere--within and
without--and we simply have to make our vision clear so that we may see Him. By
devotional service, we can purify our senses so that we may perceive the
presence of God. Those who are less intelligent simply try to find God within,
but those who are advanced in intelligence can see the Lord both within and
without.
The yogic system
of meditation is actually meant for those who are less intelligent. One who
practices meditation in yoga must control the senses (yoga indriya-samyamah).
Our senses are very restless, and by practicing the different asanas, or
sitting postures, one must control the mind and senses so that one can
concentrate upon the form of Visnu within the heart. This is the yoga system
recommended for those who are too much absorbed in the bodily concept of life.
However, because bhaktas, devotees, are more advanced, they do not need to
undergo a separate process to control their senses; rather, by engaging in
devotional service they are already controlling their senses.
For example, if
one is engaged in worshiping the Deity, cleansing the temple, decorating the
Deity, cooking for the Deity, and so on, one's senses are already engaged in
the service of the Absolute Truth, so where is the chance of their being
diverted? Hrsikena hrsikesa-sevanam bhaktir ucyate: bhakti, devotional service,
simply means engaging our senses (hrsika) in the service of the master of the
senses (hrsikesa). Now our senses are engaged in sense gratification. I am
thinking that because I am this body, I must satisfy my senses. In fact,
however, this is a contaminated stage of life. When one comes to the
understanding that he is not this body but a spiritual soul, part and parcel of
God, he knows that his spiritual senses should be engaged in the service of the
supreme spiritual being. Thus one attains liberation (mukti).
One attains
liberation when one gives up the false idea that the body is the self and when
one resumes his actual position of service to the Lord (muktir hitvanyatha
rupam svarupena vyavasthitih, SB. 2.10.6). When we are conditioned, we give up
our original constitutional position, which is described by Caitanya Mahaprabhu
as being that of eternal service to Krsna (jivera svarupa haya--krsnera
`nitya-dasa'). But as soon as we employ ourselves in the service of the Lord,
we are liberated immediately. There is no need to pass through some preliminary
process. This very act of engaging one's senses in the service of the Lord is
evidence that one is liberated.
This liberation
is open for everyone (samam carantam). In Bhagavad-gita Krsna does not say to
Arjuna, "Only you may come to Me and become liberated." No, the Lord
is available for everyone. When He says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam
saranam vraia-- "Give up all other duties and surrender unto Me"--He
is speaking not only to Arjuna but to everyone. Arjuna was the original target,
but in fact Bhagavad-gita was spoken for everyone, for all human beings, and
therefore one must take advantage of it.
Krsna's
impartiality is compared to that of the sun. The sun does not consider,
"Here is a poor man, here is a low-class man, and here is a hog. I shall
not distribute my sunshine to them." No, the sun is equal toward all, and
one simply has to take advantage of it. The sunshine is available, but if we
close our doors and want to keep ourselves in darkness, that is our decision.
Similarly, Krsna is everywhere, Krsna is for everyone, and Krsna is ready to
accept us as soon as we surrender. Samam carantam. There is no restriction.
People may make a distinction between lower class and higher class, but Krsna
says, mam hi partha vyapasritya ye 'pi syuh papa-yonayah (Bg. 9.32): "Even
though one may supposedly be of a lower class, that doesn't matter. If he
surrenders to Me he is also eligible to come back home, back to Godhead."
That same Krsna
is described by Kuntidevi as eternal time. Everything takes place within time,
but our time calculations of past, present, and future are relative. A small
insect's measurement of past, present, and future is different from our past,
present, and future, and similarly the past, present, and future of Brahma, the
chief creative living being within this universe, are different from ours. But
Krsna has no past, present, or future. Therefore He is eternal. We have a past,
present, and future because we change from one body to another. The body we
have now is dated. At a certain date I was born of my father and mother, and
now this body will stay for some time. It will grow, it will produce some
byproducts, then it will become old and dwindle and then vanish, and then I
shall have to accept another body. When the past, present, and future of my
present body are finished, I shall accept another body, and again my past,
present, and future will begin. But Krsna has no past, present, or future,
because He does not change His body. That is the difference between ourselves
and Krsna.
The eternal
position of Krsna is revealed in Bhagavad-gita. There Krsna said to Arjuna,
"In the past, millions of years ago, I spoke this philosophy of
Bhagavad-gita to the sun-god." Arjuna appeared not to believe this. Of
course, Arjuna knew everything, but for our education he said to Krsna,
"Krsna, we are contemporaries, and since we were born at practically the
same time, how can I believe that You spoke this philosophy so long ago to the
sun-god?" Then Krsna replied, "My dear Arjuna, you were also present
then, but you have forgotten, whereas I have not. That is the difference."
Past, present, and future pertain to persons who forget, but for one who does
not forget, who lives eternally, there is no past, present, or future.
Kunti therefore
addresses Krsna as eternal (manye tvam kalam). And because He is eternal, He is
the full controller (isanam). By Krsna's extraordinary behavior, Kunti could
understand that Krsna is eternal and that Krsna is the supreme controller. He
has no beginning and no end (anadi-nidhanam), and therefore He is vibhu, the
Supreme, the greatest.
We are anu, the
smallest, and Krsna is vibhu, the greatest. We are part and parcel of Krsna,
and therefore Krsna is both the smallest and the greatest, whereas we are only
the smallest. Vibhu, the greatest, must be all-inclusive. If one has a large
bag one can hold many things, whereas in a small bag one cannot. Because Krsna
is vibhu, the greatest, He includes everything, even past, present, and future
time, and He is all-pervading, present everywhere.
Without Krsna, matter cannot develop.
Atheistic scientists say that life comes from matter, but that is nonsense.
Matter is one energy of Krsna, and spirit is another. The spirit is superior
energy, and matter is inferior energy. The matter develops when the superior
energy is present. For example, two or three hundred years ago the land of
America was not developed, but because some superior living entities from
Europe came here, America is now very much developed. Therefore the cause of
development is the superior energy. In Africa, Australia, and many other places
there is still vacant land that is undeveloped. Why is it undeveloped? Because
the superior energy of advanced living entities has not touched it. As soon as
the superior energy touches it, the same land will develop so many factories,
houses, cities, roads, cars, and so on.
The point of
this example is that matter cannot develop by itself. That is not possible.
Superior energy must touch it, and then it will be active. To give another example,
a machine is matter--it is inferior energy--and therefore unless an operator
comes to touch the machine, it will not act. One may have a very costly car,
but unless a driver comes, in miflions of years it will never go anywhere.
Thus it is
common sense to understand that matter cannot work independently; it cannot
work unless the superior energy, the living entity, touches it. So how can we
conclude that life develops from matter? Rascal scientists may say this, but
they do not have sufficient knowledge.
All the
universes have developed because of Krsna's presence, as mentioned in the
Brahma-samhita (andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham). The scientists are
now studying atoms, and they are finding that electrons, protons, and other
particles act in so many ways. Why are these particles active? Because Krsna is
present there. This is real scientific understanding.
One should
scientifically understand Krsna. Krsna has no past, present, and future. He is
eternal time, with no beginning and no end, and He is equal to everyone. We
simply have to prepare ourselves to see Krsna and understand Krsna. That is the
purpose of Krsna consciousness.
Chapter Twelve
Bewildering Pastimes
na veda kascid bhagavams cikkirsitam
tavehamanasya nrnam vidambanam
na yasya kascid dayito 'sti karhicid
dvesyas ca yasmin visama matir nrnam
O Lord, no one
can understand Your transcendental pastimes, which appear to be human and so
are misieading. You have no specific object of favor, nor do You have any
object of envy. People only imagine that You are partial.
The Lord's mercy
upon the fallen souls is equally distributed. He has no one as the specific
object of hostility. The very conception of the Personality of Godhead as a
human being is misleading. His pastimes appear to be exactly like a human
being's, but actually they are transcendental and without any tinge of material
contamination. He is undoubtedly known as partial to His pure devotees, but in
fact He is never partial, as much as the sun is never partial to anyone. By
utilizing the sunrays, sometimes even the stones become valuable, whereas a blind
man cannot see the sun, although there are enough sunrays before him. Darkness
and light are two opposite conceptions, but this does not mean that the sun is
partial in distributing its rays. The sunrays are open to everyone, but the
capacities of the receptacles differ. Foolish people think that devotional
service is flattering the Lord to get special mercy. Factually the pure
devotees who are engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord are
not a mercantile community. A mercantile house renders service to someone in
exchange for values. The pure devotee does not render service unto the Lord for
such exchange, and therefore the full mercy of the Lord is open for him.
Suffering and needy men, inquisitive persons, or philosophers make temporary connections
with the Lord to serve a particular purpose. When the purpose is served, there
is no more relation with the Lord. A suffering man, if he is pious at all,
prays to the Lord for his recovery. But as soon as the recovery is over, in
most cases the suffering man no longer cares to keep any connection with the
Lord. The mercy of the Lord is open for him, but he is reluctant to receive it.
That is the difference between a pure devotee and a mixed devotee. Those who
are completely against the service of the Lord are considered to be in abject
darkness, those who ask for the Lord's favor only at the time of necessity are
partial recipients of the mercy of the Lord, and those who are cent-percent
engaged in the service of the Lord are full recipients of the mercy of the
Lord. Such partiality in receiving the Lord's mercy is relative to the
recipient, and it is not due to the partiality of the all-merciful Lord.
When the Lord
descends on this material world by His all-merciful energy, He plays like a human
being, and therefore it appears that the Lord is partial to His devotees only,
but that is not a fact. Despite such an apparent manifestation of partiality,
His mercy is equally distributed. In the Battlefield of Kuruksetra all persons
who died in the fight before the presence of the Lord got salvation without the
necessary qualifications, because death before the presence of the Lord
purifies the passing soul from the effects of all sins, and therefore the dying
man gets a place somewhere in the transcendental abode. Somehow or other if
someone puts himself open in the sun rays, he is sure to get the requisite
benefit both by heat and by ultraviolet rays. Therefore, the conclusion is that
the Lord is never partial. It is wrong for the people in general to think of
Him as partial.
The Lord says in
Bhagavad-gita (4.8):
paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambha vami yuge yuge
"In order
to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to
reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after
millennium."
When God
incarnates, He has two missions--to vanquish the demons and deliver the sadhus,
the faithful devotees. The word sadhunam, which means "saintly
persons," refers to devotees. It has nothing to do with worldly honesty or
dishonesty, morality or immorality; it has nothing to do with material
activities. Sometimes we may think that the word sadhu refers to a person who
is materially good or moral, but actually the word sadhu refers to one who is
on the transcendental platform. A sadhu, therefore, is a devotee, because one
who engages in devotional service is transcendental to material qualities (sa
gunan samatityaitan).
Now, the Lord
comes to deliver the devotees (paritranaya sadhunam), but it is clearly stated
in Bhagavad-gita (14.26) that a devotee transcends the material qualities (sa
gunan samatityaitan). A devotee is in a transcendental position because he is
no longer under the control of the three material modes of nature--goodness,
passion, and ignorance. But if a sadhu is already delivered, being on the
transcendental platform, then where is the necessity of delivering him? This
question may arise. The Lord comes to deliver the devotee, but the devotee is
already delivered. Therefore the word vidambanam, meaning
"bewildering," is used in this verse because this appears
contradictory.
The answer to
this contradiction is that a sadhu, a devotee, does not require deliverance,
but because he is very much anxious to see the Supreme Lord face to face, Krsna
comes not to deliver him from the clutches of matter, from which he has already
been delivered, but to satisfy his inner desire. Just as a devotee wants to
satisfy the Lord in all respects, the Lord even more wants to satisfy the
devotee. Such are the exchanges of loving affairs. Even in our ordinary
dealings, if we love someone we want to satisfy him or her, and he or she also
wants to reciprocate. So if the reciprocation of loving affairs exists in this
material world, in what an elevated way must it exist in the spiritual world.
There is a verse in which the Lord says, "The sadhu is My heart, and I am
also the sadhu's heart." The sadhu is always thinking of Krsna, and Krsna
is always thinking of the sadhu, His devotee.
The appearance
and disappearance of the Lord within this material world are called cikirsitam,
pastimes. It is Krsna's pastime that He comes. Of course, when the Lord comes
He has some work to perform--to protect the sadhu and kill those who are
against the sadhu--but both of these activities are His pastimes.
The Lord is not
envious. The killing of the demons is also a display of His affection.
Sometimes we may punish our children by giving them a very strong slap because
of love. Similarly, when Krsna kills a demon this killing is not on the
platform of material jealousy or envy, but on the platform of affection.
Therefore it is mentioned in the sastras, the Vedic literatures, that even the
demons killed by the Lord attain immediate salvation. Putana, for example, was
a demoniac witch who wanted to kill Krsna. When Krsna was performing pastimes
as a small child, she coated the nipple of her breast with poison and
approached Krsna's home to offer the milk of her breast. "When Krsna sucks
my nipple," she thought, "the child will immediately die." But
that was not possible. Who can kill Krsna? Instead she herself was killed, for
Krsna sucked the nipple and also sucked out her life altogether. But what was
the result? Krsna took the bright side. "This demoniac woman came to kill
Me," He thought, "but somehow or other I have sucked her breast milk,
so she is My mother." Thus Putana attained the position of Krsna's mother
in the spiritual world. This is explained in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, where
Uddhava says to Vidura that Krsna is so kind, God is so kind, that even the
witch who wanted to kill Him with poison was accepted as His mother.
"Since Krsna is such a kind God," he said, "whom else shall I
worship but Krsna?"
Kuntidevi says,
na yasya kascid dayitah. The word dayita means "favor." Krsna favors
no one. Dvesyas ca: and no one is His enemy. We expect some benediction or
profit from a friend and harmful activities from an enemy, but Krsna is so
perfect that no one can harm Him nor can anyone give Him anything. So who can
be His friend or enemy? Na yasya kascid dayito 'sti: He doesn't need anyone's
favor. He is complete. I may be a very poor man, and therefore I may expect
some favor from a friend, but that is because I am imperfect. Because I am not
full, because I am deficient in so many ways, I am always needy, and therefore
I want to create some friend, and similarly I hate an enemy. But since Krsna is
the Supreme, no one can harm Krsna, nor can anyone give Krsna anything.
Why then are we
worshiping Krsna in the temple by offering Krsna so many comforts, dressing
Him, decorating Him, and giving Him nice food? We should try to understand that
Krsna does not need our offerings of nice garments, flowers, or food, but if we
give such offerings to Krsna, we shall benefit. Thus it is Krsna's favor that
He accepts such offerings. If one decorates oneself, one's reflection in a mirror
will also appear decorated. Similarly, since we are reflections of Krsna, if we
decorate Krsna we also shall be decorated. In the Bible it is said that man was
made in the image of God, and this means that we are reflections of God's
image. It is not that we invent or imagine some form of God according to our
own form. Those who adhere to the Mayavada philosophy of anthropomorphism say,
"The Absolute Truth is impersonal, but because we are persons we imagine
that the Absolute Truth is also a person." This is a mistake, and in
factjust the opposite is true. We have two hands, two legs, and a head because
God Himself has these same features. We have personal forms because we are
reflections of God. Furthermore, we should philosophically understand that if
the original person benefits, the reflection also benefits. So if we decorate
Krsna, we also shall be decorated. If we satisfy Krsna, we shall become
satisfied. If we offer nice food to Krsna, we shall also eat the same food.
Those who live outside the temples of Krsna consciousness may never have
imagined such palatable food as the food we are offering to Krsna, but because
it is being offered to Krsna, we also have the opportunity to eat it. So we
should try to satisfy Krsna in all respects, and then we shall be satisfied in
all respects.
Krsna does not
need our service, but He kindly accepts it. When Krsna asks us to surrender
unto Him (sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja), this does not mean
that Krsna is lacking servants and that if we surrender He will profit. Krsna
can create millions of servants by His mere desire. So that is not the point.
But if we surrender to Krsna, we shall be saved, for Krsna says, aham tvam
sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami: "I shall free you from all sinful reactions."
We are suffering here in this material world without any shelter. We even see
many people loitering in the street, with no aim in life. When we go walking by
the beach in the early morning, we see many young people sleeping or loitering
there, aimless, confused, and not knowing what to do. But if we take shelter of
Krsna, then we shall know, "Oh, now I have found shelter." Then there
will be no more confusion, no more hopelessness. I receive so many letters
daily from people expressing how they have found hope in Krsna consciousness.
Therefore, it is not a fact that Krsna descended here merely to collect some
servants. Rather, He descended for our benefit.
Unfortunately,
however, instead of becoming Krsna's servants, we are becoming servants of so
many other things. We are servants of our senses and the sensual activities of
lust, anger, greed, and illusion. Actually the whole world is serving in this
way. But if we engage our senses in the service of Krsna, we shall no longer be
servants of the senses, but masters of the senses. When we have the strength to
refuse to allow our senses to be engaged other than in the service of Krsna,
then we shall be saved.
Here Kuntidevi
says, "Your appearance in this material world is misleading,
bewildering." We think, "Krsna has some mission, some purpose, and
therefore He has appeared." No, it is for His pastimes that He appears.
For example, sometimes a governor goes to inspect a prison. He gets reports
from the prison superintendent, so he has no business going there, but still he
sometimes goes, thinking, "Let me see how they are doing." This may
be called a pastime because he is going by his free will. It is not that he has
become subject to the laws of the prison. But still a foolish prisoner may
think, "Oh, here the governor is also in prison. So we are equal. I am
also governor." Rascals think like that. "Because Krsna has descended
as an avatara," they say, "I am also an avatara." So here it is
said, na veda kascid bhagavams cikirsitam: "No one knows the purpose of
Your appearance and disappearance." Tavehamanasya nrnam vidambanam: the
Lord's pastimes are bewildering. No one can understand their real purpose.
The real purpose
of the Lord's pastimes is His free will. He thinks, "Let Me go and
see." He doesn't need to come to kill the demons. He has so many agents in
the material nature that can kill them. For example, in a moment He can kill
thousands of demons merely by a strong wind. Nor does He need to come to give
protection to the devotees, for He can do everything simply by His will. But He
descends to enjoy pleasure pastimes. "Let Me go and see."
Sometimes Krsna
even wants to enjoy the pleasure pastimes of fighting. The fighting spirit is
also in Krsna, otherwise wherefrom have we gotten it? Because we are part and
parcel of Krsna, all the qualities of Krsna are present in minute quantity
within us. We are samples of Krsna. Wherefrom do we get the fighting spirit? It
is present in Krsna. Therefore, just as a king sometimes engages a wrestler to
fight with him, Krsna also engages living entities to engage in fighting. The
wrestler is paid to fight with the king. He is not the king's enemy; rather, he
gives pleasure to the king by mock fighting. But when Krsna wants to fight, who
will fight with Him? Not anyone ordinary. If a king wants to practice mock
fighting, he will engage some very qualified wrestler. Similarly, Krsna does
not fight with anyone ordinary, but rather with some of His great devotees.
Because Krsna wants to fight, some of His devotees come down to this material
world to become His enemies and fight with Him. For example, the Lord descended
to kill Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyaksa. Should we think that these were ordinary
living entities? No, they were the great devotees Jaya and Vijaya, who came to
this world because Krsna wanted to fight. In the Vaikuntha world, the spiritual
world, there is no possibility of fighting, because everyone there engages in
Krsna's service. With whom will He fight? Therefore He sends some devotee in the
garb of an enemy and comes here to this material world to fight with him. At
the same time, the Lord teaches us that becoming His enemy is not very
profitable and that it is better to become His friend. Kuntidevi therefore
says, na veda kascid bhagavams cikirsitam: "No one knows the purpose of
Your appearance and disappearance." Tavehamanasya nrnam vidambanam:
"You are in this world just like an ordinary human being, and this is
bewildering."
Because Krsna
sometimes appears like an ordinary man, people sometimes cannot believe or
understand His activities. They wonder, "How can God become an ordinary
person like us?" But although Krsna sometimes plays like an ordinary
person, in fact He is not ordinary, and whenever necessary He displays the powers
of God. When sixteen thousand girls were kidnapped by the demon Bhaumasura,
they prayed to Krsna, and therefore Krsna went to the demon's palace, killed
the demon, and delivered all the girls. But according to the strict Vedic
system, if an unmarried girl leaves her home even for one night, no one will
marry her. Therefore when Krsna told the girls, "Now you can safely return
to your fathers' homes," they replied, "Sir, if we return to the
homes of our fathers, what will be our fate? No one will marry us, because this
man kidnapped us."
"Then what
do you want?" Krsna asked. The girls replied, "We want You to become
our husband." And Krsna is so kind that He immediately said yes and
accepted them.
Now, when Krsna
brought the girls back home to His capital city, it is not that each of the
sixteen thousand wives had to wait sixteen thousand nights to meet Krsna.
Rather, Krsna expanded Himself into sixteen thousand forms, constructed sixteen
thousand palaces, and lived in each palace with each wife.
Although this is
described in Srimad-Bhagavatam, rascals cannot understand this. Instead they
criticize Krsna. "He was very lusty," they say. "He married
sixteen thousand wives." But even if He is lusty, He is unlimitedly lusty.
God is unlimited. Why sixteen thousand? He could marry sixteen million and
still not reach the limits of His perfection. That is Krsna. We cannot accuse
Krsna of being lusty or sensuous. No. There are so many devotees of Krsna, and
Krsna shows favor to all of them. Some ask Krsna to become their husband, some
ask Krsna to become their friend, some ask Krsna to become their son, and some
ask Krsna to become their playmate. In this way, there are millions and
trillions of devotees all over the universe, and Krsna has to satisfy them all.
He does not need any help from these devotees, but because they want to serve
Him in a particular way, the Lord reciprocates. These sixteen thousand devotees
wanted Krsna as their husband, and therefore Krsna agreed.
Thus Krsna may
sometimes act like a common man, but as God He expanded Himself into sixteen
thousand forms. Once the great sage Narada went to visit Krsna and His wives.
"Krsna has married sixteen thousand wives," he thought. "Let me
see how He is dealing with them." Then he found Krsna living differently
in each of the sixteen thousand palaces. In one palace He was talking with His
wife, in another He was playing with His children, in another He was arranging
for the marriage of His sons and daughters, and in this way He was engaged in varied
pastimes in all of the sixteen thousand palaces. Similarly, in His childhood
Krsna played just like an ordinary child, but when His mother, Yasoda, wanted
Him to open His mouth so that she could see whether He had eaten dirt, within
His mouth He showed her all the universes. This is Krsna. Although He plays
just like an ordinary human being, when there is need He shows His nature as
God. To give another example, Krsna acted as the chariot driver of Arjuna, but
when Arjuna wanted to see Krsna's universal form, Krsna immediately showed him
a cosmic form with thousands and millions of heads, legs, arms, and weapons.
This is Krsna.
Krsna is
completely independent, and He has no friends or enemies, but He plays for the
benefit of both His friends and enemies, and when He acts for the benefit of
either, the result is the same. That is Krsna's absolute nature.
Chapter Thirteen
The Vital Force of the Universe
janma karma ca visvatmann
ajasyakartur atmanah
tiryan-nrsisu yadahsu
tad atyanta-vidambanam
Of course it is
bewildering, O soul of the universe, that You work, though You are inactive,
and that You take birth, though You are the vital force and the unborn. You
Yourself descend among animals, men, sages, and aquatics. Verily, this is
bewildering.
The
transcendental pastimes of the Lord are not only bewildering but also
apparently contradictory. In other words, they are all inconceivable to the
limited thinking power of the human being. The Lord is the allprevailing
Supersoul of all existence, and yet He appears in the form of a boar among the
animals, in the form of a human being as Rama, Krsna, etc., in the form of a
rsi like Narayana, and in the form of an aquatic like a fish. Yet it is said
that He is unborn, and He has nothing to do. In the sruti-mantra it is said
that the Supreme Brahman has nothing to do. No one is equal to or greater than
Him. He has manifold energies, and everything is performed by Him perfectly by
automatic knowledge, strength, and activity. All these statements prove without
any question that the Lord's activities, forms, and deeds are all inconceivable
to our limited thinking power, and because He is inconceivably powerful,
everything is possible in Him. Therefore no one can calculate Him exactly;
every action of the Lord is bewildering to the common man. He cannot be
understood by the Vedic knowledge, but He can be easily understood by the pure
devotees because they are intimately related with Him. The devotees therefore
know that although He appears among the animals, He is not an animal or a man
or a rsi or a fish. He is eternally the Supreme Lord, in all circumstances.
Kunti addresses
Krsna as visvatman, the vital force of the universe. In everyone's body there
is a vital force. That vital force is the atma--the living being, the living
entity, the soul. It is because of the presence of that vital force, the soul,
that the whole body works. Similarly, there is a supreme vital force. That
supreme vital force is Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore,
where is the question of His taking birth? In Bhagavad-gita (4.9) the Lord
says:
janma karma ca me divyam
evam yo vetti tattvatah
tyaktva deham punarjanma
naiti mam eti so 'rjuna
"One who
knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon
leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My
eternal abode, O Arjuna."
In this verse
the word divyam especially indicates that the Lord's appearance and activities
are spiritual. And elsewhere in the Bhagavad-gita it is said, ajo 'pi sann
avyayatma. The word aja means "unborn," and avyayatma means "not
subject to destruction." This is the nature of Krsna, whose transcendental
nature is further described by Kuntidevi in her prayers to the Lord.
In the beginning
of her prayers, Kuntidevi said to the Lord, "You are within, and You are
without, but still You are invisible." Krsna is within everyone's heart
(isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati, sarvasya caham hrdi sannivistah).
Indeed, He is within everything, even within the atom
(andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham). Krsna is within and He is also
without. Thus Krsna showed Arjuna His external feature as the visva-rupa, the
gigantic cosmic manifestation.
This external
body of Krsna is described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. There the hills and
mountains are described as the bones of the Lord. Similarly, the great oceans
have been described as different holes in the Lord's universal body, and the
planet known as Brahmaloka has been described as the upper portion of His
skull. Those who cannot see God have thus been advised to see Him in many ways
in terms of the material cosmic manifestation, according to the instructions
given in the Vedic literature.
There are those
who can simply think of God as being great but do not know how great He is.
When they think of greatness, they think of very high mountains, the sky, and
other planets. Therefore the Lord has been described in terms of such material
manifestations so that while thinking of these different manifestations one can
think of the Lord. That is also Krsna consciousness. If one thinks, "This
mountain is the bone of Krsna," or if one thinks of the vast Pacific Ocean
as Krsna's navel, one is in Krsna consciousness. Similarly, one may think of
the trees and plants as the hairs on Krsna's body, one may think of Brahmaloka
as the top of Krsna's skull, and one may think of the Patalaloka planetary
system as the soles of Krsna's feet. Thus one may think of Krsna as greater
than the greatest (mahato mahiyan).
Similarly, one
may think of Krsna as smaller than the smallest. That is also a kind of
greatness. Krsna can manufacture this gigantic cosmic manifestation, and He can
also manufacture a small insect. In a book one may sometimes find a small
running insect smaller than a period. This is Krsna's craftsmanship. Anor
aniyan mahato mahiyan (Katha Up. 1.2.20): He can create something greater than
the greatest and smaller than the smallest. Now human beings have manufactured
the 747 airplane, which according to their conception is very big. But can they
produce an airplane as small as a flying insect? That is not possible. Actual
greatness, however, is not onesided. One who is actually great can become
greater than the greatest and smaller than the smallest.
But even the
great things men can manufacture in the modern age are still not the greatest
things man has created. We have information from the Srimad-Bhagavatam that
Kardama Muni, the father of the great sage Kapiladeva, manufactured a huge
plane that resembled a great city. It included lakes, gardens, streets, and
houses, and the whole city was able to fly all over the universe. In that
plane, Kardama Muni traveled with his wife and showed her all the planets. He
was a great yogi, and his wife, Devahuti, was the daughter of Svayambhuva Manu,
a great king. Kardama Muni had desired to marry, and Devahuti told her father,
"My dear father, I want to marry that sage." Thus Svayambhuva Manu
brought his daughter to Kardama Muni and said, "Sir, here is my daughter.
Please accept her as your wife." She was a king's daughter and was very
opulent, but when she joined her austere husband, she had to serve so much that
she became lean and thin. In fact, even with insufficient food she was working
day and night. Thus Kardama Muni became compassionate. "This woman who has
come to me is a king's daughter," he thought, "but under my
protection she is not receiving any comfort. So I shall give her some
comfort." Thus he asked his wife, "What will make you
comfortable?" A woman's nature, of course, is that she wants a good house,
good food, fine garments, good children, and a good husband. These are a
woman's ambitions. Thus Kardama Muni proved to her that she had received the
best husband. By yogic powers he created for her this great airplane and gave
her a big house with maidservants and all opulences. Kardama Muni was merely a
human being, but he could perform such wonderful things by yogic powers.
Krsna, however,
is Yogesvara, the master of all yogic powers. If we get a little mystic power
we become important, but Krsna is the master of all mystic powers. In
Bhagavad-gita it is said that wherever there is Yogesvara, Krsna, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, the master of all mystic powers, and wherever there is
Arjuna, who is also known as Partha or Dhanur-dhara, everything is present.
We should always
remember that if we can keep ourselves always in company with Krsna, we shall
attain all perfection. And especially in this age, Krsna has incarnated as the
holy name (kali-kale nama-rupe krsna-avatara, Cc. Adi. 17.22). Therefore
Caitanya Mahaprabhu says:
namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis
tatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah
"My dear
Lord, You are so kind that You are giving me Your association in the form of
Your holy name, and this holy name can be chanted in any situation." There
are no hard and fast rules for chanting Hare Krsna. One can chant Hare Krsna
anywhere. Children, for example, also chant and dance. It is not at all
difficult. While walking, our students take their beads with them and chant.
Where is the loss? But the gain is very great, for by chanting we associate
with Krsna personally. Suppose we were to associate personally with the
President. How proud we would feel. "Oh, I am with the President." So
should we not feel very much proud if we were to associate with the supreme
president, who is able to create many millions of presidents like those of this
world? This chanting is our opportunity to do so. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu
says, etadrsi tava krpa bhagavan mamapi: "My dear Lord, You are so kind to
me that You are always prepared to give me Your association." Durdaivam
idrsam ihajani nanuragah: "But I am so unfortunate that I do not take
advantage of this opportunity."
Our Krsna
consciousness movement is simply requesting people, "Chant Hare
Krsna." There was a cartoon in some newspaper that depicted an old lady
and her husband sitting face to face. The lady is requesting her husband,
"Chant, chant, chant." And the husband is answering, "Can't,
can't, can't." So in this same way, we are requesting everyone,
"Please chant, chant, chant." But they are replying, "Can't,
can't, can't." This is their misfortune.
Still, it is our
duty to make all such unfortunate creatures fortunate. That is our mission.
Therefore we go into the street and chant. Although they say "Can't,"
we go on chanting. That is our duty. And if somehow or other we place some literature
in someone's hand, he becomes fortunate. He would have squandered his
hard-earned money in so many nasty, sinful ways, but if he purchases even one
book, regardless of the price, his money is properly utilized. This is the
beginning of his Krsna consciousness. Because he gives some of his hard-earned
money for the Krsna consciousness movement, he gets some spiritual profit. He
is not losing; rather, he is gaining some spiritual profit. Therefore our
business is somehow or other to bring everyone to this Krsna consciousness
movement so that everyone may spiritually profit.
When Krsna
appeared on earth, not everyone knew that He was the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. Although when there was need He proved Himself the Supreme Godhead, He
generally appeared to be just like an ordinary human being. Therefore Sukadeva
Gosvami, while describing how Krsna played as one of the cowherd boys, points
out Krsna's identity. Who is this cowherd boy? Sukadeva Gosvami says, ittham
satam brahma-sukhanubhutya. The impersonalists meditate upon the impersonal
Brahman and thus feel some transcendental bliss, but Sukadeva Gosvami points
out that the source of that transcendental bliss is here--Krsna.
Krsna is the
source of everything (aham sarvasya prabhavah), and therefore the
transcendental bliss that the impersonalists try to experience by meditating on
the impersonal Brahman in fact comes from Krsna. Sukadeva Gosvami says,
"Here is the person who is the source of brahma-sukha, the transcendental
bliss that comes from realization of Brahman."
A devotee is
always prepared to render service to the Lord (dasyam gatanam para-daivatena),
but for those who are under the spell of illusory energy, He is an ordinary boy
(mayasritanam nara-darakena). Ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy
aham: Krsna deals with different living entities according to their
conceptions. For those who regard Krsna as an ordinary human being, Krsna will
deal like an ordinary human being, whereas devotees who accept Krsna as the Supreme
Personality of Godhead will enjoy the association of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. Of course, the object of the impersonalist is the brahmajyoti, the
impersonal effulgence of the Supreme, but Krsna is the source of that
effulgence. Therefore Krsna is everything (brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti
sabdyate).
Yet the cowherd
boys are able to play with that same Krsna, the exalted Personality of Godhead.
How have they become so fortunate that they are able to play with Him?
ittham satam brahma-sukhanubhutya
dasyam gatanam para-daivatena
mayasritanam nara-darakena
sardham vijahruh krta-punya-punjah
(SB. 10.12.11)
The cowherd boys
playing with Krsna are also not ordinary, for they have attained the highest
perfection of being able to play with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. How
did they achieve this position? Krta-punya-punjah: by many, many lives of pious
activities. For many, many lives these boys underwent austerities and penances
to achieve the highest perfection of life, and now they have the opportunity to
play with Krsna personally on an equal level. They do not know that Krsna is
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for that is the nature of vrndavana-lila,
Krsna's pastimes in the village of Vrndavana.
Not knowing
Krsna's identity, the cowherd boys simply love Krsna, and their love is
unending. This is true of everyone in Vrndavana. For example, Yasodamata and
Nanda Maharaja, Krsna's mother and father, love Krsna with parental affection.
Similarly Krsna's friends love Krsna, Krsna's girl friends love Krsna, the
trees love Krsna, the water loves Krsna, the flowers, the cows, the
calves--everyone loves Krsna. That is the nature of Vrndavana. So if we simply
learn how to love Krsna, we can immediately transform this world into
Vrndavana.
This is the only
central point--how to love Krsna (prema pum-artho mahan). People are generally
pursuing dharma, artha, kama, moksa--religiosity, economic development, sense
gratification, and liberation. But Caitanya Mahaprabhu disregarded these four
things. "These are not what is to be achieved in life," He said. The
real goal of life is love of Krsna.
Of course, human
life does not actually begin until there is some conception of religion
(dharma). But in the present age, Kali-yuga, dharma is practically nil--there
is no religion or morality, and there are no pious activities--and therefore
according to Vedic calculations the present human civilization does not even
consist of human beings. Formerly people would care about morality and
immorality, religion and irreligion, but with the progress of Kali-yuga this is
all being vanquished, and people can do anything, without caring what it is.
Srimad-Bhagavatam says, and we can actually see, that in Kali-yuga about eighty
percent of the people are sinful. Illicit sex life, intoxication, meat-eating,
and gambling are the four pillars of sinful life, and therefore we request that
one first break these four pillars, so that the roof of sinful life will
collapse. Then by chanting Hare Krsna one can remain established in a
transcendental position. It is a very simple method. One cannot realize God if
one's life is sinful. Therefore Krsna says:
yesam tv anta-gatam papam
jananam punya-karmanam
te dvandva-moha-nirmukta
bhajante mam drdha-vratah
"Persons
who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions
are completely eradicated, and who are freed from the duality of delusion
engage themselves in My service with determination." (Bg. 7.28)
The word
anta-gatam means "finished." One can engage in devotional service if
one has finished with his sinful life. Who can finish with sinful life? Those
who engage in pious activities. One must have activities, and if one engages in
pious activities one's sinful activities will naturally vanish. On one side,
one should voluntarily try to break the pillars of sinful life, and on another
side one must engage himself in pious life.
If one has no
pious engagement, it is not that one can become free from sinful activities
simply by theoretical understanding. For example, the American government is
spending millions of dollars to stop the use of LSD and other such intoxicants,
but the government has failed. How is it that simply by passing laws or giving
lectures one can make people give up these things? It is not possible. One must
give people good engagements, and then they will automatically give up the bad
ones. For example, we instruct our students, "No intoxication," and
they immediately give it up, even though the government has failed to stop
them. This is practical.
Param drstva
nivartate. If someone isn't given good engagement, his bad engagements cannot
be stopped. That is not possible. Therefore we have two sides--prohibition of
sinful activities, and engagement in good activities. We don't simply say,
"No illicit sex," "No intoxication," and so on. Mere
negativity has no meaning; there must be something positive, because everyone
wants engagement. That is because we are living entities, not dead stones. By
meditation the impersonalist philosophers try to become dead stones: "Let
me think of something void or impersonal." But how can one artificially
make oneself void? The heart and mind are full of activities, so these
artificial methods will not help human society.
Methods of so-called
yoga and meditation are all rascaldom because they provide one no engagement.
But in Krsna consciousness there is adequate engagement for everyone. Everyone
rises early in the morning to offer worship to the Deities. The devotees
prepare nice food for Krsna, they decorate the temple, make garlands, go out
chanting, and sell books. They are fully engaged twenty-four hours a day, and
therefore they are able to give up sinful life. If a child has in his hands
something that he is eating but we give him something better, he will throw
away the inferior thing and take the better thing. So in Krsna consciousness we
offer better engagement, better life, better philosophy, better
consciousness--everything better. Therefore those who engage in devotional
service can give up sinful activities and promote themselves to Krsna
consciousness.
Activities
intended to promote all living entities to Krsna consciousness are going on not
only in human society but even in animal society also. Because all living
entities here are part and parcel of Krsna but are rotting in this material
world, Krsna has a plan, a big plan to deliver them. Sometimes He comes to this
world personally, and sometimes He sends His very confidential devotees.
Sometimes He leaves instructions like those of Bhagavad-gita. Krsna's
incarnation appears everywhere, and He appears among animals, men, sages, and
even aquatics (tiryan-nrsisu yadahsu). For example, Krsna even appeared as a
fish incarnation.
Thus Krsna's
birth, appearance, and disappearance are all bewildering (tad
atyanta-vidambanam). We conditioned living entities transmigrate from one body
to another because we are forced to do so by the laws of nature, but Krsna does
not appear because He is forced. That is the difference. Those who are foolish
rascals think, "I have taken my birth in this world, and Krsna has taken
birth here also. Therefore I am also God." They do not know that they will
have to take birth again by the force of the laws of nature.
One may have
been given the chance to have a very beautiful body in a country where one can
live in opulence and receive a good education. But if one misuses all this, one
will get another body according to one's mentality. For example, at the present
moment, despite so many arrangements by the government for good schools and
universities, the civilized countries of the world are producing hippies, young
people who are so frustrated that they even worship hogs. But if one associates
with the qualities of the hogs, one will actually become a hog in one's next
birth. Prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah. Nature will give one a
full opportunity: "All right, sir, become a hog." Such are nature's
arrangements. Prakrti, nature, has three modes, and if one associates with one
type of mode, one will receive his next body accordingly.
Krsna's
appearance and disappearance are meant to put an end to the living entities'
transmigration from one body to another, and therefore one should understand
the greatness of the plan behind Krsna's appearance and disappearance. It is
not that Krsna comes whimsically. He has a great plan, otherwise why should He
come here? He is very much eager to take us back home, back to Godhead. That is
Krsna's business. Therefore He says:
sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah
"Abandon
all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from
all sinful reaction. Do not fear." (Bg. 18.66) All of us are children of
Krsna, God, and since we are unhappy because of taking material bodies for
repeated birth, death, old age, and disease, He is more unhappy than we are. Our
situation in the material body is not at all comfortable, but we are such
foolish rascals that we do not care to do anything about this. We are busy
trying to arrange for temporary comforts in this life, but we are neglecting
the real discomforts of birth, death, old age, and disease. This is our
ignorance and our foolishness, and therefore Krsna comes to wake us up from
this ignorance and take us back home, back to Godhead.
Chapter Fourteen
Lord Krsna's Wonderful Activities
gopy adade tvayi krtagasi dama tavad
ya
te dasasru-kalilanjana-sambhramaksam
vaktram niniya bhaya-bhavanaya sthitasya
sa mam vimohayati bhir api yad bibheti
My dear Krsna,
Yasoda took up a rope to bind You when You committed an offense, and Your
perturbed eyes overflooded with tears, which washed the mascara from Your eyes.
And You were afraid, though fear personified is afraid of You. This sight is
bewildering to me.
Here is another
explanation of the bewilderment created by the pastimes of the Supreme Lord.
The Supreme Lord is the Supreme in all circumstances, as already explained.
Here is a specific example of the Lord's being the Supreme and at the same time
a plaything in the presence of His pure devotee. The Lord's pure devotee
renders service unto the Lord out of unalloyed love only, and while discharging
such devotional service the pure devotee forgets the position of the Supreme
Lord. The Supreme Lord also accepts the loving service of His devotees more
relishably when the service is rendered spontaneously out of pure affection,
without anything of reverential admiration. Generally the Lord is worshiped by
the devotees in a reverential attitude, but the Lord is meticulously pleased
when the devotee, out of pure affection and love, considers the Lord to be less
important than himself. The Lord's pastimes in the original abode, Goloka
Vrndavana, are exchanged in that spirit. The friends of Krsna consider Him one
of them. They do not consider Him to be of reverential importance. The parents
of the Lord (who are all pure devotees) consider Him a child only. The Lord
accepts the chastisements of the parents more cheerfully than the prayers of the
Vedic hymns. Similarly, He accepts the reproaches of His fiancees more
palatably than the Vedic hymns. When Lord Krsna was present in this material
world to manifest His eternal pastimes of the transcendental realm Goloka
Vrndavana as an attraction for the people in general, He displayed a unique
picture of subordination before His foster mother, Yasoda. The Lord, in His
naturally childish playful activities, used to spoil the stocked butter of
mother Yasoda by breaking the pots and distributing the contents to His friends
and playmates, including the celebrated monkeys of Vrndavana, who took
advantage of the Lord's munificence. Mother Yasoda saw this, and out of her
pure love she wanted to make a show of punishment for her transcendental child.
She took a rope and threatened the Lord that she would tie Him up, as is
generally done in the ordinary household. Seeing the rope in the hands of
mother Yasoda, the Lord bowed down His head and began to weep just like a
child, and tears rolled down His cheeks, washing off the black ointment smeared
about His beautiful eyes. This picture of the Lord is adored by Kuntidevi
because she is conscious of the Lord's supreme position. He is feared often by
fear personified, yet He is afraid of His mother, who wanted to punish Him just
in an ordinary manner. Kunti was conscious of the exalted position of Krsna,
whereas Yasoda was not. Therefore Yasoda's position was more exalted than
Kunti's. Mother Yasoda got the Lord as her child, and the Lord made her forget
altogether that her child was the Lord Himself. If mother Yasoda had been
conscious of the exalted position of the Lord, she would certainly have
hesitated to punish the Lord. But she was made to forget this situation because
the Lord wanted to make a complete gesture of childishness before the
affectionate Yasoda. This exchange of love between the mother and the son was
performed in a natural way, and Kunti, remembering the scene, was bewildered,
and she could do nothing but praise the transcendental filial love. Indirectly
mother Yasoda is praised for her unique position of love, for she could control
even the all-powerful Lord as her beloved child.
This pastime
presents another opulence of Krsna--His opulence of beauty. Krsna has six
opulences: all wealth, all strength, all influence, all knowledge, all
renunciation, and all beauty. The nature of Krsna is that He is greater than
the greatest and smaller than the smallest (anor aniyan mahato mahiyan). We
offer obeisances to Krsna with awe and veneration, but no one comes to Krsna
with a rope, saying, "Krsna, You have committed an offense, and now I
shall bind You." Yet that is the prerogative of the most perfect devotee,
and Krsna wants to be approached in that way.
Thinking of
Krsna's opulence, Kuntidevi did not dare take the part of Yasoda, for although
Kuntidevi was Krsna's aunt, she did not have the privilege to approach Krsna
the way He was approached by Yasodamayi, who was such an advanced devotee that
she had the right to chastise the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That was
Yasodamayi's special prerogative. Kuntidevi was simply thinking of how
fortunate was Yasodamayi that she could threaten the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, who is feared even by fear personified (bhir api yad bibheti). Who is
not afraid of Krsna? No one. But Krsna is afraid of Yasodamayi. This is the
superexcellence of Krsna.
To give another
example of such opulence, Krsna is known as Madana-mohana. Madana means Cupid.
Cupid enchants everyone, but Krsna is known as Madana-mohana because He is so
beautiful that He enchants even Cupid. Nonetheless, Krsna Himself is enchanted
by Srimati Radharani, and therefore Srimati Radharani is known as
Madana-mohana-mohini, "the enchanter of the enchanter of Cupid."
Krsna is the enchanter of Cupid, and Radharani is the enchanter of that
enchanter.
These are very
exalted spiritual understandings in Krsna consciousness. They are not
fictional, imaginary, or concocted. They are facts, and every devotee can have
the privilege to understand and indeed take part in Krsna's pastimes if he is
actually advanced. We should not think that the privilege given to mother
Yasoda is not available to us. Everyone can have a similar privilege. If one
loves Krsna as one's child, then one wifl have such a privilege, because the
mother has the most love for the child. Even in this material world, there is
no comparison to a mother's love, for a mother loves her child without any
expectation of return. Of course, although that is generally true, this
material world is so polluted that a mother sometimes thinks, "My child
will grow up and become a man, and when he earns money, I shall get it."
Thus there is still some desire to get something in exchange. But while loving
Krsna there are no selfish feelings, for that love is unalloyed, free from all
material gain (anyabhi-lasita-sunyam).
We should not
love Krsna for some material gain. It is not that we should say, "Krsna,
give us our daily bread, and then I shall love You. Krsna, give me this or
that, and then I shall love You." There should be no such mercantile
exchanges, for Krsna wants unalloyed love.
When Krsna saw
mother Yasoda coming with a rope to bind Him, He immediately became very much
afraid, thinking, "Oh, Mother is going to bind Me." He began to cry,
and the tears washed the mascara from His eyes. Looking at His mother with
great respect, He appealed to her with feeling, "Yes, Mother, I have
offended you. Kindly excuse Me." Then He immediately bowed His head.
Kuntidevi appreciated this scene, for this was another of Krsna's perfections.
Although He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He puts Himself under the
control of mother Yasoda. In Bhagavad-gita (7.7) the Lord says, mattah
parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya: "My dear Arjuna, there is no one
superior to Me." Yet that Supreme Personality of Godhead, to whom no one
is superior, bows down to mother Yasoda, accepting, "My dear Mother, yes,
I am an offender."
When mother
Yasoda saw that Krsna had become too much afraid of her, she also became
disturbed. She did not actually want Krsna to suffer by her punishment. That
was not her purpose. But it is a system, still current in India, that when a
child creates too much of a disturbance, his mother may bind him up in one
place. That is a very common system, so mother Yasoda adopted it.
This scene is
very much appreciated by pure devotees, for it shows how much greatness there
is in the Supreme Person, who plays exactly like a perfect child. When Krsna
plays like a child, He plays perfectly, when He plays as the husband of sixteen
thousand wives He plays perfectly, when He plays as the lover of the gopis He
plays perfectly, and as the friend of the cowherd boys He also plays perfectly.
The cowherd boys
all depend on Krsna. Once they wanted to take fruit from a forest of palm
trees, but there was a demon named Gardabhasura who would not allow anyone to
enter that forest. Therefore Krsna's cowherd boyfriends said to Krsna,
"Krsna, we want to taste that fruit, if You can arrange for it."
Krsna immediately said yes, and He and Balarama went to the forest where that
demon was living with other demons, who had all taken the shape of asses. When
the ass demons came to kick Krsna and Balarama with their hind legs, Balarama
caught one of them and threw him into the top of a tree, and the demon died.
Then Krsna and Balarama killed the other demons the same way. Thus Their
cowherd friends were very much obliged to Them.
On another
occasion, the cowherd boys were surrounded by fire. Not knowing anyone else but
Krsna, they immediately called for Him, and Krsna was ready: "Yes."
Thus Krsna immediately swallowed the whole fire. There were many demons that
attacked the boys, and every day the boys would return to their mothers and
say, "Mother, Krsna is so wonderful," and they would explain what had
happened that day. And the mothers would say, "Yes, our Krsna is
wonderful." They did not know that Krsna is God, the Supreme Person. They
only knew that Krsna is wonderful, that's all. And the more they perceived
Krsna's wonderful activities, the more their love increased. "Perhaps He
may be a demigod," they thought. When Nanda Maharaja, Krsna's father,
talked among his friends, the friends would talk about Krsna and say, "Oh,
Nanda Maharaja, your child Krsna is wonderful." And Nanda Maharaja would
respond, "Yes, I see that. Maybe He is some demigod." And even that
was not certain--"maybe."
Thus the
inhabitants of Vrndavana do not care who is God and who is not. They love
Krsna, that's all. Those who think of first analyzing Krsna to determine
whether He is God are not first-class devotees. The firstclass devotees are
those who have spontaneous love for Krsna. How can we analyze Krsna? He is
unlimited, and therefore it is impossible. We have limited perception, and our
senses have limited potency, so how can we study Krsna? It is not possible at
all. Krsna reveals Himself to a certain extent, and that much is sufficient.
We should not be
like the Mayavadi philosophers, who try to find God by speculative deduction.
"Neti neti," they say. "God is not this, and God is not
that." But what God is they do not know. Materialistic scientists also try
to find the ultimate cause, but their process is the same: "Not this, not
that." As much as they advance, they will always find "Not this, not
that." But what the ultimate cause is, they will never find. That is not
possible.
What to speak of
finding Krsna, materialistic scientists cannot properly understand even
material objects. They are trying to go to the moon, but actually they do not
know what it is. If they understand what the moon is, why do they come back
here? If they knew perfectly what the moon is, they would have resided there by
now. They have been trying for the last twenty years to go there and stay, but
they are simply seeing, "Not this, not that. There are no living entities,
and there is no possibility of our living here." Thus they can report on
what is not on the moon, but do they know what is there? No, they do not know.
And this is only one planet or one star.
According to the
Vedic literature, the moon is regarded as a star. The scientists say that the
stars are all suns, but according to Bhagavad-gita the stars are of the same
nature as the moon. In Bhagavad-gita (10.21) Lord Krsna says, naksatranam aham
sasi: "Of stars I am the moon." Thus the moon is just like the many
stars. What is the nature of the moon? It is bright because it reflects light
from the sun. Therefore although the scientists say that the stars are many
suns, we do not agree. According to the Vedic calculation, there are
innumerable suns, but in every universe there is only one.
What we see in
this universe we are seeing imperfectly, and our knowledge is not perfect. We
cannot count how many stars or planets there are. We cannot fully understand
the material things existing all around us, and therefore how can we understand
the Supreme Lord who created this universe? That is not possible. Therefore in
the Brahma-samhita (5.34) it is said:
panthas tu koti-sata-vatsara-sampragmyo
vayor athapi manaso muni-pungavanam
so
'py asti yat-prapada-simny avicintya-tattve
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
Space is
unlimited, and the Brahma-samhita suggests: Suppose one travels by spacecraft
for millions of years at the velocity of the wind or even the speed of mind.
Everyone knows that the mind is so swift that in even one ten-thousandth of a
second it can take us millions of miles. If we have seen something millions of
miles away, the mind can go there immediately. But even if we can travel at
that speed on a spacecraft manufactured by muni-pungavanam, the greatest
scientists and most thoughtful men, will that be perfection? No. The Brahma-samhita
says, so 'py asti yat-prapada-simny avicintya-tattve: still this creation will
remain inconceivable to our understanding. And Krsna has created all these
things, so how can we study Krsna? If we cannot understand the things Krsna has
created, how can we understand Krsna? It is not possible at all.
Therefore the
mentality of Vrndavana is the perfect status of mind for devotees. The
inhabitants of Vrndavana have no concern with understanding Krsna. Rather, they
want to love Krsna unconditionally. It is not that they think, "Krsna is
God, and therefore I love Him." In Vrndavana Krsna does not play as God;
He plays there as an ordinary cowherd boy, and although at times He proves that
He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the devotees there do not care to
know it.
Kuntidevi,
however, was not an inhabitant of Vrndavana. She was an inhabitant of
Hastinapura, which is outside Vrndavana. The devotees outside Vrndavana study
how great the inhabitants of Vrndavana are, but the inhabitants of Vrndavana
don't care to know how great Krsna is. That is the difference between them. So
our concern should be simply to love Krsna. The more we love Krsna, the more we
shall become perfect. It is not necessary to understand Krsna and how He
creates. Krsna explains Himself in Bhagavad-gita, and we should not try to
understand much more. We should not bother very much to know Krsna. That is not
possible. We should simply increase our unalloyed love for Krsna. That is the
perfection of life.
Chapter Fifteen
Beyond Birth and Death
kecid ahur ajam jatam
punya-slokasya kirtaye
yadoh priyasyan va vaye
malayasyeva candanam
Some say that
the Unborn is born for the glorification of pious kings, and others say that He
is born to please King Yadu, one of Your dearest devotees. You appear in his
family as sandalwood appears in the Malaya Hills.
Because the
Lord's appearance in this material world is bewildering there are different
opinions about the birth of the Unborn. In the Bhagavad-gita the Lord says that
He takes His birth in the material world, although He is the Lord of all
creations and He is unborn. So there cannot be any denial of the birth of the
Unbom, because He Himself establishes the truth. But still there are different
opinions as to why He takes His birth. That is also declared in the
Bhagavad-gita. He appears by His own internal potency to reestablish the
principles of religion and to protect the pious and annihilate the impious.
That is the mission of the appearance of the Unborn. Still, it is said that the
Lord is there to glorify the pious King Yudhisthira. Lord Sri Krsna certainly
wanted to establish the kingdom of the Pa-ndavas for the good of all in the
world. When there is a pious king ruling over the world, the people are happy.
When the ruler is impious, the people are unhappy. In the age of Kali in most
cases the rulers are impious, and therefore the citizens are also continuously
unhappy. But in the case of democracy, the impious citizens themselves elect
their representative to rule over them, and therefore they cannot blame anyone
for their unhappiness. Maharaja Nala was also celebrated as a great pious king,
but he had no connection with Lord Krsna. Therefore Maharaja Yudhisthira is
meant here to be glorified by Lord Krsna, who had also glorified King Yadu by
taking birth in his family. He is known as Yadava, Yaduvira, Yadunandana, etc.,
although the Lord is always independent of such obligations. He is just like
the sandalwood that grows in the Malaya Hills. Trees can grow anywhere and
everywhere, yet because the sandalwood trees grow mostly in the area of the
Malaya Hills, the name sandalwood and the Malaya Hills are interrelated.
Therefore, the conclusion is that the Lord is ever unborn like the sun, and yet
He appears as the sun rises on the eastern horizon. As the sun is never the sun
of the eastern horizon, so the Lord is no one's son, but is the father of
everything that be.
In the
Bhagavad-gita (4.6) the Lord says:
ajo 'pi sann avyayatma
bhutanam isvaro 'pi san
prakrtim svam adhisthaya
sambha vamy atma-mayaya
"Although I
am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the
Lord of all sentient beings, I still appear in every millennium in My original,
transcendental form."
Krsna is unborn,
and we are also unbom, but the difference is that unlike the Lord we have been
entangled in a material body. Therefore we cannot keep our position as unborn,
but have to take birth and transmigrate from one body to another, with no guarantee
of what kind of body we shall receive next. Even in this life, we are obliged
to accept one body after another. A child gives up his childhood body and
accepts the body of a boy, and the boy gives up his boyhood body to accept a
youthful body, which he then gives up for an old body. Therefore it is natural
to conclude that when one gives up one's old body, one will have to accept
another body; again one will accept the body of a child.
This is a
natural cycle of this material world. It is similar to changes of season. After
spring comes summer, and after summer comes fall and then winter, and then
spring again. Similarly, after day comes night, and after night comes day. And
just as these cyclic changes take place one after another, we change from one
body to another, and it is natural to conclude that after leaving the present
body we shall receive another body (bhutva bhutva praliyate).
This conclusion
is very logical, it is supported by the sastra, the Vedic literature, and it is
also affirmed by the greatest authority, Krsna Himself. Therefore why should we
not accept it? If one does not accept this--if one thinks that there is no life
after death--one is foolish.
There is life
afler death, and there is also the chance to free oneself from the cycle of
repeated birth and death and attain a life of immortality. But because we have
been accustomed to accepting one body after another since time immemorial, it
is difficult for us to think of a life that is eternal. And the life of material
existence is so troublesome that one may think that if there is an etemal life,
that life must be troublesome also. For example, a diseased man who is taking
very bitter medicine and who is lying down in bed, eating there and passing
stool and urine there, unable to move, may find his life so intolerable that he
thinks, "Let me commit suicide." Similarly, materialistic life is so
miserable that in desperation one sometimes takes to a philosophy of voidism or
impersonalism to try to negate his very existence and make everything zero.
Actually, however, becoming zero is not possible, nor is it necessary. We are
in trouble in our material condition, but when we get out of our material
condition we can find real life, eternal life.
Because we are
part and parcel of Krsna, who is aja, beyond birth and death, we are also aja.
How could we be otherwise? If my father is happy and I am the son of my father,
why should I be unhappy? I can naturally conclude that I shall enjoy my
father's property just as my father is enjoying it. Similarly, God, Krsna, is
all-powerful, all-beautiful, allknowledgeable, and complete in everything, and
although I may not be complete, I am part and parcel of God, and therefore I
have all the qualities of God to a partial extent.
God does not
die, so I also shall not die. That is my position. That is explained in
Bhagavad-gita (2:20): na jayate mriyate va kadacit. Describing the soul, Krsna
says that the soul is never born (najayate), and if one is not born how can he
die? There is no question of death (mriyate va). Death is for one who has taken
birth, and if one has no birth he can also have no death.
Unfortunately,
however, we do not know this. We are conducting scientific research, but we do
not know that every living entity is a spiritual soul, with no birth and no
death. This is our ignorance. The soul is eternal, everlasting, and primeval
(nityah sasvato 'yam purano). The soul does not die with the annihilation of
the body (na hanyate hanyamane sarire). But although the soul does not die, it
accepts another body, and this is called bhava-roga, the material disease.
Since Krsna is
the supreme living entity (nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam), we are exactly
like Krsna, the difference being that Krsna is vibhu, unlimited, whereas we are
anu, limited. Qualitatively, we are as good as Krsna. Therefore whatever
propensities Krsna has, we have also. For example, Krsna has the propensity to
love someone of the opposite sex, and therefore we have this same propensity.
The beginning of love is present in the eternal love between Radha and Krsna.
We are also seeking eternal love, but because we are conditioned by the
material laws, our love is interrupted. But if we can transcend this
interruption, we can take part in loving affairs similar to those of Krsna and
Radharani. Our aim should therefore be to go back home, back to Krsna, because
since Krsna is eternal, we shall there receive an etemal body.
Kunti says,
kecid ahur ajam jatam: the supreme eternal, the supreme unborn, has now taken
His birth. But although Krsna takes birth, His birth is not like ours. That we
should know. The Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (4.9):
janma karma ca me divyam
evam yo vetti tattvatah
tyaktva deham punar janma
naiti mam eti so 'rjuna
"One who
knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon
leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My
eternal abode, O Arjuna."
It is described
in Srimad-Bhagavatam that when Krsna first appeared, He did not take birth from
the womb of Devaki; rather, He first appeared in the majestic four-armed form
of Visnu, and then He became a small child on Devaki's lap. Therefore Krsna's
birth is transcendental, whereas our birth takes place by force, by the laws of
nature. Krsna is not under the laws of nature; the laws of nature work under
Him (mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram). Prakrti, nature, works under
the order of Krsna, and we work under the order of nature. Krsna is the master
of nature, and we are servants of nature. Therefore Kuntidevi says, kecid ahuh:
"Someone may say that the unborn has taken birth." It may appear that
He has taken birth just like us, but in fact He has not. Kuntidevi distinctly
says, kecid ahuh: "some foolish persons may say that He has taken
birth." Krsna Himself also says in Bhagavad-gita (9.11), avajananti mam
mudha manusim tanum asritam: "Because I have appeared just like a human
being, those who are rascals think that I am also just like an ordinary
human." Param bhavam ajanantah: "They do not know the mystery behind
God's taking birth like a human being."
Krsna is
everywhere. The Lord is situated in everyone's heart (isvarah sarva-bhutanam
hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati). And since He is within us and is all-powerful, why
should it be difficult for Him to appear before us? When the great devotee
Dhruva Maharaja was engaged in meditation on the four-handed form of Visnu, all
of a sudden his meditation broke, and he immediately saw before him the same
form upon which he had been meditating. Was it very difficult for Krsna to
appear in this way? Of course not. Similarly it was not difficult for Him to
appear before Devaki in the same four-handed form. Therefore Krsna says, janma
karma ca me divyam: "One must understand My transcendental birth and
activities." Kuntidevi has this understanding. She knows that although to
some fools Krsna appears to take birth, in fact He is unborn.
But why should
Krsna perform the pastime of taking birth? Kuntidevi replies, punya-slokasya
kirtaye: to glorify those who are very pious and very much advanced in
spiritual understanding. Krsna comes as the son of Devaki to glorify His
devotee Devaki. Krsna becomes the son of Yasoda to glorify Yasoda. Similarly,
Krsna appears in the dynasty of Maharaja Yadu, His great devotee, just to
glorify Maharaja Yadu. Thus Krsna is still known as Yadava, the descendant of
Maharaja Yadu. Krsna has no obligation to take His birth in a particular family
or country, but He takes birth to glorify a certain person or a certain family
because of their devotion. Therefore His birth is called divyam,
transcendental.
The Lord is not
obliged to take birth, but we are obliged to do so. That is the distinction
between our birth and the birth of Krsna. If by our karma, or activities, we
are fit to take birth in a good family in human society or demigod society, we
shall do so, but if our activities are low like those of animals, we shall have
to take birth in a family of animals. That is the force of karma. Karmana
daiva-netrena jantor deho papattaye (SB. 3.31.1). We develop a certain type of
body according to our karma.
The human form
of life is meant for understanding the Supreme, the Absolute Truth (athato
brahma-jijnasa). But if we do not endeavor for this, if we misuse this
opportunity and simply remain like animals, we shall return to an animal form
of life. Therefore the Krsna consciousness movement is trying to save people
from going down to animal life.
The appearance
of Lord Krsna is compared to the growth of sandalwood trees in the Malaya Hills
(malayasyeva candanam). There are two Malayas--the Malaya Hills and the part of
the world now known as Malaysia. The candana tree, or sandalwood tree, can grow
anywhere--there is no rule that it has to grow in Malaysia or the Malaya
Hills--but because this sandalwood grows in large quantities in those parts of
the world, it is known as malaya-candana. In the Western countries there is
scented water known as eau de cologne. It can be manufactured anywhere, but
because it was originally manufactured in the city of Cologne, it is known as
eau de cologne. Similarly, sandalwood can grow anywhere, but because it was
originally very prominent in Malaysia and the Malaya Hills, it is known as
Malayan sandalwood. Kunti offered this prayer five thousand years ago, and this
indicates that sandalwood was growing five thousand years ago in Malaysia.
Malaysia is not a new name; it was known thousands and thousands of years ago
to the followers of the Vedic culture. Nowadays, of course, Malaysia is growing
rubber trees because there is a good demand for rubber, but formerly Malaysia
grew sandalwood on a large scale because there was a great demand for
sandalwood, especially in India.
Because India is
a tropical country and sandalwood is very cooling people in India use
sandalwood pulp as a cosmetic. Even now, during the very warm days of the
summer season, those who can afford to do so apply sandalwood pulp to their
bodies and feel cool all day. In India it was the system that after bathing and
sanctifying the body by applying marks of tilaka, one would offer obeisances to
the Deity, take some candana-prasada from the room of the Deity, and apply it
as a cosmetic to the body. This was called prasadhanam. But it is said that in
Kali-yuga, the present age, snanam eva prasadhanam (SB. 12.2.5): if one can
even bathe nicely, that is prasadhana. In India even the poorest man will take
an early morning bath every day, but when I came to America I saw that even
taking one's daily bath may be a difficult thing and is often not the practice.
In India we are accustomed to see people bathe thrice in a day, but in New York
I have seen that one may have to go to a friend's house to bathe because one
may not have facilities to do so at home. These are symptoms of Kali-yuga.
Snanam eva prasadhanam. In the Kali-yuga it will be very difficult even to take
a bath.
Another symptom
of Kali-yuga is daksyam kutumba-bharanam (SB. 12.2.7): one will be famous for
his pious activities simply if he can maintain his family. The word daksyam,
meaning "famous for pious activities," comes from daksa, which means
"expert." In Kali-yuga one will be considered expert if he can
maintain a family consisting of himself, his wife, and one or two children. In
India, of course, the traditional family is the joint family, consisting of a
man and his wife, their parents and children, their in-laws, and so on. But in
Kali-yuga it will be difficult to maintain a simple family of oneseff, one's
wife, and a few children. When I was living in New York, among the people
coming to our classes was an old lady who had a grown son. I asked her,
"Why doesn't your son get married?" She replied, "Yes, he can
marry when he can maintain a family." I did not know that maintaining a
family was such a difficult job here. But this is described in the Bhagavatam:
if one can maintain a family, he will be considered a very glorious man, and if
a girl has a husband she will be considered very fortunate.
It is not our
business to criticize, but the symptoms of Kali-yuga are very severe, and they
will grow more severe. The duration of Kali-yuga is we find so many
difficulties, and the more we grow into this Kali-yuga, the more the times will
be difficult. The best course, therefore, is to complete our Krsna
consciousness and return home, back to Godhead. That will save us. Otherwise,
if we come back again for another life in Kaliyuga, we shall find difficult
days ahead, and we shall have to suffer more and more.
Chapter Sixteen
Returning to Our Natural Consciousness
apare vasudevasya
devakyam yacito 'bhyagat
ajas tvam asya ksemaya
vadhaya ca sura-dvisam
Others say that
since both Vasudeva and Devaki prayed for You, You have taken Your birth as
their son. Undoubtedly You are unborn, yet You take Your birth for their
welfare and to kill those who are envious of the demigods.
It is also said
that Vasudeva and Devaki, in their previous birth as Sutapa and Prsni,
underwent a severe type of penance to get the Lord as their son, and as a
result of such austerities the Lord appeared as their son. It is already
declared in the Bhagavad-gita that the Lord appears for the welfare of all
people in the world and to vanquish the asuras, or the materialistic atheists.
The Lord says:
yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham
"Whenever
and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata,
and a predominant rise of irreligion--at that time I descend Myself." (Bg.
4.7) The words dharmasya glanih mean "irregularities in religion."
When there are irregularities, religion becomes polluted.
In human society
there must be a proper balance between spirit and matter. We are actually
spirit soul, but somehow or other we have been encaged within material bodies,
and as long as we have these bodies we have to accept the bodily necessities of
eating, sleeping, mating, and defending, although the soul itself does not need
these things. The soul does not need to eat anything; whatever we eat is for
the upkeep of the body. But a civilization that simply looks after these bodily
necessities and does not care for the necessities of the soul is a foolish,
unbalanced civilization. Suppose one merely washes one's coat but does not take
care of one's body. Or suppose one has a bird in a cage but merely takes care
of the cage, not the bird within it. This is foolishness. The bird is crying,
"Ka, ka. Give me food, give me food." If one only takes care of the
cage, how can the bird be happy?
So why are we
unhappy? In the Western countries there is no scarcity of wealth, no scarcity
of food, no scarcity of cars, and no scarcity of sex. Everything is available
in full abundance. Then why is there still a section of people who are
frustrated and confused, like the hippies? They are not satisfied. Why? Because
there is no balance. We are taking care of the necessities of the body, but we
have no information of the soul and its necessities. The soul is the real
substance, and the body is only a covering. Therefore neglect of the soul is a
form of dharmasya glanih, pollution of duty.
The word dharma
means "duty." Although the word dharma is often translated as
"religion" and religion is generally defined as a kind of faith,
dharma is not in fact a kind of faith. Dharma means one's actual constitutional
duty. It is one's duty to know the needs of the soul, but unfortunately we have
no information of the soul and are simply busy supplying the necessities for
bodily comfort.
Bodily comfort,
however, is not enough. Suppose a man is very comfortably situated. Does it
mean he will not die? Of course not. We speak of a struggle for existence and
survival of the fittest, but bodily comforts alone cannot enable anyone to
exist or survive permanently. Therefore, taking care of the body only is called
dharmasya glanih, or pollution of one's duty.
One must know
the necessities of the body and also the necessities of the soul. The real
necessity in life is to supply the comforts of the soul, and the soul cannot be
comforted by material adjustments. Because the soul is a different identity,
the soul must be given spiritual food, and that spiritual food is Krsna
consciousness. When one is diseased, he must be given the proper diet and the
proper medicine. Both are required. If he is simply given medicine but not a
proper diet, the treatment will not be very successful. Therefore the Krsna
consciousness movement is meant to give both the proper medicine and the proper
diet for the soul. The diet is krsna-prasada, food that has first been offered
to Krsna, and the medicine is the Hare Krsna mantra.
nivrtta-tarsair upagiyamanad
bhavausadhac chrotra-mano-'bhiramat
ka uttamasloka-gunanuvadat
puman virajyeta vina pasu-ghnat
(Bhag 10.1.14)
Pariksit
Maharaja said to the great sage Sukadeva Gosvami, "The discourses on
Srimad-Bhagavatam that you are giving me are not ordinary. These Bhagavata
discourses are relishable for persons who are nivrtta-trsna, free from
hankering." Everyone in this material world is hankering for enjoyment,
but one who is free from this hankering can taste how relishable the Bhagavatam
is. The word bhagavata refers to anything in relationship to Bhagavan, the
Supreme Lord, and the Hare Krsna mantra is also bhagavata. Thus Pariksit
Maharaja said that the taste of the Bhagavata can be relished by one who is
free from hankering to satisfy material desires. And why should this Bhagavata
be tasted? Bhavausadhi: it is the medicine for our disease of birth and death.
At the present
moment, we are in a diseased condition. Materialists do not know what is
disease and what is health. They do not know anything, but still they are
posing as great scientists and philosophers. They do not inquire, "I do
not want to die. Why is death enforced upon me?" Nor do they have any
solution to this problem. But still they call themselves scientists. What kind
of scientists are they? Advancement in science should bring about knowledge by
which misery can be minimized. Otherwise, what is the meaning of science?
Scientists may promise that they can help us in the future, but we may ask
them, "What are you giving us right now, sir?" A real scientist will
not say, "Just go on suffering as you are suffering now, and in the future
we shall find some chemicals to help you." No. Atyantika-duhkha-nivrttih.
The word atyantika means "ultimate," and duhkha means
"sufferings." The aim of human life should be to put an end to the
ultimate sufferings, but people do not even know what these ultimate sufferings
are. These sufferings are pointed out in Bhagavad-gita as
janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi: birth, death, old age, and disease. What have we done
to nullify these sufferings? There is no remedy for them in the material world.
The ultimate way to relinquish all kinds of suffering is stated in
Bhagavad-gita (8.15), where the Lord says:
mam upetya punarjanma
duhkhalayam asasvatam
napnuvanti mahatmanah
samsiddhim paramam gatah
"After
attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this
temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the
highest perfection."
Thus the Lord
says that one should approach Him and go back to Him, back home, back to
Godhead. But unfortunately people have no knowledge of what God is, whether one
can go back home to Him or not, and whether or not it is practical. Because
they have no knowledge, they are simply like animals. They pray, "O God,
give us our daily bread." But now suppose we ask them, "What is
God?" Can they explain? No. Then whom are they asking? Are they merely
praying into the air? If I submit some petition, there must be some person to
whom the petition is submitted. But they do not know who that person is or
where the petition is to be submitted. They say that God is in the sky. But
there are also so many birds in the sky. Are they God? People have imperfect
knowledge or no knowledge at all. Nonetheless, they pose as scientists,
philosophers, writers, and great thinkers, although their ideas are all
rubbish.
The only truly
worthwhile books are those like Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita. In the
Bhagavatam (1.5.10-11) it is said:
na yad vacas citra-padam harer yaso
jagat-pavitram pragrnita karhicit
tad vayasam tirtham usanti manasa
na yatra hamsa niramanty usik-ksayah
"Those
words which do not describe the glories of the Lord, who alone can sanctify the
atmosphere of the whole universe, are considered by saintly persons to be like
unto a place of pilgrimage for crows. Since the all-perfect persons are
inhabitants of the transcendental abode, they do not derive any pleasure
there."
tad-vag-visargo janatagha-vipla vo
yasmin prati-slokam abaddhavaty api
namany anantasya yaso 'nkitani yat
srn vanti 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."
Any literature
that has no connection with God is just like a place where crows take
enjoyment. Where do crows enjoy? In a filthy place. But white swans take
pleasure in nice clear waters surrounded by gardens. So even among animals
there are natural divisions. The crows will not go to the swans, and the swans
will not go to the crows. Similarly, in human society there are men who are
like crows and men who are like swans. The swanlike men will come to centers of
Krsna consciousness, where everything is clear, where there is good philosophy,
good transcendental food, good education, good intelligence--everything
good--whereas crowlike men will go to clubs, parties, naked dance shows, and so
many other such things.
So the Krsna
consciousness movement is meant for swanlike men, not for men who are like
crows. But we can convert the crows into swans. That is our philosophy. Those
who were crows are now swimming like swans. That is the benefit of Krsna
consciousness.
The material
world is the world where swans have become crows. In the material world the
living entity is encaged in a material body, and he tries to gratify his senses
in one body after another. But the reestablishment of dharma will gradually
turn crows into swans. For example, a man may be illiterate and uncultured, but
he can be converted into an educated, cultured man by training.
This training is
possible in the human form of life. I cannot train a dog to become a devotee.
That is difficult. Of course, that also can be done, although I may not be
powerful enough to do it. When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was traveling through
the jungles of Jharikhanda the tigers, the snakes, the deer, and all the other
animals became devotees. This was possible for Caitanya Mahaprabhu because He
is God Himself and can therefore do anything. But although we cannot do that,
we can work in human society. Regardless of how fallen a man is, if he follows
the instructions of Krsna consciousness he can return to his original position.
Of course, there are degrees of understanding, but one's original position is
that one is part and parcel of God. Understanding of this position is called
Brahman realization, spiritual realization, and it is this realization that
Krsna Himself comes to this world to reestablish.
Lord Krsna came
to this world at the request of His devotees Vasudeva and Devaki (vasudevasya
devakyam yacito 'bhyagat). Although in their former lives Vasudeva and Devaki
were married, they did not have any children. They engaged themselves in severe
austerities, and when Krsna came before them and asked them what they wanted,
they said, "We want a son like You. That is our desire." But how is
it possible for there to be another God? Krsna is God, and God is one; He
cannot be two. So how could there be another God to become the son of Vasudeva
and Devaki? Krsna therefore said, "It is not possible to find another God,
so I Myself shall become your son." So some people say that it is because
Vasudeva and Devaki wanted Krsna as their son that He appeared.
Although Krsna
actually comes to satisfy His devotees like Vasudeva and Devaki, when He comes
He performs other activities also. Vadhaya ca sura-dvisam. The word vadhaya
means "killing," and sura-dvisam refers to the demons, who are always
envious of the devotees. Krsna comes to kill these demons.
An example of a
demon is Hiranyakasipu. Because Prahlada Maharaja was a devotee, his father,
Hiranyakasipu, was so envious that he was prepared to kill his own son,
although the little boy's only fault was that he was chanting Hare Krsna. This is
the nature of demons. Jesus Christ also was killed by the sura-dvisam, those
who were envious of him. What was his fault? His only fault was that he was
preaching about God. Yet he had so many enemies, who cruelly crucified him.
Therefore Krsna comes to kill such sura-dvisam.
This killing of
the envious, of course, can be done without the presence of Krsna. By setting
to work the natural forces of war, pestilence, famine, and so on, Krsna can
kill millions of people. He does not need to come here to kill these rascals,
for they can be killed simply by His direction, or nature's law.
Srsti-sthiti-pralaya-sadhana-saktir eka (Brahma-samhita 5.44). Nature has so
much power that it can create, maintain, and annihilate everything. Srsti means
"creation," sthiti means "maintenance," and pralaya means
"destruction." Nature can create, maintain, and also destroy. This
material cosmic manifestation is being maintained by the mercy of nature, by
which we are getting sunlight, air, and rain by which to grow our food so that
we can eat and grow nicely. But nature is so powerful that at any time it can
destroy everything simply by one strong wind. Nature is working under the
direction of Krsna (mayadhyak-sena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram). Therefore, if
Krsna wants demons killed, He can kill millions of them with merely one strong
blast of nature's wind.
So to kill the
demons Krsna does not need to come. When He comes, He does so because He is
requested by His devotees like Vasudeva and Devaki, as Kuntidevi indicates by
using the word yacitah, meaning "being prayed for." Therefore the
real cause of His coming is at the request of His devotees, but when He comes
He simultaneously shows that He is prepared to kill anyone who is envious of
His devotees. Of course, His killing and maintaining are the same because He is
absolute. Those who are killed by Krsna immediately attain salvation, which
generally takes millions of years to get.
So people may
say that Krsna has come for this purpose or that purpose, but actually Krsna
comes for the benefit of His devotees. He always looks after the welfare of the
devotees, and so from this instruction of Kunti we should understand that we
should always be concerned with how to become devotees. Then all good qualities
will come upon us.
yasyasti bhaktir bhagavaty akincana
sarvair gunais tatra samasate surah
(SB. 5.18.12)
If one simply
develops one's dormant, natural devotion for Krsna, one will develop all good
qualities.
Our devotion for
Krsna is natural. Just as a son has natural devotion to his father and mother,
we have natural devotion to Krsna. When there is danger, even materialistic
scientists pray to God. Of course, when they are not in danger they defy God,
and therefore danger is required in order to teach these rascals that there is
God. Jivera svarupa haya--krsnera `nitya-dasa'. Our natural position is to be
dependent on God. Artificially we are trying to banish God, saying, "God is
dead," "There is no God," or "I am God." But when we
give up this rascaldom, Krsna will give us all protection.
Chapter Seventeen
Lightening the Burden of the World
bharavataranayanye
bhuvo nava ivodadhau
sidantya bhuri-bharena
jato hy atma-bhuvarthitah
Others say that
the world, being overburdened like a boat at sea, is much aggrieved, and that
Brahma, who is Your son, prayed for You, and so You have appeared to diminish
the trouble.
Brahma is
directly the son of the Supreme Lord, the supreme father, and was not put into
the womb of a mother. Therefore he is known as atma-bhu. This Brahma is in
charge of further creations in the universe, secondarily reflected by the
potency of the Omnipotent. Within the halo of the universe there is a
transcendental planet known as Svetadvipa, which is the abode of the
Ksirodakasayi Visnu, the Paramatma feature of the Supreme Lord. Whenever there
is trouble in the universe that cannot be solved by the administrative
demigods, they approach Brahmaji for a solution, and if it is not to be solved
even by Brahmaji, then Brahmaji consults with and prays to the Ksirodakasayi
Visnu for an incarnation and solution to the problems. Such a problem arose
when Kamsa and others were ruling over the earth and the earth became too much
overburdened by the misdeeds of the asuras. Brahmaji, along with other demigods,
prayed at the shore of the Ksirodaka Ocean, and they were advised of the
descent of Krsna as the son of Vasudeva and Devaki. So some people say that the
Lord appeared because of the prayers of Brahmaji.
Kuntidevi is
describing the different statements of different persons about why Krsna
appears. Some say that He appeared at the request of Vasudeva and Devaki, and
some say He appeared at the request of Brahma. Bharavataranayanye bhuvo nava
ivodadhau: "Some say that He appeared just to reduce the burden of the
world, which was overburdened like a boat at sea." When the world is
overburdened, there must be war, pestilence, famine, epidemics, and so on. This
is nature's law.
The earth floats
in space among many millions of other planets, all of them bearing huge
mountains and oceans. It floats because Krsna enters into it, as stated in
Bhagavad-gita (gam avisya), just as He enters the atom. The earth is certainly
not weightless; rather, it is very heavy. But it floats because the Supreme
Spirit is within it.
Everything is
lightened by the presence of spirit. One's body will float in water as long as
one is alive, but as soon as the spirit soul leaves, the body immediately
sinks. As long as a child is alive we can take it along by one hand, but when
the child is dead it is heavy. So now we are heavy, but when we are spiritually
advanced we will be free from impediments. Now we cannot fly in the air, but
the spirit soul is so light that when freed from the body it can go within a
second to Vaikunthaloka, the spiritual world (tyaktva deham punarjanma naiti
mam eti).
Why then does
the world become overloaded? It becomes overloaded due to the presence of
demons, those who are against devotional service. When mother earth feels this
load to be too heavy, Krsna comes just to unburden the earth. If a ship is
overloaded, its position is very dangerous, for it may sink at any moment.
Therefore when mother earth felt too uncomfortable because of being overloaded
with demons (sidantya bhuri-bharena), she approached Brahma, the chief living
being within this universe. When there is a need, the chief personalities in
the universe approach Brahma, who approaches Visnu to ask that He reduce
whatever the burden is. Then Visnu or Krsna appears as an incarnation, as
stated in Bhagavad-gita (4.7):
yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham
"Whenever
and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata,
and a predominant rise of irreligion--at that time I descend Myself."
When there is
too much lawlessness and there are too many criminals, the state becomes
overburdened and disturbed, and the state administrators are puzzled about what
to do. Similarly, when the world is overrun by demons and atheists, they create
a burden, and the demigods, the pious administrators of the universe, become
perplexed. When the people of a state abide by the laws, administration is
easy, but if people are criminals they overburden the state administrators. A
similar situation sometimes upsets the balance of the cosmic affairs of this
material world. Both the demons and the demigods always exist, but when the
demoniac power increases, the world is overburdened. It is then that the
demigods approach Lord Brahma for assistance.
Lord Brahma is
one of the twelve authorities known as dvadasa-mahajana (svayambhur naradah
sambhuh kaumarah kapilo manuh/ prahlado janako bhismo balir vaiyasakir vayam,
SB. 6.3.20). We have to follow the mahajanas, the great authorities, if we want
to receive transcendental knowledge. The Vedic injunction is, tad-vijnanartham
sa gurum evabhigacchet: if one wants to be in knowledge of everything, one must
approach a guru, a bona fide authority, a spiritual master. The original guru
is Krsna. As Krsna taught Arjuna, He also taught Brahma, as stated in
Srimad-Bhagavatam (tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye).
The Srimad-Bhagavatam
describes the original source of the creation, and this should be the actual
subject matter of our research work. What is the original source of creation?
Janmady asya yatah: the original source of everything is the source of janma,
sthiti, and pralaya--creation, mainenance, and dissolution. Our body has taken
birth at a certain date, it lasts for some years--ten years, twenty years,
fifty years, or whatever, according to the body--and then it will be finished.
Where did this body come from, and when it is destroyed where will it go? There
are scientific laws concerning the conservation of energy. What is the source
of that energy? There is a source (yato va imani bhutanijayante), and that
source is identified in the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
That source is
not blind. Rascals think that everything has come from nothing. But how can
something come out of nothing? There is no proof that such a thing happens, but
fools claim that it does, and therefore they are blind. What is the nature of
the original source from whom everything has come, in whom everything exists,
and within whom everything will enter? The Bhagavatam (1.1.1) says, janmady
asya yato 'nvayad itaratas carthesv abhijnah. The word abhijnah indicates that
the source of everything is completely conscious.
The word jna
means "knowledge," and abhi means "specific." We have
inadequate knowledge of where we have come from and where we shall go after
death, and therefore we are not abhijna, supremely conscious. But the supreme
source is abhijna. He is not a stone or a void. How could He be? The creation
itself is evidence of the consciousness of the Supreme. Everyone can appreciate
the cosmic manifestation and how nicely it is working. The sun and moon rise
exactly on time, without deviating even one ten-thousandth of a second, and the
seasons change in the same way, bringing with them fruits and flowers. In this
way the entire cosmic manifestation is going on in a very orderly, systematic
way. So unless there is some abhijna--some very clever intelligence who knows
everything--how could all this have been created? Some people say that all this
has come from nothing. What is this nonsense? Can such a creation come from
nothing? Does this idea show very good reasoning? The Bhagavatam says no.
The Bhagavatam
tells us that everything comes from the person who is abhijna, very intelligent
and experienced, and that original intelligent person transmitted knowledge to
adi-kavi, the original created being, Lord Brahma (tene brahma hrda ya
adi-kavaye). Brahma, the original created being, has an original source, and he
is in contact with that source. We understand that we get knowledge from
another person with whom we are face to face. But when Brahma was created he
was alone. Therefore, how did he receive knowledge? That is explained in the
Bhagavatam: tene brahma hrda. The word hrda means "through the
heart." The Supreme Person, Paramatma, is within the heart of every living
being, including Brahma. Therefore although Brahma was alone, he received knowledge
dictated by the Supreme. The word brahma means "Vedic knowledge."
Thus the Vedic knowledge was given first to Lord Brahma.
The Vedic
knowledge is given to everyone because Krsna is within everyone's heart
(sarvasya caham hrdi sannivistah), but one must be qualified to receive that
knowledge. Krsna helps us by giving us knowledge both from within as the
Supersoul (caitya-guru) and from without as the spiritual master.
Brahma receives
knowledge from Krsna and distributes that Vedic knowledge, and therefore he is
an authority. There are four sampradayas, or chains of disciplic succession,
through which Vedic knowledge is distributed--one from Brahma, one from Laksmi,
one from Lord Siva, and one from the four Kumaras. We have to approach an authoritative
representative of Krsna appearing in one of these sampradayas, and then we can
receive real knowledge. Thus the earth personified approached Brahma, who
prayed to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, "The world is now
overburdened with demons, and therefore I request You to appear." Some
say, therefore, that the Lord appeared at the request of Brahma that He lighten
the burden of the world.
When Krsna
appears, He protects the devotees and kills the demons. Therefore Krsna in His
Narayana form has four hands. In two hands He holds a disc and club with which
to kill the demons, and in the other two hands He holds the conchshell and
lotus with which to bless and protect the devotees. The Lord says, kaunteya
pratijanih na me bhaktah pranasyati. Thus Krsna bugles with His conchshell,
"My devotees will never be vanquished." And with the lotus flower He
extends His blessings. The lotus flower, which sometimes also appears in the
hand of Laksmi, is a symbol of blessings.
Now some may say
that Krsna appeared for this purpose or that purpose, but the real conclusion
is that Krsna appears for His own pleasure, not because He is bound by any
other cause. We take our birth because we are bound by our karma, but Krsna,
being fully independent, does not come because of someone else's request or
because of karma. Rather, He comes by His own free will (atma-mayaya). We are
compelled to take birth because of Krsna's external, material energy, but Krsna
is not controlled by the maya, or energy, of anyone else, and therefore He does
not take birth in such a condition. Maya, the illusory energy, is under the
control of Krsna, so how could maya control Him? One who thinks that Krsna,
like us, is controlled by maya is described in Bhagavad-gita as mudha, a fool (avajananti
mam mudha manusim tanum asritam).
Krsna is the
original Narayana, the original source of the entire cosmic manifestation.
Brahma, or the first living being born just after the creation, is the direct
son of Narayana, who as Garbhodakasayi Visnu first entered the material
universe. Without spiritual contact, matter cannot create. Those who are
seeking the original cause of the material creation should know that the
creation takes place when the spirit soul is present. Matter is activated by
the spirit soul; it is not that the soul is created by matter.
According to the
Buddhist theory, the living force--the living energy we all have--is created by
material conditions. At the present moment, the entire world is influenced by
this Buddhist theory. The actual fact, however, is that matter develops because
of the presence of the living force. We can understand this very easily. After
a child is born, he grows, and his body develops, but if the child is born
dead--if the spirit soul is not present--the body will not develop. Therefore
the spirit is the basis for the development of matter, and not vice versa. Why
does a dead child not grow? Because the spirit is not present. A tree grows as
long as there is life in it. If we sow the small seed of a banyan tree in good
soil and favor it with water, it will grow because the spirit soul is present.
But if we were to fry such a seed in fire and then sow it, it would fail to
grow because the spirit soul would not be there.
Matter grows and
develops because of the presence of the spirit soul, and this principle has
been followed from the very beginning of the creation. At the beginning of
creation the Supreme Spirit entered the universe, and the first living being,
Brahma, was born on a lotus flower grown from the transcendental abdomen of
Visnu. Accepting that the lotus on which Brahma was born is matter, we should
understand that it is also grown from spirit. Therefore spirit is the basis of
creation.
Because the
lotus flower on which Lord Brahma is born is grown from the navel of Visnu,
Lord Visnu is known as Padmanabha. Brahma is known as atma-bhu because he was
begotten directly from the father, Narayana, or Visnu, without the contact of
mother Laksmiji. Laksmiji was present near Narayana, engaged in the service of
the Lord, but still, without contact with Laksmiji, Narayana begot Brahma. That
is the omnipotency of the Lord. When we want to beget a child, we need the help
of a wife because we cannot beget a child alone. But Krsna, Lord Visnu, produced
Lord Brahma without the help of His wife, Laksmi, although she was present,
because He is not dependent on anything. One who foolishly considers Narayana
to be like other living beings should take a lesson from this.
The Vedic
literature forbids one to think that other living beings are on an equal level
with Narayana.
yas tu narayanam devam
brahma-rudradi-daivataih
samatvenaiva vikseta
sa pasandi bhaved dhruvam
Someone has
invented the word daridra-narayana, trying to show that Narayana has become
poor and that the begger who comes to my door to beg is also Narayana. This is
not authorized in the Vedic literature. Narayana is the master of Laksmi, the
goddess of fortune, and only fools think that He somehow becomes
poverty-stricken. Rascals say that Narayana, Brahma, Siva, all the demigods,
you, I, and everyone else are all on the same level. This is foolishness. Narayana
is asamaurdhva. This means that no one can be equal to or greater than Him.
Therefore Krsna Himself, the original Narayana, says in Bhagavad-gita, mattah
parataram nanyat: "There is no one superior to Me." Nor is anyone
equal to Him. The word asama means that no one is equal to Him, and anurdhva
means that no one is greater than Him. This is the position of the Lord.
Narayana is not
an ordinary living being. He is the Personality of Godhead Himself, and He has
all the potencies of all the senses in all parts of His transcendental body. An
ordinary living being begets a child by sexual intercourse and has no other
means to beget a child than the one designed for him. But Narayana is
all-powerful, and therefore He can beget a child from His navel. Every part of
His body has full potency, as explained in the Brahma-samhita (5.32),
anganiyasya sakalendriya-vrttimanti. For example, I can see with my eyes, but
Krsna can also eat with His eyes. Foolish rascals will say, "You are
offering food to Krsna, but what has He eaten? It is still here. He has not
eaten anything." Such people do not know that Krsna can eat just by
seeing, for He can do anything with any part of His transcendental body. When a
washerman refused to supply cloth to Krsna in Mathura, Lord Krsna displayed His
transcendental potency by cutting off the man's head with His hand. How was
this possible? It was possible by the Lord's omnipotence.
The Lord is
complete and independent to do anything and everything by His various
potencies. This is explained in the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam by the words
abhijnah svarat. The word sva-rat indicates that He is self-sufficient, not
dependent on anyone. That is the qualification of God. Nowadays there are so
many self-proclaimed incarnations of God, but as soon as they have some
toothache they immediately say, "Ooooooh, doctor, help me. Save me."
If you are God, save yourself. Why go to a doctor? Such people are rascals, and
they make it very difficult to spread Krsna consciousness. The whole world is
now overburdened by such rascals and demons, and therefore the atom bomb is
waiting for them by the will of the Supreme.
Chapter Eighteen
3Liberation from Ignorance and Suffering
bhave 'smin klisyamananam
a vidya-kama-karmabhih
sra vana-smaranarhani
karisyann iti kecana
And yet others
say that You appeared to rejuvenate the devotionai service of hearing,
remembering, worshiping, and so on, in order that the conditioned souls
suffering from material pangs might take advantage and gain liberation.
In the Srimad
Bhagavad-gita the Lord asserts that He appears in every millennium just to
reestablish the way of religion. The way of religion is made by the Supreme
Lord. No one can manufacture a new path of religion, as is the fashion for
certain ambitious persons. The factual way of religion is to accept the Lord as
the supreme authority and thus render service unto Him in spontaneous love. A
living being cannot help but render service because he is constitutionally made
for that purpose. The only function of the living being is to render service to
the Lord. The Lord is great, and living beings are subordinate to Him.
Therefore, the duty of the living being is just to serve Him only.
Unfortunately the illusioned living beings, out of misunderstanding only,
become servants of the senses by material desire. This desire is called avidya,
or nescience. And out of such desire the living being makes different plans for
material enjoyment centered about a perverted sex life. He therefore becomes
entangled in the chain of birth and death by transmigrating into different
bodies on different planets under the direction of the Supreme Lord. Unless,
therefore, one is beyond the boundary of this nescience, one cannot get free
from the threefold miseries of material life. That is the law of nature.
The Lord,
however, out of His causeless mercy, because He is more merciful to the
suffering living beings than they can expect, appears before them and renovates
the principles of devotional service, comprised of hearing, chanting,
remembering, serving, worshiping, praying, cooperating, and surrendering unto
Him. Adoption of all the abovementioned items, or any one of them, can help a
conditioned soul get out of the tangle of nescience and thus become liberated
from all material sufferings created by the living being illusioned by the
external energy. This particular type of mercy is bestowed upon the living
being by the Lord in the form of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
In this very
important verse the words bhave 'smin mean "in this material world."
The word bhava also means "grow," and it refers to that which has
taken birth. In the material world there are six kinds of changes. First there
is birth, then growth, and then that which has been born and has grown stays
for some time, produces some by-products, and then dwindles and finally
vanishes. These six changes are called sad-vikara. The body, for example, takes
birth at a certain date, and then it grows and stays for some time. From the
body come so many byproducts in the form of sons and daughters, and then the
body becomes old and weak, and finally when it is very old it dies.
But when the
body is finished, I am not finished. When the gross body comes to an end, I am
still present within the subtle body of mind, intelligence, and false ego, and
this subtle body carries me to another gross body. Although everyone has to
accept a subtle body, the scientists and medical men cannot see it. I have a
mind, and you have a mind, but I cannot see your mind, and you cannot see mine.
I have intelligence, and you have intelligence, but you cannot see my
intelligence, nor can I see yours, because they are very subtle. Similarly, the
spirit soul is still more subtle, so what will the materialistic scientists see
of it? They cannot see the mind, intelligence, or false ego, what to speak of
the soul. Therefore they say, "The body is everything, and there is
nothing more." Actually, however, that is not a fact.
The fact is that
the spirit soul is very, very small. Balagra-sata-bhagasya satadha kalpitasya
ca (Svetasvatara Up. 5.9). The soul is one ten-thousandth the size of the tip
of a hair. Suppose we were to take a hair and divide it into a hundred parts.
Could we do it? No. That is not possible. But if we could do it and then divide
it again into another one hundred parts, each part would be the size of the
spirit soul.
Of course, this
is not possible to understand by experimental knowledge, so how can it be
learned? One must learn of this from an authority. Our knowledge is so
imperfect that it cannot deal with such subtle affairs, and because rascals
cannot deal with such things, they think that matter is the cause of life.
Nonetheless, they have not been able to demonstrate that life comes from
matter. Let them take chemicals in their laboratory and produce even a small insect
with hands, legs, and eyes. Every night we see many of such small insects with
legs and eyes with which they approach the light. From such small insects up to
Brahma there are 8,400,000 different forms of life, among which we are
traveling from body to body, leaving one body and entering another, as stated
by Krsna in Bhagavad-gita (tatha dehantara-praptih). Therefore, either we must
reject Krsna's word or reject all the so-called scientific theories that life
comes from matter. But we are pledged to Krsna consciousness, and therefore we
cannot reject Krsna's word. We accept Krsna when He says that we have to travel
from one body to another.
Every living
entity within this material world is under the influence of avidya, ignorance.
Avidya-karma-samjnanya trtiya saktir isyate. God, Krsna, has many millions of
potencies (parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate), and they have been summarized
into three categories--the external potency, the internal potency, and the
marginal potency. The marginal potency and the internal potency are of the same
spiritual quality, but the third potency, the external potency, is inferior.
visnu-saktir para prokta
ksetrajnakhya tatha para
avidya-karma-samjnanya
trtiya saktir isyate
(Visnu Purana 6.7.61)
In this material
world, everyone is in ignorance (avidya). Even Brahma was ignorant until he was
given knowledge by Krsna. Therefore no one should be proud of his knowledge.
Everyone in this material world is a rascal. A particular living entity
desires, "If I can get the opportunity to obtain the post of Brahma, then
I can create a big universe." Thus he receives the body of Brahma. And the
small insect thinks, "If I can create a small hole within this room, then
I can live very peacefully and eat." Thus Brahma desires to create a
universe, we desire to create a skyscraper, and an ant desires to create a hole
in a room, but the quality of the work is the same. We are all fools, however,
because we do not realize that because these things are material they will not
last. Because of ignorance we think, "This will be very nice. That will be
very nice." Kama-karmabhih. We create some desire (kama), and then we work
accordingly. This results in so many difficulties (klisyanti). To become Brahma
is not a very easy thing. Brahma is such a big post, and it is given to a very
qualified living entity who is highly advanced in austerities and penance. But
he is also a living entity like us. In America there are many citizens, and
President Ford is also a citizen, but by dint of his ardent labor and diplomacy
he captured the post. Still, he is an ordinary citizen. President Nixon, for
example, has now been dragged down and is no longer President. This is because
he was an ordinary citizen. Similarly, if we like, we may also become Brahma.
Therefore Bhaktivinoda Thakura says:
kita-janma hao yatha tuya dasa
bahirmukha brahma janme nahi asa
"Let me
become an insect in a place where Your devotee is present, because if I fall
down in the dust of the feet of a devotee my life will be successful."
Bhaktivinoda Thakura says, bahirmukha brahma-janme nahi asa: "I would not
want to be a Brahma and not be a devotee of Krsna."
Because we are
in ignorance, maya, at any time we may forget Krsna. Therefore we must always
engage in Krsna consciousness so that we shall not forget Him. That is
indicated by Kuntidevi by the words sravana-smaranarhani. The word sravana
means "hearing," smarana means "remembering," and arhana
means "worshiping the Deity of Krsna." One should always engage
onself in hearing about, remembering, and worshiping Krsna. All the centers of
the Krsna consciousness movement are opened only for this purpose--to
facilitate chanting, dancing, and worshiping so that we shall not forget Krsna.
Sada tad-bhava-bhavitah: if we always think of Krsna, there is a chance that we
shall remember Krsna at the end of life (ante narayana-smrtih).
Everything takes
practice. For example, if one wants to dance on the stage, one has to perform
many rehearsals to practice how to dance. Then if one becomes an expert dancer,
when one dances on stage one will receive acclaim: "Ah, a very good
dancer." But one cannot say, "I shall go immediately to the stage and
become a good dancer." That is not possible. One may say, "No, no,
no. I shall not attend the rehearsal. Just give me the stage, and I shall
perform." But the director will not allow this, for one cannot become a
good dancer without practice. The real purpose of life is to remember Krsna
when one's life comes to an end (ante narayana-smrtih). If at the time of death
one can remember Krsna, one's life is successful.
In this material
world one must suffer from material miseries, but rascals do not care to
understand this, for they are absorbed in ignorance. A smuggler may go on with
his work, even though he knows that he will be arrested and punished. A thief
may know that he will be arrested and punished for criminal acts, and he may
even have been punished several times, but still he will commit the same crime
again (punah punas carvita-carvananam). Why? Ignorance. He is so much absorbed
in ignorance that he does not think, "I am repeatedly stealing and being
repeatedly arrested and sent to jail to be punished. Why am I doing this? The
result is not good." A person who is too much sexually inclined may suffer
many times from venereal disease and have to undergo treatment, but still he
will go to a prostitute again. This is avaidha stri-sanga, illegitimate sex.
But even legitimate sex involves so many difficulties. After sex, a woman
becomes pregnant and has to suffer for ten months, and at the time of delivery
there is also sometimes very great danger. And the father, after the child is
born, must take care of the child and work hard to provide for its education.
Therefore the Vedic literature says, bahu-duhkha-bhajah: after sex, legitimate
or illegitimate, there are so many troubles. Trpyanti neha krpanah: but one who
is an ignorant rascal will not be satisfied. Instead, he will do the same
things again and again (punah punas carvita-carvananam). This is called
bhava-roga, the disease of material existence.
yan
maithunadi-grhamedhi-sukham hi tuccham
kanduyanena karayor iva duhkha-duhkham
(SB. 7.9.45)
In the Vedic
civilization, therefore, small boys are trained to remain brahmacari, celibate,
and not involve themselves in the troubles of sex. But if one is unable to
remain brahmacari, he is allowed to marry. After being trained in the beginning
as a brahmacari, he will not stay for many years in family life, but will very
soon become vanaprastha (retired) and then accept sannyasa, the renounced order
of life.
In this material
world everyone is suffering--the birds, the beasts, the trees, the animals, the
plants, and even Brahma and Indra. Indra is also not safe; he is always in
anxiety about competitors who may come.
tat sadhu manye 'sura-varya
dehinam
sada samudvigna-dhiyam asad-grahat
(SB. 7.5.5)
Why is everyone
in this material world always in anxiety? Avidya-kama-karmabhih: because they
are rascals. Therefore Krsna stresses, "You rascal, give up all your
nonsense and surrender unto Me." This is Krsna's very good mercy. He is
the supreme father. Therefore He directly says, sarva-guhyatamam: "This is
the most confidential knowledge." Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam
saranam vraja: "You rascal, give up everything and simply surrender unto
Me."
Therefore Kunti
says, "You have come to teach rascals like this and engage them in
hearing, remembering, and worship." This is bhakti. Sravanam kirtanam
visnoh: one should hear and chant about Visnu, Krsna. But as soon as devotees
begin to hear and chant about Visnu, some rascal svamiwill say, "No,
hearing or chanting any name will do. Why Visnu? Why not Kali?" In Bengal
there is a group of people who have invented "kali-kirtana," chanting
the name of the demigoddess Kali. What is this nonsense? In the Vedic
literature there is no such thing as "kali-kirtana." Kirtana means
sravanam kirtanam visnoh--hearing and chanting about Visnu, Krsna. The Vedic
literature recommends harer nama, chanting of the holy name of Hari, Krsna, and
no one else.
This sravanam
kirtanam, hearing and chanting, was described very nicely by Sukadeva Gosvami
in the Second Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.4.15). He said:
yat-kirtanam yad-smaranam
yad-iksanam
yad-vandanam yat-sravanam yad-arhanam
lokasya sadyo vidhunoti kalmasam
tasmai subhadra-sravase namo namah
Before speaking
Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sukadeva Gosvami offered his obeisances to Krsna with this
verse. He said, "I offer my obeisances unto Him, for simply hearing of Him
is subhadra, auspicious." The entire Bhagavatam is glorification of Krsna,
and this is glorification by Sukadeva Gosvami. He says that one can be
perfectly purified if one either glorifies Krsna, meditates upon Him, or simply
sits before the Deity of Krsna and sees Him, thinking, "How nicely dressed
is Krsna. How nicely dressed is Radharani." If one has no ability to chant
or if one's mind is so disturbed that one cannot fix it upon Krsna, one is
given this chance: "Here is the Deity. Simply see Him." If one is
engaged in the service of the Deity, there is a good chance of always seeing
Him, twenty-four hours a day. While cleansing the floor of the temple, while
dressing the Deity, while bathing the Deity, or while offering Him food, one
will always see Him. This is the process of devotional service, but people are
such fallen rascals that they do not even go see the Deity. "Oh,"
they think, "what is this Deity worship? It is idol worship." They
may worship the statue of Gandhi or someone else, but when asked to come see
the worship of the Deity they will say, "No, this is idol worship."
I have seen that
in Calcutta in Chaurangi Square there is a statue of Sir Asutosa Mukherji.
Throughout the year the crows pass stool on his face, and the stool becomes
caked on. So on one day a year the ordinary sweepers cleanse the statue with
their brush in the moming, and in the evening some big men come and garland him
with flowers. Then after that evening they go away, and again the next morning
the crows come to pass stool on his face. So this kind of worship is
accepted--sweeping the face of Sir Asutosa Mukherji with the municipal
brush--but if we install the Deity of Krsna and worship Him nicely, people will
say that this is idol worship.
So people are
embarrassed by being entangled in avidya, ignorance, and the method by which to
educate them and rescue them from the clutches of this ignorance is devotional
service. As explained by Sukadeva Gosvami, one may chant the name of Krsna or
meditate upon Krsna, or if one cannot meditate one may simply sit down and see
Krsna. Even a child can see, "Here is Krsna. Here is Radharani." Even
a small child or even an animal can do this and benefit, or if one is more
intelligent one may offer prayers, and if one is expert and has been trained by
a spiritual master one may perform appropriate worship.
Christians and
Muslims are also Vaisnavas, devotees, because they offer prayers to the Lord.
"O God," they say, "give us our daily bread." Those who
offer this prayer may not know very much and may be at a lower stage, but this
is a beginning, because they have approached God. Going to a church or mosque
is also pious (catur-vidha bhajante mam janah sukrtino 'rjuna). Therefore those
who begin in this way will one day become pure Vaisnavas. But the atheistic
propaganda that one should not go to a church, temple, or mosque is very
dangerous to human society.
One may not be
very advanced, but one should try at least to do something to understand God. A
child is sent to school, and although he may simply learn ABCD, if he is
interested he may one day become a very good scholar. Similarly, one day a
pious man may become a pure devotee. Why should one give up religion
altogether, become completely secular, and simply open a factory in which to
manufacture nuts and bolts and work very hard and drink, and eat meat? What
kind of civilization is this? It is because of this so-called civilization that
people are suffering.
It is by
ignorance that people think that by opening factories they will be happy. Why
should they open factories? There is no need. There is so much land, and one
can produce one's own food grains and eat sumptuously without any factory. Milk
is also available without a factory. The factory cannot produce milk or grains.
The present scarcity of food in the world is largely due to such factories.
When everyone is working in the city to produce nuts and bolts, who will
produce food grains? Simple living and high thinking is the solution to
economic problems. Therefore the Krsna consciousness movement in engaging
devotees in producing their own food and living self-sufficiently so that
rascals may see how one can live very peacefully, eat the food grains one has
grown oneself, drink milk, and chant Hare Krsna.
The process of
Krsna consciousness should be very vigorously propagated all over the world.
Simply by seeing the Deity or simply by joining in chanting of the Hare Krsna
mantra, people will derive tremendous benefit. If one performs kirtana,
chanting, one will be able to think of Krsna. One may think, "I danced for
two hours and chanted Hare Krsna. What is the meaning of this?" This is
smarana, thinking of Krsna. One may even think, "I foolishly chanted
`Krsna, Krsna' for two hours." But that also is smarana. Because the Krsna
consciousness movement is spreading, people are purchasing our books about
Krsna. Because they are curious they say, "What is this Krsna? Let us see
the book." Then they immediately see a picture of Radha and Krsna, and if
they open the book they will see more. In the book there are many prayers
glorifying Krsna. So some will hear about Krsna, and others will read, and if
they are fortunate enough they will become Krsna conscious and engage in the
worship of the Deity. These methods of devotional service--hearing, chanting,
remembering Krsna, and so on--are so perfect that as soon as one takes to them
(either all of them, some of them, or even one of them) one becomes purified.
Therefore Sukadeva Gosvami prays, "I offer my worship to the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, for simply by remembering Him, simply by glorifying
Him, or simply by seeing Him, so many benefits follow."
Sukadeva Gosvami
is one of twelve important spiritual authorities, and these are the authorities
we must follow (mahajano yena gatah sa panthah). He affirms that by performing
these methods of devotional service one will be cleansed of material
contamination. When? Sadyah: immediately, without waiting. This is the great
benefit of the Krsna consciousness movement.
Chapter Nineteen
Crossing Beyond Illusions Currents
srn vanti gayanti grnanty
abhiksnasah
smaranti nandanti tavehitam janah
ta eva pasyanty acirena tavakam
bha va-pra vahoparamam padambujam
O Krsna, those
who continuously hear, chant, and repeat Your transcendental activities, or
take pleasure in others' doing so, certainly see Your lotus feet, which alone
can stop the repetition of birth and death.
The Supreme
Lord, Sri Krsna, cannot be seen by our present conditional vision. In order to
see Him, one has to change his present vision by developing a different
condition of life, full of spontaneous love of Godhead. When Sri Krsna was
personally present on the face of the globe, not everyone could see Him as the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. Materialists like Ravana, Hiranyakasipu, Kamsa,
Jarasandha, and Sisupala were highly qualified personalities by acquisition of
material assets, but they were unable to appreciate the presence of the Lord.
Therefore, even though the Lord may be present before our eyes, it is not
possible to see Him unless we have the necessary vision. This necessary
qualification is developed by the process of devotional service only, beginning
with hearing about the Lord from the right sources. The Bhagavad-gita is one of
the popular literatures which are generally heard, chanted, repeated, etc., by
the people in general, but in spite of such hearing, etc., sometimes it is
experienced that the performer of such devotional service does not see the Lord
face to face. The reason is that the first item, sravana, is very important. If
hearing is from the right sources, it acts very quickly. Generally people hear
from unauthorized persons. Such unauthorized persons may be very learned by
academic qualifications, but because they do not follow the principles of
devotional service, hearing from them becomes a sheer waste of time. Sometimes
the texts are interpreted fashionably to suit their own purposes. Therefore,
first one should select a competent and bona fide speaker and then hear from
him. When the hearing process is perfect and complete, the other processes
become automatically perfect in their own way.
There are
different transcendental activities of the Lord, and each and every one of them
is competent to bestow the desired result, provided the hearing process is
perfect. In the Bhagavatam the activities of the Lord begin from His dealings
with the Pandavas. There are many other pastimes of the Lord in connection with
His dealings with the asuras and others. And in the Tenth Canto the sublime
dealings with His conjugal associates, the gopis, as well as with His married
wives at Dvaraka are mentioned. Since the Lord is absolute, there is no
difference in the transcendental nature of each and every dealing of the Lord.
But sometimes people, in an unauthorized hearing process, take more interest in
hearing about His dealings with the gopis. Such an inclination indicates the
lusty feelings of the hearer, so a bona fide speaker of the dealings of the Lord
never indulges in such hearings. One must hear about the Lord from the very
beginning, as in the Srimad-Bhagavatam or any other scriptures, and that will
help the hearer attain perfection by progressive development. One should not,
therefore, consider that His dealings with the Pandavas are less important than
His dealings with the gopis. We must always remember that the Lord is always
transcendental to all mundane attachment. In all the above-mentioned dealings
of the Lord, He is the hero in all circumstances, and hearing about Him or
about His devotees or combatants is conducive to spiritual life. It is said
that the Vedas and Puranas, etc., are all made to revive our lost relation with
Him. Hearing of all these scriptures is essential.
In the previous
verses, Kuntidevi has explained that those who have come to this material world
are working very hard like asses and have such a hard burden that they cannot
bear it. Because their lusty desires have created heavy work that puts them
always in trouble, Krsna comes to introduce the system by which one can get
relief from this continuously troublesome life.
Religion
consists of the laws of God. People who do not know this think that religion
means faith. But although you may have faith in something and I may have faith
in something, and although I may believe you and you may or may not believe me,
that is not religion. There is even a supposedly religious mission that says,
"You can manufacture your own way." Yata mata tata patha:
"Whatever you think is right, that is right." This is their
philosophy. But that is not science. Suppose I am a madman. Is whatever I think
all right? How could this be? "Two plus two equals four" is science.
If I believe that two plus two equals five or three, does it become true? No.
So there are laws of God, and when there is dharmasya glanih, deviation from
these laws, we suffer. Just as we might suffer by violating the laws of the
state, as soon as we violate the laws of God we are subjected to so many tribulations.
Now, how are we
to get free from these tribulations? Krsna comes to free us from them by giving
us bhakti-yoga. Krsna recommends, "Do this," and if we do it we shall
get relief. Prahlada Maharaja mentions that this bhakti-yoga consists of nine
items:
sravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam
iti pumsarpita visnau
bhaktis cen nava-laksana
kriyeta bhagavaty addha
tan manye 'dhitam uttamam
"Hearing
and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities,
paraphernalia, and pastimes of Lord Visnu, remembering them, serving the lotus
feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship, offering prayers to the
Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and
surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body,
mind, and words)--these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service.
One who has dedicated his life to the service of Krsna through these nine
methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired
complete knowledge." (SB. 7.5.23-24)
"Hearing" means hearing about someone's activities, form,
qualities, entourage, and so on. If I want to hear about someone, he must have
some activities. We hear about history, and what is history? It is but the record
of the activities of different persons in different ages. As soon as there is a
question of hearing, we must ask what subject matter we should hear about.
Sravanam kirtanam visnoh: we should hear about the activities of Lord Visnu, or
Lord Krsna, not about the news in the newspaper. Brahma-jijnasa: we should
inquire and hear about Brahman, the Supreme. These are the statements of the
Vedas. In our Krsna consciousness movement, we also hear and chant, but what is
the subject matter? The subject matter is Krsna. We are not hearing about
market reports and the price of this share or that share. No. We are heanng
about Krsna.
And when there
is hearing, there must also be speaking or chanting. So we speak and chant
about Krsna (sravanam kirtanam visnoh). And as soon as one becomes expert in
hearing and chanting, the next stage is smaranam, thinking or meditation.
Whatever we speak or hear we shall later contemplate or meditate upon. First
one must begin with sravanam, hearing, otherwise how can there be meditation?
If one does not know the subject matter of meditation, where is the question of
meditation? Therefore there must be hearing and chanting about Lord Visnu
(sravanam kirtanam visnoh).
Actual
meditation in yoga aims at seeing the four-armed Visnu murti, which is the form
of the Lord within the heart. That is real meditation. Now rascals have
manufactured other methods they call meditation, but these are not actually
meditation. The senses are very restless, going this way and that way with the
mind, but by the astanga-yoga system, which regulates one's sitting posture,
one's breath, and so on, one can control the senses and concentrate the mind on
the form of Visnu. This concentration is called samadhi, and it is the real
goal of yoga. Thus the astanga-yoga system aims at coming to the point of
smaranam, or remembering the Supreme Lord.
The next process
of devotional service is arcanam, worship of the Deity, the form of Krsna in
the temple.
sri-vigraharadhana-nitya-nana-
srngara-tan-mandira-marjanadau
(Sri-gurv-astaka 3)
It is not that
one should worship Krsna once a week or once a month. Rather, one should
worship Krsna twenty-four hours a day (nitya). The Deity should have a new
dress every day or twice or four times a day--as many times as possible. This
is called srngara. Krsna is the most opulent enjoyer, and we should supply Him
things by which He can enjoy. For instance, if someone gives me new clothing, I
say, "Oh, this new clothing is very nice," and this is my enjoyment.
Similarly, we should try to satisfy Krsna every day with gorgeous clothing. The
dress for the Deity should be first class, the food offered to Him must be
first class, and the place where He is situated in the temple must be first
class or even more than first class. Furthermore, the temple should always be
as clean as glass. Everyone remarks that the temples of the Krsna consciousness
movement are very clean, and they must be very clean. The more one cleanses the
temple, the more one's heart becomes cleansed. This is the process of
devotional service. The more we dress Krsna, the more satisfied we become. At
the present moment we are accustomed to seeing and appreciating our own clothing.
I think, "What costly clothing I have," and in this way I become
satisfied. But when we dress Krsna we shall feel spiritual satisfaction.
yuktasya bhaktams ca niyunjato 'pi
vande guroh sri-caranara vindam
It is the duty
of the spiritual master to engage his disciples always in worshiping the Deity
in this way, and it is to such a guru, or spiritual master, that we offer our
obeisances.
By the word
srnvanti Kuntidevi indicates that our first concern should be to hear about
Krsna. One must be eager to hear. Why do we pay a college fee and go to
college? To hear. By sitting down and hearing from the learned professor, we
get knowledge. Therefore a devotee always engages in hearing about Krsna. For
those who are cultivating Krsna consciousness, the first business is hearing.
And if one has
actually heard about Krsna, one's next engagement in bhakti-yoga will be to
chant (gayanti). The preachers of the Krsna consciousness movement go from town
to town, village to village. Why? What is their purpose? To preach, to chant,
so that people may get the opportunity to hear this philosophy and take it
seriously (grnanti). The word abhiksnasah indicates that these engagements
should go on continuously, twenty-four hours a day without stopping. Caitanya
Mahaprabhu therefore recommends, kirtaniyah sada harih: one should engage in
chanting twenty-four hours a day. That is the business of Krsna conscious
devotees.
One may perform
all the methods of devotional service or may accept only one. Simply hearing is
enough. Pariksit Maharaja did not do anything else but sit down before Sukadeva
Gosvami and hear for the last seven days of his life. If one simply hears,
without doing anything else, if one simply sits down in the temple and whenever
there is talk of Bhagavad-gita one goes on hearing, that will be enough. Even
if you do not understand, please hear. The vibration, the mantra, will help
you. Grammatical or scholarly understanding is not very important. One may not
know Sanskrit grammar, but bhakti is apratihata, unimpedable. Nothing can check
the progress of bhakti. Therefore one should simply adopt this process of
hearing, as recommended by Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
After Caitanya
Mahaprabhu accepted the renounced order of life, he was criticized by
Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, who had been a schoolfriend of Nilambara Cakravarti,
the father-in-law of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's father, Jagannatha Misra. By this
relationship, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya was on the level of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's
grandfather. Thus he said to Caitanya Mahaprabhu, "You are a boy only
twenty-four years old, and now You have taken sannyasa. Sannyasa is very
difficult to keep, because for a young man the world has so many attractions.
So You should hear Vedanta-sutra." Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya belonged to the
Mayavada school, and this indicates that hearing is important even among the
Mayavadis, who stress the importance of hearing Vedanta-sutra. The Vaisnavas,
the devotees of Krsna, also hear Vedanta-sutra, but not from the Mayavadis, who
falsely interpret it and spoil the process of hearing. The Vaisnavas actually
hear Vedanta-sutra, because they do not interpret it. When Krsna says, "I
am the Supreme," the Vaisnavas accept it, and that is the proper way of
hearing. If one speculatively interprets the Vedanta-sutra or Bhagavad-gita,
saying, "The word krsna means this, and kuruksetra means that," one
is simply wasting one's time. One should hear this literature as it is.
Thus although
Caitanya Mahaprabhu agreed to hear Vedanta from Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, He
simply went on hearing it for many days but did not ask any questions. Finally
Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya said to Him, " My dear boy, You are hearing, but
You do not ask any questions. Why is this? Is it that You can't understand?
What is the reason You are silent?" Caitanya Mahaprabhu answered,
"Yes, I understand. But I am silent because You are explaining the
Vedanta-sutra in a speculative way. Therefore I am simply listening to the
verses of Vedanta-sutra but not actually listening to you." Thus He
indirectly said, "You are explaining the meaning foolishly." Later He
said, "The verses of Vedanta-sutra are just like sunshine, but your
explanations are like clouds that cover them."
No one needs a
lamp to see the sun. Everyone can see it. But if the sun is covered by a cloud,
it is very difficult to see. Similarly, the Vedanta-sutra is like the sun, but
the Mayavada interpretations cover the real meaning. The Mayavadis never accept
the direct meaning. Even big political leaders who are influenced by the
Mayavada philosophy cover the meaning of the Vedic literature by speculating,
"Kuruksetra means this, and dharma-ksetra means that." Our policy,
therefore, should be to hear the original, as it is. Then it will be effective.
Sravanam kirtanam visnoh: Visnu should be heard as He is. Then one can meditate
upon Visnu and remember Him (smaranti). In this way one becomes jubilant
(nandanti). The word nandana means "pleasing," and one comes in touch
with the reservoir of pleasure in this way.
Therefore those
who are cultivating Krsna consciousness have to hear about Krsna, speak about
Krsna, and deal only in relationship with Krsna. "By this process,"
Kuntidevi tells the Lord, "one will one day come to see You." And
when one sees God, Krsna, what is the effect? Bhava-pravahoparamam. The word
pravaha means "current." When there are very forceful currents in the
river and some animal is thrown in, it will be washed away. Similarly, we are
being washed away by the currents of material nature, which come one after
another like big waves in the Pacific Ocean. Because we are under the grip of
the three modes of material nature (prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani
sarvasah), we are being washed away. Therefore Bhaktivinoda Thakura says,
mayara vase yaccha bhese': "You are being washed away, carried away, by
the currents of material nature." These are the currents of hunger and
thirst, of birth, death, and old age, the currents of illusion. We are spirit
souls, but because we have been put into the material ocean, the currents are
carrying us away. However, if we engage twenty-four hours a day in hearing,
chanting, and seriously serving Krsna, the current will stop.
Where will the
current stop? Kuntidevi says to the Lord, padambujam: "It will stop at
Your lotus feet." One has to learn how to see Krsna's lotus feet and offer
a little tulasi and sandalwood pulp at the lotus feet of the Lord, and then
this current of material life will stop.
There may be
currents in the ocean, but if one gets a good boat, one can cross over these
currents very nicely. As mentioned in another verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam
(10.14.58), samasrita ye pada-pallava-plavam. A lotus petal is something like a
small boat, and therefore this verse says that if one takes shelter of the
petal boat of the lotus feet of Krsna, the great ocean of birth and death
becomes as insignificant as the water contained in the hoofprint of a calf. In
India during the rainy season the roads become muddy, and when the cows and
calves walk they create holes in which water collects. But of course one can
easily jump over a dozen of such puddles at any time. Similarly, although for
others the world of birth and death is like a great ocean, for a devotee it is
like such a puddle (bhavambudhir vatsa-padam), and he can jump over it very
easily. In this way the devotee attains param padam, the supreme abode. Then
what about this material world? Padam padam yad vipadam: this is a place not
for devotees but for people who are suffering. Therefore Kuntidevi suggests,
"This Krsna consciousness is the medicine for your suffering. Take it and
be happy."
Chapter Twenty
Full Surrender
apy adya nas tvam sva-krtehita prabho
jihasasi svit suhrdo 'nujivinah
yesam na canyad bhavatah padambujat
parayanam rajasu yojitamhasam
O my Lord, You
have executed all duties Yourself. Are You leaving us today, though we are
compietely dependent on Your mercy and have no one else to protect us, now when
all kings are at enmity with us?
The Pandavas are
most fortunate because with all good luck they were entirely dependent on the
mercy of the Lord. In the material world, to be dependent on the mercy of
someone else is the utmost sign of misfortune, but in the case of our
transcendental relation with the Lord, it is the most fortunate case when we
can live completely dependent on Him. The material disease is due to thinking
of becoming independent of everything. But the cruel material nature does not
allow us to become independent. The false attempt to become independent of the
stringent laws of nature is known as material advancement of experimental
knowledge. The whole material world is moving on this false attempt at becoming
independent of the laws of nature. Beginning from Ravana, who wanted to prepare
a direct staircase to the planets of heaven, down to the present age, they are
trying to overcome the laws of nature. They are trying now to approach distant
planetary systems by electronic mechanical power. But the highest goal of human
civilization is to work hard under the guidance of the Lord and become
completely dependent on Him. The highest achievement of perfect civilization is
to work with valor but at the same time depend completely on the Lord. The
Pandavas were the ideal executors of this standard of civilization. Undoubtedly
they were completely dependent on the good will of Lord Sri Krsna, but they
were not idle parasites of the Lord. They were all highly qualified both by
personal character and by physical activities. Still they always looked for the
mercy of the Lord because they knew that every living being is dependent by
constitutional position. The perfection of life is, therefore, to become
dependent on the will of the Lord, instead of becoming falsely independent in
the material world. Those who try to become falsely independent of the Lord are
called anatha, or without any guardian, whereas those who are completely
dependent on the will of the Lord are called sanatha, or those having someone
to protect them. Therefore we must try to be sanatha, so that we can always be
protected from the unfavorable condition of material existence. By the deluding
power of the external, material nature we forget that the material condition of
life is the most undesirable perplexity. The Bhagavad-gita (7.19) therefore
directs us that afler many, many births one fortunate person becomes aware of
the fact that Vasudeva, Krsna, is all in all and that the best way of leading
one's life is to surrender unto Him completely. That is the sign of a mahatma.
All the members of the Pandava family were mahatmas in household life. Maharaja
Yudhisthira was the head of these mahatmas, and Queen Kuntidevi was the mother.
The lessons of the Bhagavad-gita and all the Puranas, specifically the
Bhagavata Purana, are therefore inevitably connected with the history of the
Pandava mahatmas. For them, separation from the Lord was just like the
separation of a fish from water. Srimati Kuntidevi, therefore, felt such
separation like a thunderbolt, and the whole prayer of the Queen is to try to
persuade the Lord to stay with them. After the Battle of Kuruksetra, although
the inimical kings were killed, their sons and grandsons were still there to
deal with the Pandavas. It is not only the Pandavas who were put into the
condition of enmity; all of us are always in such a condition, and the best way
of living is to become completely dependent on the will of the Lord and thereby
overcome all difficulties of material existence.
After the Battle
of Kuruksetra ended and the Pandavas were established in their kingdom, Krsna,
before going back home to Dvaraka, was taking leave of His aunt and bidding her
farewell. It was at that time that Kunti offered this prayer. Now she directly
asks, "Is it a fact that after finishing Your duty You are going away and
leaving us alone?" This is the devotee' s position. Kuntidevi says, yesam
na canyad bha vatah padambujat: "We have no means of protection other than
Your lotus feet." This is full surrender.
In the process
of surrender (saranagati) there are six items. The first is that one should
completely depend on Krsna, and the next is that one should accept everything
favorable for Krsna's service (anukulyasya sankalpah). Anukulyena
krsnanusilanam bhaktir uttama: a symptom of first-class bhakti, devotional
service, is that one accepts everything favorable for that service. Another
item of surrender is pratikulya-vivarjanam, rejecting everything unfavorable to
the procedures of Krsna consciousness. Sometimes the spiritual master says,
"Don't do this," forbidding something unfavorable, and he also
recommends that which is favorable: "Do this. Chant Hare Krsna." Full
surrender, therefore, entails giving up unfavorable things and accepting that
which is favorable (anukulyasya sankalpah pratikulya-vivarjanam). Furthermore,
one should believe with full faith, "Krsna will give me protection,"
and one should count oneself as one of the servants of Krsna. These are some of
the items of saranagati, full surrender.
Now Kuntidevi
says, "My dear Krsna, if You think that we are well established now that
we have our kingdom back, and if You therefore want to leave us, that is not a
very good proposal. We are not free yet. Because we have killed so many kings,
all their friends and relatives are planning to come fight with us again. So
don't think that we are free from all dangers. We are not. And we have no
protection other than Your lotus feet. That is our position." Thus she
indirectly says to Krsna, "Do not leave us. Don't think that we are now
safe. Without Your protection, we are always unsafe."
This should be
the position of a devotee. We should know that we are actually in danger in
this material world. Maya, illusion, may catch us at any time, as soon as we
are a little inattentive, thinking, "Now I have done my duty. Let me take
a little rest." No, there is no rest. We must be always alert.
There is a verse
in which Srila Rupa Gosvami says, avyartha-kalatvam: a devotee should be very
much careful to see whether his time is being spent unnecessarily. He should
ask himself, "Am I now engaged in maya's service or Krsna's service?"
This is a symptom of an advanced devotee. Nama-gane sada rucih: such a devotee
is never tired of chanting, singing, or dancing. The word sada means
"always," and ruci means "taste." A devotee always has a
taste for chanting Hare Krsna: "Oh, very nice. Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna,
Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare." This
is taste. Of course, this taste takes time to awaken, but when Rupa Gosvami was
chanting he was thinking, "I have only one tongue and two ears. What can I
appreciate of chanting? If I could have millions of tongues and trillions of
ears, then I could relish something by chanting and hearing." Of course,
we should not imitate him, but the devotees of the Krsna consciousness movement
must at least be very careful to complete their sixteen rounds, their minimum
amount of prescribed chanting. Nama-gane sada rucih: we have to increase our
taste for singing and chanting Hare Krsna.
Furthermore, we
should also increase our inclination to live in a place where Krsna lives
(pritis tad-vasati-sthale). In the vision of higher devotees, Krsna actually
lives everywhere, but because we are in a lower condition, we should know that
for us Krsna lives in the temple. Because we do not see Krsna everywhere, we
should come to the temple to see Krsna, who kindly appears there, by His mercy,
in a manner in which we can see Him.
Krsna has a
completely spiritual body (sac-cid-ananda-vigraha), but we do not have the eyes
to see what that spiritual body is. We are accustomed to seeing material, gross
things (jada). We can see stone, metal, wood, and other elements, and because
Krsna is everything, to be visible to our imperfect eyes He appears in a form
of these elements. It is not that Krsna is stone or that we are worshiping
stone. We are worshiping Krsna, but because we cannot see anything except
material elements like stone, Krsna kindly appears in a form carved from stone.
Therefore one should be very much inclined to live within the circle of a
temple environment in which the form of Krsna is worshiped.
Moreover, one
should always think oneself dependent on Krsna. This is Krsna consciousness.
One should always think, "Without Krsna my life is useless, and I am in
danger." Therefore, while offering her prayers to Krsna, Kunti says,
"Krsna, You are thinking that now we are safe, but I don't think we are
safe. We are always in danger. If You think we are safe, who will give us
protection? We have no protection other than Your lotus feet. We are encircled
by so many enemies because the sons of those who have died in the fight are now
preparing to fight with us."
Now, although
Krsna had come to Kuntidevi to take the dust of the feet of His superior, His
aunt, Kuntidevi addresses Him as Prabhu, the Lord, not as her beloved nephew.
She knows, "Although Krsna is playing the part of my nephew, my brother's
son, He is still the supreme master."
The symptoms of
a really Krsna conscious person are that he knows that Krsna is the supreme
master, he always thinks himself in danger without Krsna, and by taking shelter
of Krsna's lotus feet he always feels safe. Krsna says, kaunteya pratijan ihi
na me bhaktah pranasyati: "You may declare to the world that My devotee is
never vanquished." (Bg. 9.31) If one becomes a pure devotee of Krsna,
there is no question of danger. Of course, Krsna gives protection to everyone,
for without His protection no one can live even for a single moment. But one
should not think, "If Krsna is giving protection to everyone, what is the
use of becoming a devotee?" A king gives protection to every one of his
citizens, for that is his duty, but he especially protects his own circle of
men. This is not unnatural. If one directly engages in the service of the
President, when one is in some difficulty he is especially protected. Although
the President gives protection to all the citizens, those who personally
associate with him, giving him service, receive special consideration. That is
not actually partiality. That is natural. When a gentleman loves all children
but has special love for his own children, no one will say, "Oh, why are
you loving your own children more than others?" No, that is natural.
Similarly, Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita, samo 'ham sarva-bhutesu: "I am
equal to everyone." Krsna, being God, loves everyone because everyone is
part of Him. Nonetheless, He takes special care of His devotees. Therefore He
says, kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati: "My devotee will
never be vanquished."
Krsna always
sees to the comforts of His devotees, and the devotees are always busy seeing
that Krsna is satisfied. The devotees dress Krsna, supply Him food, and always
engage in serving Him, and similarly Krsna always sees to the happiness of His
devotees. This is the intimate relationship between the devotee and Krsna.
Every living entity has a relationship with Krsna, but when one becomes a
devotee the relationship becomes intimate. Therefore Kuntidevi says to Krsna,
"How can You leave us? We are Your intimate friends. We are simply living
by Your care, by Your mercy. Don't think that we are safe and that You can
therefore leave us. Our life is always under Your mercy, for we have no shelter
other than Your lotus feet. Kindly don't leave us." This is Kunti's
prayer. Similarly, Narottama dasa Thakura sings:
ha
ha prabhu nanda-suta vrsabhanu-suta-yuta
karuna karaha ei-bara
"Krsna,
Nanda-suta, You are present with Radharani, the daughter of King Vrsabhanu. Now
I fully surrender unto You. Please show me Your mercy."
Without Krsna
consciousness one thinks, "I shall protect myself, or my society,
community, or state will give me protection. I have so many protectors. Why
should I care for God? Why shall I go to Krsna? Those rascals who have no
protection can go to Krsna." But the fact is that unless Krsna gives one
protection one cannot be protected. This is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam
(7.9.19): balasya neha saranam pitarau nrsimha. When Prahlada Maharaja offered
prayers to Krsna as Nrsimhadeva, he said, "My dear Lord, one should not
think that because a child has a father and mother he has full
protection." If Krsna did not protect a child, the child could not be
protected, even if he were to have thousands of fathers and mothers. Prahlada
also says, nartasya cagadam udanvati majjato nauh: "It is not that a good
physician or good medicine can protect one from disease." Suppose a rich
man is suffering from some disease and he hires a first-class physician and
takes first-class medicine. Does it mean that his life is guaranteed? No. If
Krsna does not give him protection, despite good medical treatment and a good
supply of medicine he will die. "Similarly," Prahlada continues,
"one may have a good boat, but this does not guarantee that he will not
drown in the ocean. If You do not protect him he may drown at any moment."
Nature offers so many difficulties, and although scientists may try to invent
something to check these difficulties in the struggle for existence, unless
Krsna gives one protection one's inventions will be of no use.
Kuntidevi knows
this, and therefore although she is the mother of the great warriors Arjuna and
Bhima, she still thinks, "Although my sons are great warriors, they are
not sufficient to give us protection. Nothing can give us protection but Your
lotus feet." This verse illustrates the position of a surrendered soul
seeking the protection of Krsna. If we remain in this position, knowing that
our only protector is Krsna and that our only duty is to serve Krsna, then our
life is successful.
Chapter Twenty-one
What Is Our Actual Value?
ke vayam nama-rupabhyam
yadubhih saha pandavah
bhavato 'darsanam yarhi
hrsikanam ivesituh
As the name and
fame of a particular body is finished with the disappearance of the living
spirit, similarly, if You do not look upon us, all our fame and activities,
along with the Pandavas and Yadus, will end at once.
Kuntidevi is
quite aware that the existence of the Pandavas is due to Sri Krsna only. The
Pandavas are undoubtedly well established in name and fame and are guided by
the great King Yudhisthira, who is morality personified, and the Yadus are
undoubtedly great allies, but without the guidance of Lord Krsna all of them
are nonentities, as much as the senses of the body are useless without the
guidance of consciousness. No one should be proud of his prestige, power, and
fame without being guided by the favor of the Supreme Lord. The living beings
are always dependent, and the ultimate dependable object is the Lord Himself.
We may, therefore, invent by our advancement of material knowledge all sorts of
counteracting material resources, but without being guided by the Lord all such
inventions end in fiasco, however strong and stout the reactionary elements may
be.
As soon as an
important man dies, his name and form become unimportant, even though he may
have been a big scientist, politician, or philosopher. As long as we are alive
our name, form, and activities are glorious, but as soon as the life is gone
the body is but a lump of matter. When an important man is alive he may have so
many guards, and no one can go before him or touch him, but when the same man
is dead and lying on the floor, one may kick him in the face, and practically
no one will care. After the disappearance of the soul, the body of the
important man has no value. And what is that soul? It is the energy of Krsna,
and therefore it is part and parcel of Krsna. So when the energy is
withdrawn--that is, when Krsna is not there--the body becomes unimportant.
Krsna's energy
and Krsna Himself are not different (sakti-saktimator abhedah). The sun, for
example, is energetic, and the sunshine is energy. As long as the sunshine is
present the sun is present, and if the sun were not present the sun's energy
would also not be there. The energy and the energetic must both exist. Although
the Mayavadi philosophers do not accept the energetic but only the impersonal
energy, we must accept both the energy and the energetic.
While the energy
works, the energetic remains aloof, just as the sunshine spreads everywhere
while the sun itself remains apart. Similarly, there is energy working
throughout the cosmic manifestation. The cosmic manifestation consists of
earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego. These eight
material elements are separated material energies (me bhinna prakrtir astadha),
and we can understand that behind these energies there must be an energetic
source. For example, we are using electric power, but behind this power are the
powerhouse and the engineer. Rascals do not understand this. They simply see
the power of this cosmic manifestation, but they do not understand that behind
this power is the powermaker, the source of power. Therefore Krsna comes and
says, "I am the powermaker. I am behind this power."
Krsna Himself
personally comes because we do not have the eyes to see Krsna and cannot
understand Him. When we contemplate the form of God, we think that because God
created millions and millions of years ago, He must be a very old man.
Therefore God personally comes before us so that we can see what He is. This is
His kindness. The Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (4.7):
yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham
"Whenever
and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata,
and a predominant rise of irreligion--at that time I descend Myself."
God comes to
this world in person, He leaves behind His instructions like those of
Bhagavad-gita, and He leaves behind His devotees who can explain who God is,
but still we are so stubborn that we do not accept God. This is foolishness. In
Bhagavad-gita those who do not accept God are called mudhah--rascals and fools.
God exists, and
God's energy also exists, so if we cannot see God we can at least see His
energy. We may not see the electric powerhouse and the engineer within it
generating power, but we use electricity in so many ways. Therefore we should
inquire where this electricity comes from. This is intelligence, and if one
inquires in this way he will eventually find the powerhouse itself. Similarly,
if one studies further to find out who is running the powerhouse, one will find
a human being. Although the electricity is impersonal and even the powerhouse
is impersonal, the man behind everything is a person. Similarly, God is a
person. This is a logical conclusion. How can He be impersonal? That which is
impersonal has no intelligence. We have invented so many very wonderful machines,
but the machines are not intelligent. The intelligence belongs to the operator.
Therefore Krsna says, mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram: "You are
seeing the energy displayed in the wonderful actions and reactions of this
material cosmic manifestation, but don't think that they are working
independently. No, I am behind them."
Krsna further
says:
maya tatam idam sarvam
jagad avyakta-murtina
mat-sthani sa rva-bhutani
na caham tesv avasthitah
"By Me, in
My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me,
but I am not in them." (Bg. 9.4) That which is avyakta, unmanifested, also
has murti, a form. The sky, for example, is avyakta, unmanifest, but it also
has a form--the round form of the universe. If we go to the ocean, there also
we shall find a form, like that of a big circle. Without form there is nothing;
everything has form, even that which is supposedly impersonal.
Therefore the
idea that everything is zero or impersonal is foolish. Behind the impersonal
feature and the so-called voidness is the supreme form--Krsna. Isvarah paramah
krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah. The word isvara means "controller."
Nature is not controlling itself; the real controller is Krsna. Icchanurupam
api yasya ca cestate sa. The Brahma-samhita (5.44) says that Prakrti, or
Durga--the deity of material nature--is working under the direction of Govinda,
Krsna. How is she working? Just like a shadow. Below our hand is its shadow,
and as our hand moves, the shadow moves. Behind all manifestations there is
motion. I have sometimes given the example of the shunting of the big cars in a
railway line. The engine gives the motion and pushes one car, which then pushes
another and another, and so on. Similarly, who set up the motion of the cosmic
manifestation? That original motion-giver is Krsna.
Now Kuntidevi
says, "We Pandavas have become famous, and people say that we are very
important. Why? Because You are our friend." Krsna was the friend of the
Pandavas and specifically the friend of Arjuna, and therefore Arjuna was a
great and valorous warrior. But Kuntidevi knew, "People say, `Oh, the
Pandavas are such great warriors and heroes,' but what is the value of my sons,
the Pandavas?" Similarly, the Yadu dynasty was famous because Krsna took
His birth in that family. But Kuntidevi says, ke vayam: "What are we? What
is our value?" Ke vayam nama-rupabhyam: "We have our name and form,
but without You it is all useless. It has no value."
People do not
understand this. They are very proud of having a nice body and a nice name.
They think, "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am
German," and so on. But what is all this? These are simply bogus names and
bogus forms with no value.
If we subtract
Krsna, everything is zero. This is a fact, but people are such rascals that
they do not understand this fact. But who can deny it? The American body or
Indian body may have a good name, but if it has no consciousness, what is its
value? No value. Therefore it is said:
bhaga vad-bhakti-h inasya
jatih sastram japas tapah
apranasyeva dehasya
mandanam loka-ranjanam
"For a
person devoid of devotional service to Krsna, his birth in a great family or
nation, his knowledge of revealed scripture, his performance of austerities and
penance, and his chanting of Vedic mantras are all like ornaments on a dead
body. Such ornaments simply serve the concocted pleasures of the general
populace." (Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya 3.11)
We all have
consciousness, but what is this consciousness? It is Krsna consciousness. We
have forgotten Krsna, and therefore we simply say "consciousness,"
but really "consciousness" means Krsna consciousness, because without
Krsna we cannot have consciousness. Without the sun, how can there be sunshine?
Therefore we say "sunshine," and not just "shine."
Similarly, "consciousness" means Krsna consciousness. This requires a
little intelligence to understand, but devotees like Kunti have this
intelligence and understanding. Therefore Kunti says, "The Pandavas and Yadus
are so important, but what is actually our value?
Because Krsna is
bidding farewell, Kunti laments, "You will go, and we shall not be able to
see You. What then will be the value of our name and fame?" Bhavato
'darsanam yarhi hrsikanam ivesituh. She gives the example that without Krsna
they would be like the senses without life. In this material world we desire
sense enjoyment, but without Krsna or without Krsna consciousness there is no
possibility of sense enjoyment. We may have strong arms and legs, but when
there is no consciousness--when there is no Krsna consciousness--we cannot even
utilize them. An intelligent person, therefore, knows that without Krsna his
senses have no value, and therefore he becomes a devotee. He rightly concludes
that because there is an intimate relationship between the senses and Krsna, as
long as the senses are active it is one's duty to use the senses in the service
of Krsna. This is bhakti.
To use an
example I have given many times, suppose in an assembly one finds a
hundred-dollar note that has fallen from someone's pocket. If one takes that
note and puts it in one's own pocket, one is a thief because that note does not
belong to him. This is called bhoga, false enjoyment. Then again, someone else
may think, "Oh, why shall I touch it? It belongs to someone else. Let it
remain there. I have nothing to do with it." This is called tyaga,
renunciation. So although the hundred-dollar note is the same, one person is
trying to enjoy it while another is trying to give it up. But both of them--the
bhogi and the tyagi--are fools.
The bhogis are
the karmis, those who are working very hard to exploit the resources of the
material nature, like the scientists, for example, who are doing research to
further such exploitation. Their intention, actually, is to steal. On the other
hand, the tyagis, those who are unable to steal, have a "sour grapes"
philosophy: "Oh, these things are useless. There is no need of them."
Mostly, of course, people are bhogis; that is, they are trying to use
everything to enjoy sense gratification. But still there are those who are
baffled in sense gratification and who therefore say, "No, no, we don't
need these things."
Continuing the
example, however, when a hundred-dollar note is found, the person who acts most
properly is the one who takes it and says, "Someone has lost this note.
Let me find its owner." Upon returning that note, one renders real
service. One who takes the note for himself and one who leaves the note where
it is are both useless. Similarly, the bhogi and tyagi are both useless. But
the bhakta, the devotee, knows that everything belongs to Krsna and should
therefore be offered to Krsna. This is real service.
Everything
belongs to Krsna. What is the body? It is a combination of material
elements--earth, water, fire, air, and the subtle, psychological elements mind,
intelligence, and false ego. Krsna claims, "All these eight elements are
My separated energy." Then how are the body and mind ours? Although I
claim that the body is mine, I do not even know how it is working. A tenant in
an apartment may pay rent and somehow or other occupy the apartment and enjoy
its utilities, although he may not actually know how the heat and tap water are
working. Similarly, although we do not know the details of how the body works,
we are using this body, which actually belongs not to us but to Krsna. This is
the real fact. The body consists of the senses and the mind, and therefore the
senses and mind also belong to Krsna.
I am a spiritual
soul, but I have been given the opportunity to utilize a certain type of
material body. Because I wanted it, Krsna is so kind that He has given it to
me. Ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham. If one wants the body
of a king, Krsna will give it; if one follows the prescribed method, one will get
the body of a king. And if one wants the body of a hog so that one may eat
stool, Krsna will give one that kind of body also. But now, in the human form
of life, one should understand, "Everything belongs to Krsna, so why am I
hankering to satisfy this body which is supposedly mine? Rather, now that I
have this body, let me serve Krsna." This is intelligence, and this is
bhakti.
Hrsikena
hrsikesa-sevanam bhaktir ucyate: bhakti means to use hrsika, the senses, in the
service of Hrsikesa, Krsna, the master of the senses (tvaya hrsikesena hrdi
sthitasya yatha karomi). Because I wanted some sense gratification, forgetting
that everything actually belongs to Krsna, I have been given this body, which
is a facility for sense gratification. But the senses have no value without
Krsna, and therefore the natural conclusion is that the senses belong to Krsna.
Therefore, since I have these senses, why not use them for Krsna's
satisfaction? This is bhakti.
Chapter Twenty-two
Beauty in Krsna's Presence
neyam sobhisyate tatra
yathedan im gadadhara
tvat-padair ankita bhati
sva-laksana-vilaksitah
O Gadadhara
[Krsna], our kingdom is now being marked by the impressions of Your feet, and
therefore it appears beautiful. But when You ieave, it will no longer be so.
There are
certain particular marks on the feet of the Lord which distinguish the Lord
from others. The marks of a flag, thunderbolt, and instrument to drive an
elephant, and also an umbrella, lotus, disc, etc., are on the bottom of the
Lord's feet. These marks are impressed upon the soft dust of the land where the
Lord traverses. The land of Hastinapura was thus marked while Lord Sri Krsna
was there with the Pandavas, and the kingdom of the Pandavas thus flourished by
such auspicious signs. Kuntidevi points out these distinguished features and is
afraid of ill luck in the absence of the Lord.
In the
Canakya-sloka, the instructions of the great moralist Canakya Pandita, there is
this very nice verse:
prthivi-bhusanam raja
narinam bhusanam patih
sarvari-bhusanam candro
vidya sarvasya bhusanam
Everything looks
beautiful when one is intimately related with it. The sky, for example, becomes
beautiful in relationship with the moon. The sky is always present, but on the
full-moon night, when the moon and stars shine brilliantly, it looks very nice.
Similarly, the state looks very well if there is a good government, with a good
king or president. Then everyone is happy, and everything goes on well. Also,
although girls are naturally beautiful, a girl looks especially beautiful when
she has a husband. Vidya sarvasya bhusanam: but if a person, however ugly, is a
learned scholar, that is his beauty. Similarly, everything will look beautiful
when Krsna is present.
Therefore
Kuntidevi thinks, "As long as Krsna is with us, everything in our kingdom
and our capital, Hastinapura, is beautiful. But when Krsna is absent our
kingdom will not be beautiful." She says, "Krsna, You are now walking
in our kingdom, and the impressions of Your footprints are making everything
beautiful. There is sufficient water and fruit, and everything looks beautiful,
but when You leave us it will not look beautiful."
It is not that
this applied only when Krsna was present and Kunti was speaking. Rather, the
truth is always the same. Despite the advancement of our civilization, if we
cannot bring Krsna and Krsna consciousness into the center of everything, our
civilization will never become beautiful. Those who have joined the Krsna
consciousness movement were beautiful before they joined, but now that they
have become Krsna conscious they look especially beautiful. Therefore the
newspapers often describe the devotees as "bright-faced. Their countrymen
remark, How joyful and beautiful these boys and girls have become." At the
present time in America, many of the younger generation are confused and
hopeless, and therefore they appear morose and black-faced. Why? Because they
are missing the point; they have no aim in life. But the devotees, the Krsnaites,
look very beautiful because of the presence of Krsna.
Therefore, what
was a fact five thousand years ago, during the time of the Pandavas, is still a
fact now. With Krsna in the center, everything becomes beautiful, and Krsna can
become the center at any time. Krsna is always present, and we simply have to
invite Him, "My Lord, please come and be in the center." That's all.
To give the same example I have given before, zero has no value, but if we
bring the number one and place it by the side of zero, the zero becomes ten. So
one need not stop whatever one is doing. We never say, "Stop everything
material." One simply has to add Krsna.
Of course, we
have to give up anything which is against Krsna consciousness. It is not that
because we do not stop material duties, we should not stop meat-eating. We must
stop it, for this is contrary to advancement in Krsna consciousness. One cannot
commit sinful activities and at the same time advance in Krsna consciousness.
But Krsna says, aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami: "Surrender unto Me,
and I shall rescue you by giving you liberation from all kinds of sinful
reactions."
Every one of us,
life after life, is knowingly or unknowingly committing sinful activities. I
may knowingly kill an animal, and that is certainly sinful, but even if I do it
unknowingly, it is also sinful. While walking on the street we unknowingly kill
so many ants, and in the course of our other ordinary dealings--while cooking,
while taking water, while using a mortar and pestle to crush spices--we kill so
many living beings. Unless we remain Krsna conscious, we are liable to be
punished for all these unknowingly committed sinful acts.
If a child
unknowingly touches fire, does it mean that the fire will excuse the child and
not burn? No. Nature's law is so strict, so stringent, that there is no
question of an excuse. Even in ordinary law, ignorance is no excuse. If we go
to court and say, "I did not know that this action was criminal,"
this plea does not mean that we shall be excused. Similarly, ignorance is no
excuse for transgressing nature's laws. Therefore, if we actually want to be
free from the reactions of sinful life, we must be Krsna conscious, for then
Krsna will free us from all sinful reactions. It is therefore recommended,
kirtaniyah sada harih--one should always chant Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna
Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, so that Krsna
will save us.
We should always
keep Krsna within our minds, for Krsna is like the sun. This is the motto of
our Back to Godhead magazine:
krsna--surya sama; maya haya andhakara
yahan krsna, tahan nahi mayara adhikara
(Cc. Madhya 22.31)
Krsna is just
like the brilliant sun, and maya, ignorance, is just like darkness. When the
sun is present, there cannot be darkness. So if we keep ourselves in Krsna
consciousness always, we cannot be influenced by the darkness of ignorance;
rather, we shall always walk very freely in the bright sunshine of Krsna.
Kuntidevi therefore prays that Krsna continue to be present with her and the
Pandavas.
In fact,
however, Krsna was not leaving the Pa-ndavas, just as He never left Vrndavana.
In the sastra, the Vedic literature, it is said, vrndavanam paritajya no padam
ekam gacchati: Krsna never goes even one step from Vrndavana. He is so much
attached to Vrndavana. How is it, then, that we see that Krsna lefl Vrndavana
and went to Mathura and then far away to Hastinapura and did not return for many
years? Actually, Krsna did not leave, for all the inhabitants of Vrndavana,
after Krsna left, were always thinking of Him and crying. The only engagement
of mother Yasoda, Nanda Maharaja, Radharani, and all the gopis, cows, calves,
and cowherd boys was to think of Krsna and cry, and in this way they felt Krsna
to be present, because Krsna's presence can be felt more strongly in separation
from Him. That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's teaching: to love Krsna in separation.
Sunyayitam jagat sarvam govinda-virahena me. Caitanya Mahaprabhu thought,
"Everything is vacant without Govinda, without Krsna." Everything was
vacant, but Krsna consciousness was there.
When we see
everything as nothing, but have only Krsna consciousness, we shall have
attained the highest perfection. Therefore the gopis are so exalted. Having
attained this perfection, they could not forget Krsna even for a single moment.
When Krsna went to the forest with His cows and calves, the minds of the gopis
at home were disturbed. "Oh, Krsna is walking barefoot," they
thought. "There are so many stones and nails on the path, and they must be
pricking Krsna's lotus feet, which are so soft that we think our breasts hard
when Krsna puts His lotus feet upon them." Thus they would cry, absorbed
in these thoughts. The gopis were so anxious to see Krsna back home in the
evening that they would stand on the path, looking to see Krsna returning with
His calves and cows. This is Krsna consciousness.
Krsna cannot be
absent from a devotee when the devotee is intensely absorbed in Krsna thought.
Here Kuntidevi is very much anxious, thinking that Krsna will be absent, but
the actual effect of Krsna's physical absence is that He becomes more intensely
present within the mind of the devotee. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by the
example of His actual life, taught vipralambha-seva, service of Krsna in
separation. Tears would come from His eyes like torrents of rain, for He would
feel everything to be vacant for want of Krsna.
There are two
stages of meeting Krsna. Being personally present with Krsna, personally
meeting Him, personally talking with Him, and personally embracing Him is
called sambhoga, but there is another way to be with Krsna--in separation from
Him--and this is called vipralambha. A devotee can benefit from Krsna's
association in both ways.
Because we are
now in the material world, we do not see Krsna directly. Nonetheless, we can
see Him indirectly. For example, if one sees the Pacific Ocean one can remember
Krsna immediately, if one is advanced in spiritual life. This is called
meditation. One may think, "The Pacific Ocean is such a vast mass of
water, with many large waves, but although I am standing only a few yards from
it, I am confident that I am safe, however powerful this ocean may be and
however fearful its waves. I am sure that it will not go beyond its limits. How
is this happening? By the order of Krsna. Krsna orders, `My dear Pacific Ocean,
you may be very big and powerful, but you cannot come beyond this line."'
In this way one can immediately remember Krsna, or God, who is so powerful that
even the Pacific Ocean abides by His order. In this way one can think of Krsna,
and that is Krsna consciousness.
Similarly, when
one sees the sunrise one can immediately remember Krsna, for Krsna says in
Bhagavad-gita (7.8), prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh: "I am the shining of the sun
and the moon." If one has learned how to see Krsna, one can see Him in the
sunshine. Our scientists have not created the sun, and although they may juggle
words, it is beyond their ability to know what the sun actually is. But the
Vedanta-sutra (1.1.3) says, sastra-yonitvat: one can know everything through
the sastra, the Vedic literature. For example, if one studies the Vedic
literature one can know what the sun is, for the sun is described in the
Brahma-samhita (5.5.2):
yac-caksur esa savita sakala-grahanam
raja samasta-sura-murtir asesa-tejah
yasyajnaya bhramati sambhrta -kala-cakro
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
This verse
describes the sun as the eye of all the planets, and if one meditates upon this
one can understand that this is a fact, for at night, before the sun rises, one
cannot see. The sun is also described as the eye of the Lord. The sun is one of
His eyes, and the moon is the other. In the Upanisads, therefore, it is said
that only when Krsna sees can we see. The sun is also described as asesa-tejah,
unlimitedly hot. And what is its function? Yasyajnaya bhramati
sambhrta-kala-cakrah. The sun has its orbit. God has ordered the sun, "You
just travel within this orbit, and not anywhere else." The scientists say
that if the sun were to move a little to one side the whole universe would be
ablaze, and if it moved to the other side the whole universe would freeze. But
by the order of the Supreme it does not move even one ten-thousandth of an inch
from where it should be. It always rises exactly at the correct time. Why?
There must be some discipline, some obedience, some order. The Brahma-samhita
therefore says, yasyajnaya bhramati sambhrta-kala-cakro govindam adi-purusam
tam aham bhajami: "I worship that original person, by whose order the sun
moves in its orbit. It is He who gives direction even to the sun, the ocean,
and the moon. Everything takes place under His order."
So where is the
difficulty in understanding God? There is no difficulty. If one is actually
sane, if one has a brain that is not made of stool, one can understand God at
every step. The Lord says:
raso 'ham apsu kaunteya
prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh
pranavah sarva-vedesu
sabdah khe paurusam nrsu
"O son of
Kunti [Arjuna], I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the
syllable om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in
man." (Bg. 7.8) Why then do people say, "I have not seen God"?
Why don't they see God as God directs them to see Him? Why do they manufacture
their own way? One cannot see God by one's own way. That is not possible. If
one tries to do so, one will always remain blind. At the present moment
so-called philosophers and scientists are trying to see God in their own way,
but that is not possible. One has to see God by God's way. Then one can see
Him. If I want to see the President of the United States, can I see him in my
own way? If not, then how can I expect to see God in my own way? Is it not
rascaldom? I cannot see even an ordinary man in an important position in my own
way; I have to make an appointment with his secretary and make the other
appropriate arrangements. But although God is so much greater than ordinary
men, rascals support the view that one can see God in one's own way. "As
many ways as you invent," they say, "they are all bona fide."
This is rascaldom. The world is full of rascals and fools, and therefore God
consciousness, Krsna consciousness, has become a vague idea. Otherwise, if one
wants to see God, if one wants Him to be always present, as Kuntidevi is
requesting that He be, one can keep God always within one s heart.
We simply have
to apply our mind and senses in Krsna consciousness, as done by Maharaja
Ambarisa. Sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayor vacamsi vaikuntha-gunanuvarnane
(SB. 9.4.18). First we must fix our minds on the lotus feet of Krsna, for the
mind is the center of all sensory activities. If the mind were absent, in spite
of having eyes we could not see, and in spite of having ears we could not hear.
Therefore the mind is considered the eleventh sense. There are ten senses--five
working senses and five knowledge-acquiring senses, and the center of the
senses is the mind. The Bhagavad-gita (3.42) says:
indriyani parany ahur
indriyebhyah param manah
manasas tu para buddhir
yo buddheh paratas tu sah
In this verse
Krsna explains that although we consider the senses to be very prominent,
beyond the senses is something superior--the mind--beyond the mind is the
intelligence, and beyond the intelligence is the soul.
How can we
appreciate the existence of the soul if we cannot understand even the
psychological movements of the mind? Beyond the mind is the intelligence, and
by speculation one can at the utmost approach the intellectual platform. But to
understand the soul and God, one must go beyond the intellectual platform. It
is possible to understand everything, but we must gain understanding through
the right channel. Therefore the Vedic injunction is:
tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet
samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham
If one is
actually serious about understanding supernatural, transcendental subject
matters, one must approach a bona fide spiritual master." (Mundaka Up.
1.2.12)
Chapter Twenty-three
Natural Prosperity
ime jana-padah svrddhah
supakkausadhi-virudhah
vanadri-nady-udan vanto
hy edhante tava viksitaih
All these cities
and villages are flourishing in all respects because the herbs and grains are
in abundance, the trees are full of fruits, the rivers are flowing, the hills
are full of minerals, and the oceans full of wealth. And this is all due to
Your glancing over them.
Human prosperity
flourishes by natural gifts and not by gigantic industrial enterprises. The
gigantic industrial enterprises are products of a godless civilization, and
they cause the destruction of the noble aims of human life. The more we go on
increasing such troublesome industries to squeeze out the vital energy of the
human being, the more there will be unrest and dissatisfaction of the people in
general, although a few only can live lavishly by exploitation. The natural
gifts such as grains and vegetables, fruits, rivers, the hills of jewels and
minerals, and the seas full of pearls are supplied by the order of the Supreme,
and as He desires, material nature produces them in abundance or restricts them
at times. The natural law is that the human being may take advantage of these
godly gifts by nature and satisfactorily flourish on them without being
captivated by the exploitative motive of lording it over material nature. The
more we attempt to exploit material nature according to our whims of enjoyment,
the more we shall become entrapped by the reaction of such exploitative attempts.
If we have sufficient grains, fruits, vegetables, and herbs, then what is the
necessity of running a slaughterhouse and killing poor animals? A man need not
kill an animal if he has sufficient grains and vegetables to eat. The flow of
river waters fertilizes the fields, and there is more than what we need.
Minerals are produced in the hills, and the jewels in the ocean. If the human
civilization has sufficient grains, minerals, jewels, water, milk, etc., then
why should we hanker after terrible industrial enterprises at the cost of the
labor of some unfortunate men? But all these natural gifts are dependent on the
mercy of the Lord. What we need, therefore, is to be obedient to the laws of
the Lord and achieve the perfection of human life by devotional service. The
indications by Kuntidevi are just to the point. She desires that God's mercy be
bestowed upon them so that natural prosperity be maintained by His grace.
Kuntidevi
mentions that the grains are abundant, the trees full of fruits, the rivers flowing
nicely, the hills full of minerals, and the oceans full of wealth, but she
never mentions that industry and slaughterhouses are flourishing, for such
things are nonsense that men have developed to create problems.
If we depend on
God's creation, there will be no scarcity, but simply ananda, bliss. God's
creation provides sufficient grains and grass, and while we eat the grains and
fruits, the animals like the cows will eat the grass. The bulls will help us
produce grains, and they will take only a little, being satisfied with what we
throw away. If we take fruit and throw away the skin, the animal will be
satisfied with the skin. In this way, with Krsna in the center, there can be
full cooperation between the trees, animals, human beings, and all living
entities. This is Vedic civilization, a civilization of Krsna consciousness.
Kuntidevi prays
to the Lord, "This prosperity is due to Your glance." When we sit in
the temple of Krsna, Krsna glances over us, and everything is nice. When
sincere souls try to become Krsna's devotees, Krsna very kindly comes before
them in His full opulence and glances upon them, and they become happy and
beautiful.
Similarly, the
whole material creation is due to Krsna's glance (sa aiksata). In the Vedas it
is said that He glanced over matter, thus agitating it.
A woman in touch with a man becomes agitated and becomes
pregnant and then gives birth to children. The whole creation follows a similar
process. Simply by Krsna's glance, matter becomes agitated and then becomes
pregnant and gives birth to the living entities. It is simply by His glance
that plants, trees, animals, and all other living beings come forth. How is
this possible? None of us can say, "Simply by glancing over my wife, I can
make her pregnant." But although this is impossible for us, it is not
impossible for Krsna. The Brahma-samhita (5.32) says, angani yasya
sakalendriya-vrttimanti: every part of Krsna's body has all the capabilities of
the other parts. With our eyes we can only see, but Krsna, merely by seeing,
can make others pregnant. There is no need of sex, for simply by glancing,
Krsna can create pregnancy.
In Bhagavad-gita
(9. 10) Lord Krsna says, mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram: "By
My supervision, material nature gives birth to all moving and nonmoving
beings." The word aksa means "eyes," so aksena indicates that
all living entities take birth because of the Lord's glance. There are two
kinds of living entities--the moving beings, like insects, animals, and human
beings, and the nonmoving beings, like trees and plants. In Sanskrit these two
kinds of living entities are called sthavara jangama, and they both come forth
from material nature.
Of course, what
comes from material nature is not the life, but the body. The living entities
accept particular types of bodies from material nature, just as a child takes
its body from its mother. For ten months the child's body develops from the
blood and nutrients of the mother's body, but the child is a living entity, not
matter. It is the living entity that has taken shelter in the womb of the
mother, who then supplies the ingredients for that living entity's body. This
is nature's way. The mother may not know how from her body another body has
been created, but when the body of the child is fit, the child takes birth.
It is not that
the living entity takes birth. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (2.20), najayate
mriyate va: the living entity neither takes birth nor dies. That which does not
take birth does not die; death is meant for that which has been created, and
that which is not created has no death. The Gita says, najayate mriyate va
kadacit. The word kadacit means "at any time." At no time does the
living entity actually take birth. Although we may see that a child is born,
actually it is not born. Nitah sasvato 'yam puranah. The living entity is
eternal (sasvata), always existing, and very, very old (purana). Na hanyate
hanyamane sarire: don't think that when the body is destroyed the living entity
will be destroyed; no, the living entity will continue to exist.
A scientist
friend was asking me, "What is the proof of eternity?" Krsna says, na
hanyate hanyamane sarire: The soul is not killed when the body is killed."
This statement in itself is proof. This type of proof is called sruti, the
proof established by that which is heard through the disciplic succession from
the Supreme. One form of proof is proof by logic (nyaya-prasthana). One can get
knowledge by logic, arguments, and philosophical research. But another form of
proof is sruti, proof established by hearing from authorities. A third form of
proof is smrti, proof established by statements derived from the sruti. The
Bhagavad-gita and the Puranas are smrti, the Upanisads are sruti, and the
Vedanta is nyaya. Of these three the sruti-prasthana, or the evidence from the
sruti, is especially important.
Prataksa, the
process of receiving knowledge through direct perception, has no value, because
our senses are all imperfect. For example, every day we see the sun to be just
like a small disc, perhaps twelve inches in diameter, but in fact it is a
hundred times larger than the earth. So what is the value of our direct
perception through our eyes? We have so many senses through which we can
experience knowledge--the eyes, the ears, the nose, and so on--but because
these senses are imperfect, whatever knowledge we get by exercising these
senses is also imperfect. Because scientists try to understand things by
exercising their imperfect senses, their conclusions are always imperfect.
Svarupa Damodara, a scientist among our disciples, inquired from a fellow
scientist who says that life comes from matter, "If I give you the
chemicals with which to produce life, will you be able to produce it?" The
scientist replied, "That I do not know." This is imperfect knowledge.
If you do not know, then your knowledge is imperfect. Why then have you become
a teacher? That is cheating. Our contention is that to become perfect one must
take lessons from the perfect.
Krsna is
perfect, so we take knowledge from Him. Krsna says, na hanyate hanyamane
sarire: "The soul does not die when the body dies." Therefore this
understanding that the soul is eternal is perfect.
Kuntidevi says,
ime jana-padah svrddhah supakkausadhi-virudhah: "The grains are abundant,
the trees full of fruits, the rivers flowing, the hills full of minerals, and
the ocean full of wealth." What more should one want? The oyster produces
pearls, and formerly people decorated their bodies with pearls, valuable
stones, silk, gold, and silver. But where are those things now? Now, with the
advancement of civilization, there are so many beautiful girls who have no
ornaments of gold, pearls, or jewels, but only plastic bangles. So what is the
use of industry and slaughterhouses?
By God's
arrangement one can have enough food grains, enough milk, enough fruits and
vegetables, and nice clear river water. But now I have seen, while traveling in
Europe, that all the rivers there have become nasty. In Germany, in France, and
also in Russia and America I have seen that the rivers are nasty. By nature's
way the water in the ocean is kept clear like crystal, and the same water is
transferred to the rivers, but without salt, so that one may take nice water
from the river. This is nature's way, and nature's way means Krsna's way. So
what is the use of constructing huge waterworks to supply water?
Nature has
already given us everything. If we want wealth we may collect pearls and become
rich; there is no need to become rich by starting some huge factory to produce
auto bodies. By such industrial enterprises we have simply created troubles.
Otherwise, we need only depend on Krsna and Krsna's mercy, because by Krsna's
glance (tava viksitaih), everything is set right. So if we simply plead for
Krsna's glance, there will be no question of scarcity or need. Everything will
be complete. The idea of the Krsna consciousness movement, therefore, is to
depend on nature's gifts and the grace of Krsna.
People say that
the population is increasing, and therefore they are checking this by
artificial means. Why? The birds and bees are increasing their populations and
have no contraceptives, but are they in need of food? Do we ever see birds or
animals dying for want of food? Perhaps in the city, although not very often.
But if we go to the jungle we shall see that all the elephants, lions, tigers,
and other animals are very stout and strong. Who is supplying them food? Some
of them are vegetarians, and some of them are nonvegetarians, but none of them
are in want of food.
Of course, by
nature's way the tiger, being a nonvegetarian, does not get food every day.
After all, who will face a tiger to become its food? Who will say to the tiger,
"Sir, I am a philanthropist and have come to you to give you food, so take
my body"? No one. Therefore the tiger has difficulty finding food. And as
soon as the tiger is out, there is an animal that follows it and makes a sound
like "fayo, fayo," so that the other animals will know, "Now the
tiger is out." So by nature's way the tiger has difficulty, but still
Krsna supplies it food. After about a week, the tiger will get the chance to
catch an animal, and because it does not get fresh food daily, it will keep the
carcass in some bush and eat a little at a time. Since the tiger is very
powerful, people want to become like a lion or a tiger, but that is not a very
good proposition, because if one actually becomes like a tiger one won't get
food daily, but will have to search for food with great labor. If one becomes a
vegetarian, however, one will get food every day. The food for a vegetarian is
available everywhere.
Now in every
city there are slaughterhouses, but does this mean that the slaughterhouses can
supply enough so that one can live by eating only meat? No, there will not be
an adequate supply. Even meat-eaters have to eat grains, fruits, and vegetables
along with their slice of meat. Still, for that daily slice of meat they kill
so many poor animals. How sinful this is. If people commit such sinful activities,
how can they be happy? This killing should not be done, and therefore people
are unhappy. But if one becomes Krsna conscious and simply depends on Krsna's
glance (tava viksitaih), Krsna will supply everything, and there will be no
question of scarcity.
Sometimes there
appears to be scarcity, and sometimes we find that grains and fruits are
produced in such a huge quantity that people cannot finish eating them. So this
is a question of Krsna's glance. If Krsna likes, He can produce a huge quantity
of grains, fruits, and vegetables, but if Krsna desires to restrict the supply,
what good will meat do? You may eat me, or I may eat you, but that will not
solve the problem.
For real peace
and tranquillity and a sufficient supply of milk, water, and everything else we
need, we simply have to depend on Krsna. This is what Bhaktivinoda Thakura
teaches us when he says, marabi rakhabi--yo iccha tohara: "My dear Lord, I
simply surrender unto You and depend on You. Now if You like You may kill me,
or else You may give me protection." And Krsna says in reply, "Yes.
Sarva-dharman paritajya mam ekam saranam vraja: simply surrender exclusively
unto Me." He does not say, "Yes, depend on Me, and also depend on
your slaughterhouses and factories." No. He says, "Depend only on Me.
Aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami: I will rescue you from the results of
your sinful activities."
Because we have
lived so many years without being Krsna conscious, we have lived only a sinful
life, but Krsna assures us that as soon as one surrenders to Him He immediately
squares all accounts and puts an end to all one's sinful activities so that one
may begin a new life. When we initiate disciples we therefore tell them,
"Now the account is squared. Now don't commit sinful activities any
more."
One should not
think that because the holy name of Krsna can nullify sinful activities, one
may commit a little sinful activity and chant Hare Krsna to nullify it. That is
the greatest offense (namno balad yasya hi papa-buddhih). The members of some
religious orders go to church and confess their sins, but then they again
commit the same sinful activities. What then is the value of their confession?
One may confess, "My Lord, out of my ignorance I committed this sin,"
but one should not plan, "I shall commit sinful activities and then go to
church and confess them, and then the sins will be nullified, and I can begin a
new chapter of sinful life." Similarly, one should not knowingly take
advantage of the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra to nullify sinful activities
so that one may then begin sinful acts again. We should be very careful. Before
taking initiation, one promises to have no illicit sex, no intoxicants, no
gambling, and no meat-eating, and this vow one should strictly follow. Then one
will be clean. If one keeps oneself clean in this way and always engages in
devotional service, his life will be a success, and there will be no scarcity
of anything he wants.
Chapter Twenty-four
Cutting Off Ties of Affection
atha visvesa visvatman
visva-murte svakesu me
sneha-pasam imam chindhi
drdham pandusu vrsnisu
O Lord of the
universe, soul of the universe, O personality of the form of the universe,
please, therefore, sever my tie of affection for my kinsmen, the Pandavas and
the Vrsnis.
A pure devotee
of the Lord is ashamed to ask anything in self-interest from the Lord. But the
householders are sometimes obliged to ask favors from the Lord, being bound by
the tie of family affection. Srimati Kuntidevi was conscious of this fact, and
therefore she prayed to the Lord to cut off the affectionate tie from her own
kinsmen, the Pandavas and the Vrsnis. The Pandavas are her own sons, and the
Vrsnis are the members of her paternal family. Krsna was equally related to
both families. Both the families required the Lord's help because both were
dependent devotees of the Lord. Srimati Kuntidevi wished Sri Krsna to remain
with her sons, the Pandavas, but by His doing so her paternal house would be
bereft of the benefit. All these partialities troubled the mind of Kunti, and
therefore she desired to cut off the affectionate tie.
A pure devotee
cuts off the limited ties of affection for his family and widens his activities
of devotional service for all forgotten souls. The typical example is the band
of six Gosvamis, who followed the path of Lord Caitanya. All of them belonged
to the most enlightened and cultured rich families of the higher castes, but
for the benefit of the mass of population they left their comfortable homes and
became mendicants. To cut off all family affection means to broaden the field
of activities. Without doing this, no one can be qualified as a brahmana, a
king, a public leader, or a devotee of the Lord. The Personality of Godhead, as
an ideal king, showed this by example. Sri Ramacandra cut off the tie of
affection for His beloved wife to manifest the qualities of an ideal king.
Such
personalities as a brahmana, a devotee, a king, or a public leader must be very
broad-minded in discharging their respective duties. Srimati Kuntidevi was
conscious of this fact, and being weak she prayed to be free from such bondage
of family affection. The Lord is addressed as the Lord of the universe, or the
Lord of the universal mind, indicating His all-powerful ability to cut the hard
knot of family affection. affinity toward a weak devotee, breaks the family affection
by force of circumstances arranged by His all-powerful energy. By doing so He
causes the devotee to become completely dependent on Him and thus clears the
path for his going back to Godhead.
Kunti was the
daughter of the Vrsni family and the wife and mother of the Pandava family.
Generally a woman has affection for both her father's family and husband's
family, and therefore Kunti prays to Krsna, "I am a woman, and women are
generally attached to their families, so kindly cut off my attachment so that I
may be thoroughly attached to You. Without You, both families are zero. I am
falsely attached to these families, but my real purpose in life is to be
attached to You." This is bhakti.
Bhakti involves
becoming free from the attachments of this material world and becoming attached
instead to Krsna. One cannot become unattached, for one must be attached to
something, but in order to become attached to Krsna or enter into the
devotional service of the Lord, one has to become detached from material
affection.
People
ordinarily go to Krsna to maintain their attachment to this material world.
"O God," they pray, "give us our daily bread." They have
attachment to this material world, and to live in this material world they pray
for supplies of material things so that they can maintain their status quo.
This is called material attachment. Although in one sense, of course, it is
good that people go to God to secure their material position, that is not
actually desirable. Rather than worship God to increase one's opulence in the
material world, one should become free from material attachment. For
bhakti-yoga, therefore, we should be detached.
Our suffering is
due to our attachment. Because we are materially attached, we desire so many
material things, and therefore Krsna gives us the opportunity to enjoy whatever
material facilities we want. Of course, one must deserve these facilities.
First deserve, then desire. Suppose I want to become king. I must have pious
activities behind me so that I can become king.
Krsna can give
us whatever we want, even mukti, liberation, but bhakti is a special
consideration because when He gives someone bhakti He becomes purchased by the
bhakta and becomes a tool in the hands of the bhakta, even though He is the
supreme powerful. Radharani, the symbol of the topmost bhakti, is so powerful
that She has purchased Krsna. Therefore Vaisnavas take shelter of the lotus
feet of Radharani, for if She recommends, "Oh, here is a nice devotee,"
Krsna must accept him.
To become a
devotee of the Lord, one must be completely cleansed of all material
attachment. This qualification is called vairagya. Upon becoming a student of
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya wrote one hundred verses
praising Him. Two of those verses are mentioned in the Caitanya-caritamrta, and
one of them is this statement:
vairagya-vidyd-nija-bhakti-yoga-
siksartham ekah purusah puranah
sri-krsna-caitanya-sarira-dhari
krpambudhir yas tam aham
prapadye
"Let me
take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, who has
descended in the form of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu to teach us real knowledge,
His devotional service, and detachment from whatever does not foster Krsna
consciousness. He has descended because He is an ocean of transcendental mercy.
Let me surrender unto His lotus feet." (Cc. Madhya 6.254) Sarvabhauma
Bhattacarya thus offered his prayer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who
had now assumed the form of Caitanya Mahaprabhu just to teach people how to
develop knowledge, become detached, and become pure devotees of Krsna.
Although when
Caitanya Mahaprabhu was only twenty-four or twentyfive years old He had a
lovable, beautiful wife and a devoted, affectionate mother, He gave up
everything and took sannyasa, the renounced order of life. When Caitanya
Mahaprabhu was a grhastha, a householder, He was so much honored that merely by
the direction of His finger He was able to enlist thousands of people to join
Him in a civil disobedience movement. In Nadia, the city where He lived, His
position was very respectable, and physically He was very beautiful. Yet He
gave up His young, faithful, beautiful wife, His affectionate mother, His
position, and everything else. This is called vairagya, renunciation.
If someone who
has nothing to possess says, "I have renounced everything," what is
the meaning of his renunciation? But if one has something and then renounces
it, his renunciation is meaningful. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu's renunciation is
unique. No one else could give up such a happy home, such honor, and such
affection from mother, wife, friends, and students. Even Advaita Prabhu,
although the age of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's father, honored Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Yet still Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave up everything. Why? Just to teach us
(apani acari, prabhu jivere sikhaya). He personally taught the whole world how
one must detach oneself and become a devotee of Krsna. Therefore when Rupa
Gosvami resigned his post as a government minister and met Caitanya Mahaprabhu
at Prayaga, he fell flat before Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and offered obeisances
with this prayer:
namo maha-vadanyaya
krsna-prema-pradaya te
krsnaya krsna-caitanya-
namne gaura-tvise namah
"You are
most magnanimous," he prayed, "for You are distributing love of
Krsna."
Love of Krsna is
not an easy thing to obtain, because by this love one can purchase Krsna, but
Caitanya Mahaprabhu distributed this love of Krsna to anyone and everyone, even
to the two drunkards Jagai and Madhai. Narottama dasa Thakura has therefore
sung:
dina-hina yata chila hari-name uddharila,
ta 'ra saksijagai-madhai
"Caitanya
Mahaprabhu is so magnanimous that He delivered all kinds of sinful men simply
by allowing them to chant the Hare Krsna mantra. The evidence of this is Jagai and
Madhai." At that time, of course, there were two Jagais and Madhais, but
at the present moment, by the grace of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His process of
teaching, so many Jagais and Madhais are being delivered. If Caitanya
Mahaprabhu is pleased, He can give krsna-prema, love of Krsna, to anyone,
regardless of that person's qualification. If a person is giving charity, he
can select anyone to take it.
Without the
mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, understanding Krsna is very, very difficult.
Manusyanam sahasresu kascid yatati siddhaye (Bg. 7.3): out of many millions of
people, hardly one tries to make his life spiritually successful. People simply
work like animals, not knowing how to make a success of human life. One's human
life is successful when one understands Krsna; otherwise one remains an animal.
Anyone who is not Krsna conscious, who does not know who Krsna is, is no better
than an animal. But Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave this concession to the fallen
souls of this age: "Simply chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra and you will
be delivered." This is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's special concession (kirtanad
eva krsnasya mukta-sangah param vrajet, SB. 12.3.51).
Now, Kunti was
not an ordinary devotee. She had become one of the relatives of Krsna, and
therefore Krsna had come to offer her respects. But still she said,
"Krsna, I have become attached to two families, my father's family and my
husband's family. Kindly help me become detached from these families."
Thus she illustrated that one must become detached from society, friendship,
and love, all of which will otherwise entangle us.
As long as I
think, "I belong to this family," "I belong to this
nation," "I belong to this religion," "I belong to this
color," and so on, there is no possibility of becoming Krsna conscious. As
long as one thinks that one is American, Indian, or African, that one belongs
to this family or that family, or that one is the father, mother, husband, or
wife of this or that person, one is attached to material designations. I am
spirit soul, and all these attachments belong to the body, but I am not this
body. This is the essence of understanding. If I am not this body, then whose
father or whose mother am I? The supreme father and mother is Krsna. We are
simply playing the parts of father, mother, sister, or brother, as if on stage.
Maya, the material nature, is causing us to dance, telling us, "You are a
member of this family and a member of this nation." Thus we are dancing
like monkeys.
In the
Bhagavad-gita (3.27) it is said:
prakrteh
kriyamanani
gunaih karmani sarvasah
ahankara-vimudhatma
kartaham iti manyate
This verse
indicates that because the living entity has associated with a certain quality
of nature, nature is making him dance according to that quality, and thus one
is thinking, "I am this" or "I am that." This information
provided in Bhagavad-gita is the basic principle of understanding, and it will
give one freedom.
The most
essential education is that which enables one to become free from the bodily
concept of life, but unfortunately scientists, philosophers, politicians, and
other so-called leaders are misleading people so that they become more attached
to the body. It is the human life that offers the opportunity to become Krsna
conscious, but these rascals are stopping that opportunity by alluring people
to bodily designations, and therefore they are the greatest enemies of human
civilization.
One attains a
human body after evolving through 8,400,000 life-forms, from aquatics to
plants, and then to trees, insects, birds, beasts, and so on. Now, people do
not know what is the next step in evolution, but that is explained in
Bhagavad-gita (9.25). Yanti deva-vrata devan. As the next step in evolution,
one may, if one desires, go to a higher planetary system. Although every night
people see so many planets and stars, they do not know what these higher planetary
systems are. But from the sastra, the Vedic literature, we can understand that
on these higher planetary systems, material comforts are available that are
many, many times greater than those on this planet. On this planet we may live
for at most one hundred years, but on the higher planetary systems one can live
for a lifetime we cannot even calculate. For example, the lifetime of Brahma,
who lives on the highest planet, is stated in Bhagavad-gita (8.17):
sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmano viduh. We cannot calculate even twelve
hours of Brahma with our mathematical figures, but even Brahma has to die. Even
though one may have a long duration of life, no one can live permanently in
this material world. Nonetheless, if one prepares oneself one may go to the
higher planetary systems, or similarly one may go to the Pitrlokas. There one
may meet one's forefathers, if they have been eligible to go there. Similarly,
if one desires, one may also remain here on earth. Or yanti mad-yajino 'pi mam:
if one becomes a devotee of Krsna, one can go to Him.
One may go to
hell, one may go to heaven, or one may go back home, back to Godhead, as one
likes. Therefore an intelligent person should think, "If I have to prepare
for my next life, why not prepare to go back home, back to Godhead?" One's
present body will be finished, and then one will have to accept another body.
What kind of body one will accept is stated in Bhagavad-gita (14.18). Urdhvam
gacchanti sattva-sthah: those who are in the mode of goodness, avoiding the
four principles of sinful life, will live their next life on a higher planetary
system. Even if one does not become a pure devotee of the Lord, if one follows
the regulative principles for avoiding sinful life one will remain in goodness
and get this opportunity. Human life is meant for this purpose. But if we waste
our life just living like cats and dogs, eating, sleeping, mating, and
defending, then we shall lose this opportunity.
Rascals,
however, do not know this. They do not believe that there is a next life. In
Russia a professor, Professor Kotovsky, told me, "Svamiji, after this body
is finished, everything is finished." He is a big professor, yet still he
said that. Such men may pose as scientists and philosophers, but actually they
have no knowledge, and they simply mislead others. This is our greatest source
of grief, and therefore I have requested the members of the Krsna consciousness
movement to challenge and defeat these rascals, who are misleading the entire
human society. People should not think that the devotees of Krsna are mere
sentimentalists. On the contrary, the devotees are the greatest philosophers
and the greatest scientists.
Krsna has two
engagements: paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam--giving protection to
the sadhus, the devotees, and killing the demons. Krsna gave protection to the
Pandavas and Vrsnis because they were devotees, and He also killed demons like
Kamsa, Aghasura, and Bakasura. Of the two engagements, His killing of the
demons was His major occupation. If we examine how much time He devoted to
killing and how much time He devoted to protecting, we shall find that He
devoted more time to killing. Similarly, those who are Krsna conscious should
also kill--not by weapons but by logic, by reasoning, and by education. If one
is a demon, we can use logic and arguments to kill his demoniac propensities
and turn him into a devotee, a saintly person. Especially in this present age,
Kali-yuga, people are already povertystricken, and physical killing is too much
for them. They should be killed by argument, reasoning, and scientific
spiritual understanding.
Kunti addresses
Krsna as visvesa, the Lord of the universe (visva means "universe,"
and isa means "lord" or "controller"). The universal
affairs are going on so nicely, with the sun rising just on time, the seasons
changing, and the seasonal fruits and flowers making their appearance. Thus
there is no mismanagement. But how are these things going on so nicely if there
is no controller? If we see any establishment going on very well, we immediately
understand that the manager, director, or controller of the institution is
expert. Similarly, if we see the universal affairs going on nicely, we must
know that behind them is a good controller. And who is that controller? That
controller is Krsna, as stated in Bhagavad-gita (mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate
sa-caracaram). Therefore Kunti addresses Him as visvesa, the controller of the
universe. People are interested only in pictures of Krsna embracing Radharani
that depict the dealings of Radha and Krsna to be like those of ordinary boys
and girls. They don't understand Krsna. Such obnoxious pictures should be
avoided. Krsna is the supreme controller. Let there be a picture showing how
Krsna is controlling the whole universe. That kind of picture is wanted, not
these cheap pictures.
Unless the
living force is present within the body, the body cannot move or work nicely,
and similarly within the universe, the cosmic manifestation, Krsna is present
as the living force--Ksirodakasayi Visnu, or Paramatma. Therefore Kunti
addresses Krsna as visvatma, the soul of the universe. Rascals do not know how
this world is moving and how this universe is acting, and therefore they should
learn from Srimad-Bhagavatam.
Kuntidevi also
addresses Krsna as visva-murti, the personality of the form of the universe.
When Arjuna wanted to see Krsna's universal form, Krsna immediately manifested
it. This is another of Krsna's opulences (vibhuti). The original form of the
Lord, however, is Krsna with two hands, playing on the flute. Because Arjuna
was a devotee and wanted to see the universal form, Krsna showed it to him, but
that was not His actual form. A person may dress himself as a king, but his
real, natural appearance is shown at home. Similarly, Krsna's real form is seen
at home in Vrndavana, and all other forms are expansions of His plenary
portions. As stated in the Brahma-samhita, advaitam acyutam anadim
ananta-rupam: He can expand Himself in millions and millions of forms
(ananta-rupam), but He is one (advaita), and He is infallible (acyuta). His
real form, however, is the dvi-bhuja murali-dhara--the form with two hands
holding a flute. Therefore Kuntidevi says, "You have Your universal form,
but the form in which You are standing before me is Your real form."
Kuntidevi prays,
"Please sever my tie of affection for my kinsmen." We are thinking,
"This is my own, that is my own," but this is moha, illusion (janasya
moho 'yam aham mameti). How does this illusion come into existence? It begins
with the natural attraction between man and woman. A male seeks a female, and a
female seeks a male. This is true not only in human society, but also in bird
society, beast society, and so on. This is the beginning of material
attachment. When a man finds a woman and they unite, this attachment becomes
even more firmly established (tayor mitho hrdaya-granthim ahuh). Now, after the
attachment increases to some degree, the man and woman look for an apartment in
which to live together, and then, of course, the man needs to earn money. When
they are well settled, they must have children and also some friends to come
and praise them: "Oh, you have such a nice apartment and such nice
children." In this way one's attachment increases.
A student's
education, therefore, should begin with brahmacarya, which means freedom from
sexual attachment. If he can, he should try to avoid all this nonsense. If not,
he can marry and then after some time enter vanaprastha, retired life. At that
time one thinks, "Now that I have enjoyed this attachment so much, let me
leave home." Then the man travels all over to various places of pilgrimage
to become detached, and the wife goes with him as an assistant. After two or
three months he again comes home to see that his children are doing nicely and
then again goes away. This is the beginning of detachment. When the detachment
is complete, the man tells his wife, "Now go live with your children, and
I shall take sannyasa, the renounced order of life." This is final
detachment. The whole Vedic way of life is meant for detachment, and therefore
Kunti prays, "Kindly help detach me from this family attraction."
This is Kuntidevi's instruction.
Chapter Twenty-five
Unalloyed Devotion
tvayi me 'nanya-visaya
matir madhu-pate 'sakrt
ratim udvahatad addha
gangevaugham udanvati
O Lord of Madhu,
as the Ganges forever flows to the sea without hindrance, let my attraction be
constantly drawn unto You, without being divided to anyone else.
Perfection of
pure devotional service is attained when all attention is diverted toward the
transcendental loving service of the Lord. To cut off the tie of all other
affections does not mean complete negation of the hner elements, like affection
for someone else. This is not possible. A living being, whoever he may be, must
have this feeling of affection for others because this is a symptom of life.
The symptoms of life, such as desire, anger, hankerings, and feelings of
attraction, cannot be annihilated. Only the objective has to be changed. Desire
cannot be negated, but in devotional service the desire is changed only for the
service of the Lord in place of desire for sense gratification. The so-called
affection for family, society, country, etc., consists of different phases of
sense gratification. When this desire is changed for the satisfaction of the
Lord, it is called devotional service.
In the
Bhagavad-gita we can see that Arjuna desired not to fight with his brothers and
relations just to satisfy his own personal desires. But when he heard the
message of the Lord, Srimad Bhagavad-gita, he changed his decision and served
the Lord. And for his doing so, he became a famous devotee of the Lord, for it
is declared in all the scriptures that Arjuna attained spiritual perfection by
devotional service to the Lord in friendship. The fighting was there, the
friendship was there, Arjuna was there, and Krsna was there, but Arjuna became
a different person by devotional service. Therefore, the prayers of Kunti also
indicate the same categorical changes in activities. Srimati Kunti wanted to
serve the Lord without diversion, and that was her prayer. This unalloyed
devotion is the ultimate goal of life. Our attention is usually diverted to the
service of something which is nongodly or not in the program of the Lord. When
the program is changed into the service of the Lord, that is to say when the
senses are purified in relation with the service of the Lord, it is called
pure, unalloyed devotional service. Srimati Kuntidevi wanted that perfection
and prayed for it from the Lord.
Her affection
for the Pandavas and the Vrsnis is not out of the range of devotional service,
because the service of the Lord and the service of the devotees are identical.
Sometimes service to the devotee is more valuable than service to the Lord. But
here the affection of Kuntidevi for the Pandavas and the Vrsnis was due to
family relation. This tie of affection in terms of material relation is the
relation of maya, because the relations of the body or the mind are due to the
influence of the external energy. Relations of the soul, established in
relation with the Supreme Soul, are factual relations. When Kuntidevi wanted to
cut off the family relation, she meant to cut offthe relation of the skin. The
skin relation is the cause of material bondage, but the relation of the soul is
the cause of freedom. This relation of the soul to the soul can be established
by the via medium of the relation with the Supersoul. Seeing in the darkness is
not seeing. But seeing by the light of the sun means seeing the sun and
everything else which was unseen in the darkness. That is the way of devotional
service.
In the previous
verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam Queen Kunti prayed that the Lord kindly cut off her
attraction for her kinsmen, the Pandava and Vrsni families. However, giving up
one's attraction for material things is not sufficient. The Mayavadi
philosophers say, brahma satam jagan mithya: "This world is false, and
Brahman [spirit] is truth." We admit this, but qualify it. As living
entities, we want enjoyment. Enjoyment means variety. It is not possible to
enjoy anything without variety. Why has God created so many colors and so many
forms? In order to create enjoyment out of variety, for variety is the mother
of enjoyment.
Mayavadi
philosophers, impersonalists, want to negate this variety, but what is the
result? Because they do not engage in devotional service, they simply undertake
the hard labor of austerities and penances without achieving any permanent
result. This is explained by a prayer in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.2.32):
ye 'nye 'ravindaksa vimukta-maninas
tvayy asta-bhavad avisuddha-buddhayah
aruhya krcchrena param padam tatah
patant adho 'nadrta-yusmad-anghrayah
"O
lotus-eyed Lord, those who think they are liberated in this life but do not
render devotional service to You must be of impure intelligence. Although they
accept severe austerities and penances and rise to the spiritual position, to
impersonal Brahman realization, they fall down again because they neglect to
worship Your lotus feet."
The human form
of life is meant for reestablishing our relationship with God and acting
according to that relationship. Even in ordinary dealings, one businessman who
intends to do business with another must first establish some relationship with
him, and then transactions can take place. Similarly, a husband and wife
establish a relationship by marriage, and then they live together. In a similar
way, human life is meant for reestablishing our relationship with God. The
material world means forgetfulness of this relationship. There is no Krsna
consciousness in this material world, for as soon as there is Krsna
consciousness, as soon as there is action on the basis of Krsna, it is no
longer the material world but the spiritual world.
As a woman,
Kuntidevi had a relationship with two families. That was her attachment.
Therefore she prayed to Krsna to cut off these relationships and free her. But
after becoming free, what should she do? That is the question. One may be
employed in some business and, feeling inconvenience, resign. That resignation
may be all right, but if by resigning one becomes unemployed and has no
engagement, then what is the value of resigning?
Those who are
frustrated and confused want to negate this material world. They know what they
don't want, but they do not know what they do want. People are always saying,
"I don t want this." But what do they want? That they do not know.
What one should
actually want is explained by Kuntidevi. She says, "Let my family
relationships cease, but let my relationship with You be confirmed." In
other words, she does not want to be attracted to anything but Krsna. This is
perfection, and this is actually wanted.
The word
ananya-visaya means ananya-bhakti, undeviating devotional service. We must
simply be attached to Krsna twenty-four hours a day without deviation. In this
way our renunciation can be perfect. If we think we can be attached to Krsna
and material things at the same time, we are mistaken. We cannot ignite a fire
and at the same time pour water on it. If we do, the fire will not act.
The Mayavadi
sannyasis renounce this world (brahma satam jagan mithya). It is very good to
preach renunciation of the world, but side by side we must have attraction for
something, otherwise our renunciation will not remain. We see many Mayavadi
sannyasis who say brahma satamjagan mithya, but after they take sannyasa they
return to the material world to open hospitals and do philanthropic work. Why?
If they have left this world, considering it mithya, false, why do they return
to take up politics, philanthropy, and sociology? Actually this is bound to
happen, for we are living entities and are active. If out of frustration we try
to become inactive, we shall fail in our attempt. We must engage in activities.
The supreme
activity, the Brahman (spiritual) activity, is devotional service.
Unfortunately the Mayavadis do not know this. They think that the spiritual
world is void. However, the spiritual world is exactly like the material world
in that it has varieties. In the spiritual world there are also houses, trees,
roads, chariots--everything is there, but without the material inebrieties. As
described in Brahma-samhita (5.29):
cintamani-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vrksa-
laksavrtesu surabhir
abhtpalayantam
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 desires, in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by
millions of purpose trees, and always served with great reverence and affection
by hundreds of thousands of goddesses of fortune, or gopis."
In the spiritual
world there are kalpa-vrksa trees, which yield whatever type of fruit we
desire. In the material world a mango tree cannot supply grapes, nor can a
grapevine supply mangoes. In the spiritual world, however, if we take a mango
from a tree and at the same time desire grapes, the tree will supply them. This
is called a "desire tree." These are some of the actualities of the
spiritual world.
In this material
world we require sunlight and moonlight, but in the spiritual world there is no
need of sunlight and moonlight because everything and everyone is effulgent. In
krsna-lila, Krsna stole butter, and the neighborhood friends of mother Yasoda
complained. Actually they were not complaining, but were just enjoying the
bodily features and the fun of Krsna. They told mother Yasoda, "Your son
comes to our house and steals butter. We try to conceal it in the dark so that
He cannot see it, but somehow He still finds it out. You had better take away
all His ornaments because we think that the light of His jewels helps Him find
the butterpot." Mother Yasoda replied, "Yes, I will take off all His
ornaments." But the neighbors would reply, "No, no. It is useless.
Somehow this boy has an effulgence that comes out of Himself. He can find the
butter even without the ornaments." Thus the transcendental body is
effulgent.
It is because of
the effulgence of Krsna's transcendental body that there is light. Whatever
light we see is simply borrowed light from Krsna's effulgence. As stated in the
Brahma-samhita (5.40):
yasya
prabha prabhavato jagadanda-koti-
kotisv asesa-vasudhadi-vibhuti-bhinnam
tad brahma niskalam anantam asesa-bhutam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
"In the
millions and millions of universes there are innumerable planets, and each of
them is different from the others by its cosmic constitution. All of these
planets are situated within the spiritual effulgence called the brahmajyoti.
This brahmajyoti is the bodily effulgence of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, whom I worship."
The bodily
effulgence of Krsna generates millions of universes. In this solar system the
sun produces many planets, and because of sunshine the planets are warm and the
seasons change. Because of the sun there are trees, green foliage, fruits, and
flowers. Similarly, whatever we see in creation is all due to Krsna's bodily
effulgence.
The Mayavadis
simply see the effulgence, which is impersonal. They cannot see anything more.
We may see an airplane rise in the sky, but after a while it passes out of our
sight due to the dazzling sunshine. The airplane is there, but we cannot see
it. Similarly, if we simply try to see the effulgent brahmajyoti, we are unable
to see within it. One of the mantras in the Isopanisad therefore petitions the
Lord to wind up His effulgence so that He can be seen properly.
The Mayavadi
philosophers cannot see the personal activities of Krsna nor the planet where
Krsna is personally active. The Bhagavatam says, aruhya krcchrena param padam
tatah patant adho 'nadrta-yusmad-anghrayah: because they do not see the lotus
feet of Krsna, they have to return to this material world, despite all their
serious penances and austerities. Thus renunciation in itself will not help us.
We may artificially renounce, but again we shall become so-called enjoyers.
Such renunciation and enjoyment is like a pendulum that goes this way and that.
On one side we become false renunciants, and on the other we become false
enjoyers. The remedy, however, is here. If we really want to become detached
from this material world, we must increase our attachment for Krsna
consciousness. Renunciation alone will not help us. Therefore Kuntidevi prays,
tvayi me 'nanya-visaya. She prays that her attraction be constantly drawn unto
Krsna without being diverted to anything else. This is bhakti, pure devotional
service, for as mentioned by Rupa Gosvami, devotional service should be
unalloyed (anyabhilasita-sunyam jnana-karmady-anavrtam).
In this material
world there are jnanis and karmis. The karmis are fools who unnecessarily work
very hard, and thejnanis are those who, when a little elevated, think,
"Why work so hard? So many things are not required. Why accumulate so much
money and food and so much false prestige?" The jnanithinks in this way.
The bhakta, however, is beyond the karmi and the jnani. The karmi has many
desires, and thejnanitries to get rid of all desires, but desirelessness can be
possible only when we desire to serve Krsna. Otherwise it is not possible to
get rid of desires. Jnana-karmady-anavrtam. As bhaktas, we should have no
desires for jnana and karma. We should be without attachment for material
things, but we must have attachment for Krsna. In this way our detachment will
be fixed.
We must
cultivate Krsna consciousness favorably (anukulyena krsna-nusilanam). This
means thinking of how Krsna will be satisfied. We must always think of Krsna,
just like the gopis. The Krsna consciousness of the gopis was perfect because
they had no desire other than to try to please Krsna. That is perfection.
Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommends, ramya kacid upasana
vraja-vadhu-vargena ya kalpita: there is no better process by which to worship
the Supreme Personality of Godhead than that method adopted by the gopis.
The gopis had no
desire other than to satisfy Krsna. All the gopis tried to satisfy Him,
including the elder gopis, Yasoda and her friends, and so also did the elderly
gopas like Nanda Maharaja and his friends. The boys and girls of Vrndavana who
were of the same age as Krsna also tried to satisfy Him. Everyone tried to
satisfy Krsna--even the cows, the flowers, the fruits, and the water of
Vrndavana. This is because everything in Vrndavana is spiritual; nothing is
material.
We should
understand the difference between spiritual and material. That which is
material has no living symptoms, and that which is spiritual has all living
symptoms. Both the trees in the spiritual world and those in the material world
are living entities, but in trees here the living symptoms are absent. A human
being is a living entity, and the devotees in the spiritual world are also
living entities, but in the human beings who are not Krsna conscious the real
symptoms of life are absent.
Actually there
is no other consciousness but Krsna consciousness. And that consciousness is
spiritual. Thus even while in this material world, if we simply increase our
Krsna consciousness we shall live in the spiritual world. If we live in the
temple, we live in the spiritual world because in the temple there is no
business other than Krsna consciousness. There are so many engagements carried
out for Krsna. Those who strictly follow the regulations of Krsna consciousness
actually live in the spiritual world, not the material world. We may think we
are living in New York, Los Angeles, or elsewhere, but we are actually living
in Vaikuntha.
It is a question
of consciousness. A bug may sit on the same seat with the spiritual master, but
because the spiritual master has developed consciousness and the bug does not,
they are different. They may be sitting in the same place, but the bug remains
a bug, and the spiritual master remains the spiritual master. The position in
space may remain the same, just as we remain in the material world or the
spiritual world, but if our Krsna consciousness is strong, we are not in the
material world.
Thus
renunciation by itself, the simple giving up of worldly things, is not
sufficient. Renunciation may be a helpful process, but it will not help
absolutely. When we increase our attachment for Krsna, our renunciation will be
perfect. As we increase attachment for Krsna, attachment for this material
world will automatically diminish. Attachment for Krsna and the material world
cannot go hand in hand. If a woman is attached to two men--her husband and her
paramour--she cannot maintain her attachment for both. Her attachment will
increase for her paramour. Although she may work at her husband's home very
nicely, her mind will be attached to her paramour, and she will think,
"When shall I meet him tonight?" In the same way, if we increase our
attachment for Krsna, detachment or renunciation of this material world will
automatically come (bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra ca, SB. 11.2.42).
Thus Kuntidevi
prays to Krsna that He may grant her His mercy by which she can become attached
to Him. We cannot increase our attachment for Krsna without Krsna's mercy. We
cannot become devotees without Krsna's mercy; therefore we simply have to serve
Krsna, for by service Krsna is satisfied.
Krsna does not
require anyone's service, for He is perfect in Himself. However, if we give Him
service wholeheartedly and sincerely, then, by His mercy, we shall make
advancement. Sevonmukhe hijihvadau svayam eva sphurat adah. God will reveal
Himself to us. We cannot see God with our blunt eyes. How then can we see Him?
Premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena/ santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti
(Brahma-samhita 5.38). We have to smear our eyes with the ointment of love;
then Krsna will reveal Himself. Krsna will actually come in front of us.
When Dhruva
Maharaja was undergoing penance and meditating upon the form of Visnu within
his heart, the Visnu form suddenly disappeared, and his meditation broke. Upon
opening his eyes, Dhruva Maharaja immediately saw Visnu before him. Like Dhruva
Maharaja, we should always think of Krsna, and when we attain perfection we
shall see Krsna before us. This is the process. We should not be too hasty. We
should wait for the mature time. Of course, it is good to be eager to see
Krsna, but we should not become discouraged if we do not see Him immediately.
If a woman gets married and wants a child immediately, she will be
disappointed. It is not possible to have a child immediately. She must wait.
Similarly, we cannot expect that just because we engage ourselves in Krsna
consciousness we can see Krsna immediately. But we must have faith that we will
see Him. We must have firm faith that because we are engaged in Krsna
consciousness we shall be able to see Krsna face to face. We should not be
disappointed. We should simply go on with our Krsna conscious activities, and
the time will come when we will see Krsna, just as Kuntidevi sees Him face to
face. There is no doubt about this.
In the
Bhagavad-gita it is stated that even if one is sometimes found to be somewhat
misbehaved, he is to be considered saintly if he engages steadily in the
service of Krsna. Sometimes American or European devotees may be criticized
because they make mistakes and fall short of the system for worshiping the
Deity as practiced in India, but still, according to Bhagavad-gita, they must
be considered saintly. We must fix our minds upon serving Krsna sincerely and
seriously, and then, even if there is some mistake, Krsna will excuse it. Rupa
Gosvami says, tasmat kenapy upayena manah krsne nivesayet: we should first fix
our minds upon Krsna, and then the ability to follow the other rules and
regulations will automatically follow. In the beginning we should try our best
to fix our minds upon the lotus feet of Krsna, and then everything else will
automatically become correct.
Kuntidevi
addresses Krsna as Madhupati. Krsna has thousands of names, and the name
Madhupati indicates that He killed the demon Madhu. Krsna consciousness is
likened to a river, but not an ordinary river. It is like the River Ganges,
which is very pure and directly connected to Krsna. Kuntidevi prays that just
as the River Ganges flows toward the sea, her attraction will flow incessantly
toward Krsna's lotus feet. This is called ananya-bhakti, unalloyed devotion.
Thus Kuntidevi prays that her attraction for Krsna will flow without hindrance.
Chapter Twenty-six
Enchantment by Krsna's Glories
sri-krsna krsna-sakha vrsny-rsabhavani-dhrug-
rajanya-vamsa-dahananapa varga-virya
govinda go-dvija-surarti-ha ravatara
yogesvarakhila-guro bhagavan namas te
O Krsna, O
friend of Arjuna, O chief among the descendants of Vrsni, You are the destroyer
of those political parties which are disturbing elements on this earth. Your
prowess never deteriorates. You are the proprietor of the transcendental abode,
and You descend to relieve the distresses of the cows, the brahmanas, and the
devotees, You possess all mystic powers, and You are the preceptor of the
entire universe. You are the almighty God, and I offer You my respectful
obeisances.
A summary of the
Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna, is made herein by Srimati Kuntidevi. The almighty Lord
has His eternal, transcendental abode, where He is engaged in keeping surabhi
cows. He is served by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune. He
descends on the material world to reclaim His devotees and to annihilate the
disturbing elements in groups of political parties and kings who are supposed
to be in charge of administration work. He creates, maintains, and annihilates
by His unlimited energies, and still He is always full with prowess and does
not deteriorate in potency. The cows, the brahmanas, and the devotees of the
Lord are all objects of His special attention because they are very important
factors for the general welfare of living beings.
Kunti addresses
Lord Krsna as krsna-sakha because she knows that although Arjuna, who is also
known as Krsna, is her son and therefore subordinate to her, Lord Krsna is more
intimately related with Arjuna than with her. Krsna is also a name of Draupadi,
and so the word krsna-sakha also indicates Lord Krsna's relationship with
Draupadi, whom He saved from being insulted when Duryodhana and Karna attempted
to strip her naked. Kunti also addresses Lord Krsna as vrsni-rsabha, the child
of the dynasty of Vrsni. It was because Krsna appeared in the Vrsni dynasty
that this dynasty became famous, just as Malaysia and the Malaya Hills became
famous because of the sandalwood that grows there.
Kuntidevi also
addresses Lord Krsna as the destroyer of the political parties or royal
dynasties that disturb the earth. In every monarchy, the king is honored very
gorgeously. Why? Since he is a human being and the other citizens are also
human beings, why is the king so honored? The answer is that the king, like the
spiritual master, is meant to be the representative of God. In the Vedic
literature it is said, acaryam mam vijaniyan navamanyeta karhicit (SB.
11.17.27): the spiritual master should not be regarded as an ordinary human
being. Similarly, a king or president is also not treated like an ordinary
human being.
In the Sanskrit
language the king is also called naradeva, which means "God in human
form." His duty is like that of Krsna. As God is the supreme living being
in the universe and is the maintainer of all other living beings, the king is
the supreme citizen in the state and is responsible for the welfare of all
others.
Just as we are
all living beings, Krsna, God, is also a living being. Krsna is not impersonal.
Because we are all individual persons but our knowledge and opulence are
limited, the impersonalists cannot adjust to the idea that the Supreme, the
original, unlimited cause of everything, can also be a person. Because we are
limited and God is unlimited, the Mayavadis, or impersonalists, with their poor
fund of knowledge, think that God must be impersonal. Making a material
comparison, they say that just as the sky, which we think of as unlimited, is
impersonal, if God is unlimited He must also be impersonal.
But that is not
the Vedic instruction. The Vedas instruct that God is a person. Krsna is a
person, and we are also persons, but the difference is that He is to be
worshiped whereas we are to be worshipers. The king or president is a person,
and the citizens are also persons, but the difference is that the president or
king is an exalted person who should be offered all respect.
Now, why should
so many persons worship one person? Because that one person provides for the
others. Eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman. God is one, and we are many, but He is
worshiped because He provides for everyone. It is God who provides food and all
the other necessities of life. We need water, and God has nicely arranged for
oceans of water, with salt mixed in to preserve it all nicely. Then, because we
need drinking water, by God's arrangement the sunshine evaporates the water
from the ocean, takes it high in the sky, and then distributes clear, distilled
water. Just see how God is providing everything that everyone needs.
Even in ordinary
life the state has a heating department, lighting department, plumbing
department, and so on. Why? Because these are amenities we require. But these
arrangements are subordinate; the first arrangement is that of God. It is God
who originally supplies heat, light, and water. It is God who supplies the
rainwater that fills our wells and reservoirs. Therefore the original supplier
is God.
God is an
intelligent person who knows that we need heat, light, water, and so on.
Without water we cannot produce food. Even those who eat animals cannot do so
without God's arrangement, for the animal also must be provided with grass
before one can take it to the slaughterhouse. Thus it is God who is supplying
food, but still we are creating rebellion against Him. The word dhruk means
"rebellious." Those rascals who are going against the law of God are
rebellious.
The king's duty
is to act as the representative of Krsna, or God. Otherwise what right does he
have to take so much honor from the citizens? Monarchy was formerly present in
every country, but because the kings rebelled against God and violated His
laws, because they tried to usurp the power of God and did not act as His
representatives, the monarchies of the world have nearly all disappeared. The
kings thought that their kingdoms were their personal property. "I have so
much property, such a big kingdom," they thought. "I am God. I am the
lord of all I survey." But that is not actually the fact. That fact is
that everything belongs to God (isavasyam idam sarvam). Therefore the
representative of God must be very obedient to God, and then his position will
be legitimate.
Greedy,
self-interested kings are like false spiritual masters who proclaim that they
themselves are God. Because such false masters are rebellious, they have no
position. A spiritual master is supposed to act not as God but as the most
confidential servant of God by spreading God consciousness, Krsna
consciousness. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says, saksad-dharitvena
samasta-sastrair uktah: all the sastras, the Vedic literatures, state that the
spiritual master is to be honored as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus
the idea that the spiritual master is as good as God is not bogus. It is stated
in the sastras, and therefore those who are advanced in spiritual life accept this
spiritual injunction (uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih). Then is the spiritual
master as good as God? Kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya: the spiritual master
is not God, but is the confidential representative of God. The distinction is
that between sevya-bhagavan (he who is worshiped) and sevaka-bhagavan (he who
is the worshiper). The spiritual master is God, and Krsna is God, but Krsna is
the worshipable God whereas the spiritual master is the worshiper God.
The Mayavadis
cannot understand this. They think, "Because the spiritual master has to
be accepted as God and because I have become a spiritual master, I have become
God." This is rebellious. Those who are given a position by God but who
want to usurp His power, which they actually cannot do, are rebellious fools
and rascals who require punishment. Therefore Kuntidevi says, a
vani-dhrug-rajanya-vamsa-dahana: "You descend to kill all these rascals
who rebelliously claim Your position." When various kings or landholders
are subordinate to an emperor, they sometimes rebel and refuse to pay taxes.
Similarly, there are rebellious persons who deny the supremacy of God and
declare themselves God, and Krsna's business is to kill them.
The word
anapavarga indicates that Krsna's prowess is without deterioration. This word
is the opposite of the word pavarga, which refers to the path of material
tribulation. According to Sanskrit linguistics, the word pa-varga also refers
to the Sanskrit letters pa, pha, ba, bha, and ma. Thus when the word pavarga is
used to refer to the path of material tribulation, its meaning is understood
through words beginning with these five letters.
The letter pa is
for parisrama, which means "labor." In this material world, one must
work very hard to maintain oneself. In Bhagavad-gita (3.8) it is said,
sarira-yatrapi ca te na prasiddhyed akarmanah: "one cannot even maintain
one's own body without work." Krsna never advised Arjuna, "I am your
friend, and I shall do everything. You just sit down and smoke ganja."
Krsna was doing everything, but still He told Arjuna, "You must
fight." Nor did Arjuna say to Krsna, "You are my great friend. Better
for You to fight and let me sit down and smoke ganja." No, that is not
Krsna consciousness. A God conscious person does not say, "God, You please
do everything for me and let me smoke ganja." Rather, a God conscious
person must work for God. But even if one does not work for the sake of God,
one must work, for without work one cannot even maintain one's body. This
material world, therefore, is meant for parisrama, hard labor.
Even a lion,
although king of the beasts, must still look for its own prey in the jungle. It
is said, na hi suptasya simhasya pravisanti mukhe mrgah. A lion cannot think,
"Since I am king of the forest, let me sleep, and all the animals will
come into my mouth." That is not possible. "No, sir. Although you are
a lion, you must go search for your food." Thus even the lion, although so
powerful, must endeavor with great difficulty to find another animal to eat,
and similarly everyone in this material world must work with great difficulty
to continue his life.
Thus pa
indicates parisrama, labor, and pha is for phenila, which means
"foam." While working very hard a horse foams at the mouth, and
similarly human beings must also work hard in this way. Such hard labor,
however, is vyartha, futile, and this is what is indicated by the letter ba.
And bha indicates bhaya, fear. Despite working so hard, one is always somewhat
fearful that things will not be done as he desires. The nature of the body is
that it involves eating, sleeping, mating, and fearing
(ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithunam ca). Although one may eat very nicely, one must
consider whether one is overeating, so that he will not fall sick. Thus even
eating involves fear. A bird, while eating, looks this way and that way,
fearful that some enemy may be coming. And for all living entities, everything
finally ends in death, mrtu, and this is what is indicated by the letter ma.
Thus pavarga and
its component letters pa, pha, ba, bha, and ma indicate hard labor (parisrama),
foam at the mouth (phenila), frustration (vyartha), fear (bhaya), and death
(mrtu). This is called pavarga, the path of material tribulation. Apavarga,
however, indicates just the opposite--the spiritual world, where there is no
labor, no foam, no frustration, no fear, and no death. Thus Krsna is known as
anapavarga-virya, for He shows the path to the spiritual world.
Why should one
suffer from these five kinds of tribulation? Because one has a material body.
As soon as one accepts a material body--whether it is that of a president or a
common man, a demigod or a human being, an insect or a Brahma--one must go
through these tribulations. This is called material existence. Krsna comes,
therefore, to show one the path to apavarga, freedom from these tribulations,
and when Krsna shows this path, we should accept it. Krsna says very clearly,
"Surrender unto Me. I shall give you apavarga." Aham tvam
sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami: "I shall give you protection." And Krsna
has the power with which to fulfill this guarantee.
Kuntidevi
addresses Krsna as Govinda because He is the giver of pleasure both to the cows
and to the senses. Govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami. Govinda, Krsna, is
the adi-purusa, the original person. Aham adir hi devanam (Bg. 10.2): He is the
origin even of demigods like Brahma, Visnu, and Siva. People should not think
that Brahma, Visnu, and Siva are the origin of everything. No. Krsna says, aham
adir hi devanam: "I am the origin even of these demigods." Therefore
we repeatedly emphasize that we worship no one but the original person
(govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami).
When Kunti
prays, go-dvija-surarti-haravatara, she indicates that Govinda, Krsna, descends
to this world especially to protect the cows, the brahmanas, and the devotees.
The demoniac in this world are the greatest enemies of the cows, for they
maintain hundreds and thousands of slaughterhouses. Although the innocent cows
give milk, the most important food, and although even after death the cows give
their skin for shoes, people are such rascals that they kill the cows, but
still they want to be happy in this world. How sinful they are.
Why is cow
protection so much advocated? Because the cow is the most important animal.
There is no injunction that one should not eat the flesh of tigers or other
such animals. In the Vedic culture those who are meat-eaters are recommended to
eat the flesh of goats, dogs, hogs, or other lower animals, but never the flesh
of cows, the most important animals. While living, the cows give important
service by giving milk, and even after death they give service by making
available their skin, hooves, and horns, which may be used in many ways.
Nonetheless, the present human society is so ungrateful that they needlessly
kill these innocent cows. Therefore Krsna comes to punish them.
Krsna is
worshiped with this prayer:
namo brahmanya-devaya
go-brahmana-hitaya ca
jagad-dhitaya krsnaya
govindaya namo namah
"My Lord,
You are the well-wisher of the cows and the brahmanas, and You are the
well-wisher of the entire human society and world." For perfect human
society there must be protection of go-dvija--the cows and the brahmanas. The
word dvija refers to the brahmana, or one who knows Brahman (God). When the
demoniac give too much trouble to the brahmanas and the cows, Krsna descends to
reestablish religious principles. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (4.7):
yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham
"Whenever and wherever there is a
decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise
of irreligion--at that time I descend Myself." In the present age,
Kali-yuga, people are very much sinful and are consequently suffering greatly.
Therefore Krsna has incarnated in the form of His name, as found in the
maha-mantra: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare
Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
Queen Kunti
prayed to the Lord just to enunciate a fragment of His glories. The Lord, upon
hearing her prayers, which were composed in choice words for His glorification,
responded by smiling, and His smile was as enchanting as His mystic power. The
conditioned souls, who are engaged in trying to lord it over the material world,
are also enchanted by the Lord's mystic powers, but His devotees are enchanted
in a different way by the glories of the Lord. Thus all the devotees worship
the Lord by chosen words. No amount of chosen words are sufficient to enumerate
the Lord's glory, yet He is satisfied by such prayers, just as a father is
satisfied even by the broken linguistic attempts of a growing child. Thus the
Lord smiled and accepted the prayers of Queen Kunti.
(c) 1991 by Bhaktivedanta Book Trust