{"KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0001": "•\n\n•\n\n•\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n·\nA.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0002": "$8.00\n\nU.S.A.\n\n£3\n\nU.K.\n\nThe most comprehensi,·e and authoritascriptural\n\nVedic\n\ntive\n\nliterature\n\nis\n\nthe\n\nSnmad-Bhiiguvatam (..The Beautiful Story\nof\n\nthe Personality of Godhead\"), the\n\nmature contribution of Srila Vyasadeva,\n\n·\n\nthe compiler of the Vedas. Of the twelve\n\ncantos of Snmad-Bhiigavatam, the tenth\ncanto is considered the most confidential,\n\nsince it describes all the transcendental\n\npastimes of Sri �!Ia, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. K�CUJ is a su_mmary\nstudy\n\nthe tenth\n\nof\n\nBhiigavatam.\n\ncanto of Snmad·\n\nThe activities of K�!la, which appear to\n\nbe like those of an ordinary human being,\n\ncan only be properly understood with the\nhelp of a bona fide spiritual master fully\nrealized in the knowledge of this transcendental nature. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami\nPrabhupada is authorized by an unbreakable disciplic succession of spiritual masters going back thousands of years to the\ntime when �!Ia appeared. Because he is\nthe representati,·e of the disciplic suc­\n\ncession for this age and because of his\ncomplete immersion in low of KH!Ia\n\nPrabhupada is uniquely qualified to present Kg!la as He is.\n�ukade,·a Gos\\·ami, the original speaker\n\nof Srimad-Bhiigavatam, has declared that\n\nthere are three cla�;;es of men and that the\npastimes of �!Ia \"ill be relished by each\n\nof them. The liberated soul who is no\n\nlonger interested in mundane topics most\ncertainly hears about �!Ia with the high·\n\nest pleasure. The person who is trying to\n\nbecome\n\nliberated \"ill also enjo�· these\n\ntopics of the\n\nPersonality of Godhead,\n\nwhich purify an�·one who hear.; them.\nAnd even the gro& materialist will enjoy\n\nhearing about �!Ia because of the resemblance between His affairs with the g opi5\n\nand the lming affair.; of ordinary boys and\ngirls.\nFarseeing the publication of this book,\nwith its fifty-eight full-color illustrations,\nPrabhupada commented, \"�o other reli­\n\ngion has such a full concept of God. I\n\nthink our K�CUJ book will convince them.\n\nWhoe,·er reads it will become a devotee\n\nofK��-··\n\nWith Introductory note by George Harrison\n\nNot for sale in India\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0003": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0004": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0005": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0006": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0007": "KRSNA\n•\n\n•\n\n•\n\nThe Suprem{} Personality of Godhead\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0008": "OTHER BOOKS by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami\nThe Bhagavad-gitii As It Is\nSrimad-Bhiigavatam (12 volumes)\nTeachings of Lord Caitanya\nThe Nectar of Devotion\nSri Isopan4ad\nEasy Journey to Other Planets\nK[§!l.a Consciousness: The Topmost Yoga System\nThe First Step in God Realization\nBack to Godhead Magazine (Editor)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0009": "•\n\n•\n\n•\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead\nA Summary Study of SrTia Vyasadeva's S rimad-Bhiigavatam, Tenth Canto.\n\nVOLUME ONE\n\nHis Divine Grace\nA. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada\nFounder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness\n\nISKCON PRESS\n38 North Beacon Street\nBoston, Massachusetts 02134\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0010": "Copyright© 1970 A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami\nLibrary of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 74-118081\nALL RIGHTS RESERVED\nPrinted by Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. in Japan\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0011": "To My Father, Gour Mohon De (1849-1930)\na pure devotee of Kr��a, who raised me as a\nKr��a conscious child from the beginning of\nmy life. In my boyhood ages he instructed me\nhow to play the mrdanga. He gave me RadhaKr��a Vigraha to worship, and he gave me\nJagannatha-Ratha to duly observe the festival\nas my childhood play. He was kind to me, and\nI imbibed from him the ideas later on solidified\nby my spiritual master, the eternal father.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0012": "Contents\n\nIntroductory Note by George Harrison\nPreface\n\nvm\n\nx1\n\nIntroduction\n\nxvu\n\n1 I Advent of Lord Kr�!la\n\n1\n\n2 I Prayers by the Demigods for Lord KH!la in the Womb\n3 I Birth of Lord KH!la\n\n23\n\n4 I Karhsa Begins His Persecutions\n\n32\n\n5 I Meeting o f Nanda and Vasudeva\n6 I Putana Killed\n\n37\n\n43\n\n7 I Salvation of Tr!lavarta\n\n50\n\n8 I Vision of the Universal Form\n\n56\n\n9 I Mother Yasoda Binding Lord Kf�!la\n\n64\n\n10 I Deliverance of Nalakuvara and Mal)igr'iva\n\n67\n\n11 I Killing the Demons Vatsasura and Bakasura\n12 I The Killing of the Aghasura Demon\n\n73\n\n80\n\n13 I The Stealing of the Boys and Calves by Brahma\n\n86\n\n14 I Prayers Offered by Lord Brahma to Lord KH!la\n\n96\n\n15 I Killing of Dhenukasura\n16 I Subduing Kaliya\n\n113\n\n119\n\n17 I Extinguishing the Forest Fire\n\n128\n\n18 I Killing the Demon Pralambasura\n19 I Devouring the Forest Fire\n20 I Description of Autumn\n\n131\n\n134\n\n136\n\n21 I The Gopls Attracted by the Flute\n\n147\n\n9\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0013": "22 I Stealing the Garments of the Unmarried Gopi Girls 152\n23 I Delivering the Wives of the Brahma!las who Performed Sacrifices24 I Worshiping Govardhana Hill 166\n25 I Devastating Rainfall in Vrndavana 17 3\n26 I Wonderful Kr�!la 177\n27 I Prayers by Indra, the King of Heaven 180\n28 I Releasing Nanda Maharaja from The Clutches of Varu!J.a 184\n29 I The Rasa Dance: Introduction 188\n30 I KH!J.a's Hiding from the Gopis 203\n31 I Songs by the Gopis 208\n32 I Description of the Rasa Dance 214\n33 I Vidyadhara Liberated and the Demon Sankhasura Killed\n34 I The Gopis' Feelings of Separation 231\n35 I Kamsa Sends Akrura for Kr�!la 236\n36 I Killing the Ke5i Demon and Vyomasura 240\n37 I Akrura's Arrival in Vrndavana 244\n\n157\n\n225\n\n38 I Akrura's Return Journey and His Visiting of Vi�!J.uloka\nWithin the Yamuna River 251\n39 I Prayers by Akrura 257\n40 I Kr�!la Enters Mathura 261\n41 I The Breaking of the Bow in the Sacrificial Arena 266\n42 I The Killing of the Elephant Kuvalayapi�a 271\n4 3 I The Killing of Kamsa 275\n44 I KH!J.a Recovers the Son of His Teacher 281\n45 I Uddhava Visits Vrndavana 290\n46 I Delivery of the Message of Kr�!la to the Gopis 297\n4 7 I KH!J.a Pleases His Devotees 314\n48 I Ill-motivated Dhrtara��ra 321\n49 I KH!J.a Erects the Dvaraka Fort 327\n50 I Deliverance of Mucukunda 337\n51 I KH!J.a, the Ranchor 347\n\n52 I KH!J.a Kidnaps Rukmi!J.i 355\n53 I Krsna Defeats All the Princes and Takes Rukmini Home to Dvaraka\n54 I Pradyumna Born to Kf�!la and Rukmi!J.i 371\n.\n\n. .\n\n.\n\nGlossary\n377\nIndex 379\nNote on Pronunciation of Transliterated Sanskrit Words\n\n38 3\n\n362\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0014": "From App[e\n\nEverybody is looking for K:J;t��A.\nSome don't realize that they are, but they are.\nK:J;t��A is GOD, the Source of all that exists, the Cause of all that is,\nwas, or ever will be.\nAs GOD is unlimited, HE has many Names.\nAllah-Buddha-Jehova-Rama: All are K:J;t��A, all are ONE.\nGod is not abstract; He has both the impersonal and the personal\naspects to His personality which is SUPREME, ETERNAL, BLISSFUL,\nand full of KNOWLEDGE. As a single drop of water has the same qualities\nas an ocean of water, so has our consciousness the qualities of GOD'S\nconsciousness . . . but through our identification and attachment with\nmaterial energy (physical body, sense pleasures, material possessions, ego,\netc.) our true TRANSCENDENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS has been polluted,\nand like a dirty mirror it is unable to reflect a pure image.\nWith many lives our association with the TEMPORARY has grown.\nThis impermanent body, a bag of bones and flesh, is mistaken for our true\nself, and we have accepted this temporary condition to be final.\nThrough all ages, great SAINTS have remained as living proof that\nthis non-temporary, permanent state of GOD CONSCIOUSNESS can be\nrevived in all living Souls. Each soul is potentially divine.\nKr�!la says in Bhagavad Gita: \"Steady in the Self, being freed from all\nmaterial contamination, the yogi achieves the highest perfectional stage of\nhappiness in touch with the Supreme Consciousness.\" (VI, 28)\nYOGA (a scientific method for GOD (SELF) realization) is the process by which we purify our consciousness, stop further pollution, and\narrive at the state of Perfection, full KNOWLEDGE, full BLISS.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0015": "If there's a God, I want to see Him. It's pointless to believe in something without proof, and Kr��a Consciousness and meditation are methods\nwhere you can actually obtain GOD perception. You can actually see God,\nand hear Him, play with Him. It might sound crazy, but He is actually\nthere, actually with you.\nThere are many yogic Paths-Raja, Jnana, Hatha, Kriya, Karma, Bhakti\n-which are all acclaimed by the MASTERS of each method.\nSWAMI BHAKTIVEDANTA is as his title says, a BHAKTI Yogi\nfollowing the path of DEVOTION. By serving GOD through each thought,\nword, and DEED, and by chanting of HIS Holy Names, the devotee quickly\ndevelops God-consciousness. By chanting\nHare Kr��a, Hare Kr��a\nKrwa Kr��a, Hare Hare\nHare Rama, Hare Rama\nRama Rama, Hare Hare\none inevitably arrives at K���A Consciousness. (The proof of the pudding\nis in the eating! )\nI request that you take advantage of this book KF.$JYA, and enter\ninto its understanding. I also request that you make an appointment to\nmeet your God now, through the self liberating process of YOGA (UNION)\nand GIVE PEACE A CHANCE.\n\nALL L(ou.\n\n/J££b\n\n1s\n\nL cUE {K\".<>ISHAIA)\n\n1-!RKt Eot-\n\nCje-(Jt� � 3tj3j?o\n\nAprle Corps Ltd 3 Savile Row London WI Gerrard 1.771./3993 Telex Apcore London\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0016": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0017": "Preface\nnivrtta-tar�air upagiyamiiniid\nbhavau�adhiic chrotramano 'bhiriimiit\nka uttama-sloka-gUJ;tiinuviidiit\npumiin virajyeta vinii pasughniit\n(Srimad-Bhiigavatam 1 0.1.4)\n\nIn these Western countries, when someone sees the cover of a book like\nK[§!W, he immediately asks, \"Who is Kr�l)a? Who is the girl with Krwa?\"\netc.\nThe immediate answer is that Kf�l)a is the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead. How is that? Because He conforms in exact detail to descriptions\nof the Supreme Being, the Godhead. In other words, Kf�l)a is the Godhead\nbecause He is all-attractive. Outside the principle of all-attraction, there is\nno meaning to the word Godhead. How is it one can be all-attractive? First\nof all, if one is very wealthy, if he has great riches, he becomes attractive\nto the people in general. Similarly, if someone is very powerful, he also\nbecomes attractive, and if someone is very famous, he also becomes\nattractive, and if someone is very beautiful or wise or unattached to\nall kinds of possessions, he also becomes attractive . So from practical\nexperience we can observe that one is attractive due to 1) wealth,\n2) power, 3) fame , 4) beauty, 5) wisdom, and 6) renunciation. One who\nis in possession of all six of these opulences at the same time, who\npossesses them to an unlimited degree, is understood to be the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead. These opulences of the Godhead are delineated\nby Parasara Muni, a great Vedic authority.\nWe have seen many rich persons, many powerful persons, many famous\npersons, many beautiful persons, many learned and scholarly persons, and\npersons in the renounced order of life unattached to material possessions .\n\nXI\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0018": "XII\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nBut we have never seen any one person who is unlimitedly and simultaneously wealthy, powerful, famous, beautiful, wise and unattached, like\nKr��a, in the history of humanity. Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, is an historical person who appeared on this earth 5,000 years\nago. He stayed on this earth for 125 years and played exactly like a human\nbeing, but His activities were unparalleled. From the very moment of His\nappearance to the moment of His disappearance, every one of His activities\nis unparalleled in the history of the world, and therefore anyone who\nknows what we mean by Godhead will accept Kf�l)a as the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead. No one is equal to the Godhead, and no one is\ngreater than Him. That is the import of the familiar saying, \"God is great.\"\nThere are various classes of men in the world who speak of God in\ndifferent ways, but according to Vedic literatures and according to the\ngreat iiciiryas, the authorized persons versed in the knowledge of God, in\nall ages, like iiciiryas Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Vi�l)usvami, Lord\nCaitanya and all their followers by disciplic succession, all unanimously\nagree that Kr��a is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As far as we, the\nfollowers of Vedic civilization, are concerned, we accept the V edic history\nof the whole universe, which consists of different planetary systems\ncalled Svargalokas, or the higher planetary system, Martyalokas, or the\nintermediary planetary system, and Patalalokas, or the lower planetary\nsystem. The modern historians of this earth cannot supply historical\nevidences of events that occurred before 5,000 years ago, and the anthropologists say that 40,000 years ago Homo sapiens had not appeared on\nthis planet because evolution had not reached that point. But the Vedic\nhistories, the Puriir-as and Mahiibhiirata, relate human histories which extend millions and billions of years into the past.\nFor example, from these literatures we are given the histories of Kr�l)a's\nappearances and disappearances millions and billions of years ago. In the\nFourth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gitii Kf�l)a tells Arjuna that both He and\nArjuna had had many births before and that He (Kr��a) could remember\nall of them and that Arjuna could not. This illustrates the difference\nbetween the knowledge of Kr��a and that of Arjuna; Arjuna might have\nbeen a very great warrior, a well-cultured member of the Kuru dynasty,\nbut after all, he was an ordinary human being, whereas Kf�l)a, the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, is the possessor of unlimited knowledge. Because\nHe possesses unlimited knowledge, Kr��a has a memory that is boundless.\nKf�l)a's knowledge is so perfect that He remembers all the incidences of\nHis appearances some millions and billions of years in the past, but\nArjuna's memory and knowledge are limited by time and space, for he is\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0019": "Preface\n\nXIll\n\nan ordinary human being. In the Fourth Chapter Krwa states that He can\nremember instructing the lessons of the Bhagavad-gitii some millions of\nyears ago to the sun-god, Vivasvan.\nNowadays it is the fashion of the atheistic class of men to try to become\nGod by following some mystic process. Generally the atheists claim to be\nGod by dint of their imagination or their meditational prowess. Kr�l)-a is\nnot that kind of God. He does not become God by manufacturing some\nmystic process of meditation, nor does He become God by undergoing the\nsevere austerities of the mystic yogic exercises. Properly speaking, He\nnever becomes God because He is the Godhead in all circumstances.\nWithin the prison of His maternal uncle Kamsa, where His father and\nmother were confined, Kr�va appeared outside His mother's body as the\nfour-handed Vi�vu-Narayava. Then He turned Himself into a baby and\n-told His father to carry Him to the house of Nanda Maharaja and his wife\nYasoda. When Kr�t;Ia was just a small baby the gigantic demoness Piitana\nattempted to kill Him, but when He sucked her breast He pulled out her\nlife. That is the difference between the real Godhead and a God manufactured in the mystic factory. Kr��Hl had no chance to practice the mystic\nyoga process, yet He manifested Himself as the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead at every step, from infancy to childhood, from childhood to\nboyhood, and from boyhood to young manhood. In this book Kf§!W, all\nof His actiyities as a human being are described. Although Kr�va plays like\na human being, He always maintains His identity as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\nSince KH.r;ta is all-attractive, one should know that all his desires should\nbe focused on Kr�va. In the Bhagavad-gitii it is said that the individual person is the proprietor or master ofthe body, but KHt;Ia, who is the Supersoul\npresent in everyone's heart, is the supreme proprietor and supreme master\nof each and every individual body. As such, if we concentrate our loving\npropensities upon Kr�va only, then immediately universal love, unity and\ntranquility will be automatically realized. When one waters the root of a\ntree, he automatically waters the branches, twigs, leaves and flowers; when\none supplies food to the stomach through the mouth, he satisfies all the\nvarious parts of the body.\nThe art of focusing one's attention on the Supreme and giving one's love\nto Him is called Kr�va consciousness. We have inaugerated the Kr�t;Ia\nconsciousness movement so that everyone can satisfy his propensity for\nloving others simply by directing his love towards Kr��1a. The whole world\nis very much anxious to satisfy the dormant propensity of love for others,\nbut the inventions of various methods like socialism, communism, altruism�\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0020": "XIV\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nhumanitarianism, nationalism, and whatever else may be manufactured for\nthe peace and prosperity of the world, are all useless and frustrating\nbecause of our gross ignorance of the art of loving Kr£?�a. Generally people\nthink that by advancing the cause of moral principles and religious rites,\nthey will be happy. Others may think that happiness can be achieved by\neconomic development, and yet others think that simply by sense gratification they will be happy. But the real fact is that people can only be\nhappy by loving Kr��a.\nKr��a can perfectly reciprocate one's loving propensities in different\nrelationships called mellows or rasas. Basically there are twelve loving\nrelationships. One can love Kr��a as the supreme unknown, as the supreme\nmaster, the supreme friend, the supreme child, the supreme lover. These\nare the five basic love rasas. One can also love Kr��a indirectly in seven\ndifferent relationships, which are apparently different from the five primary relationships. All in all, however, if one simply reposes his dormant\nloving propensity in Krwa, then his life becomes successful.· This is not a\nfiction but is a fact that can be realized by ·practical application. One can\ndirectly perceive the effects that love for Kr£?�a has on his life. ·\nIn the Ninth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gitii this science of Kr£?�a consciousness is called the king of all knowledge, the king of all confidential\nthings, and the supreme science of transc�dental realization. Yet we can\ndirectly experience the results of this science of Kr£?�a consciousness\nbecause it is very easy to practice and is very pleasurable. Whatever\npercentage of Kr£?�a consciousness we can perform will become an eternal\nasset to our life, for it is imperishable in all circumstances. It has now been\nactually proved that today's confused and frustrated younger generation\nin the Western countries can directly perceive the results of chanelling the\nloving propensity toward Kr£?�a alone.\nIt is said that although one executes severe austerities, penances and\nsacrifices in his life, if he fails to awaken his dormant love for Kr£?�a, then\nall. his penances are to be considered useless. On the other hand, if one\nhas awakened his dormant love for Kr£?�a, then what is the use in executing\nausterities and penances unnecessarily?\nThe Kr£?�a consciousness movement is the unique gift of Lord Caitanya\nto the fallen souls of this age. It is a very simple method which has actually\nbeen carried out during the last four years in the Western countries, and\nthere is no doubt that this movement can satisfy the dormant loving\npropensities of humanity. This book Knra is another presentation to\nhefp the Kr��a consciousness movement in the Western world. This transcendental literature is published in two parts with profuse illustrations.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0021": "Preface\n\nXV\n\nPeople love to read various kinds of fiction to spend their time and\nenergy. N ow this tendency can be directed to Kr�!la. The result will\nbe the imperishable satisfaction of the soul, both individually and collectively.\nIt is said in the Bhagavad-gitii that even a little effort expended on the\npath of Kr�!la consciousness can save one from the greatest danger. Hundreds of thousands of examples can be cited of people who have escaped\nthe greatest dangers of life due to a slight advancement in Kr�!la consciousness. We therefore request everyone to take advantage of this great transcendental literature. One will find that by reading one page after another,\nan immense treasure of knowledge in art, science, literature, philosophy\nand religion will be revealed, and ultimately, by reading this one book,\nKr§fla, love of Godhead will fructify.\nMy grateful acknowledgement is due to S riman George Harrison, now\nchanting Hare Kr�pa, for his liberal contribution of $19,000 to meet the\nentire cost of printing this volume. M ay Krwa bestow upon this nice boy\nfurther advancement in Kr�pa consciousness .\nAnd at last ll!Y ever-willing blessings are bestowed upon S riman\nS yamasundaradasa Adhikari, S riman Brahmanandadasa Brahmacari, Sriman\nHayagrivadasa Adhikari, S riman Satsvariipadasa Adhikari, S rimati Devahiiti\nDevi, Srimatl Jadura!li Dasi, S riman Muralidharadasa Brahmacari, S riman\nBharadvajadasa Adhikari, and S riman Pradyumnadasa Adhikari, etc. , for\ntheir hard labor in different ways to make this publication a great success.\nHare Kr�!la·\n\nAdvent Day of Srila\nBhak tisiddhiinta Sarasvati\nFebruary 26th, 1970\nISKCON Headquarters\n3764 Watseka Avenue\nLos Angeles, California\n\n�·-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0022": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0023": "Introduction\n\nKrsna! Krsna! Krsna! Krsna! Krsna! Krsna! Krsna! he!\nKrsna! Krsna! Krsna! Krsna! Krsna! Krsna! Krsna! he!\nKrsna! Krsna! Krsna! Krsna! Krsna! Krsna! raksa miim!\nKrwa! Kr§rta ! Kr§rta! Kr§rta! Kr§rta! Kr§rta! piihi miim!\nRama! Riighava! Riima! Riighava! Riima! Riighava! rak§a miim!\nKrwa! Kesava! Kr§rta! Kesava! K[§IJa! Kesava! piihi miim!\nCaitanya-caritiimrta (Madhya 7. 96)\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n. . .\n\n.\n\nWhile attempting to write this hook, K[§fta, let me first offer my\nrespectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, Om Vi§J)Upada 108 S ri\nS rimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja Prahhupada. Then\nlet me offer my respectful obeisances to the ocean of mercy, Lord S ri\nKf§J)a Caitanya Mahaprahhu. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\nKf§J)a Himself, appearing in the role of a devotee just to distribute the\nhighest principles of devotional service. Lord Caitanya began His\npreaching from the country known as Gau9ade8a (West Bengal). And\nas I belong to the Madhva-Gau9iya-sampradaya, I must therefore offer\nmy respectful obeisances to our disciplic succession. This Madhva-Gau9iyasampradaya is also known as Brahma-sampradaya because the disciplic\nsuccession originally began from Brahma. Brahma instructed the sage\nNarada, Narada instructed Vyasadeva, and Vyasadeva instructed Madhva\nMuni or Madhvacarya. Madhavendra Purl, the originator of MadhvaGau9iya-sampradaya, belonged to the Madhvacarya disciplic succession ;\nhe had many renowned disciples both i n the sannyiisa (renounced) and\nhousehold orders of life, disciples such as Nityananda Prahhu, Advaita\nPrahhu and Isvara Purl. Isvara Purl happened to he the spiritual master of\nLord Caitanya Mahaprahhu. So let us offer our respectful obeisances to\nIsvara Purl, Nityananda Prabhu , S ri Advaita A carya Prabhu , S rivasa Pal)9it\n\nXVII\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0024": "XVlll\n\n\"Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nand Sri Gadadhara Pa�9it. Next, let us offer .our respectful obeisances to\nSvarupa-Damodara, who acted as the private secretary to Lord Caitanya\nMahaprabhu; and let us offer our respectful obeisances to Sri Vasudeva\nDatta and the constant attendant of Lord Caitanya, Sri Govinda, and the\nconstant friend of Lord Caitanya, Mukunda, and also to Murari Gupta.\nAn& let us offer our respectful obeisances- to the six Gosvamis of\nVrndavana, Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha\nBhatta Gosvami, Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami and Sri\nRaghunatha Dasa Gosvami.\n\"Kr��a Himself has explained in the Bhagavad-gitii that He is the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead. Whenever there are discrepancies in the regulative\nprinciples of man's religious life and a prominence of irreligious activities,\nHe appears on this earthly planet. In other words, when Lord Sri KH�a\nappeared, there was a necessity of minimizing the load of sinful activities\naccumulated on this planet, or in this universe. For affairs of the material\ncreation, Lord Maha-Vi��u, the plenary portion of Kr��a, is in charge.\nWhen the Lord descends, the incarnation emanates from Vi��u.\nMaha-Vi��u is the original cause of material creation, and from Him\nGarbhodakasayi-Vi��u expands, and then K�irodakasayi-Vi��u. Generally,\nall the incarnations appearing within this material universe are plenary\nexpansions from K�irodakasayi-Vi��u. Therefore, the business of minimizing the overload of sinful activities on this earth does not belong to the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead, Kr��a Himself. But when Kr��a appears,\nall the Vi��u expansions also join with Him. Kr��a's different expansions,\nnamely Naraya�a, the quadrupal expansion of Vasudeva, Sankar�a!J.a,\nPradyumna and Aniruddha, as well as the partial plenary expansion of\nMatsya or the incarnation of fish, and other _yuga-avatiiras (incarnations\nfor the millennium), and the manvantara-avatiiras, the incarnations of\nManus-all combine together and appear with the body of Kr��a, the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead. KH�a is the complete whole, and all\nplenary expansions and incarnations always live with Him.\nWhen Kr��a appeared, Lord Vi��u was also with Him. Kr��a actually\nappears to demonstrate His Vrndavana pastimes and to attract the fortunate conditioned souls and invite them back home, back to Godhead.\nThe killing of the demons was simultaneous to His Vrndavana activities\nand was carried out only by the Vi��u portion of Kr��a.\nIn the Bhagavad-gitii, Eighth Chapter, 20th verse, it is stated that there\nis another eternal nature, the spiritual sky, which is transcendental to this\nmanifested and nonmanifestcd matter. The manifested world can be seen\nin the form of many stars and planetary systems, such as the sun, moon,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0025": "Introduction\n\nX1X\n\netc., but beyond this there is a nonmanifested portion which is not\napproachable to anyone in this body. And beyond that nonmanifested\nmatter there is the spiritual kingdom. That kingdom is described in the\nBhagavad-gitii as supreme and eternal. It is never annihilated. This material\nnature is subjected to repeated creation and annihilation. But that part,\nthe spiritual nature, remains as it is, eternally.\nThe supreme abode of the Personality of Godhead, Kr�pa, is also de-·\nscribed in the Brahma-samhitii as the abode of cintiimari. That abode of\nLord Kr�pa known as Goloka Vrndavana is full of palaces made of touchstone. There the trees are called desire trees, and the cows are called\nsurabhi. The Lord is served there by hundreds and thousands of goddesses\nof fortune. His name is Govinda, the Primeval Lord, and He is the cause of\nall causes. There the Lord plays His flute, His eyes are like lotus petals, and\nthe color of His body is like that of a beautiful cloud. On His head is a\npeacock feather. He is so attractive that He excels thousands of cupids.\nLord Kr�pa gives only a little hint in the Gitii of His personal abode which\nis the supermost planet in the spiritual kingdom. But in the SrimadBhiigavatam, Kf�pa actually appears with all His paraphernalia and demonstrates His activities in Vrndavana, then at Mathura, and then at Dvaraka.\nThe subject matter of this book will gradually reveal all these activities.\nThe family in ·which Krwa appeared is called the Yadu dynasty. This\nYadu dynasty belongs to the family descending from Soma, the god in\nthe moon planet. There are two different k§atriya families of the royal\norder, one descending from the king of the moon planet and the other\ndescending from the king of the sun planet. Whenever the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears, He generally appears in a k§atriya family\nbecause He has to establish religious principles or the life of righteousness.\nThe k§atriya family is the protector of the human race, according to the\nVedic system. When the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as\nLord Ramacandra, He appeared in the family descending from the sungod, known as Raghu-vamsa; and when He appeared as Lord Kr�pa, He did\nso in the family of Yadu-vamsa. There is a long list of the kings of the\nYadu-vamsa in the Ninth Canto, 24th chapter of Srimad-Bhiigavatam. All\nof them were great powerful kings. Kr�pa's father's name was Vasudeva,\nson of Siirasena, descending from the Yadu dynasty. Actually, the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead does not belong to any dynasty of this\nmaterial world, but the family in which the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears becomes famous, by His grace. For example, sandalwood is\nproduced in the states of Malaya. Sandalwood has its own qualifications\napart from Malaya, but because, accidently, this wood is mainly produced\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0026": "XX\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nin the states of Malaya, it is known as Malayan sandalwood. Similarly,\nKr��a the Supreme Personality of Godhead belongs to everyone, but just\nas the sun rises from the east, although there are other directions from\nwhich it could rise, so , by His own choice, the Lord appears in a particular\nfamily, and that family becomes famous.\nWhen Kr�!ia appears, all His plenary expansions also appear with Him.\nKr�!la appeared along with Balarama (Baladeva) , who is known as His elder\nbrother. Balarama is the origin of Sarikar�a!la, of the quadrupal expansion.\nBalarama is also the plenary expansion of Kr�!la. In this book, the attempt\nwill be made to show how Kr�!la appeared in the family of the Y adu\ndynasty and how He displayed His transcendental characteristics. This is\nvery vividly descri� ed in � he Srimad-Bhaga_vatam- �pecifically, the Tenth\n_ be Snmad-Bhagavatam.\nCanto-and the basis of this book will\nThe pastimes of the Lord are generally heard and relished by liberated\nsouls. Those who are conditioned souls are interested in reading fictional\nstories of the material activities of some common man. Narrations describing the transcendental activities of the Lord are found in SrimadBhiigavatam and other Puriirws. But, the conditioned souls still prefer to\nstudy ordinary narrations. They are not so interested in studying the\nnarrations of the pastimes of the Lord, Kr�!la. And yet, the descriptions of\nthe pastimes of Lord Kr�!la are so attractive that they are relishable for all\nclasses of men. There are three classes of men in this world. One class\nconsists of liberated souls, another consists of those who are trying to be\nliberated, and the third consists of materialistic men. Whether one is\nliberated or is trying to be liberated, or is even grossly materialistic, the\npastimes of Lord Kr�!la are worth studying.\nLiberated souls have no interest in materialistic activities. The impersonalist theory that after liberation one becomes _inactive and needs hear\nnothing does not prove that a liberated person is actually inactive. A living\nsoul cannot be inactive. He is either active in the conditioned state or in\nthe liberated state. A diseased person, for example, is also active, but his\nactivities are all painful. The same person, when .freed from the diseased\ncondition, is still active, but in the healthy condition the activities are full\nof pleasure. Similarly, the impersonalists manage to get freed from the ,\ndiseased conditional activities, but they have no information of activities\nin the healthy condition. Those who are actually liberated and in full\nknowledge take to hearing the activities of Kr�!la ; such engagement is pure\nspiritual activity.\nIt is essential for persons who are actually liberated to hear about the\npastimes of Kr�!la· That is the supreme relishable subject matter for one in\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0027": "Introduction\n\nXXI\n\nthe liberated state. Also, if persons who are trying to be liberated hear\nsuch narrations as Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhiigavatam, then their path\nof liberation becomes very clear. Bhagavad-gitii is the preliminary study of\nSrimad-Bhiigavatam. By studying the Gitii, one becomes fully conscious\nof the position of Lord KH�a; and when he is situated at the lotus feet of\nKr��a, he understands the narrations of KH�a as described in the SrimadBhiigavatam. Lord Caitanya has therefore advised His followers that their\nbusiness is to propagate Kr�rz.a�kathii.\nKrsna-kathii\nmeans narrations about Krsna.\nThere are two Krsna-kathiis:\n. ..\n...\n. ..\nnarrations spoken by K[§!W and narrations spoken about K[§!W. Bhagavadgita is the narration or the philos�hy or the science of God, spoken by\n.Kfwa Himself. Srimad-Bhiigavatam is the narration about the activities\nand transcendental pastimes of Kr��a. Both are K[§[W-katha. It is the order\nof Lord Caitanya that Kr�rz.a-katha should be spread all over the world,\nbecause if the conditioned souls, suffering under the pangs of material\nexistence, take to Kr§!z.a-katha, then their path of liberation will be open\nand clear. The purpose of presenting this book is primarily to induce\npeople to understand Kn�a or K[§[W-katha, because thereby they can\nbecome freed from material bondage.\nThis Kr�ra-katha will also be very much appealing to the most materialistic persons because Krwa's pastimes with the gopis (cowherd girls) are\nexactly like the loving affairs between young girls and boys within this\nmaterial world. Actually, the sex feeling found in human society is not\nunnatural because this same sex feeling is there in the original Personality\nof Godhead. The pleasure potency is called Srimati Radhara�i. The\nattraction of loving affairs on the basis of sex feeling is the original feature\nof the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and we, the conditioned souls,\nbeing part and parcel of the Supreme, have such feelings also, but they are\nexperienced within a perverted, minute condition. Therefore, when those\nwho are after sex life in this material world hear about Kr��a's pastimes\nwith the gopis, they will relish transcendental pleasure, although it appears\nto be materialistic. The advantage will be that they will gradually be\nelevated to the spiritual platform. In the Bhiigavatam it is stated that if\none hears the pastimes of Lord Kr��a with the gopis from authorities with\nsubmission, then he will be promoted to the platform of transcendental\nloving service to the Lord, and the material disease of lust within his heart\nwill be completely vanquished. In other words, it will counteract the\nmaterial sex life.\nKr��a will be appealing to the liberated souls and to persons who are\ntrying to be liberated, as well as to the gross, conditioned materialist.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0028": "XXII\n\nKr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nAccording to the statement of Maharaja Parik�it, who heard about\nKr��a from Sukadeva Gosvami, K[Hta-katha is equally applicable to every\nhuman being, in whatever condition of life he is in. Everyone will appreciate it to the highest magnitude. But Maharaja PanK.�it also warned that\npersons who are simply engaged in killing animals and in killing themselves\nmay .not be very much attracted to K[Hta-katha. In other words, ordinary\npersons who are following the regulative moral principles of scriptures, no\nmatter in what condition they are found, will certainly be attracted, but\nnot persons who are killing themselves. The exact word used in the SrimadBhiigavatam is pasughna, which means killing animals or killing oneself.\nPersons who are not self-realized and who are not interested in spiritual\nrealization are killing themselves; they are committing suicide. Because\nthis human form of life is especially meant for self-realization, by neglecting this important part of his activities, one simply wastes his time\nlike the animals. So he is pasughna. The other meaning of the word refers\nto those who are actually killing animals. This means persons who are\nanimal eaters (even dog eaters), and they are all engaged in killing animals\nin so many ways, such as hunting, opening slaughterhouses, etc. Such\npersons cannot be interested in Knrw-katha.\nKing· PanK.�it was especially interested in hearing Kr�rta-katha because\nhe knew that his forefathers and particularly his grandfather, Arjuna, were\nvictorious in. the great battle of Kuruk�etra only because of Kr��a. We\nmay also take this material world as a battlefield of Kuruk�etra. Everyone\nis struggling hard for existence in this battlefield, and at every step there is\ndanger. According to Maharaja Parik�it, the battlefield of Kuruk�etra was\njust like a vast ocean full of dangerous animals. His grandfather Arjuna had\nto fight with such great heroes as Bhi�ma, Dro�a, Kar�a, and many others\nwho were not ordinary fighters. Such warriors have been compared to the\ntimingila fish in the ocean. The timingila fish can very easily swallow up\nbig whales. The great fighters on the battlefield of Kuruk�etra could\nswallow many, many Arjunas very easily, but simply due to Kr��a's mercy,\nArjuna was able to kill all of them. Just as one can cross with no exertion\noveflhe little pit of water contained in the hoofprint of a calf, so Arjuna,\nby the grace of Kr�ga, was able to very easily jump over the ocean of the\nbattle of Kuruk�etra.\nMaharaja Parik�it very much appreciated Kr��a's activities for many\nother reasons. Not only was his grandfather saved by Kr��a, but he himself\n'\nalso was saved by Kr��a. At the end of the battle of Kuruk�etra, all the\nme�ers of the Kuru dynasty, both the sons and grandsons on the side\nof Dhftara�tra, as well as those on the side of the Pa�l)avas, died in the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0029": "Introduction\n\nXXlll\n\nfighting. Except the five Pa��ava brothers, everyone died on the battlefield\nof Kuru�etra. Maharaja Parik§it was at that time within the embryo of his\nmother. His father, Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna, also died on the battlefield of Kuruk§etra, and so Maharaja Parik§it was a posthumous child.\nWhen he was in the womb of his mother, a b�ahmiistra weapon was released\nby Asvatthama to kill the child. When Pari'k§it Maharaja's mother, U ttara,\napproached Kr§�a, Kr§�a, seeing the danger of abortion, entered her womb\nas the Supersoul and saved Maharaja Parik�il. Maharaja Parik§it's other\nname is Vi§�urata because he was saved by Lord Vi§�U Himself while still\nwithin the womb.\nThus everyone, in any condition of life, should be interested in hearing\nabout Kr§�la and His activities because He is the Supreme Absolute Truth,\nthe Personality of Godhead. He is all-pervading; He is living within everyone's heart, and He is living as His universal form. And yet, as described in\nthe Bhagavad-gitii, He appears as He is in the human society just to invite\neveryone to His transcendental abode, back to home, back to Godhead.\nEveryone should be interested in knowing about Kr§�a, and this book is\npresented with this purpose: that people may know about Kr��a and be\nperfectly benefitted in this human form of life.\nIn the Ninth Canto of Srimad-Bhiigavatam, Sri Baladeva is described as\nthe son of Rohi�i, a wife of Vasudeva. Vasudeva, the father of Kr§�a, had\nsixteen wives, and one of them was Rohi�i, the mother of Balarama. But\nBalarama is also described as the son of Devaki, so how could He be the\nson of both Devaki and Rohi�i? This was one of the questions put by\nMaharaja Parik�it to Sukadeva Gosvami, and it will be answered in due\ncourse. Maharaja Parik�it also asked Sukadeva Gosvami why Sri Krwa, just\nafter His appearance as the son of Vasudeva, was immediately carried to\nthe house of Nanda Maharaja in Vrndavana, Gokula. He also wanted to\nknow what the activities of Lord Kr��a were while He was in Vrndavana\nand while He was in Mathura. Besides that, he was especially inquisitive\nto know why Kr��a killed His maternal uncle, Karitsa. Karitsa, being the\nbrother of His mother, was a very intimate superior to Kr§�a, so how was\nit that He killed Karitsa? Also, he asked how many years Lord Kr§�a\nremained in human society, how many years He reigned over the kingdom\nof Dvaraka, and how many wives He accepted there. A k§atriya king is\ngerterally accustomed to accept more than one wife; therefore Maharaja\nParik§it also inquired about His number of wives. The subject matter of\nthis book is Sukadeva Gosvami's answering of these and other questions\nasked by Maharaja Parik§it.\nThe position of Maharaja Parik§it and Sukadeva Gosvami is unique.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0030": "XXIV\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nMaharaja Parik�it is the right person to hear about the transcendental\npastimes of Kr�tta, and Sukadeva Gosvami is the right person to describe\nthem. If such a fortunate combination is made possible, then Kr§r-a-kathii\nimmediately becomes revealed, and people may benefit to the highest\npossible degree from such a conversation.\nThis narration was presented by Sukadeva Gosvami when Maharaja\nParik�it .was prepared to give up his body, fasting on the bank of the\nGanges. In order to assure Sukadeva Gosvami that by hearing Kr§rw-kathii\nhe would not feel tired, Maharaja Parik�it expressed himself very frankly:\n\"Hunger and thirst may give trouble to ordinary persons or to me, but\nthe topics of Krwa are so nice that one can continue to hear about them\nwithout feeling tired because such hearing situates one in the transcendental\nposition.\" It is understood that one must be very fortunate to hear about\nKrnw-kathii seriously, like Maharaja Parik�it. He was especially intent on\nthe subject matter because he was expecting death at any moment. Every\none of us should be conscio]lS of death at every moment. This life is not at\nall assured; at any time one can die. It does not matter whether one is a\nyoung man or an old man. So before death takes place, we must be fully\nKrsna conscious.\n.\nAt the point of his death, King Parik�it was hearing Srimad-Bhiigavatam\nfrom Sukadeva Gosvami. When King Parik�it expressed his untiring desire\nto hear about Kr�tta, Sukadeva Gosvami was very pleased. Sukadeva was\nthe greatest of all Bhiigavata reciters, and thus he began to speak about\nKrwa's pastimes, which destroy all inauspiciousness in this age of Kali.\nSukadeva Gosvami thanked the King for his eagerness to hear about Kr�tta,\nand he encouraged him by saying, \"My dear King, your intelligence is v�--�\nkeen because you are so eager to hear about the pastimes of Kr�tta.\" h-::\ninformed MaharaJa Parik�it that hearing and chanting of the pastimes of\nKr�tta are so auspicious that the process purifies the three varieties of\nmen involved: he who recites the transcendental topics of Kf�J}a, he who\nhears such topics, and he who inquires about Him. These pastimes are just\nlike the Ganges water which flows from the toe of Lord Vi�ttu: they purify\nthe three worlds, the upper, middle and lower planetary systems.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0031": "l I Advent of Lord Krsna\n•\n\n• •\n\nOnce the world was overburdened by the unnecessary defense force of\ndifferent kings, who were actually demons, but were posing themselves\nas the royal order. At that time, the whole world became perturbed, and\nthe predominating deity of this earth, known as Bhiimi, went to see Lord\nBrahma to tell of her calamaties due to the demoniac kings. Bhiimi\nassumed the shape of a cow and presented herself before Lord Brahma\nwith tears in her eyes. She was bereaved and was weeping just to invoke\nthe Lord's compassion. She related the calamitous position of the earth,\nand after hearing this, Lord Brahma became mu�h aggrieved, and he at\nonce started for the ocean of milk, where Lord Visnu resides. Lord Brahma\nwas accompanied by all the demigods headed by Lord Siva, and Bhiimi\nalso followed. Arriving on the shore of the milk ocean, Lord Brahma began\nto pacify the Lord Vi�pu who formerly saved the earthly planet by\nassuming the transcendental form of a boar.\nIn the Vedic man tras , there is a particular type of prayer called Puru§asilkta. Generally, the demigods offer their obeisances unto Vi�pu, the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead, by chanting the Puru§a-silk ta. It is understood herein that the predominating deity of every planet can see the\nsupreme lord of this universe, Brahma, whenever there is some disturbance in his planet. And Brahma can approach the Supreme Lord Vi�pu,\nnot by seeing Him directly, but by standing on the shore of the ocean of\nmilk. There is a planet within this universe called S ve tadvipa, and on that\nplanet there is an ocean of milk. It is understood from various Vedic\nliteratures that just as there is the ocean of salt water within this planet,\nthere are various kinds of oceans in other planets. Somewhere there is an\nocean of milk, somewhere there is an ocean of oil, and somewhere there is\nan ocean of liquor and many other types of oceans. Puru§a-silk ta is the\nstandard prayer which the demigods recite to appease the Supreme Per-\n\n1\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0032": "2\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nsonality of Godhead, K�irodakasayi-Vi��u. Because He is lying on the\nocean of milk, He is called K�irodakasayi-Vi��u. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, through whom all the incarnations within this universe 'appear.\nAfter all the demigods offered the Pum§a-siikta prayer to the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, they apparently heard no response. Then Lord\nBrahma personally sat in meditation, and there was a message-transmission\nfrom Lord Vi��u to Brahma. Brahma then b roadcast the message to the\ndemigods. That is the system of receiving Vedic knowledge. The Vedic\nknowledge is received first by Brahma from the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, through the medium of the heart. As stated in the beginning of\nSrimad-Bhiigavatam, tene brahma hrdii : the transcendental knowledge of\nthe Vedas was transmitted to Lord Brahma through the heart. Here also,\nin the same way, only Brahm a could understand the message transmitted\nby Lord Vi��u, and he broadcast it to the demigods for their immediate\naction. The message was: the Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear\non the earth very soon along with His supreme powerful potencies, and as\nlong as He remains on the earth planet to execute His mission of annihilating the demons and establishing the devotees, the demigods should also\nremain there to assist Him. They should all immediately take birth in the\nfamily of the Yadu dynasty, wherein the Lord will also appear in due\ncourse of time.\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, Kr�l).a, personally appeared as the son of V asudeva. Before He appeared, all the demigods,\nalong with their wives, appeared in different pious families in the world\njust to assist the Lord in executing His mission. The exact word used here\nis tatpriyiirtham, which means the demigods should appear on the earth in\norder to please the Lord. In other words, any living entity who lives only\nto satisfy the Lord is a demigod. The demigods were further informed that\nthe plenary portion of Lord Kr�va, Ananta, who is maintaining the universal planets by extending his millions of hoods, would also appear on\nearth before Lord Kr��a's appearance. They were also informed that the\nexternal potency of Vi��u (miiyii), with whom all the conditioned souls\nare enamoured, would also appear just to execute the purpose of the\nSupreme Lord.\nAfter instructing and pacifying all the demigods, as well as Bhumi, with\nsweet words, Lord Brahma, the father of all prajiipatis, or progenitors of\nuniversal population, departed for his own abode, the highest material\nplanet, called Brahmaloka.\nThe leader of the Y adu dynasty, King Surasena, was ruling over the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0033": "Advent of Lord Kr��a\n\n3\n\ncountry known as Mathura (the district of Mathura) as well as the\ndistrict known as S iirasena. On account of the rule of King S ii_r asena,\nMathura became the capital city of all the kings of the Y adus. Mathura was\nalso made the capital of the kings of the Y adu dynasty because the Yadus\nwere a very pious family and knew that Mathura is the place where Lord\nS ri Kr��a lives eternally, j ust as He also lives in D varaka.\nOnce upon a time, Vasudeva, the son of S iirasena, j ust after marrying\nD evaki, was going home on his chariot with his newly wedded wife. The\nfather of D evaki, kn own as D evaka, had contributed a sufficient dowery\nbecause he was very affectionate toward his daughter. He had contributed\nhundreds of chariots completely decorated with gold equipment. At that\ntime, Karhsa, the son of Ugrasena, in order to please his sister, D evaki, had\nvoluntarily taken the reins of the horses of Vasudeva's chariot and was\ndriving. According to the custom of the Vedic civilization, when a girl is\nmarried, the brother takes the sister and brother-in-law to their home.\nBecause the newly married girl may feel too much separation from her\nfather's family, the brother goes with her until she reaches her father-inlaw's house. The full dowery contributed by D evaka was as follows : 400\nelephants fully decorated with golden garlands, 1 5 ,000 decorated horses,\nand 1800 chariots. He also arranged for two hundred beautiful girls to\nfollow his daughter. The k�atriya system of marriage, still current in\nIndia, dictates that when a k�atriya is married, a few dozen of the bride's\nyoung girl friends (in addition to the bride) go to the house of the king.\nThe followers of the queen are called maidservants, but actually they act\nas friends of the queen. This practice is prevalent from time immemorial,\ntraceable at least to the time before the advent of Lord Kr��a 5 ,000 years\nago . So Vasudeva brought home another two hundred beautiful girls along\nwith his wife.\nWhile the bride and bridegroom were passing along on the chariot,\nthere were different kinds of musical instruments playing to indicate the\nauspicious moment. There were conchshells, bugles, drums and kettledrums ; combined together, they were vibrating a nice concert. The procession was passing very pleasingly, and Karhsa was driving the chariot,\nwhen suddenly there was a miraculous sound vibrated from the sky which\nespecially announced to Karhsa : \"Karhsa : you are such a fool. You are\ndriving the chariot of your sister and your brother-in-law, but you do not\nknow that the eighth child of this sister will kill you. \"\nKarhsa was the son of Ugrasena, of the Bhoj a dynasty. It is said that\nKarhsa was the most demonic of all the Bhoj a dynasty kings. Immediately\nafter hearing the prophecy from the sky, he caught hold of D evaki's hair\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0034": "4\n\nKf��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nand was just about to kill her with his sword. Vasudeva was astonished at\nKamsa's behavior, and in order to pacify the cruel, shameless brother-inlaw, he began to speak as follows, with great reason and evidence. He said,\n\"My dear brother-in-law Kamsa, you are the most famous king of the\nBhoja dynasty, and people know that you are the greatest warrior and a\nvaliant king. How is it that you are so infuriated that you are prepared to\nkill a woman who is your own sister at this auspicious time of her marriage?\nWhy should you be so much afraid of death? Death is already born along\nwith your birth. From the very day you took your birth, you began to die.\nSuppose you are twenty-five years old; that means you have already died\ntwenty-five years. Every moment, every second, you are dying. Why then\nshould you be so much afraid of death? Final death is inevitable. You\nmay die either today or in a hundred years; you cannot avoid death. Why\nshould you be so much afraid? Actually, death means annihilation of the\npresent body. As soon as the present body stops functioning and mixes\nwith the five elements of material nature, the living entity within the body\naccepts another body, according to his present action and reaction. It is\njust as when a man walks on the street; he puts forward his foot, and when\nhe is confident that his foot is situated on sound ground, he lifts the other\nfoot. In this way, one after another, the body changes and the soul\ntransmigrates. See how the plantworms change from one twig to another\nso carefully! Similarly, the living entity changes his body as soon as the\nhigher authorities decide on his next body. As long as a living entity is\nconditioned within this material world, he must take material bodies one\nafter another. His next particular body is offered by the laws of nature,\naccording to the actions and reactions of this life.\n\"This body is exactly like one of the bodies which we always see in\ndreams. During our dream of sleep, we create so many bodies according to\nmental creation. We have seen gold and we have also seen a mountain, so\nin a dream we can see a golden mountain by combining the two ideas.\nSometimes in dreams, we see that we have a body which is flying in the\nsky, and at that time we completely forget our present body. Similarly,\nthese bodies are changing. When you have one body, you forget the past\nbody. During a dream, we may make contact with so many new kinds of\nbodies, but when we are awake we forget them all. And actually these\nmaterial bodies are the creations of our mental activities. But at the present\nmoment we do not recollect our past bodies.\n\"The nature of the mind is flickering. Sometimes it accepts something,\nand immediately it rejects the same thing. Accepting and rejecting is the\nprocess of the mind in contact with the five objects of sense gratification:\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0035": "Advent of Lord Kr��a\n\n5\n\nform, taste, smell, sound, and touch. In its speculative way, the mind\ncomes in touch with the objects of sense gratification, and when th� living\nentity desires a particular type of body, he gets it. Therefore, the body is\nan offering by the laws of material nature. The living entity accepts a body\nand comes out again into the material world to enjoy or suffer according\nto the construction of the body. U nless we have a particular type of body,\nwe cannot enjoy or suffer according to our mental proclivities inherited\nfrom the previous life. The particular type of body is actually offered to\nus according to our mental condition at the time of death.\n\"The luminous planets like the sun, moon or the stars reflect themselves\nin different types of reservoirs, like water, oil or ghee. The reflection\nmoves according to the movement of the reservoir. The reflection of the\nmoon is on the water, and the moving water makes the moon also appear\nto be moving, but actually the moon is not moving. Similarly, by mental\nconcoction, the living entity attains different kinds of bodies, although\nactually he has no connection with such bodies. But on account of illusion,\nbeing enchanted by the influence of miiyii, the living entity thinks that\nhe belongs to a particular type of body. That is the way of conditioned\nlife. Suppose a living entity is now in a human form of body. He thinks\nthat he belongs to the human community, or a particular country or\nparticular place. He identifies himself in that way and unnecessarily\nprepares for another body which is not required by him. Such desires and\nmental concoctions are the cause of different types of body. The covering\ninfluence of material nature is so strong that the living entity is satisfied\nin whatever body he gets, and he identifies with that body with great\npleasure. Therefore, I beg to request you not to be overwhelmed by the\ndictation of your mind and body.\"\nVasudeva thus requested Kamsa not to be envious of his newly married\nsister. One should not be envious of anyone because envy is the cause of\nfear both in this world and in the next when one is before Y amaraja (the\nlord of punishment after death). Vasudeva appealed to Kamsa on behalf of\nDevaki, stating that she was his younger sister. He also appealed at an\nauspicious moment, at the time of marriage. A younger sister or brother\nare supposed to be protected as one's children. \"The position is overall so\ndelicate,\" Vasudeva reasoned, \"that if you kill her, it will go against your\nhigh reputation.\"\nVasudeva tried to pacify Kamsa by good instruction as well as by\nphilosophical discrimination, but Kamsa was not to be pacified because\nhis association was demoniac. Because of his demoniac associations, he\nwas always a demon, although born in a very high royal family. A demon\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0036": "6\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nnever cares for any good instruction. He is just like a determined thief:\none can give him moral instruction, but it will not be effective. Similarly,\nthose who are demoniac or atheistic by nature can hardly assimilate any\ngood instruction, however authorized it may be. That is the difference\nbetween demigod and demon. Those who can accept good instruction and\ntry to live their lives in that way are called demigods, and those who are\nunable to take such good instruction are called demons. Failing in his\nattempt to pacify Kamsa, Vasudeva wondered how he would protect his\nwife Devaki. When there is imminent danger, an intelligent person should\ntry to avoid the dangerou_, position as far as possible. But if, in spite of\nendeavoring by all intelligence, one fails to avoid the dangerous position,\nthere is no fault on his part. One should try his best to execute his duties,\nbut if the attempt fails, he is not at fault.\nVasudeva thought of his wife as follows : \"For the present let me save\nthe life of Devaki, then later on, if there are children, I shall see how to\nsave them.\" He further thought, \"If in the future I get a child who can kill\nKamsa-just as Kamsa is thinking-then both Devaki and the child will be\nsaved because the law of Providence is inconceivable. But now, some way\nor other, let me save the life of Devaki.\"\nThere is no certainty how a living entity contacts a certain type of\nbody, just as there is no certainty how the blazing fire comes in contact\nwith a certain type of wood in the forest. When there is a forest fire, it is\nexperienced that the blazing fire sometimes leaps over one tree and catches\nanother by the influence of the wind. Similarly, a living entity may be very\ncareful and fearful in the matter of executing his duties, but it is still very\ndifficult for him to know what type of body he is going to get in the next\nlife. Maharaja Bharata was very faithfully executing the duties of selfrealization, but by chance he contacted temporary affection for a deer,\nand he had to accept his next life in the body of a deer.\nVasudeva, after deliberating on how to save his wife, began to speak to\nKamsa with great respect, although Kamsa was the most sinful man. Sometimes it happens that a most virtuous person like Vasudeva has to flatter a\nperson like Kamsa, a most vicious person. That is the way of all diplomatic\ntransactions. Although Vasudeva was deeply aggrieved, he presented himself outwardly as cheerful. He addressed the shameless Kamsa in that way\nbecause he was so atrocious. Vasudeva said to Kamsa, \"My dear brotherin-law, please consider that you have no danger from your sister. You are\nawaiting some danger because you have heard a prophetic voice in the sky.\nBut the danger is to come from the sons of your sister, who are not present\nnow. And who knows? There may or may not be sons in the future.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0037": "Advent of Lord Kr��a\n\n7\n\nConsidering all this, you are safe for the present. Nor is there cause of fear\nfrom your sister. If there are any sons born of her, I promise that I shall\npresent all of them to you for necessary action.\"\nKamsa knew the value of Vasudeva's word of honor, and he was convinced by his argument. For the time being, he desisted from the heinous\nkilling of his sister. Thus Vasudeva was pleased and praised the decision of\nKamsa. In this way, he returned to his home.\nAfter due course of time, Vasudeva and D evaki gave birth to eight male\nchildren, as well as one daughter. When the first son was born, Vasudeva\nkept his word of honor and immediately brought the child before Kamsa.\nIt is said that Vasudeva was very much elevated and famous for his word\nof honor, and he wanted to maintain this fame. Although it was very\npainful for Vasudeva to hand over the newly born child, Kamsa was very\nglad to receive him. But he became a little compassionate with the behavior\nof Vasudeva. This event is very exemplary. For a great soul like Vasudeva ,\nthere is nothing considered to be painful in the course of discharging one's\nduty. A learned person like Vasudeva carries out his duties without\nhesitation. On the other hand, a demon like Kamsa never hesitates in\ncommitting any abominable action. It is said, therefore, that a saintly\nperson can tolerate all kinds of miserable conditions of life , a learned man\ncan discharge his duties without awaiting favorable circumstances, a\nheinous person like Kamsa can act in any sinful way, and a devotee can\nsacrifice everything to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\nKamsa became satisfied by the action of Vasudeva. He was surprised to\nsee Vasudeva keeping his promise , and being compassionate upon him and\npleased, he began to speak as follows: \" My dear Vasudeva, you need not\npresent this child to me. I am not in danger from this child. I have heard\nthat the eighth child born of you and D evaki will kill me. Why should I\naccept this child unnecessarily? You can take him back.\"\nWhen Vasudeva was returning home with his first-born child, although\nhe was pleased by the behavior of Kamsa, he could not believe in him\nbecause he knew that Kamsa was uncontrolled. An atheistic person cannot\nbe firm in his word of honor. One who cannot control the senses cannot\nbe steady in his determination. The great politician, Ca�akya Pa!lc;lit, said,\n\" Never put your trust in a diplomat or in a woman.\" Those who are\naddicted to unrestricted sense gratification can never be truthful, nor can\nthey be trusted with any faith.\nAt that time the great sage Narada came to Kamsa. He was informed of\nKarhsa's becoming compassionate to Vasudeva and returning his first-born\nchild. Narada was very anxious to accelerate the descent of Lord Kr�!la as\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0038": "8\n\nKf�J.l a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nsoon as possible. He therefore informed Kamsa that personalities like\nNanda Maharaja and all the cowherd men and girls and the wives of the\ncowherd men in Vrndavana, and, on the other side, Vasudeva, his father\nSurasena and all his relatives born in the family of Vn�i of the Yadu\nDynasty, were preparing for the appearance of the Lord. Narada warned\nKamsa to be careful of the friends and well-wishers and all the demigods\ntaking birth in those families. Kamsa and his friends and advisors were all\ndemons. Demons are always afraid of demigods. After being thus informed\nby Narada about the appearance of the demigods in different families,\nKamsa at once became alert. He understood that since the demigods had\nalready appeared, Lord Viwu must be coming soon. He at once arrested\nboth his brother-in-law Vasudeva and Devaki and put them behind prison\nbars.\nWithin the prison, shackled in iron chains, Vasudeva and Devaki gave\nbirth to a male child year after year, and Kamsa, thinking each of the\nbabies to be the incarnation of Viwu, killed them one after another. He\nwas particularly afraid of the eighth child, but after the visit of Narada, he\ncame to the conclusion that any child might be Kr��a. Therefore it was\nbetter to kill all the babies who took birth of Devaki and Vasudeva.\nThis action of Kamsa is not very difficult to understand. There are\nmany instances in the history of the world of persons in the royal order\nwho have killed father, brother, or a whole family and friends for the\nsatisfaction of their ambitions. There is nothing astonishing about this, for\nthe demoniac can kill anyone for their nefarious ambitions.\nKamsa was made aware of his previous birth by the grace of Narada. He\nlearned that in his previous birth he was a demon of the name Kalanemi\nand that he was killed by Vi��u. Having taken his birth in the Bhoja\nfamily, he decided to become the deadly enemy of the Yadu dynasty;\nKr��a was going to take birth in that family, and Kamsa was very much\nafraid that he would be killed by Kn�a, just as he was killed in his last\nbirth.\nHe first of all imprisoned his father U grasena because he was the chief\nking among the Yadu, Bhoja, and Andhaka dynasties, and he also occupied the kingdom of Surasena, Vasudeva's father. He declared himself\nthe king of all such places.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the First Chapter of Kr��a,\n''A dvent of Lord K[§!W. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0039": "2 I Prayers by the Demigods\nfor Lord Krsna in the W omh\n•\n\n• •\n\nKing Kamsa not only occupied the kingdoms of the Y adu, Bhoja, and\nAndhaka dynasties and the kingdom of S urasena, but he also made alliances with all the other demoniac kings, as follows : the demon Pralamba,\ndemon Baka, demon Ca!liira, demon Tr!lavarta, demon Aghasura, demon\nMu�tika, demon Ari�ta, demon Dvivida, demon Piitana, demon Kesi and\ndemon D henuka. At that time, Jarasandha was the king of Magadha\nprovince (known at present as Behar state). Thus by his diplomatic policy,\nKamsa consolidated the most powerful kingdom of his time, under the\nprotection of Jarasandha. He made further alliances with such kings as\nBa!lasura and Bhaumasura, until he was the strongest. Then he began to\nbehave most inimically towards the Y adu dynasty into which Kr�!la was\nto take His birth.\nBeing harassed by Kamsa, the kings of the Y adu , Bhoj a and Andhaka\ndynasties began to take shelter in different states such as the state of the\nKurus, the state of the Paficalas and the states known as Kekaya, S alva,\nVidarbha, Ni�adha, Videha and Kosala. Kamsa broke the solidarity of the\nY adu Kingdom, as well as the Bhoj a and Andhaka. He made his position\nthe most solid within the vast tract of land known at that time as\nBharatavar�a.\nWhen Kamsa killed the six babies of D evaki and Vasudeva one after\nanother, many friends and relatives of Kariisa approached him and requested him to discontinue these heinous activities. But all of them became\nworshipers of Kamsa.\nWhen D evaki became pregnant for the seventh time, a plenary expansion\nof Kr�!la known as Ananta appeared within h�r womb. D evaki was overwhelmed both with j ubilation and lamentatio n . She was j oyful, for she\ncould understand that Lord Vi�!IU had taken shelter within her womb , but\nat the same time she was sorry that as soon as her child would come out,\n\n9\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0040": "10\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nKamsa would kill Him. At that time, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\nKr��a, being compassionate upon the fearful condition of the Yadus, due\nto atrocities committed by Kamsa, ordered the appearance of His\nYogamiiya, or His internal potency. Krwa is the Lord of the universe, but\nHe is especially the Lord of the Yadu dynasty.\nThis Yogamaya is the principal potency of the Personality of Godhead.\nIn the Vedas it is stated that the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has multipotencies. Parasya saktir vividhaiva sriiyate. All the different potencies are acting externally and internally, and Yogamaya is the\nchief of all potencies. He ordered the appearance of Yogamaya in the land\nof Vrajabhumi, in Vrndavana, which is always decorated and full with\nbeautiful cows. In Vrndavana, Rohi�i, one of the wives of Vasudeva, was\nresiding at the house of King Nanda and Queen Yasoda. Not only Rohi�i,\nbut many others in the Yadu dynasty were scattered all over the country\ndue to their fear of the atrocities of Kamsa. Some of them were even\nliving in the caves of the mountains.\nThe Lord thus informed Yogamaya: \"Under the imprisonment of\nKamsa are Devaki and Vasudeva, and at the present moment, My plenary\nexpansion, Se�a, is within the womb of Devaki. You can arrange the\ntransfer of Se�a from the womb of Devaki to the womb of Rohi�. After\nthis arrangement, I am personally going to appear in the womb of Devaki\nwith My full potencies. Then I shall appear as the son of Devaki and\nVasudeva. And you shall appear as the daughter of Nanda and Yasoda in\nVrndavana.\n\"Since you will appear as My contemporary sister, people within the\nworld will worship you with all kinds of valuable presentations: incense,\ncandles, flowers and offerings of sacrifice. You shall quickly satisfy their\ndesires for sense gratification. People who are after materialistic affection\nwill worship you under the different forms of your expansions, which\nwill be named Durga, Bhadrakali, Vijaya, Vai��avi, Kumuda, Ca��ika,\nKr��a, Madhavi, Kanyaka, Maya, Naraya�i, Isani, Sarada and Ambika.\"\nKr��a and Yogamaya appeared as brother and sister-the Supreme\nPowerful and the supreme power. Although there is no clear distinction\nbetween the Powerful and the power, power is always subordinate to the\nPowerfuL Those who are materialistic are worshippers of the power, but\nthose who are transcendentalists are worshippers of the PowerfuL Kr��a is\nthe Supreme Powerful, and Durga is the supreme power within the material\nworld. Actually people in the Vedic culture worship both the Powerful and\nthe power. There are many hundreds of thousands of temples of Vi��u\nand Devi, and sometimes they are worshipped simultaneously. The wor-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0041": "Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Kr�\"!la in the Womb\n\n11\n\nshipper of the power; Durga; o r the external energy of Kr��a; may _achieve\nall kinds of material success very easily; but anyone who wants to be\nelevated transcendentally must engage in worshipping the Powerful in\nKrsna consciousness.\nThe Lord also declared to Yogamiiyii that His plenary expansion, Ananta\nSe�a; was within the womb of Devaki. On account of being forcibly\nattracted to the womb of Rohi�i; He would be known as Sankar�a�a and\nwould be the source of all spiritual power or bala, by which one could be\nable to attain the highest bliss of life which is called ramara. Therefore the\nplenary portion Ananta would be known after His appearance either as\nSankar�a!la or Balarama.\nIn the Upani§ads it is stated; Niiyam iitma bala hinena labhya. The\npurport is that one cannot attain the Supreme or any form of selfrealization without being sufficiently favored by Balarama. Bala does not\nmean physical strength. No one can attain spiritual perfection by physical\nstrength. One must have the spiritual strength which is infused by Balarama\nor Sankar�a�a. Ananta or Se§a is the power which sustains all the planets\nin their different positions. Materially this sustaining power is known as\nthe law of gravitation, but actually it is the display of the potency of\nSankar§a�a. Balarama or Sankar§a�a is spiritual power; or the original\nspiritual master. Therefore Lord Nityananda Prabhu, who is also the incarnation of Balarama, is the original spiritual master. And the spiritual\nmaster is the representative of Balarama, the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, who supplies spiritual strength. In the Caitanya-caritiimrta it is\nconfirmed that the spiritual master is the manifestation of the mercy of\nKrsna.\nWhen Yogamiiyii was thus ordered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, she circumambulated the Lord and then appeared within this material\nworld according to His order. When the Supreme Powerful Personality of\nGodhead transferred Lord Se§a from the womb of Devaki to the womb of\nRohipi, both of them were under the spell of Yogamiiyii, which is also\ncalled yoga-nidrii. When this was done, people understood that Devaki's\nseventh pregnancy was a miscarriage. Thus although Balarama appeared as\nthe son of Devaki, He was transferred to the womb of Rohi�i to appear as\nher son. After this arrangement; the Supreme Personality of Godhead;\nKr��a; who is always ready to place His full potencies in His unalloyed\ndevotees, entered as the Lord of the whole creation within the mind of\nVasudeva. It is understood in this connection that Lord Krsna first of all\nsituated Himself in the unalloyed heart of Devaki. He was not put into the\nwomb of Devaki by seminal discharge. The Supreme Personality of God.\n\n. .\n\n.\n\n. .\n\n. . .\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0042": "12\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nhead, by His inconceivable potency, can appear in any way. It is not\nnecessary for Him to appear in the ordinary way by seminal injection\nwithin the womb of a woman.\nWhen Vasudeva was sustaining the form of the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead within his heart, he appeared just like the glowing sun whose\nshining rays are always unbearable and scorching to the common man.\nThe form of the Lord situated in the pure unalloyed heart of Vasudeva is\nnot different from the original form of Krwa. The appearance of the form\nof Krwa anywhere, and specifically within the heart, is called dhii ma.\nDhiima does not only refer to Kr��a's form, but His name, His form, His\nquality and His paraphernalia. Everything becomes manifest simultaneously.\nThus the eternal form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead with full\npotencies was transferred from the mind of Vasudeva to the mind of\nDevaki, exactly as the setting sun's rays are transferred to the full moon\nrising in the east.\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, entered the body of Devaki\nfrom the body of Vasudeva. He was beyond the conditions of the ordinary\nliving entity. When Krwa is there, it is to be understood that all His\nplenary expansions, such as Naraya�a, and incarnations like Lord Nrsimha,\nVaraha, etc., are with Him, and they are not subject to the conditions of\nmaterial existence. In this way, Devaki became the residence of the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead who is one without a second and the\ncause of all creation. Devaki became the residence of the Absolute Truth,\nbut because she was within the house of Kamsa, she looked just like a\nsupressed fire, or like misused education. When fire is covered by the walls\nof a pot or is kept in a jug, the illuminating rays of the fire cannot be very\nmuch appreciated. Similarly, misused knowledge, which does not benefit\nthe people in general, is not very much appreciated. So Devaki was kept\nwithin the prison walls of Kamsa's palace, and no one could see her transcendental beauty which resulted from her conceiving the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\nKamsa, however, saw the transcendental beauty of his sister Devaki, and\nhe at once concluded that the Supreme Personality of Godhead had taken\nshelter in her womb. She had never before looked so wonderfully beautiful.\nHe could distinctly understand that there was something wonderful within\nthe womb of Devaki. In this way, Kamsa became perturbed. He was sure\nthat the Supreme Personality of Godhead would kill him in the future and\nthat He had now come. Kamsa began to think: \"What is to be done with\nDevaki? Surely she has Vi�!lu or Kr��a within her womb, so it is certain\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0043": "Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Kr�a in the Womb\n\n13\n\nthat Kr�tta has come to execute the mission of the demigods. And even if\nI immediately kill Devaki, His mission cannot be frustrated.'' Kamsa knew\nvery well that no one can frustrate the purpose of Vi�.pu. Any intelligent\nman can understand that the laws of God cannot be violated. His purpose\nwill be served in spite of all impediments offered by the demons. Kamsa\nthought: \"If I kill Devaki at the present moment, V i�.pu will enforce His\nsupreme will more vehemently. To kill Devaki just now would be a most\nabominable act. No one desires to kill his reputation, even in an awkward\nsituation; if I kill Devaki now, my reputation will be spoiled. Devaki is a\nwoman, and she is under my shelter; she is pregnant, and if I kill her,\nimmediately all my reputation, the result of pious activities and duration\nof life, will be finished.\"\nHe also further deliberated: \"A person who is too cruel, even in this\nlifetime is as good as dead. No one likes a cruel person during his lifetime,\nand after' his death, people curse him. On account of his self-identification\nwith the body, he must he degraded and pushed into the darkest region of\nhelL\" Kamsa thus meditated on all the pros and cons of killing Devaki at\nthat time.\nKamsa finally decided not to kill Devaki right away hut to wait for the\ninevitable future. But his mind became absorbed in animosity against the\nPersonality of Godhead. He patiently waited for the deliverance of the\nchild, expecting to kill Him, as he had done previously with the other\nbabies of Devaki. Thus being merged in the ocean of animosity against the\nPersonality of Godhead, he began to think of Kr�.pa and V i�.pu while\nsitting, while sleeping, while walking, while eating, while working-in all\nthe situations of his life. His mind became so much absorbed with the\nthought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that indirectly he could\nsee only Kr�.pa or Vi�.pu around him. U nfortunately, although his mind\nwas so absorbed in the thought of Vi�.pu, he is not recognized as a devotee\nbecause he was thinking of Kn.pa as an enemy. The state of mind of a great\ndevotee is also to be always absorbed in Kn.pa, but a devotee thinks of\nHim favorably, not unfavorably. To think of Kn.pa favorably is Krwa\nconsciousness, hut to think of Kr�.pa unfavorably is not Kr�.pa consciousness.\nAt this time Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, accompanied by great sages\nlike Narada and followed by many other demigods, invisibly appeared in\nthe house of Kamsa. They began to pray for the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead in select prayers which are very pleasing to the devotees and\nwhich award fulfillment of their desires. The first words they spoke\nacclaimed that the Lord is true to His vow. As stated in the Bhagavad-gitii,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0044": "14\n\nKf�l)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nKf�pa descends in this material world just to protect the pious and destroy\nthe impious. That is His vow. The demigods could understand that the\nLord had taken His residence within the womb of Devaki in order to fulfill\nthis vow. The demigods were very glad that the Lord was appearing to\nfulfill His mission; and they addressed Him as satyam param, or the\nSupreme Absolute Truth.\nEveryone is searching after the truth. That is the philosophical way of\nlife. The demigods give information that the Supreme Absolute Truth is\nKHpa. One who becomes fully Krwa conscious can attain the Absolute\nTruth. Krsna is the Absolute Truth. Relative truth is not truth in all the\nthree phases of eternal time. Time is divided into past, present and future.\nKrwa is Truth always, past; present and future. In the material world\neverything is being controlled by supreme time, in the course of past,\npresent and future. But before the creation; Kr�pa was existing, and when\nthere is creation, everything is resting in Kr�pa, and when this creation is\nfinished, Krwa will remain. Therefore, He is Absolute Truth in all circumstances. If there is any truth within this material world, it emanates from\nthe Supreme Truth, Kr��a. If there is any opulence within this material\nworld, the cause of the opulence is Kr��a. If there is any reputation within\nthis material world; the cause of the reputation is Kr�!la. If there is any\nstrength within this material world, the cause of such strength is Kr�pa. If\nthere is any wisdom and education within this material world, the cause of\nsuch wisdom and education is Kf�pa. Therefore Kr��a is the source of all\nrelative truths.\nThis material world is composed of five principal elements: earth, water;\nfire, air and ether; and all such elements are emanations from KHpa. The\nmaterial scientists accept these primary five elements as the cause of\nmaterial manifestation, but the elements in their gross and subtle states\nare produced by Kr�pa. The living entities who are working within this\nmaterial world are also products of His marginal potency. In the Seventh\nChapter of the Bhagavad-gitii, it is clearly stated that the whole manifestation is a combination of two kinds of energies of Krwa, the superior energy\nand the inferior energy. The living entities are the superior energy, and the\ndead material elements are His inferior energy. In its dormant stage, everything remains in Knva.\nThe demigods continued to offer their respectful prayers unto the\nsupreme form of the Personality of Godhead, Knva, by analytical study of\nthe material manifestation. What is this material manifestation? It is just\nlike a tree. A tree stands on the ground. Similarly, the tree of the material\nmanifestation is standing on the ground of material nature. This material\n. . .\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0045": "Prayers by the Demigods for Lord KH!la in the Womb\n\n15\n\nmanifestation is compared with a tree because a tree is ultimately_ cut off\nin due course of time. A tree is called V[k§a. V[k§a means that thing which\nwill be ultimately cut off. Therefore, this tree of the material manifestation\ncannot be accepted as the Ultimate Truth. The influence of time is on the\nmaterial manifestation, but Kr��a's body is eternal. He existed befort' the\nmaterial manifestation, He is existing while the material manifestation is\ncontinuing, and when it will be dissolved, He will continue to exist.\nThe Katha Upani§ad also cites this example of the tree of material\nmanifestation standing on the ground of material nature. This tree has two\nkinds of fruits, distress and _happiness. Those who are living on the tree of\nthe body are just like two birds. One bird is the localized aspect of KH!la\nknown as the Paramatma, and the other bird is the living entity. The living\nentity is eating the fruits of this material manifestation. Sometimes he eats\nthe fruit of happiness, and sometimes he eats the fruit of distress. But the\nother bird is not interested in eating the fruit of distress or happiness\nbecause he is self-satisfied. The Katha Upani§ad states that one bird on the\ntree of the body is eating the fruits, and the other bird is simply witnessing.\nThe roots of this tree extend in three directions. That means the root of\nthe tree is the three modes of material nature: goodness, passion and\nignorance. Just as the tree's root expands, so, by association of the modes\nof material nature (goodness, passion and ignorance), one expands his\nduration of material existence. The taste of the fruits are of four kinds:\nreligiosity, economic development, sense gratification and ultimately,\nliberation. According to the different associations in the three modes of\nmaterial nature, the living entities are tasting different kinds of religiosity,\ndifferent kinds of economic development, different kinds of sense gratification and different kinds of liberation. Practically all material work is\nperformed in ignorance, but because there are three qualities, sometimes the\nquality of ignorance is covered with goodness or passion. The taste of these\nmaterial fruits is accepted through five senses. The five sense organs\nthrough which knowledge is acquired are subjected to six kinds of whips:\nlamentation, illusion, infirmity, death, hunger and thirst. This material\nbody, or the material manifestation, is covered by seven layers: skin,\nmuscle, flesh, marrow, bone, fat and semina. The branches of the tree are\neight: earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and ego. There are\nnine gates in this body: the two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, one mouth,\none genital, one rectum. And there are ten kinds of internal air passing\nwithin the body: priirw, apiina, udiina, vyiina, samiina, etc. The two birds\nseated in this tree, as explained above, are the living entity and the localized\nSupreme Personality of Godhead.\n\n·\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0046": "16\n\nKf§!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nThe root cause of the material manifestation described here is the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Personality of Godhead\nexpands Himself and takes charge of the three qualities of the material\nworld. Vi��u takes charge of the modes of goodness, Brahma takes charge\nof the modes of passion, and Lord Siva takes charge of the modes of\nignorance. Brahma, by the modes of passion, creates this manifestation,\nLord Vi��u maintains this manifestation by the modes of goodness, and\nLord Siva annihilates it by the modes of ignorance. The whole creation\nultimately rests in the Supreme Lord. He is the cause of creation, maintenance and dissolution. And when the whole manifestation is dissolved, in\nits subtle form as the energy of the Lord, it rests within the body of the\nSupreme Lord.\n\"At the present,\" the demigods prayed, \"the Supreme Lord Kr��a is\nappearing just for the maintenance of this manifestation.\" Actually the\nSupreme Cause is one, but, being deluded by the three modes of material\nnature, less intelligent persons see that the material world is manifested\nthrough different causes. Those who are intelligent can see that the cause\nis one, Kr��a. As it is stated in the Brahma-sariihitii: sarva-kiirmya-kiirm:wm.\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the cause of all causes.\nBrahma is the deputed agent for creation, Vi��u is the expansion of Kr��a\nfor maintenance, and Lord Siva is the expansion of Kr��a for dissolution.\n\"Our dear Lord,\" the demigods prayed, \"it is very difficult to understand Your eternal form of personality. People in general are unable to\nunderstand Your actual form; therefore Y�u are personally descending to\nexhibit Your original eternal form. Somehow people can understand the\ndifferent incarnations of Your Lordship, but they are puzzled to understand the eternal form of Kr��a with two hands, moving among human\nbeings exactly like. one of them. This eternal form of Your Lordship is\never increasing in transcendental pleasure for the devotees. But for the\nnondevotees, this form is very dangerous.\" As stated in the Bhagavad-gitii,\nKr��a is very pleasing to the siidhu. It is said, paritrii[Liiya siidhuniim. But\nthis form is very dangerous for the demons because Kr��a also descends to\nkill the demons. He is, therefore, simultaneously pleasing to the devotees\nand dangerous to the demons.\n\"Our dear lotus-eyed Lord, You are the source of pure goodness. There\nare many great sages who simply by samiidhi, or transcendentally meditating upon Your lotus feet and thus being absorbed in Your thought, have\neasily transformed the great ocean of nescience created by the material nature to no more than water in a calf's hoof print.\" The purpose of meditation is to focus the mind upon the Personality of Godhead, beginning from\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0047": "Prayers by the Demi gods for Lord Kr��a in the Womb\n\n17\n\nHis lotus feet. Simply b y meditation o n the lotus feet o f the Lord, great\nsages cross over this vast ocean of material existence without difficulty.\n0 self-illuminated one, the great saintly persons who ha':e crossed over\nthe ocean of nescience, by the help of the transcendental boat of Your\nlotus feet, have not taken away that boat. It is still lying on this side.\" The\ndemigods are using a nice simile. If one takes a boat to cross over a river ,\nthe boat also goes with one to the other side of the river. And so when\none reaches the destination, how can the same boat be available to those\nwho are still on the other side? To answer this difficulty, the demigods\nsay in their prayer that the boat is not taken away. The devotees still\nremaining on the other side are able to pass over the ocean of material\nnature because the pure devotees do not take the boat with them when\nthey cross over. When one simply approaches the boat , the whole ocean of\nmaterial nescience is reduced to the size of water in a calf's hoofprint.\nTherefore, the devotees do not need to take a boat to the other side ; they\nsimply cross the ocean immediately. Because the great saintly persons are\ncompassionate toward all conditioned souls, the boat is still lying at the\nlotus feet of the Lord. One can meditate upon His feet at any time, and by\nso doing, one can cross over the great ocean of material existence.\nMeditation means concentration upon the lotus feet of the Lord. Lotus\nfeet indicate the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Those who are impersonalists do not recognize the lotus feet of the Lord, and therefore\ntheir obj ect of meditation is something impersonal. The demigods express\ntheir mature verdict that persons who are interested in meditating on\nsomething void or impersonal cannot cross over the ocean of nescience.\nSuch persons are simply imagining that they have become liberated. \"0\nlotus-eyed Lord ! Their intelligence is contaminated because they fail to\nmeditate upon the lotus feet of Your Lordship . \" As a result of this\nneglectful activity, the impersonalists fall down again into the material\nway of conditioned life, although they may temporarily rise up to the\npoint of impersonal realization. lmpersonalists, after undergoing severe\nausterities and penances, merge themselves into the Brahman effulgence\nor impersonal Brahman existence. But their minds are not free from material contamination ; they have simply tried to negate the material ways of\nthinking. That does not mean that they have become liberated. Thus they\nfall down. In the Bhagavad-gitii it is stated that the impersonalist has to\nundergo great tribulation in realizing the ultimate goal. At the beginning\nof the Srimad-Bhiigavatam, it is also stated that without devotional service\nto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one cannot achieve liberation\nfrom the bondage of fruitive activities. The statement of Lord Kr§�a is\n\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0048": "18\n\nKr�tJ.a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nthere in the Bhagavad-gitii, and in the Srimad-Bhiigavatam the statement\nof the great sage Narada is there, and here also the demigods confirm it.\n\"Persons who have not taken to devotional service are understood to have\ncome short of the ultimate purpose of knowledge and are not favored by\nYour grace.\" The impersonalists simply think that they are liberated, but\nactually they have no feeling for the Personality of Godhead. They think\nthat when KH�a comes into the material world, he accepts a material\nbody. They therefore overlook the transcendental body of Kr��a. This is\nalso confirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii. Avajiinanti miirit mu�hii[t. In spite of\nconquering material lust and rising up to the point of liberation, the impersonalists fall down. If they are engaged just in knowing things for the\nsake of knowledge and do not take to the devotional service of the Lord,\nthey cannot achieve the desired result. Their achievement is the trouble\nthey take, and that is all. It is clearly stated in the Bhagavad-gitii that to\nrealize Brahman identification is not all. Brahman identification may help\none become joyful without material attachment or detachment and to\nachieve the platform of equanimity, but after this stage, one has to take to\ndevotional service. When one takes to devotional service after being\nelevated to the platform of Brahman realization, he is then admitted into\nthe spiritual kingdom for permanent residence in association with the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead. That is the result of devotional service.\nThose who are devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead never fall\ndown like the impersonalists. Even if the devotees fall down, they remain\naffectionately attached to their Lordship. They can meet all kinds of\nobstacles on the path of devotional service, and freely, without any fear,\nthey can surmount such obstacles. Because of their surrender, they are\ncertain that Kr��a will always protect them. As it is promised by Kr��a in\nthe Bhagavad-gitii: \"My devotees are never vanquished.\"\n\"Our dear Lord, You have appeared in Your original unalloyed form,\nthe eternal form of goodness, for the welfare of all living entities within\nthis material world. Taking advantage of Your appearance, all of them\ncan now very easily understand the nature and form of the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead. Persons who belong to the four divisions of the\nsocial order (the brahmaciiris, the grhasthas, the viinaprasthas and the\nsannyiisis) can all take advantage of Your appearance.\n\"Dear Lord, husband of the goddess of fortune, devotees who are\ndovetailed in Your service do not fall down from their high position like\nthe impersonalists. Being protected by You, the devotees are able to\ntraverse over the heads of many of miiyii 's commanders-in-chief, who can\nalways put stumbling blocks on the path of liberation. My dear Lord, You\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0049": "Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Kr§�a in the W omh\n\n19\n\nappear in Your transcendental form for the benefit of the living entities so\nthat they can see You face to face and offer their worshipful sacrifices by\nritualistic performance of the Vedas, mystic meditation and devotional\nservice as recommended in the scriptures. Dear Lord, if You did not appear\nin Your eternal transcendental form, full of bliss and knowledge-which\ncan eradicate all kinds of speculative ignorance about Your position-then\nall people would simply speculate about You according to their respective\nmodes of material nature.\"\nThe appearance of Kr��a is the answer to all imaginative iconography of\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead. Everyone imagines the form of the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead according to his mode of material nature.\nIn the Brahma-sarhhitii it is said that the Lord is the oldest person. Therefore a section of religionists imagine that God must he very old, and therefore they depict a form of the Lord like a very old man. But in the same\nBrahma-sarhhitii, that is contradicted; although He is the oldest of all\nliving entities, He has His eternal form as a fresh youth. The exact words\nused in this connection in the Srimad-Bhiigavatam are vijiiiinam ajiiiinabhid\niipamiirjanam. Vijiiiinam means transcendental knowledge of the Supreme\nPersonality. Vijiiiinam is also experienced knowledge. Transcendental\nknowledge has to he accepted by the descending process of disciplic\nsuccession as Brahma presents the knowledge of Kr��a in the Brahmasarhhitii. Brahma-sarhhitii is vijiiiinam as realized by Brahma's transcendental experience, and in that way he presented the form and the pastimes\nof Kr��a in the transcendental abode. Ajiiiinabhid means that which can\nmatch all kinds of speculation. In ignorance, people are imagining the\nform of the Lord; sometimes He has no form and sometimes He has form,\naccording to their different imaginations. But the presentation of Kr��a in\nthe Brahma-sarhhitii is vijiiiinam-s,\nexperienced knowledge given\nby Lord Brahma and accepted by Lord Caitanya. There is no doubt about\nit. Sri Kr��a's form, Sri Kr��a's flute, Kr��a's color-everything is reality.\nHere it is said that this vijiiiinam is always defeating all kinds of speculative\nknowledge. \"Therefore, without Your appearing as Kr��a, as You are,\nneither ajiiiinabhid (nescience of speculative knowledge) nor vijiiiinam\nwould he realized. Ajiiiinabhid iipamiirjanam-by Your appearance the\nspeculative knowledge of ignorance will he vanquished and the real\nexperienced knowledge of authorities like Lord Brahma will he established.\nMen influenced by the three modes of material nature imagine their own\nGod according to the modes of material nature. In this way God is\npresented in various ways, hut Your appearance will establish what the real\nform of God is.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0050": "20\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nThe highest blunder committed by the impersonalist is t� think that\nwhen the incarnation of God comes, He accepts the form of matter\nin the modes of goodness. Actually the form of Kr�va or Narayava is\ntranscendental to any material idea. Even the greatest impersonalist,\nSari.karacarya, has admitted that niiriiya[�-a[t para 'vyak tiit: the material\ncreation is caused by the avyak ta impersonal manifestation of matter or\nthe nonphenomenal total reservation of matter, and Krwa is transcendental to that material conception. That is expressed in the SrimadBhii\nas suddha-sattva, or transcendental. He does not belong to the\nmaterial mode of goodness, and He is above the position of material\ngoodness. He belongs to the transcendental eternal status of bliss and\nknowledge.\n\"Dear Lord, when You appear in Your different incarnations, You take\ndifferent names and forms according to different situations. Lord Kr�va is\nYour name because You are all attractive; You are called Syamasundara\nbecause of Your transcendental beauty. Syiima means blackish, yet they\nsay that You are more beautiful than thousands of cupids. Kandarpa-kotikamaniya. Although You appear in a color which is compared to the\nblackish cloud, because You are transcendental Absolute, Your beauty is\nmany many times more attractive than the delicate body of Cupid.\nSometimes You are called Giridhari because You lifted the hill known as\nGovardhana. You are sometimes called Nandanandana or Vasudeva or\nDevakinandana because You appear as the son of Maharaj a Nanda or\nDevaki or Vasudeva. Impersonalists think that Your many names or forms\nare according to a particular type of work and quality because they accept\nYou from the position of a material observer.\n\"Our dear Lord, the way of understanding is not to study Your absolute\nnature, form and activities by mental speculation. One must engage himself in devotional service; then one can understand Your absolute nature,\ntranscendental form, name and quality. Actually only a person who has a\nlittle taste for the service of Your lotus feet can understand Your transcendental nature or form and quality. Others may go on speculating for\nmillions of years, but it is not possible for them to understand even a single\npart of Your actual position.\" In other words, the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead, Kr�va, cannot be understood by the nondevotees because\nthere is a curtain of Y ogamiiyii which covers Kr�va 's actual features. As\nconfirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii, niiham prakiisa[t sarvasya. The Lord says,\n\"I am not exposed to anyone and everyone.\" When Kr�va came, He was\nactually present on the battlefield of Kuruk�etra, and everyone saw Him.\nBut not everyone could understand that He was the Supreme Personality of\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0051": "Prayers by the Demigods for Lord KH�a in the Womb\n\n21\n\nGodhead. Still, everyone who died in His presence attained complete liberation from material bondage and was transferred to the spiritual world.\n\"0 Lord, the impersonalists or nondevotees cannot understand that\nYour name is identical with Your form.\" Since the Lord is Absolute,\nthere is no difference between His name and His actual form. In the\nmaterial world there is a difference between form and name. The mango\nfruit is different from the name of the mango. One cannot taste the mango\nfruit simply by chanting, \"Mango, mango, mango.\" But the devotee who\nknows that there is no difference between the name and the form of the\nLord chants Hare KH�a, Hare Kr��a, Kr��a Kr��a, Hare Hare, Hare Rama,\nHare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, and realizes that he is always in\nKr��a's company.\nFor persons who are not very advanced in absolute knowledge of the\nSupreme, Lord Kr��a exhibits His transcendental pastimes. They can\nsimply think of the pastimes of the Lord and get the full benefit. Since\nthere is no difference between the transcendental name and form of the\nLord, there is no difference between the transcendental pastimes and the\nform of the Lord. For those who are less intelligent (like women,\nlaborers or the mercantile class), the great sage Vyasadeva wrote Mahiibhiirata. In the Mahiibhiirata, Kr��a is present in His different activities.\nMahiibhiirata is history, and simply by studying, hearing and memorizing\nthe transcendental activities of Kr��a, the less intelligent can also gradually\nrise to the standard of pure devotees.\nThe pure devotees, who are always absorbed in the thought of the transcendental lotus feet of Kr��a and who are always engaged in devotional\nservice in full Krsna consciousness, are never to be considered to be in the\nmaterial world. �;I Riipa Gosvami has explained that those who are always\nengaged in Kr��a consciousness, by body, mind and activities, are to be\nconsidered liberated even within this body. This is also confirmed in the\nBhagavad-gitii: those who are engaged in the devotional service of the Lord\nhave already transcended the material position.\nKr��a appears to give a chance both to the devotees and nondevotees\nfor realization of the ultimate goal of life. The devotees get the direct\nchance to see Him and worship Him. Those who are not on that platform\nget the chance to become acquainted with His activities and thus become\nelevated to the same position.\n\"0 dear Lord,\" the demigods continued, \"You are unborn; therefore\nwe do not find any reason for Your appearance other than for Your\npleasurable pastimes.\" Although the reason for the appearance of the Lord\nis stated in the Bhagavad-gitii (He descends just to give protection to the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0052": "22\n\nK[�1,1a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ndevotee and vanquish the nondevotee), actually He descends for His\npleasure-meeting with the devotees, not really to vanquish the nondevotees. The nondevotees can be vanquished simply by material nature. \"The\naction and reaction of the external energy of material nature (creation,\nmaintenance and annihilation) are being carried on automatically. But\nsimply by taking shelter of Your holy name-because Your holy name and\nYour personality are nondifferent-the devotees are sufficiently protected.\"\nThe protection of the devotees and the annihilation of the nondevotees\nare actually not the business of the Supreme Personality of Godhead when\nHe descends. They are just for His transcendental pleasure. There cannot\nbe any other reason for His appearance.\n\"Our dear Lord, You are appearing as the best of the Yadu dynasty,\nand we are offering our respectful humble obeisance unto Your lotus feet.\nBefore this appearance, You also appeared as the fish incarnation, the\nhorse incarnation, the tortoise incarnation, the swan incarnation, as King\nRamacandra, as Parasurama, and as many other incarnations. You appeared just to protect the devotees, and we request You in Your present\nappearance as the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself to give us\nsimilar protection all over the three worlds and remove all obstacles for\nthe peaceful execution of our lives.\n\"Dear mother Devaki, within your womb is the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, appearing along with all His plenary extensions. He is the\noriginal Personality of Godhead appearing for our welfare. Therefore you\nshould not be afraid of your brother, the King of Bhoja. Your son Lord\nKr��a, who is the original Personality of Godhead, will appear for the\nprotection of the pious Yadu dynasty. The Lord is appearing not only\nalone but accompanied by His immediate plenary portion, Balarama.\"\nDevaki was very much afraid of her brother Kamsa because he had\nalready killed so many of her children. She used to remain very anxious\nabout Kr��a. In the Vi�p,u Puriir:w it is stated that in order to pacify\nDevaki, all the demigods, along with their wives, used to always visit her\nto encourage her not to be afraid that her son would be killed by Kamsa.\nKr��a, who was within her womb, was to appear not only to diminish the\nburden of the world but specifically to protect the interest of the Yadu\ndynasty, and certainly to protect Devaki and Vasudeva.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Chapter of Kr��a,\n\"Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Kr�ra in the Womb. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0053": "3 I Birth of Lord Krsna\n•\n\n• •\n\nAs stated in the Bhagavad-gitii, the Lord says that His appearance, birth,\nand activities are all transcendental, and one who understands them\nfactually becomes immediately eligible to be transferred to the spiritual\nworld. The Lord's appearance or birth is not like that of an ordinary man\nwho is forced to accept a material body according to his past deeds. The\nLord's appearance is explained in the Second Chapter : He appears out of\nHis own sweet pleasure. When the time was mature for the appearance of\nthe Lord, the constellations became very auspicious. The astrological\ninfluence of the star known as Rohi!ti was also predominant because this\nstar is considered to be very auspicious. Rohi!ti is under the direct supervision of Brahma. According to the astrological conclusion, besides the\nproper situation of the stars, there are auspicious and inauspicious moments due to the different situations of the different planetary systems.\nAt the time of Kr�!ta's birth, the planetary systems were automatically\nadjusted so that everything became auspicious.\nAt that time, in all directions, east, west, south, north, everywhere,\nthere was an atmosphere of peace and prosperity. There were auspicious\nstars visible in the sky, and on the surface in all towns and villages or\npasturing grounds and within the minds of everyone there were signs of\ngood fortune. The rivers were flowing full of waters, and lakes were\nbeautifully decorated with lotus flowers. The forests were full with\nbeautiful birds and peacocks. All the birds within the forests began to sing\nwith sweet voices, and the peacocks began to dance along with their\nconsorts. The wind blew very pleasantly, carrying the aroma of different\nflowers, and the sensation of bodily touch was very pleasing. At home, the\nbriihmarws, who were accustomed to offer sacrifices in the fire, found\ntheir homes very pleasant for offerings. Due to disturbances created by\nthe demoniac kings, the sacrificial .fire altar had been almost stopped in the\n\n23\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0054": "24\n\nKH�a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nhouses of briihma[�-as, but now they could find the opportunity to start the\nfire peacefully. Being forbidden to offer sacrifices, the briihma[�-aS were\nvery distressed in mind, intelligence and activities, but just on the point\nof Kf�l).a 's appearance, automatically their minds became full of joy\nbecause they could hear loud vibrations in the sky of transcendental sounds\nproclaiming the appearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\nThe denizens of the Gandharva and Kitinara planets began to sing, and\nthe denizens of Siddhaloka and the planets of the Oiral).aS began to offer\nprayers in the service of the Personality of Godhead. In the heavenly\nplanets, the angels along with their wives, accompanied by the Apsaras,\nbegan to dance.\nThe great sages and the demigods, being pleased, began to shower\nflowers. At the seashore, there was the sound of mild waves, and above the\nsea there were clouds in the sky which began to thunder very pleasingly.\nWhen things were adjusted like this, Lord Vi�l).U, who is residing within\nthe heart of every living entity, appeared in the darkness of night as the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead before Devaki, who also appeared as one\nof the demigoddesses. The appearance of Lord Vi�l).U at that time could\nbe compared with the full moon in the sky as it rises on the eastern horizon. The objection may be raised that, since Lord Kr�-9a appeared on the\neighth day of the waning moon, there could be no rising of the full moon.\nIn answer to this it may be said that Lord Kr�-9a appeared in the dynasty\nwhich is in the hierarchy of the moon; therefore, although the moon was\nincomplete on that night, because of the Lord's appearance in the dynasty\nwherein the moon is himself the original person, the moon was in an\noverjoyous condition, so by the grace of Kr�-9a he could appear just as a\nfull moon.\nIn an astronomical treatise by the name Khamiinikya, the constellations\nat the time of the appearance of Lord Krwa are very nicely described. It is\nconfirmed that the child born at that auspicious moment was the Supreme\nBrahman or the Absolute Truth.\nVasudeva saw that wonderful child born as a baby with four hands,\nholding conchshell, club, disc, and lotus flower, decorated with the mark\nof Srivatsa, wearing the jeweled necklace of kaustubha stone, dressed in\nyellow silk, appearing dazzling like a bright blackish cloud, wearing a\nhelmet bedecked with the vaidiirya stone, valuable bracelets, earrings and\nsimilar other ornaments all over His body and an abundance of hair on\nHis head. Due to the extraordinary features of the child, Vasudeva was\nstruck with wonder. How could a newly born child be so decorated? He\ncould therefore understand that Lord . Kf�l).a had now appeared, and he\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0055": ".\n\"Dear mother Devaki, within your wom b is the Supreme Personality of Godhead . . . \"\n( p. 22 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0056": "\"Therefore I request You to conceal this fou r-armed form of Your Lordshi p which\nholds the four symbols of Vi��m \" (p. 29)\n. . .\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0057": "Lord Krwa played on the lap of D evak1 just like an ordinary child. (p. 30)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0058": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0059": "The j oyous vibrations at Kr�!la 's birth ceremony could be heard in all the pasturing grounds\nand houses. (p. 38)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0060": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0061": "\"Oh child, leave me, leave me ! \" ( p . 46)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0062": "The night was very dark, but Vasudeva could see everything just as in the sunlight.\n( p. 30)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0063": "Birth of Lord Kr��a\n\n25\n\nbecame overpowered by the occasion. Vasudeva very humbly wondered\nthat although he was an ordinary living entity conditioned by material\nnature and was externally imprisoned by Kamsa, the all-pervading Personality of Godhead , Vi�J)U or Kr��ta, was appearing as a child in his home,\nex;actly in His original position. No earthly child is born with four hands\ndecorated with ornaments and nice clothing, fully equipped with all the\nsigns of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Over and over again,\nVasudeva glanced at his child, and he considered how to celebrate this\nauspicious moment : \"Generally, when a male child is born,\" he thought ,\n\"people observe the occasion with j ubilant celebrations, and in my home,\nalthough I am imprisoned , the Supreme Personality of Godhead has taken\nbirth. How many millions of millions of times should I be prepared to\nobserve this auspicious ceremony ! \"\nWhen Vasudeva, who is also called A nakadundubhi, was looking at his\nnewborn baby, he was so happy that he wanted to give many thousands of\ncows in charity to the briihmaras. According to the Vedic system, whenever there is an auspicious ceremony in the k§atriya king's palace, the\nking gives many things in charity. Cows decorated with golden ornaments\nare delivered to the briihmar;ws and sages. Vasudeva wanted to perform a\ncharitable ceremony to celebrate Kf�J)a's appearance, but because he was\nshackled within the walls of Kamsa 's prison, this was not possible. Instead,\nwithin his mind he gave thousands of cows to the briihmaras.\nWhen Vasudeva was convinced that the newborn child was the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead Himself, he bowed down with folded hafl.ds and\nbegan to offer Him prayers. At that time Vasudeva was in the transcendental position , and he became completely free from all fear of Kamsa .\nThe newborn baby was also flashing His effulgence within the room in\nwhich He appeared.\nVasudeva then began to offer his prayers. \"My dear Lord , I can understand who Y ou are. Y ou are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the\nSupersoul of all living entities and the Absolute Truth. You have appeared\nin Y our own eternal form which is directly perceived by us. I understand\nthat because I am afraid of Kamsa, Y ou have appeared j ust to deliver me\nfrom that fear. You do not belong to this material world ; You are the\nsame person who brings about the cosmic manifestation simply by glancing\nover material nature. \"\nOne may argue that the Supreme Personality o f Godhead , who creates\nthe whole cosmic manifestation simply by His glance, cannot come within\nthe womb of D evaki, the wife of Vasudeva. To eradicate this argument ,\nVasudeva said , \"My dear Lord , it is not a very wonderful thing that You\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0064": "26\n\nKr�a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nappear within the womb of Devaki because the creation was also made in\nthat way. You were lying in the Causal Ocean as Maha-Vi�9u, and by Your\nbreathing process, innumerable universes came into existence. Then You\nentered into each of the universes as Garbhodakasayi Vi�9u. Then again\nYou expanded Yourself as K�irodakasayi Vi�9u and entered into the\nhearts of all living entities and entered even within the atoms. Therefore\nYour entrance in the womb of Devaki is understandable in the same way.\nYou appear to have entered, but You are simultaneously all-pervading. We\ncan understand Your entrance and nonentrance from material examples.\nThe total material energy remains intact even after being divided into\nsixteen elements. The material body is nothing but the combination of the\nfive gross elements-namely earth, water, fire, air and ether. Whenever there\nis a material body, it appears that such elements are newly created,\nbut actually the elements are always existing outside of the body. Similarly,\nalthough You appear as a child in the womb of Devaki, You are also\nexisting ·outside. You are always in Your abode, but still You can simultaneously expand Yourself into millions of forms.\n\"One has to understand Your appearance with great intelligence because\nthe material energy is also emanating from You. You are the original\nsource of the material energy, just as the sun is the source of the sunshine.\nThe sunshine cannot cover the sun globe, nor can the material energybeing an emanation from You-cover You. You appear to be in the three\nmodes of material energy, but actually the three modes of material energy\ncannot cover You. This is understood by the highly intellectual philosophers. In other words, although You appear to be within the material\nenergy, You are never covered by it.\"\nWe hear from the Vedic version that the Supreme Brahman exhibits His\neffulgence, and therefore everything becomes illuminated. We can understand from Brahma-sarhhitii that the brahmajyoti, or the Brahman effulgence, emanates from the body of the Supreme Lord. And from the\nBrahman effulgence, all creation takes place. It is further stated in the\nBhagavad-g itii that the Lord is also the support of the Brahman effulgence.\nOriginally He is the root cause of everything. But persons who are less\nintelligent think that when the Supreme Personality of Godhead comes\nwithin this material world, He accepts the material qualities. Such conclusions are not very mature, but are made by the less intelligent.\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead is directly and indirectly existing\neverywhere; He is outside this material creation, and He is also within it.\nHe is within this material creation not only as Garbhodakasayi Vi§9u; He\nis also within the atom. Existence is due to His presence. Nothing can be\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0065": "Birth of Lord Kf��a\n\n27\n\nseparated from His existence. In the Vedic injunction we find that the\nSupreme Soul or the root cause of everything has to be searched out\nbecause nothing exists independent of the Supreme Soul. Therefore the\nmaterial manifestation is also a transformation of His potency. Both inert\nmatter and the living force-soul-are emanations from Him. Only the\nfoolish conclude that when the Supreme Lord appears He accepts the\nconditions of matter. Even if He appears to have accepted the material\nbody, He is still not subjected to any material condition. Kr��a has therefore appeared and defeated all imperfect conclusions about the appearance\nand disappearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\n'\"My Lord, Your appearance, existence and disappearance are beyond\nthe influence of the material qualities. Because Your Lordship is the\ncontroller of everything and the resting place of the Supreme Brahman,\nthere is nothing inconceivable or contradictory in You. As You have said,\nmaterial nature works under Your superintendence. It is just like government officers working under the orders of the chief executive. The\ninfluence of subordinate activities cannot affect You. The Supreme\nBrahman and all phenomena are existing within You, and all the activities\nof material nature are controlled by Your Lordship.\n\"You are called suklam. Suklam or 'whiteness' is the symbolic representation of the Absolute Truth because it is unaffected by the material\nqualities. Lord Brahma is called rakta, or red, because Brahma represents\nthe qualities of passion for creation. Darkness is entrusted to Lord Siva\nbecause he annihilates the cosmos. The creation, annihilation and maintenance of this cosmic manifestation is conducted by Your potencies, yet\nYou are always unaffected by those qualities. As confirmed in the Vedas,\nHarir hi nirgUJ;w[l. siik§iit: the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always\nfree from all material qualities. It is also said that the qualities of passion\nand ignorance are nonexistent in the person of the Supreme Lord.\n\"My Lord, You are the supreme controller, the Personality of Godhead,\nthe supreme great, maintaining the order of this cosmic manifestation. And\nin spite of Your being the supreme controller, You have so kindly appeared\nin my home. The purpose of Your appearance is to kill the followers of the\ndemonic rulers of the world who are in the dress of royal princes but are\nactually demons. I am sure that You will kill all of them and their\nfollowers and soldiers.\n\"I understand that You have appeared to kill the uncivilized Kamsa and\nhis followers. But knowing that You were to appear to kill him and his followers, he has already killed so many of Your predecessors, elder brothers.\nNow he is simply awaiting the news of Your birth. As soon as he hears about\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0066": "28\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nit, he will immediately appear with all kinds of weapons to kill You . \"\nAfter this prayer of Vasudeva, D evaki, the mother o f Kf§l)a, offered her\nprayers. She was very frightened because of her brother's atrocities. D evaki\nsaid \"My dear Lord, Your eternal forms, like Narayal)a, Lord Rama,\nS e�a, V araha, Nrsimha, Vamana, Baladeva, and millions of similar incarnations emanating from Vi�l)U , are described in the Vedic literature as\noriginal. You are original because all Your forms as incarnations are\noutside of this material creation. Your form was existing before this cosmic\nmanifestation was created. Your forms are eternal and all-pervading. They\nare self-effulgent, changeless and uncontaminated by the material qualities.\nSuch eternal forms are ever-cognizant and full of bliss ; they are situated\nin transcendental goodness and are always engaged in different pastimes.\nYou are not limited to a particular form only ; all such transcendental\neternal forms are self-sufficient . I can understand that You are the\nSupreme Lord Vi§l)U .\n\"After many millions of years, when Lord Brahma comes to the end of\nhis life, the annihilation of the cosmic manifestation takes place. At that\ntime the five elements-namely earth, water, fire, air and ether-enter into\nthe mahat-tattva. The mahat-tattva again enters, by the force of time, into\nthe nonmanifested total material energy ; the total material energy enters\ninto the energetic pradhiina, and the pradhiina enters into You . Therefore\nafter the annihilation of the whole cosmic manifestation, You alone\nremain with Your transcendental name, form , quality and paraphernalia.\n\"My Lord , I offer my respectful obeisances unto You because You are\nthe director of the unmanifested total energy, and the ultimate reservoir\nof the material nature. My Lord , the whole cosmic manifestation is under\nthe influence of time, beginning from the moment up to the duration of\nthe year. All act under Your di rection. You are the original director of\neverything and the reservoir of all potent energies.\n\"Therefore my Lord , I request You to save me from the cruel hands of\nthe son of Ugrasena, Kamsa. I am praying to Your Lordship to please\nrescue me from this fearful condition because You are always ready to\ngive protection to Your servitors. \" The Lord has confirmed this statement\nin the Bhagavad-git'ii by assuring Arj una, \"You may declare to the world ,\nMy devotee shall never be vanquished. \"\nWhile thus praying t o the Lord for rescue, mother D evaki expressed her\nmotherly affection : \"I understand that this transcendental form is generally perceived in meditation by the great sages, but I am still afraid because\nas soon as Kamsa understands that You have appeared , he might harm\nYou. So I request that for the time being You become invisible to our\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0067": "Birth of Lord Kr�tta\n\n29\n\nmaterial eyes. \" In other words, she requested the Lord to assume the form\nof an ordinary child. \"My only cause of fear from my brother Kamsa is due\nto Your appearance. My Lord Madhusiidana, Kamsa may know that You\nare already born. Therefore I request You to conceal this four-armed form\nof Your Lordship which holds the four symbols of Vi�ttu-namely the\nconchshell, the disc , the club and the lotus flower. My dear Lord , at the\nend of the annihilation of the cosmic manifestation, You put the whole\nuniverse within Your abdomen ; still by Your unalloyed mercy You have\nappeared in my womb . I am surprised that You imitate the activities of\nordinary human beings j ust to please Your devotee.\"\nOn hearing the prayers of Devaki, the Lord replied , \"My dear mother,\nin the millennium of Svayambhuva Manu , My father Vasudeva was living\nas one of the Prajiipatis, and his name at that time was Sutapa, and you\nwere his wife named Prsni. At that time , when Lord Brahma was desiring\nto increase the population, he requested you to generate offspring. You\ncontrolled your senses and performed severe austerities. By practicing the\nbreathing exercise of the yoga system , both you and your husband could\ntolerate all the influences of the material laws : the rainy season, the onslaught of the wind , and the scorching heat of the sunshine. You also\nexecuted all religious principles. In this way you were able to cleanse your\nheart and control the influence of material law. In executing your austerity, you used to eat only the leaves of the trees which fell to the ground.\nThen with steady mind and controlled sex drive, you worshiped Me,\ndesiring some wonderful benediction from Me. Both of you practiced\nsevere austerities for 1 2 ,000 years, by the calculation of the demigods.\nDuring that time, your mind was always absorbed in Me. When you were\nexecuting devotional service and always thinking of Me within your heart ,\nI was very much pleased with you . 0 sinless mother, your heart is therefore\nalways pure. At that time also I appeared before you in this form j ust to\nfulfill your desire , and I asked you to ask whatever you desired. At that\ntime you wished to have Me born as your son. Although you saw Me\npersonally, instead of asking for your complete liberation from the material\nbondage, under the influence of My energy , you asked Me to become your\nson.\"\nIn other words, the Lord selected His mother and father-namely Prsni\nand Sutapa-specifically to appear in the material world. Whenever the\nLord comes as a human being, He must have someone as a mother and\nfather, so He selected Prsni and Sutapa perpetually as His mother and\nfather. And on account of this, both Prsni and Sutapa could not ask the\nLord for liberation. Liberation is not so important as the transcendental\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0068": "30\n\nKr�l)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nloving service of the Lord. The Lord could have awarded Prsni and Sutapa\nimmediate liberation, but He preferred to keep them within this material\nworld for His different appearances, as will be explained in the following\nverses. On receiving the benediction from the Lord to become His father\nand mother, both Prsni and Sutapa returned from the activities of austerity\nand lived as husband and wife in order to beget a child who was the\nSupreme Lord Himself.\nIn due course of time Prsni became pregnant and gave birth to the child.\nThe Lord spoke to Devaki and Vasudeva: \"At that time My name was\nPrsnigarbha. In the next millennium also you took birth as Aditi and\nKasyapa, and I became your child of the name U pendra. At that time My\nform was just like a dwarf, and for this reason I was known as Vamanadeva.\nI gave you the benediction that I would take birth as your son three times.\nThe first time I was known as Prsnigarbha, born of Prsni and Sutapa, the\nnext birth I was U pendra born of Aditi and Kasyapa, and now for the\nthird time I am born as Kr��a from you, Devaki and Vasu?eva. I appeared\nin this Viwu form just to convince you that I am the same Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead again taken birth. I could have appeared just like\nan ordinary child, but in that way you would not believe that I, the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead, have taken birth in your womb. My dear\nfather and mother, you have therefore raised Me many times as your\nchild, with great affection and love, and I am therefore very pleased and\nobliged to you. And I assure you that this time you shall go back to home,\nback to Godhead, on account of your perfection in your mission. I know\nyou are very concerned about Me and afraid of Kamsa. Therefore I order\nyou to take me immediately to Gokula and replace Me with the daughter\nwho has just been born to y asoda.\"\nHaving spoken thus in the presence of His father and mother, the\nLord turned Himself into an ordinary child and remained silent.\nBeing ordered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva\nattempted to take his son from the delivery room, and exactly at that\ntime, a daughter was born of Nanda and Y asoda. She was Yogamiiyii, the\ninternal potency of the Lord. By the influence of this internal potency,\nYogamiiyii, all the residents of Kamsa's palace, especially the doorkeepers,\nwere overwhelmed with deep sleep, and all the palace doors opened, although they were barred and shackled with iron chains. The night was\nvery dark, but as soon as Vasudeva took Kr��a on his lap and went out, he\ncould see everything just as in the sunlight.\nIn the Caitan_ya-caritamrta it is said that Kr��a is just like sunlight, and\nwherever there is Kr��a, the illusory energy, which is compared to darkness,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0069": "Birth of Lord Krsna\n.\n\n. .\n\n31\n\ncannot remain. When Vasudeva was carrying Kr�v.a, the darkness of the\nnight disappeared. All the prison doors automatically opened. At the\nsame time there was a thunder in the sky and severe rainfall. While\nVasudeva was carrying his son Kr�v.a in the falling rain, . Lord Se�a in the\ns�ape of a serpent spread his hood over the head of Vasudeva so that he\nwould not be hampered by the rainfall. Vasudeva came onto the bank of\nthe Yamuna and saw that the water of the Yamuna was roaring with waves\nand that the whole span was full of foam. Still, in that furious feature, the\nriver gave passage to Vasudeva to cross, just as the great Indian Ocean gave\na path to Lord Rama when He was bridging over the gulf. In this way\nVasudeva crossed the River Yamuna. On the other side, he went to the place\nof Nanda Maharaja situated in Gokula, where he saw that all the cowherd\nmen were fast asleep. He took the opportunity of silently entering into\nthe house of Yasoda, and without difficulty he replaced his son, taking\naway the baby girl newly born in the house of Yasoda. Then, after entering\nthe house very silently and exchanging the boy with the girl, he again\nreturned to the prison of Kamsa and silently put the girl on the lap of\nDevaki. He again clamped the shackles on himself so that Kamsa could\nnot recognize that so many things had happened.\nMother Yasoda understood that a child was born of her, but because\nshe was very tired from the labor of childbirth, she was fast asleep. When\nshe awoke, she could not remember whether she had given birth to a male\nor female child.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Third Chapter of Krwa,\n\"Birth of Lord K[§{W. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0070": "4 I Kamsa Begins His Persecutions\nAfter Vasudeva adjusted all the doors and gates, the gatekeepers awoke\nand heard the newborn child crying. Kamsa was waiting to hear the news\nof the child's birth, and the gatekeepers immediately approached him and\ninformed him that the child was born. At that time, Kamsa got up from\nhis bed very quickly and exclaimed, \" Now the cruel death of my life is\nborn ! \" Kamsa became perplexed now that his death was approaching, and\nhis hair stood on end . Immediately he proceeded toward the place where\nthe child was born.\nDevaki, on seeing her brother approaching, prayed in a very meek\nattitude to Kamsa : \" My dear brother, please do not kill this female child.\nI promise that this child will be the wife of your son ; therefore don't kill\nher . You are not to be killed by any female child. That was the omen. You\nare to be killed by a male child, so please do not kill her. My dear brother,\nyou have killed so many of my children who were j ust born , shining as\nthe sun . That is not your fault . You have been advised by demoniac friends\nto kill my children . But now I beg you to excuse this girl. Let her live as\nmy daughter.\"\nKamsa was so cruel that he did not listen to the beautiful prayers of his\nsister Devaki. He forcibly grabbed the newborn child to rebuke his sister\nand attempted to dash her on the stone mercilessly. This is a graphic\nexample of a cruel brother who could sacrifice all relationships for the\nsake of personal gratification. But immediately the child slipped out of\nhis hands, went up in the sky and appeared with eight arms as the younger\nsister of Vi§J!U . She was decorated with a nice dress and flower garlands\nand ornaments ; in her eight hands she held a bow, lancet, arrows, bell,\nconchshell, disc , club and shield .\nSeeing the appearance of the child (who was actually the goddess\nDurga), all the demigods from different planets like Siddhaloka, Cira'!a-\n\n32\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0071": "Kamsa Begins His Persecutions\n\n33\n\nloka, Gandharvaloka, Apsaraloka, Kinnaraloka, and Uragaloka presented\nher articles and began to offer their respective prayers. From above, the\ngoddess addressed Kamsa: \"You rascal, how can you kill me? The child\nwho will kill you is already born before me somewhere within this world.\nDon't be so cruel to your poor sister.\" After this appearance, the goddess\nDurga became known by various names in various parts of the world.\nAfter hearing these words, Kamsa became very much overwhelmed with\nfear. Ou of pity, he immediately released Vasudeva and Devaki from the\nbondage of their shackles and very politely began to address them. He said,\n\"My dear sister and brother-in-law, ! have acted just like a demon in killing\nmy own nephews. I have given up all consideration of our intimate relationship. I do not know what will be the result of these acts of mine.\nProbably I shall be sent to the hell where killers of the briihmaT}aS go. I am\nsurprised, however, that the celestial prophecy has not come true. False\npropaganda is not found only in the human society. Now it appears that\neven the celestial denizens speak lies. Because I believed in the words of\nthe celestial denizens, I have committed so many sins by killing the children of my sister. My dear Vasudeva and Devaki, you are both very great\nsouls. I have nothing to instruct you, but still I request that you not be\nsorry for the death of your children. Every one of us is under the control\nof superior power, and that superior power does not allow us to remain\ntogether. We are bound to be separated from our friends and relatives in\ndue course of time. But we must know for certain that even after the\ndisappearance of the different material bodies, the soul remains intact\neternally. For example, there are many pots made of earthly clay, and they\nare prepared and also broken. But in spite of this, the earth remains as it is\nperpetually. Similarly, the bodies of the soul under different conditions\nare made and destroyed, but the spirit soul remains eternally. So there is\nnothing to lament over. Everyone should understand that this material\nbody is different from the spirit soul, and so long as one does not come to\nthat understanding, he is sure to accept the processes of transmigration\nfrom one body to another. My dear -sister Devaki, you are so gentle and\nkind. Please excuse me-don't be aggrieved by the death of your children,\nwhich I have caused. Actually this was not done by me because all these\nare predestined activities. One has to act according to the predestined\nplan, even unwillingly. People misunderstand that with the end of the\nbody, the self dies, or they think that one can kill another living entity. All\nthese misconceptions oblige one to accept the conditions of material\nexistence. In other words, as long as one is not firmly convinced of the eternality of the soul, one is subjected to the tribulation of being killer and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0072": "34\n\nKr�J)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nkilled. My dear sister D\nand brother-in-law Vasudeva, kindly excuse the\natrocities I have committed against you. I am very poor-hearted, and you\nare so great-hearted, so take compassion upon me and excuse me.\"\nWhile Kamsa was speaking to his brother-in-law and sister, tears flowed\nfrom his eyes and he fell down at their feet. Believing the words of D urgadevi, whom he had tried to kill, Kamsa immediately released his brotherin-law and sister. He personally unlocked the iron shackles and very sympathetically showed his friendship, just like a family member.\nWhen D evaki saw her brother so repentent, she also became pacified\nand forgot all his atrocious activities against her children. Vasudeva also,\nforgetting all past incidents, spoke smilingly with his brother-in-law.\nVasudeva told Kamsa, \"My dear fortunate brother-in-law, what you are\nsaying about the material body and the soul is correct. Every living entity\nis born ignorant, understanding this material body to be his self. This\nconception of life is due to ignorance, and on the basis of this ignorance\nwe create enmity or friendship . Lamentation, jubilation, fearfulness, envy,\ngreed, illusion and madness are different features of our material concept\nof life. A person influenced like this engages in enmity due only to the\nmaterial body. Being engaged in such activities, we forget our eternal\nrelationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\"\nVasudeva took the opportunity of Kam sa's benevolence and informed\nhim that his atheistic activities were also due to this misconception of life\n-namely taking the material body to be the self. When Vasudeva talked\nwith Kamsa in such an illuminating way, Kamsa became very pleased, and\nhis guilt for killing his nephews subdued. With the permission of his sister\nD evaki and brother-in-law Vasudeva, he returned to his home with a\nrelieved mind.\nBut the next day Kamsa called all his counsellors together and narrated\nto them all the incidents that had happened the night before. All the\ncounsellors of Kamsa were demons and eternal enemies of the demigods, so\nthey became depressed upon hearing their master speak of the night's\nevents. And although they were not very much experienced or learned,\nthey began to give instructions to Kamsa as follows: \"Dear sir, let us now\nmake arrangements to kill all children who were born within the last ten\ndays in all towns, countries, villages and pasturing grounds. Let us execute\nthis plan indiscriminately. We think that the demigods cannot do anything\nagainst us if we perform these atrocities. They are always afraid of fighting\nwith us, and even if they wish to check our activities, they will not dare to\ndo so. Because of the immeasurable strength of your bow, they fear you.\nIndeed, we have practical experience that whenever you stood to fight\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0073": "Karilsa Begins His Persecutions\n\n35\n\nwith them and began to shower your arrows on them, they immediately\nbegan to flee in all directions just to save their lives. Many of the demigods\nwere unable to fight with you, and they immediately surrendered themselves unto you by opening their turbans and the flag on their heads. With\nfolded hands they begged you to spare them and said, 'My lord, we are all\nafraid of your strength. Please release us from this dangerous fight.' We\nhave also seen many times that you would never kill such surrendered\nfighters when they were all fearful, their bows, arrows and chari�ts\nbroken, forgetful of their military activities and unable to fight with you.\nSo actually we have nothing to fear from these demigods. They are very\nproud of being great fighters in peacetime outside of the warfield, but\nactually they cannot show any talent or military power on the warfield.\nAlthough Lord Vi��u, Lord Siva and Lord Brahma are always ready to\nhelp the demigods headed by Indra, we have no reason to be afraid of\nthem. As far as Lord Vi��u is concerned, He has already hidden Himself\nwithin the hearts of all living entities, and He cannot come out. As far as\nLord Siva is concerned, he has renounced all activities; he has already\nentered into the forest. And Lord Brahma is always engaged in different\ntypes of austerities and meditation. And what to speak of Indra-he is a\nstraw in comparison to your strength. Therefore we have nothing to fear\nfrom all these demigods. But we must not neglect them because the demigods are our determined enemies. We must be careful to protect ourselves.\nTo root them out from their very existence, we should just engage ourselves in your service and be always ready for your command.\"\nThe demons continued to say: \"If there is some disease in the body\nwhich is neglected, it becomes incurable. Similarly, when one is not careful about restraining the senses and lets them loose, it is very difficult to\ncontrol them at all. Therefore, we must always be very careful of the\ndemigods before they get too strong to be subdued. The foundation of\nstrength of the demigods is Lord Vi��u, because the ultimate goal of all\nreligious principles is to satisfy Him. The Vedic injunctions, the briihmarws,\nthe cows, austerities, sacrifices, performances of charity and distribution\nof wealth are all for the satisfaction of Lord Vi��u. So let us immediately\nbegin by killing all the briihma[tas who are in charge of the Vedic knowledge and the great sages who are in charge of sacrificial ritualistic performances. Let us kill all the cows which are the source of butter which is\nso necessary for performing sacrifices. Please give us your permission to\nkill all these creatures.\"\nActually the limbs of the transcendental body of Lord Vi��u are the\nbriihmm;ws, the cows, Vedic knowledge, austerity, truthfulness, sense and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0074": "36\n\nKf�l)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nmind control, faithfulness, charity, tolerance and performance of sacrifices. Lord Vi��u is situated in everyone's heart and is the leader of all\ndemigods, including Lord Siva and Lord Brahma. \"We think that to kill\nLord Vi��u is to persecute the great sages and brahmarws, \" said the\nministers.\nThus being advised by the demonic ministers, Kamsa, who was from the\nvery beginning the greatest rascal, decided to persecute the briihmarws · and\nVai��avas, being entrapped by the shackles of all-devouring, eternal time.\nHe ordered the demons to harass all kinds of saintly persons, and then he\nentered his house. The adherents of Kamsa were all influenced by the\nmodes of passion as well as illusioned by the modes of ignorance, and\ntheir only business was to create enmity with saintly persons. Such\nactivities can only reduce the duration of life. The demons accelerated the\nprocess and invited their deaths as soon as possible. The result of persecuting saintly persons is not only untimely death. The act is so offensive\nthat the actor also gradually loses his beauty, his fame and his religious\nprinciples, and his promotion to higher planets is also checked. Driven by\nvarious kinds of mental concoctions, the demons diminish all kinds of\nwelfare. An offense at the lotus feet of the devotees and briihmaras is a\ngreater offense than that committed at the lotus feet of the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead. Thus a godless civilization becomes the source of\nall calamities.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Fourth Chapter of Kr§�a,\n\"Karhsa Begins His Persecutions. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0075": "Although Kr��a was the real son of Vasudeva and D evaki, because of\nKamsa 's atrocious activities Vasudeva could not enj oy the birth ceremony\nof his son. But Nand a Maharaj a, the foster father, celebrated the birth\nceremony of Kr��a very j oyfully. The next day, it was declared that a male\nchild was born of Yasoda. According to Vedic custom, Nanda Maharaj a\ncalled for learned astrologers and briihmm:ws to perform the birth ceremony. After the birth of a child, the astrologers calculate the moment of\nthe birth and make a horoscope of the child 's future life. Another ceremony takes place after the birth of the child : the family members take\nbaths, cleanse themselves and decorate themselves with ornaments and\ngarlands ; then they come before the child and the astrologer to hear of the\nfuture life of the child. Nanda Maharaj a and other memb.ers of the family\ndressed and sat down in front of the birth place. All the briihmarws who\nwere assembled there on this occasion chanted auspicious mantras, according to the rituals, while the astrologers performed the birth ceremony.\nAll the demigods are also worshiped on this occasion, as well as the forefathers of the family . Nanda Maharaj a distributed 200 ,000 well decorated,\ndressed and ornamented cows to the briihmaras. He not only gave cows in\ncharity, but hills of grains, decorated with golden-bor d ered garments and\nmany ornaments.\nIn the material world we possess riches and wealth in many ways, but\nsometimes not in very honest and pious ways, because that is the nature of\naccumulating wealth. According to Vedic inj unction, therefore , such wealth\nshould be purified by giving cows and gold in charity to the briihmaras. A\nnewborn child is also purified by giving grains in charity to the briihmaras.\nIn this material world it is to be understood that we are always living in a\ncontaminated state. We therefore have to purify the duration of our lives,\nour possession of wealth and ourselves. The duration of life is purified by\n\n37\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0076": "38\n\nKf�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ntaking daily b ath and cleansing the body inside and outside and accepting\nthe ten kinds of purificatory processes. By austerities, by worship of the\nLord, and by distribution of charity, we can purify the possession of\nwealth. We can purify ourselves by studying the Vedas, by striving for\nself-realization and by understanding the Supreme Absolute Truth. It is\ntherefore stated in the Vedic literature that by birth everyone is born a\nsiidra, and by accepting the purificatory process one becomes twice-born.\nBy studies of the Vedas one can become vipra, which is the preliminary\nqualification for becoming a brahmm;w. When one understands the Absolute Truth in perfection, he is called a brahmarw. And when the brahma[l-a\nreaches further perfection, he becomes a Vai�l)-ava or a devotee.\nIn that ceremony, all the brahma[l-aS assembled began to chant different\nkinds of Vedic mantras to invoke all good fortune for the child. There are\n\ndifferent kinds of chanting known as siita, miigadha, vandi, and virudavali. Along with this chanting of mantras and songs, bugles and kettle­\n\ndrums sounded outside the house. On this occasion, the joyous vibrations\ncould be heard in all the pasturing grounds and all the houses. Within and\noutside of the houses there were varieties of artistic paintings, done with\nrice pulp, and scented water was sprinkled everywhere, even on the roads\nand streets. Ceilings and roofs were decorated with different kinds of flags,\nfestoons and green leaves. The gates were made of green leaves and flowers.\nAll the cows, bulls and calves were smeared with a mixture of oil and\nturmeric and painted with minerals like red oxide, yellow clay and manganese. They wore garlands of peacock feathers, and were covered with nice\ncolored dresses and gold necklaces.\nWhen all the ecstatic cowherd men heard that Nanda Maharaja, father of\nKr�l)-a, was celebrating the b irth ceremony of his son, they became spontaneously joyful. They dressed themselves with very costly garments and\nornamented their bodies with different kinds of earrings and necklaces and\nwore great turbans on their heads. After dressing themselves in this gorgeous way, they took various kinds of presentations and thus approached\nthe house of Nanda Maharaja.\nAs soon as they heard that mother Yasoda had given birth to a child, all\nthe cowherd women became overwhelmed with joy, and they also dressed\nthemselves with various kinds of costly garments and ornaments and\nsmeared scented cosmetics on their bodies.\nAs the dust on the lotus flower exhibits the exquisite beauty of the\nflower, all the gop�s (cowherd girls) applied the dust of kunkuma on their\nlotus-like faces. These beautiful gopis took their different presentations\nand very soon reached the house of Maharaja Nanda. Overburdened with\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0077": "Meeting of Nanda and Vasudeva\n\n39\n\ntheir heavy hips and swollen breasts, the gopis could not proceed very\nquickly towards the house of Nanda Maharaja, but out of ecstatic love for\nKr��a they began to proceed as quickly as possible. Their ears were decorated with pearl rings, their necks were decorated with jewel padlocks,\ntheir lips and eyes were decorated with different kinds of lipstick and\nointment, and their hands were decorated with nice golden bangles. As\nthey were very hastily passing over the stone road, the flower garlands\nwhich were decorating their bodies fell to the ground, and it appeared that\na shower of flowers was falling from the sky. From the movement of the\ndifferent kinds of ornaments on their bodies, they were looking still more\nbeautiful. In this way, they all reached the house of N anda-Yasoda and\nblessed the child: \"D ear child, You live long just to protect us.\" While\nthey were blessing child Kr��a in this way, they offered a mixture of\nturmeric powder with oil, yogurt, milk and water. They not only sprinkled\nthis mixture on the body of child Kr��a but on all other persons who were\npresent there. Also on that auspicious occasion, there were different bands\nof expert musicians playing.\nWhen the cowherd men saw the pastimes of the cowherd women, they\nbecame very joyful, and in response they also began to throw yogurt,\nmilk, clarified butter and water upon the bodies of the gopis. Then both\nparties began to throw butter on each other's bodies. Nanda Maharaja was\nalso very happy to see the pastimes of the cowherd men and women, and\nhe became very liberal in giving charity to the different singers who were\nassembled there. Some singers were reciting great verses from the Upani$ads\nand Puriirws, some were glorifying the family ancestors, and some were\nsinging very sweet songs. There were also many learned briihmaftaS present,\nand Nanda Maharaja, being very satisfied on this occasion, began to give\nthem different kinds of garments, ornaments, and cows in charity.\nIt is very important to note in this connection how wealthy the inhabitants of Vrndavana were simply by raising cows. All the cowherd men\nbelonged to the vaisya community, and their business was to protect the\ncows and cultivate crops. By their dress and ornaments and by their behavior, it appears that although they were in a small village, they still were\nrich in material possessions. They possessed such an abundance of various\nkinds of milk products that they were throwing butter lavishly on each\nother's bodies without restriction. Their wealth was in milk, yogurt,\nclarified butter and many other milk products, and by trading their agricultural products, they were rich in various kinds of jewelry, ornaments\nand costly dresses. Not only did they possess all these things, but they\ncould give them away in charity, as did Nanda Maharaja.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0078": "40\n\nKH�a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nThus Nanda Maharaja, the foster father of Lord Kn�a, began to\nsatisfy the desires of all the men assembled there. He respectively received\nthem and gave them in charity whatever they desired. The learned\nbriihmar-as, who had no other source of income, were completely\ndependent of the vaisya and k§atriya communities for their maintenance,\nand they received gifts on such festive occasions as birthdays, marriages,\netc. While Nanda Maharaja was worshiping Lord Vi��u on this occasion\nand was trying to satisfy all the people there, his only desire was that the\nnewborn child Kn�a would be happy. Nanda Maharaja had no knowledge\nthat this child was the origin of Viwu, but he was praying to Lord Vi��u\nto protect Him.\nRohi�1idevi, mother of Balarama, was the most fortunate wife of\nVasudeva. She. was away from her husband, yet just to congratulate\nMaharaja Nanda on the occasion of the birth ceremony of his son, Kr�pa,\nshe dressed herself very nicely. Wearing a garland, a necklace and other\nbodily ornaments, she appeared on the scene and moved hither and\nthither. According to the Vedic system, a woman whose husband is not at\nhome does not dress herself very nicely. But although Rohi�i's husband\nwas away, she still dressed herself on this occasion.\nFrom the opulence of the birth ceremony of Kn�ta, it is very clear that\nat that time Vrndavana was rich in every respect. Because Lord Kr��a took\nbirth in the house of King Nanda and mother Yasoda, the goddess of\nfortune was obliged to manifest her opulences in Vrndavana. It appeared\nthat Vrndavana had already become a site for the pastimes of the goddess\nof fortune.\nAfter the birth ceremony, Nanda Maharaja decided to go to Mathura to\npay the annual tax to the government of Kamsa. Before leaving, he called\nfor the able cowherd men of the village and asked them to take care of\nVrndavana in his absence. When Nanda Maharaja arrived in Mathura,\nVasudeva got the news and was very eager to congratulate his friend. He\nimmediately went to the place where Nanda Maharaja was staying. When\nVasudeva saw Nanda, he felt that he had regained his life. Nanda, overwhelmed with joy, immediately stood up and embraced Vasudeva.\nVasudeva was received very warmly and offered a nice place to sit. At\nthat time Vasudeva was anxious about his two sons who had been put\nunder the protection of Nanda without Nanda's knowledge. With great\nanxiety, Vasudeva inquired about them. Both Balarama and Krwa were\nthe sons of Vasudeva. Balarama was transferred to the womb of Rohi�1i,\nVasudeva's own wife,, but Rohi�i was kept under the protection of Nanda\nMaharaja. Kr��a was personally delivered to Yasoda and exchanged with\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0079": "Meeting of Nanda and Vasudeva\n\n41\n\nher daughter. Nanda Maharaja knew that Balarama was the son of\nVasudeva, although he did not know that Krwa was also Vasudeva's son.\nBut Vasudeva was aware of this fact and inquired very eagerly about Kr§�a\nand Balarama.\nVasudeva then addressed him, \"My dear brother, you were old enough\nand very anxious to beget a son, and yet you had none. Now by the grace\nof the Lord you are fortunate to have a very nice son. I think that this\nincident is very auspicious for you. Dear friend, I was imprisoned by\nKamsa, and now I am released; therefore this is another birth for me. I had\nno hope of seeing you again, but by God's grace I can see you.\" Vasudeva\nthen expressed his anxiety about Kr§�a. Kr§�a was sent incognito to the\nbed of mother Yasoda, and after very pompously celebrating His birth\nceremony, Nanda went to Mathura. So Vasudeva was very pleased and said,\n\"This is a new birth for me.\" He never expected that Kr§�a would live\nbecause all his other sons were killed by Kamsa.\n.\nVasudeva continued, \"My dear friend, it is very difficult for us to live\ntogether. Although we have our family and relatives, sons and daughters,\nby nature's way we are generally separated from one another. The reason\nfor this is that every living entity appears on this earth under different\npressures of fruitivc: activities; although they assemble together, there is no\ncertainty of their remaining together for a long time. According to one's\nfruitive activities, one has to act differently and thereby be separated. For\nexample, many plants and creepers are floating on the waves of the ocean.\nSometimes they come together and sometimes they separate forever: one\nplant goes one way and another plant goes another. Similarly, our family\nassembly may be very nice while we are living together, but after some\ntime, in the course of the waves of time, we are separated.\"\nThe purport of this expression by Vasudeva is this: although he had\neight sons born in the womb of Devaki, unfortunately they were all gone.\nHe could not even keep his one son Kr§�a with him. Vasudeva was feeling\nHis separation, but he could not express the real fact. \"Please tell me about\nthe welfare of Vrndavana,\" he said. \"You have many animals-are they\nhappy? Are they getting sufficient grass and water? Please also let me know\nwhether the place where you are now living is undisturbed and peaceful.\"\nThis inquiry was made by Vasudeva because he was very anxious about\nKr§�a's safety. He knew that Kamsa and his followers were trying to kill\nKr§!la by sending various kinds of demons. They had already resolved\nthat all children born within ten days of the birthday of Kr§�a should be\nkilled. Because Vasudeva was so anxious about Kr§!la, he inquired about\nthe safety of His residence. He also inquired about Balarama and His\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0080": "42\n\nKr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nmother Rohi9-i, who were entrusted to the care of Nanda Maharaja.\nVasudeva also reminded N anda Maharaja that Balarama did not know His\nreal father. \"He knows you as His father. And now you have another child,\nKr�9-a, and I think you are taking very nice care for both of Them. \" It is\nalso significant that Vasudeva inquired about the welfare of Nanda\nMaharaja's animals. The animals, and especially the cows, were protected\nexactly in the manner of one's children. Vasudeva was a k§atriya, and\nNanda Maharaj a was a vaiSya. It is the duty of the k§atriya to give protection to the citizens of mankind, and it is the duty of the vaisyas to give\nprotection to the cows. The cows are as important as the citizens. Just as\nthe human citizens should be given all kinds of protection, so the cows\nalso should be given full protection.\nVasudeva continued to say that the maintenance of religious principles,\neconomic development and the satisfactory execution of meeting the\ndemands of the senses depend on cooperation among relatives, nations and\nall humanity. Therefore, it is everyone's duty to see that his fellow citizens\nand the cows are not put into difficulty. One should see to the peace and\ncomfort of his fellow man and the animals. The development of religious\nprinciples, economic development and sense gratification can then be\nachieved without difficulty. Vasudeva expressed his. sorrow due to not\nbeing able to give protection to his own sons born of Devaki. He was\nthinking that religious principles, economic development and the satisfaction of his senses were therefore all lost.\nOn hearing this, Nanda Maharaja replied, \"My dear Vasudeva, I know\nthat you are very much aggrieved because the cruel king Kamsa has killed all\nyour sons born of Devaki. Although the last child was a daughter, Kamsa\ncould not kill her, and she has entered into the celestial planets. My dear\nfriend, do not be aggrieved; we are all being controlled by our past unseen\nactivities. Everyone is subjected to his past deeds, and one who is conversant with the philosophy of karma and its reaction is a man in knowledge.\nSuch a person will not be aggrieved at any incident, happy or miserable.\"\nVasudeva then replied, \"My dear Nanda, if you have already paid the\ngovernment taxes, then return soon to your place, because I think that\nthere may be some disturbances in Gokula.\"\nAfter the friendly conversation between Nanda Maharaja and Vasudeva,\nVasudeva returned to his home. The cowherd men headed by Nanda\nMaharaja, who had come to Mathura to pay their taxes, also returned.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Fifth Chapter of Krwa,\n\"Meeting of Nanda and Vasudeva. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0081": "6 I Piitana Killed\n\nWhile Nanda Maharaja was returning home , he considered Vasudeva's\nwarning that there might be some disturbance in Gokula. Certainly the\nadvice was friendly and not false. So Nanda thought, \"There is some truth\nin it. \" Therefore, out of fear, he began to take shelter of the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead. It is quite natural for a devotee in danger to think\nof Kr��a because he has no other shelter. When a child is in danger, he takes\nshelter of his mother or father. Similarly, a devotee is always under the\nshelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but when he specifically\nsees some danger, he remembers the Lord very rapidly.\nAfter consulting with his demonic ministers, Kamsa instructed a witch\nnamed Piitana, who knew the black art of killing small children by ghastly\nsinful methods, to kill all kinds . of children in the cities, villages and\n.\npasturing grounds. Such witches can play their black art only where there\nis no chanting or hearing of the holy name of Kr��a. lt is said that wherever\nthe chanting of the holy name of Kr��a is done, even negligently, all bad\nelements-witches, ghosts, and dangerous calamaties-immediately disappear. And this is certainly true of the place where the chanting of the\nholy name of Kr�pa is done seriously-especially in Vrndavana when the\nSupreme Lord was personally present. Therefore, the doubts of Nanda\nMaharaj a were certainly based on affection for Kr�pa. Actually there was\nno danger from the activities of Piltana, despite her powers. Such witches\nare called khecari, which means they can fly in the sky. This black art of\nwitchcraft is still practiced by some women in the remote northwestern\nside of India. They can transfer themselves from one place to another on\nthe branch of an uprooted tree. Piitana knew this witchcraft, and therefore\nshe is described in the Bhiigavatam as khecari.\nPutana entered the county of Gokula, the residential quarter of N anda\nMaharaja, without permission. Dressing herself just like a beautiful woman,\n\n43\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0082": "44\n\n.Kr�!J.a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nshe entered the house of mother Yasoda. She appeared very beautiful with\nraised hips, nicely swollen breasts, earrings, and flowers in her hair. She\nlooked especially beautiful on account of her thin waist. She was glancing\nat everyone with very attractive looks and smiling face, and all the residents\nof Vrndavana were captivated. The innocent cowherd women thought that\nshe was a goddess of fortune appearing in Vrndavana with a lotus flower in\nher hand. It seemed to them that she had personally come to see Kr��a,\nwho is her husband. Because of her exquisite beauty, no one checked her\nmovement, and therefore she freely entered the house of Nanda Maharaja.\nPiitana, the killer of many, many children, found baby Kr��a lying on a\nsmall bed, and she could at once perceive that the baby was hiding His\nunparalleled potencies. Piitana thought, \"This child is so powerful that He\ncan destroy the whole universe immediately.\"\nPiitana's understanding is very significant. The Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, Kr��a, is situated in everyone's heart. It is stated in the\nBhagavad-gita that He gives one necessary intelligence, and He also causes\none to forget. Piitana was immediately aware that the child whom she was\nobserving in the house of Nanda Maharaja was the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead Himself. He was lying there as a small baby, but that does not\nmean that He was less powerful. The materialistic theory that God-worship\nis anthropomorphic is not correct. No living being can become God by\nundergoing meditation or austerities. God is always God. Kr��la as the\nchild-baby is as complete as He is as a full-fledged youth. The Mayavadi\ntheory holds that the living entity was formerly God but has now become\noverwhelmed by the influence of maya. Therefore they say that presently\nhe is not God, but when the influence of maya is taken away, then he\nagain becomes God. This theory cannot be applied to the minute living\nentities. The living entities are minute parts and parcels of the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead; they are minute particles or sparks of the supreme\nfire, but are not the original fire, or Kr��a. Kr��a is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even from the beginning of His appearance in the house\nof Vasudeva and Devaki.\nKr��a showed the nature of a small baby and closed His eyes, as if to\navoid the face of Piitana. This closing of the eyes is interpreted and studied\nin different ways by the devotees. Some say that Kr��a closed His eyes\nbecause He did not like to see the face of Piitana, who had killed so many\nchildren and who had now come to kill Him. Others say that something\nextraordinary was being dictated to her, and in order to give her assurance,\nKr��a closed His eyes so that she would not be frightened. And yet others\ninterpret in this way: Kr�!la appeared to kill the demons and give protec-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0083": "Piitana Killed\n\n45\n\ntion to the devotees, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gitii: paritrii[liiya\nsiidhiiniirh viniisiiya ca du�krtiim. The first demon to be killed was a\nwoman. According to Vedic rules, the killing of a woman, a briihmara,\ncows, or of a child, is forbidden. Kr�tta was obliged to kill the demon\nPiitana, and because the killing of a woman is forbidden according to Vedic\nSastra, He could not help but close His eyes. Another interpretation is\nthat Kr�tta closed His eyes because He simply took Piitana to be His\nnurse. Putana came to Kr�tta just to offer her breast for the Lord to suck.\nKr�tta is so merciful that even though He knew Putana was there to kill\nHim, He took her as His nurse or mother.\nThere are seven kinds of mothers according to Vedic injunction: the\nreal mother, the wife of a teacher or spiritual master, the wife of a king,\nthe wife of a briihmarw, the cow, the nurse, and the mother earth. Because\nPutana came to take Kr�tta on her lap and offer her breast's milk to be\nsucked by Him, she was accepted by Kr�tta as one of His mothers. That is\nconsidered to be another reason He closed His eyes: He had to kill a nurse\nor mother. But His killing of His mother or nurse was no different from\nHis love for His real mother or foster mother Yasoda. We further understand from Vedic information that Putana was also treated as a mother and\ngiven the same facility as Yasoda. As Yasoda was given liberation from the\nmaterial world, so Putana was also given liberation. When the baby Kr�tta\nclosed His eyes, Putana took Him on her lap. She did not know that she\nwas holding death personified. If a person mistakes a snake for a rope, he\ndies. Similarly, Putana killed so many babies before meeting Kr�tta, but\nnow she was accepting the snake that would kill her immediately.\nWhen Putana was taking baby Kr�tta on her lap, both Yasoda and Rohitti\nwere present, but they did not forbid her because she was so beautifully\ndressed and because she showed motherly affection towards Kr�tta. They\ncould not understand that she was a sword within a decorated case. Putana\nhad smeared a very powerful poison on her breasts, and immediately after\ntaking the baby on her lap, she pushed her breastly nipple within His\nmouth. She was hoping that as soon as He would suck her breast, He would\ndie. But baby Kr�tta very quickly took the nipple in anger. He sucked the\nmilk-poison along with the life air of the demon. In other words, Kr�tta\nsimultaneously sucked the milk from her breast and killed her by sucking\nout her life. Kr�tta is so merciful that because the demon Piitana came to\noffer her breast-milk to Him, He fulfilled her desire and accepted her\nactivity as motherly. But to stop her from further nefarious activities, He\nimmediately killed her. And because the demon was killed by Kr�tta, she\ngot liberation. When Kr�tta sucked out her very breath, Putana fell down\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0084": "46\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\non the ground, spread her arms and legs and began to cry, \"Oh child, leave\nme, leave me! \" She was crying loudly and perspiring, and her whole body\nbecame wet.\nAs she died, screaming, there was a tremendous vibration both on the\nearth and in the sky, in all directions, and people thought that thunderbolts\nwere falling. Thus the nightmare of the Piitana witch was over, and she\nassumed her real feature as a great demon. She opened her fierce mouth\nand spread her arms and legs all over. She fell exactly as Vrtrasura when\nstruck by the thunderbolt of Indra. The long hair on her head was scattered\nall over her body. Her fallen body extended up to twelve miles and smashed\nall the trees to pieces, and everyone was struck with wonder upon seeing\nthis gigantic body. Her teeth appeared just like ploughed roads, and her\nnostrils appeared just like mountain caves. Her breasts appeared like small\nhills, and her hair was a vast reddish bush. Her eye sockets appeared like\nblind wells, and her two thighs appeared like two banks of a river; her two\nhands appeared like two strongly constructed bridges, and her abdomen\nseemed like a dried-up lake. All the cowherd men and women became\nstruck with awe and wonder upon seeing this. And the tumultuous sound\nof her falling shocked their brains and ears and made their hearts beat\nstrongly.\nWhen the gopis saw little Kr��a fearlessly playing on Piitana's lap, they\nvery quickly came and picked Him up. Mother Yasoda, Rohi�i, and other\nelderly gopis immediately performed the auspicious rituals by taking the\ntail of a cow and circumambulating His body. The child was completely\nwashed with the urine of a cow, and the dust created by the hooves of the\ncows was thrown all over His body. This was all just to save little Kr��a\nfrom future inauspicious accidents. This incident gives us a clear indication\nof how important the cow is to the family, society and to living beings in\ngeneral. The transcendental body of Kr��a did not require any protection,\nbut to instruct us on the importance of the cow, the Lord was smeared\nover with cow dung, washed with the urine of a cow, and sprinkled with\nthe ,dust upraised by the walking of the cows.\nAfter this purificatory process, the gopis, headed by mother Yasoda and\nRohi�i, chanted twelve names of Vi��u to give Kr��a's body full protection\nfrom all evil influences. They washed their hands and feet and sipped water\nthree times, as is the custom before chanting mantra. They chanted as\nfollows: \"My dear Kr��a, may the Lord who is known as Ma�iman protect\nYour thighs; may Lord Vi��u who is known as Yajfia protect Your legs;\nmay Lord Acyuta protect Your arms; may Lord Hayagriva protect Your\nabdomen; may Lord Kesava protect Your heart; may Lord Vi��u protect\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0085": "Piitana Killed\n\n47\n\nYour arms; may Lord U rukrama protect Your face; may Lord Isvara\nprotect Your head; may Lord Cakradhara protect Your front; may Lord\nGadadhara protect Your back; may Lord Madhusiidana who carries a bow\nin His hand protect Your eyesight; may Lord Vi§!IU with His conchshell\nprotect Your left side; may the Personality of Godhead Upendra protect\nYou from above, and may Lord Tark§ya protect You from below the earth;\nmay Lord Haladhara protect You from all sides; may the Personality of\nGodhead known as Hr§lkesa protect all Your senses; may Lord Naraya!la\nprotect Your breath; and may the Lord of Svetadvipa, Naraya!la, protect\nYour heart; may Lord Yogesvara protect Your mind; may Lord Pfsnigarbha\nprotect Your intelligence, and may the Supreme Personality of Godhead\nprotect Your soul. While You are playing, may Lord Govinda protect You\nfrom all sides, and when You are sleeping, may Lord Madhava protect You\nfrom all danger; when You are working may the Lord of V aiku!ltha\nprotect You from falling down; when You are sitting, may the Lord of\nVaiku!ltha give You all protection; and while You are eating, may the\nLord of all sacrifices give You all protection.\"\nThus mother Yasoda began to chant different names of Vi§!IU to protect\nthe child Kr§!!a's different bodily parts. Mother Yasoda was firmly convinced that she should protect her child from different kinds of evil spirits\nand ghosts-namely I)akinis, Yatudhanis, Kii§ma!IQ.as, Yak§as, Rak§asas,\nVinayakas, Kotara, Re vati, Jye§tha, Piitana, Matrkas, U nmadas and similar other evil spirits who cause persons to forget their own existence\nand give trouble to the life-air and the senses. Sometimes they appear in\ndreams and cause much perturbation; sometimes they appear as old\nwomen and suck the blood of small children. But all such ghosts and evil\nspirits cannot remain where there is chanting of the holy name of God.\nMother Yasoda was firmly convinced of the Vedic injunctions about the\nimportance of cows and the holy name of Vi§!IU; therefore she took all\nshelter in the cows and the name of Vi§!IU just to protect her child Kr§pa.\nShe recited all the holy names of Vi§!IU so that He might save the child.\nVedic culture has taken advantage of keeping cows and chanting the holy\nname of Vi§!IU since the beginning of history, and persons who are still\nfollowing the Vedic ways, especially the householders, keep at least one\ndozen cows and worship the D eity of Lord Vi§!IU, who is installed in their\nhouse.\nThe elderly gopis of Vrndavana were so absorbed in affection for Kr§!la\nthat they wanted to save Him, although there was no need to, for He had\nalready protected Himself. They could not understand that Kr§!la was the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead playing as a child. After performing the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0086": "48\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nformalities to protect the child, mother Yasoda took Kr�I;J.a and let Him\nsuck her own breast. When the child was protected by Vi�I;J.U mantra,\nmother Y asoda felt that He was safe. In the meantime, all the cowherd\nmen who went to Mathura to pay tax returned home and were struck with\nwonder at seeing the gigantic dead body of Putana.\nNanda Maharaja recalled the prophecy of Vasudeva and considered him\na great sage and mystic yogi; otherwise, how could he have foretold an\nincident that happened during his absence from Vrndavana. After this, all\nthe residents of Vraja cut the gigantic body of Putana into pieces and\npiled it up with wood for burning. When all the limbs of Putana's body\nwere b urning, the smoke emanating from the fire created a good aroma.\nThis aroma was due to her being killed b y Kr�I;J.a. This means that the\ndemon Putana was washed of all her sinful activities and attained a celestial\nbody. Here is an example of how the Supreme Personality of Godhead is\nall good: Putana came to kill Kr�I;J.a, but because He sucked her milk, she\nwas immediately purified, and her dead body attained a transcendental\nquality. Her only b usiness was to kill small children; she was only fond of\nblood. But in spite of being envious of Kr�I;J.a, she attained salvation\nbecause she gave her milk to Him to drink. So what can be said of others\nwho are affectionate to Kr�va in the relationship of mother or father?\nThe pure devotees always serve Kr�I;J.a with great love and affection, for\nHe is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul of every living\nentity. It is concluded therefore that even a little energy expended in the\nservice of the Lord gives one immense transcendental profit. This is explained in the Bhagavad-gitii: svalpam apy asya dharmasya. Devotional service in Krsna consciousness is so sublime that even a little service to Krsna,\nknowingly or unknowingly, gives one the greatest benefit. The system of\nworshiping Kr�I;J.a by offering flowers from a tree is also beneficial for the\nliving entity who is confined to the bodily existence of that tree. When\nflowers and fruits are offered to Kr�I;J.a, the tree that bore them also\nreceives much benefit, indirectly. The arcana process, or worshiping\nprocedure, is therefore beneficial for everyone. Kr�I;J.a is worshipable by\ngreat demigods like Brahma and Lord Siva, and Putana was so fortunate\nthat the same Kr�I;Ia played in her lap as a little child. The lotus feet of\nKr�va, which are worshiped by great sages and devotees, were placed on\nthe body of Putana. People worship Kr�va and offer food, but automatically He sucked the milk from the body of Putana. Devotees therefore\npray that if simply by offering something as an enemy, PUtana got so\nmuch benefit, then who can measure the benefit of worshiping Kr�!la in\nlove and affection?\n.\n\n. .\n\n. . .\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0087": "Piitana Killed\n\n49\n\nOne should only worship Kr�va if for no other reason than so much\nbenefit awaits the worshiper. Although Piitana was an evil spirit, she gained\nelevation just like the mother of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is\nclear that the cows and the elderly gopis who offered milk to Kr�pa were\nalso elevated to the transcendental position. Kr�va can· offer anyone anything, from liberation to anything materially conceivable. Therefore, there\ncannot be any doubt of the salvation of Piitana, whose bodily milk was\nsucked by Kr�va for such a long time. And how can there be any doubt\nabout the salvation of the gopis who were so fond of Kr�va? Undoubtedly\nall the gopis and cowherd boys and cows who served Kr�va in Vrndavana\nwith love and affection were liberated from the miserable condition of\nmaterial existence.\nWhen all the inhabitants of Vrndavana smelled the good aroma from the\nsmoke of the burning Putana, they inquired from each other, \"Where is\nthis good flavor coming from?\" And while conversing, they came to\nunderstand that it was the fumes of the burning Putana. They were very\nfond of Kr�va, and as soon as they heard that the demon Putana was killed\nby Kr�va, they offered blessings to the little child out of affection. After\nthe burning of Putana, Nanda Maharaja came home and immediately took\nup the child on his lap and began to smell His head. In this way, he was\nquite satisfied that his little child was saved from this great calamity. Srila\nSukadeva Gosvami has blessed all persons who hear the narration of the\nkilling of Piitana by Kr�va. They will surely attain the favor of Govinda.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Sixth Chapter of Kr�va,\n\"Pii ta nii Killed. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0088": "7 I Salvation of Trnavarta\n•\n\n•\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kr�:p.a, is always full of six\nopulences-namely complete wealth, complete strength, complete fame,\ncomplete knowledge, complete beauty and complete renunciation. The\nLord appears in different complete, eternal forms of incarnation. The\nconditioned soul has immense opportunity to hear about the transcendental activities of the Lord in these different incarnations. In the Bhagavadgitii it is said, janma karma ca me divyam. The pastimes and activities of\nthe Lord are not material ; they are beyond the material conception. But\nthe conditioned soul can benefit by hearing such uncommon activities.\nHearing is an opportunity to associate with the Lord ; to hear His activities\nis to evolve to the transcendental nature-simply by hearing. The conditioned soul has a natural aptitude to hear something about other\nconditioned souls in the form of fiction, drama and novel. That inclination\nto hear something about others may be utilized in hearing the pastimes of\nthe Lord. Then one can immediately evolve to his transcendental nature.\nKr�:p.a 's pastimes are not only beautiful; they are also very pleasing to the\nmind.\nIf someone takes advantage of hearing the pastimes of the Lord, the\nmaterial contamination of dust, accumulated in the heart due to long\nassociation with material nature, can be immediately cleansed. Lord\nCaitanya also instructed that simply by hearing the transcendental name\nof Lord Kr�:p.a, one can cleanse the heart of all material contamination .\nThere are different processes for self-realization, but this process of\ndevotional service-of which hearing is the most important function-when\nadopted by any conditioned soul, will automatically cleanse him of the\nmaterial contamination and enable him to realize his real constitutional\nposition. Conditional life is due to this contamination only, and as soon as\nit is cleared off, then naturally the dormant function of the living entityrendering service to the Lord-awakens. By developing his eternal relation-\n\n50\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0089": "Salvation of Tntavarta\n\n51\n\nship with the Supreme Lord, one becomes eligible t o create friendship\nwith the devotees. Maharaj a Parik�it recommended, from practical experience, that everyone try to hear about the transcendental pastimes of\nthe Lord. This KrHw treatise is meant for that purpose , and the reader\nmay take advantage in order to attain the ultimate goal of human life.\nThe Lord , out of His causeless mercy, descends on this material world\nand displays His activities j ust like an ordinary man. Unfortunately the\nimpious entities or the atheistic class of men consider Kr�l).a to be an\nordinary man like themselves, and so they deride Him. This is condemned\nin the Bhagavad-gitii by the Lord Himself when He says, ''A vajiinanti miim\nmiit},hii�. \" The milt},has, or the rascals, take Kf�l).a to be an ordinary man or\na slightly more powerful man ; out of their great misfortune, they cannot\naccept Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sometimes such\nunfortunate persons misrepresent themselves as incarnations of Kf§l).a\nwithout referring to the authorized scriptures.\nWhen Kf§l).a grew up a little more, He began to turn Himself backside\nup ; He did not merely lie down on His back. And another function was\nobserved by Y a soda and Nand a Maharaj a : Kr�t;la's first birthday. They\narranged for Kf�l).a 's birthday ceremony, which is still observed by all\nfollowers of the Vedic principles. ( Kr�l).a's birthday ceremony is observed\nin India by all Hindus, irrespective of different sectarian views. ) All the\ncowherd men and women were invited to participate , and they arrived in\nj ubilation. A nice band played , and the people assembled enj oyed it. All\nthe learned briihmarws were invited, and they chanted Vedic hymns for\nthe good fortune of Kr�l).a. During the chanting of the Vedic hymns and\nplaying of the bands, Kr�t;la was bathed by mother Y asoda. This bathing\nceremony is technically called abhi§eka, and even today this is observed in\nall the temples of Vrndavana as Janma§tami D ay or the birthday anniversary of Lord Kr�l).a.\nOn this occasion, mother Y asoda arranged to distribute a large quantity\nof grains, and first-class cows decorated with golden ornaments were made\nready to be given in charity to the learned, respectable briihmarws. Yasoda\ntook her bath and dressed herself nicely, and taking child Kr�l).a, duly\ndressed and bathed, on her lap , she sat down to hear the Vedic hymns\nchanted by the briihmm;ws. While listening to the chanting of the Vedic\nhymns, the child appeared to be falling asleep , and therefore mother\nY asoda very silently laid Him down on the bed. Being engaged in receiving\nall the friends, relatives and residents of Vrndavana on that holy occasion,\nshe forgot to feed the child milk. He was crying, being hungry, but mother\nY asoda could not hear Him cry because of the various noises. The child,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0090": "52\n\n:l<r�:.;ta, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nhowever, became angry because He was hungry and His mother was not\npaying attention to Him. So He lifted His legs and began to kick His lotus\nfeet just like an ordinary child. Baby Kr�va had been placed underneath a\nhand-driven cart, and while He was kicking His legs, He accidently touched\nthe wheel of the cart, and it collapsed. Various kinds of utensils and brass\nand metal dishes had been piled up in the hand cart, and they all fell down\nwith a great noise. The wheel of the cart separated from the axle, and the\nspokes of the wheel were all broken and scattered hither and thither.\nMother Yasoda and all the gopis, as well as Maharaja Nanda and the\ncowherd men, were astonished as to how the cart could have collapsed by\nitself. All the men and women who were assembled for the holy function\ncrowded around and began to suggest how the cart might have collapsed.\nNo one could ascertain the cause, but some small children who were\nentrusted to play with baby· Kr�va informed the crowd that it was due to\nKr�va 's striking His feet against the wheel. They assured the crowd that\nthey had seen how it happened with their own eyes, and they strongly\nasserted the point. Some were listening to the statement of the small\nchildren, but others said, \"How can you believe the statements of these\nchildren?\" The cowherd men and women could not understand that the\nall-powerful Personality of Godhead was lying there as a baby, and\nHe could do anything. Both the possible and impossible were in His\npower. While the discussion was going on, baby Kr�va cried. Without\nremonstration, mother Yasoda picked the child up on her lap and called\nthe learned briihmarws to chant holy Vedic hymns to counteract the evil\nspirits. At the same time she allowed the baby to suck her breast. If a\nchild sucks the mothees breast nicely, it is to be understood that he is out\nof all danger. After this, all the stronger cowherd men put the broken cart\nin order, and all the scattered things were set up nicely as before. The\nbriihmarws thereafter began to offer oblations to the sacrificial fire with\nyogurt, butter, kusa grass, and water. They worshiped the Supreme Personality of Godhead for the good fortune of the child.\nThe briihmar-as who were present at that time were all qualified because\nthey were not envious; they never indulged in untruthfulness, they were\nnever proud, they were nonviolent, and they never claimed any false\nprestige. They were all bona fide briihmar-as, and there was no reason to\nthink that their blessing would be useless. With firm faith in the qualified\nbriihmar-as, Nanda Maharaja took his child on his lap and bathed Him with\nwater mixed with various herbs while the briihmar-as chanted hymns from\nthe .f(k, Yajus and Siima Vedas.\nIt is said that without being a qualified briihmap,a, one should not read\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0091": "Salvation of Trnavarta\n\n53\n\nthe mantras of the Vedas. Here is the proof that the briihmaras were\nqualified with all the brahminical symptoms. Maharaja Nanda also had full\nfaith in them. Therefore they were allowed to perform the ritualistic\nceremonies by chanting the Vedic mantras. There are many different\nvarieties of sacrifices recommended for different purposes, but the mantras\nare all to be chanted by qualified briihmaras. And because in this age of\nKali such qualified briihmaras are not available, all Vedic ritualistic\nsacrifices are forbidden. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has therefore recommended only one kind of sacrifice in this age-namely sankirtana yajiia, or\nsimply chanting the mahiimantra, Hare Kr��a, Hare Kr��a, Kr��a Kr��a,\nHare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.\nAs the briihmaras chanted the Vedic hymns and performed the ritualistic\nceremonies for the second time, Nanda Maharaja again gave huge quantities\nof grains and many cows to them. All the cows which were given in charity\nwere covered with nice gold- embroidered garments, and their horns were\nbedecked with golden rings; the hooves were covered with silver plate, and\nthey wore garlands of flowers. He gave so many cows just for the welfare\nof his wonderful child, and the briihmanas in return bestowed their heartfelt blessing. And the blessings offered by the able briihmaras were never\nto be baffled.\nOne day, shortly after this ceremony, when mother Yasoda was patting\nher baby on her lap, the baby felt too heavy, and being unable to carry\nHim, she unwillingly placed Him on the ground. After a while, she became\nengaged in household affairs. At that time, one of the servants of Kamsa,\nknown as Tr�avarta, as instructed by Kamsa, appeared there in the shape\nof a whirlwind. He picked the child up on his shoulders and raised a great\ndust storm all over Vrndavana. Because of this, everyone's eyes became\ncovered within a few moments, and the whole area of Vrndavana became\ndensely dark so that no one could see himself or anyone else. During this\ngreat catastrophe, mother Yasoda could not see her baby, who was taken\naway by the whirlwind, and she began to cry very piteously. She fell down\non the ground exactly like a cow who has just lost her calf. When mother\nYasoda was so piteously crying, all the cowherd women immediately came\nand began to look for the baby, but they were disappointed and could not\nfind Him. The Tr�avarta demon who took baby Kr��a on his shoulder\nwent high in the sky, but the baby assumed such a weight that suddenly\nhe could not go any further, and he had to stop his whirlwind activities.\nBaby Krwa made Himself heavy and began to weigh down the demon.\nThe Lord caught hold of his neck. Tr�avarta felt the baby to be as heavy\nas a big mountain, and he tried to get out of His clutches, but he was\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0092": "54\n\nKf�l)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nunable to do so, and his eyes popped out from their sockets. Crying very\nfiercely, he fell down to the ground of Vrndavana and died. The demon\nfell exactly like Tripurasura, who was pierced by the arrow of Lord Siva.\nHe hit the stone ground, and His limbs were smashed. His body became\nvisible to all the inhabitants of Vrndavana .\nWhen the gopis saw the demon killed and child Kr�l)a very happily\nplaying on his body, they immediately picked Kr�l)a up with great affection. The cowherd men and women became very happy to get back their\nbeloved child Kr�l)a. At that time they began to talk about how wonderful\nit was that the demon took away the child to devour Him but could not\ndo so; instead he fell down dead. Some of them supported the situation:\n\"This is proper because those who are too sinful die from their sinful\nreactions, and child Kr�l)a is pious; therefore He is saved from all kinds of\nfearful situations. And we too must have performed great sacrifices in our\nprevious lives, worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, giving\ngreat wealth in charity and acting philanthropically for the general welfare\nof men. Because of such pious activities, the child is saved from all\ndanger.\"\nThe gopis assembled there spoke among themselves: \"What sort of\nausterities and penances we must have undergone in our previous lives!\nWe must have worshiped the Supreme Personality of Godhead, offered\ndifferent kinds of sacrifices, made charities and performed many welfare\nactivities for the public such as growing banyan trees and excavating wells.\nAs a result of these pious activities, we have got back our child, even\nthough He was supposed to be dead. Now He has come back to enliven\nHis relatives.\" After observing such wonderful happenings, Nanda Maharaja\nbegan to think of the words of Vasudeva again and again.\nAfter this incident, when Yasoda once was nursing her child and patting\nHim with great affection, there streamed a profuse supply of milk from\nher breast, and when she opened the mouth of the child with her fingers,\nshe suddenly saw the universal manifestation within His mouth. She saw\nwithin the mouth of Kr�r1a the whole sky, including the luminaries, stars\nin all directions, the sun, moon, fire, air, seas, islands, mountains, rivers,\nforests, and all other movable and immovable entities. U pon seeing this,\nmother Yasoda's heart began to throb, and she murmured within herself,\n\"How wonderful this is! \" She could not express anything, but simply\nclosed her eyes. She was absorbed in wonderful thoughts. Kr�Q-a 's showing\nthe universal form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even when\nlying down on the lap of His mother, proves that the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead is always the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whether He is\n.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0093": "Salvation of Trl)avarta\n\n55\n\nmanifested as a child on the lap of His mother or as a charioteer on the\nbattlefield of Kuruk�etra. The concoction of the impersonalist, that one\ncan become God by meditation or by some artificial material activities,\nis herewith declared false. God is always God in any condition or status,\nand the living entities are always the parts and parcels of the Supreme\nLord. They can never be equal to the inconceivable s�pernatural power\nof the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Seventh Chapter ofKf�pa,\n\"Salvation of TJTI-O.varta. ,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0094": "8 I Vision of the Universal Form\nAfter this incident, Vasudeva asked his family priest Gargamuni to visit\nthe place of Nanda Maharaj a in order to astrologically calculate the future\nlife of Kr��a. Gargamuni was a great saintly sage who underwent many\nausterities and penances and was appointed priest of the Y adu dynasti\nWhen Gargamuni arrived at the home of Nanda Maharaj a, Nanda Maharaj a\nwas very pleased to see him and immediately stood up with folded hands\nand offered his respectful obeisances. He received Gargamuni with the\nfeeling of one who is worshiping God or the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead. He offered him a nice sitting place, and when he sat down,\nNanda Maharaj a offered him a warm reception. Addressing him very\npolitely, he said : \" My dear briihma�;ta, your appearance in a householder's\nplace is only to enlighten. We are always engaged in household duties and\nare forgetting our real duty of self-realization. Your coming to our house\nis to give us some enlightenment about spiritual life. You have no other\npurpose to visit householders. \" Actually a saintly person or a briihmar-a has\nno business visiting householders who are always busy in the matter of\ndollars and cents. If it is asked, \"Why don't the householders go to a saintly\nperson or a briihma�;w for enlightenment ? \" the answer is that householders\nare very poor-hearted. Generally householders think that their engagement\nin family affairs is their prime duty and that · self-realization or enlightenment in spiritual knowledge is secondary. Out of compassion only, saintly\npersons and briihmar-as go to householders' homes.\nNanda Maharaj a addressed Gargamuni as one of the great authorities\nin astrological science. The foretellings of astrological science, such\nas the occurrence of solar or lunar eclipses , are wonderful calculations, and by this particular science, a person can understand the\nfuture very clearly . Gargamuni was proficient in this knowledge. By\nthis knowledge one can understand w hat his previous activities were,\n\n56\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0095": "Vasudeva silently entered the house and exchanged his son for the girl. (p. 3 1 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0096": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0097": "No one could ascertain the cause of the cart's falling. (p . 52)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0098": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0099": "Tr�avarta felt the baby to be as heavy as a mountain. (p . 53)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0100": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0101": "Mother Y asoda saw within the mouth of Kr�pa the whole sky , inclu ding all the luminaries ,\nstars and all directions . ( p . 5 4 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0102": "\"All day They simply make arrangements to steal our butter and yogurt.\" ( p . 6 1 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0103": "Vision of the Universal Form\n\n57\n\nand by the result of such activities one may enjoy or suffer in this life.\nNanda Maharaja also addressed Gargamuni as the \"best of the brahmarws. \" A brahmar-a is one who is expert in the knowledge of the Supreme.\nWithout knowledge of the Supreme Absolute, one cannot be recognized as\na b rahmar-a. The exact word' used in this connection is brahmavidam,\nwhich means those who know the Supreme very well. An expert\nbrahmar-a is able to give reformatory facilities to the sub-castes-namely\nthe k§atriyas and vaisyas. The sudras observe no reformatory performances.\nThe b riihmar-a is considered to be the spiritual master or priest for the\nk§atriya and vaisya. Nanda Maharaj a happened to be a vaisya, and he\naccepted Gargamuni as a first class briihmara. He therefore offered his two\nfoster sons-namely Krwa and Balarama-to Him to purify. He agreed that\nnot only these boys, but all human beings just after birth should accept a\nqualified briihmar-a as spiritual master.\nUpon this request, Gargamuni replied, \"Vasudeva has sent me to see to\nthe reformatory performances of these boys, especially Krwa's. I am their\nfamily priest, and incidentally, it appears to me that Kf§r;Ia is the son of\nDevaki. \" By his astrological calculation, Gargamuni could understand that\nKf§I;!a was the son of Devaki but that He was being kept under the care of\nNand a Maharaja, which N anda did not know. Indirectly he said that Krwa,\nas well as Balarama, were both sons of Vasudeva. Balarama was known as\nthe son of Vasudeva because His mother Rohi�1i was present there, but\nNanda Maharaja did not know about Kr§!la. Gargamuni indirectly disclosed\nthe fact that Krwa was the son' of Devaki. Gargamuni also warned Nanda\nMaharaj a that if he would perform the reformatory ceremony, then Kam sa,\nwho was naturally very sinful, would understand that Kf§r;Ia was the son\nof Devaki and - Vasudeva. According to astrological calculation, Devaki\ncould not have a female child, although everyone thought that the eighth\nchild of Devaki was female. In this way Gargamuni intimated to Nanda\nMaharaj a that the female child was born of Yasoda and that Kr§!la was\nborn of Devaki, and they were exchanged. The female child, or -Durga,\nalso informed Kamsa that the child who would kill him was already born\nsomewhere else. Gargamuni stated, \"If I give your child a name and if He\nfulfills the prophecy of the female child to Kamsa, then it may be that the\nsinful demon will come and kill this child also after the name-giving\nceremony. But I do not want to become responsible for all these future\ncalami Lies.\"\nOn hearing the words of G argamuni, Nanda Maharaja said, \"If there is\nsuch danger, then it is better not to plan any gorgeous name-giving cere·\nmony. It would be better for you Lo simply chant the V edi c hymns and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0104": "58\n\nl(r�J).a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nperform the purificatory process. We belong to the twice-born caste, and I\nam taking this opportunity of your presence. So please perform the namegiving ceremony without external pomp.\" Nanda Maharaja wanted to\nkeep the name�giving ceremony a secret and yet take advantage of\nGargamuni's performing the ceremony.\nWhen Gargamuni was so eagerly requested by Nanda Maharaja, he\nperformed the name-giving ceremony as secretly as possible in the cowshed\nof Nanda Maharaja. He· informed Nanda Maharaja that Balarama, the son\nof Rohil)-1, would be very pleasing to his family members and relatives and\ntherefore would be called Rama. In the future He would be extraordinarily\nstrong and therefore would be called Balaram.a. Gargamuni said further,\n\"Because your family and the family of the Y adus are so intimately connected and attracted, therefore His name will also be Sankar�a!la.\" This\nmeans that Gargamuni awarded three names to the son of Rohil)-1-namely\nBalarama, Sankar�aJ).a, and Baladeva. But he carefully did not disclose the\nfact that Balarama also appeared in the womb of Devaki and was subsequently transferred to the womb of Rohini. Kf�J).a and Balarama are real\nbrothers, being originally sons of Devak1.\nGargamuni then informed Nanda Maharaja, \"As far as the other boy is\nconcerned, this child has taken different bodily complexions in different\nyugas (millennia). First of all He assumed the color white, then He assumed\nthe color red, then the color yellow and now He has assumed the color\nblack. Besides that, He was formerly the son of Vasudeva; therefore His\nname should be Vasudeva as well as Krwa. Some people will call Him\nKr�JJa, and some will call Him Vasudeva. But one thing you must know:\nThis son has had many, many other names and activities due to His\ndifferent pastimes.\"\nGargamuni gave Nanda Maharaja a further hint that his son will also be\ncalled Giridhari because of His uncommon pastimes of lifting Goverdhana\nHill. Since he could understand everything past and future, he said, \"I\nknow everything about His activities and name, but others do not know.\nThis child will be very pleasing to all the cowherd men and cows. Being\nvery popular in V rndavana, He will be the cause of all good fortune for\nyou. Because of His presence, you will overcome all kinds of material\ncalamities, despite opposing elements.\"\nGargamuni continued to say, \"My dear King of V raja, in His previous\nbirths, this child many times protected righteous persons from the hands of\nrogues and thieves whenever there was political disruption. Your child is\nso powerful that anyone who will become a devotee of your boy will never\nbe troubled by enemies. Just as demigods are always protected by Lord\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0105": "Vision of the Univeral Form\n\n59\n\nVi�!lu , so the devotees of your child will always be protected by Naraya!la,\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead. This child will grow in power,\nbeauty, opulence-in everything-on the level of Naraya!la, the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead. Therefore I would advise that you protect Him\nvery carefully so that He may grow without disturbance.\"\nGargamuni further informed Nanda Maharaj a that because he was a\ngreat devotee of Naraya!la, Lord Naraya!la gave a son who is equal to Him.\nAt the same time he indicated, \"Your son will be disturbed by so many\ndemons, so be careful and protect Him. \" In this way, Gargamuni convinced\nNanda Maharaj a that Naraya!la Himself had become his son. In various\nways he described the transcendental qualities of his son. After giving this\ninformation, Gargamuni returned to his home. Nanda Maharaj a began to\nthink of himself as the most fortunate person, and he was very satisfied to\nbe benedicted in this way.\nA short time after this incident� both Balarama and Kr�!la began to\ncrawl on Their hands and knees. When They were crawling like that, They\npleased Their mothers. The bells tied to Their waist and ankles sounded\nfascinating, and They would move around very pleasingly. Sometimes,\nj ust like ordinary children, They would be frightened by others and would\nimmediately hurry t o Their mothers for protection. Sometimes They\nwould fall into the clay and mud of V rndavana and would approach Their\nmothers smeared with clay and saffron. They were actually smeared with\nsaffron and sandalwood pulp by Their mothers, but due to crawling over\nmuddy clay, They would simultaneously smear Their bodies with clay. As\nsoon as They would come crawling to their mothers, Y asoda and Rohi!li\nwould take Them on their laps and, covering the lower portion of their\nsaris, allow Them to suck their breasts. When the babies were sucking their\nbreasts, the mothers would see small teeth coming in. Thus their j oy would\nbe intensified to see their children grow. Sometimes the naughty babies\nwould crawl up to the cowshed, catch the tail of a calf and stand up. The\ncalves, being disturbed, would immediately begin running here and there,\nand the children would be dragged over clay and cow dung. To see this\nfun, Y asoda and Rohi!li would call all their neighboring friends, the go pis.\nUpon seeing these childhood pastimes of Lord Kr�!la, the go pis would be\nmerged in transcendental bliss. In their enj oyment they would laugh very\nloudly.\nBoth Krwa and Balarama were so restless that Their mothers Y asoda\nand Rohi!li would try to protect Them from cows, bulls, monkeys, water,\nfire and birds while they were executing their household duties. Always\nbeing anxious to protect the children and to execute their duties, they\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0106": "60\n\nKr�l).a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nwere not very tranquil. In a very short time, both Kp;>pa and Balarama\n\nbegan to stand u p and slightly move on Their legs. When Krwa and\n\nBalarama began to walk, other friends of the same age joined Them, and\n\ntogether they began to give the highest transcendental pleasure to the\n\ngopis, specifically to mother Yasoda and Rohi':li.\nAll the gopi friends of Y asoda and Rohi':li enjoyed the naughty childish\nactivities of Kr�pa and Balarama in Vrndavana. In order to enjoy further\ntranscendental bliss, they all assembled and went to mother Y asoda to\n\nlodge complaints against the restless boys. When Kr�':la was sitting before\n\nmother Yasoda, all the elderly gopis began to lodge complaints against\n\nHim so that Kf�':la could hear. They said, \"Dear Yasoda, why don't you\n\nrestrict your naughty Krwa. He comes to our houses along with Balarama\n\nevery morning and evening, and before the milking of the cows They let\n\nloose the calves, and the calves drink all the milk of the cows. So when we\ngo to milk the cows, we find no milk, and we have to return with empty\n\npots. If we warn Krwa and Balarama about doing this, They simply smile\ncharmingly. We cannot do anything. Also, your Krwa and Balarama find\n\ngreat pleasure in stealing our stock of yogurt and butter from wherever we\n\nkeep it. When Kr�va and Balarama are caught stealing the yogurt and\nbutter, They say, 'Why do you charge us with stealing? Do you think that\n\nbutter and yogurt are in scarcity in our house?' Sometimes They steal\nbutter, yogurt and milk and distribute them to the monkeys. When the\nmonkeys are well fed and do not take any more, then your hoys chide,\n\n'This milk and butter and yogurt are useless-even the monkeys won't take\n\nit.' And They break the pots and throw them hither and thither. If we keep\n\nour stock of yogurt, butter and milk in a solitary dark place, your Kr�Fa\n\nand Balarama find it in the darkness by the glaring effulgence of the\n\nornaments and jewels on Their bodies. If by chance they cannot find the\nhidden butter and yogurt, They go to our little babies and pinch their\n\nbodies so that they cry, and then They go away. If we keep our stock of\nbutter and yogurt high on the ceiling, hanging on a swing, although it is\n\nbeyond Their reach, They arrange to reach it by piling all kinds of wooden\n\ncrates over the grinding machine. And if They cannot reach, They make a\n\nhole in the pot. We think therefore that you better take all the jeweled\nornaments from the bodies of your children. \"\n\nO n hearing this, Yasoda would say, \"All right , I will take all the jewels\n\nfrom Kr�':la so that He can not see the butter hidden in the darkness.\"\n\nThen the gopis would say, \"No, no , don't do this. What good will you do\n\nby taking away the jewels? We do not know what kind of boys these are,\n\nbut even without ornaments They spread some kind of effulgence so that\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0107": "Vision of the Universal Form\n\n61\n\neven in darkness They can see everything.\" Then mother Yasoda would\n\ninform them, \"All right, keep your butter and yogurt carefully so that\n\nThey may not reach it.\" In reply to this, the gopis said, \"Yes, actually we\n\ndo so, but because we are sometimes engaged in our household duties,\n\nthese naughty boys enter our house somehow or other ·and spoil every­\n\nthing. Sometimes being unable to steal our butter and yogurt, out of\nanger They pass urine on the clean floor and sometimes spit on it. Just\nsee your boy now-He is hearing this complaint. All day They simply make\n\narrangements to steal our butter and yogurt, and now They are sitting\n\njust like very silent good boys. Just see His face.\" When mother Yasoda\nthought to chastise her boy after hearing all the complaints, she saw His\npitiable face, and smiling, she did not chastise Him.\n\nAnother day, when Kr��la and Balarama were playing with Their friends,\n\nall the boys joined Balarama and told mother Yasoda that Kr§�a had eaten\nclay. On hearing this, mother Y asoda caught hold of Kr§�a's hand and said ,\n\n\"My dear Kr��a, why have You eaten earth in a solitary place? Just see, all\nYour friends including Balarama are complaining about You.\" Being\n\nafraid of His mother, Kr§�a replied, \"My dear mother, all these boys,\n\nincluding My elder brother Balarama, are speaking lies against Me. I have\n\nnever eaten clay. My elder brother Balarama, while playing with Me today,\n\nbecame angry, and therefore He has joined with the other boys to complain\nagainst Me. They have all combined together to complain so you will be\n\nangry and chastise Me. If you think they are truthful, then you can look\nwithin My mouth to see whether I have taken clay or not.\" His mother\n\nreplied, \"All right, if You have actually not taken any clay, then just open\nYour mouth. I shall see.\"\n\nWhen the Su preme Personality of Godhead Kr�pa was so ordered by His\n\nmother, He immediately opened His mouth just like an ordinary boy. Then\nmother Y asoda saw within that mouth the complete opulence of creation.\n\nShe saw the entire outer space in all directions, mountains, islands, oceans,\n\nseas, planets, air, fire, moon and stars. Along with the moon and the stars\n.she also saw the entire elements,\n\nwater,\n\nsky, the extensive ethereal\n\nexistence along with the total ego and the products of the senses and the\ncontroller of the senses, all the demigods, the objects of the senses like\n\nsound, smell, etc., and the three qualities of material nature. She also\n\ncould perceive that within His mouth were all living entities, eternal time,\n\nmaterial nature, spiritual nature, activity, consciousness and different\n\nforms of the whole creation. Y asoda could find within the mouth of her\n\nchild everything necessary for cosmic manifestation. She also saw, within\nHis mouth, herself taking Krsna on her lap and having Him sucking her\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0108": "62\n\nKr�J.la , the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nbreast . Upon seeing all this , she became struck with awe and began to\nwonder whether she were dreaming or actually seeing something extraordinary. She concluded that she was either dreaming or seeing the\nplay of the illusory energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. She\nthought that she had become mad , mentally deranged, to see all those\nwonderful things. Then she thought , \"It may be cosmic mystic power\nattained by my child , and therefore I am perplexed by such visions within\nHis mouth. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead under whose energy bodily self and bodily\npossessions are conceived.\" She then said , \" Let me offer my respectful\nobeisances unto Him , under whose illusory energy I am thinking that\nN anda Maharaja is my husband and Kr§!la is my son, that all the properties\nof Nanda Maharaj a belong to me and that all the cowherd men and women\nare my subjects. All this misconception is due to the illusory energy of the\nSupreme L ord . So let me pray to Him that He may protect me always. \"\nWhile mother Y asoda was thinking in this high philosophical way, Lord\nKr§!la again expanded His internal energy just to bewilder her with maternal\naffection . Immediately mother Y asoda forgot all philosophical speculation\nand accepted Kr§�ta as her own child . She took Him on her lap and became\noverwhelmed with maternal affection. She thus began to think , \"Kr§�ta is\nnot understandable to the masses through the gross process of knowledge ,\nbut He can be received through the Upani§ads and the Vedanta or mystic\nYoga system and Sankhya philosophy.\" Then she began to think of the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead as her own begotten child .\nCertainly mother Y asoda had executed many, many pious activities as a\nresult of which she got the Absolute Truth, Supreme- Personality of\nGodhead , as her son who sucked milk from her breast . Similarly, Nanda\nMaharaj a also must have performed many great sacrifices and pious\nactivities for Lord Kr§�ta to become his son and address him as father.\nBut it is surprising that Vasudeva and D evaki did not enj oy the transcendental bliss of Kr§�ta 's childhood pastimes , although Kr§�ta was their real\nson. The childhood pastimes of Kr§�la are glorified even today by many\nsages and saintly persons, but Vasudeva and Devaki could not enj oy such\nchildhood pastimes personally. The reason for this was explained by\nS ukadeva Gosvami to Maharaj a Parik§it as follows.\nWhen the best of the V asus of the name Dropa along with his wife\nOhara were ordered to increase progeny by Lord Brahma, they said unto\nhim , \" D ear father , we are seeking your benediction . \" Dro�ta and O hara\nthen took benediction from Brahma that in the future-when they would\ntake birth again within the universe-the Su preme Lord Kr§�a in His most\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0109": "Vision of the Universal Form\n\n63\n\nattractive feature of childhood would absorb their whole attention. Their\n\ndealings with Kr��a would be so powerful that simply by hearing of\n\nK��a's childhood activities with them, anyone could very easily cross over\n\nthe nescience of birth and death. Lord Brahma agreed to give them the\n\nbenediction, and as a result the same Dro�a appeared as Nanda Maharaja\n\nin Vrndavana, and the same Dhara appeared as mother Yasoda, the wife of\n\nNanda Maharaja.\n\nIn this way, Nanda Maharaja and his wife , mother Yasoda, developed\n\ntheir unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, having\ngotten Him as their son. And all the gopis and cowherd men who were\n\nassociates of Kr��a naturally developed their own different feelings of\n\nlove for Krsna .\n.\n\n. .\n\nTherefore, just to fulfill the benediction of Lord Brahma, Lord Kr�rta\n\nappeared along with His plenary expansion, Balarama, and performed\nall kinds of childhood pastimes in order to increase the transcendental\npleasure of all residents of v rndavana.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Eighth Chapter of Kr��a,\n\"Vision of the Universal Form. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0110": "9 I Mother Y asoda Bindin g Lord Kr��a\n\nOnce upon a time , seeing that her maidservant was engaged in different\nhousehold duties , mother Y asoda personally took charge of churning\nbutter. And while she churned butter, she sang the childhood pastimes of\nKr�!la and enj o yed thinking of her son.\nThe end of her sari was tightly wrapped while she churned , and on\naccount of her intense love for her son , milk automatically dripped from\nher breasts which moved as she labored very hard , churning with two\nhands. The bangles and bracelets on her hands tinkled as they touched\neach other , and her earrings and breasts shook. There were drops of\nperspiration on her face , and the flower garland which was on her head\nscattered here and there . Before this picturesque sight , Lord Kr�!la\nappeared as a child . He felt hungry, and out of love for His mother , He\nwanted her to stop churning. He indicated that her first business was to let\nHim suck her breast and then churn butter later .\nMother Y asoda took her son on her lap and pushed the nipples of her\nbreasts into His mouth. And while Kr�!la was sucking the milk , she was\nsmiling, enj oying the beauty of her child's face . Suddenly, the milk which\nwas on the oven began to boil over. Just to stop the milk from spilling,\nmother Y asoda at once put Kr�!la aside and went to the oven . L eft in that\nstate by His mother , Kr�!la became very angry, and His lips and eyes\nbecame red in rage . He pressed His teeth and lips, and taking up a piece of\nstone , He immediately broke the butter pot. He took butter out of it , and\nwith false tears in His eyes, He began to eat the butter in a secluded place .\nIn the meantime , mother Y asoda returned to the churning place after\nsetting the overflowing milk pan in order. She saw the broken pot in which\nthe churning yogurt was kept. Since she could not find her boy, she\nconcluded that the broken pot was His work. She began to smile as she\nthought , \"The child is very clever. After breaking the pot He has left this\n\n64\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0111": "Mother Y asoda Binding Lord Kf�J)a\n\n65\n\nplace , fearing punishment . \" After she sought all over, she found a big\nwooden grinding mortar which was kept upside down , and she found her\nson sitting on it. He was taking butter which was hanging from the ceiling\non a swing, and He was feeding it to the monkeys. She saw Kr��a looking\nthis way and that way in fear of her because He was conscious of His\nnau ghty behavior. After seeing her son so engaged, she very silently\napproached Him from behind . Krwa , however, quickly saw her coming\nat Him with a stick in her hand , and immediately He got down from the\ngrinding mortar and began to flee in fear.\nMother Y asoda chased Him to all corners, trying to capture the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead who is never approached even by the meditations\nof great yogis. In other words , the Supreme Personality of Godhead , Kr��a ,\nwho is never caught by the yogis and speculators, was playing just like a\nlittle child for a great devotee like mother Y asoda . Mother Y asoda,\nhowever, could not easily catch the fast-ru nning child because of her thin\nwaist and heavy body. Still she tried to follow Him as fas t as possible . Her\nhair loosened , and the flower in her hair fell to the gro und. Although she\nwas tired, she somehow reached her naughty child and captured Him.\nWhen He was caught , Krwa was almost on the point of crying. He smeared\nHis hands over His eyes , which were anointed with black eye cosmetics.\nThe child saw His mother's face while she stood over Him, and His eyes\nbecame restless from fear . Mother Y asoda could understand that Kr��a\nwas unnecessarily afraid , and for His benefit she wanted to allay His fears.\nBeing the topm ost well-wisher of her chil d , mother Yasoda began to\nthink , \"If the child is too fearful of me , I don't know what will happen to\nHim . \" Mother Yasoda then threw away her stick. In order to punish Him,\nshe thought to bind His hands with some ropes. She did not know it , but\nit was actually impossible for her to bind the Supreme Personality of Godhead . Mother Yasoda was thinking that Kr��a was her tiny child ; she did\nnot know that the child had no limitation . There is no inside or outside of\nHim , nor beginning or end. He is unlimited and all-pervading. Indeed , He\nis Himself the whole cosmic manifestation. Still, mother Yasoda was\nthinking of Kr��a as her child. Although He is beyond the reach of all\nsenses, she endeavored to bind Him up to a wooden grinding mortar . But\nwhen she tried to bind Him, she found that the rope she was using was too\nshort-by two in ches . She gathered more rop�s from the house and added\nto it, but at the end she found the same shortage . In this way, she connected all the ro pes available at home , but when the final kno t was added ,\nshe saw that it was still two inches too short . Mother Y asoda was smiling,\nbut she was astonished . How was it happening?\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0112": "66\n\nKr�J}a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nIn attemptingto bind her son, she became tired. She was perspiring, and\n\nthe garland on her head fell down. Then Lord Kr�l).a appreciated the hard\n\nlabor of His mother , and being compassionate upon her, He agreed to be\n\nbound up by the ropes. Kr�va, playing as a human child in the house of\n\nmother Y asoda, was performing His own selected pastimes. Of course no\n\none can control the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The pure devotee\n\nsurrenders himself unto the lotus feet of the Lord, who may either protect\n\nor vanquish the devotee. But for his part, the devotee never forgets his\nown position of surrender. Similarly, the Lord also feels transcendental\n\npleasure by submitting Himself to the protection of the devotee. This was\n\nexemplified by Kr�l).a 's surrender unto His mother, Y asoda.\n\nKr�!la is the supreme bestower of all kinds of liberation to His devotees,\n\nbut the benediction which was bestowed up on mother Y asoda was never\nexperienced even by Lord Brahma or Lord Siva or the goddess of fortune.\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as the son of\n\nYasoda and Nanda Maharaj a , is never so completely known to the yogis\n\nand speculators. But He is easily available to His devotees. Nor is He\n\nappreciated as the supreme reservoir of all pleasure by the yogis and\n\nspeculators.\nAfter binding her son, mother Y asoda engaged herself in household\n\naffairs. At that time, bound up to the wooden mortar, Kr�l).a could see a\npair of trees before Him which were known as arjuna trees. The great\n\nreservoir of pleasure, Lord Sri Kr�l).a, thus thought to Himself, \"Mother\n\nY asoda first of all left without feeding Me sufficient milk, and therefore\n\nI broke the pot of yogurt and distributed the stock butter in charity to the\nmonkeys. Now she has bound Me u p to a wooden mortar. So I shall do\n\nsomething more mischievous than before.\" And thus He thought of pulling\ndown the two very tall arjuna trees.\n\nThere is a history behind the pair of arjuna trees. In their previous\n\nlives, the trees were born as the human sons of Kuvera, and their names\n\nwere Nalakiivara and Ma�tigriva. Fortunately, they came within the vision\n\nof the Lord. In their previous lives they were cursed by the great sage\nNarada in erder to receive the highest benediction of seeing Lord Kp�l).a.\n\nThis benediction-curse was bestowed upon them because of their forgetfulness due to intoxication. This story will be narrated in the next chapter.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Ninth Chapter of Kr�l).a,\n\"Mother Yasodii Binding Lord K[§[W. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0113": "1 0 I Deliverance of N alakiivara\nand Manigriva\nThe story of the cursing of N alakuvara and Mal)igrlva and their deliverance by Kr�l)a , under the all-blissful desire of the great sage Narada,\nis here described.\nThe two great demigods, Nalakuvara and Mal)igri\"va, were sons of the\ntreasurer of the demigods, Kuvera, who was a great devotee of Lord Siva.\nBy the grace of Lord Siva, Kuvera's material opulences had no limit. As a\nrich man's sons often become addicted to wine and women , so these two\nsons of Kuvera were also addicted to wine and sex. Once, these two demigods, desiring to enj oy, entered the garden of Lord Siva in the province of\nKailasa on the bank of Mandakini Ganges. There they drank much and\nengaged in hearing the sweet singing of beautiful women who accompanied\nthem in that garden of fragrant flowers. In an intoxicated condition, they\nboth entered the water of the Ganges, which was full with lotus flowers,\nand there they began to enjoy the company of the young girls exactly as\nthe male elephant enj oys the female elephants within the water.\nWhile they were thus enj oying themselves in the water , all of a sudden\nNarada, the great sage, happened to pass that way. He could understand\nthat the demigods Nalakuvara and Mal)igriva were too intoxicated and\ncould not even see that he was passing. The young girls, however, were\nnot so intoxicated as the demigods, and they at once became ashamed at\nbeing naked before the great sage Narada. They began to c �ver themselves\nwith all haste. The two demigod-sons of Kuvera were so intoxicated that\nthey could not appreciate the presence of the sage Narada and therefore\ndid not cover their bodies. On seeing the two demigods so degraded by\nintoxication, Narada desired their welfare, and therefore he exhibited his\ncauseless mercy upon them by cursing them .\nBecause the great sage was compassionate upon them, he wanted to\nfinish their false enjoyment of intoxication and association with young\n\n67\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0114": "68\n\nKf�J).a, the Supre me Perso nalit_y of Godhead\n\ngirls and wanted them to see Lord Kf�l)a eye to eye. He conceived of\ncursing them as follows. He said that the attraction for material enj oyment\nis due to an increase of the mode of passion. A person in the material\nworld , when favored by the material o pulence of riches , generally becomes addicted to three things-intoxication, sex and gambling. Materially\no pulent men, being puffed up with the accumulation of wealth, also\nbecome so merciless tha t they indulge in killing animals by opening\n.\nslaughterhouses. And they think that they themselves will never die. Such\nfoolish persons, forgetting the laws of nature, become overly infatuated\nwith the body. They forget that the material body, even though very much\nadvanced in civilization, up to the position of the demigods, will finally\nbe burned to ashes. And while one is living, whatever the external condition of the body may be, within there is only stool, urine and various\nkinds of worms. Thus being engaged in j ealousy and violence to other\nbodies , materialists cannot understand the ultimate goal of life , and without knowing this goal of life , they generally glide down to a hellish\ncondition. In their next birth, such foolish persons co mmit all kinds of\nsinful activities on account of this temporary body , and they are even\nunable to consider w hether this body actually belongs to them. Generally\nit is said that the body belongs to the persons who feed the body . One\nmight therefore consider whether this body belongs to one personally or\nto the master to whom one renders service . The master of slaves claims full\nright to the bodies of the slaves because the master feeds the slaves. It may\nbe questioned then whether the body belongs to the father, who is the\nseed-giving master of this body, or to the mother, who develo ps the child's\nbody in her womb.\nFoolish persons are engaged in committing all sorts of sins due to the\nmisconception of identifying the material body with the self. But one\nshould be intelligt�nt enough to understand to whom this body b dongs. A\nfoolish person indulges in killing other animals to maintain the body , but\nhe does not consider whether this body belongs to him or to his father or ,\nmother or grandfather. Someti mes a grandfather or a father gives his\ndaughter in charity to a person with a view of getting back the daughter's\nchild as a son. The body may also belong to a stronger man who forces\nit to work for him . So metimes the slave's body is sold to the master on the\nbasis that the b ody will belong to the master. And at the end of life, the\nbody belongs to the fire, because the body is given to the fire and burned\nto ashes. Or the body is thrown into the street to be eaten by the dogs\nand vultures.\nBefore committing all kinds of sins to maintain the body, one should\n-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0115": "Deliverance of N alakt1vara and Ma�igriva\n\n69\n\nunderstand to whom the body belongs. Ultimately it is concluded that the\nbody is a product of material nature, and at the end it merges into material\nnature; therefore, the conclusion should be that the body belongs to\nmaterial nature. One should not wrongly think that the body belongs to\n\nhim. To maintain a false possession, why should one indulge in killing?\n\nWhy should one kill innocent animals to maintain the body?\n\nWhen a man is infatuated with the false prestige of opulence, he does\n\nnot care for any moral instruction but indulges in wine, women and animal\n\nkiping. In such circumstances, a poverty-stricken man is often better\nsituated because a poor man thinks of himself in relation to other bodies.\n\nA poor man often does not wish to inflict injuries to other bodies because\nhe can understand more readily that when he himself is injured he feels\n\npain. As such, the great sage Narada considered that because the demigods\n\nNalakuvara and Ma�igriva were so infatuated by false prestige, they should\n\nbe put into a condition of life devoid of opulence.\n\nA person who has a pinprick in his body does not wish others to be\n\npricked by pins; a considerate man in the life of poverty does not wish\nothers to be also put into that condition. Generally it is seen that oile who\n\nhas risen from a poverty-stricken life and becomes wealthy creates some\ncharitable institution at the end of his life so that other poverty-stricken\n\nmen might be benefitted. In short, a compassionate poor man may con­\n\nsider others' pains and pleasures with empathy. A poor man may be\n\nseldom puffed with false pride, and he may be freed from all kinds of\n\ninfatuation. H e may remain satisfied by whatever h e gets for his maintenance by the grace of the Lord.\n\nTo remain in the poverty -stricken condition is a kind of austerity.\n\nAccording to Vedic culture, therefore, the\n\nbriihmar-as, as a matter of\n\nroutine, keep themselves in a poverty-stricken condition to save them­\n\nselves from the false prestige of material opulence. False prestige due to\n\nadvancement of material prosperity is a great impediment for spiritual\nemancipation. A poverty -stricken man cannot become unnaturally fat by\n\neating more and more. And on account of not being able to eat more than\nhe requires, his senses are not very turbulent. When the senses are not\n\nvery turbulent, he cannot become violent .\n\nAnother advantage of poverty is that a saintly person can easily enter a\n\npoor man's house, and thus the poor man can take advantage of the\n\nsaintly person's association. A very opulent man does not allow anyone to\n\nenter his house; therefore, the saintly person cannot enter. According to\n\nthe V edic system, a saintly person takes the position of a mendicant so\n\nthat on the plea of begging somdhing from the householder, he can enter\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0116": "70\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nany house. The householder, who has usually forgotten everything about\n\nspiritual advancement because he is busy maintaining family affairs, can\n\nbe benefitted by the association of a saintly person. There is a great\n\nchance for the poor man to become liberated through association with a\n\nsaint. Of what use are persons who are puffed up with material o pulence\n\nand prestige if they are bereft of the association of saintly persons and\n\ndevotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead?\n\nThe great sage Narada thereafter thought that it was his duty to put\n\nthose demigods into a condition where they could not be falsely proud\n\nof their material opulence and prestige. Narada was compassionate and\n\nwanted to save them from their fallen life. They were in the mode of\ndarkness, and being therefore unable to control their senses, they were\n\naddicted to sex life. It was the duty of a saintly person like Narada to save\nthem from their abominable condition. In animal life, the animal has no\n\nsense to understand that he is naked. But Kuvera was the treasurer of the\ndemigods, a very responsible man, and N alakiivara and Ma!tigriva were two\n\nof his sons. And yet they became so animalistic and irresponsible that\n\nthey could not understand, due to intoxication, that they were naked. To\n\ncover the lower part of the body is a principle of human civilization, and\n\nwhen a man or woman forgets this principle, they become degraded.\n\nNarada therefore thought that the best punishment for them was to make\n\nthem immovable living entities, or trees. Trees are, by nature's laws,\n\nimmovable. Although trees are covered by the mode of ignorance, they\n\ncannot do harm. The great sage Narada thought it fitting that, although\n\nthe brothers, by his mercy, would be ,,punished to become trees, they\n\ncontinue to keep their memory to be able to know why they were being\n\npunished. After changing the · ·body, a living entity generally forgets his\n\nprevious life, but in special cases, by the grace of the Lord, as with Nalakiivara and Ma�tigriva, one can remember.\n\nSage Narada therefore contemplated that the two demigods should\n\nremain for one hundred years, in the time of the demigods, in the form of\n\ntrees, and after that they would be fortunate enough to see the Supreme\n\nPersonality of Godhead, face to face, by His causeless mercy. And thus\n\nthey would be again promoted to the life of the demigods and great\ndevotees of the Lord.\n\nAfter this, the great sage Narada returned to his abode known as Naraya!la\n\nAsrama, and the two demigods turned into trees, known as twin arjuna\n\ntrees. The two demigods were favored by the causeless mercy of Narada\n\nand given a chance to grow in Nanda's courtyard and see Lord Krwa face\n\nto face.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0117": "Deliverance of Nalakiivara and Ma�igriva\n\n71\n\nAlthough the child Kn!!a was bound up to the wooden mortar, He\n\nbegan to proceed towards the growing trees in order to fulfill the prophecy\nof His great devotee Narada. Lord Kn!la knew that Narada was His great\n\ndevotee and that the trees standing before Him as twin arjuna trees were\n\nactually the sons of Kuvera. \"I must now fulfill the words of My great\n\ndevotee Narada,\" He thought. Then He began to proceed through the\n\npassage between the two trees. Although He was able to pass through the\n\npassage, the large wooden mortar stuck horizontally between the trees.\n\nTaking advantage of this, Lord Knva began to pull the rope which was\n\ntied to the mortar. As soon as He pulled, with great strength, the two\n\ntrees, with all branches and limbs, fell down immediately �with a great\n\nsound. Out of the broken, fallen trees came two great personalities, shining\n\nlike blazing fire. All sides became illuminated and beautiful by their\npresence. The two purified bodies immediately came before child Krwa\n\nand bowed down to offer their respects and prayers in the following words.\n\"Dear Lord Krwa, You are the original Personality of Godhead, master\n\nof all mystic powers. Learned b riihmarr-as know very well that this cosmic\n\nmanifestation is an expansion of Your potencies which are sometimes\n\nmanifest and sometimes unmanifest. You are the original provider of the\nlife, body and senses of all living entities. You are the eternal God, Lord\n\nViwu, who is all-pervading, the principal controller of everything. You are\n\nthe original source of the cosmic manifestation which is acting under the\n\nspell of the three modes of material nature�goodness, passion and igno­\n\nrance. You are living as the Supersoul in all the multi-forms of living\nentities, and You know very well what is going on within their bodies and\nminds. Therefore You are the supreme director of all activities of all living\n\nentities. But although You are in the midst of everything which is under\n\nthe spell of the material modes of nature, You are not affected by such\n\ncontaminated qualities. No one under the jurisdiction of the material\n\nmodes can understand Your transcendental qualities, which existed before\n\nthe creation; therefore You are called the Supreme Brahman who is always\n\nglorified by His personal internal potencies. In this material world You can\n\nbe known only by Your different incarnations. Although You assume\ndifferent types of bodies, these bodies are not part of the material creation.\n\nThey are always full of transcendental potencies of unlimited opulence,\n\nstrength, beauty, fame, wisdom and renunciation. In the material existence,\n\nthere is a difference between the body and the owner of the body, but\n\nbecause You appear in Your original spiritual body, there is no such\ndifference for You. When You appear, Your uncommon activities indicate\n\nthat You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such uncommon\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0118": "72\n\nKr�t;ta, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nactivities are not possible for anyone in material existence. You are that\nSupreme Personality of Godhead, now appearing to cause the birth and\n\ndeath as well as liberation of the living , entities, and You are full with all\nYour\n\nplenary expansions. You can bestow on everyone all kinds of\n\nbenediction. 0 Lord ! 0 source of all fortune and goodness, we offer our\nrespectful obeisances unto You. You are the all-pervading Supreme Per­\n\nsonality of Godhead, the source of peace and the supreme person in the\ndynasty of King Yadu. 0 Lord, our father known as Kuvera, the demigod,\n\nis Your servant . Similarly, the great sage Narada is also Your servitor, and\n\nby their grace only we have been able to see You personally. We therefore\n\npray that we may always he engaged in Your transcendental loving service\nby speaking only about Y our glories and hearing about Your transcenden­\n\ntal activities. May our hands and other limbs he engaged in Your service and\n\nour minds always he concentrated at Y our lotus feet and our heads always\n\nbowed down before the all-pervading universal form of Y our Lordship.\"\n\nWhen the demigods Nalakiivara and Mal).igriva finished their prayers,\n\nthe child, Lord Kr�l).a, the master and proprietor of Gokula, hound to the\n\nwooden grinding mortar by the ropes of Yasoda, began to smile and said ,\n\"It was already known to Me that My great devotee-sage N arada had\n\nshown his causeless mercy b y saving you from the abominable condition\nof pride due to possessing extraordinary beauty and opulence in the\nfamily of the demigods. He has saved you from gliding down into the\n\nlowest condition of hellish life. All these facts are already known to Me.\n\nYou are very fortunate because you were not only cursed by him, hut you\n\nhad the great opportunity to see him. If someone is able, by chance, to see\n\na great saintly person like Narada face to face, who is always serene and\n\nmerciful to everyone, then immediately that conditioned soul becomes\n\nliberated. This is exactly like being situated in the full light of the sun:\n\nthere cannot he any visionary impediment. Therefore, 0 Nalakiivara and\n\nMal).igriva, your lives have now become successful because you have\n\ndeveloped ecstatic love for Me. This is your last birth within material\nexistence. Now you can go hack to your father 's residence in the heavenly\n\nplanet, and by remaining in the attitude of devotional service, you will\n\nhe liberated in this very life.\"\n\nAfter this, the demigods circumambulated the Lord many times and\n\nbowed down before Him again and again, and thus they left . The Lord\n\nremained hound up with ropes to the grinding mortar.\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Tenth Chapter of Krwa,\n\"Deliverance of Nalakfivara and Marigriva. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0119": "l l I Killin g the Demons\nV atsasura and Bakasura\nWhen the twin a rju na trees fell to the ground, making a sound like the\nfalling of thunderbolts, all the inhabitants of Gokula, including Nanda\nMaharaj a , immediately came to the spot . They were very much astonished\nto see how the two great trees had suddenly fallen. Because they could\nfind no reason for their falling down, they were puzzled. When they saw\nchild Kr§!la bound up to the wooden mortar by the ropes of Y asoda, they\nbegan to think that it must have been caused by some demon. Otherwise,\nhow was it possible? At the same time, they were very much perturbed\nbecau s e such uncommon incidences were always happening to the child\nKr§!la. While the elderly cowherd men were thus contemplating, the small\nchildren who were playing there informed the men that the trees fell due\nto Kf§!!a's pulling the wooden mortar with the ropes to which He _was\nbound. \" Kr§!la came in between the two trees,\" they explained, \"and the\nwooden mortar was topsy-turvied and stuck in between the trees. Kr§!la\nbegan to pull the rope, and the trees fell down . When the trees fell down ,\ntwo very dazzling men came out of the trees, and they began to talk to\nKrsna. \"\nMost of the cowherd men did not believe the statement of the children.\nThey could not believe that such things were at all possible. Some of them,\nhowever , believed th e m and told Nanda Maharaj a , \"Your child is different\nfrom all other children. He just might have done it.\" Nand a Maharaj a began\nto smile , hearing about the extraordinary abilities of his son. He came forward and untied the knot just to free his wonderful child. After being freed\nby Nanda Maharaja, Kr§!la was taken onto the laps of the elderly go pis.\nThey took Him away to the courtyard of the house and began to clap , praising His wonderful activities. Kr§!la began to clap along with them , just like\nan ordinary child. The Supreme Lord Kf§!la , being completely controlled\nby the go pis, began to sing and dance, just like a puppet in their hands.\n\n73\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0120": "74\n\nKHt;ta, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\nSometimes mother Y asoda used to ask Kr§t;J.a to bring her a wooden\n\nplank for sitting. Although the wooden plank was too heavy to be carried\n\nby a child, still somehow or other Kr§t;J.a would bring it to His mother.\n\nSometimes while worshiping Narayat;J.a, His father would ask Him to\n\nbring his wooden slippers, and Kr§t;J.a, with great difficulty, would put the\nslippers on His head and bring them to His _ father. When He was asked to\n\nlift some heavy article and was unable to lift it, He would simply move His\n\narms. In this way, daily, at every moment, He was the reservoir of all\npleasure to His parents. The Lord was exhibiting such childish activities\n\nbefore the inhabitants of V rndavana because He wanted to show the great\n\nphilosophers and sages searching after the Absolute Truth how the Supreme\n\nAbsolute Truth Personality of Godhead is controlled by and subject to the\ndesires of His pure devotees.\n\nOne day, a fruit vendor came before the house of N anda Maharaja.\n\nUpon hearing the vendor call, \"If anyone wants fruits please come and\n\ntake them from me!\" child Kf§t;J.a immediately took some grains in His\npalm and went to get fruits in exchange. In those days exchange was by\n\nbarter ; therefore Kr§t;J.a might have seen His parents exchange fruits and\n\nother things by bartering grains, and so He imitated. But His palms were\n\nvery small, and He was not very careful to hold them tight, so He was\ndropping the grains. The vendor who came to sell fruits saw this and was\n\nvery much captivated by the beauty of the Lord, so he immediately\naccepted whatever few grains were left in His palm and filled His hands\n\nwith fruits. In this meantime, the vendor saw that his whole basket of\n\nfruit had become filled with jewels. The Lord is the bestower of all\nbenediction. If someone gives something to the Lord, he is not the loser ;\nhe is the gainer by a million times.\n\nOne day Lord Kf§t;J.a, the liberator of the twin arjuna trees, was playing\n\nwith Balarama and the other children on the bank of the Yamuna, and\n\nbecause it was already late in the morning, Rohit;J.i, the mother of\n\nBalarama, went to call them back home. But Balarama and Krwa were\n\nso engrossed in playing with Their friends that They 'did not wish to come\n\nback; They just engaged Themselves in playing more and more. When\n\nRohit;J.i was unable to take Them back home, she went home and sent\n\nmother Y asoda to call Them again. Mother Y asoda was so affectionate\n\ntoward her son that as soon as she came out to call Him back home, her\n\nbreast filled u p with milk. She loudly cried, \"My dear child, please come\nback home. Your time for lunch is already past.\" She then said, \"My\ndear Kr§t;J. a, 0 my dear lotus-eyed child, please come and suck my breast.\n\nYou have played enough. You must be very hungry, my dear little child.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0121": "Killing the Demons V atsasura and Bakasura\n\n75\n\nYou must be tired from playing for so long. \" She also addressed Balarama\nthus: \"My dear , the glory of Your family, please come back with Your\nyounger brother Kr�!la immediately. You have been engaged in playing\nsince morning, and Y ou must be very tired. Please come b ack and take\nY c:>ur lunc h at home . Your father Nandaraj a is waiting for You. He has to\neat, so You must come back so that he can eat . \"\nAs soon a s Krwa and Balarama heard that Nanda Maharaj a was waiting\nfor Them and could not take his food in Their absence , They started to\nreturn. Their other playmates complained , \"Kr�pa is leaving us just at the\npoint when our playing is at the summit. Next time we shall not allow Him\nto leave . \"\nHis playmates then threatened not to allow H i m to play with them\nagain. Kr�pa became afraid , and instead of going back home , He went\nback again to play with the boys. At that time , mother Y asoda scolded the\nchildren and told Kr�!la, \"My dear Kr�!la, do You think that You are a\nstreet boy? You have no home? Please come back to Your home ! I see\nthat Your body has become very dirty from playing since early morning.\nNow come home and take Your hath. Besides, today is Your birthday\nceremony ; therefore You should come back home and give cows in charity\nto the briihmm;ws. D on't You see how Your playmates are decorated with\nornaments by their mothers? You should also be cleansed and decorated\nwith nice dress and ornaments. Please , therefore , come back , take Y our\nb ath, dress Yourself nicely, and then again You may go on playing. \"\nIn this way mother Y asoda called back Lord Krwa and Balarama who\nare worshipahle by great demigods like Lord Brahma and Lord Siva. She\nwas thinking of Them as her children.\nWhen mother Yasoda 's children, Kr�pa and Balarama, came home , she\nbathed Them very nicely and dressed Them with ornaments. She then\ncalled for the briihmar;ws, and through her children she gave many cows\nin charity for the occasion of Krwa's birthday. In this way she performed\nthe birthday ceremony of Kr�!la at home.\n·\nAfter this incident , all the elderly members of the cowherd men\nassembled together, and Nanda Maharaja presided. They began to consult\namongst themselves how to stop great disturbances in the Mahavana on\naccount of the demons. In this meeting, Upananda, brother of Nanda\nMaharaj a , was present. He was considered to be learned and experienced ,\nand he was a well-wisher o f Kr�!la and Balarama. He was a leader, and he\nbegan to address the meeting as follows : \"My dear friends! Now we should\nleave here for another place because we are continually finding that great\ndemons are coming here to disturb the peaceful situation, and they are\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0122": "76\n\nKf�l)a , the Supreme Perso nality of Godhead\n\nespecially attempting to kill the small children. Just consider Piitana and\nKr§�a. It was simply by the grace of Lord Hari that Kr§�a was saved from\nthe hands of such a great demon. Next the whirlwind demon took Kr§�a\naway in the sky, but by the grace of Lord H ari He was saved, and the\ndemon fell down on a stone slab and died. Very recently, this child was\nplaying between two trees, and the trees fell down violently, and yet there\nwas no injury to the child. So Lord Hari saved Him again. Just imagine the\ncalamity if this child or any other child playing with Him were crushed by\nthe falling trees ! Considering all these incidences , we must conclude that\nthis place is no longer safe. Let us leave. We have all been saved from\ndifferent calamities b y the grace of Lord Hari. N ow we should be cautious\nand leave this place and reside somewhere where we can live peacefully.\nI think that we should all go to the forest known as V rndavana, where just\nnow there are newly grown plants and herbs. It is very suitable for\npasturing ground for our cows , and we and our families , the gopis with\ntheir children , can very peacefully live there. N ear Vrndavana there is\nGovardhana Hill, which is very beautiful, and there is newly grown grass\nand fodder for the animals , so there will be no difficulty in living there.\nI therefore suggest that we start immediately for that beautiful place , as\nthere is no need to waste any more time. Let us prepare all our carts\nimmediately, and , if you like, let us go , keeping all the cows in front. ':\nOn hearing the statement of U pananda, all the cowherd men immediately\nagreed. \"Let us immediately go there. \" Everyone then loaded all their\nhousehold furniture and utensils on the carts and prepared to go to\nVrndavana. All the old men of the village , the children and women were\narranged on seats, and the cowherd men equipped themselves with bows\nand arrows to follow the carts. All the cows and bulls along with their\ncalves were placed in the front , and the men surrounded the flocks with\ntheir bows and arrows and began to blow on their horns and bugles. In this\nway, with tu multuous sound , they started for Vrndavana.\nAnd who can describe the damsels of Vraj a? They were all seated on the\ncarts and were very beautifully dressed with ornaments and costly saris.\nThey began to chant the pastimes of child Kr§�a as usual. Mother Y asoda\nand mother Rohi�i were seated on a separate cart , and Kr§�a and Balarama\nwere seated on their laps. · While mother Rohi�i and Y asoda were riding\non the cart, they talked to Kf§l)a and Balarama, and feeling the pleasure of\nsuch talks, they looked very, very beautiful.\nIn this way, after reaching V rndavana, where everyone lives eternally,\nvery peacefully and happily, they encircled Vrndavana and kept the carts\nall together. After seeing the beautiful appearance of Govardhana on the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0123": "Killing the Demons V atsasura and Bakasura\n\n77\n\nbank of the River Yamuna, they began to construct their places of\n\nresidence. While those of the same age were walking together and children\n\nwere talking with their parents, the inhabitants of Vrndavana felt very\nhappy.\n\nAt this time K[�l).a and Balarama were given charge of the calves. The\n\nfirst responsibility of the cowherd boys was to take care of the little calves.\nThe boys are trained in this from the very beginning of their childhood. So\n\nalong with other little cowherd boys, K[�l).a and Balarama went into the\npasturing ground and took charge of the calves and played with Their\n\nplaymates. While taking charge of the calves, sometimes the two brothers\nplayed on Their flutes. And sometimes They played with iimalaki:fruits and\n\nbael fruits, just like small children play with balls. Sometimes They danced\n\nand made tinkling sounds with Their ankle bells. Sometimes They made\nThemselves into bulls and cows by covering Themselves with blankets.\n\nThus K[�l).a and Balarama played. The two brothers also used to imitate\n\nthe sounds of bulls and cows and play at bullfighting. Sometimes They used\nto imitate the sounds of various animals and birds. In this way, They en­\n\njoyed Their childhood pastimes apparently like ordinary, mundane children.\n\nOnce, when K[�l).a and Balarama were playing on the bank of the\n\nYamuna, a demon of the name Vatsasura assumed the shape of a calf and\n\ncame there intending to kill the brothers. By taking the shape of a calf,\n\nthe demon could mingle with other calves. Kr�va, however, specifically\nnoticed this, and He immediately told Balarama about the entrance of the\n\ndemon. Both brothers then followed him and sneaked u p upon him. K[�l).a\n\ncaught hold of the demon-calf by the two hind legs and tail, whipped him\n\naround very forcibly and threw him up into a tree. The demon lost his life\n\nand fell down from the top of the tree to the ground. When the demon\n\nlay dead on the ground, all the playmates of K[�l).a congratulated Him,\n\n\"Well done, well done,\" and the demigods in the sky began to shower\n\nflowers with great satisfaction. In this way, the maintainers of the com­\n\nplete creation, K[�l).a and Balarama, used to take care of the calves in the\nmorning every day, and thus They enjoyed Their childhood pastimes as\n\ncowherd boys in v rndavana.\n\nAll the cowherd boys would daily go to the bank of the River Yamuna\n\nto water their calves. Usually, when the calves drank water from the\nYam una, the boys also drank. One day, after drinking, when they were\n\nsitting on the bank of the river, they saw a huge animal which looked\n\nsomething like a duck and was as big as a hill. Its top was as strong as a\n\nthunderbolt. When they saw that unusual animal, they became afraid of it.\n\nThe name of this beast was Bakasura, and he was a friend of Kamsa's. He\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0124": "78\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nappeared on the scene suddenly and immediately attacked Kr�11a with his\npointed, sharp beaks and quickly swallowed Him up. When Kr��a was\n\nthus swallowed, all the boys, headed by Balarama, became almost breath­\n\nless, as if they had died. But when the Bakasura demon was swall owing\nup Kr��a, he felt a burning fiery sensation in his throat. This was due to\n\nthe glowing effulgence of Kr��ta. The demon quickly threw Krwa up and\n\ntried to kill Him by pinching Him in his beaks. Bakasura did not know\n\nthat although Kr�tla was playing the part of a child of Nanda Maharaja,\nHe was still the original father of Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe.\n\nThe child of mother Y asoda, who is the reservoir of pleasure for the demigods and who is the maintainer of saintly persons, caught hold of the\n\nbeaks of the great gigantic duck and, before His cowherd boy friends ,\n\nbifurcated his mouth, just as a child very easily splits a , blade of grass.\nFrom the sky, the denizens of the heavenly planets showered flowers like\n\nthe cameli, the most fragrant of all flowers, as a token of their congratulations. Accompanying the showers of flowers was a vibration of bugles,\ndrums and conchshells.\n\nWhen the boys saw the showering of flowers and heard the celestial\n\nsounds, they became struck with wonder. When they saw Kr�va, they all,\n\nincluding Balarama, were so pleased that it seemed as if they had regained\n\ntheir very source of life. As soon as they saw Kr�11a coming towards them,\n\nthey one after another embraced the son of N anda and held Him to their\nchests. After this, they assembled all the calves under their charge and\n\nbegan to return home.\n\nWhen they arrived home, they began to speak of the wonderful activities\n\nof the son of Nanda. When the gopis and cowherd men all heard the story\n\nfrom the boys, they felt great happiness because naturally they loved\n\nKr�va, and hearing about His glories and victorious activities, they became\n\nstill more affectionate toward Him. Thinking that the child Kr��a was\n\nsaved from the mouth of death, they began to see His face with great love\nand affection. They were full of anxieties, but they could not turn their\n\nfaces from the vision of Kr�J1a. The gopis and the men began to converse\n\namongst themselves about how the child Kr��a was attacked in so many\n\nways and so many times by so many demons, and yet the demons were\n\nkilled and Kr��a was uninjured. They continued to converse amongst\n\nthemselves about how so many great demons in such fierce bodies attacked\nKn�a to kill Him, but by the grace of Hari, they could not cause even a\n\nslight injury. Rather, they died like small flies in a fire. Thus they remem­\n\nbered the words of Gargamuni who foretold, by dint of his vast knowledge\nof the\n\nVedas and astrology, that this boy would be attacked by many\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0125": "Killing the Demons V at sasura and Bakasura\n\n79\n\ndemons. Now they actually saw that this was coming true, word for word.\n\nAll the elderly cowherd men, including Nanda Maharaja, used to talk of\n\nthe wonderful activities of Lord Kf�l).a and Balarama, and they were\n\nalways so much absorbed in those talks that they forgot the threefold\nmiseries of this material existence. This is the effect of Kf�l).a consciousness. What was enjoyed 5,000 years ago by N anda Maharaj a can still be\n\nenjoyed by persons who are in Kf�l).a consciousness simply by talking\n\nabout the transcendental pastimes of Kf�l).a and His associates.\n\nThus both Balarama and Kf�l).a enjoyed Their childhood pastimes,\n\nimitating the monkeys of Lord Ramacandra who constructed the bridge\nover the ocean and Hanuman, who jumped o ver the water to Ceylon.\n\nAnd They used to imitate such pastimes among Their friends and so\n\nhappily passed Their childhood life.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Eleventh Chapter of Kf�l).a,\n\"Killing the Demons Vatsiisura and Bakiisura. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0126": "1 2 I The Killin g of the Aghasura D emon\n\nOnce the Lord desired to go early in the morning with all His cowherd\nboy friends to the forest , where they were to assemble together and take\nlunch. As soon as He got up from bed, He blew a buffalo horn and called\nall His friends together. Keeping the calves before them , they started for\nthe forest . In this way , Lord Krwa assembled thousands of His boy\nfriends. They were each equipped with a stick , flute and horn as well as\nlunch bag, and each of them was taking care of thousands of calves. All\nthe boys appeared very j olly and happy in that excursion. Each and every\none of them was attentive for his personal calves. The boys were fully\ndecorated with various kinds of golden ornaments , and out of sporting\npropensities they began to pick up flowers , leaves , twigs , peacock feathers\nand red clay from different places in the forest , and they began to dress\nthemselves in different ways. While passing through the forest , one boy\nstole another boy's lunch package and passed it to a third. And when the\nboy whose lunch package was stolen came to know of it , he tried to take\nit back. But one threw it to another boy. This sportive playing went on\namongst the boys as childhoo d pastimes.\nWhen Lord Kr�!la went ahead to a distant place in order to see some\nspecific scenery , the boys behind Him tried to run to catch up and be the\nfirst to touch Him . So there was a great competition. One would say, \"I\nwill go there and touch Kr�Qa , \" and another would say, \"Oh you cannot\ngo . I 'll touch Krwa first . \" Some of them played on their flutes or vibrated\nbugles made of buffalo horn . Some of them gladly followed the peacocks\nand imitated the onomatopoetic sounds of the cuckoo. While the birds\nwere flying in the sky , the boys ran after the birds' shadows along the\nground and tried to follow their exact courses. Some of them went to the\nmonkeys and silently sat down by them , and some of them imitated the\ndancing of the peacocks . Some of them caught the tails of the monkeys and\n\n80\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0127": "The Killing of the Aghasura Demon\n\n81\n\nplayed with them, and when the monkeys jumped i n a tree, the boys also\nfollowed. When a monkey showed its face and teeth, a boy imitated and\nshowed his teeth to the monkey. Some of the boys played with the frogs\non the bank of the Yamuna, and when, out of fear, the frogs jumped in\nthe water, the boys immediately dove in after them, and they would come\nout of the water when they saw their own shadows and stand imitating,\nmaking caricatures <md laughing. They would also go to an empty well and\nmake loud sounds, and when the echo came back, they would call it ill\nnames and laugh.\nAs stated personally by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the\n·\nBhagavad-gita, He is realized proportionately by transcendentalists as\nBrahman, Paramatma and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Here, in\nconfirmation of the same statement, Lord Kf�l).a , who awards the impersonalist Brahman realization by His bodily effulgence, also gives pleasure\nto the devotees as the Supreme Personality of Godhead . Those who are\nunder the spell of external energy, maya, take Him only as a beautiful\nchild . Yet He gave full transcendental pleasure to the cowherd boys who\nplayed with Him. Only after accumulating heaps of pious activities, those\nboys were promoted to personally associate with the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead. Who can estimate the transcendental fortune of the residents\nof Vrndavana? They were personally visualizing the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead face to face , He whom many yogis cannot find even after\nundergoing severe austerities, although He is sitting within the heart. This\nis also confirmed in the Brah ma-samhita. One may search for Kr�pa the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead through the pages of the Vedas and\nUpani�ads, but if one is fortunate enough to associate with a devotee, he\ncan see the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face. After accumulating pious activities in many, many previou s lives , the cowherd boys\nwere seeing Kr�pa face to face and playing with Him as friends. They\ncould not understand that Kr�l).a is the Supreme Personality of Godhead ,\nbut they .were playing as intimate friends with intense love for Him.\nWhen Lord Kf�l).a was enj oying His childhood pastimes with His boy\nfriends, one Aghasura demon became very impatient. He was unable to\nsee Kr�l).a playing, so he appeared before the boys intending to kill them\nall. This Aghasura was so dangerous that even the denizens of heaven were\nafraid of him. Although the denizens of heaven drank nectar daily to\nprolong their lives, they were afraid of this Aghasura and were wondering,\n\"When will the demon be killed ? \" The denizens used to drink nectar to\nbecome immortal , but actually they were not confident of their immortality . On the other hand , the boys w ho w ere play ing wit h Kr��·a had no\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0128": "82\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nfear of the demons. They were free of fear. Any material arrangement for\n\nprotecting oneself from death is always unsure, but if one is in Kr��a\n\nconsciousness, then immortality is confidently assured.\n\nThe demon Aghasura appeared before Kr�\\la and His friends. Aghasura\n\nhappened to be the younger brother of Piitana and Bakasura, and he\n\nthought, \"Kr�l).a has killed my brother and sister. Now I shall kill Him\n\nalong with all His friends and calves.\" Aghasura was instigated by Kamsa,\nso he had come with determination. Aghasura also began to think that\n\nwhen he would offer grains and water in memory of his brother and kill\n\nKr�va and all the cowherd boys, then automatically all the 'inhabitants of\n\nVrndavana would die. Generally, for the householders, the children are\nthe life and breath force. When all the children die, then naturally the\nparents also die on account of strong affection for them.\n\nAghasura, thus deciding to kill all the inhabitants of Vrndavana, ex­\n\npanded himself by the yogic\n\nsiddhi called mahimii. The demons are\n\ngenerally expert in achieving almost all kinds of mystic powers. In the\n\nyoga system, by the perfection called mahima-siddhi, one can expand\nhimself as he desires. The demon Aghasura expanded himself u p to eight\n\nmiles and assumed the shape of a very fat serpent. Having attained this\n\nwonderful body, he stretched his mouth o pen just like a mountain cave.\n\nDesiring to swallow all the boys at once, including Kr��m and Balarama, he\nsat on the path.\n\nThe demon in the shape of a big fat serpent expanded his lips from land\n\nto sky ; his lower lip was touching the ground and his upper lip was\n\ntouching the clouds. His jaws appeared like a big mountain cave, without\n\nlimitation, and his teeth appeared j ust like mountain summits. His tongue\nappeared to be a broad traffic way, and he was breathing just like a\n\nhurricane. The fire of his eyes was blazing. At first the boys thought that\nthe demon was a statue, but after examining it, they saw that it was more\n\nlike a big serpent lying down in the road and widening his mouth. The\n\nboys began to talk among themselves: \"This figure appears to be ,a great\n\nanimal, and he is sitting in such a posture just to swallow us all. Just see­\n\nis it not a big snake that has widened his mouth to eat all of us?\"\n\nOne o f them said, \"Yes, what you say is true. This animal's upper lip\n\nappears to be just like the sunshine, and its lower lip is just like the\nreflection of red sunsh..1e on the ground. Dear friends, just look to the\nright and left hand side of the mouth of the animal. Its mouth appears to\n\nbe like a big mountain cave, and its height cannot be estimated. The chin\n\nis also raised just like a mountain summit. That long highway appears to\n\nbe its tongue, and inside the mouth it is as dark as in a mountain cave. The\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0129": "The Killing of the Aghasura Demon\n\n83\n\nhot wind that is blowing like a hurricane is his breathing, and the fishy\n\nbad smell coming out from his mouth is the smell of his intestines.\"\n\nThen they further consulted among themselves: \"If we all at one time\n\nentered into the mouth of this great serpent, how could it possibly swallow\n\nall of us? And even if it were to swallow all of us at once, it could not\n\nswallow Kf�J)-a. Kf�l)-a will immediately kill him, as He did Bakasura.\"\n\nTalking in this way, all the boys looked at the beautiful lotus-like face of\n\nKf�l)-a, and they began to clap and smile. And so they marched forward\nand entered the mouth of the gigantic serpent.\n\nMeanwhile, Kr�l)-a, who is the Supersoul within everyone's heart, could\n\nunderstapd that the big statuesque figure was a demon. While He was\nplanning how to stop the destruction of His intimate friends, all the boys\n\nalong with their cows and calves entered the mouth of the serpent. But\n\nKf�l)-a did not enter. The demon was awaiting Kf�l)-a's entrance, and he\n\nwas thinking, \"Everyone has entered except Kf�l)-a, who has killed my\nbrothers and sisters.\"\n\nKf�l)-a is the assurance of safety to everyone. But when He saw that His\n\nfriends were already out of His hands and were lying within the belly of a\n\ngreat serpent. He became, momentarily, aggrieved. He was also struck with\nwonder how the external energy works so wonderfully. He then began to\n\nconsider how the demon should be killed and how he could save the boys\n\nand calves. Although there was no factual concern on Kf�l)-a's part, He\n\nwas thinking like that. Finally, after some deliberation, He also entered\nthe mouth of the demon. When Kr�l)-a entered, all the demigods, who had\ngathered to see the fun and who were hiding within the clouds, began to\n\nexpress their feelings with the words, \"Alas ! alas ! \" At the same time, all\n\nthe friends of Aghasura, especially Karnsa, who were all accustomed to\n\neating flesh and blood, began to express their jubilation, understanding\nthat Kr�t:la had also entered the mouth of the demon.\n\nWhile the demon was trying to smash Kf�l)-a and His companions,\n\nKf�l)-a heard the demigods crying, \"Alas, alas,\" and He immediately began\nto expand Himself within the throat of the demon. Although he had a\n\ngigantic body, the demon choked by the expanding of Kr�J)-a. His big eyes\nmoved violently, and he quickly suffocated. His life-air could not come\n\nout from any SO}lrcc, and ultimately it burst out of a hole in the upper\npart of his skull. Thus his life-air passed off. After the demon dropped\n\ndead, Kr�t;Ia, with His transcendental glance alone, brought all the boys\n\nand calves back to consciousness and came with them out of the mouth\nof the demon. While Kf§l)-a was within the mouth of Aghasura, the demon's\nspirit soul came out like a dazzling light, illuminating all directions, and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0130": "84\n\nKf�l}a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nwaited in the sky. As soon as Kr�l!a with His calves and friends came out\n\nof the mouth of the demon, that glittering effulgent light immediately\nmerged into the body of Kr�11a within the vision of all the demigods.\n\nThe demigods became overwhelmed with joy and began to shower\n\nflowers on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kr�11a, and thus they\nworshiped Him. The denizens of heaven began to dance in j ubilation, and\nthe denizens in Gandharvaloka began to offer various kinds of prayers.\n\nDrummers began to beat drums in jubilation, the brtihmartas began to\n\nrecite Vedic hymns, and all the devotees of the Lord began to chant the\nwords, \"]aya! ]aya! All glories to the Supreme Personality of Godhead ! \"\n\nWhen Lord Brahma heard those auspicious vibrations which sounded\n\nthroughout the higher planetary system, he immediately came down to\n\nsee what had happened. He saw that the demon was killed, and he was\nstruck with wonder at the uncommon glorious pastimes of the Personality\n\nof Godhead. The gigantic mouth of the demon remained in an open\n\nposition for many days and gradually dried u p ; it remained a spot of\npleasure pastimes for all the cowherd boys.\n\nThe killing of Aghasura took place when Kr�11a and all His boy friends\n\nwere under five years old. Children under five years old are called kaumtira.\n\nAfter five years up to the tenth year they are called paugartlJa, and after\n\nthe tenth year u p to the fifteenth year they are called kaisora. After the\n\nfifteenth year, boys are called youths. So for one year there was no\ndiscussion of the incident of the Aghasura demon in the village of Vraja.\n\nBut when they attained their sixth year, they informed their parents of\nthe incident with great wonder. The reason for this will be clear in the\nnext chapter.\n\nFor Sri Kr�11a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is far greater\n\nthan such demigods as Lord Brahma, it is not at all difficult to award one\n\nthe opportunity of merging with His eternal body. This He awarded to\n\nAghasura. Aghasura was certainly the most sinful living entity, and it is\nnot possible for the sinful to merge into the existence of the Absolute\n\nTruth. But in this particular case, because Kr�11a entered into Aghasura's\n\nbody, the demon became fully cleansed of all sinful reaction. Persons\nconstantly thinking of the eternal form of the Lord in the shape of the\n\nDeity or in the shape of a mental form are awarded the transcendental\ngoal of entering into the kingdom of God and associating with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So we can just imagine the elevated\n\nposition of someone like Aghasura into whose body the Supreme Per­\n\nsonality of Godhead , Kr��a, personally entered. Great sages, meditators\nand devotees constantly keep the form of the Lord within the heart , or\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0131": "The Killing of the Aghasura Demon\n\n85\n\nthey see the D eity form of the Lord in the temples ; in that way, they\nbeco me liberated fro m all material contamination and at the end of the\nbody enter into the kingdom of God. This perfection is possible simply by\nkeeping the form of the Lord within the mind. But in the case of Aghasura,\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead personally entered. Aghasura's position was therefore greater than the ordinary devotee's or the greatest\nyogt s.\nMaharaj a Parik�it, who was engaged in hearing the transcendental\npastimes of Lord Kr�!la (who saved the life of Maharaj a Parik�it while he\nwas in the wo mb of his mother ) , became more and more interested to\nhear about Him. And thus he questioned the sage Sukadeva Gosvami', who\nwas reciting S rimad-Bhiigavatam before the King.\nKing Parik�it was a bit astonished to understand that the killing of the\nAghasura demon was not discussed for one year, until after the b oys\nattained the paugm;u;lr: age . Maharaj a Parik�it was very inquisitive to learn\nthis , for he was sur� that such an incident was due to the working of\nKr�!la 's different energies.\nGenerally, the k§atriyas or the administrative class are always busy with\ntheir political affairs , and they have very little chance to hear about the\ntranscendental pastimes of Lord Kr�!la. But while Parik�it Maharaj a was\nhearing these transcendental pastimes , he considered himself to be very\nfortunate because he was hearing from Sukadeva Gosvami', the greatest\nauthority on the S rimad-Bhiigavatam. Thus being requested by Maharaj a\nPari'k�it , Sukadeva Gosvami' continued to speak about the transcendental\npastimes of Lord Kr�!la in the matter of His form , quality , fame and\nparaphernalia.\n_,\n\nThus ends the Bhak tivedanta purport of the Twelfth Chapter of Kr�!la,\n\"The Killing of the Aghiisura De mon. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0132": "1 3 I The Stealin g of t �e Boys\nand Calves by Brahma\nSukadeva Gosvami was very much encouraged when Maharaja Parik�it\nasked him why the cowherd boys did not discuss the death of Aghasura\nuntil after one year had passed. He explained thu s : \"My dear King, you\nare making the subj ect �atter of the transcendental pastimes of Kr��1a\nfresher by your inquisitiveness . \"\nI t i s said that i t i s the nature of a devotee t o constantly apply his mind,\nenergy, words, ears, etc. , in hearing and chanting about Kr��a. This is\ncalled Kr��a consciousness, and for'-- one who is rapt in hearing and\nchanting Kr��a , the subj ect matter never becomes hackneyed or old. That\nis the significance of transcendental subej ct batter in contrast to material\nsubject matter. Material subject matter becomes stale, and one cannot hear\na certain subject for a long time ; he wants change. But as far as transcendental subj ect matter is concerned, it is called nityanavanaviiyamiina. This\nmeans that one can go on chanting and hearing about the Lord and never\nfeel tired but will remain fresh and eager to hear more and more.\nIt is the duty of the spiritual master to disclose all confidential subj ect\nmatter to the inquisitive and sincere disciple. Thus Sukadeva Gosvami\nbegan to explain why the killing of Aghasura was not discussed until one\nyear had passed. Sukadeva Gosvami told the King, \"Now hear of this\nsecret with attention. After saving His friends from the mouth of Aghasura\nand after killing the demon, Lord Kr��a brought His friends to the bank\nof Yamuna and addressed them as follows : 'My dear friends, just see how\nthis spot is very nice for taking lunch and playing on the soft sandy\nYamuna bank. You can see how the lotus flowers in the water are\nbeautifully blown and how they distribute their flavor all around. The\nchirping of the birds along with cooing of the peacocks, surrounded by\nthe whispering of the leaves in the trees, combine and present soundvibrations that echo one another. And this just enriches the beautiful\n\n86\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0133": "The Stealing of the Boys and Calves by Brahma\n\n87\n\nscenery created by the trees here. Let us have our lunch in this spot\n\nbecause it is already late and we are feeling hungry. Let the calves remain\n\nnear us, and let them drink water from the Yam una. While we engage in\nour lunch-taking, the calves may engage in eating the soft grasses that are\n\nin this spot.\"'\n\nOn hearing this proposal from Kr��a, all the boys became very glad and\n\nsaid, . \"Certainly, let us all sit down here to take our lunch.\" They then let\n\nloose the calves to eat the soft grass. Sitting down on the ground and\n\nkeeping Kr��a in the center, they began to open their different boxes\n\nbrought from home. Lord Sri Kr��a was seated in the center of the circle,\n\nand all the boys kept their faces toward Him. They ate and constantly\n\nenjoyed seeing the Lord face to face. Kr��a appeared to be the whorl of a\n\nlotus flower, and the boys surrounding Him appeared to be its different\n\npetals. The boys collected flowers, leaves of flowers and the barks of trees\n\nand placed them under their different boxes, and thus they began to eat\n\ntheir lunch, keeping company . with Kr��a. While taking lunch, each boy\n\nbegan to manifest different kinds of relations with Kr��a, and they enj oyed\neach other's company with j oking words. While thus enjoying lunch With\nHis friends, Lord Kr��a 's flute was pushed within the belt of His cloth,\nand His bugle and cane were pushed in on the left-hand side of His cloth.\n\nHe was holding a lump of foodstuff prepared with yogurt, butter, rice\nand pieces of fruit salad in His left palm, which could be seen through\nHis petal-like finger j oints. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who\n\naccepts the results of all great sacrifices, was laughing and j oking, enjoying\nlunch with His friends in Vrndavana. And thus the scene was being\n\nobserved by the demigods from heaven. As for the boys, they were simply\nenjoying transcendental bliss in the company of the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead.\n\nAt that time, the calves that were pasturing nearby entered into the\n\ndeep forest, allured by new grasses, and gradually went out of sight.\n\nWhen the boys saw that the calves were not nearby, they became afraid\n\nfor their safety, and they immediately cried out, \"Kr��a! \" Krwa is the\n\nkiller of fear personified . Everyone is afraid of fear personified, but fear\npersonified is afraid of Kr�!la.\n\nBy crying out the word \"Kr��a,\" the\n\nboys at once transcended the fearful situation. Out of His great affection,\nKr��a did not want His friends to give up their pleasing lunch eng�gement\n\nand go searching for the calves. He therefore said, \"My dear friends,\n\nyou need not interrupt your lunch. Go on enjoying.\n\nI am going per­\n\nsonally where the calves are.\" Thus Lord Kr��a immediately started\nto search out the calves in the caves and bushes. H e searched in the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0134": "88\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nmountain holes and in the forests, but nowhere could He find them.\n\nAt the time when Aghasura was killed and the demigods were looking\n\non the incident with great surprise, Brahma, who was born out of the\n\nlotus flower growing out of the navel of Vi��u, also came to see. He was\nsurprised how a little boy like Kr�!la could act so wonderfully. Although\n\nhe was informed that the little cowherd boy was the Supreme Personality\n\nof Godhead, he wanted to see more glorified pastimes of the Lord, and\n\nthus he stole all the calves and cowherd boys and took them to a different\nplace. Lord Krwa, therefore, in spite of searching for the calves, could not\n\nfind them, and He even lost His boy friends on the bank of the Yamuna\n\nwhere they had been taking their lunch. In the form of a cowherd boy,\n\nLord Krwa was very little in comparison to Brahma, but because He is the\n\nSupreme Personality of Godhead, He could immediately understand that\n\nall the calves and boys had been stolen by Brahma. Kr�l!a thought,\n\n\"Brahma has taken away all the boys and calves. How can I alone return\n\nto Vrndavana? The mothers will be aggrieved ! \"\n\nTherefore in order t o satisfy the mothers o f His friends as well as to\n\nconvince Brahma of the supremacy of the Personality of G odhead, He\n\nimmediately expanded Himself as the cowherd boys and calves. In the\n\nVedas it is said that the Supreme Personality ofGodhead expands Himself\n\nin so many living entities by His energy. Therefore it was not very\ndifficult for Him to expand Himself again into so many boys and calves.\n\nHe expanded Himself to become exactly like the boys, who were of all\n\ndifferent features, facial and bodily construction, and who were different\n\nin their clothing and ornaments and in their behavior and personal\n\nactivities. In other words, everyone has different tastes; being individual\nsoul, each person has entirely different activities and behavior. Yet Kr�l!a\n\nexactly expanded Himself into all the different positions of the individual\n\nboys. He also became the calves, who were also of different sizes, colors,\n\nactivities, etc. This was possible because everything is an expansion of\n\nKr�pa's energy. In the\n\nVi§ru Puriira it is said, parasya brahmarafl- sakti.\n\nWhatever we actually see in the cosmic manifestation-be it matter or the\n\nactivities of the living entities-is simply an expansion of the energies of\n\nthe Lord, as heat and light are the different expansions of fire.\n\nThus expanding Himself as the boys and calves in their individual\n\ncapacities, and surrounded by such expansions of Himself, Kr��a entered\n\nthe village of Vrndavana. The residents had no knowledge of what had\nhappened. After entering the village, V rndavana, all the calves entered\n\ntheir respective cowsheds, and the boys also went to their respective\nmothers and homes.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0135": "The great sage Narada Muni . ( p . 67)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0136": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0137": "The family priest, Gargamuni, performed the name-giving ceremony when Kr��a was one\nyear old. (p. 56)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0138": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0139": "Y a8oda and Rohi¢ would call all their neighboring friends to see the fun. ( p. 59)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0140": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0141": "The darling of Vraja . (p. 6 1 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0142": "Kr��a had to plan how to stop the destruction of His intimate friends. (p. 83)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0143": "The Stealing of the Boys and Calves by Brahma\n\n89\n\nThe mothers of the boys heard the vibration of their flutes b efore\ntheir entrance , and to receive them, they came out of their homes and\nembraced them. And out of maternal affection, milk was flowing from\ntheir breasts, and they allowed the boys to drink it. However, their\noffering was not exactly to their boys but to the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead who had expanded Himself into such boys. This was another\nchance for all the mothers of Vrndavana to feed the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead with their own mille Therefore Lord Kr��a gave not only\nY asoda the chance of feeding Him, but this time He gave the chance to\nall the elderly gopis.\nAll the boys began to deal with their mothers as usual, and the mothers\nalso , on the approach of evening, b egan to b athe their respective children,\ndecorate them with tilaka and ornaments and give them necessary food\nafter the day's labor. The cows also , who were away in the pasturing\nground, returned in the evening and b egan to call their respective calves.\nThe calves immediately came to their m others, and the mothers began to\nlick the bodies of the calves. These relations between the cows and the\ngopis with their calves and boys remained unchanged, although actually the\noriginal calves and boys were not there. Actually the cows' affection for\ntheir calves and the elderly gopis ' affection for the boys causelessly increased . Their affection increased naturally, even though . the calves and\nboys were not their offspring. Although the cows and elderly gopis of\nV rndavana had greater affection for Kr��a than for their own offspring,\nafter this incident , their affection for their offspring increased exactly as it\ndid for Kr��a. For one year continually, Kr��a Himself expanded as the\ncalves and cowherd b oys and was present in the pasturing ground.\nAs it is stated in the Bhagavad-gitii, Kr��a's expansion is situated in\neveryone's heart as the Su persoul. Similarly, instead of expanding Himself\nas the Supersoul, He expanded Himself as a portion of calves and cowherd\nboys for one continuous year.\nOne day, when Kr��a, along with Balarama, was maintaining the calves\nin the forest , They saw some cows grazing on the top of Govardhana Hill.\nThe cows could see down into the valley where the calves were being\ntaken care of by the boys. Suddenly, on sighting their calves, the cows\nbegan to run towards them. They leaped downhill with j oined front and\nrear legs. The cows were so melted with affection for their calves that they\ndid not care about the rough path from the top of Govardhana Hill down\nto the pasturing ground. They began to approach the calves with their\nmilk b ags full of milk, and they raised their tails upwards. When they were\ncoming down the hill, their milk b ags were pouring milk on the ground\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0144": "90\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nout of intense maternal affection for the calves, although they were not\n\ntheir own calves. These cows had their own calves, and the calves that\nwere grazing beneath Govardhana Hill were larger; they were not expected\nto drink milk directly from the milk bag but were satisfied with the grass.\n\nYet all the cows came immediately and began to lick their bodies, 2nd the\n\ncalves also b�gan to suck milk from the milk bags. There appeared to be a\ngreat bondage of affection between the ·cows and calves.\n\nWhen the cows were running down from the top of Govardhana Hill,\n\nthe men who were taking care of them tried to stop them. Elderly cows\n\nare taken care of by the men, and the calves are taken care of by the boys;\nand as far as possible, the calves are kept separate from the cows, so that\n\nthe calves do not drink all the available mille Therefore the men who were\ntaking care of the cows on the top of Govardhana Hill tried to stop them,\nbut they failed . Baffled by their failure, they were feeling ashamed and\nangry. They were very unhappy, but when they came down and saw their\n\nchildren taking care of the calves, they all of a sudden became very\n\naffectionate toward the children. It was very astonishing. Although the\nmen came down disappointed, baffled and angry, as soon as they saw their\n\nown children, their hearts melted with great affection. At once their anger,\n\ndissatisfaction and unhappiness disappeared. They began to show paternal\nlove for the children, and with great affection they lifted them in their\narms and embraced them. They began to smell their children's heads and\n\nenjoy their company with great happiness. After embracing their children,\n\nthe men again took the cows back to the top of Govardhana Hill. Along\n\nthe way they began to think of their children, and affectionate tears fell\nfrom their eyes.\n\nWhen Balarama saw this extraordinary exchange of affection between\n\nthe cows and their calves and between the fathers and their children-when\nneither the calves nor the children needed so much care-He began to\n\nwonder why this extraordinary thing happened. He was astonished to see\nall the residents of V rndavana so affectionate for their own children,\n\nexactly as they had been for Kr�J)a. Similarly, the cows had grown affec­\n\ntionate for their calves-as much as for Krsna. Balarama therefore con.\n\n. .\n\neluded that the extraordinary show of affection was something mystical,\neither performed by the demigods or by some powerful man. Otherwise,\n\nhow could this wonderful change take place? He concluded that this mys­\n\ntical change must have been caused by Kr�!J.a, whom B alarama considered\n\nHis worshipable Personality of Godhead. He thought, \"It was arranged by\n\nKfwa, and even I could not check its mystic power.\" Thus Balarama\nunderstood that all those boys and calves were only expansions of Kr�J)a.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0145": "The Stealing of the Boys and Calves by Brahma\n\n91\n\nBaladima inquired from Kr§�a about the actual situation. H e said, \" My\ndear Kr§�a , in the beginning I thought that all these cows, calves and\ncowherd boys were either great sages and saintly persons or demigods, but\nat the present it appears that they are actually Your expansions. They are\nall You ; You Yourself are playing as the calves and cows and boys. What is\nthe mystery of this situation? Where have those other calves and cows and\nboys gone? And why are You expanding Yourself as the cows , calves, and\nboys? Will You kindly tell Me what is the cause?\" At the request of\nBaladima , Kr§�a briefly explained the whole situation : how the calves and\nboys were stolen by Brahma and how He was concealing the incident by\nexpanding Himself so people would not know that the original cows,\ncalves , and boys were missing . .\nWhile Kr§�a and Balarama were talking, Brahma returned after a moment 's interval (according to the duration of his life). We have information\nof Lord Brahma's duration of life fro m the Bhagavad-gitii: 1 ,000 times the\nduration of the four ages, or 4,300 ,000 x 1 ,000 , comprise Brahma's\ntwelve hours. Similarly, one moment of Brahma is equal to one year of\nour solar calculation. After one moment of Brahma's calculation, Brahma\ncame back to see the fun caused by his stealing the boys and calves. But\nhe was also afraid that he was playing with fire. Kr§�a was his master , and\nhe had played mischief for fun by taking away His calves and boys. He was\nreally anxious, so he did not stay away very long ; he came back after a\nmoment (of his calculation). He saw that all the boys, calves and cows\nwere playing with Kr§�a in the same way as when he had come upon\nthem, although he was confident that he had taken them and made them\nlie down asleep under the spell of his mystic power. Brahma began to\nthink , \"All the boys, calves and cows were taken away by me, and I know\nthey are still sleeping. How is it that a similar batch of cows, boys and\ncalves are playing with Kr§�a? Is it that they are not influenced by my\nmystic power? Have they been playing continually for one year with\nKr§�a ? \" Brahma tried to understand who they were and how they were\nuninfluenced by his mystic power, but he could not ascertain it. In other\nwords, he himself came under the spell of his own mystic power: The\ninfluence of his mystic power appeared like snow in darkness or the glow\nworm in daytime. During the night's darkness, the glow worm can show\nsome glittering power , and the snow piled up on the top of a hill or on the\nground can shine during the daytime. But at night the snow has no silver\nglitter ; nor does the glow worm have any illuminating power during the\ndaytime. Similarly, when the small mystic power exhibited by Brahma\nwas before the mystic power of Kr§�a , it was just like snow or the glow\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0146": "92\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nworm. When a man of small mystic power wants to show potency in the\npresence of greater mystic power, he diminishes his own influence; he\n\ndoes not increase it. Even a great personality like Brahma, when he wanted\n\nto show his mystic power before Kr��a, became ludicrous. Brahma was\n\nthus confused about his own mystic power.\n\nIn order to convince Brahma that all those cows, calves and boys were\n\nnot the original ones, the cows, calves, and boys who were playing with\n\nKf�l)a transformed into Vi��u forms. Actually, the original ones were\n\nsleeping under the spell of Brahma's mystic power, but the present ones,\nseen by Brahma, were all immediate expansions of Kr��la, or Vi�pu. Vi�pu\n\nis the expansion of Kf�l)a, so the Vi§l)U forms appeared before Brahma. All\n\nthe Vi�l)U forms were of bluish color and dressed in yellow garments; all\n\nof Them had four hands decorated with club , disc, lotus flower and conch­\n\nshell. On Their heads were glittering golden j eweled helmets; They were\n\nbedecked with pearls and earrings, and garlanded with beautiful flowers.\n\nOn Their chests was the mark of srivatsa; Their arms were decorated with\n\narmlets and other jewelry. Their necks were smooth just like the conch­\n\nshell, Their legs were decorated with bells, Their waists decorated with\n\ngolden bells, and Their fingers decorated with jeweled rings. Brahma also\nsaw that upon the whole body o f Lord Vi�l)U, fresh\n\ntulasi buds were\n\nthrown, beginning from His lotus feet up to the top of the head. Another\n\nsignificant feature of the Vi�l)U forms was that all of Them were looking\n\ntranscendentally beautiful. Their smiling resembled the moonshine, and\n\nTheir glancing resembled the early rising of the sun. Just by Their glancing\nThey appeared as the creators and maintainers of the modes of ignorance\n\nand passion. Vi�l)U represents the mode of goodness, Brahma represents\nthe mode of passion, and Lord Siva represents the mode of ignorance.\n\nTherefore as maintainer of everything in the cosmic manifestation, V iwu\n\nis also creator and maintainer of Brahma and Lord Siva.\n\nAfter this manifestation of Lord Vi��m, Brahma saw that many other\n\nBrahmas and Sivas and demigods and even insignificant living entities\n\ndown to the ants and very small straws-movable and immovable living\n\nentities-were dancing, surrounding Lord Viwu. Their dancing was ac­\n\ncompanied by various kinds of music, and all of Them were worshiping\n\nLord Vi�l)U. Brahma realized that all those Vi§l)U forms were complete,\n\nbeginning from the ar-ima perfection of becoming small like an atom, up\n\nto becoming infinite like the cosmic manifestation. All the mystic powers\n\nof Brahma, Siva, all the demigods and the twenty-four elements of cosmic\nmanifestation were fully represented in the person of Viwu. By the\n\ninfluence of Lord Vi�l)U, all subordinate mystic powers were engaged in\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0147": "The Stealing of the Boys and Calves by Brahma\n\n93\n\nHis worship. He was being worshiped by time, space, cosmic manifestation,\nreformation, desire, activity and the three qualities of material nature.\n\nLord Viwu, Brahma also realized, is the reservoir of all truth, knowledge\n\nand bliss. He is the combination of three transcendental features, namely\neternity, knowledge, and bliss, and He is the object of worship by the\n\nfollowers of the Upani§ads. Brahma realized that all the different forms of\ncows, boys and calves transformed into Vi§J).U forms were not transformed\n\nby a mysticism of the type that a yogi or a demigod can display by specific\n\npowers invested in him. The cows, calves and boys transformed into Vi§J).U\n\nmurtis or Vi§J).U forms were not displays of Vi§J).U maya or Vi§J).U energy,\n\nbut were Vi§J).U Himself. The respective qualifications of Vi§J).U and Viwu\n\nmaya are just like fire and heat. In the heat there is the qualification of\n\nfire, namely warmth; and yet heat is not fire. The manifestation of the\n\nVi§J).U forms of the boys, cows and calves was not like the heat, but rather\n\nthe fire-they were all actually Vi§J).U. Factually, the qualification of Vi§J).U\n\nis full truth, full knowledge and full bliss. Another example can be given\n\nwith material objects, which are reflected in many, many forms. For\n\nexample, the sun is reflected in many water pots, but the reflections of\nthe sun in many pots are not actually the sun. There is no actual heat and\n\nlight from the sun in the pot, although it appears as the sun. But the forms\n\nwhich Kf§J).a assumed were each and every one full V i§J).U. Satyam means\ntruth, jnanam, full knowledge, and ananda, full bliss.\n\nTranscendental forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His\n\nperson are so great that the impersonal followers of the Upani§ads cannot\n\nreach the platform of knowledge to understand them. Particularly, the\n\ntranscendental forms of the Lord are beyond the reach of the impersonal­\n\nists who can only understand, through the studies of Upani§ads, that the\n\nAbsolute Truth is not matter and that the Absolute Truth is not materially\nrestricted by limited potency. Lord Brahma understood Kf§J).a and His\n\nexpansion into Vi§J).U forms and could understand that, due to the expan­\n\nsion of energy of the Supreme Lord, everything movable and immovable\n\nwithin the cosmic manifestation is existing.\n\nWhen Brahma was thus standing baffled in his limited power and\n\nconscious of his limited activities within the eleven senses, he could at\n\nleast realize that he was also a creation of the material energy, just like a\npuppet. As a puppet has no independent power to dance but dances\n\naccording to the direction of the puppet master, so the demigods and\n\nli\\ing entities are all subordinate to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\n\nAs it is stated in the Caitanya-caritamrta, the only master is Kf§J).a, and\n\nall others are servants. The whole world is under the waves of the material\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0148": "94\n\nKH�a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nspell, and beings are floating like straws in water. So th eir struggle for\n\nexistence is continuing. But as soon as one becomes consciom that he is\n\nthe eternal servant of the Su preme Personality of Godhead, this miiyii or\n\nillusory struggle for existence is immediately stopped.\n\nLord Brahma, who has full control over the goddess of learning and who\n\nis considered to be the best authority in Vedic knowledge, was thus\nperplexed, being unable to understand the extraordinary power manifested\n\nin the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the mundane world, even a\n\npersonality like Brahma is unable to understand the potential mystic\npower of the Supreme Lord. Not only did Brahma fail to understand, but\n\nhe was perplexed even to see the display which was being manifested by\n\nKr�pa before him.\n\nKr��a took compassion upon Brahma's inability to see even how He\n\nwas displaying the force of Viwu in transferring Himself into cows and\ncowherd boys, and thus, while fully manifesting the Vi��u expansion, He\n\nsuddenly pulled His curtain of yogamiiyii over the scene. In the Bhagavadgitii it is said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not visible due to\nthe curtain spread by yogamiiyii. That which covers the reality is mahiimiiyii, or the external energy, which d�es not allow a conditioned soul to\n\nunderstand the Supreme Personality of Godhead beyond the cosmic\nmanifestation. But the energy which partially manifests the Supreme\n\nPersonality of Godhead and partially does not allow one to see, is called\n\nyogamiiyii. Brahma is not an ordinary conditioned soul. He is far, far\n\nsuperior t o all the demigods, and yet he could not comprehend the display\nof the Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore Kf�l).a willingly stopped\n\nmanifesting any further potency. The conditioned soul not only becomes\n\nbewildered, but he is completely unable to understand. The curtain of\n\nyogamiiyii was drawn so that Brahma would not become more and more\nperplexed.\n\nWhen Brahma was relieved from his perplexity, he appeared to be\n\nawakened from an almost dead state, and he began to open his eyes with\n\ngreat difficulty. Thus he could see the eternal cosmic manifestation with\ncommon eyes. He saw all around him the super-excellent view of Vrnda­\n\nvana-full with trees-which is the source of life for all living entities. He\ncould appreciate the transcendental land ofV rndavana where all the living\n\nentities are transcendental to ordinary nature. In the forest of V rndavana,\n\neven ferocious animals like tigers and others live peacefully along with\nthe deer and human being. He could understand that, because of the\n\npresence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in Vrndavana, that place\n\nis transcendental to all .other places and that there is no lust and greed\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0149": "The Stealing of the Boys and Calves by Brahma\n\n95\n\nthere. Brahma thus found Sri Kr�J)a , the Supreme Personality of Godhead ,\nplaying the part of a small cowherd boy ; he saw that little child with a\nlump of food in His left hand , searching out His friends , cows and calves,\njust as He was actually doing one year before, after their disappearance.\nImmediately Brahma descended from his great swan carrier and fell\ndown before the Lord just like a golden stick. The word used among the\nV ai�l)avas for offering respect is dm;u)ava t. This word means falling down\nlike a stick ; one should offer respect to the superior Vai�l)ava by falling\ndown straight , with his body just like a stick. So Brahma fell down before\nthe Lord just like a stick to offer respect ; and because the complexion of\nBrahma is golden, he appeared to be like a golden stick lying down before\nLord Kr�J)a. All the four helmets on the heads of Brahma touched the\nlotus feet of Kr�J)a. Brahma , being very j oyful, began to shed tears,\nand he washed the lotus feet of Kr�J)a with his tears. Repeatedly he fell\nand rose as he recalled the wonderful activities of the Lord. After repeating obeisances for a1ong time, Brahma stood up and smeared his hands\nover his eyes. Seeing the Lord before him , he, trembling, began to offer\nprayers with great respect, humility and attention.\nTh us e nds the Bhak tivedan ta purport of the Thirteenth Chapter of\nKr�J)a, \"The Stealing of the Boys and Calves b_y Brah mii . \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0150": "14 I Prayers Offered by Lord Brahma\nto Lord Krsna\n•\n\n• •\n\nBrahma said , \" My dear Lord , You are the only worshipful Supreme\nLord , Personality of Godhead ; therefore I am offering my humble obeisances and prayers just to please You . Your bodily features are of the\ncolor of clouds filled with water . Y ou are glittt;ring with a silver electric\naura emanating from Your yellow garments .\n\"Let me offer my respectful repeated obeisances unto the son of\nMaharaj a Nanda who is standing before me with conchshell, earrings and\npeacock feather on His head. His face is beautiful ; He is wearing a helmet ,\ngarlanded by forest flowers , and He stands with a morsel of food in His\nhand . He is decorated with cane and bugle , and He carries a buffalo horn\nand flute. He stands before me with small lotus feet .\n\"My dear Lord , people · may say that I am the master of all Vedic\nknowledge , and I am supposed to be the creator of this universe , but it has\nbeen proved now that I cannot understand Your personality , even though\nYou are present before me just like a child . You are playing with Your boy\nfriends , calves and cows , which might imply that You do not even have\nsufficient education. You are appearing just like a village boy, carrying\nYour food in Your hand and searching for Your calves . And yet there is\nso much difference between Your body and mine that I cannot estimate\nthe potency of Your body . As I have already stated in the Brah ma-sarhhi ii,\nYour body is not material. \"\nIn the Brah ma-sarhh itii it is stated that the body of the Lord is all spiritual ; there is no difference between the Lord's body and His self. Each limb\nof His body can perform the actions of all the others . The Lord can see\nwith His hands , He can hear with His eyes , He can accept offerings with\nHis legs and He can create with His mouth .\nBrahma continued : \"Your appearance as a cowherd child is for the\nbenefit of the devotees , and although I have committed offenses at Your\n\n96\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0151": "Prayers Offered by Lord Brahma to Lord Kr��a\n\n97\n\nlotus feet by stealing away Your cows, boys and calves, I can understand\nthat You have mercy upon me. That is Your transcendental quality; You\n\nare very affectionate toward Your devotees. In spite of Your affection for\n\nme, I cannot estimate the potency of Your bodily activities. It is to be\n\nunderstood that when I, Lord Brahma, the supreme personality of this\nu niverse, cannot estimate the child-like body of the Supreme Personality\n\nof Godhead, then what to speak of others? And if I cannot estimate the\n\nspiritual potency of Your child-like body, then what can I understand\n\nabout Y our transcendental pastimes? Therefore, as it is said in the\n\nBhagavad-gttii, anyone who can understand a little of the transcendental\n\npastimes, appearance and disappearance of the Lord becomes immediately\n\neligible to enter into the kingdom of God after quitting the material body.\n\nThis statement is also confirmed in the Vedas, and it is stated simply: by\n\nunderstanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one can overcome\nthe chain of repeated birth and death. I therefore recommend that people\nshould not try to understand You by their speculative knowledge.\n\n\"The best process of understanding You is to submissively give up the\n\nspeculative process and try to hear about You, either from Yourself as\nYou have given statements in the Bhagavad-gita and many similar Vedic\n\nliteratures, or from a realized devotee who has taken shelter at Your lotus\n\nfeet. One has to hear from a devotee without speculation. One does not\n\neven need to change his worldly position; he simply has to hear Your\nmessage. Although You are not understandable by the material senses,\n\nsimply by hearing about You, one can gradually conquer the nescience of\n\nmisunderstanding. By Your own grace only, You become revealed to a\ndevotee. You are unconquerable by any other means. Speculative know­\n\nledge without any trace of devotional service is simply a useless waste of\n\ntime in the search for You. Devotional service is so important that even a\nlittle attempt can raise one to the highest perfectional platform. One\n\nshould not , therefore, neglect this auspicious process of devotional service\n\nand take to the speculative method_ By the speculative method one may\n\ngai!l partial knowledge of Your cosmic manifestation, but it is not possible\nto understand You, the origin of everything. The attempt of persons who\n\nare interested only in speculative knowledge is simply wasted labor, like\nthe labor of a person who attempts to gain something by beating the\n\nempty husk of a rice paddy. A little quantity of paddy can be husked by\n\nthe grinding wheel, and one can gain some grains of rice, but if the skin of\n\nthe paddy is already beaten by the grinding wheel, there is no further gain\nin beating the husk. It is simply useless labor.\n\n\"My dear Lord, there are many instances in the history of human\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0152": "98\n\nKf�J;la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nsociety where a person, after failing to achieve the transcendental platform,\n\nengaged himself in devotional service with his body, mind and words and\nthus attained the highest perfectional state of entering into Your abode.\n\nThe processes of understanding You by speculation or mystic meditation\nare . all useless without devotional service. One should therefore engage\n\nhimself in Your devotional service even in his worldly activities, and one\nshould always keep himself near You by the process of hearing and\n\nchanting Your transcendental glories. Simply by being attached to hearing\nand chanting Your glories, one can attain the highest perfectional stage\n\nand enter into Your kingdom . If a person, therefore, always keeps in\ntouch with Y ou by hearing and chanting Your glories and offers the results\n\nof his work for Your satisfaction only, he very easily and happily attains\n\nentrance into Your supreme abode. You are realizable by persons who\n\nhave cleansed their hearts of all contamination. This cleansing of the heart\n\nis made possible by chanting and hearing the glories of Your Lordship.\"\n\nThe Lord is all-pervading. As it is stated by Lord Kr�:pa in theBhagavadgitii, \"Everything is sustained by Me, but at the same time I am not in\n\neverything.\" Since the Lord is all-pervading, there is nothing existing with­\n\nout His knowledge. The all-pervasive nature of the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead can never be within the limited knowledge of a living entity ;\ntherefore, a person who has attained steadiness o f the mind by fixing the\n\nmind on the lotus feet of the Lord is able to understand the Supreme\n\nLord to some extent. It is the business of the mind to wander over\nvaried subject matter for sense gratification. Therefore only a person who\n\nengages the senses always in the service of the Lord can control the mind\nand be fixed at the lotus feet of the Lord. This concentration of the mind\n\nupon the lotus feet of the Lord is called samiidhi. Until one reaches the\n\nstage of samiidhi, or trance, he cannot understand the nature of the\nSupreme Personality\n\nof Godhead. There may be some philosophers\n\nor scientists who can study the cosmic nature from atom to atom;\nthey may be so advanced that they can count the atomic composi­\n\ntion of the cosmic atmosphere or all the planets and stars in the sky or\neven the shining molecular parts of the sun or other stars and luminaries in\n\nthe sky. But it is not possible to count the qualities of the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead.\n\nAs described in the beginning of Vediinta-sutra, the Supreme Person is\n\nthe origin of all qualities. He is generally called nirgura. Nirgu[la means\nwithout qualities.\n\nGu[la means quality, and nir means without.\n\nBut\n\nimpersonalists interpret this word nirgu[la as \"having no quality.\" Because\nthey are unable to estimate the qualities of the Lord in transcendental\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0153": "Prayers Offered by Lord Brahma to Lord Kr��a\n\n99\n\nrealization, they conclude that the Supreme Lord has no qualities. But\n\nthat is actually not the position. The real position is that He is the original\nsource of all qualities. All qualities are emanating constantly from Him.\n\nHow, therefore, can a limited person count the qualities of the Lord? One\nmay estimate the qualities of the Lord for one moment, but the next\n\nmoment the qualities are increased; so it is not possible to make an\n\nestimation of the transcendental qualities of the Lord. He is therefore\ncalled nirgur-a. His qualities cannot be estimated.\n\nOne should not uselessly labor in mental speculation to estimate the\n\nLord's qualities. There is no need of adopting the speculative method or\nexercising the body to attain mystic yoga perfection. One should simply\n\nunderstand that the distress and happiness of this body are predestined ;\nthere is no need to try to avoid the distress of this bodily existence or to\n\nattempt to achieve happiness by different types of exercises. The best\ncourse is to surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead with\n\nbody, mind and words and always be engaged in His service. This transcen­\n\ndental labor is fruitful, but other attempts to understand the Absolute\n\nTruth are never successful . Therefore an intelligent man does not try to\n\nunderstand the Supreme Person, Absolute Truth, by speculative or mystic\npower.\n\nRather, he engages in devotional service and depends on the\n\nSupreme Personality of Godhead. He knows that whatever may happen to\n\nthe body is due to his past fruitive activities. If one lives such a simple life\nin d evotional service, then automatically he can inherit the transcendental\n\nabode of the Lord. Actually , every living entity is part and parcel of the\n\nSupreme Lc-.rd and a son of the Godhead. Each has the natural right to\n\ninherit and share the transcendental pleasures of the Lord, but due to the\ncontact of matter, conditioned living entities have been practically dis­\n\ninherited.\n\nIf\n\none adopts the simple method of engaging himself in\n\ndevotional service, automatieally he becomes eligible to become freed\n\nfrom the material contamination and elevated to the transcendental\nposition of associating with the Supreme Lord.\n\nLord Brahma presented himself to Lord Kn�a as the most presumptuous\n\nliving creature because he wanted to examine the wonder of His personal\n\npower. He stole the boys and calves of the Lord in order to see how the\nLord would recover them. After his maneuver, Lord Brahma admitted\n\nthat his attempt was most presumptuous, for he was attempting to test his\n\nenergy before the person of original energy. Coming to his senses, Lord\n\nBrahma saw that although he was a very powerful living creature in the\nestimation of all other living creatures within this material world, in\n\ncomparison to the power and energy of the Supreme Personality of\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0154": "1 00\n\nKr��a, the Supre me Perso nality of Godhead\n\nGodhead, his power was nothing. The scientists of the material world have\ndiscovered wonders such as atomic weapons, and when tested in a city or\ninsignificant place on this planet, such powerful weapons create so-called\nhavoc, but if the atomic weapons are tested on the sun, what is their\nsignificance? They are insignificant there. Similarly, Brahma 's stealing the\ncalves and boys from Sri Kr��a may be a wonderful display of mystic\npower, but when Sri Kr��a exhibited His expansive power in so many\ncalves and boys and maintained them without effort, Brahma could understand that his own power was insignificant.\nBrahma addressed Lord Krwa as A c_yuta because the Lord is never\nforgetful of a little service rendered by His devotee. He is so kind and\naffectionate towards His devotees that a little service by them is accepted\nby Him as a great deal. Brahma has certainly rendered much service to the\nLord. As the supreme personality in charge of this particular universe , he\nis, without a doubt , a faithful servant of Kr��a ; therefore he could appease\nKrsna. He asked that the Lord understand him as a subordinate servant\nwhose little mistake and impudence might be excused. He admitted that\nhe was puffed up by his powerful position as Lord Brahma. Because he is\nthe qualitative incarnation of the mode of passion within this material\nworld, this was natural for him , and therefore he committed the mistake.\nBut after all, Lord Kr��a would kindly take compassion upon His subordinate and excuse him for his gross mistake.\nLord Brahma realized his actual position. He is certainly the supreme\nteacher of this universe , in charge of the production of material nature\nconsisting of complete material elements, false ego , sky, air, fire , water\nand earth. Such a universe may be gigantic , but it can be measured, just as\nwe measure our b ody as seven cubits. Generally everyone's personal\nbodily measurement is calculated to be seven cubits of his hand. This\nparticular universe may appear as a very gigantic body, but it is nothing\nbut the measurement of seven cubits for Lord Brahma. Aside from this\nuniverse , there are unlimited other universes which are outside the jurisdiction of this particular Lord Brahma. Just as innumerable · atomic\ninfinitesimal fragments pass through the holes of a screened window, so\nmillions and trillions of universes in their seedling form are coming out\nfrom the bodily pores of Maha-Vi��u , and that Maha-Vi��l· is but a part\nof the plenary expansion of Kr��a. Under these circumstan(:es, although\nLord Brahma is the supreme creature within this universe , what is his\nimportance in the presence of Lord Kr��a?\nLord Brahma therefore compared himself to a little child within the\nwomb of his mother. If the child within the womb plays with his hands\n.\n\n. .\n\n.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0155": "Prayers Offered by Lord Brahma to Lord Kr�J}a\n\n101\n\nand legs, and while playing touches the body of the mother, is the mother\noffended with the child? Of course she isn't. Similarly, Lord Brahma may\n\nbe a very great personality, and yet not only Brahma but everything that\nbe is existing within the womb of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\n\nThe Lord's energy is all-pervading; there is no place in the creation where\n\nit is not acting. Everything is existing within the energy of the Lord, so\n\nthe Brahma of this universe or the Brahmas of the many other millions and\n\ntrillions of universes are existing within the energy of the Lord; therefore\nthe Lord is considered to be the mother, and everything existing within\nthe womb of the mother is considered to be the child. And the good\n\nmother is never offended with the child, even if he touches the body of\nthe mother by kicking his legs.\n\nLord Brahma then admitted that his birth was from the lotus flower\n\nwhich blossomed from the navel of NarayaJ}a after the dissolution of the\nthree worlds, or three planetary systems, known as Bhurloka, Bhuvarloka\n\nand Svarloka. The universe is divided into three divisions, namely Svarga,\n\nMartya and Patala. These three planetary systems are merged into water\n\nat the time of dissolution. At that time Narayaf}a, the plenary portion of\n\nKr£?!1-a, lies down on the water and gradually a lotus stem grows from His\n\nnavel, and from that lotus flower, Brahma is born. It is naturally concluded\nthat the mother of Brahma is NarayaJ}a. Because the Lord is the resting\n\nplace of all the living entities after the dissolution of the universe, He is\ncalled NarayaJ}a. The word nara means the aggregate total of all living\n\nentities, and ayana means the resting place. The form of Garbhodakasayi\n\nVi9J}U is called NarayaJ}a because He rests Himself on that water. In\naddition, He is the resting place of all living creatures. Besides that,\n\nNarayaJ}a is also present in everyone's heart, as it is confirmed in the\n\nBhagavad-gita. In that sense, also, He is Naraya!Ja, as ayana means the\n\nsource of knowledge as well as the resting place. It is also confirmed in the\n\nBhagavad-gita that remembrance of the living entity is due to the presence\n\nof the Supersoul within the heart. After changing the body, a living\ncreature forgets everything of his past life, but because Narayapa the\n\nSupersoul is present within his heart, he is reminded by Him to act\n\naccording to his past desire. Lord Brahma wanted to prove that Kr9!1-a is\nthe original Narayaf}a, that He is the source of Narayaf}a, and that\n\nNarayava is not an exhibition of the external energy, maya, but is an\n\nexpansion of spiritual energy. The activities of the external energy or\n\nmaya are exhibited after the creation of this cosmic world, and the\noriginal spiritual energy of Narayava was acting before the creation. So the\nexpansions of Nadiya!la, from Kr9!la to Garbhodakasayi Vi9!m, from\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0156": "102\n\nKr�t;Ia, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nGarbho4akasayi Vi�':lu to K�irodakasayi Vi�':lu, and from K�irodakasayi\nVi�':lu to everyone's heart, are manifestations of His spiritual energy.\n\nThey are not conducted by the material energy; therefore they are not\n\ntemporary. Anything conducted by the material energy is temporary, but\neverything executed by the spiritual energy is eternal.\n\nLord Brahma reconfirmed his statement establishing Kr��ta as the\n\noriginal Naraya�a. He said that the gigantic universal body is still resting\non the water known as Garbho daka. He spoke as follows: \"This gigantic\n\nbody of the universe is another manifestation of Your energy. On account\n\nof His resting on the water, this universal form is also Naraya�a, and we\n\nare all within the womb of this Naraya�a form.\n\nI see Your different\nNaraya':la forms everywhere. I can see You on the water, I can feel You\nwithin my heart, and I can also see You before me now. You are the\n\noriginal Naraya':la.\n\n\"My dear Lord, in this incarnation You have proved that You are the\n\nsupreme controller of maya. You remain within the cosmic manifestation,\n\nand yet the whole creation is within You. This fact has already been proved\n\nby You when You exhibited the whole universal creation within Your\n\nmouth before Your mother Yasoda. By Your inco nceivable potency of\n\nyogamaya, You can make such things effective without external help .\n\n\"My dear Lord Kr�':la, the whole cosmic manifestation that we are\n\nvisualizing at present is all within Your body. Yet I am seeing You outside,\n\nand You are also seeing me outside. How can such things happen without\n\nbeing influenced by Your inconceivable energy?\"\n\nLord Brahma stressed herein that without accepting the inconceivable\n\nenergy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one cannot explain things\n\nas they are. He continued: \"My dear Lord, leaving aside all other things\nand just considering today's happenings-what I have seen-are they not\n\nall due to Your inconceivable energies? First of all I saw You alone;\nthereafter You expanded Yourself as Your friends, the calves and all the\nexistence of Vrndavana; then I saw You and all the boys as four-handed\n\nV i��us, and They were being worshiped by all elements and all demigods,\nincluding myself. Again They all became cowherd boys, and You remained\nalone as You were before. Does this not mean that You are the Supreme\nLord\n\nNaraya':la,\n\nthe origin of everything, and from You everything\n\nemanates, and again everything enters unto You, and You remain the\nsame as before?\" -\n\n\"Persons who are unaware of Your inconceivable energy cannot under­\n\nstand that You alone expand Yourself as the creator Brahma, maintainer\n\nViwu, and annihilator Siva. Persons who are not in awareness of things as\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0157": "Prayers Offered by Lord Brahm a to Lord Kr��a\n\n103\n\nthey are contemplate that I, Brahma, am the creator, Vi�!lu is the maintainer, and Lord Siva is the annihilator. Actually, You are alone everything\n-creator, maintainer, and annihilator. Similarly, You expand Yourself in\ndifferent incarnations ; among the demigods You incarnate as Vamanadeva, among the great sages You incarnate as Parasurama, among the\nhuman beings You appear as Yourself, as Lord Kf�l)-a, or Lord Rama,\namong the animals You appear as the boar incarnation , and among the\naquatics You appear as the incarnation of fish. And yet You have no\nappearance ; You are always eternal. Your appearance and disappearance\nare made possible by Your inconceivable energy just to give protection to\nthe faithful devotees and to annihilate the demons. 0 my Lord , 0 allpervading Supreme Personality of Godhead, 0 Supersoul, controller of all\nmystic powers, no one can appreciate Y our transcendental pastimes as\nthey are exhibited within these three worlds . No one can estimate how\nYou have expanded Y our yogamiiyii and Your incarnation and how You\nact by Y our transcendental energy. My dear Lord , this whole cosmic\nmanifestation is just like a flashing dream , and its temporary existence\nsimply disturbs the mind. As a result, we are full of anxiety in this\nexistence ; to live within this material world means simply to suffer and\nto be full of all miseries. And yet this temporary existence of the material\nworld appears to be pleasing and dear on account of its having evolved\nfrom Your body, which is eternal and full of bliss and knowledge.\n\"My conclusion is , therefore, that You are the Supreme Soul, Absolute\nTruth, and the supreme original person ; and although You have expanded\nYourself in so many Vi�!lu forms, or in living entities and energies , by\nYour inconceivable transcendental potencies , You are the supreme one\nwithout a second, You are the supreme Supersoul. The innumerable\nliving entities are simply like sparks of the original fire. Your Lordship ,\nthe conception of the Supersoul as impersonal is wrongly accepted because I see that Y ou are the original person. A person with a poor fund of\nknowledge may think that , b ecause You are the son of Maharaj a Nanda ,\nYou are not the original person, that You are born just like a human being.\nThey are mistaken. You are the actual original person ; that is my conclusion. In spite of Y our being the son of N anda, Y ou are the original\nperson , and there is no doubt about it. Y ou are the Absolute Truth, and\nY ou are not of this material darkness. Y ou are the source of the original\nbrah majyo ti as well as the material luminaries. Your transcendental effulgence is identical with brah maj_yo ti. As it is described in the Brah masarhhitii, the brahmaj_yo t i is nothing but Your personal bodily effulgence.\nThere are many Vi�!lu incarnations and incarnations of Your different\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0158": "104\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nqualities, but all those incarnations are not on the same level. You are the\n\noriginal lamp. Other incarnations may possess the same candle power as\nthe original lamp, but the original lamp is the beginning of all light. And\n\nbecause You are not one of the creations of this material world, even after\nthe annihilation of this world, Your existence as You are will continue.\n\n\"Because You are the original person, You are therefore described in\n\nthe Gopala-tapani (the Vedic Upani§ad), as well as in the Brahma-samhita,\n\nas govindam adi-puru§am. Govinda is the original person, the cause of all\ncauses. In the Bhagavad-gita also it is stated that You are the source of the\n\nBrahman effulgence. No one should conclude that Your body is like an\n\nordinary material body. Your body is ak§ara, indestructible. The material\nbody is always full of threefold miseries, but Your body is sac-cid­\n\nananda-vigraha : full of being, bliss, knowledge and eternality. You are also\nniraiijana because Your pastimes, as the little son of mother Y asoda or the\nLord of the gopis, are never contaminated by the material qualities. And\nalthough You exhibited Y ourself in so many cowherd boys, calves and\n\ncows, Your transcendental potency is not reduced. You are always com'­\n\nplete. As it is described in the Vedic literature, even if the complete is\ntaken away from the complete-Supreme Absolute Truth-it yet remains\n\nthe complete, Supreme Absolute Truth. And although many expansions\n\nfrom the complete are visible, the complete is one without a second. Since\n\nall Your pastimes are spiritual, there is no possibility of their being con­\n\ntaminated by the material modes of nature. When You place Yourself\nsubordinate to Your father and mother, Nanda and Yasoda, You are not\n\nreduced in Your potency; this is an expression of Your loving attitude for\nYour devotees. There is no other competitor of second identity than Your­\n\nself. A person with a poor fund of knowledge concludes that Your pastimes\nand appearance are simply material designations. You are transcendental\n\nto both nescience and knowledge, as it is confirme? in the Gopala-tapani.\n\nYou are the original amrta (nectar of immortality), indestructible. As it is\n\nconfirmed in the Vedas, amrtam sasvatmh brahme. Brahman is the eternal,\n\nthe supreme origin of everything, who has no birth or death.\n\n\"In the Upani§ads it is stated that the Supreme Brahman is as effulgent\n\nas the sun and is the origin of everything, and anyone who can understand\n\nthat original person becomes liberated from the material conditional life.\n\nAnyone who can simply be attached to You by devotional service can\n\nknow Your actual position, Your birth, appearance, disappearan ce and\n\nactivities. As confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, simply by understanding\nYour constitutional position, appearance and disappearance, one can be\n\nimmediately elevated to the spiritual kingdom after quitting this present\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0159": "Seein g Kmw enj oying with H is c o w h e r d friends,\n(p. 88)\n\nL o rd B r a h m a decided to p lay a trick .\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0160": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0161": "Kr�!la always demanded mother Yasoda's complete attention. (p. 64)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0162": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0163": "O u t of the broken , fallen t rees came t w o pe rsonali tic:; , s h i n ing l i kl' l 1 l a z i n g fi re .\n\n(p. 7 1 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0164": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0165": "With tumultuous sound they started for V rndavana. (p. 76)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0166": "\"I am offering my humble obeisances and prayers just to please You.\"\n\n(p. 96)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0167": "Prayers Offered by Lord Brahma to Lord Kr��a\n\n105\n\nbody. Therefore to cross over the ocean of material nescience, an intelligent person takes shelter of Your lotus feet and is easily transferred to the\nspiritual world. There are many so-called meditators who do not know\n\nthat You are the Supreme Soul. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, You are the\n\nSupreme Soul present in everyone's heart. Therefore there is no necessity\n\nof one's meditating on so mething beyond\n\nYou. One who is always\n\nabsorbed in meditation on Your original form of K[�l).a easily crosses over\n\nthe ocean of material nescience. But persons who do not know that You\nare the Supreme Soul remain within this material world in spite of their\n'\nso-called meditation. If, by the association of Y our devotees, a person\ncomes to the knowledge that Lord Krwa is the original Supersoul, then it\n\nis possible for him to cross over the ocean of material ignorance. For\n\ninstance, a person becomes transcendental to the mistake of thinking a\n\nrope is a snake ; as soon as one understands that the rope is not a snake, he\n\nis liberated from fear. For one who understands You, therefore, through\nYour personal teachings, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita, or through Your\n\npure devotees, as stated in the S rimad-Bhagavatam and all Vedic literatures\n\n-that You are the ultimate goal of understanding-he need no more fear\n\nthis material existence.\n\n\"So-called liberation and bondage has no meaning for a person who is\n\nalready engaged in Y our devotional service, just as a person who knows\n\nthat the rope is not a snake is unafraid. A devotee knows that this material\nworld belongs to Y ou , and he therefore engages everything in Your\n\ntranscendental loving service. Thus there is no bondage for him. For a\n\nperson who is already situated in the sun planet, there is no question of\n\nthe appearance or disappearance of the sun in the name of day or night. It\n\nis also said that Y ou , Kf�l).a, are just like the sun, and maya is like darkness.\n\nWhen the sun is present, there is no question of darkness ; so, for those\n\nwho are always in Your presence, there is no question of bondage or\nliberation. They are already liberated . On the other hand, persons who\n\nfalsely think themselves to be liberated without taking shelter of Your\n\nlotus feet, fall down because their intelligence is not pure.\n\n\"If one therefore thinks that the Supersoul is so mething different\n\nfrom Your personality and thus searches out the Supersoul somewhere\n\nelse, in the forest or in the caves of the Himalayas, his condition is very\nlamentable.\n\n\"Your teachings in the Bhagavad-gita are that one should give up all\n\nother processes of self-realization and simply surrender unto You, for\n\nthat is com plete. Because Y ou are supreme in everything, those who are\n\nsearching after the Brahman effulgence are also searching after You. And\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0168": "106\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Perso nality of Godhead\n\nthose who are searching after Supersoul realization are also searching after\nYou. You have stated in the Bhagavad-gita that Y ou Yourself, by Your\npartial representation as the Supersoul , have entered into this material cosmic manifestation. You are present in everyone's heart , and there is no need\nto search out the Supersoul anywhere else. If someone does so , he is simply\nin ignorance. One who is transcendental to such a position understands\nthat You are unlimited ; You are both within and without. Your presence\nis everywhere. Instead of searching for the Supersoul anywhere else, a\ndevotee only concentrates his mind on Y ou within. Actually one who is\nliberated from the material concept of life can search for Y ou ; others\ncannot. The simile of thinking the rope to be a snake is applicable only to\nthose who are still in ignorance of You. Actually the existence of a snake\nbesides the rope is only within the mind. The existence of maya, similarly,\nis only within the mind . Maya is nothing but ignorance of Your personality.\nWhen one forgets Your personality, that is the conditional state of miiyii.\nTherefore one who is fixed u pon You both internally and externally is not\nillusioned.\n\"One who has attained a little devotional service can understand Your\nglories. Even one striving for Brahman realization or Paramatma realization cannot understand the different features of Y our personality unless\nhe treads the devotional path. One may be the spiritual master of many\nimpersonalists, or he may go to the forest or to a cave or mountain and\nmeditate as a hermit for many, many years, but he cannot understand\nYour glories without being favored by a slight degree of devotional service .\nBrahman realization or Paramatma realization are also not possible even\nafter one searches for many, many years unless one is touched by the\nwonderful effect of devotional service.\n\" My dear Lord , I pray that I may be so fortunate that, in this life or in\nanother life, wherever I may take my birth, I may be counted as one of\nYour devotees. Wherever I may be, I pray that I may b e engaged in Y our\ndevotional service. I do not even care what form of life I get in the future,\nbecause I can see that even in the form of cows and calves or cowherd\nboys, the devotees are so fortunate to be always engaged in Y our transcendental loving service and association. Therefore I wish to be one of\nthem instead of such an exalted person as I am now , for I am full of\nignorance. The gopis and cows of V rndavana are so fortunate that they\nhave been able to su pply their breast milk to You. Persons who are\nengaged in performing great sacrifices and offering many valuable goats in\nthe sacrifice cannot attain the perfection of understanding You, but simply by devotional service these innocent village women and cows are all\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0169": "Prayers Offered b y Lord Brahma to Lord Kr��a\n\n107\n\nable to satisfy You with their milk . You have drunk their milk to satis­\n\nfaction, yet You are never satisfied by those engaged in performing\n\nsacrifices. I am simply surprised, therefore, with the fortunate position of\n\nMaharaja Nanda, mother Yasoda and the cowherd men and gopis, because\nYou, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, are\n\nexisting here as their most intimate lovable object. My dear Lord, no one\n\ncan actually appreciate the good fortune of these residents of V rndavana.\n\nWe are all demigods, controlling deities of the various senses of the living\nentities, and we are proud of enj oying such privileges, but actually there is\nno comparison between our position and the position of these fortunate\n\nresidents of Vrndavana because they are actually relishing Your presence\n\nand enjoying Your association by dint of their activities. We may be proud\nof being controllers of the senses, but here the residents of Vrndavana are\n\nso transcendental that they are not under our control. Actually they are\nenjoying the senses through service to You. I shall therefore consider my­\n\nself fortunate to be given a chance to take birth in this land of v rndavana\n\nin any of my future lives.\n\n\"My dear Lord, I am therefore not interested in either material opulences\n\nor liberation. I am most humbly praying at Your lotus feet for You to\n\nplease give me any sort of birth within this Vrndavana forest so that I may\n\nbe able to be favored by the dust of the feet of some of the devotees of\nVrndavana. Even if I am given the chance to grow just as the humble grass\n\nin this land, that will be a glorious birth for me. But if I a m not so\n\nfortunate to take birth within the forest of V rndavana, I beg to be allowed\n\nto take birth outside the immediate area of Vrndavana so that when the\n\ndevotees go out they will walk over me. Even that would be a great fortune\n\nfor me. I am just aspiring for a birth in which I will be smeared by the dust\nof the devotees' feet.\n\n\"I can see that everyone here is simply full of Kr��a consciousness; they\n\ndo not know anything but Mukunda. All the\n\nafter the lotus feet of Kr��a.\"\n\nVedas are indeed searching\n\nIt is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii that the purpose of Vedic knowledge\n\nis to find Kr��a. And it is said in the Brahma-sarhhitii that it is very dif­\n\nficult to find Kr�va, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by systematic\nreading of the Vedic literature. But He is very easily available through the\n\nmercy of a pure devotee. The pure devotees of V rndavana are fortunate\nbecause they can see Mukunda (Lord Kr�!la) all the time. This word\n\n\"mukunda\" can be understood in two ways. Muk means liberation. Lord\n\nKr�tta can give liberation and therefore transcendenNil bliss. The word\nalso refers to His smiling face, which is just like the kunda flower. Mukha\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0170": "1 08\n\nKr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nalso means face. The kunda flower is very beautiful, and it appears to be\nsmiling. Thus the comparison is made.\nThe difference between the pure devotees of V rndavana and other\ndevotees is that the residents of Vrndavana have no other desire but to be\nassociated with Kr��a. Kr�!la, being very kind to His devotees, fulfills their\ndesire ; because they always want Kr��a's association, the Lord is always\nprepared to give it to them. The devotees of Vrndavana are also spontaneous lovers. They do not follow the regulative principles. They are not\nrequired to strictly follow regulative principles because they are already\nnaturally developed in transcendental love for Kf§p.a . Regulative principles\nare required for persons who have not achieved the position of transcendental love. Brahma is also a devotee of the Lord, but he is subject to\nfollow the regulative principles. He prays to Kr§p.a to give him the chance\nto take birth in v rndavana so that he might be elevated to the platform of\nspontaneous love.\nLord Brahma continued : \"My Lord, sometimes I am puzzled as to how\nYour Lordship will be able to repay, in gratitude, the devotional service\nof these residents of V rndavana. Although I know that You are the\nsupreme source of all benediction, I am puzzled to know how You will be\nable to repay all the service that You are receiving from these residents of\nVrndavana. I think of how Y ou are so kind, so magnanimous, that even\nPiitana, who came to cheat You by dressing herself as a very affectionate\nmother, was awarded liberation and the actual post of a mother. And\nother demons belonging to the same family, such as Aghasura and\nBakasura, were also favored with liberation. Under the circumstances, I am\npuzzled. These residents of Vrndavana have given You everything-their\nbodies, their minds, their love, their homes. Everything is being utilized\nfor Your purpose. So how will You be able to repay their debt? You have\nalready given Yourself to Piitana ! I surmise that You shall ever remain a\ndebtor to the residents of Vrndavana, being unable to repay their loving\nservice. My Lord, I can understand that the superexcellent service of the\nresidents of Vrndavana is due to their spontaneously engaging all natural\ninstincts in Your service. It is said that attachment for material obj ects\nand home is due to illl!sion, which makes a living entity conditioned in the\nmaterial world. But this is only the case for persons who are not in Kr�p.a\nconsciousness. In the case of the residents of Vrndavana, such obstructions,\nas attachment to hearth and home, are nonexistent . Because their attachment has been converted unto You, and their home has been converted\ninto a temple because You are always there, and because they have\nforgotten everything for Your sake, there is no impediment . For a Kr�p.a\n·\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0171": "Prayers Offered by Lord Brahma to Lord Kr��a\n\n109\n\nconscious person, there is no such thing as impediments in hearth and\nhome. Nor is there illusion.\n\"I can also understand that Your appearance as a small cowherd boy, a\nchild of the cowherd men, is not at all a material activity. You are so much\nobliged by their affection that You are here to enthuse them with more\nloving service by Your transcendental presence. In Vrndavana there is no\ndistinction between material and spiritual because everything is dedicated\nto Y our loving service. My dear Lord, Your Vrndavana pastimes are simply\nto enthuse Your devotees. If someone takes Your Vrndavana pastimes to\nbe material, he will be misled.\n\"My dear Lord Krwa, those who deride You, claiming that You have a\nmaterial body like an ordinary man, are described in the Bhagavad-gitii as\ndemonic and less intelligent. You are always transcendental. The nondevotees are cheated because they consider You to be a material creation.\nActually, You have assumed this body, which resembles that of an ordinary\ncowherd boy, simply to increase the devotion and transcendental bliss of\nYour devotees.\n\"My dear Lord, I have nothing to say about people who advertise that\nthey have already realized God or that by their realization they have\nthemselves become God. But as far as I am concerned, I admit frankly\nthat for me it is not possible to realize You by my body, mind or speech.\nWhat can I say about You, or how can I realize You by my senses? I cannot\neven think of You perfectly with my mind, which is the master of the\nsenses. Your qualities, Your activities and Your body cannot be conceived\nby any person within this material world. Only by Your mercy can one\nunderstand, to some extent, what You are. My dear Lord, You are the\nSupreme Lord of all creation, although I sometimes falsely think that I am\nthe master of this universe. I may be master of this universe, but there are\ninnumerable universes, and there are innumerable Brahmas also who\npreside over these universes. But actually You are the master of them all.\nAs the Supersoul in everyone's heart, You know everything. Please, therefore accept me as Your surrendered servant. I hope that You ·will excuse\nme for disturbing You in Your pastimes with Your friends and calves.\nNow if You will kindly allow me, I will immediately leave so You can\nenjoy .Your friends and calves without my presence.\n\"My dear Lord Kr�tla, Your very name suggests that You are allattractive. The attraction of the sun and the moon are all due to You. By\nthe attraction of the sun, You are beautifying the very existence of the\nYadu dynasty. With the attraction of the moon, You are enhancing the\npotency of the land, the demigods, the briihmaras, the cows and the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0172": "1 10\n\nKr��a , the Supreme Perso nality of Godh ead\n\noceans. Because of Your supreme attraction, demons like Kamsa and\nothers are annihilated . Therefore it is my deliberate conclusion that You\nare the only worshipable D eity within the creation. Accept my humble\nobeisances until the annihilation of this material world . As long as there is\nsunshine within this material world , kindly accept my humble obeisances. \"\nI n this way, Brahma, the master o f this universe, after offering humble\nand respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead and\ncircumambulating Him three times, was ready to return to his abode\nknown as Brahmaloka. By His gesture , the Supreme Personality of Godhead gave him permission to return. As soon as Brahma left , Lord Sri\n·\nKr§�a immediately appeared as He had on the very day the cows and\ncowherd boys had vanished.\nKr§tta had left His friends on the bank of the Yamuna while they were\nengaged in lunch, and although He returned exactly one year later, the\ncowherd boys thought that He had return�d within a second. That is the\nway of Kr§!la 's different energies and activities. It is stated in the Bhagavadgitii that Kr§�a Himself is residing in everyone's heart , and He causes both\nremembrance and forgetfulness. All living entities are controlled by the\nsupreme energy of the Lord , and sometimes they remember and sometimes\nthey forget their constitutional position. His friends, being controlled in\nsuch a way, could not understand that for one whole year they were absent\nfrom the Yamuna bank and were under the spell of Brahma's illusion.\nWhen Kf§l)a appeared before the boys, they thought, \"Kr§�a has returned\nwithin a minute. \" They began to laugh, thinking that Kf§l)a was not willing\nto leave their lunchtime company. They 'Jere very jubilant and invited\nHim , \" D ear friend Kf§l)a, You have come back so quickly ! All right, we\nhave not as yet begun our lunch, not even taken one morsel of food. So\nplease come and j oin us and let us eat together. \" Kr§tta smiled and accepted\ntheir invitation, and He began to enj oy the lunchtime company of His\nfriends. While eating, Krwa was thinking, \"These boys believe that I have\ncome back within a second , but they do not know that for the last year I\nhave been involved with the mystic activities of Lord Brahma. \"\nAfter finishing their lunch, Kr§!la and His friends and �alves began to\nreturn to their V raj abhii mi homes. While passing, they enj oyed seeing the\ndead carcass of Aghasura in the shape of a gigantic serpent. When Kr§tta\nreturned home to Vraj abhii mi, He was seen by all the inhabitants of\nVrndavana. He was wearing a peacock feather in His helmet, which was\nalso decorated with forest flowers. Kr§!la was also garlanded with flowers\nand painted with different colored minerals collected from the caves of\nGovardhana Hill. Govardhana Hill is always famous for supplying natural\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0173": "Prayers Offered by Lord Brahma to Lord Kr��a\n\n111\n\nred dyes, and Krey�a and His friends painted their bodies with them. Each\nof them had a bugle made of buffalo horn and a stick and a flute, and\neach called his respective calves by their particular names. They were so\nproud of Krey�a's wonderful activities that, while entering the village, they\nall sang His glories. All the gopis in Vrndavana saw beautiful Krey!la entering\nthe village. The hoys composed nice songs describing how they were saved\nfrom being swallowed by the great serpent and how the serpent was killed.\nSome described Kr�.r;ta as the son of Yasoda, and others as the son of Nanda\nMaharaja. \"He is so wonderful that He saved us from the clutches of the\ngreat serpent and killed him,\" they said. But little did they know that one\nyear had passed since the killing of Aghasura.\nIn this regard, Maharaja Parik�it asked Sukadeva Gosvami how the\ninhabitants of Vrndavana suddenly developed so much love for Kreypa,\nalthough Kreypa was not a member of any of their families. Maharaja\nParikeyit enquired, \"During the absence of the original cowherd boys, when\nKreypa expanded Himself, why is it that th� boys' parents became more\nloving toward Him than toward their own sons? Also, why did the cows\nbecome so loving toward the calves, more than toward their own calves?\"\nSukadeva Gosvami told Maharaja Parikeyit that every living entity is\nactually most attached to his own self. Outward paraphernalia such as\nhome, family, friends, country, society, wealth, opulence, reputation, etc.,\nare all only secondary in pleasing the living entity. They please only\nbecause they bring pleasure to the self. For this reason, one is self-centered\nand is attached to his body and self more than he is to relatives like wife,\nchildren, and friends. If there is some immediate danger to one's own\nperson, he first of all takes care of himself, then others. That is natural.\nThat means, more than anything else, he loves his own self. The next important object of affection, after his own self, is his material body. A\nperson who has no information of the spirit soul is very much attached to\nhis material body, so much so that even in old age he wants to preserve the\nbody in so many artificial ways, thinking that his old and broken body can\nbe saved. Everyone is working hard day and night just to give pleasure to\nhis own self, under either the bodily or spiritual concept of life. We are\nattached to material possessions because they give pleasure to the senses\nor to the body. The attachment to the body is there only because the \"I,\"\nthe spirit soul, is within the body. Similarly, when one is further advanced,\nhe knows that the spirit soul is pleasing because it is part and parcel of\nKr�pa. Ultimately, it is Kreypa who is pleasing and all-attractive. He is the\nSupersoul of everything. And in order to give us this information, Kr��a\ndescends and tells us that the all-attractive center is He Himself. Without\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0174": "112\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nbeing an expansion of Kr��a, nothing can be attractive.\nWhatever is attractive within the cosmic manifestation is due to Kr��a.\nKr��a is therefore the reservoir of all pleasure. The active principle of\neverything is Kr��a, and highly elevated transcendentalists see everything\nin connection with Him . In the Caitan ya-caritiimrta it is stated that a\nmahiibhiigavata, or highly advanced devotee , sees Kr��a as the active\nprinciple in all movable and immovable living entities. Therefore he sees\neverythin g within this cosmic manifestation in relation to Krwa. For the\nfortunate person who has taken shelter of Kr��a as everything, liberation\nis already there. He is no longer in the material world. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii. Whoever is engaged in the devotional service\nof Kr��a is already on the b rahma-bh iita or spiritual platform. The very\nname Kr��a suggests piety and liberation. Anyone who takes shelter of\nthe lotus feet of Kr��a enters the boat for crossing over the ocean of\nnescience. For him , this vast expansion of the material manifestation\nbecomes as insignificant as a hoofprint . Kr��a is the center of all great\nsouls, and He is the shelter of the material worlds.\nFor one who is on the platform of Kr��a consciousness, V aiku�tha, or\nthe spiritual world , is not far away . He does not live within the material\nworld where there is dan ger at every step. In this way , Kr��a consciousness\nwas fully explained by Sukadeva Gosvaml to Maharaj a Parik�it. Sukadeva\nGosvami even recited to the king the statements and prayers of Lord\nBrahma. These descriptions of Lord Kr��a's pastimes with His cowherd\nboys, His eating with them on the bank of the Yamuna and Lord Brahma's\nprayers unto Him , are all transcendental subj ect matters. Anyone who\nhears, recites or chants them surely gets all his spiritual desires fulfilled.\nThus Kr��a 's childhood appearance, His sporting with Balarama in\nv rndavana, was described.\n-\n\n.\n\nTh us ends the Bha k tivedanta purport of the Fourteen th Chapter of\nKr��a, \"Prayers Offe red by L o rd Brah mii to L o rd K[$[W. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0175": "15 I Killjng of D henukasura\n\nIn this way, Sri Kr�!la , along with His elder brother Balarama , passed\nthe childhood age known as kaumiira and stepped into the age of\npaugar4a, from the sixth year up to the tenth. At that time, all the cowherd men conferred and agreed to give those boys who had passed their\nfifth year charge of the cows in the pasturing ground. Given charge of the\ncows, Kr�!la and Balarama traversed V rndavana, purifying the land with\nTheir footprints.\nAccompanied by the cowherd boys and Balarama , Kr�!la brought\nforward the cows and played on His flute through the forest of V rndavana ,\nwhich was full of flowers, vegetables, and pasturing grass. The V rndavana\nforest was as sanctified as the clear mind of a devotee and was full of bees,\nflowers and fruits. There were chirping birds and clear water lakes with\nwaters that could relieve one of all fatigues .. Sweet flavored breezes blew\nalways, refreshing the mind and body. Kr�!la, with His friends and\nBalarama , entered the forest and , seeing the favorable situation, enj oyed\nthe atmosphere to the fullest extent. Kr�!la saw all the trees, overloaded\nwith fruits and fresh twigs, coming down to touch the ground as if\nwelcoming Him by touching His lotus feet . He was very pleased by the\nbehavior of the trees , fruits and flowers, and He began to smile realizing\ntheir desires.\nKr�!la then spoke to His elder brother Balarama as follows : \"My dear\nbrother , You are superior to all of us , and Your lotus feet are w orshiped\nby the demigods. Just see how these trees, full with fruits, have bent down\nto worship Your lotus feet. It appears that they are trying to get out of\nthe darkness of being obliged to accept the form of trees. Actually, the\ntrees born .· in the land of V rndavana are not ordinary living entities.\nHaving held the impersonal point of view in their past lives, they are now\nput into this stationary condition of life , but now they have the o pportu-\n\n113\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0176": "1 14\n\nKH�a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nnity of seeing You in Vrndavana, and they are praying for further\nadvancement in spiritual life through Your personal association. Generally\nthe trees are living entities in the modes of darkness. The impersonalist\nphilosophers are in that darkness, hut they eradicate it by taking full\nadvantage of Your presence. I think the drones that are buzzing all around\nYou must have been Your devotees in their past lives. They cannot leave\nYour company because no one can he a better, more affectionate master\nthan You. You are the supreme and original Personality of Godhead, and\nthe drones are just trying to spread Your glories by chanting every moment.\nI think some of them must he great sages, devotees of Your Lordship, and\nthey are disguising themselves in the form of drones because they are\nunable to give up Your company even for a moment. My dear brother,\nYou are the supreme worshipahle Godhead. Just see how the peacocks in\ngreat ecstasy are dancing before You. The deer, whose behavior is just\nlike the gopis, are welcoming You with the same affection. And the\ncuckoos who are residing in this forest are receiving You with great joy\nbecause they consider that Your appearance is so auspicious in their home.\nEven though they are trees and animals, these residents of Vrndavana are\nglorifying You. They are prepared to welcome You to their best capacity,\nas is the practice of great souls in receiving another great soul at home. As\nfor the land, it is so pious and fortunate that the footprints of Your lotus\nfeet are marking its body.\n\"It is quite natural for these Vrndavana inhabitants to thus receive a\ngreat personality like You. The herbs, creepers and plants are also so\nfortunate to touch Your lotus feet. And by Your touching the twigs with\nYour hands, these small plants are also made glorious. As for the hills and\nthe rivers, they too are now glorious because You are glancing at them.\nAbove all, the damsels of V raja, the gopis, attracted by Your beauty, are\nthe most glorious, because You embrace them with Your strong arms.\"\nIn this way, both Lord Kr�l!a and Balarama began to enjoy the residents\nof Vrndavana to their full satisfaction, along with the calves and cows on\nthe hank of the Yamuna. In some places both Kr�l!a and Balarama were\naccompanied by Their friends. The boys were singing, imitating the\nhumming sound of the drones and accompanying Kr�l!a and Balarama,\nwho were garlanded with forest flowers. While walking, the boys sometimes imitated the quacking sound of the swans in the lakes, or when they\nsaw the peacocks dancing, they imitated them before Kr�J!a. Kr�l!a also\nmoved His neck, imitating the dancing and making His friends laugh.\nThe cows taken care of by Kr�l!a had different names, and Kr�l!a\nwould call them with love. After hearing Kr�l!a calling, the cows would\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0177": "Killing of Dhenukasura\n\n115\n\nimmediately respond by mooing, and the boys would enjoy this exchange\nto their hearts' content. They would all imitate the sound vibrations made\nby the different kinds of birds, especially the cakoras, peacocks, cuckoo\nand bhiiradviijas. Sometimes, when they would see the weaker animals\nfleeing out of fear of the sounds of tigers and lions, the boys, along with\nKr�pa and Balarama, would imitate the animals and run away with them.\nWhen they felt some fatigue, they would sit down, and Balarama would\nput His head on the lap of one of the boys just to take rest, and Kr�pa\nwould immediately come and begin massaging the legs of Balarama. And\nsometimes He would take a palm fan and fan the body of Balarama,\ncausing a pleasing breeze to relieve Him of His fatigue. Other boys would\nsometimes dance or sing while Balarama took rest, and sometimes they\nwould wrestle amongst themselves or jump. When the boys were thus\nengaged, Kr�pa would immediately join them, and catching their hands,\nHe would enjoy their company and laugh and praise their activities. When\nKr�tta would feel tired and fatigued, He would sometimes take shelter of\nthe root of a big tree, or the lap of a cowherd boy, and lie down. When\nHe would lie down with a boy or a root as His pillow, some of the boys\nwould come and massage His legs, and some would fan His body with a\nfan made from leaves. Some of the more talented boys would sing in very\nsweet voices to please Him. Thus very soon His fatigue would go away.\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kr�tta, whose legs are tended by the\ngoddess of fortune, shared Himself with the cowherd boys as one of them,\nexpanding His internal potency to appear exactly like a village boy. But\ndespite His appearing just like a village boy, there were occasions when He\nproved Himself to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sometimes\nmen pose themselves as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and cheat\ninnocent people, but they can only cheat; they cannot exhibit the potency\nof God.\nWhile Kr�pa was thus engaged in exhibiting His internal potency along\nwith the supermost fortunate friends, there occurred another chance for\nHim to exhibit the superhuman powers of Godhead. His most intimate\nfriends Sridama, Subala and Stokakr�pa began to address Kr�pa and\nBalarama with great. love and affection thus: \"Dear Balarama, You are\nvery powerful; Your arms are very strong. Dear Kr�pa, You are very\nexpert in killing all kinds of disturbing demons. Will You kindly note that\njust near this place there is a big forest of the name Talavana. This forest\nis full of palm trees, and all the trees are filled with fruits. Some are falling\ndown, and some of them are very ripe even in the trees. It is a very nice\nplace, but because of a great demon, Dhenukasura, it is very difficult to\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0178": "1 16\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ngo there. No one can reach the trees to collect the fruits. Dear Kr�!la and\nBalarama, this demon is present there in the form of an ass, and he is\nsurrounded by similar demon friends who assume the same shape. All of\nthem are very strong, so it is very difficult to approach this place. Dear\nbrothers, You are the only persons who can kill such demons. Other than\nYou, no one can go there for fear of being killed. Not even animals go\nthere, and no birds are sleeping there; they have all left. One can only\nappreciate the sweet aroma that is coming from that place. It appears that\nup until now, no one has tasted the sweet fruits there, either on the tree\nor on the ground. Dear Kr�!J.a, to tell You frankly, we are very attracted\nby this sweet aroma. Dear Balarama, let us all go there and enjoy these\nfruits. The aroma of the fruits is now spread everywhere. Don't You smell\nit from here?''\nWhen Balarama and Kr��a were thus petitioned by Their smiling,\nintimate friends, They were inclined to please them, and They began to\nproceed towards the forest, surrounded by all Their friends. Immediately\nupon entering the Talavana, Balarama began to yank the trees with His\narms, exhibiting the strength of an elephant. Because of this jerking, all\nthe ripe fruits fell down on the ground. Upon hearing the sound of the\nfalling fruits, the demon Dhenukasura, who was living there in the form of\nan ass, began to approach with great force, shaking the whole field so that\nall the trees began to move as if there were an earthquake. The demon\nappeared first before Balarama and began to kick His chest with his hind\nlegs. At first, Balarama did not say anything, but the demon with great\nanger began to kick Him again more vehemently. This time Balarama\nimmediately caught hold of the legs of the ass with one hand and,\nwheeling him around, threw him into the treetops. While he was being\nwheeled around by Balarama, the demon lost his life. Balarama threw the\ndemon into the biggest palm tree about, and the demon's body was so\nheavy that the palm tree fell upon other trees, and several fell down. It\nappeared as if a great hurricane had passed through the forest, and all the\ntrees were falling down, one after another. This exhibition of extraordinary\nstrength is not astonishing because Balarama is the Personality of Godhead\nknown as Ananta Se�anaga, who is holding all the planets on the hoods of\nHis millions of heads. The whole cosmic manifestation is maintained by\nHim exactly as two threads hold the weaving of a cloth.\nAfter the demon was thrown into the trees, all the friends and associates\nof Dhenukasura immediately assembled and attacked Balarama and Kr�pa\nwith great force. They were determined to retaliate and avenge the death\nof their friend. But Kr�!la and Balarama began to catch each of the asses\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0179": "Killing of Dhenukasura\n\n117\n\nby the hind legs and, exactly in the same way, wheel them around. Thus\nThey killed all of them by throwing them into the palm trees. Because of\nthe dead bodies of the asses, there was a panoramic scene. It appeared as\nif clouds of various colors were assembled in the trees. Hearing of this\ngreat incident, the demigods from the higher planets began to shower\nflowers on Kr§z:ta and Balarama and began to beat their drums and offer\ndevotional prayers.\nA few days after the killing of Dhenukasura, people began to come into\nthe Talavana forest to collect the fruits, and animals began to return without fear to feed on the nice grasses grown there. Just by chanting or\nhearing these transcendental activities and pastimes of the brothers Kr§z:ta\nand Balarama, one can amass pious activities.\nWhen Kr§z:ta, Balarama and Their friends entered the village of Vrndavana, They played Their flutes, and the boys praised Their uncommon\nactivities in the forest. Their faces were decorated with tilaka and smeared\nwith the dust raised by the cows, and Kr§z:ta's head was decorated with a\npeacock feather. Both He and Balarama played Their flutes, and the young\ngopis were joyous to see Kr�z:ta returning home. All the gopis in Vrndavana\nremained very morose on account of Kr§z:ta's absence. All day they were\nthinking of Kr§z:ta in the forest or of Him herding cows in the pasture.\nWhen they saw Kr§z:ta returning, all their anxieties were immediately\nrelieved, and they began to look at His face the way drones hover over the\nhoney of the lotus flower. When Kr§z:ta entered the village, the young gopis\nsmiled and laughed. Kr§z:ta, while playing the flute, enjoyed the beautiful\nsmiling faces of the gopis.\nThen Kr§z:ta and Balarama were immediately received by Their affectionate mothers, Y asoda and Rohiz:ti, and, according to the time's demands,\nthey began to fulfill the desires of their affectionate sons. Simultaneously,\nthe mothers rendered service and bestowed benediction upon their transcendental sons. They very nicely took care of their children by bathing\nand dressing Them. Krwa was dressed in bluish garments, and Balarama\nwas dressed in yellowish garments, and They were given all sorts of ornaments and flower garlands. Being relieved of the fatigue of Their day's work\nin the pasturing ground, They looked refreshed and very beautiful.\nThey were given palatable dishes by Their mothers, and They pleasantly\nate everything. After eating, They were seated nicely on clean bedding,\nand the mothers began to sing various songs of Their activities. As soon as\nThey sat down on the bedding, They very quickly fell fast asleep. In this\nway, Kr§z:ta and Balarama used to enjoy V rndavana life as cowherd boys.\nSometimes Kr§z:ta used to go with His boy friends and with Balarama,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0180": "118\n\nKr�J?a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nand sometimes He used to go alone with His friends to the bank of the\nYamuna and tend the cows. Gradually, the summer season arrived, and\none day, while in the field, the boys and cows. became very thirsty and\nbegan to drink the water of the Yamuna. The river, however, was made\npoisonous by the venom of the great serpent knowri as Kaliya.\nBecause the water was so poisonous, the boys and cows became visibly\naffected immediately after drinking. They suddenly fell down on the\nground, apparently dead. Then Krwa, who is the life of all lives, simply\ncast His merciful glance over them, and all the boys and cows regained\nconsciousness and began to look at one another with great astonishment.\nThey could understand that by drinking the water of Yamuna they had\ndied and that the merciful glance of Kr��a restored their life. Thus they\nappreciated the mystic power of Kr�':la, who is known as Yogesvara, the\nmaster of all mystic yogis.\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Fifteenth Chapter of Kr�� a,\n\"Killing of Dhenukiisura. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0181": "16 I Subduing Kaliya\nWhen He understood that the water of the Yam una was being polluted\nby the black serpent Kaliya, Lord Kr§!la took action against him and\nmade him leave the Yamuna and go elsewhere, and thus the water became\npurified .\nWhen this story was being narrated by Sukadeva Gosvami, Maharaj a\nParik§it became eager t o hear more about Kr§!la ' s childhood pastimes. H e\ninquired from Sukadeva Gosvami how Kf§!la chastised Kaliya , who was\nliving in the water for many years. Actually, Maharaj a Parik§it was\nbecoming more and more enthusiastic to hear the transcendental pastimes\nof Kr§!la, and his inquiry was made with great interest.\nSukadeva Gosvami narrated the story as follows. Within the River\nYam una there was a great lake, and in that lake the black serpent Kaliya\nused to live. Because of his poison, the whole area was so contaminated\nthat it emanated a poisonous vapor twenty-four hours a day. If a bird\nhappened to even pass over the spot , he would immediately fall down in\nthe water and die.\nDue to the poisonous effect of the Yamuna's vapors, the trees and\ngrass near the bank of the Yam una had all dried up. Lord Kr§!la saw the\neffect of the great serpent's poison : the whole river that ran before\nVrndavana was now deadly.\nKf§!la, who advented Himself just to kill all undesirable elements in the\nworld , immediately climbed up in a big k adamba tree on the bank of the\nYamuna. The k adamba is a round yellow flower, generally seen only in the\nVrndavana area. After climbing to the top of the tree, He tightened His\nbelt cloth, and , flapping His arms j ust like a wrestler, jumped in the midst\nof the poisonous lake. The k adamba tree from which Kr§!la had j umped\nwas the only tree there which was not dead . Some commentators say\nthat due to touching the lotus feet of Kr§l)a , the tree became immediately\n\n1 19\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0182": "120\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nalive. In some other Puriirws it is stated that Garu�a, the eternal carrier of\nVi§l)U , knew that Kf§l)a would take this action in the future, so he put\nsome nectar on this tree to preserve it. When Lord Kf§l)a jumped into the\nwater, the river overflooded its banks, as if something very large had fallen\ninto it. This exhibition of Kf§l)a's strength is not at all uncommon because\nHe is the reservoir of all strength.\nWhen Kf§l)a was swimming about, just like a great strong elephant, He\nmade a tumultuous sound which the great black serpent Kaliya could hear.\nThe tumult was intolerable for him, and he could understand that this was\nan attempt to attack his home. Therefore he immediately came before\nKf§J)a. Kaliya saw that Kf§l)a was indeed worth seeing because His body\nwas so beautiful and delicate; its color resembled that of a cloud, and His\nlegs resembled a lotus flower. He was decorated with Srivatsa, jewels and\nyellow garments. He was smiling with a beautiful face and was playing in\nthe River Yamuna with great strength. But in spite of Kf§l)a's beautiful\nfeatures, Kaliya felt great anger within his heart, and thus he grabbed\nKrwa with his mighty coils. Seeing the incredible way in which Krwa was\nenveloped in the coils of the serpent, the affectionate cowherd boys and\ninhabitants of Vrndavana immediately became stunned out of fear. They\nhad dedicated everything to Krwa, their lives, property, affection, activities\n-everything was for Krwa-and when they saw Him in that condition,\nthey became overwhelmed with fear and fell down on the ground. All the\ncows, bulls and small calves became overwhelmed with grief, and they\nbegan to look at Him with great anxiety. Out of fear they could only cry\nin agony and stand erect on the bank, unable to help their beloved Kf�J)a.\nWhile this scene was taking place on the bank of the Yamuna, there were\nill omens manifest. The earth trembled, meteors fell from the sky, and the\nbodies of men shivered. All these are indications of great immediate danger.\nObserving the inauspicious signs, the cowherd men, including Maharaja\nN anda, became very anxious out of fear. At the same time they were\ninformed that Krwa had gone to the pasturing ground without His elder\nbrother, Balarama. As soon as Nanda and Yasoda and the cowherd men\nheard this news, they became even more anxious. Out of their great\naffection for Kr§tta, unaware of the extent of Kr9l!a's potencies, they\nbecame overwhelmed with grief and anxiety because they had nothing\ndearer than Kr�l!a and because they dedicated their everything-life,\nproperty, affection, mind and activities-to Kf§J)a. Because of their great\nattachment for Krwa, they thought, \"Today Kr§l!a is surely going to be\nvanquished! \"\nAll the inhabitants of Vrndavana came out of the village to see Kf§J)a.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0183": "Kr��a brought forward the cows and played on His flute through the forest of\nv rndavana. (p. 1 1 3 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0184": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0185": "S o m d i m<�s the b o ys w o u l d i m i ta t<� the sounds of vari o u s a n i m als a n d bi rds\n\n.\n\n.\n\n( p . 7 7)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0186": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0187": "Kr��a bifurcate d Bakasura's m outh as easily as a child s p lits a blade of grass . ( p . 78)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0188": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0189": "Rd u m i ng h o n H� , 1-\\r�!Ja a n d B a l a r ii m a W!�re n� cei V!�d by Th!� i r affect i o n a lc m o thers .\n\n( p . 1 1 7)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0190": "\" We think that this a p parent pu nishment to Kaliya\nbenedi ction. \" ( p . 1 2 3 )\n\nIS\n\nactu ally some\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0191": "121\n\nSubduing Kaliya\n\nThA assembly consisted o f children, young and old men, women, animals\nand all living entities ; they knew that Kr�pa was their only means of\nsustenance. While this was happening, Balarama , who is the master of all\nknowledge , stood there simply smiling. He knew how powerful His\nyounger brother Kr��la was and that there was no cause for anxiety\nwhen Kr�pa was fighting with an ordinary serpent of the material world.\nHe · did not , therefore , personally take any part in their concern. On\nthe other hand , all the inhabitants of Vrndavana, being disturbed , began to search out Kr��ta by following the impression of His footprints\non the ground , and thus they moved towards the bank of the Yamuna.\nFinally, by following the footprints marked with flag, bow and conchshell, the inhabitants of Vrndavana arrived at the river bank and saw\nthat all the cows and boys were weeping to behold Kr�!la enwrapped in the\ncoils of the black serpent . Then they became still more overwhelmed with\ngrief. While Bal<'irama was smiling to see their lamentation, all the inhabitants of Vraj abhumi merged into the ocean of grief because they\nthought that Kr�pa was finished . Although the residents of Vrndavana did\nnot know much about Kr��ta, their love for Him was beyond comparison.\nAs soon as they saw that Kr�!la was in the River Yamuna enveloped by the\nserpent Kaliya and that all the boys and cows were lamenting, they simply\nbegan to think of Kr��ta 's friendship , His smiling face, His sweet words and\nHis dealings with them . Thinking of all these and believing that their Kr§!la\nwas now within the clutches of Kaliya , they at once felt that the three\nworlds had become vacant. Lord C aitanya also said that He was seeing\nthe three worlds as vacant for want of Kr��ta. This is the highest stage of\nKrsna consciousness. Almost all of the inhabitants of V rndavana had the\nhighest ecstasy, love for Kr§�ta.\nWhen mother Yasoda arrived , she wanted to enter the River Yamuna,\nand being checked , she fainted. Other friends who were equally aggrieved\nwere shedding tears like torrents of rain or waves of the river, but in order\nto bring mother Y asoda to consciousness, they began to speak loudly\nabout the transcendental pastimes of Krwa. Mother Y asoda remained still,\nas if dead , because her consciousness was concentrated on the face of\nKrwa. Nanda and all others who dedicated everything, including their\nlives, to Kr�!la were ready to enter the waters of the Yamuna, but Lord\nBalarama checked them because He was in perfect knowledge that there\nwas no danger.\nFor two hours Kf§!la remained like an ordinary child gripped in the\ncoils - of Kaliya , but when He saw that all the inhabitants of Gokulaincluding His mother and father, the go pis, the boys and the cows-were\n.\n\n. .\n\n.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0192": "122\n\n.Kf�J)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\njust on the point of death and that they had no shelter for salvation from\nimminent death, Kf�J)a immediately freed Himself. He began to expand\nHis body, and when the serpent tried to hold Him, he felt a great strain.\nOn account of the strain, his coils slackened, and he had no other alternative but to let loose the Personality of Godhead, Kr�IJa, from his grasp.\nKaliya then became very angry, and his great hoods expanded. He exhaled poisonous fumes from his nostrils, his eyes blazed like fire, and\nflames issued from his mouth. '(he great serpent remained still for some\ntime, looking at Kr�IJa. Licking his lips with bifurcated tongues, the serpent\nlooked at Kr�IJa with double hoods, and his eyesight was full of poison.\nKrwa immediately pounced upon him, just as Garu�a swoops upon a\nsnake. Thus attacked, Kaliya looked for an opportunity to bite Him, but\nKr�IJa moved around him. As Kr�IJa and Kaliya moved in a circle, the\nserpent gradually became fatigued, and his strength seemed to diminish\nconsiderably. Krwa immediately pressed down the serpent's hoods and\njumped up on them. The Lord's lotus feet became tinged with red from\nthe rays of the jewels on the snake's hoods. Then He who is the original\nartist of all fine arts, such as dancing, began to dance upon the hoods of\nthe serpent, although they were moving to and fro. Upon seeing this,\ndenizens from the upper planets began to shower flowers, beat drums,\nplay different types of flutes and sing various prayers and songs. In this\nway, all the denizens of heaven, such as the Gandharvas, Siddhas and\ndemigods, became very pleased.\nWhile Kr�IJa was dancing on his hoods, Kaliya tried to push Him down\nwith some of his other hoods. Kaliya had about a hundred hoods, but\nKr�IJa took control of them. He began to dash Kaliya with His lotus feet,\nand this was more than the serpent could bear. Gradually, Kaliya was\nreduced to struggling for his very life. He vomited all kinds of refuse and\nexhaled fire. While throwing up poisonous material from within, Kaliya\nbecame reduced in his sinful situation. Out of great anger, he began to\nstruggle for existence and tried to raise one of his hoods to kill the Lord.\nThe Lord immediately captured that hood and subdued it by kicking it\nand dancing on it. It actually appeared as if the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead Vi�IJU was being worshiped; the poisons emanating from the\nmouth of the serpent appeared to be like flower offerings. Kaliya then\nbegan to vomit blood instead of poison; he was completely fatigued . His\nwhole body appeared to be broken by the kicks of the Lord. Within his\nmind, however, he finally began to understand that Kr�J)a was the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, and he began to surrender unto Him. He realized\nthat Kr�IJa was the Supreme Lord, the master of everything.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0193": "Subduing Kaliya\n\n123\n\nThe wives of the serpent, known as the Nagapatnis, saw that their\nhusband was being subdued by the kicking of the Lord, within whose\nwomb the whole universe remains. Kaliya's wives prepared to worship the\nLord , although, in their haste, their dress, hair and ornaments became\ndisarrayed. They also surrendered unto the Supreme Lord and began to\npray. They appeared before Him, put forward their offspring and anxiously\noffered respectful obeisances, falling down on the hank of the Yamuna.\nThe Nagapatnis knew that Krwa is the shelter of all surrendered souls, and\nthey desired to release their husband from the impending danger by\npleasing the Lord with their prayers.\nThe Nagapatnis began to offer their prayers as follows: \"0 dear Lord,\nYou are equal to everyone. For You there is no distinction between Your\nsons, friends or enemies. Therefore the punishment which You have so\nkindly offered to Kaliya is exactly befitting. 0 Lord, You have descended\nespecially for the purpose of annihilating all kinds of disturbing elements\nwithin the world, and because You are the Absolute Truth, there is no\ndifference between Your mercy and punishment. We think, therefore, that\nthis apparent punishment to Kaliya is actually some benediction. We\nconsider that Your punishment is Your great mercy upon us because when\nYou punish someone it is to he understood that the reactions of his sinful\nactivities are eradicated. It is already clear that this creature appearing in\nthe body of a serpent must have been overburdened with all kinds of sin;\notherwise, how could he have the body of a serpent? Your dancing on his\nhoods reduces all the sinful results of actions caused by his having this\nbody of a serpent. It is, therefore, very auspicious that You have become\nangry and have punished him in this way. We are very astonished to see\nhow You have become so pleased with this serpent who evidently performed various religious activities in his past lives. Everyone must have\nbeen pleased by his undergoing all kinds of penances and austerities, and\nhe must have executed universal welfare activities for all living creatures.\"\nThe Nagapatnis confirm that one cannot come in contact with Kp�rta\nwithout having executed pious activities in devotional service in his previous lives. As Lord Caitanya advised in His S ik§ii§{aka, one has to execute\ndevotional service by humbly chanting the Hare Krl?rta mantra, thinking\noneself lower than the straw in the street and not expecting honor for\nhimself hut offering all kinds of honor to others. The Nagapatnis were\nastonished that, although Kaliya had the body of a serpent as the result of\ngrievous sinful activities, at the same time he was in contact with the Lord\nto the extent that the Lord's lotus feet were touching his hoods. Certainly\nthis was not the ordinary result of pious activities. These two contra-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0194": "124\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ndictory facts astonished them. Thus they continued to pray: \"0 dear\nLord, we are simply astonished to see that he is so fortunate as to have the\nthe dust of Your lotus feet on his head. This is a fortune sought after by\ngreat saintly persons. Even the goddess of fortune underwent severe\nausterities just to have the blessing of the dust of Your lotus feet, so how\nis it that Kaliya is so easily getting this dust on his head? We have heard\nfrom authoritative sources that those who are blessed with the dust of\nYour lotus feet do not care even for the highest post within the universe,\nnamely the post of Lord Brahma, or the kingship of heavenly planets, or\nthe sovereignty of this planet. Nor do such persons desire to rule the\nplanets above this earth, such as Siddhaloka; nor do they aspire for the\nmystic powers achieved by the yoga process. Nor do the pure devotees\naspire for liberation by becoming one with You. My Lord, although he is\nborn in a species of life which is fostered by the most abominable modes\nof material nature, accompanied with the quality of anger, this King of the\nserpents has achieved something very, very rare. Living entities who are\nwandering within this universe and getting different species of life can very\neasily achieve the greatest benediction only by Your mercy.\"\nIt is also confirmed in the Caitanya-caritiimrta that the living entities\nare wandering within the universe in various species of life, but by the\nmercy of Kr�IJa and the spiritual master, they can get the seed of devotional service, and thus their path of liberation can be cleared.\n\"We therefore offer our respectful obeisances unto You,\" the Nagapatnis continued, \"our dear Lord, because You are the Supreme Person,\nYou are living as the Supersoul .within every living entity; although You\nare transcendental to the cosmic manifestation, everything is resting in\nYou. You are the personified indefatigable eternal time. The entire time\nforce is existing in You, and You are therefore the seer and the embodiment of total time in the shape of past, present and future, month, day,\nhour, moment-everything. In other words, 0 Lord, You can see perfectly\nall the activities happening in every moment, in every hour, in every day,\nevery year, past, present and future. You are Yourself the universal form,\nand yet You are different from this universe. You are simultaneously one\nand different from the universe. We therefore offer our respectful obeisances unto You. You are Yourself the whole universe, and yet You are\nthe creator of the whole universe. You are the superintendent and maintainer of this whole universe, and You are its original cause. Although You\nare present within this universe by Your three qualitative incarnations,\nBrahma, Vi�IJU, and Mahesvara, You are transcendental to the material\ncreation. Although You are the cause of the appearance of all kinds of\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0195": "Subduing Kaliya\n\n125\n\nliving entities-their senses, their lives, their minds, their intelligence-You\nare to be realized by Your internal energy. Let us therefore offer our\nrespectful obeisances unto You, who are unlimited, finer than the finest,\nthe center of all creation and knower of everything. Different varieties of\nphilosophical speculators try to reach You. You are the ultimate goal of\nall philosophical efforts, and You are actually described by all philosophies\nand by different kinds of doctrines. Let us offer our respectful obeisances\nunto You, because You are the origin of all scripture and the source of\nknowledge. You are the root of all evidences, and You are the Supreme\nPerson who can bestow upon us the supreme knowledge. You are the\ncause of all kinds of desires, and You are the cause of all kinds of satisfaction. You are the Vedas personified. Therefore we offer Y ou our\nrespectful obeisances.\n\"Our dear Lord, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kr§�a,\nand You are also the supreme enjoyer now appeared as the son of\nVasudeva, who is a manifestation of the pure state of goodness. You\nare the predominating Deity of mind and intelligence, Pradyumna and\nAniruddha, and You are the Lord of all Vai§�avas. By Your expansion as\ncaturvy u ha\nnamely Vasudeva, Sari.kar§a�a, Aniruddha and Pradyumna. You are the cause of the development of mind and intelligence. By Your\nactivities only, the living entities become covered by forgetfulness or\ndiscover their real identity. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita\n(Fifteenth Chapter): the Lord is sitting as the Supersoul in everyone's\nheart, and due to His presence the living entity either forgets himself or\nrevives his original identity. We can partially understand that You are\nwithin our hearts as the witness of all our activities, but it is very difficult\nto appreciate Your presence, although every one of us can do so to some\nextent. You are the supreme controller of both the material and spiritual\nenergies; therefore You are the supreme leader, although You are different\nfrom this cosmic manifestation. You are the witness and creator and the\nvery ingredient of this cosmic manifestation. We therefore offer our\nrespectful obeisances unto You. Our dear Lord, in the matter of creating\nthis cosmic manifestation, personally You have nothing to exert ; by\nexpending Your different kinds of energy-namely the mode of goodness,\nthe mode of passion and the mode of ignorance-You can create, maintain\nand annihilate this cosmic manifestation. As the controller of the entire\ntime force, You can simply glance over the material energy, create this\nuniverse and energize the different forces of material nature which are\nacting different!y in different creatures. No one can estimate, therefore,\nhow Your activities are going on within this world. Our dear Lord,\n-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0196": "126\n\nKrwa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nalthough You have expanded into the three principal Deities of this\nuniverse-namely Lord Brahma, Lord Vi��u and Lord Siva-for creation,\nmaintenance and destruction, Your appearance as Lord Vi��u is actually\nfor the benediction of living creatures. Therefore, for those who are\nactually peaceful and who are aspiring after the supreme peace, worship of\nYour peaceful appearance as Lord Vi��u is recommended. 0 Lord, we are\nsubmitting our prayers unto You. You can appreciate that this poor\nserpent is going to give up his life. You know that for us women our lives\nand everything are our husband's; therefore, we are praying unto You that\nYou kindly excuse Kaliya, our husband, because if this serpent dies, then\nwe shall be in great difficulty. Looking upon us only, please excuse this\ngreat offender. Our dear Lord, every living creature is Your offspring, and\nYou maintain everyone. This serpent is also Your offspring, and You can\nexcuse him although he has offended You, undoubtedly without knowing\nYour potency. We are praying that he may be excused for this time. Our\ndear Lord, we are offering our loving service unto You because we are all\neternal servitors of Your Lordship. You can order us and ask us to do\nwhatever You please. Every living being can be relieved from all kinds of\ndespair if he agrees to abide by Your orders.\"\nAfter the Nagapatnis submitted their prayers, Lord Kr��a released\nKaliya from his punishment. Kaliya was already unconscious from being\nstruck by the Lord. Upon regaining consciousness and being released from\nthe punishment, Kaliya got back his life force and the working power of\nhis senses. With folded hands, he humbly began to pray to the Supreme\nLord Kr��a: \"My dear Lord, I have been born in such a species that by\nnature I am angry and envious, being in the darkest region of the mode of\nignorance. Your Lordship knows well that it is very difficult to give up\none's natural instincts, although by such instincts the living creature\ntransmigrates from one body to another.\" It is also confirmed in the\nBhagavad-gitii that it is very difficult to get out of the clutches of material\nnature, but if anyone surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krwa, the modes of material nature can no longer act on him. \"My\ndear Lord,\" Kaliya continued, \"You are therefore the original creator of\nall kinds of modes of material nature by which the universe is created.\nYou are the cause of the different kinds of mentality possessed by living\ncreatures by which they have obtained different varieties of bodies. My\ndear Lord, I am born as a serpent ; therefore, by natural instinct, I am very\nangry. How is it then possible to give up my acquired nature without Your\nmercy? It is very difficult to get out of the clutches of Your maya. By\nYour maya we remain enslaved. My dear Lord, kindly excuse me for my\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0197": "Subduing Kaliya\n\n1 27\n\ninevitable material tendencies. Now Y ou can punish me or save me as You\ndesire . \"\nAfter hearing this , the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was acting\nas a small human child , ordered the serpent thus : \" Y ou must immediately\nleave this place and go to the ocean. Leave without delay. You can take\nwith you all your offspring, wives and everything that you possess. D on't\npollute the waters of the Y amuna. Let it be drunk by My cows and cowherd boys without hindrance. \" The Lord then declared that the order\ngiven to the Kaliya snake be recited and heard by everyone so that no one\nneed fear Kaliya any longer.\nAnyone who hears the narration of the Kaliya serpent and his punishment will need fear no more the envious activities of snakes . The Lord\nalso declared : \"If one takes a bath in the Kaliya lake where My cowherd\nboy friends and I have bathed, or if one , fasting for a day, offers oblations\nto the forefathers from the water of this lake , he will be relieved from all\nkinds of sinful reaction.\" The Lord also assured Kaliya : \" Y ou came here\nout of fear of Garu�la, who wanted to eat you in the beautiful land by the\nocean. Now, after seeing the marks where I have touched your h�ad with\nMy lotus feet , Garu1a will not disturb you. \"\nThe Lord was pleased with Kaliya and his wives. Immediately after\nhearing His order, the wives began to worship Him with great offerings of\nnice garments , flowers , garlands, jewels , ornaments, sandal pulp , lotus\nflowers , and nice eatable fruits. In this way they pleased the master of\nGaru1a, of whom they were very much afraid. Then, obeying the orders\nof Lord Kr��a, all of them left the lake within the Y amuna.\nTh us ends the Bhak tivedanta purport of the Sixteenth Chapter of Kr��a ,\n\"Subduing Kaliya. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0198": "1 7 I Extin guishin g the Forest Fire\n\nKing Parik�it , after hearing of the chas tisement of Kaliya , inquired from\nSukadeva Gosvami as to why Kaliya left his beautiful land and why Garu?a\nwas so antagonistic to him. Sukadeva Gosvami informed the King that the\nisland known as Nagalaya was inhabited by serpents and that Kaliya was\none of the chief serpents there. Being accustomed to eating snakes, Garu?a\nused to come to this island and kill many serpents at his will. Some of\nthem he actually ate , but some were unnecessarily killed. The reptile\nsociety became so disturbed that their leader, Vasuki , appealed to Lord\nBrahma for protection. Lord Brahma . made an arrangement by which\nGaru?a would not create a disturbance : on each half-moon day , the reptile community would offer a serpent to Garu?a. The serpent was to be\nkept underneath a tree as a sacrificial offering to Garu?a. Garu?a was satisfied with this offering, and therefore he did not disturb any other serpents.\"But gradually, Kaliya took advantage of this situation. H e was unnecessarily puffed up by the volume of his accumulated poison , as well as\nby his material power , and he thought , \"Why should Garu?a be offered\nthis sacrifice ? \" He then ceased offering any sacrifice ; instead, he himself\nate the offering intended for Garu?a. When Garu?a, the great devoteecarrier of Vi�!lu , understood that Kaliya was eating the offered sacrifices,\nhe became very angry and quickly rushed to the island to kill the offensive\nserpent . Kaliya tried to fight Garu?a and faced him with his many hoods\nand poisonous sharp teeth. Kaliya attempted to bite him , and Garu?a, the\nson of Tark�ya , in great anger and with the great force deserving the carrier\nof Lord Viwu , struck the body of Kaliya with his effulgent golden wings.\nKaliya , who is also known as Kadrusuta , son of Kadru , immediately fled\nto the lake known as Kaliyadaha , underneath the Y amuna River , which\nGaru?a could not approach.\nKaliya took shelter within the water of the Yamuna for the following\n\n1 28\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0199": "Extinguishing the Forest Fire\n\n129\n\nreason. Just as Garu1a went to the island of the Kaliya snake, so he also\nused to go to the Yamuna to catch fish to eat. There was, however, a great\nyo�i known as Saubhari Muni, who used to meditate within the water\nthere and who was sympathetic with the fish. He asked Garu1a not to\ncome there and disturb the fish. Although Garu1a was not under anyone's\norder, being_the carrier of Lord Vi�l)-U, he did not disobey the order of the\ngreat yo�i. Instead of staying and eating many fish, he carried off one big\nfish, who was their leader. Saubhari Muni_ was sorry that one of the leaders\nof the fish was taken away by Garu1a, and thinking of their protection, he\ncursed Garu1a in the following words : \"Henceforward from this day, if\nGaru1a comes here to catch fish, then-I say this with all my strength-he\nwill be immediately killed.\"\nThis curse was known only to Kaliya. Kaliya was, therefore, confident\nthat Garu1a would-not be able to come there, and so he thought it wise to\ntake shelter of the lake within the Y amuna. But Kaliya's taking shelter of\nSaubhari Muni was not successful; he was driven away from the Yamuna\nby Kr�l)-a, the master of Garu1a. It may be noted that Garu1a is directly\nrelated to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is so powerful that he\nis never subjected to anyone's order or curse. Actually the cursing of\nGaru1a-who is stated in the Srimad-Bhiigavatam to be of the stature of\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavan-was an offense on the\npart of Saubhari Muni. Although Garw;la did not try to retaliate, the\nMuni was not saved from his offensive act against a great Vai�rtava\npersonality. D ue to this offence, Saubhari fell down from his yogic\nposition and afterwards became a householder, a sense enjoyer in the\nmaterial world. The falldown of Saubhari Muni, who was supposed to be\nabsorbed in spiritual bliss by meditation, is an instruction to the offender\nof Vai�l)-avas.\nWhen Kr�{la finally came out of Kaliya's lake, He was seen by all His\nfriends and relatives on the bank of Yam una. He appeared before them\nnicely decorated, smeared all over with candana pulp, bedecked with\nvaluable jewels and stones, and almost completely covered with gold. The\ninhabitants of Vrndavana, cowherd boys and men, mother Yasoda, Maharaja Nanda and all the cows and calves, saw Kr�l)-a coming from the\nYam una, and it was as though they had recovered their very life. When a\nperson regains his life, naturally he becomes absorbed in pleasure and\njoyfulness. They each in turn pressed Kr�{la to their chests, and thus they\nfelt a great relief. .Mother Y asoda, Rohi{li, Maharaja Nanda and the cowherd men became so happy that they embraced Kr�{la and thought they\nhad achieved their ultimate goal of life.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0200": "130\n\nKr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nBalarama also embraced Krwa, but He was laughing because He had\nknown what would happen to Kr�va when everyone else was so overwhelmed with anxiety. All the trees on the bank of the Yamuna, all the\ncows, bulls and calves were full of pleasure because of Krwa's\nappearance\n,\nthere. The briihmarw inhabitants of Vrndavana, along with their wives,\nimmediately came to congratulate Kr�va and His family members. Briihmar-as are considered to be the spiritual masters of society. They offered\ntheir blessings 't o Kr�va and the family on account of Kr�va's release_ They\nalso asked Maharaja Nanda to give them some charity on that occasion_\nBeing so pleased by Kr�va's return, Maharaja Nanda began to give many\ncows and much gold in charity to the b riihmar-as. While Nanda Maharaja\nwas thus engaged, mother Y asoda simply embraced Kr�va and made Him\nsit on her lap while she shed tears continually.\nSince it was almost night, and all the inhabitants of Vrndavana, including\nthe cows and calves, were very tired, they decided to take their rest on the\nriver bank In the middle of the night, while they were taking rest, there\nwas suddenly a great forest fire, and it quickly appeared that the fire\nwould soon devour all the inhabitants of V rndavana. As soon as they felt\nthe warmth of the fire, they immediately took shelter of Krwa, the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead, although He was playing just like their\nchild. They began to say, \"Our dear Kr��a! 0 Supreme Personality of\nGodhead! Our dear Balarama, the reservoir of all strength! Please try to\nsave us from this all devouring and devastating fire. We have no other\nshelter than You. This devastating fire will swallow us all!\" Thus they\nprayed to Kr��a, saying that they could not take any shelter other\nthan His lotus feet. Lord Krwa, being compassionate upon His own\ntownspeople, immediately swallowed up the whole forest fire and saved\nthem. This was not impossible for Kr�va because He is unlimited_ He has\nunlimited power to do anything He desires.\n'\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Seventeenth Chapter of\nKr�va, \"Extinguishing the Forest Fire . \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0201": "18 I Killing the Demon Pralambasura\n\nAfter extinguishing the devastating fire , Kr��a, surrounded by His\nrelatives, friends, cows, calves and bulls and glorified by their singing,\nagain entered Vrndavana , which is always full of cows. While Kr��a and\nBalarama were enjoying life in V rndavana , in the midst of the cowherd\nboys and girls, the season gradually changed to summer. The summer\nseason in India is not very much welcomed because of the excessive heat ,\nbut in Vrndavana everyone was pleased because summer there appeared\njust like spring. This was possible only because Lord Kr�.� a and Balarama ,\nwho are the controllers even of Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, were residing\nthere . In Vrndavana there are many falls which are always pouring water,\nand the sound is so sweet that it covers the sound of the crickets. And\nbecause water flows all over, the forest always looks very green and\nbeautiful.\nThe inhabitants of Vrndavana were never disturbed by the scorching\nheat of the sun or the high summer temperatures. The lakes of Vrndavana\nare surrounded by green grasses, and various kinds of lotus flowers bloom\nthere , such as the k alhiira-kaiijo tpala, and the air blowing in v rndavana\ncarries the aromatic pollen of those lotus flowers. When the particles of\nwater from the waves of the Yamuna , the lakes and the waterfalls, touched\nthe bodies of the inhabitants of Vrndavana , they automatically felt a\ncooling effect. Therefore they were practically undisturbed by the summer\nseason.\nVrndavana is such a nice place. Flowers are always blooming, and there\nare even various kinds of decorated deer. Birds are chirping, peacocks are\ncrowing and dancing, and bees are humming. The cuckoos there sing\nnicely in five kinds of tunes.\nKr��a, the reservoir of pleasure , blowing His flute , accompanied by His\nelder brother Balarama and other cowherd boys and cows , entered the\n\n131\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0202": "132\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nbeautiful forest of Vrndavana to enjoy the atmosphere. They walked into\nthe midst of newly grown leaves of trees whose flowers resembled peacock\nfeathers. They were garlanded by those flowers and decorated with saffron\nchalk. Sometimes they were dancing and singing and sometimes wrestling\n'\nwith one another. While Kr��a danced, some of the cowherd boys sang,\nand others played on flutes; some bugled on buffalo horns or clapped\ntheir hands, praising Kr��a, \"Dear brother, You are dancing very nicely.\"\nActually, all these boys were demigods descended from higher planets to\nassist Kr��a in His pastimes. The demigods garbed in the dress of the\ncowherd boys were encouraging Kr��a in His dancing, just as one artist\nencourages another with praise. Up to that time, neither Balarama nor\nKr��la had undergone the haircutting ceremony; therefore Their hair was\nclustered like crows' feathers. They were always playing hide-and-seek\nwith Their boy friends or jumping or fighting with one another. Sometimes, while His friends were chanting and dancing, Kr��a would praise\nthem, \"My dear friends, you are dancing and singing very nicely.\" The\nboys played at catching ball with bell shaped fruits and round iimalaki.\nThey played blind man's buff, challenging and touching one another.\nSometimes they imitated the forest deer and various kinds of birds. They\njoked with one another by imitating croaking frogs, and they enjoyed\nswinging underneath the trees. Sometimes they would play like a king and\nhis subjects amongst themselves. In this way, Balarama and Krwa, along\nwith all Their friends, played all kinds of sports and enjoyed the soothing\natmosphere of Vrndavana, full of rivers, lakes, rivulets, fine trees and\nexcellent fruits and flowers.\nOnce while they were engaged in their transcendental pastimes, a great\ndemon of the name Pralambasura entered their company, desiring to\nkidnap both Balarama and Kr�rta. Although Kr�rta was playing the part of\na cowherd boy, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead He could understand everything-past, present and future. So when Pralambasura entered\ntheir company, Kr�rta began to think how to kill the demon, but externally\nHe received him as a friend. \"0 My dear friend,\" He said. ''It is very good\nthat you have come to take part in our pastimes.\" Krwa then called all\nHis friends and ordered them: \"Now we shall play in pairs. We shall\nchallenge one another in pairs.\" With this proposal, all the boys assembled\ntogether. Some of them took the side of Kr�va, and some of them took\nthe side of Balarama, and they arranged to play in duel. The defeated\nmembers in duel fighting had to carry the victorious members on their\nbacks. They began playing, and at the same time tended the cows as they\nproceeded through the Bhandiravana forest. The party of Balarama,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0203": "Killing the Demon Pralambasura\n\n133\n\naccompanied by Sridama and Vnabha, came out victorious, and Kr9!la's\nparty had to carry them on their backs through the Bha!l-9-iravana forest.\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kr�!la, being defeated, had to carry\nSridama on His back, and Bhadrasena carried v r�abha. Imitating their play\n'\nPralambasura, who appeared there as a cowherd boy, carried Balarama on\nhis back. Pralambasura was the greatest of the demons, and he had calculated that Kr�!la was the most powerful of the cowherd boys.\n·\nIn order to avoid the company of Kr�!la, Pralambasura carried Balarama\nfar away. The demon was undoubtedly very strong and powerful, but he\nwas carrying Balarama, who is compared with a mountain; therefore he\nbegan to feel the burden, and thus he assumed his real form. When he\nappeared in his real feature, he was decorated with a golden helmet an4\nearrings and looked just like a cloud with lightning carrying the moon.\nBalarama observed the demon's body expanding up to the limits of the\nclouds, his eyes dazzling like blazing fire and his mouth flashing with\nsharpened teeth. At first, Balarama was surprised by the demon's appearance, and He began to wonder, \"How is it that all of a sudden this\ncarrier has changed in every way?\" But with a clear mind He could quickly\nunderstand that He was being carried away from His friends by a demon\nwho intended to kill Him. Immediately He struck the head of the demon\nwith His strong fist, just as the king of the heavenly planets strikes a\nmountain with his thunderbolt. Being stricken by the fist of Balarama, the\ndemon fell down dead, just like a snake with a smashed head, and blood\npoured from his mouth. When the demon fell, he made a tremendous\nsound, and it sounded as if a great hill were falling upon being struck by\nthe thunderbolt of King Indra. All the boys then rushed to the spot. Being\nastonished by the ghastly scene, they began to praise Balarama with the\nwords, \"Well done, well done.\" All of them then began to embrace\nBalarama with great affection, thinking that He had returned from death,\nand they offered their blessings and congratulations. All the demigods in\nthe heavenly planets became very satisfied and showered flowers on the\ntranscendental body of Balarama, and they also offered their blessings and\ncongratulations for His having killed the great demon Pralambasuta.\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Eighteenth Chapter of\nKr�!la, \"Killing the Demon Pralambiisura. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0204": "1 9 I Devouring the Forest Fire\n\nWhile Kr�pa and Balarama and Their friends were engaged in the\npastimes described above, the cows, being unobserved, began to wander\noff on their own, entering farther and farther into the deepest part of the\nforest , allured by fresh grasses. The goats , cows and buffalo travelled from\none forest to another and entered the forest known as lsikatavi. This\nforest was full of green grass, and therefore they were allured ; but when\nthey entered , they saw that there was a forest fire , and they began to cry.\nOn the other side, Balarama and Kr�pa , along with Their friends, could\nnot find their animals, and they became very aggrieved . They began to\ntrace the cows by following their footprints, as well as the path of eaten\ngrass. All of the boys were fearing that their very means of livelihood, the\ncows, were now lost . Soon, however, they heard the crying of their cows.\nKr�pa began to call the cows by their respective names , with great noise.\nUpon hearing Krwa calling, the cows immediately replied with j oy. But\nby this time the forest fire surrounded all of them, and the situation\nappeared to be very fearful. The flames increased as the wind blew very\nquickly, and it appeared that everything movable and immovable would be\ndevoured. All the cows and the boys became very frightened , and they\nlooked towards Balarama the way a dying man looks at the picture of the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead. They said, \" Dear Kr�pa and Balarama ,\nwe are now burning from the heat of this blazing fire . Let us take shelter\nof Your lotus feet. We know Y ou can protect us from this great danger.\nOur dear friend Kr�pa, we are Y our intimate friends. It is not right that we\nshould suffer in this way. We are all completely dependent on Y ou , and\nY ou are the knower of all religious life. We do not know anyone except\nyou . \"\nThe Personality of Godhead heard the appealing voices of H is friends,\nand casting a pleasing glance over them, He began to answer. B y speaking\n.\n\n1 34\n\n.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0205": "Devouring the Forest Fire\n\n1 35\n\nthrough His eyes, He impressed His friends that there was no cause for\nfear. Then Kr�!J.a, the supreme mystic, the powerful Personality of\nGodhead , immediately swallowed u p all the flames of the fire . The cows\nand boys were thus saved from imminent danger. Out of fear, the boys\nwere almost unconscious, but when they regained their consciousness and\no pened their eyes, they saw that they were again in the forest with Kr�!J.a,\nBalarama and the cows. They were astonished to see that they were\ncompletely free from the attack of the blazing fire and that the cows were\nsaved. They secretly thought that Kr�!la must not be an ordinary boy, but\nsome demigod.\nIn the evening, Kr�!la and Balarama, along with the b oys and cows, returned to Vrndavana, playing Their flutes. As they approached the village,\nall the gopis became very j oyous. Throughout the day the gopis used to\nthink of Kr�!la while He was in the forest, and in His absence they were\nconsidering one moment to be like twelve years.\nThus ends the Bhak t ivedanla purport of the Nineteenth Chapter of\nKr�!J.a, \"Devouring the Fore st Fire. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0206": "I\n\n'\n\n20 I Description of Autumn\n\nThe killing of Pralambasura and the devouring of the devastating forest\nfire by Kr�l!a and Balarama became household topics in Vrndavana. The\ncowherd men described these wonderful activities to their wives and to\neveryone else, and all were struck with wonder. They concluded that\nKr�l!a and Balarama were demigods who had kindly come to V rndavana\nto become their children. In this way , the rainy season ensued . In India,\n'\nafter the scorching heat of the summer , the rainy season is very welcome.\nThe clouds accumulating in the sky , covering the sun and the moon,\nbecome very pleasing to the people, and they expect rainfall at every\nmoment. After su mmer , the advent of the rainy season is considered to be\na life-giving source for everyone. The thunder and occasional lightning are\nalso pleasurable to the people.\nThe symptoms of the rainy season may be compared to the symptoms\nof the living entities who are covered by the three modes of material\nnature. The unlimited sky is like the Supreme Brahman, and the tiny\nliving entities are like the covered sky , or Brahman covered by the three\nmodes of material nature. Originally, everyone is part and parcel of\nBrahman. The Supreme Brahman , or the unlimited sky , can never be\ncovered by a cloud , but a portion of it can be covered. As stated in the\nBhagavad-gitii, the living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead. But they are only an insignificant portion· of the\nSupreme Lord. This portion is covered by the modes of material nature,\nand therefore the living entities are residing within this material world . The\nbrah majyoti-spiritual effulgence-is just like the sunshine ; as the sunshine\nis full of molecular shining particles, so the b rah majyoti is full of minute\nportions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead . Out of that unlimited\nexpansion of minute portions of the Supreme Lord , some are covered by\nthe influence of material nature, whereas others are free.\n\n1 36\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0207": "Description of Autumn\n\n137\n\nClouds are accumulated water drawn from the land by the sunshine.\nContinually for eight months the sun evaporates all kinds of water from\nthe surface of the globe, and this water is accumulated in the shape of\nclouds, which are distributed as water when there is need. Similarly, a\ngovernment exacts various taxes from the citizens which the citizens are\nable to pay by their different material activities: agriculture, trade and\nindustry; thus the government can also exact taxes in the form of income\ntax and sales tax. This is compared to the sun drawing water from the\nearth. When there is again need of water on the surface of the globe, the\nsame sunshine converts the water into clouds and distributes it all over the\nglobe. Similarly, the taxes collected by the government must be distributed to the people again, as educational work, public work, sanitary\nwork, etc. This is very essential for a good government. The government\nshould not simply exact tax for useless squandering; the tax collection\nshould be utilized for the public welfare of the state.\nDuring the rainy season, there are strong winds blustering all over the\ncountry and carrying clouds from one place to another to distribute water.\nWhen water is urgently needed after the summer season, the clouds are\njust like a rich man who, in times of need, distributes his money even by\nexhausting his whole treasury. So the clouds exhaust themselves by\ndistributing water all over the surface of the globe.\nWhen Maharaja Dasaratha, the father of Lord Ramacandra, used to\nfight with his enemies, it was said that he approached them just like a\nfarmer uprooting unnecessary plants and trees. And when there was need\nof giving charity, he used to distribute money exactly as the cloud\ndistributes rain. The distribution of rain by clouds is so sumptuous that\nit is compared to the distribution of wealth by a great, munificent person.\nThe clouds' downpour is so sufficient that the rains even fall on rocks and\nhills and on the oceans and seas where there is no need for water. It is\nlike a charitable person who opens his treasury for distribution and who\ndoes not discriminate whether the charity is needed or not. He gives in\ncharity openhanded.\nBefore the rainfall, the whole surface of the globe becomes almost\ndepleted of all kinds of energies and appears very lean. After the rainfal1,\nthe whole surface of the earth becomes green with vegetation and appears\nto be very healthy and strong. Here, a comparison is made with the person\nundergoing austerities for fulfillment of a material desire. The flourishing\ncondition of the earth after a rainy season is compared with the fulfillment\nof material desires. Sometimes, when a country is subjected by an undesirable government, persons and parties undergo severe penances and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0208": "138\n\nKr�l)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nausterities to get control of the government, and when they attain control,\nthey flourish by giving themselves generous salaries. This also is like the\nflourishing of the earth in the rainy season. Actually, one should undergo\nsevere austerities and penances only to achieve spiritual happiness. In the\nSrimad-Bhagavatam it is recommended that tapasa or penance should be\naccepted for realizing the Supreme Lord. By accepting austerity in devotional service, one regains his spiritual life, and as soon as one regains his\nspiritual life, he enjoys unlimited spiritual bliss. But if someone undertakes\nausterities and penances for some material gain, it is stated in the Bhagavadgita that the results are temporary and that they are desired by persons of\nless intelligence.\nD uring the rainy season, in the evening, there are many glowworms\nvisible about the tops of trees, hither and thither, and they glitter just like\nlights. But the luminaries of the sky, the stars and the moons, are not\nvisible. Similarly, in the age of Kali, persons who are atheists or miscreants\nbecome very prominently visible, whereas persons who are actually following the Vedic principles for spiritual emancipation are practically\nobscured. This age, Kaliyuga, is compared to the cloudy season of the\nliving entities. In this age, real knowledge is covered by the influence of\nmaterial advancement of civilization. The cheap mental speculators,\natheists and manufacturers of so-called religious principles become prominent like the glowworms, whereas persons strictly following the Vedic\nprinciples or scriptural injunctions become covered by the clouds of this\nage. People should learn to take advantage of the actual luminaries of the\nsky, the sun, moon, and stars, instead of the glowworm's light. Actually,\nthe glowworm cannot give any light in the darkness of night. As clouds\nsometimes clear, even in the rainy season, and sometimes the moon, stars\nand sun become visible, so even in this Kaliyuga there are sometimes\nadvantages. The Vedic movement of Lord Caitanya's-the distribution of\nchanting the Hare Kr�9a mantra-is heard in this way. People seriously\nanxious to find real life should take advantage of this movement instead\nof looking toward the light of mental speculators and atheists.\nAfter the first rainfall, when there is a thundering sound in the clouds,\nall the frogs begin to croak, like students suddenly engaged in reading their\nstudies. Students are generally supposed to rise early in the morning. They\ndo not usually arise of their own accord, however, but only when there is\na bell sounded in the temple or in the cultural institution. By the order of\nthe spiritual master they immediately rise, and after finishing their morning\nduties, they sit down to study the Vedas or chant Vedic mantras. Everyone\nis sleeping in the darkness of Kaliyuga, but when there is a great acarya, by\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0209": "Description of Autumn\n\n139\n\nhis calling only, everyone takes to the study of the Vedas to acquire actual\nknowledge. D uring the rainy season, many small ponds, lakes and rivulets\nbecome filled with water; otherwise the rest of the year they remain dry.\nSimilarly, materialistic persons are dry, but sometimes, when they are in a\nso-called opulent position, with a home or children or a little bank balance,\nthey appear to be flourishing, but immediately afterwards they beco�e dry\nagaip, like the small rivulets and ponds. The poet Vidyapati said that in\nthe society of friends, family , children, wife, etc., there is certainly some\npleasure, but that pleasure is compared to a drop of water in the desert.\nEveryone is hankering after happiness, just as• in the desert everyone is\nhankering after water. If, in the desert, there is a drop of water, the\nwater is there of course, but the benefit from that drop of water is very\ninsignificant. In our materialistic way of life, we are hankering after an\nocean of happiness, but in the form of society, friends and mundane love,\nwe are getting no more than a drop of water. Our satisfaction is never\nachieved, as the small rivulets, lakes and ponds are never filled with water\nin the dry season.\nDue to rainfall, the grass, trees and vegetation look very green. Sometimes the grass is covered by a certain kind of red insect, and when the\ngreen and red combine with umbrella-like mushrooms, the entire scene\nchanges,just like a person who has suddenly become rich. The farmer then\nbecomes very happy to see his field full of grains, but the capitalists-who\nare always unaware of the activities of a supernatural power-become unhappy bf�cause they are afraid of a competitive price. In some places\ncertain capitalists in government restrict the farmer from producing too\nmuch grains, not knowing the actual fact that all food grains are supplied\nby the Supreme Personality of Godhead. According to the Vedic injunction, eko bahiiniim yo vidadhiiti kiimiin, the Supreme Personality of Godhead maintains this creation ; therefore, He arranges for a supply of whatever is required for all living entities. When there is population increase, it is\nthe business of the Supreme Lord to feed them. But persons who are\natheist� or miscreants do not like abundant production of food grains,\nespecially if their business might be hampered.\nD uring the rainy season, all living entities, in the land, sky and water,\nbecome very refreshed, exactly like one who engages in the transcendental\nloving service of the Lord. We have practical experience of this with our\nstudents in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Before\nbecoming students, they were dirty looking, although they had natura�ly\nbeautiful personal features ; but due to having no information of Kr��a\nconsciousness they appeared very dirty and wretched. Since they have\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0210": "•-\n\n140\n\nKf��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ntaken to Kr��a consciousness, their health has improved, and by following\nthe rules and regulations, their bodily luster has increased. When they are\ndressed with saffron colored cloth, with tilaka on their foreheads and\nbeads in their hands and on their necks, they look exactly as if they come\ndirectly from Vaiku��ha.\nIn 'the rainy season, when the rivers swell and rush to the oceans and\nseas, they appear to agitate the ocean. Similarly, if a person who is engaged\nin the yoga-mystic process is not very advanced in spiritual life, he can\nbecome agitated by the sex impulse. High mountains, however, although\nsplashed by torrents of rain, do not change; so a person who is advanced in\nKr��a consciousness, even if put into difficulties, is not embarrassed\nbecause a person who is spiritually advanced accepts any adverse condition\nof life as the mercy of the Lord, and thus he is completely eligible to enter\ninto the spiritual kingdom.\nIn the rainy season some of the roads are not frequently used, and they\nbecome covered with long grasses. This is exactly like a b riihmal)a who is\nnot accustomed to studying and practicing the reformatory methods of\nVedic injunctions-he becomes covered with the long grasses of miiyii.\nIn that condition, forgetful of his constitutional nature, he forgets his\nposition of eternal servitorship to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\nBy being deviated by the seasonal overgrowth of long grasses created by\nmiiyii, a person identifies himself with mayic production and succumbs to\nillusion, forgetting his spiritual life.\nDuring the rainy season, lightning appears in one group of clouds and\nthen immediately in another group of clouds. This phenomena is compared\nto a lusty woman who does not fix her mind on one man. A cloud is\ncompared to a qualified person because it pours rain and gives sustenance\nto many people; a man who is qualified similarly gives sustenance to many\nliving creatures, such as family members or many workers in business.\nUnfortunately, his whole life can be disturbed by a wife who divorces him ;\nwhen the husband is disturbed, the whole family is ruined, the children\nare dispersed or the business is closed, and everything is effected. It is\ntherefore recommended that a woman desiring to advance in Krwa\nconsciousness peacefully live with a husband and that the couple not\nseparate under any condition. The husband and wife should control sex\nindulgence and concentrate their minds on Kr��a consciousness so their\nlife may be successful. After all, in the material world a man requires a\nwoman, and a woman requires a man. When they are combined, they\nshould live peacefully in Kr��a consciousness and should not be re�tless\nlike the lightning, flashing from one group of clouds to another.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0211": "Descriptions of Autumn\n\n141\n\nSometimes, in addition to the roaring thunder of the clouds, there is an\nappearance of a rainbow, which stands as a bow without a string. Actually,\na bow is in the curved position, being tied at its two ends by the bowstring;\nbut in the rainbow there is no such string, and yet it rests in the sky so\nbeautifully. Similarly, when the Supreme Personality of Godhead descends\nto this material world, He appears just like an ordinary human being, but\nHe is not resting on any material condition. In the Bhagavad-gita, the Lord\nsays that He appears by His internal potency, which is free from the bondage of the external potency. What is bondage for the ordinary creature is\nfreedom for the Personality of Godhead. In the rainy season, the moonlight is covered by clouds but is visible at intervals. It sometimes appears\nthat the moon is moving with the movement ofthe clouds, but actually the\nmoon is still; due to the clouds it also appears to move. Similarly, for one\nwho has identified himself with the moving material world, his actual\nspiritual luster is covered by illusion, and with the movement of material\nactivities, he thinks that he is moving through different spheres of life.\nThis is due to false ego, which is the demarcation between spiritual and\nmaterial existence, just as the moving cloud is the demarcation between\nmoonlight and darkness. In the rainy season, when the clouds appear for\nthe first time, after seeing their appearance, the peacocks begin to dance\nwith joy. This can be compared to persons who are very harassed in the\nmaterialistic way of life . If they can find the association of a person engaged\nin the loving devotional service of the Lord, they become enlightened,\njust like the peacocks when they dance. We have practical experience\nof this, because many of our students were dry and mqrose previous to\ntheir coming to Kr��ta consciousness, but having come into contact with\ndevotees, they are now dancing like jubilant peacocks.\nPlants and creepers grow by drinking water from the ground. Similarly,\na person practicing austerities becomes dry; after the austere performances\nare completed and he gets the result, he begins to enjoy life in sense gratification, with family, society, love, home and other paraphernalia. Sometimes it is seen that cranes and ducks meander continually on the banks of\nthe lakes and rivers, although the banks are filled with muddy garbage and\nthorny creepers. Similarly, persons who are householders without Kr��ta\nconsciousness are constantly tarrying in material life, in spite of all kinds of\ninconveniences. In family life, or any life, one cannot be perfectly happy\nwithout being Kr��a conscious. Srila Narottama dasa Thakur prays that he\nwill have the association of a person-either a householder or a man in the\nrenounced order of life-who is engaged in the transcendental loving\nservice of the Lord and is always crying the holy name of Lord Caitanya.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0212": "142\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nFor the materialistic person, worldly affairs become too aggressive, whereas\nto a person who is in Kr�na consciousness, everything appears to be\nhappily situated.\nThe barriers around the agricultural field sometimes break due to heavy\ntorrents of rain. Similarly, the unauthorized atheistic propaganda in the\nage of Kali breaks the boundary of the Vedic injunctions. Thus people\ngradually degenerate to godlessness. In the rainy season, the clouds, tossed\nby the wind, deliver water which is welcomed like nectar. When the Vedic\nfollowers, the b riihmarws, inspire rich men like kings and the wealthy\nmercantile community to give charity in the performance of great\nsacrifices, the distribution of such wealth is also nectarean. The four\nsections of human society, namely the b riihmarws, the k§atriyas, the\nvaisyas and the siidras, are meant to live peacefully in a cooperative\nmood; this is possible when they are guided by the expert Vedic b riih maras\nwho perform sacrifices and distribute wealth equally.\nVrndavana forest improved from the rains and was replete with ripened\ndates, mangoes, blackberries and other fruits. Lord Kr�l)a, the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, and His boy friends and Lord Balarama, entered\nthe forest to enjoy the new seasonal atmosphere. The cows, being fed by\nnew grasses, became very healthy, and their milk bags were all very full.\nWhen Lord Kr�l)a called them by name, they immediately came to Him\nout of affection, and in their joyful condition the milk flowed from their\nbags. Lord K[§l)a was very pleased when passing through the Vrndavana\nforest by the side of Govardhana Hill. On the bank of the Yamuna He saw\nall the trees decorated with bee hives pouring honey. There were many\nwaterfalls on Govardhana Hill, and their flowing made a nice sound. K[§l)a\nheard them as He looked into the caves of the hill. When the rainy season\nwas not ended completely but was gradually turning to autumn, sometimes,\nespecially when there was rainfall within the forest, Krwa and His\ncompanions would sit under a tree or within the caves of Govardhana Hill\nand enjoy eating the ripened fruits and talking with great pleasure. When\nKrwa and Balarama were in· the forest all day, mother Yasoda used to\nsend Them some rice mixed with yogurt, fruits and sweetmeat. K[§l)a\nwould take them and sit on a slab of stone on the bank of the Yamuna.\nWhile K[§l)a and Balarama and Their friends were eating, they watched the\ncows, calves and bulls. The cows appeared to be tired from standing with\ntheir heavy milk bags. By sitting and chewing grass, they became happy,\nand Kf§l)a was pleased to see them. He was proud to see the beauty of the\nforest, which was nothing but the manifestation of His own energy.\nAt such times Krwa would praise nature's special activities during the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0213": "Description of Autumn\n\n143\n\nrainy season. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita that the material energy, or\nnature, is not independent in its actions. Nature is acting under the superintendence of Kn!la. It is also stated in the Brahma-samhita that material\nnature, known as D urga, is acting as the shadow of Kr�!la. Whatever order\nis sent from Kr�rta, material nature obeys. Therefore the natural beauty\ncreated by the rainy season was acted out according to the indications of\nKr�?.p.a. Soon all the water reservoirs became very clean and pleasing, and\nrefreshing air was blowing everywhere because of the appearance of\nautumn. The sky was completely cleared of all clouds, and it recovered its\nnatural blue color. The blooming lotus flower in the clear water in the\nforest appeared like a person who has fallen down from yoga practice but\nagain has become beautiful by resuming his spiritual life.\nEverything becomes naturally beautiful with the appearance of the\nautumn season. Similarly, when a materialistic person takes to Kr�rta\nconsciousness and spiritual life, he also becomes as dear as the sky and\nwater in autumn. The autumn season takes away the rolling of dark clouds\nin the sky as well as the polluted water. Filthy conditions on the ground\nalso become cleansed. Similarly, a person who takes to Kr�rta consciousness\nimmediately becomes cleansed of all dirty things within and without.\nKr�rta is therefore known as Hari. \"Hari\" means \"he who takes away.\"\nKr�rta immediately takes away all unclean habits from anyone who takes\nto Kr�!la consciousness. The clouds of autumn are white, for they do not\ncarry any water. Similarly, a retired man, being freed from all responsibility of family affairs (namely, maintaining the home, wife and children)\nand taking complete! y to Kr�!la consciousness, becomes freed from all\nanxieties and looks as white as clouds in autumn. Sometimes in autumn\nthe falls come down from the top of the hill to supply clean water, and\nsometimes they stop. Similarly, sometimes great saintly persons distribute\nclear knowledge, and sometimes they are silent. The small ponds which\nwere filled with water because of the rainy season, gradually dry up in\nautumn. As for the tiny aquatics living in the reservoirs, they cannot understand that their numbers are diminishing day by day, as the materially\nengrossed persons cannot understand that their duration of life is being\nreduced day by day. Such persons are engaged in maintaining cows, property , children, wife, society and friendship. D ue to the reduced water and\nscorching heat from the sun in the autumn season, the small creatures\nliving in small reservoirs of water are much disturbed; they are exactly like\nuncontrolled persons who are always unhappy from being unable to enjoy\nlife or maintain their family members. The muddy earth gradually dries up,\nand newly grown fresh vegetables begin to wither. Similarly, for one who\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0214": "144\n\nKr�va, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nhas taken to Krwa consciousness, desire for family enjoyment gradually\ndries up.\nBecause of the appearance of the autumn season, the water of the ocean\nbecomes calm and quiet, just as a person developed in self-realization is no\nlonger disturbed by the three modes of material nature. In autumn, farmers\nsave the water within the fields by building strong walls so that the water\ncontained within the field cannot run out. There is hardly any hope for\nnew rainfalls; therefore they want to save whatever is in the field. Similarly,\na person who is actually advanced in self-realization protects his energy by\ncontrolling the senses. It is advised that after the age of fifty, one should\nretire from family life and should conserve the energy of the body for\nutilization in the advancement of Kf�l).a consciousness. Unless one is able\nto control the senses and engage them in the transcendental loving service\nof Mukunda, there is no possibility of salvation.\nDuring the daytime in autumn, the sun is very scorching, but at night,\ndue to the clear moonshine, people get relief from the day's fatigue. If a\nperson takes shelter of Mukunda, or Kf�l).a, he can be saved from the\nfatigue of misidentifying the body with the self. Mukunda, or Krwa, is\nalso the source of solace to the damsels of V rndavana. The damsels of\nVrajabhumi are always suffering because of separation from Kf�J).a. When\nthey meet Kf�l).a during the moonlit autumn night, their fatigue of separation is also satiated. When the sky is clear of all clouds, the stars at night\nshine very beautifully ; similarly, when a person is actually situated in Krwa\nconsciousness, he is cleared of all dirty things, and he becomes as beautiful\nas the stars in the autumn sky. Although the Vedas prescribe karma in the\nform of offering sacrifices, their ultimate purpose is stated in the Bhagavadgitii: one has to accept Kf�l).a consciousness after thoroughly understanding\nthe purpose of the Vedas. Therefore the clean heart exhibited by a devotee\nin Krwa consciousness can be compared to the clean sky of the autumn\nseason. During autumn, the moon looks very bright along with the stars in\nthe clear sky. Lord Kf�l).a Himself appeared in the sky of the Y adu\ndynasty, and He was exactly like the moon surrounded by the stars, or the\nmembers of the Y adu dynasty. When there are ample blooming flowers in\nthe gardens in the forest, the fresh, aromatic breeze gives a great relief\nto the person who has suffered during the summer and rainy seasons.\nUnfortunately, such breezes could not give any relief to the gopis\nbecause of their hearts' dedication to Krwa. People in general might\nhave taken pleasure in that nice autumn breeze, but the gopis, not\nbeing embraced by Krwa, were not very satisfied.\nOn arrival of the autumn season, all the cows, deer, birds and females in\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0215": "Description of Autumn\n\n145\n\ngeneral become pregnant, because in that season generally all the husbands\nbecome impelled by sex desire. This is exactly like the transcendentalists\nwho, by the grace of the Supreme Lord, are bestowed with the benediction\nof their destinations in life. Srila Rupa Gosvami has instructed in his\nUpaddiimrta that one should follow devotional service with great\nenthusiasm, patience and conviction and should follow the rules and\nregulations, keep oneself clean from material contamination and stay in\nthe association of devotees. By following these principles, one is sure to\nachieve the desired result of devotional service. For he who patiently\nfollows the regulative principles of devotional service, the time will come\nwhen he will achieve the result, as the wives who reap results by becoming\npregnant.\nDuring the autumn, the lotus flowers in the lakes grow in large numbers\nbecause of the absence of lilies; both the lilies and the lotus flowers grow\nby sunshine, but during the autumn season, the scorching sunshine helps\nonly the lotus. This example is given in the case of a country where the\nking or the government is strong; the rise of unwanted elem\"ents like\nthieves and robbers cannot prosper. When the citizens become confident\nthat they will not be attacked by robbers, they develop very satisfactorily.\nA strong government is compared to the scorching sunshine in the autumn\nseason; the lilies are compared to unwanted persons like robbers, and the\nlotus flowers are compared to the satisfied citizens of the government.\nDuring autumn, the fields become filled with ripened grains. At that time,\nthe people become happy over the harvest and observe various ceremonies,\nsuch as Navanna-the offering of new grains to the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead. The new grains are first offered to the Deities in various temples,\nand all are invited to take sweet rice made of these new grains. There are\nother religious ceremonies and methods of worship, particularly in Bengal,\nwhere the greatest of all such ceremonies is held, called Durgii Piijii.\nIn Vrndavana the autumn season was very beautiful then because of the\npresence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kr��a and Balarama.\nThe mercantile community, the royal order and great sages were free to\nmove to achieve their desired benedictions. Similarly, the transcendentalists, when freed from the encagement of the material body, also achieved\ntheir desired goal. During the rainy season, the mercantile community\ncannot move from one place to another and so do not get their desired\nprofit. Nor can the royal order go from one place to another to collect\ntaxes from the people. As for saintly persons who must travel to preach\ntranscendental knowledge, they also are restrained by the rainy season.\nBut during the autumn, all of them leave their confines. In the case of the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0216": "146\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ntranscendentalist, be he a jniini, a yogi, or a devotee, because of the\nmaterial body he cannot actually enjoy spiritual achievement. But as soon\nas he gives up the body, or after death, the jniini merges into the spiritual\neffulgence of the Supreme Lord; the yogi transfers himself to the various\nhigher planets, and the devotee goes to the planet of the Supreme Lord,\nGoloka V rndavana, or the Vaiku!1thas, and thus enjoys his eternal spiritual\nlife.\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Twentieth Chapter of\nKr�!la, \"Description of A utumn.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0217": "2 1 I The Go pis Attracted by the Flute\n\nKr�l)a was very pleased with the atmosphere of the forest where flowers\nbloomed and bees and drones hummed very jubilantly. While the birds ,\ntrees and branches were all looking very happy, Kr��1a, tending the cows ,\naccompanied by Sri Balarama and the cowherd boys , began to vibrate His\ntranscendental flute. After hearing the vibration of the flute of Kr�l)a, the\ngopis in V rndavana remembered Him and began to talk amongst themselves\nabout how nicely Kr�l)a was playing His flute. When the gopis were describing the sweet vibration of Kr�l)a 's flute, they also remembered their\npastimes with Him ; thus their minds became disturbed , and they were\nunable to describe completely the beautiful vibrations . While discussing\nthe transcendental vibration, they remembered also how K[�l)a dressed,\ndecorated with a peacock feather on His head , just like a dancing actor,\nand with blue flowers pushed over His ear. His garment glowed yellowgold , and He was garlanded with a vaijayanti necklace. Dressed in such an\nattractive way, Krwa filled up the holes of His flute with the nectar\nemanating from His lips. So they rememb ered Him , entering the forest of\nV rndavana, which is always glorified by the footprints of Kf�l)a and His\ncompamons .\nKr�l)a was very expert in playing the flute, and the gopis were captivated\nby the sound vibration, which was not only attractive to them , but to all\nliving creatures who heard it . One of the gopis told her friends , \"The\nhighest perfection of the eyes is to see Kr�l)a and Balarama entering the\nforest and playing Their flutes and tending the cows with Their friends. \"\nPersons who are constantly engaged in the transcendental meditation of\nseeing Kr�l)a, internally and externally, by thinking of Him playing the\nflute and entering the v rndavana forest , have really a ttained the perfection\nof samiidhi. Samiidhi (trance) means absorption of all the activities of the\nsenses on a particular object , and the gopis indicate that the pastimes of\n\n147\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0218": "148\n\nKr�l).a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nKr§�a are the perfection of all meditation and samiidhi. It is also confirmed\nin the Bhagavad-gita that anyone who is always absorbed in the thought of\nKr§�a is the topmost of all yog�s.\nAnother gopi expressed her opinion that Krwa and Balarama, while\ntending the cows, appeared just like actors going to play on a dramatic\nstage. Kr§�a was dressed in glowing garments of yellow, Balarama in blue,\nand They held new twigs of mango tree, peacock feathers, and bunches of\nflowers in Their hands. Dressed with garlands of lotus flowers, They were\nsometimes singing very sweetly among Their friends. One gopi told her\nfriend, \"How is it KH�a and Balarama are looking so beautiful?\" Another\ngopi said, \"My dear friend, we cannot even think of His bamboo flutewhat sort of pious activities did it execute so that it is now enjoying the\nnectar of the lips of Kr§�a?\" Kr§!la sometimes kisses the gopis; therefore\nthe transcendental nectar of His lips is available only to them, and His lips\nare considered their property. Therefore the gopis asked: \"How is it\npossible that the flute, which is nothing but a bamboo rod, is always\nengaged in enjoying the nectar from Krwa's lips? Because the flute is\nengaged in the service of the Supreme Lord, the mother and the father of\nthe flute must be happy.\"\nThe lakes and the rivers are considered to be the mothers of the trees\nbecause the trees live simply by drinking water. So the waters of the lakes\nand rivers of Vrndavana were full of happy lotus flowers because the\nwaters were thinking, \"How is it our son, the bamboo rod, is enjoying the\nnectar of Krwa's lips?\" The bamboo trees standing by the banks of the\nrivers and the lakes were also happy to see their descendant so engaged in\nthe service of the Lord, just as persons who are advanced in knowledge\ntake pleasure to see their descendants engage in the service of the Lord.\nThe trees were overwhelmed with joy and were incessantly yielding honey,\nwhich flowed from the beehives hanging on the branches.\nSometimes the gopis spoke thus to their friends about Kr§va: \"Dear\nfriends, our Vrndavana is proclaiming the glories of this entire earth\nbecause this planet is glorified by the lotus footprints of the son of Devaki.\nBesides that, when Govinda plays His flute, the peacocks immediately\nbecome mad. When all the animals and trees and plants, either on the top\nof Govardhana Hill or in the valley, see the dancing of the peacock, they all\nstand still and listen to the transcendental sound of the flute with great\nattention. We think that this boon is not possible or available on any other\nplanet.\" Although the gopfs were village cowherd women and girls, they\nhad knowledge of Kr§va. Similarly� one can learn the highest truths simply\nby hearing the Vedas from authoritative sources.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0219": "The Gopis Attracted by the Flute\n\n149\n\nAnother gopi said, \"My dear friends, just see the deer! Although they\nare dumb animals, they have approached the son of Maharaja Nanda,\nKr��a. Not only are they attracted by the dress of Krwa and Balarama, but\nas soon as they hear the playing of the flute, the deer, along with their\nhusbands, offer respectful obeisances unto the Lord by looking at Him\nwith great affection.\" The gopis were envious of the deer because the deer\nwere ,able to offer their service to Kr�IJa along with their husbands. The\ngopis thought themselves not so fortunate because whenever they wanted\nto go to Kr�IJa, their husbands were not very happy.\nAnother gopi said, \"My dear friends, Krwa is so nicely dressed that He\nappears to be the impetus to various kinds of ceremonies held by the\nwomenfolk. Even the wives of the denizens of heaven become attracted\nafter hearing the transcendental sound of His flute. Although they are\ntravelling in the air in their airplanes, enjoying the company of their\nhusbands, on hearing the sound of Krwa's flute, they immediately become\nperturbed. Their hair is loosened and their tight dresses are slackened.\"\nThis means that the transcendental sound of the flute of Krsna extended\nto all corners of the universe. Also, it is significant that the gopis knew\nabout the different kinds of airplanes flying in the sky.\nAnother gopi said to her friends, \"My dear friends, the cows are also\ncharmed as soon as they hear the transcendental sound of the flute of\nKr�IJa. It sounds to them like the pouring of nectar, and they immediately\nspread their long ears just to catch the liquid nectar of the flute. As for the\ncalves, they are seen with the nipples of their mothers pressed in their\nmouths, but they cannot suck the milk. They remain struck with devotion,\nand tears glide down their eyes, illustrating vividly how they are embracing\nKr�IJa heart to heart.\" These phenomena indicate that even the cows and\ncalves in Vrndavana knew how to cry for Kp?�a and embrace Him heart\nto heart. Actually, Krwa conscious affection can be culminated in shedding\ntears from the eyes.\nA younger gopi told her mother, \"My dear mother, the birds, who are\nall looking at Krwa playing on His flute, are sitting very attentively on the\nbranches and twigs of different trees. From their features it appears that\nthey have forgotten everything and are engaged only in hearing Krwa's\nflute. This proves that they are not ordinary birds; they are great sages and\ndevotees, and just to hear Kr��ta's flute they have appeared in Vptdavana\nforest as birds.\" Great sages and scholars are interested in Vedic knowledge,\n1 JU I the essence of Vedic knowledge is stated in the Bhagavad-gita: vedais\n�.:a sarvair aham eva vedya[!_. Through the knowledge of the Vedas, Kr�IJa\nhas to be understood. From the behavior of these birds, it appeared that\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0220": "1 50\n\nkr��a, the Supreme Pers onality of Godhead\n\nthey were great scholars in Vedic knowledge and that they took to Krwa 's\n'\ntranscendental vibration and rej ected all branches of Vedic knowledge.\nEven the River Yamuna, being desirous to embrace the lotus feet of Kr�pa\nafter hearing the transcendental vibration of His flute , broke her fierce\nwaves to flow very nicely with lotus flowers in her hands, just to present\nflowers to Mukunda with deep feeling.\nThe scorching heat of the autumn sunshine was sometimes intolerable ,\nand therefore the clouds in the sky appeared in sympathy above Kr�pa\nand Balarama and Their boy friends while They engaged in blowing Their\nflutes. The clouds served as a soothing umbrella over Their heads just to\nmake friendship with Kr��la. The wanton aborigine girls also became fully\nsatisfied when they smeared their faces and breasts with the dust of\nVrndavana , which was reddish from the touch of Kr�pa's lotus feet. The\naborigine girls had very full breasts , and they were also very lusty, but\nwhen their lovers felt their breasts, they were not very satisfied. When\nthey came out into the midst of the forest , they saw that while Kr�pa was\nwalking, some of the leaves and creepers of V rndavana turned reddish\nfrom the kunkuma powder which fell from His lotus feet. His lotus feet\nwere held by the gopis on their breasts, which were also smeared with\nkunkuma powder , but when Kr�pa travelled in the V rndavana forest with\nBalarama and His boy friends , the reddish powder fell on the ground of\nthe Vrndavana forest. So the lusty aborigine girls , while looking toward\nKr�pa playing His flute , saw the reddish kunk uma on the ground and\nimmediately took it and smeared it over their faces and breasts. In this way\nthey became fully satisfied , although they were not satisfied when their\nlovers touched their breasts. All material lusty desires can be immediately\nsatisfied if one comes in contact with Kr�pa consciousness.\nAnother gopi began to praise the unique position of Govardhana Hill in\nthis way : \"How fortunate is this Govardhana Hill, for it is enj oying the\nassociation of Lord Krsna and Balarama who are accustomed to walk on it.\nThus Govardhana is always in touch with the lotus feet of the Lord . And\nbecause Govardhana Hill is so obliged to Lord Kr�pa and Balarama, it is\nsupplying different kinds of fruits, roots and herbs, as well as very pleasing\ncrystal water from its lakes, in presentation to the Lord . \" The best presentation offered by Govardhana Hill , however , was newly grown grass for\nthe cows and calves. Govardhana Hill knew how to please the Lord by\npleasing His most bdoved associates , the cows and the cowherd b o ys.\nAnother gopi said that everything appeared wonderful when Kr�pa and\nB alarama travelled in the forest of Vrndavana playing Their flutes and\nmaking intimate friendship with all kinds of moving and nonmoving living\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0221": "The Gopis Attracted by the Flute\n\n151\n\ncreatures. When Kr��a and Balarama played on Their transcendental\nflutes, the moving creatures became stunned and stopped their activities,\nand the nonmoving living creatures, like trees and plants, began to shiver\nwith ecstasy.\nKr��a and Balarama carried binding ropes on Their shoulders and in\nTheir hands, just like ordinary cowherd boys. While milking the cows, the\nboys bound the hind legs with a small rope. This rope almost always hung\nfrom .the shoulders of the boys, and it was not absent on the shoulders of\nKr��a and Balarama. In spite of Their being the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, They played exactly like cowherd boys, and therefore everything became wonderful and attractive. While Kr��a was engaged in\ntending the cows in the forest of Vrndavana or on Govardhana Hill, the\ngopfs iv the village were always absorbed in thinking of Him and discussing'- His different pastimes. This is the perfect example of Krwa\nconsciousness: to somehow or other remain always engrossed in thoughts\nof Kr�!la. The vivid example is always present in the behavior of the gopfs;\ntherefore Lord Caitanya declared that no one can worship the Supreme\nLord by any method which is better than the method of the gopis. The\ngopfs were not born in very high brahmal}a or k§atriya families; they were\nborn in the families of vaisyas, and not in big mercantile communities but\nin the families of cowherd men. , They were not very well educated,\nalthough they heard all sorts of knowledge from the brahmar-as, the\nauthorities of Vedic knowledge. The gopfs ' only purpose was to remain\nalways absorbed in thoughts of Kr��a.\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Twenty-first Chapter of\nKr��a, \"The Gopfs Attracted by the Flute. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0222": "22 I Stealin g the Garments\nof the Unmarried Go pi Girls\nAccording to V edic civilization, unmarried girls from ten to fourteen\nyears of age are supposed to worship either Lord Siva or the goddess\nDurga in order to get a nice husband. l3ut the unmarried girls of V rndavana\nwere already attracted by the beauty of Kr��1a. They were, however ,\nengaged in the worship of the goddess Durga in the beginning of the\nh emanta season (just prior to the winter season) . The first month of\nhe manta is called Agrahayana (October-November), and at that time all\nthe unmarried gopis of V rndavana began to worship goddess Durga with a\nvow. They first ate havi§yiinna, a kind of foodstuff prepared by boiling\ntogether mung dahl and rice without any spices or turmeric. According to\nVedic injunction, this kind of foodstuff is recommended to purify the\nbody before one enacts a ritualistic ceremony. All the unmarried gopis in\nV rndavana used to daily worship goddess Katyayani early in the morning\nafter taking bath in the River Yamuna. Katyayani is another name for goddess Durga. The goddess is worshiped by preparing a doll made out of sand\nmixed with earth from the bank of the Yamuna. It is recommended in the\nVedic scriptures that a deity may be made from different kinds of material\nelements ; it can be painted , made of metal, made of j ewels, made of wood ,\nearth o r stone o r can be conceived within the heart o f the worshiper. The\nMayavadi philosopher takes all these forms of the deity to be imaginary,\nhut actually they are accepted in �the V edic literatures to be identical with\neither the Supreme Lord or a resp e ctive demigod.\nThe unmarried gopis used to prepare the deity of goddess Durga and\nworship it with candana pulp , garlands, incense lamps and all kinds of\npresentations-fruits, grains and twigs of plants . After worshiping, it is the\ncustom to pray for some benediction. The unmarried girls used to pray\nwith great devotion to goddess Katyayani, addressing her as follows : \" 0\nsupreme eternal energy o f the Personality of Godhead, 0 supreme mystic\n\n1 52\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0223": "Garu�a struck the body of Kaliya with his effulgent golden wings. ( p . 1 28)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0224": "Kr�!la would p raise the m , \" M y dear fri e n d s , you are danci_ng and sin ging very nicely . \"\n\n( p . 1 3 2)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0225": "Pralambasura looked j ust like a cloud with lightning carrying the moon. ( p . 1 33)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0226": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0227": "Krwa, the supreme mystic, immediately swallowed up all the flames of the fire. ( p. 1 35)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0228": "Due to remaining in the water for a long time , the gopis felt cold and were shivering.\n( p. 1 54)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0229": "\" D o not be afraid of the hill an d think that i t will fall fro m My han d . \" ( p . 1 75 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0230": "King Indra from the heavenly planet appeared before Kr�!la from a seclu ded place .\n( p . 1 80 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0231": "Stealing the Garments of the Unmarried Gopi Girls\n\n153\n\npower, 0 supreme controller of this material world, 0 goddess, please be\nkind to us and arrange for our marriage with the son of Nanda Maharaja,\nKrwa.\" The Vai��avas generally do not worship any demigods. Srila\nNarottama dasa Thakur has strictly forbidden all worship of the demigods\nfor anyone who wants to advance in pure devotional service. Yet the gopis,\nwho are beyond compare in their affection for Kr��1a, were seen to worship\nDurga. The worshipers of demigods also sometimes mention that the gopis\nalso worshiped goddess Durga, but we must understand the purpose of the\ngopis. Generally, people worship goddess Durga for some material benediction. Here, the gopis prayed to the goddess to become wives of Lord\nKrwa. The purport is that if Kr��a is the center of activity, a devotee can\nadopt any means to achieve that goal. The gopis could adopt any means\nto satisfy or serve Kr��a. That was the superexcellent characteristic of the\ngopis. They worshiped goddess Durga completely for one month in order\nto have Kr��la as their husband. Every day they prayed for Kr��a, the son\nof Nanda Maharaja, to become their husband.\nEarly in the morning, the gopis used to go to the bank of the Yamuna to\ntake bath. They would assemble together, capturing each other's hands,\nand loudly sing of the wonderful pastimes of Kr��a. It is an old system\namong Indian girls and women that when they take bath in the river they\nplace their garments on the bank and dip into the water completely naked.\nThe portion of the river where the girls and women take bath was strictly\nprohibited to any male member, and this is still the system. The Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, knowing the minds of the unmarried young gopis,\nbenedicted them with their desired objective. They had prayed for Kr��a\nto become their husband, and Kr.wa wanted to fulfill their desires.\nAt the end of the month, Kr��m, along with His friends, appeared on\nthe scene. Another name of Kr��a is Y ogesvara, or master of all mystic\npowers. By practicing meditation, the yogi can study the psychic movement of other men, and certainly Kr�pa could understand the desire of\nthe gopis. Appearing on the scene, Kr��a immediately collected all the\ngarments of the gopis, climbed up in a nearby tree, and with smiling face\nbegan to speak to them.\n\"My dear girls,\" He said. \"Please come here one after another and pray\nfor your garments and then take them away. I'm not joking with you. I'm\njust telling the truth. I have no desire to play any joke with you, for you\nhave observed the regulative principles for one month by worshiping\ngoddess Katyayani. Please do not come here all at once. Come alone; I\nwant to see each of you in your complete beauty, for you all have thin\nwaists. I have requested you to come alone. Now please comply.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0232": "154\n\n1\\r�:.;ta, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nWhen the girls in the water heard such joking words from Kr��a, they\nbegan to look at one another and smile. They were very joyous to hear\nsuch a request from Kr��a because they were already in love with Him.\nOut of shyness, they looked at one another, but they could not come out\nof the water because they were naked. Due to remaining in the water for\na long time, they felt cold and were shivering, yet upon hearing the\npleasing and joking words of Govinda, their minds were perturbed with\ngreat joy. They began to tell Kr��a, \"Dear son of Nanda Maharaja, please\ndo not joke with us in that way. It is completely unjust to us. You are a\nvery respectable boy because You are the son of Nanda Maharaja, and You\nare very dear to us, but You should not play this joke on us because now\nwe are all shivering from the cold water. Kindly deliver our garments\nimmediately, otherwise we shall suffer.\" They then began to appeal to\nKr�va with great submission. \"Dear Syamasundara,\" they said, \"we are\nall Your eternal servitors. Whatever You order us to do, we are obliged to\nperform without hesitation because we consider it our religious duty. But\nif You insist on puttingthis proposal to us, which is impossible to perform,\nthen certainly we will have to go to Nanda Maharaja and lodge a complaint\nagainst You. If Nanda Maharaja does not take action, then we shall tell\nKing Kamsa about Your misbehavior.\"\nUpon hearing this appeal by the unmarried gopis, Kr�va answered, \"My\ndear girls, if you think that you are My eternal servitors and you are\nalways ready to execute My order, then My request is that, with your\nsmiling faces, you please come here alone, one after another, and take\naway your garments. If you do not come here, however, and if you lodge\ncomplaints to My father, I shall not care anyway, for I know My father is\nold and cannot take any action against Me.\"\nWhen the gopis saw that Kf�l)a was strong and determined, they had no\nalternative but to abide by His order. One after another they came out\nof the water, but because they were completely naked, they tried to cover\ntheir nakedness by placing their left hand over their pubic area. In that\nposture they were all shivering. Their simple presentation was so pure that\nLord Knl)a immediately became pleased with them. All the unmarried\ngopis who prayed to Katyayani to have Kr�l)a as their husband were thus\nsatisfied. A woman cannot be naked before any male except her husband.\nThe unmarried gopis desired Kr�va as their husband, and He fulfilled their\ndesire in this way. Being pleased with them, He took their garments on\nHis shoulder and began to speak as follows. \"My dear girls, you have\ncommitted a great offense by going naked in the River Yamuna. Because of\nthis, the predominating deity of the Yamuna, Varu�1adeva, has become\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0233": "Stealing the Garments of the Unmarried Gopi Girls\n\n155\n\ndispleased with you. Please, therefore, just touch your foreheads with\nfolded palms and bow down before the demigod VaruJJa in order to be\nexcused from this offensive act.\" The gopis were all simple souls, and\nwhatever Kr�JJa said they took to be true. In order to be freed from the\nwrath of Varu]Jadeva, as well as to fulfill the desired end of their vows and\nultimately to please their worshipable Lord, Kr�!Ja, they immediately\nabided by His order. Thus they became the greatest lovers of Kr�JJa, and\nHis most obedient servitors.\nNothing can compare to the Kn!Ja consciousness of the gopis. Actually,\nthe gopis did not care for Varu!Ja or any other demigod; they only wanted\nto satisfy Kr�!la. KnJJa became very ingratiated and satisfied by the simple\ndealings of the gopis, and He immediately delivered their respective\ngarments, one after another. Although KH!Ja cheated the young unmarried gopis and made them stand naked before Him and enjoyed joking\nwords with them, and although He treated them just like dolls and stole\ntheir garments, they were still pleased with Him and never lodged complaints against Him. This attitude of the gopis is described by Lord\nCaitanya Mahaprabhu when He prays, \"My dear Lord KH!Ja, You may\nembrace me or trample me under Your feet, or You may make me brokenhearted by never being present before me. Whatever You like, You can\ndo, because You have complete freedom to act. But in spite of all Your\ndealings, You are my Lord eternally, and I have no other worshi pable\nobject.\" This is the attitude of the gopis toward Kr�JJa.\nLord Kr�JJa was pleased with them, and since they all desired to have\nHim as their husband, He told them, \"My dear well-behaved girls, I know\nof your desire for Me and why you worship goddess Katyayan'i, and I\ncompletely approve of your action. Anyone whose full consciousness is\nalways absorbed in Me, even if in lust, is elevated. As a fried seed cannot\nfructify, so any desire in connection with My loving service cannot produce any fruitive result, as in ordinary karma. \"\nThere is a statement in the Brahma-samhitii: karmiirti nirdahati kintu ca\nbhakti-bhiijiim. Everyone is bound by his fruitive activities, but the\ndevotees, because they work completely for the satisfaction of the Lord,\nsuffer no reactions. Similarly, the gopis ' attitude toward KH!Ja, although\nseemingly lusty, should not be considered to be like the lusty desires of\nordinary women. The reason is explained by Kr�!la Himself. Activities in\ndevotional service to Kr�JJa are transcendental to any fruitive result.\n\"My dear gopis, \" Kr�JJa continued, \"your desire to have Me as your\nhusband will be fulfilled because with this desire you have worshiped\ngoddess Katyayani. I promise you that during the next autumn season you\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0234": "156\n\nKr�l).a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nshall be able to meet with Me, and you shall enj oy Me as your husband.\"\nTaking shelter of the shade of the trees, Krwa became very happy.\nWhile walking He began to address the inhabitants of Vrndavana. \"My\ndear Stokakrwa, My dear Varuthapa, My dear Bhadrasena, My dear\nSudama, My dear Subala, My dear Arjuna, My dear Visala, My dear\n];t�abha-just look at these most fortunate trees of Vrndavana. They have\ndedicated their lives to the welfare of others. Individually they are\ntolerating all kinds of natural disturbances, such as hurricanes, torrents of\nrain, scorching heat and piercing cold, but they are very careful to relieve\nour fatigues and give us shelter. My dear friends, I think they are glorified\nin this birth as trees. They are so careful to give shelter to others that they\nare like noble, highly elevated charitable men who never deny charity to\none who approaches them. No one is denied shelter by these trees. They\nsupply various kinds of facilities to human society, such as leaves, flowers,\nfruit, shade, roots, bark, flavor extracts and fuel. They are the perfect\nexample of noble life. They are like a noble person who has sacrificed\neverything possible-his body, mind, activities, intelligence and words-in\nengaging in the welfare of all living entities. \"\nThus the Supreme Personality of Godhead walked on the bank of the\nYamuna, touching the leaves of the trees and their fruits, flowers and\ntwigs, and praising their glorious welfare activities. Different people may\naccept certain welfare activities to be beneficial for human society, ac,\ncording to their own views , but the welfare activity that can be rendered\nto people in general, for eternal benefit, is the spreading of the Kr�p.a\nconsciousness movement. Everyone should be prepared to propagate this\nmovement. As instructed by Lord Caitanya, one should be humbler than\nthe grass on the ground and more tolerant than the tree. The toleration of\nthe trees is explained by Lord Krwa Himself, and those who are engaged\nin the preaching of Krwa consciousness should learn lessons from the\nteachings of Lord Krwa and Lord Caitanya through Their direct disciplic\nsuccessiOn.\nWhile passing through the forest of Vrndavana on the bank of the\nYamuna, Krwa sat down at a beautiful spot and allowed the cows to\ndrink the cold and transparent water of the Yamuna. Being fatigued, the\ncowherd boys, Kr�l/a and Balarama also drank. After seeing the young\ngopis taking bath in the Yam una, Krwa passed the rest of the morning\nwith the boys.\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Twenty-second Chapter of\nKr��la, «Stealing the Garments of the Unmarried Gopi Girls. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0235": "23 I Delivering the Wives of the Brahma�as\nWho Performed Sacrifices\nThe morning passed , and the cowherd boys were very hungry because\nthey had not eaten breakfast. They immediately approached Kr�pa and\nBalarama and said , \" D ear Kr�pa and Balarama, You are both all-powerful;\nYou can kill many , many demo ns, but today we are much afflicted with\nhunger , and this is disturbing us. Please arrange for something that will\nmitigate our hunger.\"\nRequested in this way by Their friends, Lord Kr�pa and Balarama\nimmediately showed compassion on certain wives of b riihmw;ws who were\nperforming sacrifices. These wives were great devotees of the Lord , and\nKr�pa took this opportunity to bless them. He said , \"My dear friends,\nplease go to the house of the b riih mar;ws nearby. They are now engaged in\nperforming Vedic sacrifices known as iingirasa, for they desire elevation to\nheavenly planets. All of you please go to them. \" Then Lord Kr��t'a warned\nHis friends, \"These b riihmar;ws are not V ai�pavas. They cannot even chant\nOur names, Kr��1a and Balarama. They are very busy in chanting the V edic\nhymns, although the purpose of Vedic knowledge is to find Me. But\nbecause they are not attracted by the names of Krwa and Balarama, you\nhad better not ask them for anything in My name. Better ask for some\ncharity in the name of Balarama . \"\nCharity i s generally given t o high class b riihmar;ws, but Kr�pa and\nBalarama did not appear in a b riih mar;ia family. Balarama was known as\nthe son of Vasudeva , a k§atriya, and Kr��1a was known in Vrndavana as the\nson of Nanda Maharaj a , who was a vaisya. Neither belonged to the\nb riihmar;w community. Therefore , Kr��1a considered that the b riihmar;ws\nengaged in performing sacrifices might not be induced to give charity to a\nk§atriya and vaisya. \"But at least if you utter the n ame of Balarama, they\nmay prefer to give in charity to a k§atriya, rather than to Me, because I am\no n ly a vaisya. \"\n\n157\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0236": "158\n\n.Kf��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nBeing thus ordered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all the\nboys went to the b riihmm;ws and began to ask for some charity. They\napproached them with folded hands and fell down on the ground to offer\nrespect. \"0 earthly gods, kindly hear us who are ordered by Lord Kr�t;J-a\nand Balarama. We hope you know Them both very well, and we wish you\nall good fortune. Kr�\\la and Balarama are tending cows nearby, and we\nhave accompanied Them. We have come to ask for some food from you .\n. You are all briihmarzas and knowers of religious principles, and if you\nthink that you should give us charity, then give us some food and we\nshall all eat along with Kr�t;J-a and Balarama. You are the most respectable\nbriihmaras within the human society, and you are expected to know all\nthe principles of religious procedure.\"\nAlthough the boys were village boys and were not expected to be\nlearned in all the Vedic principles of religious ritual, they hinted that\nbecause of their association with Kf�t;la and Balarama, they knew all those\nprinciples. When the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kf�t;la and Balarama, asked for food, the boys would immediately deliver it without\nhesitation because it is stated in the Bhagavad-gitii that one should\nperform yafiia (sacrifices) only for the satisfaction of Vi�t;J-U.\nThe boys continued, \"Lord Vi�t;J-U as Kr�t;J-a and Balarama is standing\nwaiting, and you should immediately deliver whatever food you have in\nyour stock.\" They also explained to the briihmarzas how foodstuffs are to\nbe accepted. Generally, the Vai�t;lavas, or pure devotees of the Lord, do\nnot take part in ordinary sacrificial performances. But they know very\nwell the ceremonials called dik�ii pasusamtha sautriimnya. One is permitted to take food after the procedure of dik�ii and before the animal\nsacrificial ceremony and the Sautriimarzi, or ceremony in which liquors are\nalso offered. The boys said, \"We can take your food at the present stage\nof your ceremony, for now it will not be prohibitory. So you can deliver\nus the foodstuff.\"\nAlthough the companions of Lord Kr�va and Balarama were simple\ncowherd boys, they were in a position to dictate even to the high class\nbriihmarzas engaged in the Vedic rituals of sacrifices. But the smiirta\nbriihmarzas, who were simply sacrificial-minded, could not understand the\ndictation of the transcendental devotees of the Lord. They could not even\nappreciate the begging of the Supreme Lord, Kr�t;J-a and Balarama. Although they heard all the arguments on behalf of Kf�t;la and Balarama,\nthey did not care for them, and they refused to speak to the boys. D espite\nbeing highly elevated in the knowledge of Vedic sacrificial rites, all such\nnondevotee briihmarzas , although they think of themselves as very highly\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0237": "Delivering the Wives of the BrahmaJ;taS\n\n159\n\nelevated, are ignorant, foolish persons. All their activities are useless\nbecause they do not know the purpose of the Vedas, as it is explained in\nthe Bhagavad-gitii: to understand Kr�!J.a. In spite of their advancement in\nVedic knowledge and rituals, they do not understand Kr��1a; therefore\ntheir knowledge of the Vedas is supe�ficial. Lord Caitanya, therefore,\ngave His valuable opinion that a person does not have to be born in a\nbriihmar;w family; if he knows Kr�!la or the science of Kr�!la consciousness,\nhe is more than a briihmar;w, and he is quite fit to become spiritual master.\nThere are various details to be observed in the performance of sacrifices,\nand they are known collectively as dda. They are as follows: kala means\nthe time, prthah dravya, the different detailed paraphernalia, mantra,\nhymns, tantra, scriptural evidences, agni, fire, rtvij, learned performers of\nsacrifices, devatii, the demigods, vajamiina, the performer of the sacrifices,\nhratu, the sacrifice itself, and dharma, the procedures. All these are for\nsatisfying Kr�!J.a. It is confirmed that He is the actual enjoyer of all\nsacrifices because He is directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead and\nthe Supreme Absolute Truth, beyond the conception or speculation of\nmaterial senses. He is present just like an ordinary human boy. But for\npersons who identify themselves with this body, it is very difficult to\nunderstand Him. The b riihmar;zas were very interested in the comforts of\nthis material body and in elevation to the higher planetary residences\ncalled svarga-viisa. They were therefore completely unable to understand\nthe position of Kr�!J.a.\nWhen the boys saw that the b riihmar;zas would not speak to them,- they\nbecame very disappointed. They then returned to Lord Kr�!la and Balarama\nand explained everything that had happened. After hearing their statements, the Supreme Personality began to smile. He told them that they\nshould not be sorry for being refused by the b riihmar;zas because that is\nthe way of begging. He convinced them that while one is engaged in\ncollecting or begging, one should not think that he will be successful\neverywhere. He may be unsuccessful in some places, but that should not\nbe cause for disappointment. Lord Kr�!la then asked all the boys to go\nagain, but this time to the wives of those b riihmm;as engaged in sacrifices.\nHe also informed them that these wives were great devotees. \"They are\nalways absorbed in thinking of Us. Go there and ask for some food in My\nname and the name of Balarama, and I am sure that they will deliver you\nas much food as you desire. \"\nCarrying out Kr�!la-'s order, the boys immediately went t o the wives of\nthe briihmar;zas. They found the wives sitting inside their house. They\nwere very beautifully decorated with ornaments. After offering them all\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0238": "160\n\nKH�a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nrespectful obeisances, the boys said, \"Dear mothers, please accept our\nhumble obeisances and hear our statement. May we inform you that Lord\nKr�l)a and Balarama are nearby. They have come here with the cows, and\nyou may know also that we have come here under Their instructions. All\nof us are very hungry; therefore, we have come to you for some food.\nPlease give us something to eat for Kr�l)a, Balarama and ourselves.\"\nImmediately upon hearing this, the wives of the briihmm;as became\nanxious for K!\"�l)a and Balarama. These reactions were spontaneous. They\ndid not have to be convinced of the importance of Kr�l)a and Balarama;\nimmediately upon hearing Their names, they became very anxious to see\nThem. Being advanced by thinking of Kr�l)a constantly, they were\nperforming the greatest form of mystic meditation. All the wives then\nbecame very busily engaged in filling up different pots with nice foodstuff.\nDue to the performance of the sacrifice, the various food was all very\npalatable. After collecting a feast, they prepared to go to Kr�l)a, their\nmost lovable object, exactly in the way rivers flow to the sea.\nFor a long time the wives had been anxious to see K!\"�l)a. However,\nwhen they were preparing to leave home to go see Him, their husbands,\nfathers, sons and relatives asked them not to go. But the wives did not\ncomply. When a devotee is called by the attraction of Kr�l)a, he does not\ncare for bodily ties. The women entered the forest of Vrndavana on the\nbank of the Yamuna, which was verdant with vegetation and newly\ngrown vines and flowers. Within that forest, they saw Kr�l)a and Balarama\nengaged in tending the cows, along with Their very affectionate boy\nfriends.\nThe briihmm;as ' wives saw Krwa putting on a garment glittering like\ngold. He wore a nice garland of forest flowers and a peacock feather on\nHis head. He was also painted with the minerals found in Vrndavana, and\nHe looked exactly like a dancing actor on a theatrical stage. They saw Him\nkeeping one hand on the shoulder of His friend, and in His other hand, He\nwas holding a lotus flower. His ears were decorated with lilies, He wore\nmarks of tilaka, and He was smihng charmingly. With their very eyes, the\nwives of the briihma�JaS saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead, of\nwhom they had heard so much, who was so dear to them, and in whom\ntheir minds were always absorbed. Now they saw Him eye to eye and face\nto face, and Krwa entered within their hearts through their eyes.\nThey began to embrace Kr�l)a to their hearts' content, and the distress\nof separation was mitigated immediately. They were just like great sages\nwho, by their advancement of knowledge, merge into the existence of the\nSupreme. As the Supersoul living in everyone's heart, Lord Kr�l)a could\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0239": "Delivering the Wives of the Brahma�as\n\n161\n\nunderstand their minds; they had come to Him despite all the protests of\ntheir reh�ives, fathers, husbands, brothers, and all the duties of household\naffairs. They came just to see Him who was their life and soul. They were\nactually following Kr��ta's instruction in the Bhagavad-gita: one should\nsurrender to Him, giving up all varieties of occupational and religious\nduties. The wives of the briihmm;ws actually carried out the instruction of\nthe Bhagavad-gita in totaL He therefore began to speak to them, smiling\nvery magnificently. It should be noted in this connection that when Kr��a\nentered into the wives' hearts and when they embraced Him and felt the\ntranscendental bliss of being merged with Him, the Supreme Lord Kr��a\ndid not lose His identity, nor did the individual wives lose theirs. The\nindividuality of both the Lord and the wives remained, yet they felt\noneness in existence. When a lover submits to his lover without any pinch\nof personal consideration, that is called oneness. Lord Caitanya has taught\nus this feeling of oneness in His S ik§ii§taka: Kr��1a may act freely, doing\nwhatever He likes, but the devotee should always be in oneness or in\nagreement with His desires. That oneness was exhibited by the wives of the\nbriihmm;ws in their love for Kr§�a.\nKr��la welcomed them with the following words: \"My dear wives of the\nbriihmm;ws, you are all very fortunate and welcomed here. Please let Me\nknow what I can do for you. Your coming here, neglecting all the\nrestrictions and hindrances of relatives, fathers, brothers and husbands, in\norder to see Me, is completely befitting. One who does this actually knows\nhis self interest, because rendering transcendental loving service unto Me,\nwithout motive or restriction, is actually auspicious for the living entities.\"\nLord Kr§�a here C<;mfirms that the highest perfectional stage of the conditional soul is surrender to Him. One must give up all other responsibilities. This complete surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead is\nthe most auspicious path for the conditioned soul because the Supreme\nLord is the supreme objective of love. Everyone is loving Kr�pa ultimately,\nbut realization is according to the advancement of his knowledge. One\ncomes to understand that his self is the spirit soul, and the spirit soul is\nnothing but a part and parcel of the Supreme Lord; therefore the Supreme\nLord is the ultimate goal of love, and thus one should surrender unto Him.\nThis surrender is considered auspicious for the conditioned soul. Our life,\nproperty, home, wife, children, house, country, society and all paraphernalia which are very dear to us are ex pansions of the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead. He is the central object of love because He gives us all bliss,\nexpanding Himself in so many ways according to our different situations,\nnamely bodily, mental or spiritual.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0240": "162\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Pe rso nality of Godhead\n\n\"My dear wives of the b riihmm;ws, \" Krwa said. \" You can now return to\nyour ho mes. Engage yourselves in sacrificial activities and be engaged in\nthe service of your husbands and household affairs so that your husbands\nwill be pleased with you , and the sacrifice which they have begun will be\nproperly executed. After all, your husbands are householders , and without\nyour help how can they execute their prescribed duties? \"\nThe wives of the b riih maT)aS replied , \" D ear Lord , this sort o f instruction\ndoes not befit You . Your eternal promise is that You will always protect\nYour devotees, and now You must fulfill this promise. Anyone who comes\nand surrenders unto You never goes back to the conditioned life of\nmaterial existence . We expect that You will now fulfill Your promise. We\nhave surrendered unto Your lotus feet, which are covered by the tulasi\nleaves , so we have no more desire to return to the company of our so-called\nrelatives, friends, and society and give up the shelter of Y our lotus feet.\nAnd what shaH we do , returning home? Our husbands, brothers, fathers,\nsons, mothers and our friends do not expect to see us because we have\nalready left them all. Therefore we have no shelter to return to . Please ,\ntherefore , do not ask us to return home, but arrange for our stay under\nY our lotus feet so that we can eternally live under Y our protection.\"\nThe Su preme Personality of Godhead replied, \"My dear w i ves, rest\nassured that your husbands will no t neglect you on your return , nor will\nyour b rothers , sons, or fathers refuse to accept you . Because y o u are My\npure devotees, not only your relatives but also peo ple in general, as well as\nthe demigods, will be satisfied with y ou . \" Krwa is situated as the Supersoul in everyone 's heart. So if someone becomes a pure devotee of Lord\nKr�f!a, he immediately becomes pleasing to everyone. The pure devotee of\nLord Kr�'!a is never inimical to anyone. A sane person cannot be an enemy\nof a pure devotee. \"Transcendental love for Me does not depend upon\nbodily connection,\" Kr�'!a said further, \"but anyone whose mind is always\nabsorbed in Me will surely, very soon, come to Me for My eternal association. \"\nAfter being instructed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead , all the\nwives again retu rned home to their respective husbands. Pleased to see\ntheir wives back home, the b riih maT)aS executed the performances of\nsacrifices by sitting together, as it is enj oined in the siis tras . According to\nVedic principle , religious rituals must be executed by the husband and\nwife together. When the b riihmaT)as ' w ives returned , the sacrifice was duly\nand nicely executed . One of the b riihmaT)as ' wives, however, who was\nforcibly checked from going to see Kr�f!a, began to remember Him as she\nheard of His bodily features. Being completely absorbed in His thought ,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0241": "Delivering the Wives of the Brahma�as\n\n163\n\nshe gave up her material body conditioned by the laws of nature.\nSri Govinda, the ever-joyful Personality of Godhead, revealed His transcendental pastimes, appearing just like an ordinary human being, and\nenjoyed the food offered by the wives of the brahma[taS. In this way, He\nattracted common persons to Kr��a consciousness. He attracted to His\nwords and beauty all the cows, cowherd boys and damsels in Vrndavana.\nAfter the return of their wives from Knl).a, the b rahma[taS engaged in\nthe performance of sacrifices began to regret their sinful activities in\nrefusing food to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They could finally\nunderstand their mistake ; engaged in the performance of Vedic rituals,\nthey had neglected the Supreme Personality of Godhead who had appeared\njust like an ordinary human being and asked for some food. They began to\ncondemn themselves after seeing the faith and devotion of their wives.\nThey regretted very much that, although their wives were elevated to the\nplatform of pure devotional service, they themselves could not understand\neven a little bit of how to love and offer transcendental loving service to\nthe Supreme Soul. They began to talk among themselves. \"To hell with\nour being born b rahma!ws! To hell with our learning all Vedic literatures!\nTo hell with our performing great sacrifices and observing all the rules and\nregulations! To hell with our family! To hell with our expert service in\nperformingthe rituals exactly to the description of scriptures! To hell with\nit all, for we have not developed transcendental loving service to the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond the speculation of the\nmind, body and senses.\"\nThe learned b rahma[tas, expert in Vedic ritualistic performances, were\nproperly regretful, because without developing Krwa consciousness, all\ndischarge of religious duties is simply a waste of time and energy. They\ncontinued to talk among themselves; \"The external energy of Kr�l).a is so\nstrong that it can create illusion to overcome even the greatest mystic yogi.\nAlthough we expert b rahmarws are considered to be the teachers of all other\nsections of human society, we also have been illusioned by the external\nenergy. Just see how fortunate these women are who have so devotedly\ndedicated their lives to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krwa. They\ncould easily give up their family connection, which is so difficult to do.\nFamily life is just like a dark well for the continuation of material\nm1senes.\nWomen in general, being very simple in heart, can very easily take to\nKrwa consciousness, and when they develop love of Krwa they can easily\nget liberation from the clutches of maya, which is very difficult for even\nso-called intelligent and learned men to surpass. According to Vedic injunc4\n\n•\n\n''\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0242": "164\n\nKr�r:ta, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ntion, women are not allowed to undergo the purificatory process of\ninitiation by the sacred thread, nor are they allowed to live as brahmaciirir-l\nin the iisrama of the spiritual master; nor are they advised to undergo the\nstrict disciplinary procedure; nor are they very much expert in discussing\nphilosophy or self-realization. And by nature they are not very pure; nor\nare they very much attached to auspicious activities. \"But how wonderful\nit is that they have developed transcendental love for Krwa, the Lord of\nall mystic yogis!\" the briihmarws exclaimed. \"They have surpassed all of us\nin firm faith and devotion unto Kr�ra. Being too attached to the materialistic way of life, although we are considered to be masters in all purificatory processes, we did not actually know what the goal is. Even though we\nwere reminded of Krwa and Balarama by the cowherd boys, we disregarded\nThem. We think now that it was simply a trick of mercy upon us by the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead that He sent His friends to beg foodstuff from us. Otherwise, He had no need to send them. He could have\nsatisfied their hunger then and there just by willing to do so.\"\nIf someone denies Kn�1a's self-sufficiem:y on hearing that He was tending\nthe cows for Livelihood, or if someone doubts His not being in need of the\nfoodstuff, thinking that He was actually hungry, then one should understand that the goddess of fortune is always engaged in His service. In this\nway the goddess can break her faulty habit of restlessness. In Vedic literatures like Brahma-sarhhitiiit is stated that Kr��1a is served in His abode with\ngreat respect by not only one goddess of fortune but many thousands.\nTherefore it is simply illusion for one to think that Kr§ra begged food from\nthe briihmar-as. It was actually a trick to show them the mercy of accepting\nHim in pure devotional service. The Vedic ceremonial paraphernalia, the\nsuitable place, suitable time, different grades of articles for performing\nritualistic ceremonies, the Vedic hymns, the priest who is able to perform\nsuch sacrifice, the fire and the demigods, the performer of the sacrifice\nand the religious principles are all meant for understanding Kr�ra, for\nKr§�la is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the Supreme Lord\nVi��lU , and the Lord of all mystic yogis.\n\"Because He has appeared as a child in the dynasty of the Y adus, we\nwere so foolish that we could not understand that He is the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead,\" the briihmar-as said. \"But on the other hand, we\nare very proud because we have such exalted wives who have developed\npure transcendental service of the Lord without being shackled by our\nrigid position. Let us therefore offer our respectful obeisances unto the\nlotus feet of Lord Kr�ra, under whose illusory energy, called miiyii, we are\nabsorbed in fruitive activities. We therefore pray to the Lord to he kind\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0243": "Delivering the Wives of the B rahma!las\n\n165\n\nenough to excuse us because we are simply captivated by His external\nenergy. We transgressed His order without knowing His transcendental\nglories.\"\nThe b riihmarws repented for their sinful activities. They wanted to go\npersonally to offer their obeisances unto Him, but being afraid of Kamsa,\nthey could not go. In other words, it is very difficult for one to surrender\nfully unto the Personality of Godhead without being purified by devotional\nservice. The example ofthe learned b riihmaras and their wives is vivid. The\nwives of the b riihmaras, because they were infused by pure devotional\nservice, did not care for any kind of opposition. They immediately went\nto Kr�J}a. But although the b riihmaras had come to know the supremacy\nof the Lord and were repenting, they were still afraid of King Kamsa\nbecause they were too addicted to fruitive activities.\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Twent_y-third Chapter of\nKf�J}a, \"Delivering the Wives of the Briihmarws Who Performed Sacrifices . \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0244": "24 I Worshiping Govardhana Hill\n\nWhile engaged with the briihmm;tas who were too involved in the\nperformance of Vedic sacrifices, Krwa and Balarama also saw that the\ncowherd men were preparing a similar sacrifice in order to pacify lndra,\nthe King of heaven , who is responsible for supplying water . As stated in\nthe Caitanya-caritamrta, a devotee of Kr�pa has strong and firm faith in\nthe understanding that if he is simply engaged in Krwa consciousness and\nKrwa's transcendental loving service, then he is freed from all other\nobligations. A pure devotee of Lord Kr�!la doesn't have to perform any of\nthe ritualistic functions enj oined in the Vedas ; nor is he required to worship\nany demigods. Being a devotee of Lord Krwa , one is understood to have\nperformed all kinds of Vedic rituals and all kinds of worship to the\ndemigods. Just by performing the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies or worshiping the demigods, one does not develop devotional service for Krwa .\nBut one who is engaged fully in the service of the Lord has already\nfinished all Vedic injunctions.\nKr�pa ordered a stop to all such activities by His devotees, for He wanted\nto firmly establish exclusive devotional service during His presence in\nV rndavana . Kr�pa knew that the cowherd men were preparing for the\nlndra sacrifice because He is the omniscient Personality of Godhead , but\nas a matter of etiquette, he began to inquire with great honor and\nsubmission from elder personalities like Maharaja Nanda and others.\nKrwa asked His father, \"My dear father, what is this arrangement going\non for a great sacrifice? What is the result of such sacrifice, and for whom\nis it meant? How is it performed? Will you kindly let Me know? I am very\nanxious to know this procedure, so please explain to Me the purpose of\nthis sacrifice . \" Upon this inquiry, His father , N anda Maharaja, remained\nsilent, thinking that his young boy would not be able to understand the\nintricacies of performing the yajiia. Krwa, however, persisted : \"My dear\n\n166\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0245": "Worshipin g Govardhana Hill\n\n1 67\n\nfather, for those who are liberal and saintly, there is no secrecy. They do\nnot think anyone to be a friend or enemy because they are always open\nto everyone . And even for those who are not so lib eral, nothing should be\nsecret for the family members and friends, although secrecy may be\nmaintained for persons who are inimical. Therefore you cannot keep any\nsecrets from Me. All persons are engaged in fruitive activities. Some know\nwhat these activities are, and they know the result , and some execute\nactivities without knowing the purpose or the result . A person who acts\nwith full knowledge gets the full result ; one who acts without knowledge\ndoes not get su ch a perfect result. Therefore , please let Me know the\npurpose of the sacrifice which you are going to perform . Is it according to\nVedic injunction? Or is it simply a popular ceremony ? Kindly let Me know\nin detail about the sacrifice . \"\nO n hearing this inquiry from Kr§�a , Maharaj a Nanda replied , \" M y dear\nboy, this cer e monial performance is more or less traditional. Because\nrainfall is due to the mercy of King Indra and the clou ds are his representatives, and because water is so important for our living, we mus� show\nsome gratitude to the controller of this rainfall, Maharaj a Indra. We are\narranging, therefore , to pacify King Indra , b ecause he has very kindly sent\nus clouds to pour down sufficient quantity of rain for successful agricultural activities. Water is very important ; without rainfall we cannot farm\nor produ ce grains. We cannot live if there is no rainfall . It is necessary for\nsuccessful religious ceremonies , economic development, and , ultimately ,\nliberation. Therefore we should not give up the traditional ceremonial\nfunction ; if one gives it up, being influenced by lust, or greed or fear,\nthen it does not look very good for him . \"\nAfter hearing this, Kr§�a, the Supreme Personality o f Godhead , in the\npresence of His father and all the cowherd men of Vrndavana, spoke in\nsuch a way as to make heavenly King Indra very angry. He suggested\nthat they forego the sacrifice. His reasons for discouraging the sacrifice\nperformed to please Indra were twofold. First , as stated in the Bhagavadgitli, there is no need to worship the demigods for any material advancement ; all results deri ved from w orshiping the demigods are simply temporary , and only those who are less intelligent are interested with temporary results. Secondly , whatever temporary result one derives from\nworshiping the demigods is actually granted by the permission of the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead . It is clearly stated in the Bhagavadgitii, mayaiva vihitiin hi tiin. Whatever benefit is supposed to be derived\nfrom the demigods is actually b estowed by the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead . Without the permission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead ,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0246": "168\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\none cannot bestow any benefit upon others. But sometimes the demigods\nbecome puffed up by the influence of material nature ; thinking themselves\nas all in all, they try to forget the supremacy of the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead. In the S rimad-Bhiigavatam, it is clearly stated that in this\ninstance Kr�t;la wanted to make King Indra angry. Kr��a's advent was\nespecially meant for the annihilation of the demons and protection of the\ndevotees. King Indra was certainly a devotee, not a demon, but because he\nwas puffed up, Kr�t;la wanted to teach him a lesson. He first tried to make\nIndra angry by stopping the Indra Puja which was arranged by the cowherd men in Vrndavana.\nWith this purpose in mind, Krwa began to talk as if He were an atheist\nsupporting the philosophy of karma-mimfuhsa. Advocates of this type of\nphilosophy do not accept the supreme authority of the Personality of\nGodhead. They put forward the argument that if anyone works nicely,\nthe result is sure to come. Their opinion is that even if there is a God who\ngives man the result of his fruitive activities, there is no need to worship\nHim because unless man works He cannot bestow any good result. They\nsay that instead of worshiping a demigod or God , people should give\nattention to their own duties, and thus the good result will surely come.\nLord Kr�t;la began to speak to His father according to these principles of\nthe karma-mimamsa philosophy. \"My dear father,\" He said, \"I don't think\nyou need to worship any demigod for the successful performance of your\nagricultural activities. Every living being is born according to his past\nkarma and leaves this life simply taking the result of his present karma.\nEveryone is born in different types or species of life according to his past\nactivities, and he gets his next birth according to the activities of this life.\nDifferent grades of material happiness and distress, comforts and disadvantages of life, are different results of different kinds of activities,\neither from the past or present life.\"\nMaharaja Nanda and other elderly members argued that without satisfying the predominating god, one cannot derive any good result simply by\nmaterial activities. This is actually the fact. For example, it is sometimes\nfound that, in spite of first-class medical help and treatment by a first-class\nphysician, a diseased person dies. It is concluded, therefore, that first-class\nmedical treatment or the attempts of a first-class physician are not in\nthemselves the cause for curing a patient ; there must be the hand of the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead. Similarly, a father's and mother's taking\ncare of their children is not the cause of the children's comfort. Sometimes\nit is found that in spite of all care by the parents, the children go bad or\nsuccumb to death. Therefore material causes are not sufficient for results.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0247": "Worshiping Govardhana Hill\n\n169\n\nThere must be the sanction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Nanda\nMaharaja therefore advocated that, in order to get good results for agricultural activities, they must satisfy Indra, the superintending deity of the\nrain supply. Lord Kr�pa nullified this argument, saying that the demigods\ngive results only to persons who have executed their prescribed duties.\nThe demigods cannot give any good results to the person who has not\nexecuted the prescribed duties; therefore demigods are dependent on the\nexecution of duties and are not absolute in awarding good results to anyone.\n\"My dear father, there is no need to worship the demigod Indra,\" Lord\nKr�pa said. \"Everyone has to achieve the result of his own work. We can\nactually see that one becomes busy according to the natural tendency of\nhis work; and according to that natural tendency, all living entities-either\nhuman beings or demigods-achieve their respective results. All living\nentities achieve higher or lower bodies and create enemies, friends or\nneutral parties only because of their different kinds of work. One should\nbe careful to discharge duties according to his natural instinct and not\ndivert attention to the worship of various demigods. The demigods will be\nsatisfied by proper execution of all duties, so there is no need to worship\nthem. Let us, rather, perform our prescribed duties very nicely. Actually\none cannot be happy without executing his proper prescribed duty. One\nwho does not, therefore, properly discharge his prescribed duties, is compared with an unchaste woman. The proper prescribed duty of the\nbriihmaras is the study of the Vedas; the proper duty of the royal order,\nthe k§atriyas, is engagement in protecting the citizens; the proper duty of\nthe vaisya community is agriculture, trade and protection of the cows; and\nthe proper duty of the sudras is service to the higher classes, namely the\nbriihmaras, k§atriyas, and vaisyas. We belong to the vaisya community,\nand our proper duty is to farm, or to trade with the agricultural produce,\nto protect cows, or take to banking.\"\nKr�pa identified Himself with the vaisya community because Nanda\nMaharaja was protecting many cows, and Kr�pa was taking care of them.\nHe enumerated four kinds of business engagements . for the vaisya community, namely agriculture, trade, protection of cows and banking. Although the vaisyas can take to any of these occupations, the men of\nVrndavana were engaged primarily in the protection of cows.\nKr�pa further explained to His father: \"This cosmic manifestation is\ngoing on under the influence of three modes of material nature-goodness,\npassion, and ignorance. These three modes are the causes of creation,\nmaintenance, and destruction. The cloud is caused by the action of the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0248": "170\n\nKf��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nmode of passion; therefore it is the mode of passion which causes the\nrainfall. And after the rainfall, the living entities derive the result-success\nin agricultural work. What, then, has Indra to do in this affair? Even if you\ndo not please Indra, what can he do? We do not derive any special benefit\nfrom Indra. Even if he is there, he pours water on the ocean also, where\nthere is no need of water. So he is pouring w�ter on the ocean or on the\nland ; it does not depend on our worshiping him. As far as we are concerned, we do not need to go to another city or village or foreign country.\nThere are palatial buildings in the cities, but we are satisfied living in this\nforest of Vrndavana. Our specific relationship is with Govardhana Hill and\nVrndavana forest and nothing more. I therefore request you, My dear\nfather, to begin a sacrifice which will satisfy the local briihmar-as and\nGovardhana Hill, and let us have nothing to do with Indra.\"\nAfter hearing this statement by Krwa, Nanda Maharaja replied, \"My\ndear boy, since You are asking, I shall arrange for a separate sacrifice for\nthe local briihmar-as and Govardhana Hill. But for the present let me\nexecute this sacrifice known as Indra-yajna. \"\nBut Kr��a replied, \"My dear father, don't delay. The sacrifice you\npropose for Govardhana and the local briihmar-as will take much time.\nBetter take the arrangement and paraphernalia you have already made for\nsacrificing Indra-yajfia and immediately engage it to satisfy Govardhana\nHill and the local briihmar-as. \"\nMaharaja Nanda finally relented. The cowherd men then inquired from\nKr��a how He wanted the yajna performed, and Kr��a gave them the\nfollowing directions. \"Prepare very nice foodstuffs of all descriptions from\nthe grains and ghee collected for the yajna. Prepare rice, dahl, then\nhalavah, piikorii, puri and all kinds of milk preparations like sweet rice,\nsweetballs, sandesa, rasagullii and liiflflu and invite the learned briihmaras\nwho can chant the Vedic hymns and offer oblations to the fire. The\nbrahmar-as should be given all kinds of grains in charity. Then decorate all\nthe cows and feed them well. After performing this, give money in charity\nto the briihmar-as. As far as the lower animals are concerned, such as the\ndogs, and the lower grades of people, such as the car-ralas, or the fifth\nclass of men who are considered untouchable, they also may be given\nsumptuous prasiidam. After giving nice grasses to the cows, the sacrifice\nknown as Govardhana Pujii may immediately begin. This sacrifice will very\nmuch satisfy Me.\"\nIn this statement, Lord Kr��a practically described the whole economy\nof the vaisya community. In all communities of human society, and in the\nanimal kingdom, among the cows, dogs, goats, etc., everyone has his part\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0249": "Worshiping Govardhana Hill\n\n171\n\nto play. Each is to work in cooperation for the total benefit of all society,\nwhich includes not only animate objects but also inanimate objects like\nhills and land. The vaisya community is specifically responsible for the\neconomic improvement of the society by producing grains, by giving\nprotection to the cows, by transporting food when needed, and by banking\nand finance.\nFrom this statement we learn also that the cats and dogs, although not\nso important, are not to be neglected. Cow protection is actually more\nimportant than protection of cats and dogs. Another hint we get from this\nstatement is that the cii[l�iilas or the untouchables are also not to be\nneglected by the higher classes. Everyone is important, but some are\ndirectly responsible for the advancement of human society, and some are\nonly indirectly responsible. However, when Krwa consciousness is there,\nthen everyone's total benefit is taken care of.\nThe sacrifice known as Govardhana Piija is observed in the Kr�!la\nconsciousness movement. Lord Caitanya has recommended that since\nKr��a is worshipable, so His land, Vrndavana and Govardhana Hill, are also\nworshipable. To confirm this statement, Lord Kr��a said that Govardhana\nPiija is as good as worship of Him. From that day, the Govardhana Piija has\nbeen still going on and is known as Annakuta. In all the temples of\nVrndavana or outside of Vrndavana, huge quantities of food are prepared\nin this ceremony and are very sumptuously distributed to the general\npopulation. Sometimes the food is thrown to the crowds, and they enjoy\ncollecting it off the ground. From these instances, we can understand that\nprasiidam offered to Kr��a never becomes polluted or contaminated, even\nif it is thrown on the ground. The people, therefore, collect it and eat\nwith great satisfaction.\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krwa, therefore advised the\ncowherd men to stop the Indra-yajfia and begin the Govardhana Piija in\norder to chastise Indra who was very much puffed up at being the supreme\ncontroller of the heavenly planets. The honest and simple cowherd men\nheaded by Nanda Maharaja accepted Kr��Ja's proposal and executed in\ndetail everything He advised. They performed Govardhana worship and\ncircumambulation of the hill. (Following the inauguration of Govardhana\nPiija, people in Vrndavana still dress nicely and assemble near Govardhana\nHill to offer worship and circumambulate the hill, leading their cows all\naround.) According to the instruction of Lord Krwa, Nanda Maharaja and\nthe cowherd men called in learned briihmar-as and began to worship\nGovardhana Hill by chanting Vedic hymns and offering prasiidam. The\ninhabitants of Vrndavana assembled together, decorated their cows and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0250": "172\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ngave them grass. Keeping the cows in front, they began to circumambulate\nGovardhana Hill. The gopis also dressed themselves very luxuriantly and\nsat in bull-driven carts, chanting the glories of Kr��a's pastimes. Assembled\nthere to act as priests for Govardhana Piija, the briihmar;ws offered their\nblessings to the cowherd men and their wives, the gopis. When everything\nwas complete, Kr��a assumed a great transcendental form and declared to\nthe inhabitants of Vrndavana that He was Himself Govardhana Hill in order\nto convince the devotees that Govardhana Hill and Krwa Himself are\nidentical. Then Krwa began to eat all the food offered there. The identity\nof Kr��a and Govardhana Hill is still honored, and great devotees take\nrocks from Govardhana Hill and worship them exactly as they worship the\nDeity of Krwa in the temples. Devotees therefore collect small rocks or\npebbles from Govardhana Hill and worship them at home, because this\nworship is as good as Deity worship. The form of Krwa who began to eat\nthe offerings was separately constituted, and Krwa Himself along with\nother inhabitants of Vrndavana began to offer obeisances to the Deity as\nwell as Govardhana Hill. In offering obeisances to the huge form of\nKr��a Himself and Govardhana Hill, Krwa declared, \"Just see how\nGovardhana Hill has assumed this huge form and is favoring us by accepting\nall the offerings.\" Krwa also declared at that meeting, \"One who neglects\nthe worship of Govardhana Piija, as I am personally conducting it, will not\nbe happy. There are many snakes on Govardhana Hill, and persons\nneglecting the prescribed duty of Govardhana Piija will be bitten by these\nsnakes and killed. In order to assure the good fortune of the cows and\nthemselves, all people of Vrndavana near Govardhana must worship the\nhill, as prescribed by Me.\"\nThus performing the Govardhana Piija sacrifice, all the inhabitants of\nVrndavana followed the instructions of Kr��a, the son of Vasudeva, and\nafterwards they returned to their respective homes.\nThus e nds the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Twenty-fourth Chapter of\nKr��a, \"Worshiping Govardhana Hill. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0251": "25 I Devastating Rainfall in Vrndavana\nWhen lndra understood that the sacrifice offered by the cowherd men\nin Vrndavana was stopped by Kr�J).a, he became angry, and he vented his\nanger upon the inhabitants of Vrndavana, who were headed by Nanda\nMaharaja, although lndra knew perfectly well that Kf�J).a was personally\nprotecting them. As the director of different kinds of clouds, lndra called\nfor the siimvartaka. This cloud is invited when there is a need to devastate\nthe whole cosmic manifestation. The siimvartaka was ordered b y lndra to\ngo over Vrndavana and inundate the whole area with an extensive flood.\nD emonically, lndra thought himself to be the all-powerful supreme personality . When demons become very powerful, they defy the supreme\ncontroller, Personality of Godhead. lndra, though not a demon, was puffed\nup by his material position, and he wanted to challenge the supreme\ncontroller. He thought himself, at least for the time being, as powerful as\nKr�J).a . lndra said, \"Just see the impudence of the inhabitants of Vrndavana !\nThey are simply inhabitants of the forest , but being infatuated with their\nfriend Kr�J).a , who is nothing but an ordinary human being, they have\ndared to defy the demigods . \"\nKf�J).a has declared i n the Bhagavad-gitii that the worshipers o f the\ndemigods are not very intelligent. He has also declared that one has to give\nup all kinds of worship and simply concentrate on Kf�J).a consciousness.\nKr�J).a's invoking the anger of lndra and later on chastising him is a clear\nindication to His devotee that those who are engaged in Kf�J).a consciousness\nhave no need to worship any demigod, even if it is found that the demigod\nhas become angry. Kr�J).a gives His devotees all protection, and they should\ncompletely depend on His mercy .\nlndra cursed the action of the inhabitants of Vrndavana and said, \"By\ndefying the authority of the demigods, the inhabitants of v rndavana will\nsuffer in material existence. Having neglected the sacrifice to the demigods,\n\n1 73\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0252": "174\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nthey cannot cross over the impediments of the ocean of material misery.\"\nIndra further declared, \"These cowherd men in Vrndavana have neglected\nmy authority on the advice of this talkative boy who is known as Kr��a.\nHe is nothing but a child, and by believing this child, they have enraged\nme.\" Thus he ordered the siiriwartaka cloud to go and destroy the\nprosperity of Vrndavana. \"The men of Vrndavana,\" said Indra, \"have\nbecome too puffed up over their material opulence and their confidence\nin the presence of their tiny friend, Kr��Ja. He is simply talkative, childish,\nand unaware of the complete cosmic situation, althgugh He is thinking\nHimself very advanced in knowledge. Because they have taken Kn�a so\nseriously, they must be punished, and so I have ordered the siiriwartaka\ncloud to go there and inundate the place. They should be destroyed with\ntheir cows.\"\nIt is indicated here that in the villages or outside the towns, the\ninhabitants must depend on the cows for their prosperity. When the cows\nare destroyed, the people are destitute of all kinds of opulences. When\nKing Indra ordered the siiriwartaka and companion clouds to go to\nVrndavana, the clouds were afraid of the assignment. But King Indra\nassured them, \"You go ahead, and I will also go, riding on my elephant,\naccompanied by great storms. And I shall apply all my strength to punish\nthe inhabitants of v rndavana.\"\nOrdered by King Indra, all the dangerous clouds appeared above Vrndavana and began to pour water incessantly, with all their strength and\npower. There was constant lightning and thunder, blowing of severe wind\nand incessant falling of rain. The rainfall seemed to fall like piercing sharp\narrows. By pouring water as thick as pillars, without cessation, the clouds\ngradually filled all the lands in Vrndavana with water, and there was no\nvisible distinction between higher and lower land. The situation was very\ndangerous, especially for the animals. The rainfall was accompanied by\ngreat winds, and every living creature in Vrndavana began to tremble from\nthe severe cold. Unable to find any other source of deliverance, they all\napproached Govinda to take shelter at His lotus feet. The cows especially,\nbeing much aggrieved from the. heavy rain, bowed down their heads, and\ntaking their calves underneath their bodies, they approached the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead to take shelter of His lotus feet. At that time all the\ninhabitants of Vrndavana began to pray to Lord Krwa. \"Dear Kr�!J.a,\" they\nprayed, \"You are all-powerful, and Y ou are very affectionate to Y our devotees. Now please protect us who have been much harrassed by angry Indra.\"\nUpon hearing their prayer, Kr��a could also understand that Indra,\nbeing bereft of his sacrificial honor, was pouring down rain that was\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0253": "Devastating Rainfall in V rndavana\n\n1 75\n\naccompanied by heavy pieces of ice and strong winds, although all this\nwas out of season. Kr§I;J.a understood that this was a deliberate exhibition\nof anger by Indra. He therefore concluded, \"This demigod who thinks\nhimself supreme has shown his great power, but I shall answer him\naccording to My position, and I shall teach him that he is not autonomous\nin managing universal affairs. I am the Supreme Lord over all, and I shall\nthus take away his false prestige which has risen from his power. The\ndemigods are My devotees, and therefore it is not possible for them to\nforget My supremacy, but somehow or other he has become puffed up\nwith material power and thus is now maddened. I shall act in such a way\nto relieve him of this false prestige. I shall give protection to My pure\ndevotees in Vrndavana, who are at present completely at My mercy and\nwhom I have taken completely under My protection. I will save them by\nMy mystic power.\"\nThinking in this way, Lord Kr§I;Ia immediately picked up Govardhana\nHill with one hand, exactly as a child picks u p a mushroom from the\nground. Thus He exhibited His transcendental pastime of lifting Govardhana Hill. Lord Kr§I;Ia then began to address His devotees, \"My dear\nbrothers, My dear father, My dear inhabitants of Vrndavana, you can now\nsafely enter under the umbrella of Govardhana Hill, which I have just\nlifted. Do not be afraid of the hill and think that it will fall from My hand.\nYou have been too much afflicted from the heavy rain and strong wind;\ntherefore I have lifted this hill, which will protect you exactly like a huge\numbrella. I think this is a proper arrangement to relieve you from your\nimmediate distress. Be happy along with your animals underneath this\ngreat umbrella.\" Being assured by Lord Kr§I;J.a, all the inhabitants of\nvrndavana entered beneath the great hill and appeared to be safe along\nwith their property and animals.\nThe inhabitants of Vrndavana and their animals remained there for one\nweek without being disturbed by hunger, thirst or any other discomforts.\nThey were simply astonished to see how Kf§I;J.a was holding up the\nmountain with the little finger of His left hand. Seeing the extraordinary\nmystic power of Kr�I;J.a, Indra, the King of heaven, was thunderstruck and\nbaffled in his determination. He immediately called for all the clouds and\nasked them to desist. When the sky became completely cleared of all\nclouds and there was sunrise again, the strong winds stopped. At that time\nKr§I;J.a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, known now as the lifter of\nGovardhana Hill, said, \"My dear cowherd men, now you can leave and\ntake your wives, children, cows and valuables, because everything is ended.\nThe inundation has gone down, along with the swelling waters of the river.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0254": "176\n\nKf��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nAll the men loaded their valuables on carts and slowly left with their\ncows and other paraphernalia. After they had cleared out everything, Lord\nKr�lJa very slowly replaced Govardhana Hill exactly in the same position\nas it had been before. When everything was done, all the inhabitants of\nVrndavana approached Kr�JJa and embraced Him with great ecstacy. The\ngopis, being naturally very affectionate to Kr��a, began to offer Him curd\nmixed with their tears, and they poured incessant blessings upon Him.\nMother Y asoda, mother RohiJJi, N anda, and Balarama, who is the strongest\nof the strong, embraced Kr�JJa one after another and, from spontaneous\nfeelings of affection, blessed Him over and over again. In the heavens,\ndifferent demigods from different planetary systems, such as Siddhaloka,\nGandharvaloka and CaraJJaloka, also began to show their complete satisfaction. They poured showers of flowers on the surface of the earth and\nsounded different conchshells. There was beating of drums, and being\ninspired by godly feelings, residents of Gandharvaloka began to play on\ntheir tampouras to please the Lord. After this incident, the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, surrounded by His dear friends and animals,\nreturned to His home. As usual, the gopis began to chant the glorious\npastimes of Lord Krwa with great feeling, for they were chanting from\nthe heart.\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Twenty-fifth Chapter of\nKrwa, \"Devastating Rainfall in Vrndavana.\n\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0255": "26 I Wonderful Krsna\n•\n\n• •\n\nWithout understanding the intricacies of Kf�l).a, the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead , and without knowing His uncommon spiritual opulences, the\ninnocent cowherd boys and men of Vrndavana began to discuss the\nwonderful activities of Kr��ta which surpass the activities of all men.\nOne of them said , \"My dear friends, considering His wonderful activities,\nhow is it possible that such an uncommon boy woold come and live with\nus in Vrndavana? It is really not possible. Just imagine ! He is now only\nseven years old ! How was it possible for Him to lift Govardhana Hill in\none hand and hold it up just like the king of elephants holds a lotus flower?\nTo lift a lotus flower is a most insignificant thing for an elephant, and\nsimilarly Kf�l).a lifted Govardhana Hill without exertion. When He was\nsimply a small baby and could not even see properly, He killed a great\ndemon, Piitana. While sucking her breast, He also sucked out her life·air.\nKf�l).a killed the Piitana demon exactly as eternal time kills a living\ncreature in due course. When He was only three months old , He was\nsleeping underneath a hand-driven cart. Being hungry for His mother's\nbreast , He began to cry and throw His legs upwards. And fro m the kicking\nof his small feet the cart immediately broke apart and fell to pieces. When\nHe was only one year old , He was carried away by the Trl).avarta demon\ndisguised as a whirlwind, and although He was taken very high in the sky,\nHe simply hung on the neck of the demon and forced him to fall from the\nsky and immediately die. Once His mother , being disturbed by His stealing\nbutter, tied Him to a wooden mortar, and the child pushed it towards a\npair of trees known as _ya mala arju na and caused them to fall. Once, when\nHe was engaged in tending the calves in the forest along with His elder\nbrother, Balarama, a demon named Bakasura appeared, and Kf�l).a at once\nbifurcated the demon's beaks. When the demon known as V atsasura\nentered among the calves tended by Kf�l).a with a desire to kill Him, He\n\n1 77\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0256": "1 78\n\nK[�J}a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nimmediately detected the demon, killed him, and threw him into a tree.\nWhen Kf§�a, along with His brother, Balarama, entered the Talavana\nforest, the demon known as Dhenukasura, in the shape of an ass, attacked\nThem and was immediately killed by Balarama, who caught his hind legs\nand threw him in a palm tree. Although the D henukasura demon was\nassisted by his cohorts, also in the shape of asses, all were killed, and the\nTalavana forest was then open for the use of the animals and inhabitants of\nVrndavana. When Pralambasura entered amongst His cowherd boy friends,\nHe caused his death by Balarama. Thereafter, Kr��a saved His friends and\ncows from the severe forest fire, and He chastised the Kaliya serpent in\nthe lake of Yamuna and forced him to leave the vicinity of the Yamuna\nRiver ; He thereby made the water of the Yamuna poisonless. ''\nAnother one of the friends of Nanda Maharaja said, \"My dear Nanda,\nwe do not know why we are so attracted by your son Kn�a. We want to\nforget Him, but this is impossible. Why are we so naturally affectionate\ntoward Him? Just imagine how wonderful it is! On one hand He is only\na boy of seven years old, and on the other hand there is a huge hill like\nGovardhana Hill, and He lifted it so easily! 0 Nanda Maharaja, we are now\nin great doubt-your son Kn�a must be one of the demigods. He is not at\nall an ordinary boy. Maybe He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\"\nOn hearing the praises of the cowherd men in Vrndavana, King Nanda\nsaid, \"My dear friends, in reply to you I can simply present the statement\nof Gargamuni so that your doubts may be cleared. When he came to\nperform the name-giving ceremony, he said that this boy descends in\ndifferent periods of time in different colors and that this time He has\nappeared in Vrndavana in a dark color and is known as Krwa. Previously,\nHe has white color, then red color, then yellow color. He also said that\nthis boy was once the son of Vasudeva, and everyone who knows of His\nprevious birth calls Him Vasudeva. Actually he said that my son has many\nvarieties of names, according to His different qualities and activities.\nGargacarya assured me that this boy will be all-auspicious for my family\nand that He will be able to give transcendental blissful pleasure to all the\ncowherd men and cows in Vrndavana. Even though we will be put into\nvarious kinds of difficulties, by the grace of this boy we will be very\neasily freed from them. He also said that formerly this boy saved the world\nfrom an unregulated condition, and He saved all honest men from the hands\nof the dishonest. He also said that any fortunate man who becomes attached to this boy, Kn.pa, is never vanquished or defeated by his enemy.\nOn the whole, He is exactly like Lord Vi��u, who always takes the side of\nthe demigods, who are consequently never defeated by the demons.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0257": "Wonderful KH�a\n\n179\n\nGargacarya thus concluded that my child will grow to be exactly like\nVi��u in transcendental beauty, qualification, activities, influence and\nopulence, and so we should not be very astonished by His wonderful\nactivities. After telling me this, Gargacarya returned home, and since then\nwe have been continually seeing the wonderful activities of this child.\nAccording to the version of Gargacarya, I consider that He must be\nNaraya�a Himself, or maybe a plenary portion of Naraya�a.''\nWhen all the cowherd men very attentively heard the statements of\nGargacarya through N anda Maharaja, they better appreciated the wonderful\nactivities of Kr��a and became very jubilant and satisfied. They began to\npraise Nanda Maharaja, because by consulting him their doubts about\nKr��a were cleared. They said, \"Let Kr��a, who is so kind, beautiful and\nmerciful, protect us. When angry Indra sent torrents of rain, accompanied\nby showers of ice blocks and high wind, He immediately took compassion\nupon us and saved us and our families, cows and valuable possessions by\npicking up the Govardhana Hill, just as a child picks up a mushroom. He\nsaved us so wonderfully. May He continue to mercifully glance over us and\nour cows. May we live peacefully under the protection of wonderful\nKrsna. \"\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Twenty-sixth Chapter of\nKr��a, \"Wonderful Knr-a. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0258": "When Kr�!la saved the inhabitants of V rndavana from the wrath of Indra\nby lifting Govardhana Hill, a surabhi cow from Goloka Vrndavana, as well\nas King Indra from the heavenly planet, appeared before Him. Indra, the\nKing of heaven, was conscious of his offence before Kr�!la ; therefore he\nstealthily appeared before Him from a secluded place. He immediately fell\ndown at the lotus feet of Kr�!la, although his own crown was dazzling like\nsunshine. Indra knew about the exalted position of Kr�!la because Kr�!la\nis the master of Indra, but he could not believe that Kr�!la could come\ndown and live in V rndavana among the cowherd men. When Kr�!la defied\nthe authority of Indra, Indra became angry because he thought that he was\nall in all within this universe and that no one was as powerful as he. But\nafter this incident, his false puffed up prestige was destroyed. Being conscious of his subordinate position, he appeared before Kr�pa with folded\nhands and began to offer the following prayers.\n\" My dear Lord , \" Indra said, \"being puffed up by my false prestige , I\nthought that You had offended me b y not allowing the cowherd men to\nperform the Indra yajn a and I thought that You wanted to enj oy the\nofferings that were arranged for the sacrifice . I thought that in the name of\na Govardhana sacrifice , You were taking my share of profit, and therefore\nI mistook Your position. N ow by Your grace I can understand that You\nare the Supreme Lord, Personality of Godhead, and that You are transcendental to all the material qualities. Your transcendental position is\nvisuddha-saUvam, which is above the platform of the material mode of\ngoodness, and Y our transcendental ab ode is beyond the disturbance of\nthe material qualities. Your name , fame, form, quality and pastimes are\nall beyond this material nature, and they are never disturbed by the three\nmaterial modes. Your abode is accessible only for one who undergoes\nsevere austerities and penances and who is completely freed from the\n-\n\n,\n\n180\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0259": "Prayers by Indra, the King of Heaven\n\n181\n\nonslaught of material qualities like passion and ignorance. If someone\nthinks that when You come within this material world You accept the\nmodes of material nature, he is mistaken. The webs of the material qualities are never able to touch You, and You certainly do not accept them\nwhen You are present within this world. Your Lordship is never conditioned by the laws of material nature.\n\"My dear Lord, You are the original father of this cosmic manifestation.\nYou are the supreme spiritual master of this cosmic world, and You are\nthe original proprietor of everything. As eternal time, You are competent\nto chastise offenders. Within this material world there are many fools like\nmyself who consider themselves to be the Supreme Lord or the all in all\nwithin the universe. You are so merciful that without punishing their\noffenses, You devise means so that their false prestige is subdued and they\ncan know that You, and none else, are the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\n\"My dear Lord, You are the supreme father, the supreme spiritual\nmaster and supreme king. Therefore, You have the right to chastise all\nliving entities whenever there is any discrepancy in their behavior. The\nfather, the spiritual master, and the supreme executive officer of the state\nare always well-wishers of their sons, their students and their citizens\nrespectively. As such, the well-wishers have the right to chastise their\ndependents. By Your own desire You appear auspiciously on the earth in\nYour eternal varieties of forms; You come to glorify the earthly planet\nand specifically to chastise persons who are falsely claiming to b e God. In\nthe material world there is regular competition between different types of\nliving entities to become supreme leaders of society, and after being\nfrustrated in achieving the supreme positions of leadership, foolish persons\nclaim to be God, the Supreme Personality. There are many such foolish\npersonalities in this world, like me, but in due course of time, when they\ncome to their senses, they surrender unto You and again engage themselves properly by rendering service unto You. And that is the purpose of\nYour chastising persons envious of You.\n\"My dear Lord, I committed a great offense unto Your lotus feet, being\nfalsely proud of my material opulences, not knowing Your unlimited\npower. Therefore, my Lord, kindly excuse me, because I am fool number\none. Kindly give me Your blessings so that I may not act so foolishly again.\nIf You think, my Lord, that the offence is very great and cannot be\nexcused, then I appeal to You that I am Your eternal servant; Your\nappearance in this world is to give protection to your eternal servants and\nto destroy the demons who maintain great military strength just to burden\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0260": "182\n\nKf�J)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nthe very existence of the earth. As I am Your eternal servant, kindly excuse\nme.\n\"My dear Lord, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I offer\nmy respectful obeisances unto You because You are the Supreme Person\nand the Supreme Soul. You are the son of Vasudeva, and You are the\nSupreme Lord, Krwa, the master of all pure devotees. Please accept my\nprostrated obeisances. You are the personification of supreme knowledge.\nYou can appear anywhere according to Your desire in any one of Your\neternal forms. You are the root of all creation and the Supreme Soul of all\nliving entities. Due to my gross ignorance, I created great disturbance in\nV rndavana by sending torrents of rain and heavy hailstorm. I acted out of,\nsevere anger caused by Your stopping the sacrifice which was to be held to\nsatisfy me. But my dear Lord, You are so kind to me that You have\nbestowed Your mercy upon me by destroying all my false pride. !�therefore\ntake shelter unto Your lotus feet. My dear Lord, You are not only the\nsupreme controller, but also the spiritual master of all li ving entities.\"\nThus praised by Indra, Lord Krwa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, smiling beautifully, said, \"My dear Indra, I have stopped your\nsacrifice j ust to show My causeless mercy and to revive your memory that\nI am your eternal master. I am not only your master, but I am the master\nof all the other demigods as well. You should always remember that all\nyour material opulences are due to My mercy. Everyone should always\nremember that I am the Supreme Lord. I can show anyone My favor, and\nI can chastise anyone, because no one is superior to Me. If I find someone\noverpowered by false pride, in order to show him My causeless mercy, I\nwithdraw all his opulences.\"\nIt is noteworthy that Kr�l)a sometimes removes all opulences in order\nto facilitate a rich man's becoming a surrendered soul to Him. This is a\nspecial favor of the Lord's. Sometimes it is seen that a person is very\nopulent materially, but due to his devotional service to the Lord, he may\nbe reduced to poverty. One should not think, however, that because he\nworshiped the Supreme Lord he became poverty-stricken. The real purport is that when a person is a pure devotee, but at the same time, by\nmiscalculation, he wants to lord it over material nature, the Lord shows\nHis special mercy by taking away all material opulences until at last he\nsurrenders unto the Supreme Lord.\nAfter instructing Indra, Lord Kr�l/a asked him to return to his kingdom\nin the heavenly planet and to remember always that he is never the supreme\nbut is always subordinate to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He also\nadvised him to remain as King of heaven, but to be careful of false pride.\nAfter this, the transcendental surabhi cow, who also came with Indra to\nsee Kr��a, offered her respectful obeisances unto Him and worshiped Him.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0261": "Prayers by Indra, the King of Heaven\n\n183\n\nThe surabhi offered her prayer as follows. \"My dear Lord Kr��a, You are\nthe most powerful of all mystic yogis because You are the soul of the\ncomplete universe, and from You only all this cosmic manifestation has\ntaken place. Therefore, although Indra tried his best to kill my descendant\ncows in Vrndavana, they remained under Your shelter, and You have\nprotected them all so well. We do not know anyone else as the Supreme,\nnor do we go to any other god or demigods for protection. Therefore, You\nare our Indra, You are the Supreme Father of the whole cosmic manifestation, and You are the protector and elevator of all the cows, briihmaras,\ndemigods and others who are pure devotees -�f Your Lordship. 0 Supersoul\nof the universe, let us bathe You with our milk because You are our Indra.\n0 Lord, You appear just to diminish the burden of impure activities on-the\nearth.\"\nIn this way, Kr��a was bathed by the milk of the surabhi cows, and\nIndra was bathed by the water of the celestial Ganges through the trunk of\nhis carrier elephant. After this, the heavenly King Indra, along with\nsurabhi cows and all other demigods and their mothers, worshiped Lord\nKr��a by bathing Him with Ganges water and the milk of the surabhis.\nThus Govinda, Lord KH�a, was pleased with all of them. The residents of\nall higher planetary systems, such as Gandharvaloka, Pitrloka, Siddhaloka,\nand Cara�aloka, all combined and began to glorify the Lord by chanting\nHis holy name. Their wives and damsels began to dance with great joy.\nThey very much satisfied the Lord by incessantly pouring flowers from the\nsky. When everything was very nicely and j oyfully settled, the cows overflooded the surface of the earth with their milk. The water of the rivers\nbegan to flow and give nourishment to the trees, producing fruits and\nflowers of different colors and taste. The trees began to pour drops of\nhoney. The hills and mountains began to produce potent medicinal plants\nand valuable stones. Because of Krwa's presence, all these things happened\nvery nicely, and the lower animals, who were generally envious, were\nenvious no longer.\nAfter satisfying Kr��a, who is the Lord of all the cows in Vrndavana,\nwho is known as Govinda, King Indra took His permission to return to his\nheavenly kingdom. He was surrounded by all kinds of demigods who\npassed with him through cosmic space. This great incident is a powerful\nexample of how Kr��a consciousness can benefit the world. Even the lower\nanimals forget their envious nature and become elevated to the qualities\nof the demigods.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Twenty-seventh Chapter of\nKr�va, \"Prayers by Indra, the King of Heaven. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0262": "28 I Releasing N anda Maharaj a\nfrom the Clutches o f V aruna\nThe Govardhana Ceremony took place on the new moon day. After this,\nthere were torrents of rain and hailstorms imposed by King lndra for seven\ndays. Nine days of the waxing moon having passed , on the tenth day King\nlndra worshiped Lord Krwa, and thus the matter was satisfactorily settled.\nAfter this, on the eleventh day of the full moon, there was Ekiidasi.\nMaharaj a Nanda observed fasting for the whole day, and just early in the\nmorning of the Dviidasi, the day after Ekiidasi, he went to take b ath in the\nRiver Y am una. He entered deep into the water of the river, but he was\narrested immediately by one of the servants of V aruJ;ladeva. These servants\nbrought Nanda Maharaj a before the demigod VaruJ;la and accused him of\ntaking a bath in the river at the wrong time. According to astronomical\ncalculations, the time in which he took bath was considered demoniac. The\nfact was, Nanda Maharaj a wanted to take a bath in the River Y amuna\nearly in the morning before the sunrise, but somehow or other he was a\nlittle too early, and he bathed at an inauspicious time. C onsequently he\nwas arrested.\nWhen Nanda Maharaj a was taken away by V aruJ;la's servants, his companions began to call loudly for Kf�J;la and Balarama. Immediately Kf�J;la\nand Balarama could understand that Nanda Maharaj a was taken by\nV aruJ;la, and thus They went to the abode of V aruJ;la, for They were\npledged to give protection. The inhabitants of Vrndavana, the unalloyed\ndevotees of the Lord, having no shelter other than the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead, naturally cried to Him for help , exactly like children who\ndo not know anything but the protection of their parents. D emigod\nV aruJ;la received Lord Kr�J;la and Balarama with great respect and said,\n\"My dear Lord , actually at this very moment, because of Your presence, I\nam materially defeated. Although I am the proprietor of all the treasures in\nthe water , I know that such possessions do not make for a successful life.\n\n184\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0263": "The god of the waters was holding N anda captive underneath the sea. ( p . 1 84 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0264": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0265": "The gopis remembered their pastimes with Kr� !la · ( p . � 0 8 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0266": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0267": "The wives of the b riih mm:ws saw the S u preme Personality of G o dhead , and lie en lercd\nwithin their hearts through their eyes. ( p . 1 60 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0268": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0269": "Kr�p.a, the supreme enj oyer, desired to enj oy the company of the gopis. (p. 1 9 0 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0270": "O t i l o f m a n y Lhousa n ds of gopis, Radhara�ii is the most p rominent. ( p . 2 1 1 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0271": "Releasing Nanda Maharaja From the Clutches of Varul}a\n\n185\n\nBut this moment, as I look at You, my life is made completely successful\nbecause by seeing You I no longer have to accept a material body. Therefore, 0 Lord, Supreme Personality of Godhead, Supreme Brahman and\nSupersoul of everything, let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You.\nYou are the supreme transcendental personality; there.is no possibility of\nimposing the influence of material nature upon You. I am very sorry that\nby being foolish, by not knowing what to do or what not to do, I have\nmistakenly arrested Your father, Nanda Maharaja. So I beg Your pardon\nfor the offence of my servants. I think that it was Your plan to show me\nYour mercy by Your personal presence here. My dear Lord Kr§�a, Govinda,\nbe merciful upon me-here is Your father. You can take him back immediately. \"\nIn this way Lord Krwa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, rescued\nHis father and presented him before his friends with great jubilation. Nanda\nMaharaja was surprised that, although the demigod was so opulent, he\noffered such respect to Kr§!la. That was very astonishing to Nanda, and he\nbegan to describe the incident to his friends and relatives with great\nwonder.\nActually, although Kr§�a was acting so wonderfully, Maharaja Nanda\nand mother Y asoda could not think of Him as the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead. Instead, they always accepted Him as their beloved child. Thus\nNanda Maharaja did not accept the fact that Varu9a worshiped Kr§�a\nbecause Krwa was the Supreme Personality of Godhead ; rather he took it\nthat because Krwa was such a wonderful child He was respected even by\nVaru9a. The friends of Nanda Maharaja, all the cowherd men, became\neager to know if Krwa were actually the Supreme Personality and if He\nwere going to give them all salvation. When they were all thus consulting\namong themselves, Kr��1a understood their minds, and in order to assure\nthem of their destiny in the spiritual kingdom, He showed them the\nspiritual sky. Generally, ordinary persons are engaged simply in working\nhard in the material world, and they have no information that there is\nanother kingdom or another sky, which is known as the spiritual sky,\nwhere life is eternal, blissful, and full of knowledge. As it is stated in the\nBhagavad-gitii, a person returning to that spiritual sky never returns to this\nmaterial world of death and suffering.\nKrwa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is always anxious to give\ninformation to the conditioned soul that there is a spiritual sky far, far\nbeyond this material sky, transcendental to the innumerable universes\ncreated within the total material energy. Kr��a is, of course, always very\nkind to every conditioned soul, but, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita, He is\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0272": "186\n\nKr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nespecially inclined to the devotees. Hearing their inquiries, Kr�!la immediately thought that His devotees in V rndavana should be informed of the\nspiritual sky and the Vaiku�tha planets therein. Within the material world,\nevery conditioned soul is in the darkness of ignorance. This means that all\nconditioned souls are under the concept of this bodily existence.\nE �eryone is under the impression that he is of this material world, and\nwith this concept of life, everyone is working in ignorance in different\nforms of life. The activities of the particular type of body are called karma,\nor fruitive action. All conditioned souls under the impression of the bodily\nconcept are working according to their particular types of body. These\nactivities are creating their future conditional life. Because they have very\nlittle information of the spiritual world, they do not generally take to\nspiritual activities, which are called bhakti-yoga. Those who successfully\npractice bhakti-yoga, after giving up this present body, go directly to the\nspiritual world and become situated in one of the V aiku�tha planets. The\ninhabitants of V rndavana are all pure devotees. Their destination after\nquitting the body is Kr��aloka. They even surpass the V aiku�thalokas. The\nfact is, those who are always engaged in Kr�!la consciousness and mature,\npure devotional service are given the chance, after death, to gain Kr�!la 's\nassociation in the universes within the material world. Kr�!la's pastimes are\ncontinually going on, either in this universe or in another universe. Just as\nthe sun globe is passing through many places across this earthly planet, so\nKnrw-lilii, or the transcendental advent and pastimes of Kr�!la, are also\ngoing on continually, either in this or another universe. The mature\ndevotees, who have completely executed Kr�!la consciousness, are immediately transferred to the universe where Kr�!la is appearing. In that universe the devotees get their first opportunity to associate with Krwa\npersonally and directly. The training goes on, as we see in the Vrndavana\nlilii of Krwa within this planet. Kr��a therefore revealed the actual feature\nof the Vaiku!ltha planets so that the inhabitants of Vrndavana could know\ntheir destination.\nThus Kr��a showed them the eternal ever-existing spiritual sky which is\nunlimited and full of knowledge. Within this material world there are\ndifferent gradations of forms, and according to the gradations, knowledge\nis proportionately manifested. For example, the knowledge in the body of\na child is not as perfect as the knowledge in the body of an adult man_\nEverywhere there are different gradations of living entities, in aquatic\nanimals, in the plants and trees, in the reptiles and insects, in birds and\nbeasts and in the civilized and uncivilized human forms of life. Above the\nhuman form of life there are demigods, Cara!las and Siddhas on up to\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0273": "Releasing Nanda Maharaja from the Clutches of Vam'!a\n\n187\n\nBrahmaloka where Lord Brahma lives, and among these demigods there\nare always different gradations of knowledge. But past this material world,\nin the Vaiku�tha sky, everyone is in full knowledge. All the living entities\nthere are engaged in devotional service to the Lord, either in the Vaiku�tha\nplanets or in Kr��aloka.\nAs it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, full knowledge means knowing\nKr��a to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the Vedas and\nBhagavad-gita it is also stated that in the brahmajjoti or spiritual sky\nthere is no need of sunlight, moonlight, or electricity. All those planets are\nself-illuminating, and all of them are eternally situated. There is no question of creation and annihilation in the brahmajyoti, spiritual sky.\nBhagavad-gita also confirms that beyond the material sky there is another\neternal spiritual sky where everything is eternally existing. Information of\nthe spiritual sky can be had only from great sages and saintly persons who\nhave already surpassed the influence of the three material modes of nature.\nUnless one is constantly situated on that transcendental platform, it is not\npossible to understand the spiritual nature.\nTherefore it is recommended that one should take to bhakti-yoga and\nkeep himself engaged twenty-four hours in Kr��a consciousness, which\nplaces one beyond the reach of the modes of material nature. One in\nKr��a consciousness can easily understand the nature of the spiritual sky\nand Vaiku�thaloka. The inhabitants of Vrndavana, being always engaged\nin Kr��a consciousness, could therefore very easily understand the transcendental nature of the V aiku�thalokas.\nThus Kr��a led all the cowherd men, headed by Nanda Maharaja, to the\nlake where Akriira was later shown the Vaiku�tha planetary system. They\ntook their bath immediately and saw the real nature of the Vaiku�thalokas.\nAfter seeing the spiritual sky and the Vaiku�thalokas, all the men, headed\nby Nanda Maharaja, felt wonderfully blissful, and coming out of the river,\nthey saw Kn�a, who was being worshiped with excellent prayers.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Twenty-eighth Chapter of\nKr��a, \"Releasing Nanda Maharaja from the Clutches of Varup,a. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0274": "29 I The Rasa Dance : Introduction\nIn the S rimad-Bhagavatam it is stated the rasa dance took place on the\nfull moon night of the sarat season. From the statement of previous\nchapters, it appears that the festival of Govardhana Piij a was performed\njust after the dark moon night of the month of Karttika , and thereafter\nthe ceremony of Bhratrdvitiya was performed ; then the wrath of lndra was\nexhibited in the shape of torrents of rain and hailstorm , and L ord Kr��a\nheld up Govardhana Hill for seven days , up until the ninth day of the\nmoon. Thereafter, on the tenth day, the inhabitants of V rndavana were\ntalking amongst themselves about the wonderful activities of Kr��a, and\nthe next day, Ekadasi was observed by N anda Maharaja. On the next day,\nDvadasi, Nanda Maharaj a went to take a bath in the Ganges and was\narrested by the men of V aru�a ; then he was released by Lord Kr��a. Then\nNanda Maharaj a , along with the cowherd men, was shown the spiritual sky.\nIn this way, the full moon night of sarat season came to an end. The full\nmoon night of Asvina is called sarad-piin;tima. It appears from the statement of S rimad-Bhagavatam that Kr��a had to wait another year for such\na moon before enj oying the rasa dance with the gopis. At the age of seven\nyears , He lifted Govardhana Hill. Therefore , the rasa dance took place\nduring His eighth year.\nFrom Vedic literature it appears that when a theatrical actor dances\namong many dancing girls , the group-dance is called a rasa dance. When\nKr��a saw the full moon night of the sarat season, He decorated Himself\nwith various seasonal flowers, especially the mallika flowers, which are very\nfragrant. He remembered the go pis ' prayers to goddess Katyayani, wherein\nthey prayed for Kr��a to be their husband. He thought that the full night\nof the sarat season was just suitable for a nice dance. So their desire to\nhave Krsna\n. � as their husband would then be fulfilled.\nThe ords used in this connection in the S rimad-Bhagavatam are\n\n188\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0275": "The Rasa Dance: Introduction\n\n189\n\nbhagavan api. This means that although Kr��a is the Supreme Personality\n\nof Godhead, He has no desire that needs to be fulfilled because He is\nalways full with six opulences. Yet He wanted to enjoy the company of\nthe gopis. Bhagavan api signifies that this is not like the ordinary dancing\nof young boys and young girls. The specific word used in the SrimadBhagavatam is yogamayam upasrita[!,, which means that this dancing with\nthe gopi..� is on the platform of yogamaya, not mahamaya. The dancing of\nyoung boys and girls within this material world is in the kingdom of\nmahamaya, or the external energy. The rasa dance of Kr��a with the gopis\nis on the platform of yogamaya. The difference between the platform of\nyogamaya and mahamaya is compared in the Caitanya-caritamrta to the\ndifference between gold and iron. From the viewpoint of metallurgy,\ngold and iron are both metals, but the quality is completely different.\nSimilarly, although the rasa dance and Lord Kr��a's association with the\ngopis appear like the ordinary mixing of young boys and girls·, the\nquality is completely different. The difference is appreciated by great\nVai��avas because they can understand the difference between love of\nKrwa and lust.\nOn the mahamaya platform, dances take place on the basis of sense\ngratification. But when Kf�l}a called the gopis by sounding His flute, the\ngopis very hurriedly rushed towards the spot of rasa dance with the\ntranscendental desire of satisfying Kf�J}a. The author of Caitanyacaritamrta, Kf�l}adasa Kaviraja Gosvami, has explained that lust means\nsense gratification, and love also means sense gratification-but for Kr��a.\nIn other words, when activities are enacted on the platform of personal\nsense gratification, they are called material activities, but when they are\nenacted for the satisfaction of Kf�J}a, then they are spiritual activities. On\nany platform of activities, the principle of sense gratification is there. But\non the spiritual platform, sense gratification is for the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead, Kr��a, whereas on the material platform it is for the performer. For example, on the material platform, when a servant serves a\nmaster, he is not trying to satisfy the senses of the master, but rather his\nown senses. The servant would not serve the master if the payment stopped.\nThat means that the servant engages himself in the service of the master\njust to satisfy his senses. On the spiritual platform, the servitor of the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead serves Kr��a without payment, and he\ncontinues his service in all conditions. That is the difference between\nKr��a consciousness and material consciousness.\nIt appears that Kr��a enjoyed the rasa dance with the gopis when He\nwas eight years old. At that time, many of the gopis were married, because\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0276": "190\n\nKf�')a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nin India, especially in those days, girls were married at a very early age.\nThere are even many instances of a gi rl giving birth to a child at the age of\ntwelve . Under the circumstances, all the gopis who wanted to h ave Kr�!la\nas their husband were already married. At the same time, they continued\nto hope that Kr§!la would be their husband. Their attitude toward K[§')a\nwas that of paramour love. Therefore, the loving affairs of K[§l)a with the\ngopis is called parakiya-rasa. A married man or a wife who desires another\nwife or husband is called parakiya-rasa.\nActually , Kf§l)a is the husband of everyone because He is the supreme\nenj oyer. The gopis wanted K[§l)a to be their husband, but factually there\nwas no possibility of His marrying all the gopis. But because they had that\nnatural tendency to accept Kr��ta as their supreme husband, the relationship between the gopis and Kr�va is called parak iya-rasa. This parak iya-rasa\nis ever-existent in Goloka Vrndavana in the spiritual sky where there is no\npossibility of the inebriety which characterizes parakiya-rasa in the material\nworld. In the material world, parakiya-rasa is abominable, whereas in the\nspiritual world it is present in the superexcellent relationship of Kr§tla and\nthe gopis. There are many other relationships with Kf§l)a: master and\nservant , friends and friend, parent and son, and lover and beloved. Out of\nall these rasas, the parakiya-rasa is considered to be the topmost .\nThis material world is the perverted reflection of the spiritual worl d ; it\nis j ust like the reflection of a tree on the bank of a reservoir of water : the\ntopmost part of the tree is seen as the lowest part. Similarly , parakiya-rasa,\nwhen pervertedly reflected in this material world, is abominable. When\npeople, therefore, imitate the rasa dance of Kr§!la with the gopis, they\nsimply enj oy the perverted, abominable reflection of the transcendental\nparak iya-rasa. There is no possibility of enj oying this transcendental\nparakiya-rasa within the material world. It is stated in the S rimadBhagavatam that one should not imitate this parakiya-rasa even in dream\nor imagination . Those who do so drink the most deadly poison.\nWhen K[§l)a, the supreme enj oyer , desired to enj oy the company of the\ngopis on that full moon night of the sarat season, exactly at that very\nmoment , the moon, the lord of the stars, appeared in the sky , displaying\nits most beautiful features. The full moon night of the sarat season is the\nmost beautiful night in the year . In India there is a grea t monu ment called\nTaj Mahal in Agra, a city in the Uttar Pradesh province, and the tomb is\nmade of first-class marble stone. During the night of the full moon of the\nsarat season, many foreigners go to see the beautiful reflections of the\nmoon on the tomb . Thus this full moon night is celebrated even today for\nits beauty .\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0277": "The Rasa Dance: Introduction\n\n191\n\nWhen the full moon rose in the east, it tinged everything with a reddish\ncolor. With the rising of the moon, the whole sky appeared smeared by red\nkunkuma. When a husband long separated from his wife returns home, he\ndecorates the face of his wife with red kunkuma. This long-expected\nmoonrise of the sarat season was thus smearing the eastern sky.\nThe appearance of the moon increased Krwa's desire to dance with the\ngopis. The forests were filled with fragrant flowers. The atmosphere was\ncooling and festive. When Lord Kr��a began to blow His flute, the gopis\nall over V rndavana became enchanted. Their attraction to the vibration of\nthe flute increased a thousand times due to the rising full moon, the red\nhorizon, the calm and cool atmosphere, and the blossoming flowers. All\nthese gopis were by nature very much attracted to Krwa's beauty, and\nwhen they heard the vibration of His flute, they became apparently lustful\nto satisfy the senses of Kr��1a.\nImmediately upon hearing the vibration of the flute, they all left their\nrespective engagements and proceeded to the spot where Kr�va was\nstanding. While they ran very swiftly, all their earrings swung back and\nforth. They all rushed toward the place known as V amsivata. Some of\nthem were engaged in milking cows, but they left their milking business\nhalf finished and immediately went to Krwa. One of them had just collected milk and put it in a milk pan on the oven to boil, but 'she did not\ncare whether the milk overboiled and spilled-she immediately left to go\nsee Kr��la. Some of them were breast feeding their small babies, and some\nwere engageq in distirbuting food to the members of their families, but\nthey left all such engagements and immediately rushed towards the spot\nwhere Kr��la was playing His flute. Some were engaged in serving their\nhusbands, and some were themselves engaged in eating, but neither caring\nto serve their husbands nor eat, they immediately left. Some of them\nwanted to decorate their faces with cosmetic ointments and to dress\nthemselves very nicely before going to Kr��a, but unfortunately they could\nnot finish their cosmetic decorations nor put on their dresses in the right\nway because of their anxiety to meet Kr�!la immediately. Their faces were\ndecorated hurriedly and were haphazardly finished ; some even put the\nlower part of their dresses on the upper part of their bodies and the upper\npart on the lower part.\nWhile all the gopis were hurriedly leaving their respective places, their\nhusbands, brothers and fathers were all struck with wonder to know where\nthey were going. Being young girls, they were protected either by husbands,\nelderly brothers or fathers. All their guardians forbade them to go to\nKr�pa, but they disregarded them. When a person becomes attracted by\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0278": "192\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nKr�l)a and is in full Kr�l)a consciousness, he does not care for any worldly\nduties, even though very urgent. Kr�l)a consciousness is so powerful that\nit gives everyone relief from all material activities. Srila Riipa Gosvami has\nwritten a very nice verse wherein one gopi advises another, \"'My dear\nfriend, if you desire to enjoy the company of material society, friendship\nand love, then please do not go to see this smiling boy Govinda, who is\nstanding on the bank of the Yam una and playing His flute, His lips\nbrightened by the beams of the full moonlight.\" Srila Riipa Gosvami\nindirectly instructs that one who has been captivated by the beautiful\nsmiling face of Kf�l)a has lost all attraction for material enjoyments. This\nis the test of advancement in Krwa consciousness: a person advancing-in\nK[�l)a consciousness must lose interest in material activities and personal\nsense gratification.\nSome of the gopis were factually detained from going to Kf�l)a by their\nhusbands and were locked up by force within their rooms. Being unable to\ngo to K[�l)a, they began to meditate upon His transcendental form by\nclosing their eyes. They already had the form of K[�l)a within their minds.\nThey proved to be the greatest yogis; as is stated in the Bhagavad-gitii, a\nperson who is constantly thinking of Krwa within his heart with faith and\nlove is considered to be the topmost of all yogis. Actually, a yogi concentrates his mind on the form of Lord Vi�l)U. That is real yoga. Kr�IJa is the\noriginal form of all Vi�l)U tattvas. The gopis could not go to K[�l)a personally, so they began to meditate on Him as perfect yogis.\nIn the conditioned stage of the living entities, there are two kinds of\nresults of fruitive activities: the conditioned living entity who is constantly\nengaged in sinful activities has suffering as his result, and he who is engaged\nin pious activities has material enjoyment as a result. In either casematerial suffering or material enjoyment-the enjoyer or sufferer is conditioned by material nature.\nThe gopi associates of Kr�l)a, who assemble in the place where Kr�l!a is\nappearing, are from different groups. Most of the gopis are eternal companions of K[�l)a. As stated in the Brahma-sarhhitii, iinanda-cin-maya-rasapratibhiivitiibhil;t: in the spiritual world the associates of Kf�l)a, especially\nthe gopis, are the manifestation of the pleasure potency of Lord Kf�l)a.\nThey are expansions of Srimati Radharal)i. But when Kr�l!a exhibits His\ntranscendental pastimes within the material world in some of the universes,\nnot only the eternal associates of K[�l)a come, but also those who are\nbeing promoted to that status from this material world. The gopis who\njoined K[�l)a's pastimes within this material world were coming from the\nstatus of ordinary human beings. If they had been bound by fruitive action,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0279": "The Rasa Dance: Introduction\n\n193\n\nthey were fully freed from the reaction of karma by constant meditation\non Krwa. Their severe painful yearnings caused by their not being able to\nsee Kr��a freed them from all sinful reactions, and their ecstacy of transcendental love for Kr��a in His absence was transcendental to all their\nreactions of material pious activities. The conditioned soul is subjected\nto birth and death, either by pious or sinful activities, but the gopis\nwho began to meditate on Kr��a transcended both positions and became\npurified and thus elevated to the status of the gopis already expanded by\nHis pleasure potency. All the go pis who concentrated their minds on\nKr��a in the spirit of paramour love became fully uncontaminated from\nall the fruitive reactions of material nature, and some of them immediately gave up their material bodies developed under the three modes of\nmaterial nature.\nMaharaja Parilqit heard Sukadeva Gosvami explain the situation of the\ngopis who assembled with Kr�t;J.a in the rasa dance. When he heard that\nsome of the gopis, simply by concentrating on Krwa as their paramour,\nbecame freed from all contamination of material birth and death� he said,\n\"The gopis did not know that Kr��a is the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead. They accepted Him as a beautiful boy and considered Him to be\ntheir paramour. So how was it possible for them to get freed from the\nmaterial condition just by thinking of a paramour?\" One should consider\nhere that KB�a and ordinary living beings are qualitatively one. The\nordinary living beings, being part and parcel of Kr��a, are also Brahman,\nbut Kr��a is the Supreme-Parabrahman. The question is, if it is possible\nfor the devotee to get free from the material, contaminated stage simply\nby thinking of Kr��a, then why not others who are also thinking of\nsomeone? If one is thinking of a husband or son, or if anyone at all is\nthinking of another living entity, since all living entities are also Brahman,\nthen why are they not all freed from the contaminated stage of material nature? This is a very intelligent question, because the atheists\nare always imitating Kr�t;J.a. In these days of Kaliyuga, there are many\nrascals whp think themselves to be as great as Krwa and who cheat people\ninto belie�!ng that thinking of them is as good as thinking of Lord Kr��a.\nParik�it Maharaja, apprehending the dangerous condition of blind followers\nof demonic imitators, therefore asked this question, and fortunately it is\nrecorded in the S nmad-Bhagavatam to warn innocent people that thinking\nof an ordinary man and thinking of Kr��a are not the same.\nActually, even thinking of the demigods cannot compare with thinking\nof Kr��a. It is also warned in Vaiwava Tantra that one who puts Vi�!m,\nNarayat;J.a, or Krwa on the same level of the demigods is called pasaruJa, or\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0280": "194\n\nKr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\na rascal. On hearing this question of Maharaja Parik�it, Sukadeva Gosvami\nreplied, \"My dear King, your question is already answered, even before\nthis incident.\"\nBecause Parik�it Maharaja wanted to clear up the situation, his spiritual\nmaster answered him very intelligently, \"Why are you again asking the\nsame subject matter which has already been explained to you ? Why are\nyou so forge�ful?\" A spir�tual �as�er_ is al� ays _in the sup erior position, s<:\nhe has the nght to chastise his disciple m this way. S ukadeva Gosvami\nknew that Maharaja Parik?it asked the question not for his own understanding, but as a warning to the future innocent people who might think\nothers to be equal to Kr��a.\nSukadeva Gosvami then reminded Parik�it Maharaja about the salvation\nof Sisupala. Sisupala was always envious of Kr��a, and because of his envy\nKr�pa killed him. Since Kr�pa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\nSisupala gained salvation simply by seeing Him. If an envious person can\nget salvation simply by concentrating his mind on Kr��a, then what to\nspeak of the gopis who are so dear to Kr�pa and always thinking of Him in\nlove? There must be some difference between the enemies and the friends.\nIf Kr��a's enemies could get freed from material contamination and\nbecome one with the Supreme, then certainly His dear friends like the\ngopis are freed and with Him.\nBesides that , in the Bhagavad-gzta Kr�pa is called Hr�ikesa. Sukadeva\nGosvami also said that Kr�tta is Hr�ikesa, the Supersoul, whereas an\nordinary man is a conditioned soul covered by the material body. Kr�pa\nand Kr��a's body are the same because H e is Hr�ikesa. Any person making\na distinction between Kr�pa and Kr�pa's body is fool number one. Kr�pa\nis Hr�ike5a and Adhok�aja. These two particular words have been used by\nParik�it Maharaja in this instance. Hr�ikesa is the Supersoul, and Adhok�aja\nis the Supreme Personality of Godhead, transcendental to the material\nnature. Just to show favor to the ordinary living entities, out of His\ncauseless mercy, He appears as He is. Unfortunately, foolish persons\nmistake Him to be another ordinary person, and so they become eligible\nto go to hell. Sukadeva Gosvami reconfirmed that Kr�pa is the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, imperishable, immeasurable, and free from all\nmaterial contamination.\nSukadeva Gosvami continued to inform Maharaja Parik�it that Kr�pa is\nnot an ordinary person. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, full of\nall spiritual qualities. He appears in this material world out of His causeless\n. mercy, and whenever H e appears, He appears as He is without change. This\nis also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita. There the Lord say s . that He\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0281": "The Rasa Dance : Introduction\n\n195\n\nappears in His spiritual potency . He does not appear under the control of\nthis material potency . The material potency is under His control. In the\nBhagavad-gitii it is stated that the material potency is working under His\nsu perintendence. It is also confirmed in the Brah ma-samhitii that the\nmaterial potency known as D urga is acting j ust as a shadow which moves\nwith the movement of the substance. The conclusion is that if one\nsomehow or other becomes attached to Kr�pa or attracted to Him , either\nbecause of His beauty, quality, opulence, fame, strength, renunciation or\nknowledge, or even through lust, anger or fear, or affection or friendship,\nthen one's salvation and freedom from material contamination is assured.\nIn the Bhagavad-gitii, Eighteenth Chapter, the Lord also states that one\nwho is engaged in preaching Kr��la consciousness is very dear to Him. A\npreacher has to face many difficulties in his struggle to preach pure Kr�pa\nconsciousness. Sometimes he has to suffer bodily injuries, and sometimes\nhe has to meet death also . All this is taken as a great austerity on behalf of\nKrwa . Kr�pa therefore has said that such a preacher is very, very dear to\nHim. If Krwa's enemies can expect salvation simply by concentrating\ntheir minds on Him , then what to speak of persons who are so dear to\nKrwa? The conclusion should be that the salvation of those who are\nengaged in preaching Kr�pa consciousness in the world is guaranteed in all\ncircumstances. But such preachers never care for salvation, because factually one who is engaged in Kr�pa consciousness, devotional service,\nhas already achieved salvation. Sukadeva Gosvami therefore assured King\nParik�it that he should always rest assured that one attracted by Kr��1a\nattains liberation from material bondage because Kr�pa is the transcendental master of all mystic power .\nWhen all the gopis assembled, as described, before Kr�pa, H e began to\nspeak to them, welcoming them as well as discouraging them by word\njugglery. Kr�pa is the supreme speaker ; H e is the speaker of the Bhagavadgitii. He can speak on the highest elevated subj ects of philosophy, politics,\neconomics-everything. And He also spoke before the gopis who were so\ndear to Him . He wanted to enchant them by word jugglery, and thus He\nbegan to speak as follows.\n\" 0 ladies of Vrndavana,\" Kr�pa said. \" You are very fortunate, and\nyou are very dear to Me. I am very pleased that you have come here,\nand I hope everything is well in V rndavana. N ow please order Me.\nWhat can I do for you? What is the purpose of coming here in this\ndead of night. Kindly take your seats and let Me know what I can do\nfor you . \"\nThe gopis had come t o Kr��1a t o enj �y His company, t o dance with Him ,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0282": "196\n\nKr�J}a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nembrace Him and kiss Him, and when Kr��a began to receive them very\nofficially, showing all kinds of etiquette, they were surprised. He was\ntreating them as ordinary society women. Therefore they began to smile\namong themselves, ond they very eagerly listened to Kr��a talk in that way.\nWhen He saw that they were smiling at Him, He said, \"My dear friends,\nyou must know now that it is the dead of night, and the forest is very\ndangerous. At this time all the ferocious jungle animals, the tigers, bears,\njackals and wolves, are prowling in the forest. Therefore it is very dangerous\nfor you. You cannot select a secure place now. Everywhere you go you\nwill find that all these animals are loitering to find their prey. I think,\ntherefore, that you are taking a great risk in coming here in the dead of\nnight. Please turn back immediately, without delay.\"\nWhen He saw that they continued to smile, He said, \"I very much\nappreciate your bodily features. All of you have nice, very thin waists.\"\nAll of the gopis there were exquisitely beautiful. They are described by\nthe word sumadhyamii; the standard of beauty of a woman is said to be\nsumadhyamii when the middle portion of the body is slender.\nKr�!la wanted to impress on them that they were not old enough to take\ncare of themselves. Actually, they required protection. It was not very\nwise for them to come in the dead of night to Kr��a. Kr��a also indicated\nthat He was young and that they were young girls. \"It does not look very\nwell for young girls and boys to remain together in the dead of night.\"\nAfter hearing this advice, the gopis did not seem very happy; therefore\nKr�!la began to stress the point in a different way.\n\"My dear friends, I can understand that you have left your homes\nwithout the permission of your guardians ; therefore I think your mothers,\nyour fathers, your elderly brothers or even your sons, and what to speak\nof your husbands, must be very anxious to find you. As long as you are\nhere, they must be searching in different places, and their minds must be\nvery agitated. So don't tarry. Please go back and make them peaceful.\"\nWhen the gopis appeared to be a little bit disturbed and angry from the\nfree advice of Kr��a, they diverted their attention to looking at the beauty\nof the forest. At that time the whole forest was illuminated by the bright\nshining of the moon, and the air was blowing very silently over the\nblooming flowers, and the green leaves of the trees were moving in the\nbreeze. Kr��a took the opportunity of their looking at the forest to advise\nthem. \"I think you have come out to see the beautiful V rndavana forest\non this night,\" He said, \"but you must now be satisfied. So return to your\nhomes without delay. I understand that you are all very chaste women, so\nnow that you have seen the beautiful atmosphere of the Vrndavana forests,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0283": "The Rasa Dance: Introduction\n\n197\n\nplease return home and engage in the faithful service of your respective\nhusbands. Some of you must have babies by this time, although you are\nvery young. You must have left your small babies at home, and they\nmust be crying. Please immediately go back home and just feed them with\nyour breast milk. I can also understand that you have very great affection\nfor Me, and out of that transcendental affection you have come here,\nhearing My playing on the flute. Your feelings of love and affection for Me\nare very appropriate because I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\nAll living creatures are My parts and parcels, and naturally they are\naffectionate to Me. So this affection for Me is very much welcome, and I\ncongratulate you for this. Now you can go back to your homes. Another\nthing I must explain to you is that for a chaste woman, service to the\nhusband without duplicity is the best religious principle. A woman should\nbe not only faithful and chaste to the husband, but affectionate to the\nfriends of her husband, obedient to the father and mother of the husband,\nand affectionate to the younger brothers of the husband. And most\nimportantly, the woman must take care of the children.\"\nIn this way, Kr�t:la explained the duty of a woman. He also stressed the\npoint of serving the husband: \"Even if he is not of very good character, or\neven if he is not very rich or fortunate, or even if he is old or invalid on\naccount of continued diseases, whatever her husband's condition, a woman\nshould not divorce her husband if she actually desires to be elevated to the\nhigher planetary systems after leaving this body. Besides that, it is considered abominable in society if a woman is unfaithful and goes searching\nfor another man. Such habits will deter a woman from being elevated to\nthe heavenly planets, and the results of such habits are very degrading. A\nmarried woman should not search for a paramour, for this is not sanctioned\nby the Vedic principles of life. If you think that you are very much\nattached to Me and you want My association, I advise you not to personally\ntry to enjoy Me. It is better for you to go home, simply talk about Me,\nthink of Me, and by this process of constantly remembering Me and\nchanting My names, you will surely be elevated to the spiritual platform.\nThere is no need to stand near Me. Please go back home.\"\nThe instruction given herein by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to\nthe gopis was not at all sarcastic. Such instructions should be taken very\nseriously by all honest women. The chastity of women is specifically\nstressed herein by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore this\nprinciple should be followed by any serious woman who wants to be\nelevated to a higher status of life. Kr��a is the center of all affection for all\nliving creatures. When this affection is developed for Kr�t:la, then one\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0284": "198\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nsurpasses and transcends all Vedic injunctions. This was possible for the\n\ngopis because they saw Kr�lJa face to face. This is not possible for any\n\nwomen in the conditioned state. Unfortunately, by imitating the behavior\nof Kr�JJa with the gopis, sometimes a rascal takes the position of Kr�JJa,\nfollowing the philosophy of monism or oneness, and he very irresponsibly\ntakes advantage of this rasa-lilii to entice many innocent women and\nmislead them in the name of spiritual realization. As a warning, Lord Kr�JJa\nhas herein hinted that what was possible for the gopis is not possible for\nordinary women. Although a woman can actually be elevated by advanced\nKr�lJa consciousness, she should not be enticed by an imposter who says\nthat he is Kr�JJa. She should concentrate her devotional activities in\nchanting and meditating upon Kr�lJa, as is advised herein. One should not\nfollow the men called sahajiya, the so-called devotees who take everything\nvery lightly.\nWhen Kr�JJa spoke in such a discouraging way to the gopis, they became\nvery sad, for they thought that their desire to enjoy riisa dance with Kr�JJa\nwould be frustrated. Thus they became full of anxiety. Out of great\nsadness, the gopis began to breathe very heavily. Instead of looking at\nKr�JJa face to face, they bowed their heads and looked to the ground, and\nthey began to draw various types of curved lines on the ground with their\ntoes. They were shedding heavy tears, and their cosmetic decorations were\nbeing washed from their faces. The water from their eyes mixed with the\nkunkuma of their breasts and fell to the ground. They could not say\nanything to Kr�JJa, but simply stood there silently. By their silence they\nexpressed that their hearts were grieviously wounded.\nThe gopis were not ordinary women. In essence they were on an equal\nlevel with Kr�JJa. They are His eternal associates. As it is confirmed in the\nBrahma-samhita, they are expansions of the pleasure potency of Kr�JJa,\nand as His potency they are nondifferent from Him. Although they were\ndepressed by the words of Kr�JJa, they did not like to use harsh words\nagainst Him. Yet they wanted to rebuke Kr�JJa for His unkind words, and\ntherefore they began to speak in faltering voices. They did not like to use\nharsh words against Kr�lJa because He was their dearmost, their heart and\nsoul. The gopis had only Kr�lJa within their hearts. They were completely\nsurrendered and dedicated souls. N aturally, when they heard such unkind\nwords, they tried to reply, but in the attempt torrents of tears fell from\ntheir eyes. Finally they managed to speak.\n\"Kr�JJa,\" they said, \"You are very cruel! You should not talk like that.\nWe are full-fledged surrendered souls. Please accept us, and don't talk in\nthat cruel way. Of course, Y ou are the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0285": "The Rasa Dance: Introduction\n\n199\n\nand Y ou can do whatever You like, but it is not worthy of Your position\nto treat us in such a cruel way. We have come to Y ou, leaving everything\nbehind, just to take shelter of Your lotus feet. We know that You are\ncompletely independent and can do whatever You like, but we request\nY ou, don't reject us. We are Your devotees. You should accept us as Lord\nNaraya�a accepts His devotees. There are many devotees of Lord Naraya�a who worship Him for salvation, and He awards them salvation.\nSimilarly, how can You reject us when we have no other shelter than Your\nlotus feet?\n\"0 dear Kr��a,\" they continued, \"You are the supreme instructor.\nThere is no doubt about it. Your instructions to the women to be faithful\nto their husbands and to be merciful to their children, to take care of\nhomely affairs and to be obedient to the elderly members of the family,\nare surely just according to the tenets of siistras. But we know also that all\nthese instructions of the siistras may be observed perfectly by keeping\noneself under the protection of Y our lotus feet. Our husbands, friends,\nfamily members and children are all dear and pleasing to us only because\nof Your presence, for You are the Supersoul of all living creatures. Without\nYour presence, one is worthless. When Y ou leave the body, the body\nimmediate! y dies, and according to the injunction of the siistra, a dead\nbody must immediately be thrown in a river or burned. Therefore, ultimately You are the dearmost personality in this world. By placing our\nfaith and love in Your personality, there is no chance of our being bereft\nof husband, friends, sons or daughters. If a woman accepts You as the\nsupreme husband, then she will never be bereft of her husband, as in the\nbodily concept of life. If we accept You as our ultimate husband, then\nthere is no question of being separated, divorced or widowed. You are the\neternal husband, eternal son, eternal friend, and eternal master, and one\nwho enters into a relationship with You is eternally happy. Since You are\nthe teacher of all religious principles, Y our lotus feet first have to be\nworshiped. Accordingly, the siistras state, iiciirya-upiisana: the worship of\nY our lotus feet is the first principle. Besides that, as stated in the Bhagavadgita, You are the only enjoyer, You are the only proprietor, and You are\nthe only friend. As such, we have come to You, leaving aside all so-called\nfriends, society and love, and now You have become our enjoyer. Let us\nbe everlastingly enjoyed by You. Be our proprietor, for that is Your\nnatural claim, and be our supreme friend, for You are naturally so. Let us\nthus embrace You as the supreme beloved.\"\nThen the gopis told the lotus-eyed Kr��a, \"Please do not discourage\nour long-cherished desires to have You as our husband. Any intelligent man\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0286": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0287": "Kf�l}a appeared on the scene and tou ched the serpent with His lotus feet. (p. 226)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0288": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0289": "Mohana Madhuri. ( p . 2 :1 5 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0290": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0291": "It appeared that Kr�pa was a greenish sapphire locket in the midst of a golden necklace .\n(p. 2 1 4)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0292": "Being kicked by Kr�!la , AriHasura rolled over and began to m ove his legs violently .\n( p . 2 3 7)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0293": "The hand of Kr��a felt to Kesi like a hot iron rod . ( p . 240)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0294": "Akrura became overwhelmed with all the symptoms of ecstasy ; he wept , and his\nbody trembled. (p. 248 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0295": "The Rasa Dance: Introduction\n\n201\n\nVaikut;Itha planets. She underwent great austerity and penance to have\nsome shelter at Your lotus feet, which are always covered by tulasi leaves.\nYour lotus feet are the proper shelter of Your servitors, and the goddess\nof fortune, instead of abiding on Your chest, comes down and worships\nYour lotus feet. We have now placed ourselves under the dust of Your feet.\nPlease do not reject us, for we are fully surrendered souls.\n\"Dear Kr�t;Ia, You are known as Hari. You destroy all the miseries of all\nliving entities, specifically of those who have left their homes and family\nattachment and have completely taken to You. We have left our homes\nwith the hope that we shall completely devote and dedicate our lives to\nYour service . We are simply begging to be engaged as Your servants. We do\nnot wish to ask You to accept us as Your wives. Simply accept us as Your\nmaidservants. Since You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead and like\nto enjoy the parakiya-rasa and are famous as a transcendental woman\nhunter, we have come to satisfy Your transcendental desires. We are also\nafter our own satisfaction, for simply by looking at Your smiling face we\nhave become very lusty. We have come before You decorated with all\nornaments and dress, but until You embrace us, all our dresses and beautiful features remain incomplete. You are the Supreme Person, and if You\ncomplete our dressing attempt as the puru§a-bhii§ar.a, or the male ornament, then all our desires and bodily decorations are complete.\n\"Dear Kr�t;Ia, we have simply been captivated by seeing You with tilaka\nand with earrings and by seeing Your beautiful face covered with scattered\nhair and Your extraordinary smile. Not only that, but we are also attracted\nby Your arms, which always give assurance to the sunendered souls. And\nalthough we are also attracted by Your chest, which is always embraced\nby the goddess of fortune, we do not wish to take her position. We shall\nsimply be satisfied by being Your maidservants. If You, however, accuse\nus of encouraging prostitution, then we can only ask where is that woman\nwithin these three worlds who is not captivated by Your beauty and the\nrhythmic songs vibrated by Your transcendental flute? Within these three\nworlds there is no distinction between men and women in relation to You\nbecause both men and women belong to the marginal potency or prakrti.\nN o one is actually the enjoyer or the male ; everyone is meant to be\nenjoyed by You. There is no woman within these three worlds who\ncannot but deviate from her path of chastity once she is attracted to You\nbecause Y our beauty is so sublime that not only men and women, but\ncows, Rirds, beasts and even trees, fruits and flowers-everyone and everything-become enchanted, and what to speak of ourselves? It is, however,\ndefinitely decided that as Lord Vi�t;IU is always protecting the demigods\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0296": "202\n\nKr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nfrom the onslaught of demons, so you have also advented in v rndavana\njust to give the residents protection from all kinds of distress. 0 dear\nfriend of the distressed, kindly place Your hand on our burning breasts as\nwell as on our heads, because we have surrendered unto Y ou as Your\neternal maidservants. If You think, however, that Your lotus-like palms\nmight he burned to ashes if placed on our burning breasts, let us assure\nYou that Your palms will feel pleasure instead of pain, as the lotus flower,\nalthough very delicate and soft, enjoys the scorching heat of the sun.\"\nUpon hearing the anxious plea of the gopis, the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead began to smile, and being very kind to the gopis, the Lord, although self-sufficient, began to embrace them and kiss them as they desired.\nWhen Kr��a, smiling, looked at the faces of the gopis, the beauty of their\nfaces became a hundred times enhanced. When He was enjoying them in\ntheir midst, He appeared just like the full moon surrounded by millions of\nshining stars. Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead, surrounded by\nhundreds of gopis and decorated with a flower garland of many colors, began to wander within the V rndavana forest, sometimes singing to Himself\nand sometimes singing with the gopis. In this way, both the Lord and the\ngopis reached the cool sandy hank of the Yamuna where there were lilies\nand lotus flowers. In such a transcendental atmosphere, both the gopis\nand Kr�tta began to enjoy one another. While they were walking on the\nhank of the Y am una, Kr�tJ.a would sometimes put His arms around a gopi's\nhead, breast or waist. Pinching one another and joking and looking at one\nanother, they enjoyed. When Kr�tla touched the bodies of the gopis, their\nlust to embrace Him increased. They all enjoyed these pastimes. Thus the\ngopis were blessed with all mercy by the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\nfor they enjoyed His company without a tinge of mundane sex life.\nThe gopis, however, soon began to feel very proud, thinking themselves\nto he the most fortunate women in the universe by being favored by the\ncompany of Kr�tla. Lord Kr�tla, who is known as Kesava, could immediately understand their pride caused by their great fortune of enjoying\nHim personally, and in order to show them His causeless mercy and to\ncurb their false pride, He immediately disappeared from the scene, exhibiting His opulence of renunciation. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is always full with six kinds of opulences, and this is an instance of\nthe opulence of renunciation. This renunciation confirms Kr��ta's total nonattachment. He is always self-sufficient and is not dependent on anything.\nThis is the platform on which the transcendental pastimes are enacted.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Twenty-ninth Chapter of\nKrsna, \"The Rasa Dance: Introduction. \"\n.\n\n. .\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0297": "30 I Kr��a 's Hidin g from the Go pis\n\nWhen Kr�!la suddenly disappeared from the company of the gopis, they\nbegan to search for Him in every place . After not finding Him anywhere ,\nthey became afraid and almost mad after Him. They were simply thinking\nof the pastimes of Krwa in great love and affection. Being absorbed in\nthought, they experienced loss of memory, and with dampened eyes they\nbegan to see the very pastimes of Kr�!la, His beautiful talks with them, His\nembracing, kissing, and other activities. Being so attracted to Kr�!la, they\nbegan to imitate His dancing, His walking and smiling, as if they themselves were Kr�!la. D ue to Kr�!la 's absence, they all became crazy ; each\none of them began to tell the others that she was Kr�!la Himself. Soon\nthey all began to assemble together and chant Kr�!la 's name very loudly,\nand they moved from one part of the forest to another searching for Him.\nActually, Kr�!la is all-pervasive ; He is in the sky, and He is in the forest ;\nHe is within the heart , and He is always everywhere .\nThe gopis therefore began to question the trees and plants about Kr�!la.\nThere were various types of big trees and small plants in the forest , and\nthe gopis began to address them. \"D ear banyan tree, have you seen the son\nof M aharaj a N anda passing this way, laughing and playing on His flute? He\nhas stolen our hearts and has gone away. If you have seen Him, kindly\ninform us which way He has gone. Dear asolw tree, dear niiga flower tree\nand campaka flower tree , have you seen the younger brother of Balarama\npass this way? He has disappeared because of our pride . \" The gopis were\naware of the reason for Kr�!la 's sudden disappearance . They could understand that when they were enj oying Kr�!la, they thought themselves to be\nthe most fortunate women within the universe , and since they were feeling\nproud, Krwa disappeared immediately just to curb their pride. Kr�!la does\nnot like His devotees to be proud of their service to Him. He accepts\neveryone's service , but He does not like one devotee to be prouder than\n\n203\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0298": "204\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nothers. If sometimes there are such feelings, Kr��a ends them by changing\nHis attitude toward the devotee.\nThe gopis then began to address the tulasi plants: \"Dear tulasi, you are\nmuch beloved by Lord Kr��a because your leaves are always at His lotus\nfeet. Dear miilati flower, dear mallikii flower, dear jasmine flower, all of\nyou must have been touched by Kr��a while He was passing this way after\ngiving us transcendental enjoyment. Have you seen Madhava passing this\nway? 0 mango trees, 0 trees of jack fruit, 0 pear trees and asana trees!\n0 blackberries and bael trees and trees of kadamba flower-you are all very\npious trees to be living on the bank of Yamuna. Kr��a must have passed\nthrough this way. Will you kindly let us know which way He has gone?\nThe gopis then looked upon the ground they were traversing and began\nto address the earth, \"Dear earthly planet, we do not know how many\npenances and austerities you have undergone to be now living with the\nfootprints of Lord Kr��a upon you. You are very jolly; the hairs on your\nbody are these jubilant trees and plants. Lord Kr��la must have been very\nmuch pleased with you, otherwise how could He have embraced you in\nthe form of V araha the boar? When you were submerged in water, He\ndelivered you, taking the whole weight of your existence on His tusks.\"\nAfter addressing the innumerable trees and plants, they turned their\nfaces toward the beautiful deer who were looking on them very pleasingly.\n\"It appears,\" they addressed the deer, \"that Kr��a, who is the Supreme\nNaraya�a Himself, must have passed through this way along with His companion, Lak�mi, the goddess of fortune. Otherwise, how is it possible that\nthe aroma of His garland, which is smeared with the red kunkuma from\nthe breast of the goddess of fortune, can be perceived in the breeze\nblowing here? It appears that they must have passed through here and\ntouched your bodies, and thus you are feeling so pleasant and are looking\ntoward us with sympathy. Will you kindly, therefore, inform us which\nway Kr��a has gone? Kr��a is the well-wisher of Vrndavana. He is as kind\nto you as to us ; therefore after leaving us, He must have been present in\nyour company. 0 fortunate trees, we are thinking of Kr��a, the younger\nbrother of Balarama. While passing through here, with one hand resting on\nthe shoulder of the goddess of fortune and the other hand whirling a lotus\nflower, He must have been very pleased to accept your obeisances, and He\nmust have glanced at you with great pleasure.\nSome of the gopis then began to address their other gopi friends,\n\"Dear friends, why don't you question these creepers who are so jubilantly embracing the big trees as if the trees were their husbands?\nIt appears that the flowers of the creepers must have been touched\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0299": "KH!ia 's Hiding from the Gopis\n\n205\n\nby the nails of Kr�rta. Otherwise, how could they feel so jubilant?\"\nAfter searching for Kr�rta here and there, when the gopis became\nfatigued, they began to talk like madwomen. They could only satisfy\nthemselves by imitating the different pastimes of Kr��1a. One of them\nimitated the demon, Putana, and one of them imitated Krwa and sucked\nher breast. One gopi imitated a hand-driven cart, and another gopi lay\ndown beneath the cart and began to throw up her legs, touching the wheels\nof the cart, as Kr�va did to kill the demon Sakatasura. They imitated child\nKr�rta, lying down on the ground, and one gopi became the demon\nTrrtavarta and carried the small child Krwa by force into the sky ; and one\nof the gopis began to imitate Kr��la while He was attempting to walk,\nringing His ankle bells. Two gopis imitated Kr��ta and Balarama, and many\nothers imitated Their cowherd boy friends. One gopi assumed the form of\nBakasura, and another forced her to fall down as the demon Bakasura did\nwhen he was killed ; similarly, another gopi defeated Vatsasura. Just as\nKr��ta used to call His cows by their different names, so the gopis imitated\nHim, calling the cows b y their respective names. One of the gopis began to\nplay on a flute, and another praised her the way Kr��a's boy friends\npraised Him while He played on His flute. One of the gopis took another\ngopi on her shoulders, just as Kr��la used to take His boy friends. Absorbed in thoughts of Krwa, the gopi who was carrying her friend began\nto boast that she was Kr��a herself: \"All of you just see my movement!\"\nOne of the gopis raised her hand with her covering garments and said,\n\"Now don't be afraid of torrents of rain and severe hurricanes. I'll save\nyou ! \" In this way she imitated the lifting of Govardhana Hill. One gopi\nforcibly put her feet on the head of another gopi and said, \"You rascal\nKaliya! I shall punish you severely. You must leave this place. I have\ndescended on this earth to punish all kinds of miscreants!\" Another gopi\ntold her friends, \"Just see! The flames of the forest fire are coming to\ndevour us. Please close your eyes, and I shall immediately save you from\nthis imminent danger.\"\nIn this way all the gopis were madly feeling the absence of Kr��1a. They\nenquired for Him from the trees and plants. In some places they found\nthe imprints of the marks on the sole of His feet-namely the flag, the\nlotus flower, the trident, the thunderbolt, etc. After seeing those footprints, they exclaimed, \"0 here is the impression of the marks on the sole\nof Kr��a. All the marks, such as the flag, the lotus flower, the trident and\nthe thunderbolt, are distinctly visible here.\" They began to follow the\nfootprints, and shortly they saw another set of footprints beside them,\nand immediately they became very sorry. \"Dear friends, just see! Whose\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0300": "206\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nare these other footprints? They are beside the footprints of the son of\nMaharaja N anda. It is certainly Krwa passing through, resting His hand on\nsome other gopi, exactly as an elephant goes side by side with his beloved\nmate. We must, therefore, understand that this particular gopi served\nKrwa with greater affectionate love than ourselves. Because of this,\nalthough He has left us, He could not leave Her company. He has taken\nHer along with Him. Dear friends, just imagine how the dust of this place\nis transcendentally glorious. The dust of the lotus feet of Krwa is worshiped even by Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, and the goddess of fortune,\nLak�mi. But at the same time, we are very sorry that this particular gopi\nhas gone along with Kf�l).a, for She is sharing the nectar of Kn!!a's kisses\nand leaving us aside to lament. 0 friends, just see! At this particular spot\nwe do not see the footprints of that gopi. It appears that because there\nwere some pin-pricks from the dried grass, Krwa took RadharaFi on His\nshoulder. 0, She is so dear to Him! Knrm must have picked some flowers\nin this spot to satisfy Radharal).i, because here, where He stood erect to\nget the flowers from the high branches of the tree, we find only half the\nimpression of His feet. Dear friends, just see how Kn!la must have sat\ndown here with Radharal).i and tried to set flowers in Her hair. You can be\ncertain that both of Them sat together here. Kr�!la is self-sufficient ; He\nhas nothing to enjoy from any other source, yet just to satisfy His devotee\nHe has treated Radharal).i exactly as a lusty boy treats his girl friend. Kr�!la\nis so kind that He always tolerates the disturbances created by His girl\nfriends.\"\nIn this way, all the gopis began to point out the faults of the particular\ngopi who had been taken alone by Knl).a. They began to say that the chief\ngopi, Radharal).i, who was taken alone by Krwa, must be very proud of\nHer position, thinking Herself the greatest of the gopis. \"Yet how could\nKr�!la take Her away alone, leaving all of us aside, unless She be extraordinarily qualified and beautiful? She must have taken Krwa in the deep\nforest and told Him, 'My dear Kf�l).a, I am now very tired. I cannot go any\nfurther. Please carry Me wherever You like.' When Krwa was spoken to in\nthis way, He might have told Radharal).i, 'All right, better get on My\nshoulder.' But immediately Kr�!la must have disappeared, and now Radharal).i must be lamenting for Him, 'My dear lover, My dearest, You are so\nfine and so powerful. Where have Y ou gone? I am nothing but Your most\nobedient maidservant. I am very much aggrieved. Please come and be with\nMe again.' Krwa, however, is not coming to Her. He must be watching\nHer from a distant place and enjoying Her sorrow.\"\nAll the gopis then went further and further into the forest, searching\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0301": "Kr�!la's Hiding from the Gopis\n\n207\n\nout Kr�!la, but when they learned that actually Radhara!li was left alone\nby Kr�!la, they became very sorry. This is the test of Kr�!la consciousness.\nIn the beginning they were a little envious that Kr�!la had taken Radhara!ll alone, leaving aside all other gopis, but as soon as they knew that\nKr�!la had also left Radharavi and that She was alone lamenting for Him,\nthey became more sympathetic to Her. The gopis found Radhara!li and\nheard everything from Her, about how She misbehaved with Kr�!la and\nhow She was proud and was insulted for Her pride. After hearing all this,\nthey became actually very sympathetic. Then all the gopis, including\nRadhara!1i, began to proceed further into the forest until they could no\nlonger see the moonlight.\nWhen they saw that it was getting gradually darker, they stopped. Their\nmind and intelligence became absorbed in the thoughts of Kr�!la; they all\nimitated the activities of Kr�!la and His speeches. Due to their heart and\nsoul being completely given to Kr�!la, they began to chant His glories,\ncompletely forgetting their family interests. In this way, all the gopis\nassembled together on the bank of Yam una, and expecting that Kr��a\nmust return to them , they simply engaged in the chanting of the glories of\nSri Kr�va-Hare Kr�!la, Hare Krwa, Kr�!la Kr�I;Ia, Hare Hare, Hare Rama,\nHare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Thirtie th Chapter of Kr�!la,\n\"Knrw's Hiding from the Gopis. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0302": "3 1 I S ongs by the Go pis\n\nOne gopi said, \"My· dear Kr§�a, ever since Y ou took Y our birth in this\nland of V raj abhiimi , everything appears to be glorious. The land of\nv rndavana has become glorious, and it is as if the goddess of fortune is\npersonally always existing here. But it is only we who are very unhappy,\nbecause we are searching for You, but cannot see Y ou with our greatest\neffort. Our life is completely dependent upon You ; therefore we request\nthat Y ou again come to us. \"\nAnother go pi said, \"My dear Kf§�a, Y ou are the life and soul even of\nthe lotus flower that grows on the water of lakes made transparent by the\nclear rains of autumn. Although the lotus flowers are so beautiful, without\nY our glance they fade away. Similarly, without You, we are also dying.\nActually, we are neither Y our wives nor slaves. You never spent any money\nfor us, yet we are simply attracted by Y our glance. N ow, if we die without\nreceiving Y our glance, Y ou 'll be responsible for our deaths. Certainly the\nkilling of women is a great sin, and if Y ou do not come to see us and we\ndie, Y ou will suffer the reactions of sin. So please come see us. Do not\nthink that one can be killed only by certain weapons. We are being killed\nby Y our absence. Y ou should consider how Y ou are responsible for\nkilling women. We are always grateful to Y ou because Y ou have protected\nus many times : from the poisonous water of Yamuna, from the serpent\nKaliya, from Bakasura, from the anger of Indra and his torrents of rain,\nfrom forest fire and so many other incidents. You are the greatest and\nmost powerful of all. It is wonderful for Y ou to protect us from so many\ndangers, but we are surprised that Y ou are neglecting us at this moment.\nDear Kr§�a, dear friend, we know very well that You are not actually the\nson of mother Y asoda or the cowherd man N anda Maharaj a . Y ou are the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead and the Supersoul of all living entities.\nYou have, out of Y our own causeless mercy, appeared in this world,\n\n208\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0303": "Songs by the Gopis\n\n209\n\nrequested by Lord Brahma for the protection of the world. It is by Y our\nkindness only that You have appeared in the dynasty of Y adu. 0 best in\nthe dynasty of Y adu, if anyone afraid of this materialistic way of life takes\nshelter at Your lotus feet, You never deny him protection. Your movements are sweet, and You are independent, touching the goddess of\nfortune with one hand and in the other bearing a lotus flower. That is\nYour extraordinary feature. Please, therefore, come before us and bless\nus with the lotus flower in Your hand.\n\"Dear Krwa, You are the killer of all the fears of the inhabitants of\nV rndavana. You are the supremely powerful hero, and we know that You\ncan kill the unnecessary pride of Your devotee as well as the pride of\nwomen like us simply by Your beautiful smile. We are simply Your maidservants and slaves; please, therefore, accept us by showing us Your\nlotus-like beautiful face.\n\"Dear Kr�!la, actually we have become very lusty, having been touched\nby Your lotus feet. Your lotus feet certainly kill all kinds of sinful\nactivities of devotees who have taken shelter there. You are so kind that\neven the ordinary animals take shelter under Your lotus feet. Your lotus\nfeet are also the residence of the goddess of fortune, yet You dance on the\nhead of the Kaliya serpent with them. Now we are requesting You to\nkindly place Your lotus feet on our breasts and pacify our lusty desires to\ntouch You.\n\"0 Lord, Your attractive eyes, like the lotus, are so nice and pleasing.\nYour sweet words are so fascinating that they please even the greatest\nscholars, who also become attracted to You. We are also attracted by\nYour speaking and by the beauty of Your face and eyes. Please, therefore,\nsatisfy us by Your nectarean kisses. Dear Lord, words spoken by You or\nwords describing Your activities are full of nectar, and simply by speaking\nor hearing Your words one can be saved from the blazing fire of material\nexistence. Great demigods like Lord Brahma and Lord Siva are always\nengaged in chanting the glories of Your words. They do so to eradicate the\nsinful activities of all living entities in the material world. If one simply\ntries to hear Your transcendental words, he can very quickly be elevated\nto the platform of pious activities. For the Vaiwavas, Your words give\ntranscendental pleasure, and saintly persons who are engaged in distributing\nYour transcendental message all over the world are first-class charitable\npersons.\" (This is confirmed by Riipa Gosvam'i also when he addressed\nLord Caitanya as the most munificent incarnation because Lord Caitanya\ndistributed the words of Krwa and love of Krwa free of charge all over\nthe world.)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0304": "210\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n\"Dear Kr�!la,\" the gopis continued, \"You are very cunning. You can\nimagine how much we are distressed simply by remembering Your cunning\nsmile, Your pleasing glance, Your walking with us in the forest of V rndavana, and Your auspicious meditations. Your talks with us in lonely places\nwere heart-warming. Now we are all aggrieved to remember Your behavior.\nPlease save us. Dear Kr��a, certainly You know how much we are saddened\nwhen You go out of V rndavana village to tend the cows in the forest. How\nwe are afflicted simply to think that Your soft lotus feet are being pricked\nby the dry grass and the tiny stones in the forest! We are so attached to\nYou that we always think simply of Your lotus feet.\n\"0 Krwa, when You return from the pasturing ground with the\nanimals, we see Your face covered by Your curly hair and dusted by the\nhoof-dust of the cows. We see Your mildly smiling face, and our desire to\nenjoy You increases. 0 dear Kr�!la, You are the supreme lover, and You\nalways give shelter to surrendered souls. You fulfill everyone's desire;\nYour lotus feet are even worshiped by Lord Brahma, the creator of the\nuniverse. To whomever worships Your lotus feet, You without a doubt\nalways bestow Your benedictions. So kindly be pleased with us and keep\nYour lotus feet on our breasts and thus relieve our present distresses. Dear\nKrwa, we are seeking Your kisses which You offer even to Your flute. The\nvibration of Your flute enchants the whole world and our hearts also.\nKindly, therefore, return and kiss us with Your mouth of nectar.\"\nWhen Lord Krwa finally reappeared and assembled with the gopis, He\nlooked very beautiful, just befitting a person with all kinds of opulences. In\nthe Brahma-sarhhitii, it is stated, iinanda-cin-maya-rasa-pratibhiivitiibhi{t:\nKrwa alone is not particularly beautiful, but when His energy-especially\nHis pleasure energy, represented by Radhara!l-1-expands, He looks very\nmagnificent. The Mayavada conception of the perfection of the Absolute\nTruth without potency is due to insufficient knowledge. Actually, outside\nthe exhibition of His different potencies, the Absolute Truth is not\ncomplete. Ananda-cin-maya-rasa means that His body is a transcendental\nform of eternal bliss and knowledge. Kr�!la is always surrounded by\ndifferent potencies, and therefore He is perfect and beautiful. We understand from Brahma-sarhhitii and Skanda Puriirw that Kr�!la is always\nsurrounded by many thousands of goddesses of fortune. The gopis are all\ngoddesses of fortune, and Kr�!la took them hand in hand on the bank of\nthe Yamuna.\nIt is said in the Skanda Purii[La that out of many thousands of gopis,\n16,000 are predominant; out of those 16,000 gopis, 108 gopis are especially\nprominent; and out of 1 0 8 gopis, eight gopis are still more prominent; out\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0305": "Songs by the Gopis\n\n21 1\n\nof eight gopis, Radhara�i and Candravali are prominent ; and out of these\ntwo gopis, Radhara!li is the most prominent.\nWhen Kr§�a entered the forest on the bank of the Yamuna, the moonlight dissipated the surrounding darkness. Due to the season, flowers like\nthe k unda and kadamba were blooming, and a gentle breeze was carrying\ntheir aroma. Due to the aroma, the bees were also flying in the breeze,\nthinking that the aroma was honey. The gopis made a seat for Krwa by\nleveling the soft sand and placing cloths over it.\nThe gopis who were gathered there were mostly all followers of the\nVedas. In their previous births, during Lord Ramacandra's advent, they\nwere Vedic scholars who desired the association of Lord Ramacandra in\nconjugal love. Ramacandra gave them the benediction that they would be\npresent for the advent of Lord Krwa, and He would fulfill their desires.\nDuring Kr§�a's advent, the Vedic scholars took birth in the shape of the\ngopis in Vrndavana ; as young gopis, they got the association of Kr§�a in\nfulfillment of their previous births' desire. The ultimate goal of their\nperfect desire was attained, and they were so joyous that they had nothing\nfurther to desire. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii: if one attains the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead, then he has no desire for anything. When\nthe . gopis had Kr§�a in their company, not only all their grief, but their\nlamenting in the absence of Kf§�a was relieved. They felt they had no\ndesire to be fulfilled. Fully satisfied in the company of Kf§!la, they spread\ntheir cloths on the ground. These garments were made of fine linen and\nsmeared with the red kunkuma which decorated their breasts. With great\ncare they spread a sitting place for Kr§�a. Kf§�a was their life and soul,\nand they created a very comfortable seat for Him.\nSitting on the seat amongst the gopis, Kr�!la became more beautiful.\nGreat yogis like Lord Siva, Lord Brahma or even Lord Se§a and others\nalways try to fix their attention upon Kf§!la in their heart, but here the\ngopis actually saw Kr§�a seated before them on their cloths. In the society\nof the gopis, Krwa looked very beautiful. They were the most beautiful\ndamsels within the three worlds, and they assembled together around\nKr§�a.\nIt may be asked herein how Kr§�a seated Himself beside so many gopis\nand yet sat alone. There is a significant word in this verse: isvara. As it is\nstated in the Bhagavad-gitii, isvara[t sarva-bhiitiiniim. Isvara refers to the\nSupreme Lord as the Supersoul seated in everyone's heart. Kf§�a also\nmanifested this potency of expansion as Paramatma in this gathering with\nthe gopis. Kr§�a was sitting by the side of each gopi, unseen by the others.\nKr§�a was so kind to the gopis that instead of sitting in their hearts to be\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0306": "212\n\nKr��a� the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nappreciated in yogic meditation, He seated Himself by their sides. By\nseating Himself outside, He showed special favor to the gopis, who were\nthe selected beauties of all creation. Having gotten their most beloved\nLord, the gopis began to please Him by moving their eyebrows and smiling\nand also by suppressing their anger. Some of them took His lotus feet in\ntheir laps and began to massage Him. And while smiling, they confidentially expressed their suppressed anger and said, \"Dear Kr�IJa, we are\nordinary women of V rndavana, and we do not know much about V edic\nknowledge�what is right and what is wrong. We therefore put a question\nto You, and, since You are very learned, You can answer it properly. In\ndealing between lovers, we find that there are three classes of men. One\nclass simply receives, another class reciprocates favorably, even if the lover\nis very contrary, and the third class neither acts contrary nor answers\nfavorably in dealings of love. So out of these three classes, which do You\nprefer, or which do You call honest?\"\nIn answer, Kr�IJa said, \"My dear friends, persons who simply reciprocate\nthe loving dealings of the other party are just like merchants. They give in\nloving affairs as much as they get from the other party. Practically there\nis no question of love. It is simply business dealing, and it is self-interested\nor self-centered. Better the second class of men, who love in spite of the\nopposite party's contrariness; even those without a tinge of loving affairs\nare better than the merchants. Sincere love can be seen when the father\nand mother love their children in spite of their children's neglect. The\nthird class neither reciprocates nor neglects. They can be further divided\ninto two classes. One is the self-satisfied, who do not require anyone's love.\nThey are called iitmiiriima, which means they are absorbed in the thought\nof the Supreme Personality of Godhead and so do not care whether one\nloves them or not. But another class are ungrateful men. They are called\ncallous. The men in this group revolt against superior persons. For instance,\na son, in spite of receiving all kinds of things from loving parents, may be\ncallous and not reciprocate. Those in this class are generally known as\ngurudruha, which nieans they receive favors from the parents or the\nspiritual master and yet neglect them.\"\nKr�IJa indirectly answered the questions of the gopis, even those questions which implied that KniJa did not properly receive their dealings. In\nanswer, Kr�pa said that He, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is\nself-satisfied. He does not require aryone's love, but at the same time He\nsaid that He is not ungrateful.\n\"My dear friends,\" Kr�IJa continued, \"you might be aggrieved by My\nwords and acts, but you must know that sometimes I do not reciprocate\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0307": "Songs by the Gopis\n\n213\n\nm y devotees' dealings with M e . I t appears that m y devotees are very much\nattached to Me, but sometimes I do not reciprocate their feelings properly\nin order to increase their love for Me more and more. If I can very easily\nbe approached by them, they might think, 'Kr�pa is so easily available.' So\nsometimes I do not respond. If a person has no money but after some time\naccumulates some wealth and then loses it, he will think of the lost\nproperty twenty-four hours a day. Similarly, in order to increase the love\nof My devotees, sometimes I appear to be lost to them, and instead of\nforgetting Me, they feel their loving sentiments for Me increase. My dear\nfriends, do not think for a moment that I have been dealing with You just\nlike ordinary devotees. I know what you are. Y ou have forsaken all kinds\nof social and religious obligations; you have given up all connection with\nyour parents. Without caring for social convention and religious obligations,\nyou have come to Me and loved Me, and I am so much obliged to you that\nI cannot treat you as ordinary devotees. D o not think that I was away\nfrom you. I was near to you. I was simply seeing how much you were\nanxious for Me in My absence. So please do not try to find fault in Me.\nBecause you consider Me so dear to you, kindly excuse Me if I have done\nanything wrong. I cannot repay your continual love for Me, even throughout the lifetimes of the demigods in the heavenly planets. It is impossible\nto repay you or show gratitude for your love; therefore please b e satisfied\nby your own pious activities. You have displayed exemplary attraction\nfor Me, overcoming the greatest difficulties arising from family connections. Please be satisfied with your highly exemplary character, for it is not\npossible for Me to repay your debt. \"\nThe exemplary character o f devotional service manifested b y the devotees of v rndavana is the purest type of devotion. It is enjoined in\nauthoritative sastra that devotional service must be ahaituka and apratihata. This means that devotional service to Kr�pa cannot be checked by\npolitical or religious convention. The stage of devotional service is always\ntranscendental. The gopis particularly showed pure devotional service\ntowards Kr�pa, so much so that Kr�pa Himself remained indebted to them.\nLord Caitanya thus said that the devotional service manifested by the\ngopis in V rndavana excelled all other methods of approaching the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Thirty-first Chapter of\nKr�pa, \"Songs by the Gopis. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0308": "32 I Descri ption of the Rasa D ance\n\nThus hearing the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kr§9-a, speaking to\npacify them, the gopis became very much pleased. And not only by\nhearing His words, but also by touching the hands and legs of the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, they became completely relieved from the great\nsuffering of separation. After this, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\nbegan His riisa dance. When one dances in the midst of many girls, it is\ncalled a riisa dance. So Kf§9-a began to dance among the most beautiful\nand fortunate girls within the three WDrlds. The gopis of v rndavana, who\nwere so attracted to Him, danced with Krwa, hand in hand.\nKf§9-a's rasa dance should never be compared with any kind of material\ndance, such as a ball dance or a society dance. The riisa dance is a\ncompletely spiritual performance. In order to establish this fact, Kf§9-a,\nthe supreme mystic, expanded Himself in many forms and stood beside\neach gopi. Placing His hands on the shoulders of the gopis on both sides of\nHim, He began to dance in their midst. The mystic expansions of Krwa\nwere not perceived by the gopis because Krwa appeared alone to each of\nthem. Each gopi thought that Krwa was dancing with her alone. Above that\nwonderful dance flew many airplanes carrying the denizens of the heavenly\nplanets, who were very anxious to see the wonderful dance of Krwa with\nthe gopis. The Gandharvas and Kinnaras began to sing, and , accompanied\nby their respective wives, all the Gandharvas began to shower flowers on\nthe dancers.\nAs the gopis and Krwa danced together, a very blissful musical sound\nwas produced from the tinkling of their bells, ornaments and bangles. It\nappeared that Krwa was a greenish sapphire locket in the midst of a\ngolden necklace decorated with valuable stones. While Kr§!la and the gopis\ndanced they displayed extraordinary bodily features . The movements of\ntheir legs, their placing their hands on one another, the movements of their\n\n2 14\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0309": "Description of the Rasa Dance\n\n215\n\neyebrows, their smiling, the movements of the breasts of the gopis and\ntheir clothes, their earrings, their cheeks, their hair with flowers-as they\nsang and danced these combined together to appear like clouds, thunder,\nsnow and lightning. Kr��a's bodily features appeared just like a group of\nclouds, their songs were like thunder, the beauty of the gopis appeared to\nbe just like lightning in the sky, and the drops of perspiration visible on\ntheir faces appeared like falling snow. In this way, both the gopis and\nKr��a fully engaged in dancing.\nThe necks of the gopis became tinted with red due to their desire to\nenjoy Kr��a more and more. To satisfy them, Kr��a began to clap His\nhands in time with their singing. Actually the whole world is full of\nKr��a's singing, but it is appreciated in different ways by different kinds of\nliving entities. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita: ye yatha mam\nprapadyante. Kr��a is dancing, and every living entity is also dancing, but\nthere is a difference in the dancing in the spiritual world and in the material\nworld. This is expressed by the author of Caitanya-caritamrta, who says\nthat the master dancer is Kr��a and everyone is His servant. Everyone is\ntrying to imitate Kr��a's dancing. Those who are actually in Kr��a\nconsciousness respond rightly to the dancing of Kr��a: they do not try to\ndance independently. But those in the material world try to imitate\nKr��a as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The living entities are\ndancing under the direction of Kr��a's maya and are thinking that they\nare equal to Kr��a. But this is not a fact. In Krwa consciousness, this misconception is absent, for a person in Kr��a consciousness knows that Kr��a\nis the supreme master and everyone is His servant. One has to dance to\nplease Kr��a, not to imitate or to become equal to the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead. The gopis wanted to please Kr��a, and therefore as Krwa\nsang, they responded and encouraged Him by saying, \"Well done, well\ndone.\" Sometimes they presented beautiful music for His pleasure, and He\nresponded by praising their singing.\nWhen some of the gopis became very tired from dancing and moving\ntheir bodies, they placed their hands on the shoulders of Sri Kr��a. Then\ntheir hair loosened and flowers fell to the ground. When they placed their\nhands on Kr��a's shoulder, they became overwhelmed by the fragrance of\nHis body which emanated from the lotus, other aromatic flowers, and the\npulp of sandalwood. They became filled with attraction for Him, and they\nbegan to kiss one another. Some gopis touched Kr��a cheek to cheek, and\nKr��a began to offer them chewed betel nuts from His mouth, which they\nexchanged ·with great pleasure by kissing. And by accepting those betel\nnuts, the gopis spiritually advanced.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0310": "216\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nThe gopis became tired after long singing and dancing. Kr��a was dancing\nbeside them, and to alleviate their fatigue they took Sri Kr��a's hand and\nplaced it on their raised breasts. Kr��a's hand, as well as the breasts of the\ngopis, are eternally auspicious; therefore when they combined, both of\nthem became spiritually enhanced. The gopis so enjoyed the company of\nKr��a, the husband of the goddess of fortune, that they forgot that they\nhad any other husband in the world, and upon being embraced by the arms\nof Kr��a and dancing and singing with Him, they forgot everything. The\nS rtmad-Bhagavatam thus describes the beauty of the gopis while they were\nrasa dancing with Kr��a. There were lotus flowers over both their ears,\nand their faces were decorated with sandalwood pulp. They wore tilaka,\nand there were drops of sweat on their smiling mouths. From their feet\ncame the tinkling sound of ankle hells as well as bangles. The flowers\nwithin their hair were falling to the lotus feet of Kr��a, and He was very\nsatisfied.\nAs stated in the Brahma-sarhhita, all these gopis are expansions of\nKr��a 's pleasure potency. Touching their bodies with His hands and looking\nat their pleasing eyes, Krwa enjoyed the gopis exactly as a child enjoys\nplaying with the reflection of his body in a mirror. When Kr��a touched\nthe different parts of their bodies, the gopis felt surcharged with spiritual\nenergy. They could not adjust their loosened clothes, although they tried\nto keep them properly. Their hair and garments became scattered, and\ntheir ornaments loosened as they forgot themselves in company with\nKrsna.\nWhile Kr��a was enjoying the company of the gopis in the rasa dance,\nthe astonished demigods and their wives gathered in the sky. The moon,\nbeing afflicted with a sort of lust, began to watch the dance and became\nstunned with wonder. The gopis had prayed to the goddess Katyayani to\nhave Kr��a as their husband. Now Kr��a was fulfilling their desire by\nexpanding Himself in as many forms as there were gopis and enjoying\nthem exactly as a husband.\nSrila Sukadeva Gosvami has remarked that Kr��a is self-sufficient-He is\natmarama. He doesn't need anyone else for His satisfaction. Because the\ngopis wanted Kr��a as their husband, He fulfilled their desire. When Kr�!la\nsaw that the gopis were tired from dancing with Him, He immediately\nbegan to smear His hands over their faces so that their fatigue would he\nsatiated. In order to reciprocate the kind hospitality of Kr��a, the gopis\nbegan to look at Him lwlngly. They were overjoyed by the auspicious\ntouch of the hand of Kr��a. Their smiling cheeks shone with beauty, and\nthey began to sing the glories of Kr�!la with transcendental pleasure. As\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0311": "Description of the Rasa Dance\n\n217\n\npure devotees, the more the gopis enjoyed Kr§�a's company, the more thev\nbecame enlightened with His glories, and thus they reciprocated With\nHim. They wanted to satisfy Kr§�a by glorifying His transcendental\npastimes. Kr§�a is the Supreme Personality of Godhead,. the master of all\nmasters, and the gopis wanted to worship Him for His unusual exhibition\nof mercy upon them.\nBoth the gopis and Kr§�a entered the water of the Yamuna just to\nrelieve their fatigue from the rasa dance. The lily flower garlands around\nthe necks of the gopis were strewn to pieces due to their embracing the\nbody of Kr§�a, and the flowers were reddish from being smeared with the\nkunkuma on their breasts. The bumblebees were humming about in order\nto get honey from the flowers. Kr§�a and the gopis entered the water of\nYamuna just as an elephant enters a water tank with his many female\ncompanions. Both the gopis and Kn�a forgot their real identity, playing\nin the water, enjoying each others' company and relieving the fatigue of\nrasa dancing. The gopis began to splash water on the body of Kr§�a, all\nthe while smiling, and Krwa enj oyed this. As Kr§�a was taking pleasure in\nthe joking words and splashing water, the demigods in the heavenly\nplanets began to shower flowers. The demigods thus praised the superexcellent rasa dance of Kr§�a, the supreme enjoyer, and His pastimes with\nthe gopis in the water of Yam una.\nAfter this, Lord Kn�a and the gopis came out of the water and began to\nstroll along the bank of the Yamuna, where a nice breeze was blowing,\ncarrying the aroma of different kinds of flowers over the water and land.\nWhile strolling on the bank of the Yam una, Kr§�a recited various kinds of\npoetry. He thus enjoyed the company of the gopis in the soothing moonlight of autumn.\nSex desire is especially excited in the autumn season, but the wonderful\nthing about Kr§�a's association with the gopis is that there was no question\nof sex desire. It was, as clearly stated in the Bhagavata description by\nSukadeva Gosvami, avaruddha-saurata[l, namely the sex impulse was\ncompletely controlled. There is a distinction between Lord Kr§�a's dancing\nwith the gopis and the ordinary dancing of living entities within the\nmaterial world. In order to clear up further misconceptions about the rasa\ndance and the affairs of Kr§�a and the gopis, Maharaja Parik§it, the hearer\nof Srimad-Bhagavatam, told Sukadeva Gosvami, \" Kr§�a appeared on the\nearth to establish the regulative principles of religion and to curb the\npredominance of irreligion. But the behavior of Kr§�a and the gopis might\nencourage irreligious principles in the material world. I am simply surprised\nthat He would act in such a way, enjoying the company of others' wives in\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0312": "218\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nthe dead of night,\" This statement of Maharaja Parlk�it's was very much\nappreciated by Sukadeva Gosvami. The answer anticipates the abominable\nacts of the Mayavadi impersonalists who place themselves in the position\nof Kr�p.a and enjoy the company of young girls and women.\nThe basic Vedic injunctions never allow a person to enjoy sex with any\nwoman except one's own wife. Kr�p.a's appreciation of the gopis appeared\nto be distinctly in violation of these rules. Maharaja Parlk�it understood the\ntotal situation from Sukadeva Gosvami, yet to further clear the transcendental nature of Kr�p.a and the gopis in rasa dance, he expressed his\nsurprise. This is very important in order to check the unrestricted association with women by the prakrta-sahajiyii.\nIn his statement, Maharaja Parik�it has used several important words\nwhich require clarification. The first word, jugupsitam, means abominable.\nThe first doubt of Maharaja Parik�it was as follows: Lord KHp.a is the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead who has advented< Himself to establish\nreligious principles. Why then did He mix with others' wives in the dead of\nnight and enjoy dancing, embracing and kissing? According to the Vedic\ninjunctions, this is not allowed. Also, when the gop is first came to Him, He\ngave instructions to them to return to their homes. To call the wives of\nother persons or young girls and enjoy dancing with them is certainly\nabominable according to the Vedas. Why should Kr�p.a have done this?\nAnother word used here is iiptakiima. Some may take it for granted that\nKr�p.a was very lusty among young girls, but Parik�it Maharaja said that\nthis was not possible. He could not be lusty. First of all, from the material\ncalculation He was only eight years old. At that age a boy cannot be lusty.\nAptakiima means that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is self-satisfied.\nEven if He were lusty, He doesn't need to.take help from others to satisfy\nHis lusty desires. The next point is that, although not lusty Himself, He\nmight have been induced by the lusty desires of the gopis. But Maharaja\nParik�it then used another word, yadu-pati, which indicates that Kr�p.a is\nthe most exalted personality in the dynasty of the Y adus. The kings in the\ndynasty of Y adu were considered to be the most pious, and their descendants were also like that. Having taken birth in that family, how could\nKr�p.a have been induced, even by the gopis ? It is concluded, therefore,\nthat it was not possible for Kr�p.a to do anything abominable. But Maharaja\nPanK.�it was in doubt as to why Kr�p.a acted in that way. What was the real\npurpose? Another word Maharaja Parik�it used when he addressed\nSukadeva Gosvami is suvrata, which means to take a vow to enact pious\nactivities. Sukadeva Gosvami was an educated b rahmaciiri, and under the\ncircumstances, it was not possible for him to indulge in sex. This is strictly\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0313": "Description of the Rasa Dance\n\n219\n\nprohibited for brahmacaris, and what to speak of a brahmacari like\nSukadeva Gosvami. But because the circumstances of the rasa dance were\nvery suspect, Maharaja Parik§it inquired for clarification from Sukadeva\nGosvami. Sukadeva Gosvami immediately replied that transgressions of\nreligious principles by the supreme controller testify to His great power.\nFor example, fire can consume any abominable thing; that is the manifestation of the supremacy of fire. Similarly, the sun can absorb water from\na urinal or from stool, and the sun is not polluted; rather, due to the\ninfluence of sunshine, the polluted, contaminated place becomes disinfected and sterilized.\nOne may also argue that since Kr§Va is the supreme authority, His\nactivities should be followed. In answer to this question, Sukadeva Gosvami\nhas very clearly said that isvararzam, or the supreme controller, may sometimes violate !-lis instructions, but this is only possible for the controller\nHimself, not for the followers. Unusual and uncommon activities by the\ncontroller can never by imitated. Sukadeva Gosvami warned that the\nconditioned followers, who are not actually in control, should never even\nimagine imitating the uncommon activities of the controller. A Mayavadi\nphilosopher may falsely claim to be God or Kr�IJa, but he cannot actually\nact like Kr§�Ja. He can persuade his followers to falsely imitate rasa dance,\nbut he is unable to lift Govardhana Hill. We have many experiences in the\npast of Mayavadi rascals deluding their followers by posing themselves as\nKr§IJa in order to enjoy rasa-lila. In many instances they were checked by\nthe government, arrested and punished. In Orissa, Thakur Bhaktivinode\nalso punished a so-called incarnation of Vi�l)U, who was imitating rasa-lila\nwith young girls. There were many complaints against him. At that time,\nBhaktivinode Thakur was magistrate, and the government deputed him to\ndeal with that rascal, and he punished him very severely. The rasa-lila dance\ncannot be imitated by anyone. Sukadeva Gosvami warns that one should\nnot even think of imitating it. He specifically mentions that if, out of\nfoolishness, one tries to imitate Kr��ta's rasa dance, he will be killed, just\nlike a person who wants to imitate Lord Siva's drinking of an ocean of\npoison. Lord Siva drank an ocean of poison and kept it within his throat.\nThe poison made his throat turn blue; and therefore Lord Siva is called\nNilaka�tta. But if any ordinary person tries to imitate Lord Siva b y drinking\npoison or smoking gaiija, he is sure to be vanquished and will die within a\nvery short time. Lord Sri Kr��1a's dealing with the gopis was under special\ncircumstances.\nMost of the gopis in their previous lives were great sages, expert in the\nstudies of the Vedas, and when Lord Kr§va appeared as Lord Ramacandra,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0314": "220\n\nKr�9-a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nthey wanted to enjoy with Him. Lord Ramacandra gave them the benediction that their desires would be fulfilled when He would appear as\nKr��a. Therefore the desire of the gopis to enjoy the appearance of Lord\nKr��a was long cherished. So they approached goddess Katyayani to have\nKr��a as their husband. There are many other circumstances also which\ntestify to the supreme authority of Kr��a and show that He is not bound\nto the rules and regulations of the material world. In special cases, He acts\nas He likes to favor His devotees. This is only possible for Him, because He\nis the supreme controller. People in general should follow the instructions\nof Lord Kr��a as given in the Bhagavad-gita and should not even imagine\nimitating Lord Kr��a in the rasa dance.\nKr��a's lifting of Govardhana Hill, His killing great demons like Piitana\nand others are all obviously extraordinary activities. Similarly, the rasa\ndance is also an uncommon activity and cannot be imitated by any\nordinary man. An ordinary person engaged in his occupational duty, like\nArjuna, should execute his duty for the satisfaction of Kr��a ; that is within\nhis power. Arjuna was a fighter, and Kr��a wanted him to fight for His\nsatisfaction. Arjuna agreed, although at first he was not willing to fight.\nDuties are required for ordinary persons. They should not jump up and\ntry to imitate Kr��a and indulge in rasa-lilii and thus bring about their\nruin. One should know with certainty that Kr��a had no personal interest\nin whatever He did for the benediction of the gopis. As stated in the\nBhagavad-gita, na mam kannar-i limpanti: Kr��a never enjoys or suffers\nthe result of His activities. Therefore it is not possible for Him to act\nirreligiously. He is transcendental to all activities and religious principles.\nHe is untouched by the modes of material nature. He is the supreme\ncontroller of all living entities, either in human society, in the demigod\nsociety in heavenly planets, or in lower forms of life. He is the supreme\ncontroller of all living entities and of material nature ; therefore, He has\nnothing to do with religious or irreligious principles.\nSukadeva Gosvami further concludes that the great sages and devotees,\nwho are washed clean of all conditional life, can move freely even within\nthe contamination of material nature by keeping Kr��a the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead within their hearts. In this way also they do not\nbecome subject to the laws of pleasure and pain in the modes of material\nnature. How, then, is it possible for Kr��a, who appears in His own internal\npotency, to be subjected to the laws of kanna?\nIn the Bhagavad-gita the Lord clearly says that whenever He appears He\ndoes so by His internal potency ; He is not forced to accept a body by the\nlaws of karma like an ordinary living entity. Every other living entity is\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0315": "Description of the Rasa Dance\n\n22 1\n\nforced to accept a certain type of body by his previous actions. But when\nKr��a appears, He always appears in a body ; it is not forced upon Him by\nthe action of His past deeds. His body is a vehicle for His transcendental\npleasure which is enacted by His internal potency. He has no obligation to\nthe laws of karma. The Mayavadi monist must accept a certain type of\nbody, being forced by the laws of nature ; therefore, his claim to be one\nwith Kr��a or God is only theoretical. Such persons who claim to be equal\nwith Krwa and indulge in rasa-lilii create a dangerous situation for the\npeople in general. Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is already\npresent as Supersoul within the bodies of the gopis and their husbands. He\nis the guide of all living entities, as is confirmed in the Katha Upani�ad,\nnityo nityanarh cetanas cetananam. The Supersoul directs the individual\nsoul to act, and the Supersoul is the actor and witness of all action.\nIt is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii that Kr�va is present in everyone's\nheart, and from Him come all action, remembrance and forgetfulness. He\nis the original person to be known by Vedic knowledge. He is the author\nof Vedanta philosophy, and He knows the Vedanta philosophy perfectly\nwell. The so-called V edantists and Mayavadis cannot understand Kr��la as\nHe is ; they simply mislead followers by imitating the actions of Kr��a in\nan unauthorized way. Kr��a, the Supersoul of everyone, is already within\nthe body of everyone ; therefore if He sees someone or embraces someone\nthere is no question of propriety.\nSome ask that if Kr�!la is self-sufficient, why should He at all manifest\npastimes with the gopis which are disturbing to the so-called moralists of\nthe world? The answer is that such activities show special mercy to the\nfallen, conditioned souls. The gopis are also expansions of His internal\nenergy, but because Kr��a wanted to exhibit the riisa-lilii, they also\nappeared as ordinary human beings. In the material world, pleasure is\nultimately manifested in the sex attraction between man and woman. The\nman lives simply to be attracted by women, and the woman lives simply to\nbe attracted by men. That is the basic principle of material life. As soon as\nthese attractions are combined, people become more and more implicated\nin material existence. In order to show them special favor, Kr��a exhibited this rasa-lilii dance. It is just to captivate the conditioned soul.\nSince they are very much attracted by sexology, they can enjoy the same\nlife with Krsna and thus become liberated from the material condition. In\nthe Secon d C anto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Maharaja Parik�it also explains\nthat the pastimes and activities of Lord Kr��a are medicine for the\nconditioned souls. If they simply hear about Kr�va they become relieved\nfrom the material disease. They are addicted to material enjoy.tpent and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0316": "222\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nare accustomed to reading sex literature, but by hearing these transcendental pastimes of Kr��a with the gopis, they will be relieved from material contamination.\nHow they should hear and from whom is also explained by Sukadeva\nGosvami. The difficulty is that the whole world is full of Mayavadis, and\nwhen they become professional reciters of S rimad-Bhiigavatam, and when\npeople, without knowing the effect of the Mayavada philosophy, hear\nfrom such persons, they become confused. Discussion of riisa-lilii among\npeople in general is not recommended because they are affected by the\nMayavada philosophy, but if one who is advanced explains, and people\nhear from him, certainly the hearers will be gradually elevated to the\nposition of Kr��a consciousness and liberated from materially contaminated life.\nAnother importaht point is that all the gopis who danced with Kr��a\nwere not in their material bodies. They danced with Kr��la in their spiritual\nbodies. All their husbands thought that their wives were sleeping by their\nsides. The so-called husbands of the gopis were already enamored by the\ninfluence of the external energy of Kr��a ; so b y dint of this very energy\nthey could not understand that their wives had gone to dance with Krwa.\nWhat then is the basis of accusing Kr��a of dancing with others' wives?\nThe bodies of the gopis, which were their husbands', were lying in bed,\nbut the spiritual parts and parcels of Kr��a were dancing with Him. Kr��a\nis the supreme person, the whole spirit, and He danced with the spiritual\nbodies of the gopis. There is therefore no reason to accuse Krwa in any\nway.\nAfter the riisa dance was over, the night turned into the briihmamuhiirta (the night of Brahma, a very, very long period, as mentioned in\nthe Bhagavad-gitii). The b riihma-muhiirta takes place about one and a half\nhours before sunrise. It is recommended that one should rise from bed at\nthat time and, after finishing daily ablutions, take to spiritual activities\nby performing Mangala-iiriitrika and chanting the Hare Kr��a man tra. This\nperiod is very convenient for the execution of spiritual activities. When\nthat auspicious moment arrived, Kr��a asked the gopis to leave. Although\nthey were not willing to quit His company, they were very obedient and\ndear to Him. As soon as Kr��a asked them to go home, they immediately\nleft and returned home. Sukadeva Gosvami concludes this episode of riisalilii by pointing out that if a person hears from the right source of the\npastimes of Kr��a, who is Vi��u Himself, and the gopis, who are expansions of His energy, then he will be relieved from the most dangerous type\nof disease, namely lust. If one actually hears riisa-lilii, he will become\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0317": "Description of the Rasa Dance\n\n223\n\ncompletely freed from the lusty desire of sex life and elevated to the\nhighest level of spiritual understanding. Generally, because they hear\nfrom Mayavadis and they themselves are Mayavadis, people become more\nand more implicated in sex life. The conditioned soul should hear the\nr&;a-lilii dance from an authorized spiritual master and be trained by him\nso that he can understand the whole situation; thus one can be elevated to\nthe highest standard of spiritual life, otherwise one will be implicated. Material lust is a kind of hearL disease, and to cure the material heart disease\nof the conditioned soul, it is recommended that one should hear, but not\nfrom the impersonalist rascals. If one hears from the right sources with\nright understanding, then his situation will be different.\nSukadeva Gosvami has used the word sraddhanvita for one who is\ntrained in the spiritual life. Sraddhii, or faith, is the beginning. One who\nhas developed his faith in Kr��a as the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\nthe Supreme Spirit Soul, can both describe and hear. Sukadeva also uses\nthe word anusnruyat. One must hear from disciplic succession. Anu\nmeans following, and anu means always. So one must always follow the\ndisciplic succession and not hear from any stray professional reciter,\nMayavadi or ordinary man. A nusnwyat means that one must hear from\nan authorized person who is in the disciplic succession and is always\nengaged in Kr��a consciousness. When a person wants to hear in this way,\nthen the effect will be sure. By hearing rasa-lila, one will be elevated to\nthe highest position of spiritual life.\nSukadeva Gosvami uses two specific words, bhaktim and pariim. Bhaktim pariim means execution of devotional service above the neophyte\nstage. Those who are simply attracted to temple worship but do not know\nthe philosophy of bhakti are in the neophyte stage. That sort of bhakti is\nnot the perfectional stage. The perfectional stage of bhakti, or devotional\nservice, is completely free from material contamination. The most dangerous aspect of contamination is lust or sex life. Bhaktim param devotional service is so potent that the more one advances in this line, the more\nhe loses his attraction for material life. One who is actually deriving benefit from hearing rasa-lila dance surely achieves the transcendental position.\nHe surely loses all traces of lust in his heart.\nSnla Visvanatha Cakravarti 'fhakur points out that according to Bhagavad-gitii, the Brahma day and Brahma night are periods of solar years\nexpanding to 4,300,000 multiplied by l ,000. According to Visvanatha\nCakravarti 'fhakur, the rasa dance was performed during the long period\nof Brahma's night, but the gopis could not understand that. In order to\nfulfill their desire, Kr��a extended the night to cover such a great period\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0318": "224\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nof time. One may ask how this was possible, ancl Visvanatha Cakravarti\n'fhakur reminds us that Kr�J}a, although bound by a small rope, could\nshow His mother the whole universe within His mouth. How was this\npossible? The answer is that He can do anything for the pleasure of His\ndevotees. Similarly, because the gopis wanted to enjoy Krwa, they were\ngiven the opportunity to associate with Him for a long period. This was\ndone according to His promise. When Kr�l}a stole the garments of the gopis\nwhile they were taking bath at Cirghat on Yamuna, Kr�l}a promised to\nfulfill their desire in some future night. In one night, therefore, they\nenjoyed the company of Krwa as their beloved husband, but that night\nwas not an ordinary night. It was a night of Brahma, and lasted millions\nand millions of years. Everything is possible for Kr�J}a, for He is the\nsupreme controller.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Thirty-second Chapter of\nKr�J}a, \"Desc ription of the Rasa Dance. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0319": "3 3 I Vidyadhara Liberated\nand the Demon S aitkhasura Killed\nOnce upon a time , the cowherd men of Vrndavana, headed by Nanda\nMaharaj a , desired to go to Ambikavana to perform the S ivariitri performance. The riisa-lilii was performed during the autumn, and after that\nthe next big ceremony is Holi or the Dolayiitrii ceremony. Between the\nDolayiitrii ceremony and the riisa-lilii ceremony there is one important\nceremony which is called S ivariitri, which is especially observed by the\nSaivites, or devotees of Lord Siva. But sometimes the V aisnavas\nalso ob..\nserve this ceremony because they accept L ord Siva as the foremost\nVai�!lava. But the function of S ivariitri is not observed very regularly by\nthe b hak tas, or devotees of Krsna.\nUnder the circumstances, it is stated in\n·\nS rimad-Bhiigavatam that the �� wherd men headed by N anda Maharaj a\n\" once upon a time desired. \" That means that they were not regularly\nobserving the S ivariitri function, but that once upon a time they wanted to\ngo to Ambikavana out of curiosity. Ambikavana is situated somewhere\nin the Guj arat province. Ambikavana is said to be situated on the river\nSarasvati, yet we do not find any Sarasvati River in the Guj arat province ;\nthe only river there is Savarmati. In India, all · the big places of pilgrimage\nare situated on nice rivers like the Ganges, Y am una, Sarasvati, N armada,\nGodavari, Kaveri, etc. Ambikavana was situated on the bank of Sarasvati,\nand all the cowherd men and N anda Maharaj a went there.\nThey very devotedly began to worship the deity of L ord Siva and\nAmbika. It is the general practice that wherever there is a temple of Lord\nSiva, there must be another temple of Ambika ( or Durga) because Ambika\nis the wife of L ord Siva and is the most exalted of chaste women. She\ndoesn't live outside the association of her husband. After reaching Ambikavana, the cowherd men of V rndavana first bathed themselves in the River\nSarasvati. If one goes to any place of pilgrimage , his first duty is to take a\nbath and sometimes to shave his head. That is the first business. After\n\n225\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0320": "226\n\nKr��' the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ntaking bath, they worshiped the D eities and then distributed charity in the\nholy places.\nAccording to the Vedic system, charity is given to the b riihmarzas. It is\nstated in the Vedic siistras that only the b riihmm;as and the sannyiisis can\naccept charity. The cowherd men from Vrndavana gave cows decorated\nwith golden ornaments and beautiful garlands. The b riihmarzas are given\ncharity because they are not engaged in any business profession. They are\nsupposed to be engaged in brahminical occupations, as described in the\nBhaga vad g'itii namely, they must be very learned and must perform\nausterity and penances. They must not only themselves be learned, but\nthey must also teach others. Briihmar-as are not meant to be b riihmm;ws\nalone ; they should create other b riihmarzas also. If a man is found who\nagrees to· become a b riihmar-a's disciple, he is also given the chance to\nbecome a briihmara. The b riihmara is always engaged in the worship of\nLord Vi�pu. Therefore the b riihmaras are eligible to accept all kinds of\ncharity. But if the b riihmarzas receive excess charity, they are to distribute\nit for the service of Vi�pu. In the Vedic scripture, therefore, one is recommended to give in charity to the b riihmarzas, and by so doing one pleases\nLord Vi�pu and all the demigods.\nThe pilgrims take bath, worship the Deity, and give in charity; they are\nalso recommended to fast one day. They should go to a place of pilgrimage\nand stay there at least for three days. The first day is spent fasting, and at\nnight they can drink a little water because water does not break the fast.\nThe cowherd men, headed by N anda Maharaja, spent that night on the\nbank of the Sarasvati. They fasted all day and drank a little water at night.\nBut while they were taking their rest, a great serpent from the nearby\nforest appeared before them and hungrily began to swallow up N anda\nMaharaja. Nanda began to cry helplessly, \"My dear son, Kr�pa, please\ncome and save me from this danger! This serpent is swallowing me ! \" When\nN anda Maharaja cried for help, all the cowherd men got up and saw what\nwas happening. They immediately took up burning logs and began to beat\nthe snake to kill it. But in spite of being beaten with burning logs, the\nserpent was not about to give up swallowing N anda Maharaja.\nAt that time Kr�pa appeared on the scene and touched the serpent with\nHis lotus feet. I mmediately upon being touched by the lotus feet of Kr�!la,\nthe serpent shed its reptilian body and appeared as a very beautiful demigod named V idyadhara. His bodily features were so beautiful that he\nappeared to be worshipable. There was a luster and effulgence emanating\nfrom his body, and he was garlanded with a gold necklace. He offered\nobeisances to Lord Kr�!la and stood before Him with great humility. Krwa\n-\n\n-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0321": "Vidyadhara Liberated and Satikhasura Killed\n\n227\n\nthen asked the demigod, \"You appear to be a very nice demigod and to be\nfavored by the goddess of fortune. How is it that you performed such\nabominable activities, and how did you get the body of a serpent?\" The\ndemigod then began to narrate the story of his previous life.\n\"My dear Lord,\" he said, \"in my previous life I was named Vidyadhara\nand was known all over the world for my beauty. Because I was a celebrated personality, I used to travel all over in my airplane. While traveling,\nI saw a great sage named AngiriL He was very ugly, and because I was very\nproud of my beauty, I laughed at him. Due to this sinful action, I was\ncondemned by the great sage to assume the form of a serpent.''\nOne should note here that before being favored by Kr�tJ.a, a person is\nalways under the modes of material nature, however elevated he may be\nmaterially. Vidyadhara was a materially elevated demigod, and he was\nvery beautiful. He also held a great material position and was able to travel\nall over by airplane. Yet he was condemned to become a serpent in his\nnext life. Any materially elevated person can be condemned to an abominable species of life if he is not careful. It is a misconception that after\nreaching the human body one is never degraded. Vidyadhara himself\nstates that even though he was a demigod, he was condemned to become\na serpent.· But because he was touched by the lotus feet of Kr��a, he\nimmediately came to Kr��a consciousness. He admitted, however, that in\nhis previous life he was actually sinful. A Kr��a conscious person knows\nthat he is always the servant of the servant of Kr��a ; he is most insignificant, and whatever good he does is by the grace of Kr��a and the spiritual\nmaster.\nThe demigod Vidyadhara continued to speak to Sri Kr��a. \" Because I\nwas very proud of the exquisite beauty of my body,\" he said, \"I derided\nthe ugly features of the great sage Angirii. He cursed me for my sin, and\nI became a snake. Now I consider that this curse b y the sage was not at all\na curse ; it was a great benediction for me. Had he not cursed me, I would\nnot have assumed the body of a serpent and would not have been kicked\nby Your lotus feet and thus freed from all material contamination.\"\nIn material existence, four things are very valuable: to be born in a\ndecent family, to be very rich, to be very learned, and to be very beautiful.\nThese are considered to be material assets. Unfortunately, withput Kr��a\nconsciousness, these material assets sometimes become sources of sin and\ndegradation. Despite Vidyadhara's being a demigod and having a beautiful\nbody, he was condemned to the body of a snake due to pride. A snake is\nconsidered to be the most cruel and envious living entity, but those who\nare human beings and are envious of others are considered to be even more\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0322": "228\n\nKr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nvicious than snakes. The snake can be subdued or controlled by charming\nmantras and herbs, but a person who is envious cannot be controlled by\nanyone.\n\"My dear Lord,\" Vidyadhara continued, \"Now since I think I have\nbecome freed from all kinds of sinful activities, I am asking Your permission to return to my abode, the heavenly planet.\" This request\nindicates that persons who are attached to fruitive activities, desiring\npromotion to the comforts of higher planetary systems, cannot achieve\ntheir ultimate goal of life without the sanction of the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead. It is also stated in the Bhagavad-gita that the less intelligent\nwant to achieve material benefits and therefore worship different kinds of\ndemigods, but they actually · get the benediction from the demigods\nthrough the permission of Lord Viwu, or Kr�va. Demigods have no power\nto bestow material profit. Even if one is attached to material benediction,\nhe can worship Kr�!la the Supreme Personality of Godhead and ask Him.\nKrwa is completely able to give even material benediction. There is a\ndifference, however, in asking material benediction from the demigods\nand from Kr�pa. Dhruva Maharaja worshiped the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead for material benediction, but when he actually achieved the\nfavor of the Supreme Lord and saw Him, he was so satisfied that he\nrefused to accept any material benediction. The intelligent person does\nnot ask favors from or worship the demigods; he directly becomes Kr�pa\nconscious, and if he has any desire for material benefit, he asks Kr�!la, not\nthe demigods.\nVidyadhara, awaiting permission of Kr�!la to return to the heavenly\nplanets, said, \"Now because I am touched by Your lotus feet, I am\nrelieved from all kinds of material pangs. You are the most powerful of\nall mystics. You are the original Supreme Personality of Godhead. You are\nthe master of all the devotees. You are the provider of the planetary\nsystems, and therefore I am asking Your permission. You may accept me\nas fully surrendered unto Y ou . I know very well that persons who are\nconstantly engaged in chanting Your holy name attain release from all\nsinful reactions, and certainly persons who are fortunate enough to be\npersonally touched by Your lotus feet are freed. Therefore I am sure that\nI am now relieved from the curse of the b rahmm)a simply by being\ntouched by Your lotus feet.\"\nIn this way, Vidyadhara got permission from Lord Kr�!la to return to\nhis home in the higher planetary system. After receiving this honor, he\nbegan to circumambulate the Lord. And after offering his respectful\nobeisances unto Him, he returned to his heavenly planet. Thus Nanda\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0323": "Vidyadhara Liberated and Satikhasura Killed\n\n229\n\nMaharaja also became relieved from the imminent danger of being devoured\nby the snake.\nThe cowherd men who had come to execute the ritualistic function of\nworshiping Lord Siva and Ambika finished their business and prepared to\nreturn to V rndavana. While returning, they recalled the wonderful activities\nof Krwa. By relating the incident of Vidyadhara's deliverance, they became\nmore attached to Kr��a. They had come to worship Lord Siva and Ambika,\nbut they became more and more attached to Krwa. Similarly, the gopis also\nworshiped goddess Katyayani to become more and more attached to Kr��a.\nIt is stated in the Bhagavad-gita that persons who are attached to worshiping demigods like Lord Brahma, Siva, Indra and Candra, for some\npersonal benefit, are less intelligent and have forgotten the real purpose of\nlife. But the cowherd men, inhabitants of V rndavana, were no ordinary\nmen. Whatever they did, they did for Kr��a. If one worships demigods like\nLord Siva and Lord Brahma to become more attached to Kr��a, that is\napproved. But if one goes to the demigods for some personal benefit, that\nis condemned.\nAfter this incident, on a very pleasant night, both Kr��a and His elder\nbrother Balarama, who are inconceivably powerful, went into the forest of\nVrndavana. They were accompanied by the damsels of Vrajabhumi, and\nthey began to enjoy each other's company. The young damsels of Vraja\nwere very nicely dressed and anointed with pulp of sandalwood and decorated with flowers. The moon was shining in the sky, surrounded by\nglittering stars, and the breeze was blowing, bearing the aroma of nwllika\nflowers, and the bumblebees were mad after the aroma. 'Faking advantage\nof the pleasing atmosphere, both Kr��a and Balarama began to sing very\nmelodiously. The damsels became so absorbed in their rhythmical song\nthat they almost forgot themselves; their hair loosened, their dresses\nslackened, and their garlands began to fall to the ground.\nAt that time, while they were so much absorbed, almost in madness, a\ndemon associate of Kuvera (the treasurer of the heavenly planets) appeared\non the scene. The demon's name was Sankhasura because on his head\nthere was a valuable jewel resembling a conchshell. Just as the two sons of\nKuvera were puffed up over their wealth and opulence and did not care\nfor Narada Muni's presence, this Sankhasura was also puffed up over\nmaterial opulence. He thought that Kr��a and Balarama were two ordinary\ncowherd boys enjoying the company of many beautiful girls. Generally,\nin the material world, a person with riches thinks that all beautiful women\nshould be enjoyed by him. Sankhasura also thought that, since he belonged\nto the rich community of Kuvera, he, not Kr��a and Balarama, should\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0324": "230\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nenjoy the company of so many beautiful girls. He therefore decided to\ntake charge of them. He appeared before Kr§!la and Balarama and the\ndamsels of V raja and began to lead the girls away to the north. He\ncommanded them as if he were their proprietor and husband, despite the\npresence of Kr§!la and Balarama. Being forcibly taken away by Sankhasura,\nthe damsels of Vraja began to call the names of Kr§!la and Balarama for\nprotection. The two brothers immediately began to follow them, taking up\nbig logs in Their hands. \"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid,\" They called to\nthe gopi:s. \"We are coming at once to chastise this demon.\" Very quickly\nThey reached Sankhasura. Thinking the brothers too powerful, Sankhasura\nleft the company of the gopi:s and ran for fear of his life. But Kr§!la would\nnot let him go. He entrusted the gopi:s to the care of Balarama and followed\nSankhasura wherever he fled. Kr§!la wanted to take the valuable jewel\nresembling a conchshell from the head of the demon. After following him\na very short distance, Kr�!la caught him, struck his head with His fist and\nkilled him. He then took the valuable jewel and returned. In the presence\nof all the damsels of V raja, He presented the valuable jewel to His elder\nbrother Balarama.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Thirty-third Chapter of\n\nKr�!la, \"Vidyiidhara Liberated and the Demon Saiikhiisura Killed. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0325": "34 I The Go pis' Feelin gs of Se p aration\n\nThe gopis of V rndavana were so attached to Kr��a that they were not\nsatisfied simply with the rasa dance at night. They wanted to associate\nwith Him and enjoy His company during the daytime also. When Kr��a\nwent to the forest with His cowherd boy friends and cows , the gopis did\nnot physically take part, but their hearts went with Him. And because\ntheir hearts went, they were able to enj oy His company through strong\nfeelings of separation. To acquire this stron g feeling of separation is the\nteaching of Lord C aitanya and His direct disciplic succession of Gosvamis.\nWhen we are not in physical contact with Kr��a, we can associate with\nHim like the gopis, through feelings of separation. Kr��a 's transcendental\nform , qualities, pastimes , and entourage are all identical with Him. There\nare nine different kinds of devotional service. D evotional service to Kr��a\nin feelings of separation elevates the devotee to the highest perfectional\nlevel, to the level of the gopis.\nIt is stated in Srinivasacarya's prayer to the six Gosvamis that they left\nthe material opulences of government service and the princely status of\nlife and went to V rndavana, where they lived j ust like ordinary mendicants,\nbegging from door to door . But they were so much enriched with the\ngopis ' feelings of separation that they enj oyed transcendental pleasure at\nevery moment . Similarly, when L ord C aitanya was at J agannatha Puri, He\nwas in the role of �adhara�i, feeling the separation of Krwa. Those who\nare in the disciplic succession of the Madhva-Gau�iya-sampradaya should\nalso feel the separation of Kr��a, worship His transcendental form, and\ndiscuss His transcendental teachings, His pastimes, His qualities, His\nentourage and His associations. The spiritual masters should enrich the\ndevotees to the highest devotional perfection. Feeling constant separation\nwhile engaged in the service of the L ord is the perfection of Kr�p. a\nconscwusness.\n\n231\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0326": "232\n\nKf�:t;ta, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nThe gopis used to discuss Kr�rta amongst themselves, and their talks\nwere as follows. \"My dear friends,\" one gopi said, \"do you know that\nwhen Kr�rta lies on the ground He rests on His left elbow, and His head\nrests on His left hand. He moves His attractive eyebrows while playing His\nflute with His delicate fingers, and the sound He produces creates such a\nnice atmosphere that the denizens of the heavenly planets, who travel in\nspace with their wives and beloved, stop their airplanes, for they are\nstunned by the vibration of the flute. The wives of the demigods who\nare seated in the planes then become very much ashamed of their singing\nand musical qualifications. N ot only that, but they become afflicted\nwith conjugal love, and their hair and tightened dresses immediately\nloosen.\"\nAnother gopi said, \"My dear friends, Kr§rta is so beautiful that the\ngoddess of fortune always remains on His chest, and He is always adorned\nwith a golden necklace. Beautiful Krwa plays His flute in order to enliven\nthe hearts of many devotees. He is the only friend of the suffering living\nentities. When He plays His flute, all the cows and other animals of\nVrndavana, although engaged in eating, simply take a morsel of food in\ntheir mouths and stop chewing. Their ears raise up and they become\nstunned. They do not appear alive but like painted animals. Kr�rta's flute\nplaying is so attractive that even the animals become enchanted, and what\nto speak of ourselves. \"\nAnother gopi said, \" M y dear friends, not only living animals, but even\ninanimate objects like the rivers and lakes of v rndavana also become\nstunned when Kr�rta passes with peacock feathers on His head and His\nbody smeared with the minerals of Vrndavana. With leaves and flowers\ndecorating His body, He looks like some hero. When He plays on His flute\nand calls the cows with Balarama, the River Yam una stops flowing and\nwaits for the air to carry dust from His lotus feet. The River Yamuna is\nunfortunate like us;it does not get Kr§rta's mercy. The river simply remains\nstunned, stopping its waves just as we also stop crying out of frustration\nfor Krsna.\"\nIn the absence of Kr�rta the gopis were constantly shedding tears, but\nsometimes, when they expected that Kr§rta was coming, they would stop\ncrying. But when they saw that Kr§rta was not coming, then again they\nwould become frustrated and begin to cry. Kr�rta is the original Personality\nof Godhead, the origin of all Vi§rt-U forms, and the cowherd boys are all\ndemigods. Lord Vi§rt-U is always worshiped and surrounded by different\ndemigods like Lord Siva, Lord Brahma, Indra, Candra, and others. When\nKrwa traveled through the V rndavana forest or walked on the Govardhana\n. . .\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0327": "Akrilra saw Balarama turned into Se�a Naga and Kr�l)a turned into Maha-Vi�l)u.\n( p . 255 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0328": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0329": "\" 0 dear D amodara ! Dear Madhava ! \" ( p . 254)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0330": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0331": "The audience was not very satisfied because the wrestlers did not appear to be equally matched.\n(p . 275 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0332": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0333": "Simply from the strokes of His fist, Kamsa lost his vital force . ( p . 278)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0334": "The florist begged from the Lord that he might remain His eternal servant. ( p . 265)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0335": "The Gopis' Feelings of Separation\n\n233\n\nHill, He was accompanied by the cowherd boys. While walking, He played\nHis flute, just to call His cows. Just b y His association, the trees, plants and\nother vegetation in the forest immediately became Krwa conscious. A\nKr�tla conscious person sacrifices everything for Kr�tla. Although trees and\nplants are not very advanced in consciousness, by the association of Kr�tla\nand His friends they also become Kr�tla conscious. They then want to\ndeliver everything-whatever they have-their fruits, flowers, and the honey\nincessantly falling from their branches.\nWhen Kr�tla walked on the bank of the Yamuna, H e was seen nicely\ndecorated with tilaka on His head. He was garlanded with different kinds\nof forest flowers, and His body was smeared by the pulp of sandalwood\nand tulasi leaves. The bumblebees became mad after the treasure and\nsweet nectar of the atmosphere. Being pleased by the humming sound of\nthe bees, Kr�tla would play His flute, and together the sounds became so\nsweet to hear that the aquatics, the cranes, swans and ducks and other\nbirds were charmed. Instead of swimming or flying, they became stunned.\nThey closed their eyes and entered a trance of meditation in worship of\nKrsna .\nOne gopi said, \"My dear friend, Kr�tla and Balarama are nicely dressed\nwith earrings and pearl necklaces. They enj oy Themselves on the top of\nGovardhana Hill, and everything becomes absorbed in transcendental\npleasure when Kr�tla plays on His flute, charming the whole created\nmanifestation. When He plays, the clouds stop their loud thundering, out\nof fear of Him. Rather than disturb the vibration of His flute, they\nrespond with mild thunder and so congratulate Krwa, their friend.\"\nKr�tla is accepted as the friend of the cloud because both the cloud\nand Kr�tla satisfy the people when they are disturbed. When the people\nare burning due to excessive heat, the cloud satisfies them with rain.\nSimilarly, when people in materialistic life become disturbed by the\nblazing fire of material pangs, Kr�tla gives them relief. The cloud and\nKr�tla, having the same bodily color also, are considered to b e friends.\nDesiring to congratulate its superior friend, the cloud poured not water,\nbut small flowers and covered the head of Kr�tla to protect Him from the\nscorching sunshine.\nOne of the gopis told mother Yasoda, \"My dear mother, your son is\nvery expert among the cowherd boys. He knows all the different arts, how\nto tend the cows and how to play the flute. He composes His own songs,\nand to sing them He puts His flute to His mouth. When He plays, either\nin the morning or in the evening, all the demigods, like Lord Siva, Brahma,\nIndra and Candra, bow their heads and listen with great attention. Although\n.\n\n. .\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0336": "234\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nthey are very learned and expert , they cannot understand the musical\narrangements of Kr��a's flute . They simply listen attentively and try to\nunderstand, but become bewildered and nothing more . \"\nAnother gopi said, \"My dear friend, when Kr��a returns home with His\ncows, the footprint of the soles of His feet-with flag, thunderbolt, trident,\nand lotus flower-relieves the pain the earth feels when the cows traverse\nit. He walks in a stride which is so attractive, and He carries His flute. Just\nby looking at Him we become lusty to enj oy His company. At that time,\nour movements cease. We become just like trees and stand perfectly still.\nWe even forget what we look like. \"\nKr�pa had many thousands o f cows, and they were divided into groups\naccording to their colors . They were also differently named according to\ncolor. When He would return from the pasturing ground, He would find\nall the cows gathered. As V ai�pavas count 1 08 beads, which represent the\n1 08 individual gopis, so Krwa would also chant 1 08 different groups of\ncows.\n\"When Krwa returns, He is garlanded with tulasi leaves,\" a gopi\ndescribes Him to a friend. \"He puts His hand on the shoulder of a cowherd\nboy friend, and begins to blow His transcendental flute. The wives of the\nblack deer become enchanted upon hearing the vibration of His flute,\nwhich resembles the vibration of the virzii. The deer come to Kr�pa and\nbecome so charmed that they stand still, forgetting their homes and\nhusbands. Like us, who are enchanted by the ocean of the transcendental\nqualities of Krwa, the she-deer become enchanted by the vibration of His\nflute. \"\nAnother gopi told mother Yasoda, \"My dear mother, when your son\nreturns home, He decorates Himself with the buds of the k unda flower,\nand just to enlighten and gladden His friends , He blows His flute. The\nbreeze blowing from the south pleases the atmosphere because it is fragrant\nand very cool. D emigods like the Gandharvas and Siddhas take advantage\nof this atmosphere and offer prayers to Kr�pa by sounding their bugles\nand drums. Kr�pa is very kind to the inhabitants of V raj abhumi, V rndavana,\nand when He returns with His cows and friends, He is remembered as the\nlifter of G ovardhana Hill. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the most\nexalted demigods like Lord Brahma and L ord Siva come down to offer\ntheir evening prayers, and they accompany the cowherd boys in glorifying\nthe qualities of Kr�pa.\n\"Kr��ta is compared with the moon, born in the ocean of the womb of\nD evaki. When He returns in the evening, it appears that He is fatigued, but\nHe still tries to gladden the inhabitants of V rndavana by His auspicious\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0337": "The Gopis' Feelings of Separation\n\n235\n\npresence. When Kr��a returns, garlanded with flowers, His face looks\nbeautiful. He walks into V rndavana with a stride just like the elephant\nand slowly enters His home. Upon His return, the men, women, and cows\nof Vrndavana immediately forget the scorching heat of the day.\"\nSuch descriptions of Kr��a's transcendental pastimes and activities were\nremembered by the gop is during His absence from V rndavana. They give\nus some idea of Kr��a 's attraction. Everyone and t?verything is attracted\nto Kr��a-that is the perfect description of Kr��a's attraction. The example\nof the gopis is very instructive to persons who are trying to be absorbed in\nKr��a· consciousness. One can very easily associate with Kr��a simply by\nremembering His transcendental pastimes. Everyone has a tendency to\nlove someone. That Kr��a should be the object of love is the central point\nof Krwa consciousness. By constantly chanting the Hare Kr��a mantra\nand remembering the transcendental pastimes of Kr��a, one can be fully\nin Kr�!la consciousness and thus make his life sublime and fruitful.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Thirty-fourth Chapter of\n\nKr��a, \"The Gopis ' Feelings of Separation. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0338": "35 I Kamsa Sends Al(riira for Krsna\n•\n\n• •\n\nVrndavana was always absorbed in the thought of Kf�J)a. Everyone\nremembered His pastimes and was constantly merged in the ocean of\ntranscendental bliss. But the material world is so contaminated that even\nin v rndavana the as u ras or demons tried to disturb the peaceful situation.\nOne demon named Ari�tasura entered the village like a great bull with a\ngigantic body and horns, digging up the earth with his hoofs. When the\ndemon entered v rndavana, it appeared that the whole land trembled, as if\nthere were an earthquake. He roared fiercely, and after digging up the earth\non the riverside , he entered the village proper. The fearful roaring of the\nbull was so piercing that some of the pregnant cows and women had\nmiscarriages. Its body was so big, stout and strong that a cloud hovered\nover its body just as clouds hover over mountains. Ari�tasura entered\nVrndavana with such a fearful appearance that just on seeing this great\ndemon, all the men and women were afflicted with great fear, and the cows\nand other animals fled the village.\nThe situation became very terrible, and all the inhabitants of V rndavana\nbegan to cry, \" Kr�J)a ! Kf�J)a, please save us ! \" Kr�!la also saw that the cows\nwere running away, and He immediately replied, \" D on't be afraid. D on't\nbe afraid.\" He then appeared before Ari�tasura and said, \" You are the\nlowest of living entities. Why are you frightening the inhabitants of\nG okula? What will you gain by this action? If you have come to challenge\nMy authority, then I am prepared to fight you . \" In this way, Kr�!la\nchallenged the demon, and the demon became very angry by the words of\nKr�J)a. Kr�!la stood before the bull, resting His hand on the shoulder of a\nfriend. The bull began to proceed towards Krwa in anger. Digging the\nearth with his hoofs, Ari�tasura lifted his tail, and it appeared that clouds\nwere hovering about the tail. His eyes were reddish and moving in anger .\nPointing his horns at Kr�J)a, he began to charge Him , just like the thunder-\n\n236\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0339": "Kamsa Sends Akriira for Kr�J).a\n\n237\n\nbolt of lndra. But Kr��a immediately caught his horns and tossed him\naway, just as a gigantic elephant repels a small inimical elephant. Although\nthe demon appeared to be very tired and although he was perspiring, he\ntook courage and got up. Again he charged Kr��a with great force and\nanger. While rushing towards Kr��a, he breathed very heavily. Kr��a again\ncaught his horns and immediately threw him on the ground, breakin g his\nhorns . Kr��a then began to kick his body, just as one squeezes a wet cloth\non the ground. Being thus kicked by Kr��a, Ari�tasura rolled over and\nbegan to move his legs violently. Bleeding and passing stool and urine, his\neyes starting from their sockets, he passed to the kingdom of death.\nThe demigods in the celestial planets began to shower flowers on Kr��a\nfor His wonderful achievements. Kr��a was already the life and soul of the\ninhabitants of v rndavana, and after killing this demon in the shape of a\nbull, He became the cynosure of all eyes. With Balarama, He triumphantly\nentered V rndavana village, and the inhabitants glorified Him and Balarama\nwith great jubilation. When a person performs some wonderful feat, his\nkinsmen and relatives and friends naturally become jubilant.\nIt was after this incident that the great sage N arada disclosed the secret\nof Kr��a. Narada Muni is generally known as devadarsana, which means\nthat he can be seen only by demigods or persons on the same level with\nthe demigods. But N arada visited Kamsa, who was not at all on the level\nof the demigods , and yet Kamsa saw him . Of course Kamsa also saw Kr��a,\nwhat to speak of N arada Muni , but generally one must have purified eyes\nto see the Lord and His devotees. Of course, by association with a pure\ndevotee, one can derive an imperceptible benefit, which is called\najna tasukrti. He cannot understand how he is making progress, yet he\nmakes progress by seeing the devotee of the Lord. N arada Muni's mission\nwas to finish things quickly. Kr��a appeared to kill the demons, and Kamsa\nwas the chief among them. N arada wanted to expedite things ; therefore, he\nimmediately approached Kamsa with all the real information. \"You are to\nbe killed by the eighth son of V asudeva,\" N arada told Kamsa. \"That eighth\nson is Kr��a. You were misled by V asudeva into believing that the eighth\nissue of V asudeva was a daughter. Actually, the daughter was born of\nY asoda, the wife of N anda Maharaja, and V asudeva exchanged the\ndaughter, so you were misled. Kr��a is the son of V asudeva, as is Balarama.\nBeing afraid of your atrocious nature, V asudeva has tactfully hidden Them\nin V rndavana, out of your sight. \" ' N arada further informed Kamsa, \" Kr��a\nand Balarama have been living incognito in the care of N anda Maharaja. All\nthe asu ras, your companions who were sent to V rndavana to kill different\nchildren, were all killed by Kr��a and Balarama. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0340": "238\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nAs soon as Kamsa got this information from Narada Muni, he took out\nhis sharpened sword and prepared to kill Vasudeva for his duplicity. But\nNarada pacified him. \"You are not to be killed by Vasudeva,'' he said.\n\"Why are you so anxious to kill him? Better try to kill Krwa and\nBalarama.\" But in order to satisfy his wrath, Kamsa arrested Vasudeva and\nhis wife and shackled them in iron chains. Acting on the new information,\nKamsa immediately called for the Kesi demon and asked him to go to\nV rndavana immediately to fetch Balarama and Kr�va. In actuality, Karns a\nasked Kesi to go to V rndavana to be killed by Kr�va and Balarama and\nthus get salvation. Then . Kamsa called for the expert elephant trainers,\nCa!liira, MuHika, Sala, Tosala, etc., and he told them, \"My dear friends, try\nto hear me attentively. At Nanda Maharaja's place in Vrndavana there are\ntwo brothers, Kr�va and Balarama. They are actually two sons of Vasudeva.\nAs you know, I have been destined to be killed by Kr�va ; there is a\nprophecy to this effect. Now I am requesting you to arrange for a wrestling\nmatch. People from different parts of the country will come to see the\nfestival. I will arrange to get those two boys here, and you will try to kill\nThem in the wrestling arena.\"\nWrestling matches are still enjoyed by the indigenous people in the\nnorthern part of India, and it appears from the statements of SrimadBhiigavatam that 5,000 years ago wrestling was popular. Kamsa planned\nto arrange such a wrestling competition and to invite people to visit. He\nalso told the trainers of the elephants, \"Be sure to bring the elephant\nnamed Kuvalayap19a and keep him at the gate of the wrestling camp. Try\nto capture Kr�va and Balarama on Their arrival and kill Them.\"\n' Kamsa also advised his friends to arrange to worship Lord Siva by\noffering animal sacrifices and performing the sacrifice called Dhanur-yajiia\nand the sacrifice performed on the fourteenth day of the moon known as\nCaturdasi. This date falls three days after Ekadasi, and it is set aside for\nthe worship of Lord Siva. One of the plenary portions of Lord Siva is\ncalled Kalabhairava. This form of Lord Siva is worshiped by the demons\nwho offer skinned animals before him. The process is .still current in India\nin a place called V aidyanatha-dhama where the demons offer animal sacrifices to the deity of Kalabhairava. Kamsa belonged to this demonic group.\nHe was also an expert diplomat, and so he quickly arranged for his demon\nfriends to kill Kr�va and Balarama.\nHe then called for Akriira, one of the descendants in the family of\nY adu in which Kr�va was born as the son of V asudeva. When Akriira came\nto see Kamsa, Kamsa very politely shook hands with him and said, \"'My\ndear Akriira, actually I've no better friend than you in the Bhoja and Y adu\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0341": "Kamsa Sends Alm1ra for Kr�J.la\n\n239\n\ndynasties. You are the most munificent person, so as a friend I am begging\ncharity from you. Actually I have taken shelter of you exactly as King\nIndra takes shelter of Lord Vi��m. I request you to go immediately to\nV rndavana and find the two boys named Krwa and Balarama. They are\nsons of Nanda Maharaja. Take this nice chariot, especially prepared for the\nboys, and bring Them here immediately. That is my request to you. Now,\nmy plan is to kill these two boys. As soon as They come in the gate, there\nwill be a giant elephant named Kuvalayap19a awaiting, and possibly he will\nbe able to kill Them. But if somehow or other They escape, They will\nnext meet the wrestlers and will be killed by them. That is my plan. And\nafter killing these two boys, I shall kill Vasudeva and N anda, who are\nsupporters of the Vr��i and Bhoja dynasties. I shall also kill my father\nUgrasena and his brother D evaka, because they are actually my enemies\nand are hindrances to my diplomacy and politics. Thus I shall get rid of all\nmy enemies. Jarasandha is my father-in-law, and I have a great monkey\nfriend named Dvivida. With their help it will be easy to kill all the kings on\nthe surface of the world who support the demigods. This is my plan. In this\nway I shall be free from all opposition, and it will b e very pleasant to rule\nthe world without obstruction. You may know also that Sambara,\nNarakasura and Ba�asura are my intimate friends, and when I begin this\nwar against the kings who support the demigods, they will help me\nconsiderably. Surely I shall be rid of all my enemies. Please go immediately\nto V rndavana and encourage the boys to come here to see the beauty of\nMathura and take pleasure in the wrestling competition.\"\nAfter hearing this plan of Kamsa's, Akriira replied, \"My dear King, your\nplan is very excellently made to counteract the hindrances to your diplomatic activities. But you should maintain some discretion, o r your plans\nwill not be fruitful. After all, man proposes, God disposes. We may make\nvery great plans, but unless they are sanctioned by the supreme authority,\nthey will fail. Everyone in this material world knows that the supernatural\npower is the ultimate disposer of everything. One may make a very great\nplan with his fertile brain, but he must know that he will become subjected\nto the fruits, misery and happiness. But I have nothing to say against your\nproposal. As a friend, I shall carry out your order and bring Kr�!la and\nBalarama here, as you desire.\"\nAfter instructing his friends in various ways, Kamsa retired, and Akriira\nwent to v rndavana.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Thirty-fifth Chapter of\nKrwa, \"Kamsa Sends A k rilra for Kr§[!-a. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0342": "36 I Killin g the Kesi Demon\nand V yomasura\nAfter being instructed by Kamsa, the demon Ke8i assumed the form of\na terrible horse. He entered the area of V rndavana, his great mane flying\nand his hooves digging up the earth. He began to whinny and terrify the\nwhole world. Kr�pa saw that the demon was terrifying all the residents of\nV rndavana with his whinnying and his tail wheeling in the sky like a big\ncloud. Kr�!la could understand that the horse was challenging Him to\nfight. The Lord accepted his challenge and stood before the Ke8i demon.\nAs He called him t o fight, the horse began to proceed towards Kr�pa,\nmaking a horrible sound like a roaring lion. Kesi rushed toward the Lord\nwith great speed and tried to trample Him with his legs, which were\nstrong, forceful, and as hard as stone. Kr�!•a, however, immediately caught\nhold .of his legs and thus baffled him. Being somewhat angry, Kr�pa began\nto move around the horse dextrously. After a few rounds, He threw him a\nhundred yards away, just as Garu9a throws a big snake. Thrown by Kr�pa,\nthe horse immediately passed out, but after a little while he regained\nconsciousness and with great anger and force rushed toward Kr�pa again,\nthis time with his mouth open. As soon as Kesi reached Him, Kr�!•a pushed\nHis left hand within the horse's mouth. The horse felt great pain because\nthe hand of Kr�pa felt to him like a hot iron rod. Im�ediately his teeth\nfell out. Kr�pa's hand within the mouth of the horse at once began to\ninflate, and Ke8i's throat choked up . As the great horse began to suffocate,\nperspiration appeared on his body, and he began to throw his legs hither\nand thither. As his last breath came, his eyeballs bulged in their sockets, and\nhe passed stool and urine simultaneously. Thus the vital force of his life expired. When the horse was dead, his mouth became loose and Kr�pa could\nextract His hand without difficulty. He did not feel any surprise that the\nKesi demon was killed so easily, but the demigods were amazed, and out of\ntheir great appreciation they offered Kr�pa greetings by showering flowers. -\n\n240\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0343": "Killing the Kesi Demon and Vyomasura\n\n241\n\nAfter this incident, Narada Muni, the greatest of all devotees, came to\nsee Kr�9a in a solitary place and began to talk with Him. \"My dear Lord\nKr�9a,\" he said, \"You are the unlimited Supersoul, the supreme controller\nof all mystic p owers, the Lord of the whole universe, the all-pervading\nPersonality of Godhead. You are the resting place of the cosmic manifestation, the master of all the devotees and the Lord of everyone. My dear\nLord, as the Supersoul of all living entities, You remain concealed within\ntheir hearts exactly as fire remains concealed in every piec� of fuel. You\nare the witness of all the activities of the living entities, and You are the\nsupreme controller within their hearts. You are self-sufficient ; before\nthe creation, you existed, and by Your energy You have created the whole\nmaterial universe. According to Your perfect plan, this material world is\ncreated by the interaction of the modes of nature, and by You they are\nmaintained and annihilated. Although You are unaffected by all these\nactivities, You are the supreme controller eternally. My dear Lord, You\nhave advented Yourself on the surface of this world j ust to kill all the\nso-called kings who are actually demons. These hobgoblins are cheating\npeople in the dress of the princely order. You have advented Yourself to\nfulfill Your own statement that You come within this material world just\nto protect the principles of religion and annihilate unwanted miscreants.\nMy dear Lord, I am therefore sure that the day after tomorrow I shall see\ndemons like Ca�ii.ra, Mu�tika and the other wrestlers and elephants, as\nwell as Kamsa himself, killed by You. And I shall see this with my own\n· eyes. After this, I hope I shall be able to see the killing of other demons\nlike Sankha, Y avana, Mura, and N arakasura. I shall also see how You take\naway the piirijiita flower from the kingdom of heaven, and how You defeat\nthe king of heaven himself.\n\"My dear Lord,\" Narada Muni continued, \"I shall then be able to see\nhow You marry princesses, the daughters of chivalrous kings, by paying\nthe price of\\ k§atriya strength.\" (Whenever a k§atriya wants to marry a\nvery beautiful and qualified princess of a great king, he must fight his\ncompetitors and emerge victorious. Then he is given the hand of the\nprincess in charity.)\n\"I shall also see how You save King N rga from a hellish condition,\"\nsaid N arada Muni. \"This You shall enact in D varaka. I shall also be able to\nsee how You get Your wife and the Syamantaka jewel and how You save\nthe son of a b riihmarw from death after he has already been transferred\nto another planet. After this, I will be able to see You kill the Pau9�raka\ndemon and burn to ashes the kingdom of Kasi. I will see how You kill the\nKing of Cedi and Dantavakra in great fights, on behalf of Maharaja\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0344": "242\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nYudh�!hira. Besides all this, it will be possible for me to see many other\nchivalrous activities while You remain in D varaka. And all these activities\nperformed by Your grace will be sung by great poets for all time. And at\nthe battle of Kuruk�etra You will take part as the chariot driver of Your\nfriend Arjuna, and as the invincible death incarnation, eternal time, You\nwill vanquish all belligerents assembled there. I shall see a large number of\nmilitary forces killed in that battlefield. My Lord, let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Your lotus feet. You are situated completely in the\ntranscendental position in perfect knowledge and bliss. You are complete\nin Yourself and are beyond all desires. By exhibiting Y our internal potency,\nYou have set up the influence of miiyii. Your unlimited potency cannot\neven be measured by anyone. My dear Lord, You are the supreme controller. You are under Your own internal potency, and it is simply vain to\nthink that You are dependent on any of Your creations.\n\"You have taken birth in the Yadu dynasty, or the Vf�l).i dynasty. Your\nadvent on the surface of the earth in Your original form of eternal blissful\nknowledge is Your own pastime. You are not dependent on anything but\nYourself; therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto Your lotus feet.\"\nNarada Muni wanted to impress upon people in general that Kr�pa is\nfully independent. His activities, such as His appearance in the family of\nY adu or His friendship with Arjuna, do not necessarily oblige Him to act\nto enjoy their results. They are all pastimes, and for Him they are all play.\nBut for us they are actual, tangible facts.\nAfter offering his respectful obeisances to Lord Krwa, Narada Muni took\npermission and left. After He had killed the Ke.Si demon, Kr�pa returned\nto tending the cows with His friends in the forest as though nothing had\nhappened. Thus Kr�tta is eternally engaged in His transcendental activities\nin Vrndavana with His friends, the cowherd boys and gopis, but sometimes\nHe exhibits the extraordinary prowess of the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead by killing different types of demons.\nLater that morning Knl).a went to play with His cowherd boy friends\non the top of the Govardhana Hill. They were imitating the -play of\nthieves and police. Some of the boys became police constables, and some\nbecame thieves, and some took the role of lambs. While they were thus\nenjoying their childhood pastimes, a demon known by the name of\nV yomasura, \"the demon who flies in the sky,\" appeared on the scene. He\nwas the son of another great demon named Maya. These demons can\nperform wonderful magic. Vyomasura took the part -of a cowherd boy\nplaying as thief and stole many boys who\" were playing the parts of lambs.\nOne after another he took away almost all the boys and put them in the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0345": "Killing the Kesi Demon and Vyomasura\n\n243\n\ncaves of the mountain and sealed the mouths of the caves with stones.\nKf�a could understand the trick the demon was playing; therefore He\ncaught hold of him exactly as a lion catches hold of a lamb. The demon\ntried to expand himself like a hill to escape arrest, but Krwa did not allow\nhim to get out of His clutches. He was immediately thrown on the _ground\nwith great force and killed, just as an. animal is killed in the slaughterhouse. After killing the Vyoma demon, Lord Kr�.p.a released all His\nfriends from the caves of the mountain. · He was then praised by His\nfriends and by the demigods for these wonderful acts. He again returned\nto V rndavana with His cows and friends.\n\nThus ends the Bhak tivedanta purport of the Thirty-sixth Chapter of\nKP}�a, '�Killing the Kesi Demon and Vyomiisura. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0346": "3 7 I Akriira's Arrival in Vrndavana\n•\n\nNarada Muni did not mention Kr�l).a's killing Vyomasura, which means\nthat he was killed on the same day as the Kesi demon. The Ke81 demon\nwas killed in the early morning, and after that the boys went to tend the\ncows on Govardhana Hill, and it was there that Vyomasura was killed.\nBoth demons were killed in the morning. Akriira was requested by Kamsa\nto arrive in V rndavana by evening. After receiving instruction from Kamsa,\nAkriira started the next morning via chariot for V rndavana. Because\nAkriira himself was a great devotee of the Lord, while going to V rndavana\nhe began to praise the Lord. D evotees are always absorbed in thoughts of\nKr�l).a, and Akriira was constantly thinking of Lord Kr�l).a's lotus eyes.\nHe did not know what sort of pious activities he must have done to\ngain an opportunity to go see Lord Kr�J).a. Akriira thought that if Kr�l).a\nwilled , he would be able to see Him . Akriira considered himself most\nfortunate that he was going to see Kr�l).a, whom great mystic yogis desire\nto see. He was confident that on that day all the sinful reactions of his\npast life would be finished and his fortunate human form of life would be\nsuccessful. Akriira also considered that he was very much favored by\nKamsa, who was sending him to bring back Kr�l).a and Balarama and thus\nenabling him to see the Lord. Akriira continued to consider that formerly\ngreat sages and saintly persons were liberated from the material world\nsimply by seeing the shining nails of the lotus feet of Kr�J).a.\n\"That Supreme Personality of Godhead has now come j ust like an\nordinary human being, and it is my great fortune to be able to see Him face\nto face, \" Akriira thought. H e was thrilled with expectations of seeing the\nvery lotus feet which are worshiped by great demigods like· Brahma,\nNarada, and Lord Siva, which traverse the ground of V rndavana and which\ntouch the breasts of the gopis covered with tinges of kunkuma. He thought,\n\"I am so f? rtunate that I will be able to see those very lotus feet on this\n\n244\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0347": "Akrura's Arrival in Vrndavana\n�\n\n.\n\n245\n\nday, and certainly I shall be able to see the beautiful face of Krwa, which\nis marked on the forehead and the nose with tilaka. And I shall also see\nHis smile and His curling black hair. I can be sure of this opportunity\nbecause I see that today the deer are passing on my right side. Today it\nwill be possible for me to actually see the beauty of the spiritual kingdom\nof Vi��uloka because Krwa is the Supreme Viwu, and He has advented\nHimself out of His own good will. He is the reservoir of all beauty;\ntherefore my eyes will be filled today.\"\nAkriira knew beyond doubt that Lord Kr��a is the Supreme Vi��u.\nLord V iwu glances over the material energy, and thus the cosmic manifestation comes into being. And although Lord Vi��u is the creator of\nthis material world, He is free, by His own energy, from the influence of\nmaterial energy. By His internal potency He can pierce the darkness of\nmaterial energy. Similarly, Krwa the original Viwu, by expansion of His\ninternal potency, created the inhabitants of V rndavana. In the Brahmasamhitii it is also confirmed that the paraphernalia and the abode of Krwa\nare expansions of His internal potency. The same internal potency is\nexhibited on earth as Vrndavana, where Kr��a enjoys Himself with His\nparents and in the company of His friends, the cowherd boys and gopis.\nBy the statement of Akriira, it is clear that, since Krwa is transcendental\nto the modes of material nature, the inhabitants of Vrndavana, who are\nengaged in loving service of the Lord, are also transcendental.\nAkriira also considered the necessity of the transcendental pastimes of\nthe Lord. He thought that the transcendental activities, instructions,\nqualities and pastimes of Krwa are all for the good fortune of people in\ngeneral. The people can remain constantly in Krwa consciousness by\ndiscussing the Lord's transcendental form, qualities, pastimes, and paraphernalia. By doing so, the whole universe can actually live auspiciously\nand advance peacefully. But without Kr��a consciousness, civilization is\nbut a decoration for a dead body. A dead body may be decorated very\nnicely, but without consciousness such decorations are useless. Human\nsociety without Krwa consciousness is useless and lifeless.\nAkriira thought, \"That Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krwa, has\nnow appeared as one of the descendants of the Y adu dynasty. The principles of religion are His enacted laws. Those who are abiding by such laws\nare the demigods, and those who are not abiding are demons. He has\nadvented Himself to give protection to the demigods, who are very obedient\nto the laws of the Supreme Lord. The demigods and the devotees of the\nLord take pleasure in abiding by the laws of Kr��a, and Krwa takes\npleasure in giving them all sorts of protection. These activities of Krwa,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0348": "246\n\nKr�J}a, the S upreme Personality of Godhead\n\nHis protection of the devotees and killing the demons, as confirmed in the\nBhagavad-gita, are always good for men to hear and narrate. The glorious\nactivities of the Lord will ever increasingly be chanted by the devotees\nand demigods.\n\"Kr�J}a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the spiritual master of\nall spiritual masters ; He is the deliverer of all fallen souls and the proprietor\nof the three worlds. Anyone is able to see Him by eyes smeared with love\nof Godhead. Today I shall be able to see the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, who by His transcendental beauty has attracted the goddess of\nfortune to live with Him perpetually. As soon as I arrive in Vrndavana, I\nwill get down from this cl;1.ariot and fall prostrate to offer my obeisances\nto the Supreme Lord, thecmaster of material nature and all living entities.\nThe lotus feet of Kr��a are always worshiped by great mystic yogis, so I\nshall also worship His lotus feet and become one of His friends in\nV rndavana like the cowherd boys. When I bow down before Lord Kr�l!a\nin that way, certainly He will place His fearless lotus hand on my head.\nHis hand is offered to all conditioned souls who take shelter under His\nlotus feet. Kr��a is the ultimate goal of life for all people who fear material\nexistence , and certainly when I see Him He will give me the shelter of His\nlotus feet, I am aspiring for the touch of His lotus-like hands on my head.\"\nIn this way Akriira expected blessings from the hand of Kr�l!a. He knew\nthat Indra, who is the king of heaven and the master of the three worldsthe upper, middle, and lower planetary systems-was blessed by the Lord\nsimply for his offering a little water which Kr�l!a accepted. Similarly, Bali\nMaharaja gave only three feet of land in charity to Vamanadeva, and he\nalso offered a little water which Lord Vamanadeva accepted, and thereby\nBali Maharaja attained the position of Indra. When the gopis were dancing\nwith Kr�l!a in the rasa dance, they became fatigued, and Kr�l!a smeared His\nhand, which is as fragrant as a lotus flower, over the pearl-like drops of\nperspiration on the faces of the gopis, and immediately they became\nrefreshed. Thus Akriira was expecting benediction from that supreme hand\nof Kr�l!a. Kr�l!a's hand is capable of bestowing benediction to all kinds of\nmen if they take to Kr�l!a consciousness. If one wants material happiness\nlike the king of heaven, he can derive that benediction from the hand of\nKr�l}a; if one wants liberation from the pangs of material existence, he can\nalso get benediction from the hand of Kr�l}a ; and if one in pure transcendental love for Krwa wants personal association and the touch of His\ntranscendental body, he can also gain benediction from His hand.\nAkriira was afraid, however, of being deputed by Kamsa, the enemy of\nKr�J}a. He thought, \"I am going to see Krwa as a messenger of the enemy.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0349": "Akriira's Arrival in V rndavana\n.\n\n247\n\nAnd at the same time, he thought, \" Kr��a is in each and everyone's heart\nas the Supersoul, so He must know my heart.\" Although Akrura was\ntrusted by the enemy of Kr��a, his heart was clear. He was a pure devotee\nof Kr��a. He risked Kamsa's wrath just to meet Kr��ta. He was certain that\nalthough he was going as a representative of Kamsa, Kr��a would not\naccept him as an enemy. \"Even though I am on a sinful mission, being\ndeputed by Kamsa, when I approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\nI shall stand before Him with all humility and folded hands. Surely, He will\nbe pleased with my devotional attitude, and maybe He will smile lovingly\nand look upon me and thereby free me from all kinds of sinful reaction. I\nshall then be on the platform of transcendental bliss and knowledge. Since\nKr��a knows my heart, certainly when I approach Him, He will embrace\nme. I am not only one of the members of the Y adu dynasty, but I am an\nunalloyed pure devotee. By His merciful embrace, my body, my heart and\nsoul will be completely cleansed of the actions and reactions of my past\nlife. When our bodies touch, I will immediately stand up with folded\nhands, with all humility. Certainly Kr��a and Balarama will call me,\n'Akrura, uncle,' and at that time my whole life will be glorious. Unless\none is recognized by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his life cannot\nbe successful.\"\nIt is clearly stated here that one should try to be recognized by the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead by one's service and devotion, without\nwhich the human form of life is condemned. As stated in the Bhagavadgita, the Supreme Lord, Personality of Godhead, is equal to everyone. He\nhas no friends and no enemies. But He is inclined to a devotee who renders\nHim service with devotional love. The Bhagavad-gita also declares that the\nSupreme Lord is responsive to the devotional service rendered by the\ndevotee. Akrura thought that Kr��a was like the desire tree in the heavenly\nplanets which gives fruit according to the desire of the worshiper. The\nSupreme Personality of Godhead is also the source of everything. A\ndevotee must know how to render service unto Him and thus be recognized\nby Him. In the Caitanya-caritamrta it is therefore explained that one\nshould serve both the spiritual master and Kr��a simultaneously and in\nthat way make progress in Kr��a consciousness. Service rendered to Kr��a\nunder the direction of the spiritual master is bona fide service because the\nspiritual master is the manifested representative of Kr��a. Sri Visvanatha\nCakravarti 'fhakur says that when one satisfies the spiritual master, he\nsatisfies the Supreme Lord. It is exactly like service in a government office.\nOne has to work under the supervision of the departmental head. If the\nsupervisor of the department is satisfied with the service of a particular\n\n·\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0350": "248\n\nKH�a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nperson, a promotion and increase in pay will automatically come.\nAkriira then thought, \"When Kf�l}a and Balarama are pleased with my\nprayers, certainly They will take my hand, receive me within Their homes\nand offe� me all kinds of respectable hospitalities, and They will surely ask\nme of the activities of Kamsa and his friends.\"\nIn this way, Akriira, who was the son of Svaphalka, meditated on Sri\nKr�l}a on his journey from Mathura. He reached Vrndavana by the end of\nthe day. Akriira passed the whole journey without knowing how long it\ntook. When he reached V rndavana, the sun was setting. As soon as he\nentered the boundary of Vrndavana, he saw the footprints of the cows and\nLord Kr�l}a's footprints, impressed with the signs of His sole, the flag,\ntrident, thunderbolt and lotus flower. Upon seeing the footprints of\nKr�J}a, Akriira immediately jumped down from the chariot, out of respect.\nHe became overwhelmed with all the symptoms of ecstasy ; he wept, and\nhis body trembled. Out of extreme jubilation upon seeing the dust touched\nby the lotus feet of Kf�J}a, Akriira fell flat on his face and began to roll on\nthe ground.\nAkriira's j ourney to Vrndavana is exemplary./One who intends to visit\nVrndavana should follow the ideal footsteps of Akriira and always think\nof the pastimes and activities of the Lord. As soon as one reaches the\nboundary of v rndavana, he should immediately smear the dust of\nVrndavana over his body without thinking of his material position and\nprestige. N arottamadasa 'fhakur has sung in his celebrated song, V4ayachiiriyii kave suddha have mana: \"When my mind will be purified after\nleaving the contamination of material sense enjoyment, I shall be able to\nvisit Vrndavana. \" Actually, one cannot go to Vrndavana by r.urchasing a\nticket. The process of going to V rndavana is shown by Akrura.\nWhen Akriira entered V rndavana, he saw Kf�l}a and Balarama engaged\nin supervising the milking of the cows. Kr�l}a was dressed in yellow\ngarments and Balarama in bluish. Akriira also saw that Kr�l}a's eyes were\nexactly like the beautifully grown lotus flower of the autumn season. He\nsaw both Kr�l}a and Balarama in the spring of Their youth. Although both\nwere similar in bodily features, Kf�l}a was blackish in complexion, whereas\nBalarama was whitish. Both were the shelter of the goddess of fortune.\nThey had well-constructed bodies, beautiful hands and pleasing faces, and\nThey were as strong as elephants. Now, after seeing Their footprints,\nAkriira actually saw Kr�l}a and Balarama, face to face. Although They\nwere the most influential personalities, They were glancing at him with\nsmiling faces. Akriira could understand that both Kr�l}a and Balarama had\nreturned from tending cows in the forest; They had taken Their baths and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0351": "Akriira's Arrival in Vrndavana\n\n249\n\nwere dressed with fresh clothing and garlanded with flowers and necklaces\nmade of valuable jewels. Their bodies were smeared with the pulp of\nsandalwood. Akrura greatly appreciated the aroma of flowers and sandalwood and Their bodily presence. He considered himself very fortunate to\nsee Kp;;�a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His plenary expansion,\nBalarama, face to face, for he knew that They were the original personalities of the creation.\nAs stated in the Brahma-sarhhitii, Kr��a is the original Personality of\nGodhead and the cause of all causes. Akriira could understand that the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead appeared personally for the welfare of\nHis creation, to reestablish the principles of religion and to annihilate the\ndemons. With Their bodily effulgence, the brothers were dissipating all the\ndarkness of the world, as if They were mountains of sapphire and silver.\nWithout hesitating, Akriira immediately got down from his chariot and fell\nflat, just like a rod, before Kr��a and Balarama. Upon touching the lotus\nfeet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he became overwhelmed with\ntranscendental bliss ; his voice choked up and he could not speak. Due to\nKr��a's transcendental presence, incessant torrents of tears fell from his\neyes. He remained stunned in ecstasy , as if devoid of all powers to see and\nspeak. Lord Kr��a, who is very kind to His devotees, raised Akriira with\nHis hand and embraced him. It appeared that Lord Kr��a was very pleased\nwith Akrura. Balarama also embraced Akrura. Taking him by the hand,\nKr��a and Balarama brought him to Their sitting room where They offered\nhim a very nice sitting place and water for washing his feet. They also\nworshiped him with suitable presentations of honey and other ingredients.\nWhen Akrura was thus comfortably seated, both Kr�t;J.a and Balarama\noffered Him a cow in charity and then brought very palatable dishes of\neatables, and Akrura accepted them. When Akrura finished eating, Balarama gave him betel nut and spices, as well as pulp of sandalwood, just to\nmake him more pleased and comfortable. The Vedic system of receiving a\nguest was completely observed by Lord Krwa Himself to teach all others\nhow to receive a guest at home. It is a Vedic injunction that even if a guest\nis an enemy, he should be received so well that he does not apprehend any\ndanger from the host. If the host is a poor man, he should at least offer a\nstraw mat as a sitting place and a glass of water to drink. Kn�a and Balarama welcomed Akrura just befitting his exalted position.\nAfter Akrura was thus properly received and seated, Nanda Maharaja,\nthe foster father of Kr��a, said, \"My dear Akriira, what shall I inquire\nfrom you? I know that you are being protected by Kamsa, who is most\ncruel and demoniac. His protection is just like the slaughterhouse\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0352": "250\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nkeeper's protection of animals he will kill in the future. Kamsa is so\nselfish that he has killed the sons of his own sister, so how can I honestly\nbelieve that he is protecting the citizens of Mathura?\" This statement\nis most significant. If the political or executive heads of the state are\nsimply interested in themselves, they can never look after the welfare of\nthe citizens.\nAs N anda Maharaja spoke to Akrura with pleasing words, Akrura forgot\nall the fatigue of his day's journey from Mathura to V rndavana.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Thirty-seventh Chapter of\nKr�IJ-a, \"Akrnra 's A rrival in Vrndiivana. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0353": "38 I Akriira's Return J ourney and His Visitin g\nof Visnuloka Within the Yamuna River\n• •\n\nAkrilra was warmly received by Lord Kr�pa and Nanda Maharaj a and\noffered a resting place for the night. In the meantime , the two brothers\nBalarama and Kr�pa went to take Their supper. Akrilra sat on his bed and\nbegan to reflect that all the desires which he had anticipated while coming\nfrom Mathura to V rndavana had been fulfilled. Lord Krsna is the husband\nof the goddess of fortune ; being pleased with His pure devotee , He can\noffer whatever the devotee desires. But the pure devotee does not · ask\nanything from the Lord for his personal benefit.\nAfter taking Th.eir supper, Kr�pa and Balarama came to bid goodnight\nto Akrilra. Kr�pa asked about His maternal uncle , Kamsa, \" How is he\ndealing with his friends? \" And He asked , \" How are my relatives? \" He also\ninquired into Kamsa 's plans. The Supreme Personality of Godhead then\ninformed Akrilra that his presence was very much welcome. He inquired\nfrom him whether all his relatives and friends were well and free from all\nkinds of ailments. K[wa stated that He was very sorry that His maternal\nuncle Kamsa was the head of the kingdom ; He said that Kamsa was the\ngreatest anachronism in the whole system of government and that they\ncould not expect any welfare for the citizens while he ruled. Then Kr�pa\nsaid, \" My father has undergone much tribulation simply from My being\nhis son. For this reason also he has lost many other sons. I think\nMyself so fortunate that you have come as My friend and relative. My good\nfriend Akrilra, please tell me the purpose of your coming to V rndavana. \"\nAfter this inquiry, Akrilra, who belonged to the dynasty o f Yadu ,\nexplained the recent events i n Mathura, inclu ding Kamsa's attempt to kill\nV asudeva, the father of Kr�pa. He related the things which happened after\nthe disclosure by N arada that Krwa was the son of V asudeva. Sitting by\nHim in the house of N anda Maharaja, Akrii.ra narrated all the stories\nregarding Kamsa. He told how N arada met Kamsa and how he himself was\ndeputed by Kamsa to come to V rndavana. Akrilra explained to Kr�pa that\n.\n\n.\n\n25 1\n\n. .\n\n.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0354": "252\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nNarada had told Kamsa all about Kr�rta's being transferred from Mathura\nto V rndavana just after His birth and about His killing all the demons sent\nby Kamsa. Akrura then explained to Kr�rta the purpose of his coming to\nV rndavana: to take him back to Mathura. After hearing of these arrangements, Balarama and Kr�rta, who are very expert in killing opponents,\nmildly laughed at the plans of Kamsa.\nThey asked Nanda Maharaja to invite all the cowherd boys to go to\nMathura to participate in the ceremony known as Dhanur-yajiia. Kamsa\nwanted them all to go there to participate in the function. On Kr��a's\nword, N anda Maharaja at once called for the cowherd boys and asked\nthem to collect all kinds of milk preparations and milk to present in the\nceremony. He also sent instructions to the police chief of V rndavana to\ntell all the inhabitants about Kamsa's great Dhanur-yajfia function and\ninvite them to join. Nanda Maharaja informed the cowherd boys that they\nwould start the next morning. They therefore arranged for the cows and\nbulls to carry them all to Mathura.\nWhen the gopis saw that Akrura had come to take Kr�va and Balarama\naway to Mathura, they became overwhelmed with anxiety. Some of them\nbecame so aggrieved that their faces turned black, and they began to\nbreathe warmly and had palpitations of the heart. They discovered that\ntheir hair and dress immediately loosened. Hearing the news that Kr�rta\nand Balarama were leaving for Mathura, others who were engaged in\nhousehold duties stopped working as if they had forgotten everything, like\na person who is called forth to die and leave this world at once. Others\nimmediately fainted due to separation from Kr�rta. Remembering His\nattractive smile and His talks with them, the gopis became overwhelmed\nwith grief. They all remembered the characteristics of the Personality of\nGodhead, how He moved within the area of Vrndavana and how, with\njoking words, He attracted all their hearts. Thinking of Kr��a and of their\nimminent separation from Him, the gopis assembled together with heavy\nbeating hearts. Completely absorbed in thought of Kr��a, tears fell from\ntheir eyes. They began to converse as follows.\n\"0 Providence, you are so cruel! It appears that you do not know how\nto show mercy to others. By your arrangement, friends contact one\nanother, but without fulfilling their desires you separate them. This is\nexactly like children's play that has no meaning. It is very abominable that\nyou arrange to show us beautiful K�t;a, whose bluish curling hair beautifies\nHis broad forehead and sharp nose, who is always smiling to minimize all\ncontention in this material world, and then arrange to separate Him from\nus. 0 Providence, You are so cruel! But most astonishingly You appear now\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0355": "Akrftra�s Return Journey\n\n253\n\nas ' Akrura,' which means 'not cruel.' In the beginning we appreciated Your\nworkmanship in giving us these eyes to see the beautiful face of Krwa, but\nnow, just like a foolish creature, You are trying to take out our eyes so we\nmay not see Krwa here again. Krwa, the son of Nanda Maharaja, is also\nvery cruel! He must always have new friends; He does not like to keep\nfriendship for a long time with anyone. We gopis of Vrndavana, having left\nour homes, friends, and relatives, have become Krwa's maidservants, but\nHe is neglecting us and going away. He does not even look upon us,\nalthough we are completely surrendered unto Him. Now all the young\ngirls in Mathura will have the opportunity. They are expecting Kr�!!a's\narrival, and they will enjoy His sweet smiling face and will drink its honey.\nAlthough we know that Kr�!la is very steady and determined, we are\nthreatened that as soon as He sees the beautiful faces of the young girls in\nl\\1athura, He will forget Himself. We fear He will become controlled by\nthem and will forget us, for we are simple village girls. He will no longer be\nkind to us. We therefore do not expect Krwa to return to Vrndavana.\nHe will not leave the company of the girls in Mathura.\"\nThe gopis began to imagine the great functions in the city of Mathura.\nKr�r;a would pass through the streets, and the ladies and young girls of the\ncity would see Him from the balconies of their respective houses. Mathurii\nCity contained different communities, known then as Da5arha, Bhoja, Andhaka and Satvata. All these communities were different branches of the\nsame family in which Kr�!la appeared, namely the Y adu dynasty. They were\nalso expecting the arrival of Kr�r;a. It had already been ascertained that\nKr�r;a, who is the rest of the goddess of fortune and reservoir of all pleasure\nand transcendental qualities, was going to visit Mathura City.\nThe gopis then began to condemn the activities of Akriira. They stated\nthat he was taking Kr�r;a, who was more dear than the dearest to them and\nwho was the pleasure of their eyes. He was being taken from their sight\nwithout their being informed or solaced by Akrura. Akriira should not\nhave been so merciless but should have taken compassion on them. The\ngopis went on to say: \"The most astonishing feature is that Krey�a, the son\nof N anda, without consideration, has already seated Himself on the chariot.\nFrom this it appears that Kreyl).a is not very intelligent. Yet He may be very\nintelligent-but He is not very civilized. Not only Krey!la, but all the cowherd men are so callous that they are already yoking the bulls and calves\nfor the j ourney to Mathura. The elderly persons in V rndavana are also\nmerciless ; they do not take our plight into consideration and stop Kr�!!a's\njourney to Mathura. Even the demigods are very unkind to us; they are\nnot impeding His going to Mathura.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0356": "254\n\nKf�J}a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nThe gopis prayed to the demigods to create some natural disturbance,\nsuch as a hurricane, storm or heavy rainfall, so that Kr�JJa could not go to\nMathura. They then began to consider: \"Despite our elderly parents and\nguardians, we shall personally stop Kr�JJa from going to Mathura. We have\nno other alternative than to take this direct action. Everyone has gone\nagainst us to take away Kr�!Ja from our sight. Without Him we cannot live\nfor a moment.\" The gopis thus decided to obstruct the passage through\nwhich the chariot of Kr��Ja was supposed to pass. They began to talk\namong themselves: \"We have passed a very long night-which seemed only\na moment-engaged in the riisa dance with Kr�JJa. We were looking at His\nsweet smile and were embracing and talking. Now, how shall we live even\nfor a moment if He goes away from us? At the end of the day, in the\nevening, along with His elder brother Balarama, Krwa would return\nhome with Hib friends. His face would be smeared with the dust raised by\nthe hooves of the cows, and He would smile and play on His flute and\nlook upon us so kindly. How shall we be able to forget Him? How shall we\nbe able to forget Krwa, who is our life and soul? He has already taken away\nour hearts in so many ways throughout our days and nights, and if He\ngoes away, there is no possibility of our continuing to live.\" Thinking like\nthis, the gopis became more and more griefstricken at Krwa's leaving\nVrndavana. They could not check their minds, and they began to cry\nloudly, calling the different names of Kr�JJa, \"0 dear Damodara! Dear\nMadhava! \"\nThe gopis cried all night before the departure of Kr�JJa. As soon as the\nsun rose, Akrura finished his morning bath, got on the chariot and began\nto start for Mathura with Kr��Ja and Balarama. Nanda Maharaja and the\ncowherd men got up on bullock carts, after loading them with milk\npreparations, such as yogurt, milk, and ghee, filled in big earthen pots,\nand began to follow the chariot of Kr�!Ja and Balarama. In spite of Kr��Ja's\nasking them not to obstruct their way, all the gopis surrounded the chariot\nand stood up to see Kr�!Ja with pitiable eyes. Kr�!Ja was very much affected upon seeing the plight of the gopis, but His duty was to start for\nMathura, for this was foretold by Narada. Kr�JJa, therefore, consoled the\ngopis. He told them that they should not be aggrieved; He was coming back\nvery soon after finishing His business. But they could not be persuaded to\ndisperse. The chariot, however, began to head west, and as it proceeded,\nthe minds of the gopis followed it as far as p ossible. They watched the flag\non the chariot as long as it was visible ; finally they could only see the dust\nof the chariot in the distance. The gopis did not move from their places but\nstood until the chariot could not be seen at all. They remained standing\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0357": "Akriira's Return Journey\n\n255\n\nstill, as if they were painted pictures. All the gopis decided that Kr�pa was\nnot returning immediately, and with greatly disappointed hearts, they\nreturned to their respective homes. Being greatly disturbed by the absence\nof Kr�pa, they simply thought all day and night about His pastimes and\nthus derived some consolation.\nThe Lord, accom-panied by Akrura and Balarama, drove the chariot with\ngreat speed towards the bank of the Yamuna. Simply by taking a bath in\nthe Y am una, anyone can diminish the reaction of his sinful activities. Both\nKrsna and Balarama took Their baths in the river and washed Their faces.\nAfter drinking the transparent crystal clear water of the Yam una, They\ntook Their seats again on the chariot. The chariot was standing underneath\nthe shade of big trees, and both brothers sat down there. Akrura then took\nTheir permission to also take bath in the Yamuna. According to Vedic\nritual, after taking bath in the river, one should stand at least half·\nsubmerged and murmur the Giiyatri mantra. While he was standing in the\nriver, Akrura suddenly saw both Balarama and Kr�pa within the water. He\nwas surprised to see Them there because he was confident that They were\nsitting on the chariot. Confused, he immediately came out of the water\nand went to see where the boys were, and he was very surprised to see that\nThey were sitting on the chariot as before. When he saw Them on the\nchariot, he began to wonder whether he saw Them in the water. He therefore went back to the river. This time he saw not only Balarama and Kr�pa\nthere, but many of the demigods and all the Siddhas, Carapas, and\nGandharvas. They were all standing before the Lord, who was lying down.\nHe also saw the Se�a Naga with thousands of hoods. Lord Se�a Naga was\ncovered with bluish garments, and His necks were all white. The white\nnecks of Se�a Naga appeared exactly like snowcapped mountains. On the\ncurved lap of Se�a Naga, Akrura saw Kr�pa sitting very soberly, with four\nhands. His eyes were like the reddish petals of the lotus flower.\nIn other words, after returning, Akrura saw Balarama turned into Se�a\nNaga and Kr�pa turned into Maha· Vi�pu. He saw the fourhanded Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, smiliil g very beautifully. He was very pleasing to\nall and was looking towards everyone. He appeared beautiful with His\nraised nose, broad forehead, spread·up ears and reddish lips. His arms,\nreaching to the knees, were very strongly built. His shoulders were high,\nHis chest very broad and shaped like the conchshell. His navel was very\ndeep, and His abdomen was marked with three lines. His waist was broad\nand big, resembling the hips of a woman, and His thighs resembled the\ntrunks of elephants. The other parts of His legs, the joints and lower\nextremities, were all very beautiful, the nails of His feet were dazzling,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0358": "256\n\nKHJ)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nand His toes were as beautiful as the petals of the lotus flower. His helmet\nwas decorated with very valuable jewels. There was a nice belt around the\nwaist, and He wore a sacred thread across His broad chest. Bangles were on\nHis hands and armlets on the upper portion of His arms. He wore bells on\nHis ankles. He possessed dazzling beauty, and His palms were like the lotus\nflower. He was still more beautiful with different emblems of the Vi��mmiirti, the conchshell, club, disc and lotus flower, which He held in His\nfour hands. His chest was marked with the particular signs of V i�!m, and He\nwore fresh flower garlands. All in all, He was very beautiful to look at.\nAkriira also saw His Lordship surrounded by intimate associates like the\nfour Kumaras, Sanaka, Sanatana, Sananda and Sanatkumara, and other\nassociates like Sunanda and N anda, as well as demigods like Brahma and\nLord Siva. The nine great learned sages were there, and devotees like\nPrahlada and Narada were engaged in offering prayers to the Lord with\nclean hearts and pure words. After seeing the transcendental Personality of\nGodhead, Akriira immediately became overwhelmed with great devotion,\nand all over his body there was transcendental shivering. Although for the\nmoment he was bewildered, he retained his clear consciousness and bowed\ndown his head before the Lord. With folded hands and faltering voice, he\nbegan to offer prayers to the Lord.\nThus\n\nends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Thirty-eighth Chapter of\n\nKr�r;ta, ''Akriira's Return I ourney and His Visiting of Vi§r-uloka Within the\n\nYamuna River. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0359": "39/ Pra yers by Akriira\nAkriira offered his prayers as follows : \"My dear Lord, I here pay my\nrespectful obeisances unto Y ou because You are the supreme cause of all\ncauses and the original inexhaustible Personality, N araya!la· From Y our\nnavel a lotus flower grows, and from that lotus, Brahma , the creator of this\nuniverse , is born. Since Brahma is the cause of this universe, Y ou are the\ncause of all causes. All the elements of this cosmic manifestation-earth,\nwater, fire , air , ether, ego and the total material energy, as well as nature,\nthe marginal energy, the living entities, mind, senses, the sense objects and\nthe demigods who control the affairs of the cosmos-are all produced from\nY our body. Y ou are the Supersoul of everything, but no one knows Your\ntranscendental form. Everyone within this material world is influenced by\nthe modes of material nature. D emigods like Lord Brahma, being covered\nby the influence of material nature, do not exactly know Y our transcendental existence beyond the cosmic manifestation of the three modes of\nmaterial nature. Great sages and mystics worship You as the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, the original cause of all living entities, all cosmic\nmanifestation and all demigods. They worship Y ou as all-inclusive. S ome\nof the learned b riihmm;ws also worship Y ou by observing the ritualistic\nceremony of the .fig-veda. They offer different kinds of sacrifices in the\nnames of different gods. -And there are others also who are fond of worshiping transcendental knowledge. They are very peaceful and wish to give\nup all kinds of material activities. They engage themselves in the philosophical search for You, known as jiiiina-yoga.\n\"There are devotees also known as Bhiigavatas who worship Y ou as the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead . After being properly initiated in the\nmethod of Piiii cariitra, they decorate their bodies with tilaka and engage in\nworshiping Y our different forms of Vi�!lu milrti. There are others also ,\nknown as S aivites , followers of the different iiciiryas , who worship Y ou in\nthe form of Lord Siva . \"\n\n257\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0360": "258\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nIt is stated in the Bhagavad-gi:t a that worship of demigods is also\nindirectly worship of the Supreme Lord. But such worship is not orthodox,\nbecause the worshipable Lord is the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\nNaraya�1a. Demigods such as Brahma and Siva are incarnations of the\nmaterial qualities, which are also emanations from the body of Narayal)a.\nActually, there was no one existing before the creation except Narayal)a,\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead. The worship of a demigod is not on\nthe level with worship of Naraya�a.\nAkrura said, \"Although the minds of those who are devotees of the\ndemigods are fixed on a particular demigod, because You are the Supersoul\nof all living entities, including the demigods, worship of demigods indirectly\ngoes to You. Sometimes, after flowing down from the mountains during\nthe rainy season, small rivers fail to reach the sea; some reach the sea and\nsome do not. Similarly, the worshipers of the demigods may or may not\nreach You. There is no guarantee. Their success depends on the strength of\ntheir worship. \"\nAccording to Vedic principle, when a worshiper worships a particular\ndemigod, he also conducts some ritual for Naraya�a, Yajiidvara, for it is\nmentioned in Bhagavad-gi:ta that demigods cannot fulfill the desires of\ntheir worshipers without the sanction of Naraya�a, or Kr�!la. The exact\nwords used in the Bhagavad-gi:ta are mayaiva vihitan hi tan, which means\nthat the demigods can award some benediction after being authorized by\nthe Supreme Lord. When the demigod worshiper comes to his senses, he\ncan reason as follows: \"The demigod can offer benediction only after being\nempowered by the Supreme Lord, so why not worship the Supreme Lord\ndirectly?\" Worshipers of the demigods may come to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but others, who take the demigod as all in all, cannot reach the ultimate goal.\nAkrura continued to pray: \"My dear Lord, the whole world is filled\nwith the three material mode.s of nature, namely, goodness, passion and\nignorance. Everyone within this material world is covered by these modes,\nfrom Lord Brahma down to the immovable plants and trees. My dear Lord,\nI offer my respectful obeisances unto You, because You are beyond the\ninfluence of the three modes. Except for You, everyone is being carried\naway by the waves of these modes. My dear Lord, fire is Your mouth, the\nearth is Your feet, the sun is Your eye, the sky is Y our navel, and the\ndirections are Your ears. Space is Your head, the demigods are Your arms,\nthe oceans and seas are Your abdomen, and the winds and air are Your\nstrength and vitality. All the plants and herbs are the hair on Y our body;\nthe clouds are Your hair, the mountains are Your bones and nails, the days\nand nights are the twinkling of Your eyelids; Prajapati (the progenitor) is\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0361": "Prayers by Akrftra\n\n259\n\nYour genitals, and the rains are Your semina.\n\"My dear Lord, all living entities, including different grades of demigods,\ndifferent grades of overlords, kings and other living entities, are supposed\nto be resting in You. As part and parcel of the big unit, one cannot know\nYou by experimental knowledge. One can simply understand Your transcendental existence as the great ocean in which different grades of living\nentities are included, or as the fruit kadamba out of which small mosquitoes\ncome. My dear Lord, whatever eternal forms and incarnations Y ou accept\nand which appear in this world are meant for relieving the living entities\nfrom their ignorance, illusion and lamentation. All people, therefore, can\nappreciate the incarnations and pastimes of Your Lordship and eternally\nglorify Your activities. N o one can estimate how many forms and incarnations You have, nor can anyone estimate the number of universes that\nare existing within You.\n\"Let me therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto the incarnation\nof fish, who appeared in devastation, although Your Lordship is the cause\nof all causes. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the Hayagriva\nincarnation who killed the two demons, Madhu and Kaitabha ; let me offer\nmy respectful obeisances unto You who appeared as the gigantic tortoise\nand held up the great mountain 1\\landara, and who appeared as the boar\nwho rescued the earth planet which had fallen into the water of Garbhodaka. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Your Lordship, who\nappeared as N rsimhadeva, who delivered all kinds of devotees from the\nfearful condition of atheistic atrocities. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You who appeared as Vamanadeva and covered the three\nworlds simply by expanding Your lotus feet. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You who appeared as the Lord of the Bhrgus in\norder to kill all the infidel administrators of the world. And let me\noffer my respectful obeisances unto You who appeared as Lord Rama\nto kill demons like Rava�a. You are worshiped by all devotees as the\nchief of the Raghu dynasty, Lord Ramacandra. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You who appeared as Lord Vasudeva, Lord\nSankar�a�a, Lord Pradyumna and Lord Aniruddha. Let me offer my\nrespectful obeisances unto Y ou , who appeared as Lord Buddha in\norder to bewilder the atheistic and demoniac. And let me offer my\nrespectful obeisances unto You, who appeared as Kalki in order to\nchastise the so-called royal order degraded to the abominable condition\nof the mlecchas, who are below the jurisdiction of Vedic regulative\nprinciples.\n\"My dear Lord, everyone within this material world is conditioned by\nYour illusory energy. Under the impression of false identification and false\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0362": "260\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\npossession, everyone is transmigrating from one body to another in the\npath of fruitive activities and their reactions. My dear Lord, I am also no\nexception to these conditioned souls. I am falsely thinking myself happy in\npossessing my home, wife, children, state, property and effects. In this way\nI am acting as if in a dreamland because none of these are permanent. I am\na fool to be always absorbed in such thoughts, accepting them as permanent and true. My dear Lord, due to my false identification, I have\naccepted everything which is nonpermanent, such as this material body,\nwhich is not spiritual and is the source of all kinds of miserable conditions.\nBeing bewildered by such concepts of life, I am always absorbed in\nthoughts of duality, and I have forgotten You who are the reservoir of all\ntranscendental pleasure. I am bereft of Your transcendental association and\nam just like a foolish creature who goes in search of water in the desert,\nleaving the water spot which is covered by water-nourished vegetables. The\nconditioned souls want to quench their thirst, but they do not know where\nto find water. They give up the spot where there is actually a reservoir of\nwater and run into the desert where there is no water. My dear Lord, I am\ncompletely incapable of controlling my mind, which is now driven by the\nunbridled senses and is attracted by fruitive activities and their results.\nMy dear Lord, Your lotus feet cannot be appreciated by any person in\nthe conditional stage of material existence, but somehow or other I have\ncome near Your lotus feet, and I con?ider this to be Your causeless mercy\nupon me. You can act in any way because You are the supreme controller.\nI can thus understand that when a person becomes eligible to be delivered\nfrom the path of repeated birth and death, it is only by Your causeless\nmercy that he further progresses to become attached to Your causeless\ndevotional service.\"\nAkrura fell down before the Lord and said, \"My dear Lord, Your\ntranscendental eternal form is full of knowledge. Simply by concentrating\none's mind upon Your form, one can understand in full knowledge everything that be, because You are the original source of all knowledge. You\nare the supreme powerful, possessing all kinds of energies. You are the\nSupreme Brahman and the Supreme Person, supreme controller and master\nof the material energies. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You because\nYou are Vasudeva, the resting place of all creation. You are the allpervading Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Y ou are also the Supreme\nSoul residing in everyone's heart and giving direction to act. Now, my Lord,\nI am c o mpletely surrendered unto You. Please give me Your protection.\"\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Thirty-ninth Chapter of\n\nKr��a, \"Prayers by A kmra. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0363": "40 I Krsna Enters Mathura\n•\n\n• •\n\nWhile Akriira was offering his prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the L ord disappeared from the water, exactly as an expert dramatic\nactor changes his dress and assumes his original feature. After the Vi�tiUmiirti disappeared, Akriira got out of the water. Finishing the rest of his\nritualistic performance, he went near the chariot of Balarama and Kr�tla and\nwas struck with wonder. Kr�!la asked whether he had seen something\nwonderful within the water or in space. Akriira said, \"My dear Lord, all\nwonderful things taht are happening within this world, either in the sky or\nin the water or on the land, are factually appearing in Your universal form.\nS o when I have seen You, what wonderful things have I not seen ? \" This\nstatement confirms the Vedic version that one who knows Kr�tla knows\neverything, and one who has seen Kr�pa has seen everything, regardless of\nhow wonderful a thing may be. \"My dear L ord,\" Akriira continued, \" there\ncannot be anything more wonderful than Your transcendental form. When\nI have seen Y our transcendental form , what is there left to see?\"\nAfter saying this, Akriira immediately started the chariot. B y the end\nof the day, they had almost reached the precincts of Mathura. When passing\nfrom V rndavana to Mathura, all passersby along the way who saw Kr�tla\nand Balarama could not help but look at Them again and again. In the\nmeantime, the other inhabitants of V rndavana, headed by N anda and\nU pananda, had already reached Mathura by going through forests and\nrivers, and they were awaiting the arrival of Krwa and Balarama. Upon\nreaching the entrance to Mathura, Kr�!la and Balarama got down from the\nchariot and shook hands with Akriira. Kr�pa informed Akriira, \" You may\ngo home now because We shall enter Mathura along with Our associates. \"\nAkriira replied, \"My dear L ord, I cannot go t o Mathura alone , leaving You\naside. I am Your surrendered servant. Please do not try to avoid me.\nPlease, come along with me , with Your elder brother and cowherd boy\nfriends, and sanctify my house. My dear Lord, if Y ou come , my home will\n261\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0364": "262\n\nKf�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nbe sanctified by the dust of Your lotus feet. The water emanating from the\nperspiration of Your lotus feet, namely the Ganges, purifies everyone,\nincluding the forefathers, the fire-god and all other demigods. King Bali\nMaharaja has become famous simply by washing Your lotus feet, and all\nhis relatives have achieved the heavenly planet due to his contact with the\nGanges water. Bali Maharaja himself enjoyed all material opulences and\nlater on was elevated to the highest exalted position of liberation. The\nGanges water not only sanctifies the three worlds but is carried on the\nhead of Lord Siva. 0 Supreme Lord of all lords! 0 master of the universe !\nI offer my respectful obeisances unto You . \"\nO n hearing this, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kr��a, replied,\n\"Akriira, I shall surely come to your home with My elder brother\nBalarama, but only after killing all the demons who are envious of the\nY adu dynasty. In this way I shall please all My relatives.\" Akriira became\na little disappointed by these words of the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, but he could not disregard the order. He therefore entered\nMathura and informed Kamsa about the arrival of Kr��a, and then he\nentered his own home.\nAfter the departure of Akriira, Lord Kr��a, Balarama and the cowherd\nboys entered Mathura to see the city. They observed that the gate of\nMathura was made of first-class marble, very well constructed, and the\ndoors were made of pure gold. There were gorgeous gardens all around,\nand the whole city was encircled by cannons so that no enemy could\nenter very easily. They saw that all the crossings of the roads were\ndecorated with gold. And there were many richmen's houses, all appearing\nsymmetrical, as if constructed by one engineer. The houses were decorated\nwith costly jewels, and each and every house had nice compounds of\ntrees, fruits and flowers. The gardens, corridors and verandas of the houses\nwere decorated with silk cloth and embroidery work in jewels and pearls.\nIn front of the balcony windows were pigeons and peacocks walking and\ncooing. All the grain dealers' shops within the city were decorated with\ndifferent kinds of flowers and garlands, newly grown grass and blossoming\nroses. The central doors of the houses were decorated with water pots\nfilled with water, and a mixture of water and yogurt was sprinkled all\naround. There were flowers decorated with burning lamps of different\nsizes over the doors, and there were also decorations of fresh mango\nleaves and silk festoons on all the doors of the houses.\nWhen the news spread that Kr��1a, Balarama and the cowherd boys were\nwithin Mathura City, all the inhabitants gathered, and the ladies and girls\nimmediately went up to the roofs of the houses to see Them. They had\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0365": "Krsna Enters Mathura\n\n263\n\nbeen awaiting the arrival of Kr�pa and Balarama with great anxiety, and\nin their extreme eagerness to see Kr�va and Balarama, the ladies did not\ndress themselves very properly. Some of them placed their dress in the\nwrong place. Some annointed their eyes on one side only, and some wore\nankle bells only on one leg or only one earring. Thus in great haste, not\neven decorated properly, they came to see Kr��1a from the roofs. Some of\nthem had been taking their lunch, but as soon as they heard that Krwa\nand Balarama were in the city, they left their eating and ran to the roof.\nSome of them were in the bathroom, taking their baths, but without\nproperly finishing their baths, they came to see Kr�va and Balarama.\nPassing by very slowly and smiling, Lord Krwa immediately stole their\nhearts. He who is the husband of the goddess of fortune passed through\nthe street like an elephant. For a very long time the women of Mathura\nhad heard about Kr�va and Balarama and Their uncommon characteristics, and they were very much attracted and eager to see Them. Now\nwhen they actually saw Kr�pa and Balarama passing on the street and saw\nThem sweetly smiling, the ladies' joy reached the point of ecstasy. When\nthey actually saw Them with their eyes, they took Kr�pa and Balarama\nwithin their hearts and began to embrace Them to their fullest desire.\nTheir hairs stood up in ecstasy. They had heard of Krwa, but they had\nnever seen Him, and now their longing was relieved. After going up on the\nroofs of the palaces of Mathura, the ladies began to shower flowers upon\nKr�pa and Balarama. When the brothers were passing through the streets,\nall the b rahmanas in the neighborhood also went out with sandalwood and\nflowers and respectfully welcomed Them to the city. All the residents of\nMathura began to talk among themselves about the elevated and pious\nactivities of the people of V rndavana. The residents of Mathur a were\nsurprised at the pious activities the cowherd men in Vrndavana must have\nperformed in their previous lives to be able to see Krwa and Balarama\ndaily as cowherd boys.\nWhile Krwa and Balarama were passing in this way, They saw a washerman and dyer of clothing. Kr�pa was pleased to ask him for some nice\nclothing. He also promised that if the washerman would deliver the nicest\ndyed cloth to Him, he would be very happy, and all good fortune would\nbe his. Krwa was neither beggar nor was He in need of clothing, but by\nthis request He indicated that everyone should be ready to offer to Kr�va\nwhatever He wants. That is the purpose of Kr�va consciousness.\nUnfortunately, this washerman was a servant of Kamsa and therefore\ncould not appreciate the demand of Lord Kr�va, the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead. This is the effect of bad association. He could have immediately\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0366": "264\n\nKr�t;ta, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ndelivered the clothing to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who\npromised him all good fortune, but being a servant of Kamsa, the\nsinful demon could not accept the offer. Instead of being pleased, he was\nvery angry and refused the Lord's request saying, \"How is it that You are\nasking clothing which is meant for the king?\" The washerman then began\nto instruct Kr��a and Balarama: \"My dear boys, in the future don't be so\nimpudent as to ask for things which belong to the king. Otherwise, You\nwill be punished by the government men. They will arrest You and punish\nYou, and You will be in difficulty. I have practical experience of this fact.\nAnyone who unlawfully wants to use the king's property is very severely\npunished.\"\nOn hearing this, Lord Kr��a, the son of Devaki, became very angry at\nthe washerman, and striking him with the upper portion of His hand, He\nseparated the man's head from his body. The washerman fell down dead\non the ground. In this way Lord Kr��a confirmed the statement that every\nlimb of His body is capable of doing everything He likes. Without a sword,\nbut simply with His hand, he cut off the head of the washerman. This is\nproof that the Supreme Lord is omnipotent. If He wants to do something,\nHe can do it without extraneous help.\nAfter this ghastly incident, the employees of the washerman immediately\ndispersed, leaving the clothing. Kr��a and Balarama took possession of it\nand dressed according to Their choice ; the rest of the clothes were offered\nto the cowherd boys, who also used them as they desired. What they did\nnot use remained there. They then continued to proceed. In the meantime,\na devotee-tailor took the opportunity of service and prepared some nice\nclothes from the cloth for Kr��la and Balarama. Thus being very nicely\nattired, Krwa and Balarama looked like elephants dressed with colored\nclothings on the full moon day of the dark moon. Krwa was very much\npleased with the tailor and gave him the benediction of siimpya-muk ti,\nwhich means that after leaving his body, he would be liberated and would\nattain a body exactly like fourhanded Naraya�a's in the Vaiku�tha planets.\nHe also granted him that as long as he would live he would earn sufficient\nopulence to be able to enj oy sense gratification. By this incident Krwa\nprovec\\ that those who are Krwa conscious devotees will not be lacking\nmaterial enjoyment or sense gratification. They will have sufficient opportunity for such things, but after leaving this life they will be allowed to\nenter the spiritual planets of V aiku�thaloka or Kr��aloka, Goloka\nVrndavana.\nAfter dressing nicely, Krwa and Balarama went to a florist of the name\nSudama. As soon as they reached the precinct of his house, the florist\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0367": "Krsna Enters Mathura\n\n265\n\nimmediately came out and with great devotion fell down on his face to\noffer his respectful obeisances. He offered a nice seat to Kr�r;Ia and\nBalarama and asked his assistant to bring out flowers and betel nuts\nsmeared with pulp of candana. The florist's welcome greatly satisfied\nthe Lord.\nThe florist very humbly and submissively offered his prayers to the\nLord, saying, .. My dear Lord, because You have come to my place, I think\nall my forefathers and all my worshipable superiors are pleased and\ndelivered. My dear Lord, You are the supreme cause of all causes of this\ncosmic manifestation, but for the benefit of the residents of this earthly\nplanet, You have appeared with Your plenary portion to give protection to\nYour devotees and annihilate the demons. You are equally disposed as the\nfriend\n\nof all living entities; You are the Supersou1, and You do not\n\ndiscriminate between friend and enemy. Yet You are pleased to give Your\ndevotees the special result of their devotional activities. My Lord, I am\npraying that You please tell me whatever You wish me to do, because I am\nYour eternal servant. If You will allow me to do something, it will be a\ngreat favor to me.\" The florist, Sudama, was greatly pleased within his\nheart by seeing Krwa and Balarama in his place, and thus, as his choicest\ndesire, he made two exquisite garlands of various flowers and presented\nthem to the Lord. Both Krwa and Balarama were very pleased with his\nsincere service, and Kr��a offered the florist His salutation and benediction,\nwhich He is always prepared to bestow upon the surrendered souls. When\nthe florist was offered benediction, he begged from the Lord that he might\nremain His eternal servant in devotional service and by such service do\ngood to all living creatures. By this, it is clear that a devotee of the Lord in\nKr�r;J.a consciousness should not be simply satisfied by his own advancement in devotional service; he must be willing to work for the welfare of\nall others. This example was followed by the six Gosvamis of V rndavana.\nIt is therefore stated in their prayer, lokaniirh hitakiirirwu: V ai��avas, or\ndevotees of the Lord, are not selfish. Whatever benefit they derive from\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead as benediction they want to distribute\nto all other persons. That is the greatest of all humanitarian activities. Being\nsatisfied with the florist, Lord Krwa not only gave him benediction for\nwhatever he wanted, but over and above that, He offered him all material\nopulences, family prosperity, long duration of life, and whatever else his\nheart desired within the material world.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Fortieth Chapter of Kr�r;J.a,\n\"Kr�v-a Enters Mathura. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0368": "4 1 I The Breaking of the Bow\nin the Sacrificial Arena\nAfter leaving the florist's place, Kr�!la and Balarama saw a hunchbacked\nyoung woman carrying a dish of sandalwood pulp through the streets.\nSince Kr�!la is the reservoir of all pleasure, He wanted to make all His\ncompanions j oyous by cutting a j oke with the hunchbacked woman. Kr�!la\naddressed her, \"0 tall young woman, who are you? Tell Me, for whom\nare you carrying this sandalwood pulp in your hand? I think you should\noffer this sandalwood to Me, and if you do so I am sure you will be\nfortunate. \" Krwa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and He knew\neverything about the hunchback. By His inquiry He indicated that there\nwas no use in serving a demon ; one had better serve Kr�!la and Balarama\nand. get rid of the result of sins.\nThe woman replied to Kr�!la, \"My dear S yamasundara, dear beautiful\ndark boy, Y ou may know that I am engaged as maidservant of Kamsa.\nI am supplying him pulp of sandalwood daily. The king is very pleased with\nme for supplying this nice thing, but now I see that there is no one who can\nbetter be served by this pulp of sandalwood than Y ou two brothers. \"\nBeing captivated by the beautiful features of Kr�!la and Balarama, Their\ntalking, Their smiling, Their glancing and other activities, the hunchbacked\nwoman began to smear the pulp of sandalwood over Their bodies with\ngreat satisfaction and devotion. The two transcendental beggars, Kr�!la\nand Balarama, were naturally beautiful and had beautiful complexions,\nand They were nicely dressed in colorful garments. The upper portions\nof Their bodies were already very attractive, and when the hunchbacked\nwoman smeared Their bodies with sandalwood pulp, They looked even\nmore beautiful. Kr�!la was very pleased by this service, and He began to\nconsider how to reward her. In other words, in order to draw the attention\nof the Lord, the Kr�!la conscious devotee has to serve Him in great love and\ndevotion. Kr�!la cannot be pleased by any action other than transcendental\n\n266\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0369": "The Breaking of the Bow in the Sacrificial Arena\n\n267\n\nloving service unto Him. Thinking like this, Lord Kf§!ta pressed the\nfeet of the hunchbacked woman with His toes and, capturing her cheeks\nwith His fingers, gave her a jerk in order to make her straight. At once the\nhunchbacked woman looked like a beautiful straight girl, with broad hips,\nthin waist and very nice, well shaped breasts. Since Kr§�a was pleased with\nthe service of the hunchbacked woman, and since she was touched by\nKrwa's hands, she became the most beautiful girl among women. This\nincident shows that by serving Kr§�a the devotee immediately becomes\nelevated to the most exalted position. In all respects, devotional service is\nso potent that anyone who takes to it becomes qualified with all godly\nqualities. Kr§�a was attracted to the hunchbacked woman not for her\nbeauty but for her service; as soon as she rendered service, she immediately\nbecame the most beautiful woman. A Kr§�a conscious person does not\nhave to be qualified or beautiful; after becoming Kr§�a conscious and\nrendering service unto Kr§�a, he becomes very qualified and beautiful.\nWhen the woman was turned by Krwa's favor into an exquisitely\nbeautiful young girl, she naturally felt very much obliged to Kr§�a, and\nshe was also attracted by His beauty. Without hesitation, she caught the\nrear part of His cloth and began to snatch it. She smiled flirtatiously and\nadmitted that she was agitated by lusty desires. She forgot that she was on\nthe street and before the elder brother of Kr§�a and His friends.\nShe frankly proposed to Kr§�a: \"My dear hero, I cannot leave You in\nthis way. You must come to my place. I am already very much attracted\nto Your beauty, so I must receive You well, for You are the best among\nmales. You must also be very kind upon me.\" In plain words she proposed\nthat Kr9�a come to her home and satisfy her lusty desires. Krwa, of course,\nfelt a little bit embarassed in front of His elder brother, Balarama, but He\nknew that the girl was simple and attracted; therefore He simply smiled\nat her words. Looking towards His cowherd boy friends, he replied to the\ngirl, \"My dear beautiful girl, I am very much pleased by your invitation,\nand I must come to your home after finishing My other business here.\nSuch a beautiful girl like you is the only means •f solace for a person\nlike Me, for I am away from home and not married. Certainly, as a suitable\ngirl friend, you can give us relief from all kinds of mental agitation.\"\nKr§�a satisfied the girl in this way with sweet words. Leaving her there,\nHe began to proceed down the street of the marketplace where the\ncitizens were prepared to receive Him with various kinds of presentations,\nespecially betel nuts, flowers and sandalwood.\nThe mercantile men in the market worshiped Kr§�a and Balarama with\ngreat respect. When Kr9�a was passing through the street, all the women\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0370": "268\n\nKr�:.;ta, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nin the surrounding houses came to see Him, and some of the younger ones\nalmost fainted, being captivated by His beauty. Their hair and tight\ndresses loosened, and they forgot where they were standing.\nKr�va next inquired from the citizens as to the location of the place of\nsacrifice. Kamsa had arranged for the sacrifice called Dhanur-yajna, and to\ndesignate this particular sacrifice he had placed a big bow near the sacrificial\naltar. The bow was very big and wonderful and resembled the rainbow in\nthe sky. Within the sacrificial arena, this bow was protected by many\nconstables and watchmen engaged by King Kamsa. As Krwa and Balarama\napproached the bow, they were warned not to go nearer, but Kr�p.a\nignored this warning. He forcibly went up and immediately took the big\nbow in His left hand. After stringing the bow in the presence of the crowd,\nHe drew it and broke it at the middle into two parts, exactly as an elephant\nbreaks sugar cane in the field. Everyone present appreciated Kr�va's power.\nThe sound of the bow cracking filled both sky and land and was heard by\nKamsa. When Kamsa heard what had happened, he began to fear for his\nlife. The caretaker of the bow, who was standing by watching, became\nvery angry. He ordered his men to take up weapons, and he began to rush\ntowards Krwa, shouting, \"Arrest Him! Kill Him! Kill Him! \" Krwa and\nBalarama were surrounded. When They saw the threatening motions of the\nguards, they became angry, and taking up the two pieces of the broken\nbow, They began to beat off all the caretaker's men. While this turmoil\nwas going on, Kamsa 3ent a small group of troops to assist the caretakers,\nbut both Kr�va and Balarama fought with them also and killed them.\nAfter this, Kr�va did not proceed further into the sacrificial arena but\nwent out the gate and proceeded towards Their resting camp. Along the\nway, He visited various places in Mathura City with great delight. Seeing\nthe activities and wonderful prowess of Krwa, all the citizens of Mathura\nbegan to consider the two brothers to be demigods who had come down\nto Mathura, and they all looked upon Them with great astonishment. The\ntwo brothers strolled carefree in the street, not caring for the law and order\nof Kamsa.\nWhen evening came, Krwa and Balarama, with Their cowherd boy\nfriends, went to the outskirts of the city where all their cars were assembled. Thus Krwa and Balarama gave some preliminary hints of Their\narrival to Kamsa, and he could understand what severe type of danger was\nawaiting him the next day in the sacrificial arena.\nWhen Kr�p.a and Balarama were going from V rndavana to Mathura, the\ninhabitants of v rndavana had imagined the great fortune of the citizens of\nMathura in being able to see the wonderful beauty of Kr§va, who is\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0371": "The Breaking of the Bow in the Sacrificial Arena\n\n269\n\nworshiped by His pure devotees as well as the goddess of fortune. The\nfantasies of the residents of V rndavana were actually realized, for the\ncitizens of Mathura became fully satisfied by seeing Krwa.\nWhen Kr��a returned to His camp, H e was taken care of by servants\nwho washed His lotus feet, gave Him a nice seat and offered Him milk and\n. palatable dishes of foodstuffs. After taking supper and thinking of the\nnext day's program, H e very peacefully began to take rest. Thus He passed\nthe night there.\nOn the other side, when Kamsa came to understand about the breaking\nof his wonderful bow and the killing of the caretaker and soldiers by\nKr��a, he could partially realize the power of the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead. H e could realize that the eighth son of Devaki had appeared and\nthat now his death was imminent. Thinking of his imminent death, he\ncould not rest the entire night. He began to have many inauspicious\nvisions, and he could understand that both Kr��a and Balarama, who had\napproached the precincts of the city, were his messengers of death. Kamsa\nbegan to see various kinds of inauspicious signs, both awake and dreaming.\nWhen he looked in the mirror he could not see his head, although the head\nwas actually present. He could see the luminaries in the sky in double,\nalthough there was only one set factually. He began to see holes in his\nshadow, and he could hear high buzzing sound within his ears. All the trees\nbefore him appeared to be made of gold, and he could not see his own\nfootprints in dust or muddy clay. In dream he saw various kinds of ghosts\nbeing carried in a carriage drawn by donkeys. He also dreamed that someone gave him poison, and he was drinking it. He dreamed also that he was\ngoing naked with a garland of flowers and was smearing oil all over his\nbody. Thus, as Kamsa saw various signs of death both awake and sleeping,\nhe could understand that death was certain, and thu.s in great anxiety he\ncould not rest that night. Just after the night expired, he busily arranged\nfor the wrestling match.\nThe wrestling arena was nicely cleansed and decorated with flags, festoons and flowers, and the match was announced by the beating of kettledrums. The platform appeared very beautiful due to streamers and flags.\nDifferent types of galleries were arranged for respectable persons-kings,\nbriihmar-as and k§atriyas. The various kings had reserved thrones, and others\nhad arranged seats also. Kamsa finally arrived, accompanied by various\nministers and secretaries, and he sat on the raised platform especially meant\nfor him. Unfortunately, although he was sitting in the center of all governing executive heads, his heart was palpitating in fear of death. Cruel\ndeath evidentally does not care even for a person as powerful as Kamsa.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0372": "270\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nWhen death comes, it does not care for anyone's exalted position.\nWhen everything was complete, the wrestlers, who were to exhibit their\nskills before the assembly, walked into the arena. They were decorated\nwith bright ornaments and dress. Some of the famous wrestlers were\nCaJ;lilra, Mu�pka, S ala, Kuta and Tosala. Being enlivened by the musical\nconcert, they passed through with ,great alacrity. All the respectable\ncowherd men who came from Vrndavana, headed by Nanda, were also\nwelcomed by Kamsa. After presenting Kamsa with the milk products they\nhad brought with them, the cowherd men also took their respective seats\nby the side of the king, on a platform especially meant for them.\n\nThus ends , the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Forty-first Chapter of\nKr�lJa, \"The Breaking of the Bow in the Sacrificial Arena . \" .\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0373": "42 I The Killing of the Ele p hant Kuvalaya pl�a\n\nAfter taking their baths and finishing all other morning duties, Kr�p.a\nand Balarama could hear the beating of the kettledrums in the wrestling\ncamp. They immediately prepared Themselves to proceed to the spot to\nsee the fun. When Kr�p.a and Balarama reached the gate of the wrestling\ncamp , They saw a big elephant of the name Kuvalayapi9a being tended by\na caretaker. The caretaker was deliberately blocking Their entrance by\nkeeping the elephant in front of the gateway. Kr�p.a could understand the\npurpose of the caretaker, and He prepared Himself by tightening His dress\nbefore combatting the elephant. He began to address the caretaker in a\nvery grave voice, as resounding as a clou d : \" Y ou miscreant caretaker, give\nway and let Me pass through the gate. If you block My way, I shall send\nyou and your elephant to the house of death personified.\"\nThe caretaker, being thus insulted by Kr�p.a, became very angry, and in\norder to challenge Kr�p.a, as was previously planned, he provoked the\nelephant to attack. The elephant then moved before Kr�p.a like inevitable\ndeath. It rushed towards Him and tried to catch Him with its trunk, but\nKrwa very dexterously moved behind the elephant. Being able to see only\nto the end of its nose, the elephant could not see Kr�p.a hiding behind its\nlegs, but it tried to capture Him with its trunk. Kr�p.a again very quickly\nescaped capture, and He again ran behind the elephant and caught its tail.\nH olding the elephant by its tail, Kr�p.a began to pull it, and with very great\nstrength He dragged it for at least twenty-five yards, just as Garu9a drags\nan insignificant snake. Kr�p.a pulled the elephant from this side to that,\nfrom right to left, just as He used to pull the tail of a calf in His childhood.\nAfter this, Kr�p.a went in front of the elephant and gave it a strong slap.\nHe then slipped away from the elephant's view and ran to its back. Then,\nfalling down on the ground, Kr�p.a placed Himself in front of the elephant's\ntwo legs and caused it to trip and fall. Kr�p.a immediately got up, but the\n\n271\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0374": "272\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nelephant, thinking that He was still lying down, tried to push an ivory\ntusk through the body of Kr�!la by forcibly stabbing it into the ground.\nAlthough the elephant was harassed and angry, the caretaker riding on its\nhead tried to provoke it further. The elephant then rushed madly towards\nKr�!J.a. As soon as it came within reach, Kr�!la caught hold of the trunk\nand pulled the elephant down. When the elephant and caretaker fell,\nKrwa jumped up on the elephant's back and broke it and killed the (\ncaretaker also. After killing the elephant, Kr�!la took an ivory tusk on His\nshoulder. Decorated with drops of perspiration and sprinkled with the\nblood of the elephant, He felt very blissful, and thus He began to proceed\ntowards the wrestling camp. Lord Balarama took the other tusk of the\nelephant on His shoulder. Accompanied by Their cowherd boy friends,\nThey entered the arena.\nWhen Kr�!la entered the wrestling arena with Balarama and Their\nfriends, He appeared differently to different people according to their\ndifferent relationships (rasas) with Him. Krwa is the reservoir of all\npleasure and all kinds of rasas, both favorable and unfavorable. He appeared\nto the wrestlers exactly like a thunderbolt. To the people in general He\nappeared as the most beautiful personality. To the females He appeared to\nbe the most attractive male, Cupid personified, and thus increased their\nlust. The cowherd men who were present there looked upon Kr�!la as their\nown kinsman, coming from the same village of V rndavana. The k§atriya\nkings who were present saw Him as the strongest ruler. To the parents of\nKrwa, Nanda and Yasoda, He appeared to be the most loving child. To\nKamsa, the king of the Bhoja dynasty, He appeared to be death personified. To the unintelligent, He appeared to be an incapable personality. To\nthe yogis present, He appeared to be the Supersoul. To the members of the\nV r�tli dynasty He appeared to be the most celebrated descendant. Thus\nappreciated differently by different kinds of men present, Krwa entered\nthe wrestling arena with Balarama and His cowherd boy friends. Having\nheard that Krwa had already killed the elephant, Kuvalayapi�a, Kamsa\nknew beyond doubt that Krwa was formidable. He thus became very much\nafraid of Him. Kr�pa and Balarama had long hands. They were beautifully\ndressed, and They were attractive to all the people assembled there. They\nwere dressed as if They were going to act on a dramatic stage, and They\ndrew the attention of all people.\nThe citizens of Mathura City who saw Kr�tla, the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, became very pleased and began to look on His face with\ninsatiable glances, as if they were drinking the nectar of heaven. Seeing\nKr�!la gave them so much pleasure that it appeared that they were not\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0375": "The Killing of the Elephant Kuvalayapi�a\n\n273\n\nonly drinking the nectar of seeing His face, but were smelling the aroma\nand licking up the taste of His body and were embracing Him and Balarama\nwith their arms. They began to talk among themselves about the two\ntranscendental brothers. For a long time they had heard of the beauty and\nactivities of Krwa and Balarama, but now they were personally seeing\nThem face to face. They thought that Kr�l)a and Balarama were two\nplenary incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Naraya!la,\nwho had appeared in v rndavana.\nThe citizens of Mathura began to recite Kr�!la's pastimes, His birth as\nthe son of Vasudeva, His being taken into the care of N anda Maharaja and\nhis wife in Gokula, and all those events leading to His coming to Mathura.\nThey spoke of the killing of the demon Putana, as well as the killing of\nTr!lavarta, who came as a whirlwind. They also recalled the deliverance of\nthe twin brothers from within the yamala arjuna trees. The citizens of\nMathura spoke among themselves: Smi.khasura, Ke81, Dhenukasura and\nmany other dem�ns were killed by Kr��a and Balarama in V rndavana.\nKr��a also saved all the cowherd men of V rndavana from devastating fire.\nHe chastised the Kaliya snake in the water of Yamuna, and He curbed the\nfalse pride of the heavenly king, Indra. Kr�!la held up the great Govardhana\nHill in one hand for seven continuous days and saved all the people of\nGokula from incessant rain, hurricane and windstorm.\" They also began to\nremember other enlivening activities: \"The damsels of Vrndavana were so\npleased by seeing Kr��a's beauty and participating in His activities that\nthey forgot the purpose of material existence. By seeing and thinking of\nKr�!la, they forgot all sorts of material fatigue.\" The Mathura citizens\ndiscussed the dynasty of Yadu, saying that because of Kr��a's appearance\nin this dynasty, the Y adus would remain the most celebrated family in the\nwhole universe. While they were thus talking about the activities of Kr�!la\nand Balarama, they heard the vibrations of different bands announcing the\nwrestling match.\nThe famous wrestler Ca!lura then began to talk with Krwa and Balarama.\n\"My dear Kr�!la and Balarama,\" he said, \"we have heard about Your past\nactivities. You are great heroes, and therefore the king has called you. We\nhave heard that Y o u r arms are very strong. The king and all the people\npresent here desire to see a display of Your wrestling abilities. A citizen\nshould be obedient and please the mind of the ruling king; acting in that\nway, the citizen attains all kinds of good fortune. One who does not care\nto act obediently is made unhappy because of the king's anger. You are\ncowherd boys, and we have heard that while tending Y our cows in the\nforest, You enj oy wrestling with each other. We wish, therefore, for You\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0376": "274\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nto join with us in wrestling so that all the people present here, along with\nthe king, will be pleased.\"\nKrwa immediately understood the purpose of Cavura's statements, and\nHe prepared to wrestle with him. But according to the time and circumstances, He spoke as follows: \"You are the subject. . of the King of Bhoja,\nand you live in the jungle. We are also indirectly his subjects, and we try\nto please him as far as possible. This offer of wrestling is a great favor of\nhis, but the fact is that We are simply boys. We sometimes play in the\nforest of Vrndavana with our friends who are our own age. We think that\nto combat persons of equal age and strength is good for us, but to fight\ngreat wrestlers like you would not be good for the audience. It would\ncontradict their religious principles.\" Kr�J!a thus indicated that the celebrated, strong wrestlers should not challenge Kr�.pa and Balarama to fight.\nIn reply to this, Ca�iira said, \"My dear Kr�.pa, we can understand that\nYou are neither a child nor a young man. You are transcendental to everyone, as is Your big brother, Balarama. You have already killed the elephant\nKuvalayapiQ.a, who was capable of fighting and defeating other elephants.\nYou have killed him in a wonderful way. Because of Your strength, it\nbehooves You to compete with the stronger wrestlers amongst us. I\ntherefore wish to wrestle with Y ou, and Y our elder brother, Balarama, will\nwrestle with Mu�tika. \"\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Forty-second Chapter of\n\nKr�va, \"The Killing of the Elephant Kuvalayiipit;fa. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0377": "4 3 I The Killing of Kamsa\n\nAfter Kamsa's wrestlers expressed their determination, the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, the killer of Madhu, confronted C artiira, and L ord\nBalarama, the son of Rohirti, confronted Mu�tika. Kr�rta and C artlira and\nthen Balarama and Mu�tika locked themselves hand to hand, leg to leg, and\neach began to press against the other with a view to come out victorious.\nThey j oined palm to palm, calf to calf, head to head, chest to chest and\nbegan to strike each other. The fighting increased as they pushed one another from one place to another. One captured another and threw him\ndown on the ground, and another rushed from the back to the front of\nanother and tried to overcome him with a hold. The fighting increased step\nby step. There was picking up, the dragging and pushing, and then the legs\nand hands were locked together. All the arts of wrestling were perfectly\nexhibited by the parties, as each tried his best to defeat his opponent.\nBut the audience in the wrestling arena was not very satisfied because\nthe combatants did not appear to be equally matched. They considered\nKr�rta and Balarama to be mere boys before the wrestlers C artlira and\nMu�tika, who were huge men as solid as stone. Being compassionate and\nfavoring Kr�rta and Balarama, many members of the audience began to\ntalk as follows. \" D ear friends, there is danger here. \" Another said, \"'Even\nin front of the king this wrestling is going on between incompatable sides. \"\nThe audience had lost their sense of enj oyment. They could not encourage\nthe fighting between the strong and the weak. \" Mu�tika and C artlira are\njust like thunderbolts, as strong as great mountains, and Kr�rta and\nBalarama are two delicate boys of very tender age. The principle of justice\nhas already left this assembly. Persons who are aware of the civilized\nprinciples of justice will not remain to watch this unfair match. Those\ntaking part in this wrestling match are not very much enlightened ; therefore\nwhether they speak or remain silent, they are being subjected to the reac-\n\n275\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0378": "276\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ntions of sinful activities.\" \"But my dear friends,\" another in the assembly\nspoke out, \"just look at the face of Kr§�a. There are drops of perspiration\non His face from chasing His enemy, and His face appears like the lotus\nflower with drops of water. And do you see how the face of Lord\nBalarama has turned especially beautiful? There is a reddish hue on His\nwhite face because He is engaged in a strong wrestling match with\nMustika.\"\nLadies in the assembly also addressed one another. \"Dear friends, just\nimagine how fortunate the land of V rndavana is where the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself is present, always decorated with flower garlands and engaged in tending cows along with His brother, Lord Balarama.\nHe is always accompanied by His cowherd boy friends, and He plays His\ntranscendental flute. The residents of Vrndavana are fortunate to be able to\nconstantly see the lotus feet of Kr9�a and Balarama, which are worshiped\nby great demigods like Lord Siva and Brahma and the goddess of fortune.\nWe cannot estimate how many pious activities were executed by the\ndamsels of V rajabhumi so that they were able to enjoy the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead and look on the unparalleled beauty of His\ntranscendental body. The beauty of the �ord is beyond compare. N o one\nis higher or equal to Him in beauty of complexion or bodily luster. Kr9�a\nand Balarama are the reservoir of all kinds of opulence-namely wealth,\nstrength, beauty, fame, knowledge and renunciation. The gopis are so\nfortunate that they can see and think of Kr§�a twenty-four hours a day,\nbeginning from their milking the cows or husking the paddy or churning\nthe butter in the morning. While engaged in cleaning their houses and\nwashing their floors, they are always absorbed in the thought of Krwa.\"\nThe gopis give a perfect example of how one can execute Kr9�a consciousness even if he is in different types of material engagement. By\nconstantly being absorbed in the thought of Kr��a, one cannot be affected\nby the contamination of material activities. The gopis are, therefore,\nperfectly in trance, samiidhi, the highest perfectional stage of mystic\npower. In the Bhagavad-gitii, it is confirmed that one who is constantly\nthinking of Kf§!la is a first-class yogi among all kinds of yogis. \"My dear\nfriends,\" one lady told another, \"we must accept the gopis' activities to be\nthe highest form of piety; otherwise, how could they have achieved the\nopportunity of seeing Kr§�a both morning and evening when He goes to\nthe pasturing ground with His cows and cowherd boy friends and returns\nin the evening? They frequently see Him playing on His flute and smiling\nvery brilliantly.\"\nWhen Lord Krwa, the Supersoul of every living being, understood that\n. .\n\n.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0379": "The Killing of Kamsa\n\n277\n\nthe ladies in the assembly were anxious for Him, He decided not to\ncontinue wrestling but to kill the wrestlers immediately. The parents of\nKrwa and Balarama, namely N anda Maharaja, Yasoda, V asudeva and\nDevaki, were also very anxious because they did not know the unlimited\nstrength of their children. Lord Balarama was fighting with the wrestler\nMu�tika in the same way that Krwa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\nwas fighting and wrestling with Ca�ura. Lord Kr��a appeared to be cruel\nto Ca�ura, and He immediately struck him thrice with His fist. The great\nwrestler was jolted, to the astonishment of the audience. Ca�ura then took\nhis last chance and attacked Kr��a, just as one hawk swoops upon another.\nFolding his two hands, he began to strike the chest of Krwa, but Lord\nKr��a was not even slightly disturbed, no more than an elephant that is\nhit by a flower garland. Krwa quickly caught the two hands of Ca�ura and\nbegan to wheel him around, and simply by this centrifugal action, Ca�ura\nlost his life. Kr��a then threw him to the ground. Ca�ura fell just like the\nflag of Indra, and all his nicely decorated ornaments were scattered hither\nand thither.\nMu�tika also struck Balarama, and Balarama returned the stroke with\ngreat force. Mu�tika began to tremble, and blood and vomit flowed from\nhis mouth. Distressed, he gave up his vital force and fell down just as a tree\nfalls down in a hurricane. After the two wrestlers were killed, a wrestler\nnamed Kuta came forward. Lord Balarama immediately caught him in His\nleft hand and killed him nonchalantly. Another wrestler of the name Sala\ncame forward, and Krwa immediately kicked him and cracked his head.\nAnother wrestler named Tosala came forward and was killed in the same\nway. Thus all the great wrestlers were killed by Kr��a and Balarama, and\nthe remaining wrestlers began to flee from the assembly out of fear for\ntheir lives. All the cowherd boy friends of Kr��a and Balarama approached\nThem and congratulated Them with great pleasure. While drums beat and\nthey talked of the victory, the leg bells on the feet of Kr��a and Balarama\ntinkled.\nAll people gathered there began to clap in great ecstasy, and no one\ncould estimate the bounds of their pleasure. The b riihmar.as present began\nto praise Krwa and Balarama ecstatically. Only Kamsa was morose; he\nneither clapped nor offered benediction to Krwa. Kamsa resented the\ndrums' being beaten for Kr��a's victory, and he was very sorry that the\nwrestlers had been killed and had fled the assembly. He therefore immediately ordered the drum playing to stop and began to address his friends\nas follows: \"I order that these two sons of Vasudeva be immediately\ndriven out of Mathura. The cowherd boys who have come with Them\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0380": "2 78\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nshould be plundered and all their riches taken away. Nanda Mahadij a\nshould immediately be arrested and killed for his cunning behavior, and\nthe rascal V asudeva should also be killed without delay. Also my father,\nUgrasena, who has always supported my enemies against my will, should\nbe killed.\"\nWhen Karhsa spoke in this way, Lord Krwa became very angry with\nhim , and within a second He jumped over the high guards of King Karhsa.\nKarhsa was prepared for Kpg1a's attack, for he knew from the beginning\nthat He was to be the cause of his death. He immediately unsheathed his\nsword and prepared to answer the challenge of Krwa with sword and\nshield. As Karhsa wielded his sword up and down, hither and thither, Lord\nKr��a, the supreme powerful Lord, caught hold of him with great force.\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the shelter of the complete\ncreation and from whose lotus navel the whole creation is manifested,,\nimmediately knocked the crown from the head of Karhsa and grabbed his:\nlong hair in His hand. He then dragged Karhsa fro m his seat to the wrestling\ndias and threw him down. Then Krwa at once straddled his. ehest and\nbegan to strike him over and over again. Simply from the strokes of His\nfist, Karhsa lost his vital force.\nIn order to assure His parents that Karhsa was dead, Lord Kr��a dragged\nhim just as a lion drags an elephant after killing it. On sight of this, there\nwas a great roaring sound from all sides, as some spectators expressed\ntheir jubilation and others cried in lamentation. From the day Karhsa\nheard that he would be killed by the eighth son of D evaki, he was atways\nthinking of Krwa twenty-four hours a day without any stoppage-even\nwhile he was eating, while he was walking, while he was breathing-and\nnaturally he got the blessing of liberation. In the Bhagavad-gitii it is stated,\nsadii tad-bhiiva-bhavital;t : a person gets his next life according to the\nthoughts in which he is always absorbed. Karhsa was thinking of Kr��a\nwith His wheel, which means Naraya�a who holds a wheel, conchshell,\nlotus flower and club .\nAccording to the opinion of authorities, Karhsa attained siiriipya-muk ti\nafter death, that is to say he attained the same form as Naraya!J.a (Vi��u).\nOn the V aiku�tha planets all the inhabitants have the same bodily features\nas Narayapa. After his death, � arhsa attained liberation and was promoted\nto V aiku�thaloka. From this instance we can understand that even a person\nwho thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as an enemy gets\nliberation and a place in a Vaiku�tha planet, so what to speak of the pure\ndevotees who are always absorbed in favorable thoughts of Krwa? Even\nan enemy who is killed by Krwa gets liberation and is placed in the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0381": "The Killing of Kamsa\n\n279\n\nimpersonal brahmaj_yoti. Since the Supreme Personality of Godhead is all\ngood, anyone thinking of Him, either as enemy or as friend, gets liberation.\nBut the liberation of the devotee and the liberation of the enemy are not\nthe same. The enemy generally gets the liberation of siiyujya, and sometimes he gets siiriipya liberation.\nKamsa had eight brothers, headed by Kanka. All of them were younger\nthan he, and when they learned that their elder brother had been killed,\nthey combined together and rushed towards Kr�!la in great anger to kill\nHim. Kamsa and his brothers were all Krwa's maternal uncles. They were\nall brothers of Krwa's mother, Devaki. When Kr�l!a killed Kamsa He killed\nHis maternal uncle, which is against the regulation of Vedic injunction.\nAlthough Krwa is independent of all Vedic injunction, He violates the\nVedic injunction only in inevitable cases. Kamsa could not be killed by\nanyone but Krwa ; therefore Krwa was obliged to kill him. As far as\nKamsa's eight brothers were concerned, Balarama took charge of killing\nthem. Baladima's mother, Rohil).i, although the wife of V asudeva, was not\nthe sister of Kamsa; therefore Balarama took charge of killing all of\nKamsa's eight brothers. He immediately took up an available weapon\n(most probably the elephant's tusk which He carried) and killed the eight\nbrothers one after another, just as a lion kills a flock of deer. Krwa and\nBalarama thus verified the statement that the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead appears to give protection to the pious and to kill the impious\ndemons who are always enemies of the demigods.\nThe demigods from the higher planetary systems began to shower\nflowers, congratulating Kr�l!a and Balarama. Among the demigods were\npowerful personalities like Lord Brahma and Siva, and all joined together\nin showing their jubilation over Kamsa 's death. There was beating of drums\nand showering of flowers from the heavenly planets, and the wives of the\ndemigods began to dance in ecstasy.\nThe wives of Kamsa and his eight brothers became aggrieved on account\nof their husbands' sudden deaths, and all of them were striking their foreheads and shedding torrents of tears. They were crying very loudly and\nembracing the bodies of their husbands. The wives of Kamsa and his\nbrothers began to lament, addressing the dead bodies: \"Our dear husbands,\nyou are so kind and are the protectors of your dependents. Now, after\nyour death, we are also dead, along with your homes and children. We are\nno longer looking very auspicious. On account of your death, the auspicious functions which were to take place, such as the sacrifice of the\nbow, have all been spoiled. Our dear husbands, you treated persons ill who\nwere faultless, and as a result you have been killed. This is inevitable\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0382": "280\n\nKr�a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nbecause a person who torments an innocent person must be punished by\nthe laws of nature. We know that Lord Kr�9-a is the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead. He is the supreme master of everything and the supreme\nenj oyer of everything, and therefore anyone who neglects His authority\ncan never be happy, and ultimately, as you have, he meets death.\"\nSince Kr�9-a was kind and affectionate to His aunts, He began to give\nthem solace as far as was possible. The ritualistic ceremonies after death\nwere then conducted under the personal supervision of Kr�9-a because He\nhappened to be the nephew of all the dead princes. After finishing this\nbusiness, Kr�9-a and Balarama immediately released Their father and\nmother, Vasudeva and Devaki who had been imprisoned by Kani.sa. Kr�9-a\nand Balarama fell at Their parents' feet and offered them prayers. Vasudeva\nand Devaki had suffered so much trouble because Kr�9-a was their son; it\nwas because of Kr��1a that Kani.sa was always giving them trouble. Devaki\nand Vasudeva were fully conscious of Kr�9-a 's exalted position as the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead; therefore, although Kr�9-a touched their\nfeet and offered obeisances and prayers to them, they did not embrace\nHim, but simply stood up to hear the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\nAlthough Kr�9-a was born as their son, Vasudeva and Devaki were always\nconscious of His position.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivediinta purport of the Forty-third Chapter of\nKr�9-a, \"The Killing of Kamsa. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0383": "44 I Krsna Recovers the S on of His Teacher\n•\n\n• •\n\nWhen L ord Kr�!la saw that V asudeva and D evaki were remammg\nstanding in a reverential attitude, He immediately expanded His influence\nof yogamiiyii so that they could treat Him and Balarama as children. As in\nthe material world the relationship existing between father and mother\nand children can be established amongst different living entities by the\ninfluence of the illusory energy, so, by the influence of yogamiiyii, the\ndevotee can establish a relationship in which the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead is his child. After creating this situation by His yogamiiyii, Kr�!la,\nappearing with His elder brother Balarama as the most illustrious sons in\nthe dynasty of the Satvatas, very submissively and respectfully addressed\nV asudeva and D evaki: \"My dear fa the� and mother , although you have\nalways been very anxious for the protection of Our lives, you could not\nenj oy the pleasure of having Us as your babies, as your growing boys and\nas your · adolescent youths. \" Kr��la indirectly praised the fatherhood of\nNanda Maharaja and motherhood of Y asoda as most glorious because\nalthough He and Balarama were not their born sons, Nanda and Yasoda\nactually enj oyed Their childhood pastimes . By nature's own arrangement ,\nthe childhood of the embodied living being is enj oyed by the parents. Even\nin the animal kingdom the parents are found to be affectionate to the cubs.\nBeing captivated by the activities of their children , they take much care for\ntheir well-being. As for V asudeva and D evaki, they were always very\nanxious for the protection of their sons, Krwa and Balarama. That is why\nKr�!la, after His appearance , was immediately transferred to another's\nhouse. Balarama was also transferred from D evaki's womb to Rohini's\nwomb .\nV asudeva and D evaki were full of anxieties for Kr§pa's and Balarama's\nprotection, and they could not enj oy Their childhood pastimes. Kr�pa\nsaid, \"Unfortunately, being ordered by Our fate , We could not be raised\n\n28 1\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0384": "282\n\nKr��1a, the Supreme Perso nality of Godhead\n\nby Our own parents to enj oy childhood pleasures at home. My dear father\nand mother, a man has a debt to pay to his parents , from whom he gets\nthis body which can bestow upon him all the benefits of material existence.\nAccording to the Vedic injunction, this human form of life enables one to\nperform all kinds of religious activities , fulfill all kinds of desires and\nacquire all kinds of wealth. And only in this human form is there every\npossibility that one can get liberation from material existence. This body\nis produced by the combined efforts of the father and mother. Every\nhuman being should be obliged to his parents and understand that he\ncannot repay his debt to them. If, after growing up, a son does not try to\nsatisfy his parents by his actions or by an endowment of riches , he is surely\npunished after death by the superintendent of death and made to eat his\nown flesh. If a person is able to care for or give protection to old parents ,\nchildren, the spiritual master, b rah ma!ws and other dependents , but does\nnot do so, he is considered to be already dead, although he is supposedly\nbreathing. My dear father and mother, you have always been very anxious\nfor Our protection, but unfortunately We could not render any service\nunto you. Up to date We have simply wasted Our time ; We could not serve\nyou for reasons beyond Our control. Mother and father, please excuse Us\nfor Our sinful action. \"\nWhen the Supreme Personality of Godhead was speaking as an innocent\nboy in very sweet words, both V asudeva and D evaki became captivated by\nparental affection and embraced Them with great pleasure . They were\namazed and could not speak or answer the words of Kr��1a, but simply\nembraced Him and Balarama in great affection and remained silent, shedding incessant tears.\nThus consoling His father and mother, the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, appearing as the beloved son of D evaki, approached His grandfather U grasena and announced that U grasena would now be the King\nof the Y adu kingdom. Kamsa had been forcibly ruling over the kingdom\nof Y adu, in spite of the presence of his father, whom he had arrested. But\nafter the death of Kamsa, Kamsa's father was released and announced to\nbe the King of the Y adu kingdom. It appears that in those days, in the\nwestern part of India, there were many small kingdoms, and they were\nruled by the Y adu dynasty, Andhaka dynasty, V f§�i dynasty and Bhoj a\ndynasty. Maharaj a Ugrasena belonged t o the Bhoj a dynasty ; therce fore\nKf§�a indirectly declared that the king of the Bhoj a dynasty would be emperor of the other small kingdoms . He willingly asked Maharaj a U grasena to\nrule over Them because They were his subjects . The word praja is used both\nfor the progeny and for the citizens , so Kr�pa belonged to the p raja, both\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0385": "Kf§J)a Recovers the Son of His Teacher\n\n283\n\nas a grandson to .Maharaja Ugrasena and as a member of the Yadu dynasty.\nHe voluntarily accepted the rule of Maharaj a Ugrasena . He informed\nUgrasena : \"Being cursed by the Y ayati , the kings of the Y adu dynasty\nwill not rise against the throne . It will be Our pleasure to serve you as\nyour servants . Our full cooperation with you will make your position more\nexalted and secure so that the kings of other dynasties will not hesitate to\npay their respective revenues. Protected by Us, you will be honored even\nby the demigods from the heavenly planets. My dear grandfather, out of\nfear of lVI y late uncle Kamsa, all the kings belonging to the Y adu dynasty ,\nV f�pi dynasty, Andhaka dynasty, Madhu dynasty, D asarha dynasty and\nKukura dynasty were very anxious and disturbed. N ow you can pacify\nthem all and give them assurance of security. The whole kingdom will be\npeaceful. \"\nAll the kings i n the neighb oring area had left their homes i n fear of\nKamsa and were living in distant parts of the country. N ow, after the death\nof Karitsa <ind the reinstatement of Ugrasena as king, the neighb oring kings\nwere given all kinds of presentations and comforts. Then they returned to\ntheir respective homes . After this nice political arrangement, the citizens\nof .Mathura were pleased to live in l\\lathura, being protected by the strong\narms of Kr�pa and Balarama. On account of good government in the\npresence of Kr�pa and Balarama, the inhabitants of Mathura felt complete\nsatisfaction in the fulfillment of all their materiaL desires and necessities ,\n\"and because they saw Krwa and Balarama daily, eye to eye , they soon\nforgot all material miseries completely. As soon as they saw Kr�pa and\nBalaran1a coming out on the street , very nicely dressed and smiling and\nlooking here and there , the citizens were immediately filled with loving\necstasies , simply by seeing the personal presence of l\\l ukunda. Muk unda\nrefers to one who can award liberation and transcendental bliss. Kr�pa's\npresence acted as such a vitalizing tonic that not only the younger\ngeneration , _ but even the old men of l\\lathura became fully invigorated\nwith youthful energy and strength by regularly seeing Him.\nNanda Maharaj a and Yasoda were also living in l\\lathura because Kr�pa\nand Balarama were there , but after some time they wanted to go Lack\nto V rndavana. Krwa and Balarama went before them and very feelingly\nand affectionately embraced Nanda and Yasoda, and Kr�pa began to speak\nas follows : \" l\\ l y dear father and mother, although 1 was Lorn of Vasudeva\nand D evaki, y ou have been Our real father and mother , because from Our\nvery birth and childhood, you raised Us with gre at affection and love .\nYour affectionate love for U s was more than an yone can offer one's own\nchildren. Y ou are adually Our father and mother, be�..: ause y ou raised U s\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0386": "284\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nas your own children at a time when We were just like orphans. For certain\nreasons We were rejected by Our father and mother, and you protected\nUs. My dear father and mother, I know you will be feeling separation\nby returning to Vrndavana and leaving Us here, but please rest assured\nthat I shall be coming back to Vrndavana just after giving some satisfaction\nto My real father and mother, Vasudeva and Devaki, My grandfather, and\nother relatives and family members.\" Kr��a and Balarama satisfied Nanda\nand Y asoda by sweet words and by presentation of various clothing,\nornaments and properly made utensils. They satisfied them, along with\ntheir friends and neighbors who had come with them from Vrndavana to\nMathura, as fully as possible. On account of his excessive parental affection\nfor Balarama and Kr��a, Nanda Maharaja felt tears in his eyes, and he\nembraced Them and started with the cowherd men for V rndavana.\nAfter this, Vasudeva had his son initiated by sacred.thread as the token\nof second birth, which is essential for the higher castes of human society.\nVasudeva called for his family priest and learned b riihmap.as, and the\nsacred thread ceremony of Krwa and Balarama was duly performed.\nDuring this ceremony, Vasudeva gave various ornaments in charity to the\nb riihmwyas and endowed them with cows decorated with silken cloths and\ngolden ornaments. Previously, during the birth of Krwa and Balarama,\nVasudeva had wanted to give cows in charity to the b riihmar;as, but.being\nimprisoned by Kamsa, he was able to do so only within his mind. With\nthe death of Kamsa the actual cows were given to the b riihmar;as. Then\nBalarama and Krwa were duly initiated with the sacred thread ceremony,\nand They repeated the chanting of the Giiyatri mantra. The Giiyatri mantra\nis offered to the disciples after the sacred thread ceremony, and Balarama\nand Kr��a properly discharged the duties of chanting this mantra. Anyone\nwho executes the chanting of this mantra has to abide by certain principles\nand vows. Although Balarama and Krwa were both transcendental personalities, They strictly followed the regulative principles. Both were initiated\nby Their family priest Gargacarya, usually known as Gargamuni, the\niiciirya of the Yadu dynasty. According to Vedic culture, every respectable\nperson has an iiciirya, or spiritual master. One is not considered to be a\nperfectly cultured man without being initiated and trained by an iiciirya.\nIt is said, therefore, that one who has approached an iiciirya is actually\nin perfect knowledge. Lord Kr��a and Balarama were the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all education and knowledge. There was\nno need for Them to accept a spiritual master or iiciirya, yet for the\ninstruction of ordinary men, They also accepted a spiritual master for\nadvancement in spiritual knowledge.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0387": "Krsna Recovers the Son of His Teacher\n.\n\n. .\n\n285\n\nIt is customary, after being initiated in the Gayatri mantra, for one to\nlive away from home for some time under the care of the acarya in order\nto be trained in spiritual life. During this period one has to work under\nthe spiritual master as an ordinary menial servant. There are many rules\nand regulations for a brahmacari living under the care of an acarya, and\nboth Lord Krwa and Balarama strictly followed those regulative principles\nwhile living under the instruction of their spiritual master, Sandipani Muni,\nin his place in northern India. According to scriptural injunctions, a\nspiritual master should be respected and be regarded on an equal level\nwith the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Both Kr�':a and Balarama\nexactly followed those principles with great devotion and underwent\nthe regulations of b rahmacarya, and thus They satisfied Their spiritual\nmaster, who instructed Them in Vedic knowledge. Being very satisfied, Sandipani M imi instructed Them in all the intricacies of V edic\nwisdom as well as in supplementary literatures such as the Upani§ads.\nBecause Kf�J).a and Balarama happened to be k§atriyas, They were\nspecifically trained in military science, politics and mathematics. In\npolitics there are six departments of knowledge-how to make peace,\nhow to fight, how to pacify,, how to divide and rule, how to give\nshelter, etc. All these items were fully explained and instructed to Kf�J).a\nand Balarama.\nThe ocean is the source of water in a river. The cloud is created by the\nevaporation of ocean water, and the same water is distributed as rain all\nover the surface of the earth and then returns toward the ocean in rivers.\nSo Krwa and Balarama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are the\nsource of all kinds of knowledge, but because They were playing like\nordinary human boys, They set the example so that everyone would\nreceive knowledge from the right source. Thus They agreed to take knowledge from a spiritual master.\nAfter hearing only once from the teacher, Kr��a and Balarama learned\nall the arts and sciences. In sixty-four days and sixty-four nights They\nlearned all the necessary arts and sciences that are required in human\nsociety. During daytime They took lessons on a subject from the teacher,\nand by nightfall, after having heard from the teacher, They were expert\nin that department of knowledge.\nFirst of all They learned how to sing, how to compose songs and how\nto recognize the different tunes; They learned the favorable and unfavorable accents and meters, how to sing different kinds of rhythms and\nmelodies, and how to follow them by beating different kinds of drums.\nThey learned how to dance with rhythm, melody and different songs.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0388": "286\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nThey learned how to write dramas, and They learned the various types of\npaintings, beginning from different village arts up to the highest perfectional stage. They also learned how to paint tilaka on the face and make\ndifferent kinds of dots on the forehead and cheeks. Then They learned the\nart of painting on the floor with liquid paste of rice and flour; such\npaintings are very popular at auspicious ceremonies performed at household affairs or in the temple. They learned how to make a resting place with\nflowers and how to decorate clothing and leaves with colorful paintings.\nThey also learned how to set different valuable jewels in ornaments. They\nlearned the art of ringing water pots. Water pots are filled with water to a\ncertain measurement so that when one beats on the pots, different tunes\nare produced, and when the pots are beaten together they produce a melodious sound. They also learned how to throw water in the rivers or the lakes\nwhile taking a bath among friends. They also learned how to decorate with\nflowers. This art of decorating can still be seen in various temples of Vrndavana during the summer season. It is called phulabiif}i. The dais, the throne,\nthe walls and 'the ceiling are all fully decorated, and a small, aromatic fountain of flowers is fixed in the center. Because of these floral decorations,\nthe people, fatigued from the heat of the summer season, become refreshed.\nKr�p.a and Balarama learned the art of dressing hair in various styles and\nfixing a helmet in different positions on the head. They also learned how\nto perform on the theatrical stage, how to decorate dramatic actors with\nflower ornaments over the ear, and how to sprinkle sandalwood pulp and\nwater to produce a nice fragrance. They also learned the art of performing\nmagical feats. Within the magical field there is an art called bahuriipi by\nwhich a person dresses himself in such a way that when he approaches a\nfriend he cannot be recognized. They also learned how to make beverages\nwhich are required at various times, and They studied syrups and tastes\nand the effects of intoxication. They learned how to manipulate thin\nthreads for dancing puppets, and They learned how to string wires on\n·\nmusical instruments, such as the Vtl)ii, sitar and tampura, to produce\nmelodious sound . Then They learned puzzles and how to set and solve\nthem. They learned the art of reading books from which even a foolish\nstudent can very quickly learn to read the alphabet and comprehend\nwriting. Then They learned how to rehearse and act out a drama. They\nalso studied the art of solving crossword pu�zles, filling up the missing\nspace and making complete words.\nThey also learned how to draw pictographic literature. In some countries in the world, pictographic literature is still current. A story is represented by pictures; for instance, a man and a house are pictured to\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0389": "Kr�l)a Recovers the Son of His Teacher\n\n287\n\nrepresent a man going home. Kr�t;la and Balarama also learned the art of\narchitecture-how to construct residential buildings. They learned to recognize valuable jewels by studying the luster and the quality of their colors.\nThen They learned the art of setting jewels with gold and silver. They also\nlearned how to study soil to find minerals. This study of soil is now a\ngreatly specialized science, but formerly it was common knowledge even\nfor the ordinary man. They learned to study herbs and plants and to\nextract medicine from the elements. By studying the different species of\nplants, They learned how to crossbreed plants and get different types of\nfruits. They learned how to train and engage lambs and cocks in fighting for\nsporting purposes. They then learned how to teach parrots to speak and\nanswer the questions of human beings.\nThey learned practical psychology-how to influence another's mind and\nthus induce another to act according to one's own desire. Sometimes this\nis called hypnotism. They learned how to wash hair, dye it in different\ncolors and curl it in different ways. They learned the art of telling what is\nwritten in someone's book without actually seeing it. They learned to tell\nwhat is contained in another's fist. Sometimes children imitate this art,\nalthough not very accurately. One child keeps something within his fist\nand asks his friend, \"Can you tell what is within? \" and the friend gives\nsome suggestion, although He actually cannot tell. But there is an art by\nwhich one can understand and actually tell what is held within the fist.\nKr�t;la and Balarama learned how to speak and understand the languages\nof various countries. They learned not only the languages of human beings.\nKr�t;la could also speak even with animals and birds. Evidence of this is\nfound in V ai�t;lava literature compiled by the Gosvamis. Then They learned\nhow to make carriages and airplanes from flowers. It is said in the\nRiimiiya[La that after defeating Ravat;!a, Ramacandra was carried from\nLarika to Bharatavar�a on a plane of flowers called pu�pa-ratha. Kr�t;la then\nlearned the art of foretelling events by seeing signs. In a book called\nKhaniir vacana, the various types of signs and omens are described. If, when\none is going out, one sees someone with a bucket full of water, that is a\nvery good sign. But if one sees someone with an empty bucket, it is not a\nvery good sign. Similarly, if one sees cow's milk along with her calf, it is a\ngood sign. The result of understanding these signs is that one can foretell\nevents, and Kr�t;la learned the science. Kr�t;la also learned the art of composing matrka. A matrkii is a crossword section with three letters in a line;\ncounting any three from any side, it will count nine. The matrkas are of\ndifferent kinds and are for different purposes.\nKr�t;la learned the art of cutting valuable stones such as diamonds, and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0390": "288\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nHe learned the art of questioning and answering by immediately composing\npoetry within His mind. He learned the science of the action and reaction\nof physical combinations and permutations. He learned the art of a\npsychiatrist, who can understand the psychic movements of another\nperson. He learned how to satisfy one's desires. Desires are very difficult\nto fulfill; but if one desires something which is unreasonable and can never\nbe fulfilled, the desire can be subdued and satisfied, and that is an art. By\nthis art one can also subdue sex impulses when they are aroused, as they\nare even in brahmaciin life. By this art one can make even an enemy his\nfriend or transfer the direct action of a physical element to other things.\nLord Krwa and Balarama, the reservoir of all knowledge of arts and\nsciences, exhibited Their perfect understanding when They offered to\nserve Their teacher by awarding him anything he desired. This offering by\nthe student to the teacher or spiritual master is called guru-dak§irzii. It is\nessential that a student satisfy the teacher in return for any learning\nreceived, either material or spiritual. When KHI}a and Balarama offered\nTheir service in this way, the teacher, Sandipani Muni, thought it wise to\nask Them for something extraordinary, something which no common\nstudent could offer. He therefore consulted with his wife about what to\nask from Them. They had already seen the extraordinary potencies of\nKr�l}a and Balarama and could understand that the two boys were the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead. They decided to ask for the return of\ntheir son, who had drowned in the ocean on the bank of Prabhasak�etra.\nWhen Krsna and Balarama heard from Their teacher about the death of\nhis son on the bank of Prabhasak�etra, They immediately started for the\nocean on Their chariot. Reaching the beach, They asked the controlling\ndeity of the ocean to return the son of Their teacher. The ocean deity\nimmediately appeared before the Lord and offered Him all respectful\nobeisances with great humility.\nThe Lord said, \"Some time back you caused the drowning of the son of\nOur teacher. I order you to return him.\"\nThe ocean deity replied, \"The boy was not actually taken by me, but\nwas captured by a demon named Paficajana. This great demon generally\nremains deep in the water in the shape of a conchshell. The son of Your\nteacher might be within the belly of the demon, having been devoured by\nhim.\"\nOn hearing this, K�l}a dove deep into the water and caught hold of the\ndemon Paficajana. He killed him on the spot, but could not find the son\nOf His teacher within his belly. Therefore He took the demon's dead body\n(in the shape of a conchshell) and returned to His chariot on the beach of\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0391": "K r��a Recovers the Son of His Teacher\n\n289\n\nPrahhasa�etra. From there He started for Sarhyamani, the residence of\nY amaraj a , the superintendent of death . Accompanied by His elder brother\nBalarama, who is also known as Halayudha, Krwa arrived there and blew\non His conchshell.\nHearing the vibration, Y amaraj a appeared and received Sri Kr��a with all\nrespectful obeisances. Y amaraj a could understand who Krwa and Balarama\nwere , and therefore he immediately offered his humble service to the Lord.\nKr��a had appeared on the surface of the earth as an ordinary human\nbeing, hut actually Kr��a and Balarama are the Supersoul living within the\nheart of every living entity. They are Vi��u Himself, hut were playing just\nlike ordinary human boys. As Y amaraj a offered his services to the Lord,\nSri Kr�!la asked him to return His teacher's son, who had come to him as a\nresult of his work. \"Considering My ruling as supreme,\" said Kr�!la, \" you\nshould immediately return the son of My teacher. \"\nYamaraj a returned the hoy t o the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\nand Kr�!la and Balarama brought him to his father. The brothers asked if\nTheir teacher had anything more to ask from Them , hut he replied, \" My\ndear sons, Y ou have done enough for me. I am now completely satisfied.\nWhat further want can there he for a man who has disciples like You? My\ndear boys, Y ou can go home now. These glorious acts of Y ours will always\nhe renowned all over the world. Y ou are above all blessing, yet it is my\nduty to bless Y o u . I give Y ou the benediction that whatever Y ou speak\nwill remain as eternally fresh as th e instruction of the Vedas. Y our\nteachings will not only he honored within this universe or in this millennium, hut in all places and ages and will remain increasingly new and\nimportant. \" Due to this benediction from His teacher, Lord Kr�!la's\nBhagavad-gita is ever increasingly fresh and is not only renowned within\nthis universe , hut in other planets and in other universes also .\nBeing ordered by Their teacher, Kr�!la and Balarama immediately\nreturned home on Their chariots. They traveled at great speeds like the\nwind and made sounds like the crashing of clouds. All the residents of\nMathura, who had not seen Kr�!la and Balarama for a long time, were very\npleased to see Them again. They felt j oyful, like a person who has regained\nhis lost property.\nTh us ends the Bhak tivedanta purport of the Forty-fou rth Chapter of\nKr�l)a, \"Kr�ra Recovers the S o n of His Teacher. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0392": "45 I Uddhava Visits Vrndavana\n•\n\nNanda Maharaj a returned to Vrndavana without Kr�!la and Balarama.\nH e was accompanied only by the cowherd boys and men. It was certainly\na very pathetic scene for the go pis, mother Y asoda, Srimati Radharal)i and\nall the inhabitants and residents of V rndavana. Many devotees have tried\nto make adjustments to Kr�!la 's being away from V rndavana because\naccording to expert opinion, Kr�l)a, the original Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, never goes even a step out of V rndavana. He always remains\nthere . The explanation of expert devotees is that Kr�l)a was actually not\nabsent from Vrndavana ; He came back with Nanda Maharaj a as promised.\nWhen H e was going to Mathura on the chariot driven by Akriira and the\ngopis were practically blocking the way, Kr�l)a assured them that He was\ncoming back just after finishing His business in Mathura. He told them not\nto be overwhelmed, and in this way He pacified them. But when He did\nnot come back with N anda Maharaja, it appeared that He either cheated\nthem or could not keep His promise . Expert devotees, however, have\ndecided that Kr�!la was neither a cheater nor a breaker of promises. Kf�l)a,\nin His original identity, returned with N anda Maharaj a and stayed with the\ngopis and mother Y asoda in His bhava expansion. Kr�!la and Balarama\nremained in Mathura, not in Their original forms, but in Their expansions\nas V asudeva and Sarikarsana. The real Krsna and Balarama were in\nV rndavana in Their b hava manifestation, whereas in Mathura They appeared in the prabhava and vaibhava expansions. This is the expert\nopinion of advanced devotees of Kr�J)a. But when Nanda Maharaj a was\npreparing to return to V rndavana, there was discussion among him, Kr�!l�\nand Balarama as to how the boys could live in separation from N anda.\nTh e conclusion to separate was reached by mutual agreement.\nVasudeva and D evaki happened to be Kr�!la and Balarama 's real parents.\nThey wanted to keep Them now because of the death of Kamsa. While\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\n290\n\n. .\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0393": "Uddhava Visits V rndavana\n\n29 1\n\nKamsa was alive, They were kept under the protection of Nanda Maharaja\nin V rndavana. N ow, naturally, the father and mother of Kr�lla and\nBalarama wanted Them to remain with them, specifically for the reformatory function of purification, the sacred thread ceremony. They also\nwanted to give Them a proper education, for this is the duty of the father.\nAnother consideration was that all the friends of Kamsa outside Mathura\nwere planning to attack Mathura. For that reason also Krwa's presence\nwas required. Kr�lla did not .rWant V rndavana to be disturbed by enemies\nlike D antavakra and Jarasandha. If Krwa were to go to Vrndavana, these\nenemies would not only attack Mathura, but would go on to Vrndavana,\nand the peaceful inhabitants of V rndavana would be disturbed. Krwa\ntherefore decided to remain in Mathura, and N anda Maharaja went back\nto Vrndavana. Although the inhabitants of V rndavana were feeling separation from Kr�l).a, Kr��a was always present with them by His lila, or\npastimes, and this made them ecstatic.\nSince Krwa had departed from V rndavana to Mathura, the inhabitants\nof Vrndavana, especially mother Yasoda, Nanda Maharaja, Srimati Radharal).i, the gopis and the cowherd boys, were simply thinking of Krl?lla at\nevery step. They were thinking, \"Krwa was playing in this way. Krl?l!a was\nblowing His flute. Krwa was joking with us, and Krl?l!a was embracing us. \"\nThis is called lilii-smarar-a, and it is the process of association with Kr9pa\nmost recommended by great devotees; even Lord Caitanya enjoyed lilasmarar-a association of Kr l?l!a when He was at Puri. Those who are in the\nmost exalted position of devotional service and ecstasy can live with Kr l?l!a\nalways by remembering His pastimes. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur\nhas given us a transcendental literature entitled Kr§rw-bhavanamrta, which\nis full with Kr l?l!a's pastimes. Devotees can remain absorbed in Kr l?�lathought by reading such books. Any book of Kr� lla lila, even this book,\nK[§fl-U, and our Teachin�s of Lord Caitan_ya, is adually solace for devotees\nwho are feeling the separation of Krwa.\nThat Kr�lla and Balarama did not come to Vrndavana can be adjusted as\nfollows: They did not break Their promise to return to Vrndavana, nor\nwere They absent, but Their presence was necessary in l\\Iathura.\nIn the meantime, U ddhava, a cousin-brotht�r of K r�pa, came to see\nKr�t.Ja from Dvaraka. He was the son of Vasudeva's brother and was almost\nthe same age as Krl?t;J.a. His bodily features resembled Kr�l!a's almost\nexactly. After returning from His teacher's home, Krwa was pleased to see\nUddhava, who happened to be Hi.s dearmost friend. He wanted to send him\nto V rndavana with a message to the residents to pacify their deep feeling\nof separation.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0394": "292\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Pe rsonali ty of Godhead\n\nAs stated in the Bhagavad-gitii, ye yathii miirh prapadyante: Kr�!la is\nvery responsive. He responds in proportion to the devotee's advancement\nin devotional service. The gopis were thinking of Kr�!la in separation\ntwenty-four hours a day. Kr�!la was also always thinking of the gopis,\nmother Y asoda, Nanda Maharaj a and the residents of Vrndavana, although\nH e appeared to be away from them . He could understand how they were\ntranscendentally aggrieved, and so He immediately wanted to send U ddhava\nto give them a message of solace.\nU ddhava is described as the most exalted personality in the V r�!li\ndynasty, almost equal to Kr�!la. He was a great friend, and on account of\nbeing the direct student of Brhaspati, the teacher and priest of the\nheavenly planets, he was very intelligent and sharp in decision. From the\nintellectual standpoint, he was highly qualified. Kr�!la, being a very loving\nfriend of u ddhava, wanted to send him to v rndavana just to study the\nhighly elevated ecstatic devotional service practiced there. Even if one is\nhighly elevated in material education and is even the disciple of Brhaspati,\nhe still has to learn from the gop is and the residents of v rndavana how to\nlove Kr�!la to the highest degree. Sending U ddhava to V rndavana with a\nmessage to the residents of V rndavana to pacify them was Kr�!la 's special\nfavor to U ddhava.\nLord Kr�!la's name is H ari, which means one who takes away all the\ndistress from the surrendered souls. Lord C aitanya states that there cannot\nbe, at any time, a worship as exalted as that realized by the gopis. Being\nvery anxious about the gopis ' grief, Kr�!la talked with U ddhava and\npolitely requested him to go to V rndavana. Shaking U ddhava's hand with\nHis own hands, He said, \"My dear gentle friend U ddhava, please go immediately to Vrndavana and try to pacify My father and mother, N anda\nMaharaja and Y asodadev1, and the gopis. They are very much griefstricken,\nas if suffering from great ailments. G o and give them a message. I hope\ntheir ailments will be partially relieved. The gopis are always absorbed in thoughts of Me. They have dedicated body, desire, life and soul to Me. I\nam anxious not only for the gopis, but for anyone who sacrifices society ,\nfriendship, love and personal comforts for Me. It is My duty to protect such\nexalted devotees. The gopis are the most dear. They are always thinking of\nMe in such a way that they remain overwhelmed and almost dead in\nanxiety due to separation from Me. They are keeping alive simply by\nthinking that I am returning to them very soon.\"\nRequested by Lord Kr�!la, U ddhava immediately left on His chariot and\ncarried the message to Gokula. He approached V rndavana at sunset, when\nthe cows were returning home from the pasturing ground. Uddhava and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0395": "Uddhava Visits Vrndavana\n\n293\n\nhis chariot were covered by the dust raised by the hooves of the cows. He\nsaw bulls running after cows for mating; other cows, with overladened\nmilkbags, were running after the calves to fill them with milk. U ddhava\nsaw that the entire land of V rndavana was filled with white cows and their\ncalves. Cows were running here and there all over Gokula, and he could\nhear the sound of milking. Every residential house in Vrndavana was\ndecorated for the worship of the sun-god and the fire-god and for the\nreception of guests, cows, briihmaf!-aS and demigods. Every home was\nilluminated with light and incense arranged for sanctification. All over\nv rndavana there were nice flower garlands, flying birds and the humming\nsound of the bees. The lakes were filled with lotus flowers and with ducks\nand swans.\nU ddhava entered the house of N anda Maharaja and was received as a\nrepresentative of Vasudeva. Nanda Maharaja offered him a place and sat\ndown with him to ask about messages from Krwa, Balarama and other\nfamily members in Mathura. He could understand that U ddhava was a very\nconfidential friend of Krwa and therefore must have come with good\nmessages. \"My dear U ddhava, how is my friend Vasudeva enj oying life? He\nis now released from the prison of Kari:tsa, and he is now with his friends\nand his children, Kr�t;J.a and Balarama. So he must be very happy. Tell me\nabout him and his welfare. We are also very happy 'that Kari:tsa, the most\nsinfJil demon, is now killed. He was always envious of the family of the\nY adus, his friends and relatives. Now because of his sinful activities, he is\ndead and gone, along with all his brothers.\n\"Please let us now know whether Krwa is remembering His father and\nmother and His friends and companions in Vrndavana. Does He like to\nremember His cows, His gopis, His Govardhana Hill, His pasturing ground\nin Vrndavana? Or has He forgotten all these now? Is there any possibility\nof His coming back to His friends and relatives so that we can again see His\nbeautiful face with its raised nose and lotus-like eyes? We remember how\nHe saved us from the forest fire, how He saved us from the great snake\nKaliya in the Yamuna, how He saved us from so many other demons, and\nwe simply think how much we are obliged to Him for giving us protection\nin so many dangerous situations. My dear U ddhava, when we think of\nKr�t;J.a's beautiful face and eyes and His different activities here in Vrndavana, we become so overwhelmed that all our activities cease. We simply\nthink of Krwa, how He used to smile and how He looked upon us. When\nwe go to the banks of the Yam una and other lakes of Vrndavana or near\nGovardhana Hill or the pasturing field, we see that the impressions of\nKr�t;J.a's footprints are still on the surface of the earth. We remember Him\n.\n\n.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0396": "294\n\nKr��a, the Supre me Pe rsonality of Godhead\n\nplaying in those places, because He was constantly visiting them . When\nHis appearance within our minds becomes manifest, we immediately\nbecome absorbed in thought of Him.\n\"We think, therefore, that Kr�!la and Balarama may be chief demigods\nin heaven who have appeared before us like ordinary boys in order to\nexecute particular duties on earth. This was also foretold by Gargamuni\nwhen making Kr�!la 's horoscope. If Krwa were not a great personality,\nhow could H e have killed Kamsa, who possessed the strength of l 0,000\nelephants? Besides Kamsa, there were very strong wrestlers , as well as the\ngiant elephant, Kuvalayapi�a. All these animals and demons were killed by\nHim j ust as a lion kills an ordinary animal . H ow wonderful it is that Krwa\ntook in one hand the big, heavy bow made of three j oined palm trees and\nbroke it very quickly. H ow wonderful it is that continually for seven days\nHe held up G ovardhana Hill in one hand. H ow wonderful it is that He has\nkilled all the demons, like Pralambasura, Dhenukasura, Ari�tasura,\nTr!lavarta and Bakasura . They were so strong that even the demigods in\nthe heavenly planets were afraid of them, but Kr�!la killed them as easily\nas anything. \"\nWhile describing the uncommon activities of Kr�!la before U ddhava,\nNanda Maharaja gradually became overwhelmed and could not speak\nanymore. As for mother Y asoda , she sat by the side of her husband and\nheard the pastimes of Kr�!la without speaking. She w as simply crying\nincessantly, and milk was pouring from her breasts . When Uddhava saw\nMaharaja Nanda and Y asoda so extraordinarily overwhelmed with thoughts\nof Kr�pa, the Supreme Personali ty of Godhead, and when he experienced\ntheir extraordinary affection for Him, he also became overwhelmed and\nbegan to speak as follows . \"My dear mother Y asoda and N anda :Maharaja,\nyou are most respectable among human beings because no one but you can\nmeditate in such transcendental ecstasy . \"\nBoth Balarama and Kr�pa are the original Personalities of Godhead from\nwhom the cosmic manifestation is emanating. They are chief among all\npersonalities . Both of Them are the effective cause of this material creation.\nMaterial nature is conducted by the purusa incarnations, who are all acting\nunder Krwa and Balarama. By Their partial representation They enter in\nthe hearts of all living entities. They are the source of all knowledge and\nall forgetfulness also. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii, Fifteenth\n'\nChapter : \"I am present in everyone's heart, and I cause one to remember\nand to forget. I am the original compiler of the Vedanta, and I am the\nactual knower of the Vedas. \" If, at the time of death, a person can fix his\npure mind upon Kr�!1a even for a moment , he becomes eligible to give up\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0397": "295\n\nUddhava Visits V rndavana\n.\n\nthis material body and appear in his original spiritual body, just as the sun\nrises with all illumination. Passing from his life in this way, he immediately\nenters into the spiritual kingdom, Vaiku�1tha. This is the result of Kr��1a\nconscious practice.\nIf we practice Kr§�a consciousness in this present body while we are in\na healthy condition and in good mind, simply by chanting the holy mahiimantra, Hare Kr��a, we will have every possibility of fixing our mind upon\nKr§�a at the time of death. If that is done, then our life becomes successful\nwithout any doubt. Similarly, if we keep our mind always absorbed in\nfruitive activities for material enjoyment, then naturally at the time of\ndeath we shall think of such activities and again be forced to enter into a\nmaterial, conditioned body to suffer the threefold miseries of material\nexistence. Therefore, to remain always absorbed in Kr§�a consciousness\nwas the standard of the inhabitants of V rndavana, as exhibited by Maharaja\nNanda, Yasoda and the gopis. If we can simply follow their footsteps, even\nto a minute proportion, our lives will surely become successful, and we will\nenter into the spiritual kingdom, V aiku�1tha.\n\"My dear mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja,\" Uddhava continued,\n\"you have thus fixed your minds wholly and solely upon that Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, Naraya!la, in His transcendental form, the cause\nof impersonal Brahman. The Brahman effulgence is only the bodily ray of\nNaraya�a, and because you are always absorbed in ecstatic thought of\nKrwa and Balarama, what activity remains to be performed by you? I\nhave brought a message from Krwa to the effect that He will soon come\nback to V rndavana and satisfy you both by His personal presence. Kr��a\npromised that He would come back to V rndavana after finishing His\nbusiness in Mathura. This promise He will surely fulfill. I therefore request\nyou both, who are the best among all fortunates, to be not aggrieved on\naccount of Krwa's absence.\n\"You are already perceiving His presence twenty-four hours a day, and\nyet He will come and see you very soon. Actually He is present everywhere\nand in everyone's heart, just as fire is present in wood. Since Kr§�a is the\nSupersoul, no one is His enemy, no one is His friend, no one is equal to\nHim, and no one is lower or higher than Him. Actually He has no father,\nmother, brother or relative, nor does He require society, friendship and\nlove. He does not have a material body; He never appears or takes birth\nas an ordinary human being. He does not appear in higher or lower\nspecies of life like ordinary living entities, who are forced to take birth\non account of their previous activities. He appears by His internal potency\njust to give protection to His devotee. He is never influenced by the modes\n.)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0398": "296\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nof material nature , but when He appears within this material world, it\nseems that He acts like an ordinary living entity under the spell of the\nmodes of material nature . In fact, He is the overseer of this material\ncreation and is not affected by the material modes of nature . He creates,\nmaintains and dissolves the whole cosmic manifestation. We wrongly think\nof Krwa and Balarama as ordinary human beings. We are like dizzy men\nwho see the whole world wheeling around them . The Personality of\nGodhead is no one's son ; He is actually everyone's father, mother and\nsupreme controller. There is no doubt of this. Whatever is being experienced, whatever is already in existence, whatever is not in existence ,\nwhatever will be in existence in the future, whatever is the smallest and\nwhatever is the biggest have no separate existence outside the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead. Everything is resting in Him, but He is out of\ntouch with everything manifested. \"\nNanda and U ddhava thus passed the whole night in discussing Kr�!la. In\nthe morning, the gopis prepared for morning iiriitrika by lighting their\nlamps and sprinkling butter mixed with yogurt. After finishing their\nmangala-iiriitrika, they engaged themselves in churning butter from yogurt.\nWhile the gopis were thus engaged, the lamps reflected on their ornaments\nbecame still more illuminated . The churning rod , their arms, their earrings ,\ntheir bangles, their breasts-everything moved, and the k unk uma powder\ngave their faces a saffron luster comparable to the rising sun . While\nchurning, they also sang the glories of Kr�!la. The two sound vibrations\nmixed together, ascended to the sky and sanctified the whole atmosphere.\nAfter sunrise the gopis came as usual to offer their respects to N anda\nMaharaj a and Yasoda , but when they saw the golden chariot of U ddhava\nat the door, they began to inquire among themselves. What was that\nchariot, and to whom did it belong? Some of them inquired whether\nAkriira, who had taken away Krwa, had again returned. They were\nnot very pleased with Akriira because, being engaged in the service of\nKamsa, he took Kr�pa away to the city of Mathura. All the gopis conj ectured that Akriira might have come again to fulfill another cruel plan. But\nthey thought, \"We are now dead bodies without our supreme master,\nKrwa. What furthe-r act can he perpetrate on these dead bodies?\" While\nthey were talking in this way, U ddhava finished his morning ablutions,\nprayers and chanting and came before them.\nThus ends the Bhak tivedan ta purport of the Forty-fifth Chapter of\nKr�!la, \"Uddhava Visits Vrndiivana. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0399": "The elephant moved before Krwa like inevitable death . (p. 271 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0400": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0401": "\"Their blood began to flow just like the waves of a river.\" (p. 330)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0402": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0403": "\"Bumblebee, you are the unreliable servant of an unreliable master. \" (p. 2 9 9 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0404": "\"S ome time back you caused the drowning of the son of Our teacher . I order you to\nreturn him . \"\n\n(p. 288 )\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0405": "\"Full of feminine bashfulness, Kubja stood gracefully before Kr��a.\" (p. 3 1 5)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0406": "\" Kr��a and Balarama jumped from the top of the mountain. \" ( p . 348)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0407": "\\\n\n),\n\n46 I Delivery o f the Message\nof Kr��a to the Gopis\nWhen the gopis saw U ddhava, they observed that his features almost\nexactly resembled the features of Kr��a, and they could understand that\nhe was a great devotee of Kr��a 's. His hands were very long, and his arms\nwere just like the petals of the lotus flower. He was dressed in yellow\ncolored garments and wore a garland of lotus flowers. His face was very\nbeautiful. Having achieved the liberation of siirilpya and having the same\nbodily features as the L ord, U ddhava looked almost like Krwa. In Krwa's\nabsence, the gopis had been coming dutifully to visit mother Yasoda's\nhouse early in the morning. They knew that Nanda Maharaj a and mother\nY asoda were always griefstricken, and they had made it their first duty to\ncome and pay their respects to the most exalted elderly personalities of\nV rndavana. Seeing the friends of Kr��a, Nanda and Yasoda wou ld remember Kr��a Himself and be satisfied, and the gopis also would be pleased by\nseeing N anda and Y asoda.\nWhen the gopis saw that U ddhava was representing Krwa even in his\nbodily features, they thought that he must be a soul completely surrendered\nunto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They began to contemplate,\n\"Who is this boy who looks just like Kr��a? H e has the same eyes like lotus\npetals, the same raised nose and beautiful face, and he is smiling in the\nsame way. In all respects he is resembling Krwa, Syamasundara, the\nbeautiful dark boy. He is even dressed exactly like Kr��a. Where has this\nboy come from? Who is the fortunate girl who has him f6r her husband?\"\nThus they talked among themselves. They were very anxious to know\nabout him, and because they were simply unsophisticated village girls, they\nsurrounded U ddhava.\nWhen the gopis understood that Uddhava had a m essage from Kr��a,\nthey became very happy and called him to a secluded place to sit down.\nThey wanted to talk with him very freely and did not want to be\n\n297\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0408": "298\n\nKr��a, the Supre me Pe rs onality of G odhead\n\nembarrassed before unknown persons. They began to welcome him with\npolite words , in great submissiveness. \"We know that you are a most confidential associate of Kr�!la and that He has therefore sent you to V rndavana\nto give solace to His father and mother. We can understand that family\naffection is very strong. Even great sages who have taken to the renounced\norder of life cannot give up family members. Kr�!la has therefore sent\nyou to His father and mother ; otherwise He has no further business in\nV rndavana. He is now in town. What does He have to know about V rndavana Village or the cows'r-' pasturing grounds? These things are not at all\nuseful for Kr�!la because He is now a man in the city.\n\"Surely He has nothing to do with persons who do not happen to be His\nfamily members. Why should one bother about those who are outside the\nfamily, especially and specifically those who are attached as the wives of\nothers. Kr�!la is interested in them as long as there is a need of gratification,\nlike the bumblebees who have interest in the flowers as long as they want\nto take the honey out of them. It is very natural and psychological that a\nprostitute does not care for her paramour as soon as he loses his money.\nSimilarly, when the citizens find that a government is incapable of giving\nthem full protection, they leave the country. A student, after finishing his\neducation, gives up his relationship with the teacher and the school. A rich\nman, after taking his reward from his worshiper, gives him u p . When the\nfruit season is over, the birds are no longer interested in the tree. Just after\neating in the house of a lord, the guest gives up his relationship with the\nhost. After a forest fire , when there is a scarcity of green grass, the deer\nand other animals give up the forest. And so a man, after enj oying his girl\nfriend, gives up his connection with her . \" In this way, all the gopis began\nto indirectly accuse Kr�!la by citing so many similes.\nUddhava understood that the gopis of V rndavana were all simply absorbed in the thought of Kr�!la and His childhood activities. While talking\nabout Kr��1a with Uddhava , they forgot all about their household business.\nThey even forgot about themselves as their interest in Krwa increased more\nand more.\nOne of the gopis, namely Srimati Radhara!li, was so much absorbed in\nthoughts of Kr�!la by dint of Her personal touch with Him that She\nactually began to talk with a bumblebee which was 'flying there and trying\nto touch Her lotus feet. While another gopi was talking with Kr�!la's\nmessenger U ddhava, Srimati Radhara!li took that bumblebee to be a\n·messenger from Kr�!la and began to talk with it as follows. \"Bumblebee,\nyou are accustomed to drinking honey from the flowers , and therefore you\nhave preferred to be a messenger of Kr�!la, who is of the same nature as\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0409": "Delivery of the Messa ge of Kf�J)a to the Gopis\n\n299\n\nyou. I have seen on your moustaches the red powder of kunkuma, which\nwas smeared on the flower garland of Kr�!la while He was pressing the\nbreast of some other girl who is My competitor. Y ou are feeling very\nproud by touching that flower, and your moustaches have become reddish.\nY ou have come here carrying a message for Me. · y ou are anxious to touch\nMy feet. But my dear bumblebee, let me warn you-don't touch M e ! I\ndon't want any messages from your unreliable master. Y ou are the unreliable servant of an unreliable master. \" It may be that Srimati Radhara!li\npurposely addressed that bumblebee sarcastically in order to criticize the\nmessenger Uddhava. Indirectly, Srimati Radhara!li saw Uddhava as not\nonly resembling Kr�!la's bodily features but as being equal to Kr�!la· In this\nway She indicated that U ddhava was as unreliable as Kr�!la Himself.\nSrimati Radhara!li wanted to give specific reasons why She was dissatisfied\nwith Kr�!la and His messengers.\nShe addressed the bumblebee, \" Y our master Kr�!la is exactly of your\nquality. Y ou sit down on a flower, and after taking a little honey you\nimmediately fly away and sit in another flower and taste. Y ou 're j ust like\nyour master Kr�!la· He gave us the chance of tasting the touch of His lips\nand then left altogether. I know also that the goddess of fortune, Lak�mi,\nwho is always in the midst of the lotus flower, is constantly' engaged in\nKr�!la's service. But I do not know why she has become so captivated by\nKr�!la. She is attached to Him , although she knows His actual character.\nAs far as we are concerned, we are more intelligent than that goddess of\nfortune . We are not going to be cheated anymore by Kr�!la or His messengers. \"\nAccording t o expert opinion, L ak�mi, the goddess o f fortune i s a subordinate expansion of Srimati Radhara!li· As Kr�!la has numerous expansions of Vi�!lu-murtis, so His pleasure potency, Radhara!li, also has\ninnumerable expansions of goddesses of fortune . Therefore the goddess\nof fortune, L ak�miji, is always anxious to be elevated to the position of\nthe gopis .\nSri'mati Radhara!li continued : \" Y ou foolish bumblebee, you are trying\nto satisfy Me and get a reward by singing the glories of Kr�!la, but it is a\nuseless attempt. We are bereft of all our possessions. We are away from our\nhomes and families. We know very well abouf Kr�!la· We know even more\nthan you. So whatever you make up about Him will be old stories to us.\nKr�!la is now in the city and is better known as the friend of Arjuna. He\nnow has many new girl friends, and they are no doubt very happy in\nassociation with Him. Because the lusty burning sensation of their\nbreasts has been satisfied by Kr�!la, they are now happy. If you go there\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0410": "300\n\nKr��a , the Supre me Personality of Godhead\n\nand glorify Krwa, they may be pleased to reward you . You are just trying\nto pacify Me by your behavior as a flatterer, and therefore you have put\nyour head under My feet. But I know the trick which you are trying to\nplay. I know that you are a messenger coming from a great trickster, Kr�!J.a.\nTherefore please leave me.\n\"I can understand that you are very expert in reuniting two opposing\nparties, but at the same time you must know that I cannot place My\nreliance upon you , nor upon your master Kr�!la· We left our families,\nhusbands, children and relatives only for Kr�!J.a, and yet He did not feel\nany obligation in exchange. He has left us for lost. D o you think we can\nplace our faith in Him again? We know that Krwa cannot be long without\nthe association of young women. That is His nature. He is finding\ndifficulty in Mathura because He is no longer in the village among\ninnocent cowherd girls. He is in the aristocratic society and must be feeling\ndifficulty in making friendships with the young girls. Perhaps you have\ncome here to canvass again or to take us there. But why should Kr�!la\nexpect us to return there? He is greatly qualified to entice all other girls,\nnot only in V rndavana or Mathura, but all over the universe. His wonderfully enchanting smile is so attractive and the movement of His eyebrows\nso beautiful that He can call for any woman from the heavenly , middle or\nplutonic planets. Maha-Lak�mi, the greatest of all goddesses of fortune,\nalso hankers to render Him some service. In comparison to all these women\nof the universe , what are we? We are very insignificant.\n\"Kr�pa advertises Himself as very magnanimous , and He is praised by\ngreat saints. His qualifications could be perfectly utilized if He would only\nshow us mercy because we are downtrodden and neglected by Him.\nY ou poor messenger, you are only a less intelligent servant. Y ou do not\nknow much about Kr�!J.a, how ungrateful and hardhearted He has been, not\nonly in this life, but in His previous lives also. We have all heard this from\nour grandmother, Paur!J.amasi. She has informed us that Kr�!la was born in\na k§atriya family previous to this birth and was known as Ramacandra. In\nthat birth, instead of killing V ali, an enemy of His friend, in the manner\nof a k§atriya, He killed him just like a hunter. A hunter , takes a secure\nhiding place and then kills an animal without facing it. So Lord Ramacandra, as a k§atriya, should have fought with · Vali face to face, but\ninstigated by His friend, He killed him from behind a tree. Thus He\ndeviated from the religious principles of a k§atriya. Also , He was so\nattracted by the beauty of Sita that He converted Siirpa!takha, the sister\nof Rava!J.a, into an ugly woman by cutting off her nose and ears.\nSiirpa!J.akha proposed an intimate relationship with Him, and as a k §atriya,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0411": "Delivery of the Message of Kr��a to the Gopis\n\n30 1\n\nHe should have satisfied her. But He was so selfish that H e could not forget\nSitadevi and converted Siirpa�akha into an ugly woman. Before that birth\nas a k§atriya , He took His birth as a b rah mal) a boy known as Vamanadeva\nand asked charity from Bali Maharaja. Bali Maharaja was so magnanimous\nthat he gave Him whatever he had, yet Kr��a as V amanadeva ungratefully\narrested him just like a crow and pushed him down to the Patala kingdom.\nWe know all about Krwa and how ungrateful He is. But here is the\ndifficulty : in spite of His being so cruel and hardhearted, it is very difficult for us to give up talking about Him . Not only are we unable to give\nup this talk, but great sages and saintly persons are also engaged in talking\nabout · Him. We gop is of Vrndavana do not want to make anymore\nfriendships with this blackish boy, but we do not know how we shall be\nable to give up remembering and talking about His activities. \"\nSince Kr�pa i s absolute , His so -called unkind activities are as relishable\nas His kind activities. Saintly persons and great devotees like the gop is\ncannot give up Kr��a in 'a ny circumstances. Lord C aitanya therefore\nprayed, \" Krwa, You are free and independent in all respects. You can\neither embrace me or crush me under Y our feet-whatever Y ou like. Y ou\nmay make me brokenhearted by not letting me see You throughout my\nwhole life , but You are my only object of love . \"\n\" I n m y opinion,\" Srimati Radhara�i continued, \" one should n o t hear\nabout Kr��a, because as soon as a drop of the nectar of His transcendental\nactivities is poured into the ear , one immediately rises above the platform\nof duality, attraction and rejection. Being completely freed from the\nattraction of material attachment, one gives up the attachment for this\nmaterial world, family, home , wife , children and everything which is\nmaterially dear to every person. Being dispossessed of all material acquisition, one makes his relatives and himself unhappy. Then he wanders in\nsearch of Kr��a, either as a human being or in other species of life , even\nas a bird. It is very difficult to actually understand Kr��a, His name , His\nquality, His form, His pastimes, His paraphernalia and His entourage . \"\nSrimati Radhara�i continued t o speak t o the black messenger of Krwa.\n\"Please do not talk anymore about Krwa. It is better to talk about something else. We are already doomed, like the black-spotted she-deer in the\nforest who are enchanted by the sweet musical vibration of the hunter. In\nthe same way, we have been enchanted by the sweet words of Kr��a, and\nagain and again we are thinking of the rays of the nails of His toes. We are\nbecoming more and more lustful for His association ; therefore , I request\nyou not to talk of Kr��a anymore. \"\nThis talk o f Radhara�1i with the bumblebee messenger and Her accusing\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0412": "302\n\nKr�!'a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nKrwa, and, at the same time, Her inability to give up talking about Him,\nare symptoms of the topmost transcendental ecstasy, called mahiibhiiva.\nThe ecstatic mahiibhiiva manifestation is possible only in the persons of\nRadhara�i and Her associates. Great iictiryas like Srila Riipa Gosvami and\nVisvanatha Cakravarti Thakur have analyzed these mahiibhiiva speeches of\nSrimati Radharani, and they have described the different sentiments such\nas udghurrii, bewilderment, and jalpapratijalpa, talking in different ways.\nIn Radhara�i is found the science of ujjala, or the brightest jewel or love\nof God. While Radhara�i was talking with the bee and the bee was flying\nhither and thither, it all of a sudden disappeared from Her sight. She was\nin full mourning due to separation from Krwa and was feeling ecstasy by\ntalking with the bee. But as soon as the bee disappeared, She became\nalmost mad, thinking that the messenger-bee might have returned to Krwa\nto inform Him all about Her talking against Him. \"Krwa must have been\nvery sorry to hear it,\" She thought. In this way She was very much\noverwhelmed with another type of ecstasy.\nIn the meantime, the bee, flying hither and thither, appeared before\nHer again. She thought, \"Krwa is still kind to Me. In spite of the messenger carrying disruptive messages, He is so kind that He has again sent\nthe bee to take Me to Him.\" Srimati Radhara�i was very careful this time\nnot to say anything against Krwa. \"My dear friend, I welcome you,\" she\nsaid. \" Krwa is so kind that He has again sent you. Kr��a is so kind and\naffectionate to Me that He has sent you back, fortunately, in spite of your\ncarrying My message against Him. My dear friend, you can ask from Me\nwhatever you want. I shall give you anything because you are so kind upon\nMe. You have come to take Me to Krsna because He is not able to come\nhere. He is surrounded by new girl friends in Mathura. But you are a tiny\ncreature. How can you take Me there? How will you be able to help Me in\nmeeting Krwa while He is taking rest there along with the goddess of\nfortune and embracing her to His chest? Never mind. Let us forget all\nthese things about My going there or sending you. Please let Me know\nhow Kr��a is faring in Mathura. Tell Me if He still remembers His foster\nfather, Nanda Maharaja, His affectionate mother, Yasoda, His cowherd\nfriends and His poor friends like us, the gopis. I am sure that He must\nsometimes sing about us. We served Him just like maidservants, without\nany payment. Is there any possibility that Kr��a will again come back and\nplace His arms around us? His limbs are always fragrant with the aguru\nscent. Please put all these inquiries to Krwa. \"\nUddhava was standing near, and he heard Radhara�i talking in this way,\nas if She had become almost mad after Kr��a. He was exceedingly surprised\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0413": "Delivery of the Message of Kr�J;la to the Gopis\n\n303\n\nat how the gopis were accustomed to think of Kr�!la constantly in that\ntopmost ecstasy of mahiibhiiva love. He had brought a message in writing\nfrom Kr�J}a, and now he wanted to present it before the gopis, just to\npacify them. He said, \"My dear gopis, your mission of human life is now\nsuccessful. You are all wonderful devotees of the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead; therefore you are eligible to be worshiped by all kinds of people.\nYou are worshipable throughout the three worlds because your minds are\nwonderfully absorbed in the thought of Vasudeva, Kr�!la. He is the goal\nof all kinds of pious activities and ritualistic performances, such as giving\nin charity, rigidly following the austerity of vows, undergoing severe\npenances and igniting the fire of sacrifice. He is the purpose behind the\nchanting of different mantras, the reading of the Vedas, controlling the\nsenses and concentrating the mind in meditation. These are some of the\nmany different processes for self-realization and attainment of perfection\nof life. But actually they are only meant for realizing Kr�!la and dovetailing onesdf in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the last instruction of Bhagavad-gitii also;\nalthough there are descriptions of different kinds of processes of selfrealization, at the end Krwa recommended one should give up everything\nand simply surrender unto Him. All other processes are meant for teaching\none how to surrender ultimately unto the lotus feet of Krwa. The\nBhagavad-gitii also says that this surrendering process is completed by a\nsincere person executing the processes of self-realization in wisdom and\nausterity after many births.\"\nSince the perfection of such austerity was completely manifested in the\nlife of the gopis, Uddhava was fully satisfied upon seeing their transcendental position. He continued to say: \"My dear gopis, the mentality which\nyou have developed in relationship with Kr�va is very, very difficult to\nattain, even for great sages and saintly persons. You have attained the\nhighest perfectional stage of life. It is a great boon for you that you have\nfixed your mind upon Kr�!la and have decided to have Kr�!la only, giving\nup your family, home, relatives, husbands and children for the sake of the\nSupreme Personality. Because your mind is now fully absorbed in Kfi?J}a,\nthe Supreme Soul, universal love has automatically developed in you. I\nthink myself very fortunate that I have been favored, by your grace, to see\nyou in this situation.\"\nWhen U ddhava said that he had a message from Krwa, the gopis were\nmore interested in hearing the message than in hearing about their exalted\nposition. They did not very much like being praised for their high position.\nThey showed their anxiety to hear the message which U ddhava had\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0414": "304\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nbrought from Kr�!J.a. Uddhava said, \"My dear gopis, I am especially deputed\nto carry this message to you, who are such great and gentle devotees.\nKr�!la has specifically sent me to you because I am His most confidential\nservitor.\"\nThe written message which U ddhava brought from Kr�!la was not\ndelivered to the gopis by U ddhava, but he personally read it before them.\nThe message was very gravely written, so that not only the gopis, but all\nempiric philosophers might understand how pure love of God is intrinsically\nintegrated with all the different energies of the Supreme Lord. From Vedic\ninformation it is understood that the Supreme Lord has multi-energies,\nparasya saktir vividhaiva smyate. Also, the gopis were such intimate\npersonal friends of Krwa that while He was writing·the message for them,\nHe was much moved and could not write distinctly. Uddhava, as the student\nof Brhaspati, had very sharp intelligence, so instead of handing over the\nwritten message, he thought it wise to read it personally and explain it to\nthem.\nUddhava continued: \"These are the words from the Personality of\nGodhead. •My dear gopis, My dear friends, please know that separation\nbetween ourselves is impossible at any time, at any place or. under any\ncircumstances, because I am all-pervading.'\"\nThis all-pervasiveness of Kr��1a is explained in the Bhagavad-gztii, both\nin the Ninth and Seventh Chapters. Kr�!la is all-pervasive in His impersonal\nfeature; everything is resting in Him, but He is not personally present\neverywhere. In the Seventh Chapter also, it is stated that the five gross\nelements, earth, water, fire, air and sky, and the three subtle elements,\nmind, intelligence, and ego, are all His inferior energies. But there\nis another, superior energy, which is called the living entity. The\nliving entities are also directly part and parcel of Kr��1a. Therefore Kr9�a\nis the source of both the material and spiritual energies. He is always\nintermingled with everything as cause and effect. Not only the gopis, but\nall living entities are always inseparably connected with Kr�!la in all\ncircumstances. The gopis, however, are perfectly and thoroughly in\ncooperation in their relationship with Kr�!J.a, whereas the living entities\nunder the spell of maya are forgetful of Kr�!J.a. They think themselves as\nseparate identities having no connection with Kr�!J.a.\nLove of Kr�va, or Kr�va consciousness, is therefore the perfectional\nstage of real knowledge in understanding things as they are. Our minds can\nnever be vacant. The mind is constantly occupied with some kind of\nthought, and the subject matter of such thought cannot be outside the\neight elements of Kr9�a's energy. One who knows this philosophical aspect\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0415": "Delivery of the Message of Kr��a to the Gopis\n\n305\n\nof all thoughts is actually a wise man, and he surrenders unto Kr§pa. The\ngopis are the typical example of this perfectional stage of knowledge. They\nare not simple mental speculators. Their minds are always in Kr§�a. The\nmind is nothing but the energy of Kr§�a. Actually, any person who can\nthink, feel, act and will cannot be separated from Kr§�a. But the stage in\nwhich he can understand his eternal realtionship is called Krwa consciousness. The diseased condition in which he cannot understand his eternal\nrelationship with Kf§t;Ia is the contaminated stage, or miiyii. Since the\ngopis are on the platform of pure transcendental knowledge, their minds\nare always filled with Krwa consciousness. For example, as there is no\nseparation between fire and air, so there is no separation between Kf§t;Ia\nand the living entities. When the living entities forget Kf§t;Ia, they are not\nin their normal condition. As for the gopis, because they are always\nthinking of Kp;;�a they are on the absolute stage of perfection in knowledge. The so-called empiric philosophers sometimes think that the path of\nbhakti is meant for the less intelligent, but unless the so-called man of\nknowledge comes to the platform of bhakti, his knowledge is certainly\nimpure and imperfect. Actually, the stage of perfecting one's eternal\nrelationship with Krf?�a is love in separation. But that is also illusory\nbecause there is no separation. The gopis were never separated from\nKrf?pa. Even from the philosophical point of view, there was no separation.\nThe cosmic manifestation is also not separate from Kr§�a. \" Nothing is\nseparate from Me; the whole cosmic manifestation is resting on Me and is\nnot separate from Me. Before the creation, I was existing.\" This is confirmed in the Vedic literature: before creation, there was only N araya�a.\nThere were no Brahma and no Siva as assistants. The whole cosmic\nmanifestation is manipulated by the three modes of material nature.\nBrahma is the incarnation of the quality of passion. It is said that Brahma\ncreated this universe, but Brahma is the secondary creator; the original\ncreator is Naraya�a. This is also confirmed by Sankaracarya: niiriiyar-a[l,\nparo 'vyak tiit. Naraya�a is transcendental, beyond this cosmic creation.\nKf§p.a creates, maintains, and annihilates the whole cosmic manifestation by expanding Himself in different incarnations. Everything is Krwa,\nand everything is depending on Kr§t;Ia, but He is not perceived in the\nmaterial energy. Material energy is called miiyii, or illusion. In the spiritual\nenergy, however, Kr9�a is perceived at every step, in all circumstances.\nThis perfectional stage of understanding is present in the gopis. As Kf§t;Ia\nis always aloof from the cosmic manifestation, although it is completely\ndependent on Him, so a living entity is also completely aloof from his\nmaterial conditional life. The material body has developed on the basis of\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0416": "306\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nspiritual existence. In the Bhagavad-gita the whole cosmic manifestation is\naccepted as the mother of the living entities, and Kf§!la is the father. As\nthe father impregnates the mother by injecting the living entity within the\nwomb, so all the living entities are injected by Kf§!la in the womb of the\nmaterial nature. They come out in different bodies according to their\ndifferent fruitive activities. In all circumstances, the living entity is aloof\nfrom this material conditional life.\nIf we simply study our own bodies, we can understand how a living\nentity is always aloof from this bodily encagement. Every action of the\nbody is taking place by the interaction of the three modes of material\nnature. We can see at every moment many changes taking place in bodies,\nbut the spirit soul is aloof from all changes. One can neither create nor\nannihilate nor interfere with the actions of material nature. The living\nentity is therefore entrapped by the material body and is conditioned in\nthree stages, namely while awake, asleep and unconscious. The mind is\nacting through all the three conditions of life ; the living entity in his\nsleeping or dreaming condition sees something as real, and in his fl-Wake\ncondition he sees the same thing as unreal. It is concluded, therefore, that\nunder certain circumstances he accepts something as real, and under other\ncircumstances he accepts the very same thing as unreal. These matters are\nthe subject matter of study for the empiric philosopher or the siinkhyayogi. In order to come to the right conclusion, siinkhya-yogis undergo\nsevere austerities and penances. They practice control of the senses and\nrenunciation.\nAll these different ways of determining the ultimate goal of life are\ncompared to rivers. Kr§�la is the ocean. As the rivers flow down toward the\nocean, all attempts for knowledge flow toward Kf§!J.a. After many, many\nbirths of endeavor, when one actually comes to Kf§!J.a, he attains the\nperfectional stage. Kr�!la says in the Bhagavad-gitii: All are pursuing the\npath of realizing Me, but those who have adopted courses without any\nbhakti find their endeavor very troublesome.\" Kleso'dhikataras te§iim:\nKf§!la cannot be understood unless one comes to the point of bhakti.\nThree paths are enunciated in the Gitii: karma-yoga, jfiJina-yoga and\nbhakti-yoga. Those who are too addicted to fruitive activities are advised\nto perform actions which will bring them to bhak ti. Those who are addicted to the frustration of empiric philosophy are also advised to realize\nbhakti. Karma-yoga is different from ordinary karma, and jniina-yoga is\ndifferent from jiiiina. Ultimately, as stated by the Lord in the Bhagavadgitii, bhaktyii miim abhijiiniiti: only through execution of devotional\nservice can one understand Kf§!J.a. The perfectional stage of devotional\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0417": "Delivering the Message of Kr��a to the Gopis\n\n307\n\nservice was achieved by the gopis because they did not care to know\nanything but Kr��a. It is confirmed in the Vedas, yasmin eva vijfiate sarvam eva vijfiiitam bhavanti. This means that simply by knowing Kr��1a all\nother knowledge is automatically acquired.\nKr��a continued: \"Transcendental knowledge of the Absolute is no\nlonger necessary for you. You were accustomed to love Me from the very\nbeginning of your lives.\" Knowledge of the Absolute Truth is specifically\nrequired for persons who want liberation from material existence. But one\nwho has attained love for Kr��a is already on the platform of liberation. As\nstated in the Bhagavad-gita, anyone engaged in unalloyed devotional service\nis to be considered situated on the transcendental platform of liberation.\nThe gopis were not actually feeling any pangs of material existence, but\nthey were feeling the separation of Krwa. Kr��a therefore said, \"My dear\ngopis, in order to increase your superexcellent love for Me, I have purposely\nseparated Myself from you. I have done this so that you may be in constant\nmeditation on Me.\"\nThe gopis are in the perfectional stage of meditation. The yogis are\ngenerally more fond of meditation than the execution of devotional service to the Lord, but they do not know �hat the perfectional stage of\ndevotion is the attainment of the perfection of the yoga system. This\nconstant meditation on Kr�pa by the gopis is confirmed in the Bhagavadgitii to be the topmost yoga. Kr��a knew very well the psychology of\nwomen. When a woman's beloved is away, she thinks of him meditatively,\nand he is present before her. Kr��a wanted to teach through the behavior\nof the gopis. One who is constantly in trance like the gopis surely attains\nthe lotus feet of Kr��a.\nLord Caitanya taught people in general the method of vipralambha,\nwhich is the method of rendering service unto the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead in the feeling of separation. The six Gosvamis also taught worship\nof Krwa in •the feeling of the gopis in separation. The prayers of Srinivasa\nA carya about the Gosvamis explain these matters very clearly. Srinivasa\nAcarya said that the Gosvamis were always absorbed in the ocean of\ntranscendental feelings in the mood of the gopis. When they lived .in\nVrndavana they were searching for Kr�pa, crying, \"Where is Kr�pa? Where\nare the gopis ? Where are You, Srimati Radharapi?\" They never said, \"We\nhave now seen Radha and Kr�pa, and therefore our mission is fulfilled.\"\nTheir mission remained always unfulfilled ; they never met Radha and\nKr�pa. At the time of the rasa dance, those gopis who could not j oin the\nriisa-lilii with Kr��a gave up their bodies simply by thinking of Him.\nAbsorption in Kr��a consciousness by feeling separation is thus the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0418": "308\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nquickest method for attainment of the lotus feet of Kf�J).a. By the personal\nstatement of Kr�!la , the gopis were convinced about the strength of feelings\nof separation. They were actually experiencing the supernatural method of\nKr�pa worship and were much relieved and happy to understand it.\nThey began to speak as follows : \"We have heard that King Kamsa, who\nwas always a source of trouble for the Yadu dynasty, has now been killed.\nThis is good news for us. We hope, therefore, that the members of the\nY adu dynasty are very happy in the association of Kr�pa, who can fulfill\nall the desires of His devotees. My dear Uddhava, kindly let us know\nwhether Krwa sometimes thinks of us while in the midst of highly\nenlightened society girls in Mathur a. We know that the women and girls\nin Mathura are not village women. They are enlightened and beautiful.\nTheir bashful smiling glances and other feminine features must be very\npleasing to Kr�J).a. We know very well that Kr�l).a is always fond of the\nbehavior of beautiful women. It seems , therefore, that He has been entrapped by the women of Mathura. My dear Uddhava, will you kindly let\nus know if Kr�l).a sometimes remembers us while He is in the midst of\nother women?\"\nAnother gopi inquired : \" D oes He remember that night in the midst o f\nk umadini flowers a n d moonlight, when V rndavana became exceedingly\nbeautiful? Kr�pa was dancing with us, and the atmosphere was surcharged\nwith the sound of foot bells. We exchanged pleasing conversation then.\nD oes He remember that particular night? We remember that night, and we\nfeel separation. Separation from Krwa makes us agitated, as if there were\nfire in our bodies. He proposed to come back to V rndavana to extinguish\nthe fire, just as a cloud appears in the sky to extinguish the forest fire by\nits downpour. \"\nAnother gopi said, \"Kr�pa has killed His enemy, and He has victoriously\nachieved the kingdom of Kamsa. Maybe He is married with a king's\ndaughter by this time and living very happily among His kinsmen and\nfriends. Therefore, why should He come to this village of Vrndavana? \"\nAnother gopi said, \"Kf�l).a i s the Supreme Personality o f Godhead, the\nhusband of the goddess of fortune, and He is self-sufficient . He has no\nbusiness either with us, the girls in the v rndavana forest, or with the city\ngirls in Mathura. He is the great Supersoul ; He has nothing to do with any\nof us, either here or there. \"\nAnother gop i said, \"It is a n unreasonable hope for u s t o expect Kr�pa to\ncome back to Vrndavana . We should try instead to be happy in disappointment. Even Pingala, the great prostitute , said that disappointment' is the\ngreatest pleasure. We all know these things, hut it is very difficult for us to\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0419": "Delivering the Message of Kr�tla to the Gopis\n\n309\n\ngive up the expectation of Krwa's coming back again. Who can forget a\nsolitary conversation with Kr��a, on whose breast the goddess of fortune\nalways remains, in spite of Krwa's not desiring her? My dear Uddhava,\nVrndavana is the land of rivers, forests and cows. Here the vibration of the\nfl� te is heard, and Krwa, along with His elder brother, Sri Balarama,\nenj oyed the atmosphere in our company. Thus the environment of Vrndavana is constantly reminding us of Kr��a and Balarama. The impression of\nHis footprints is on the land of Vrndavana, which is the residential place of\nthe goddess of fortune, but such signs cannot help us to get Krwa.\"\nThe gopis further expressed that Vrndavana was still full of all opulence\nand good fortune; there was no scarcity or want in Vrndavana as far as\nmaterial necessities were concerned, but in spite of such opulence they\ncould not forget Kg;�a and Balarama.\n\"We are constantly remembering various attractive features of beautiful\nKr��a, His walking, His smiling and His joking words. We have all become\nlost by the dealings of Krwa, and it is impossible for us to forget Him. We\nare always praying for Him, exclaiming, 'Dear Lord, dear husband of the\ngoddess of fortune, dear Lord of Vrndavana and deliverer of the distressed\ndevotees! We are now fallen and merged into an ocean of distress. Please,\ntherefore, come back again to v rndavana and deliver us from this pitiable\ncondition.\"\nUddhava miQ.utely studied the transcendental abnormal condition of the\ngopis in their separation from Krwa, and he thought it wise to repeat all\nthe pastimes of Sri Krwa over and over again. Materialistic persons are\nalways in a burning condition on account of the blazing fire of material\nmiseries. The gopis also were burning in a transcendental blazing fire due\nto separation from Krwa. The blazing fire which was exasperating the\ngopis, however, is different from the fire of the material world. The gopis\nconstantly want the association of Kr��a, whereas the materialistic person\nwants the advantage of material comforts.\nIt is stated by Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur that Kr��a saved the cowherd boys from the blazing forest fire within a second, while their eyes\nwere closed. Similarly, Uddhava advised the gopis that they could be saved\nfrom the fire of separation by closing their eyes and meditating on the activities of Kr��a from the very beginning of their association with Him. From\nthe outside, the gopis could visualize all the pastimes of Kr�!la by hearing\nthe descriptions of U ddhava, and from inside they could remember those\npastimes. From the instruction of Uddhava, the gopis could understand\nthat Kr��a was not separate from them. As they were constantly thinking\nof Kr��a, Kr��a was also thinking of them constantly while at Mathura.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0420": "3 10\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nUddhava's messages and instructions saved the gopis from immediate\ndeath, and the gopis acknowledged the benediction from U ddhava.\nU ddhava practically acted as the preceptor spiritual master of the gopis,\nand they in return worshiped him as they would worship Kr��a. It is\nrecommended in authoritative scriptures that the spiritual master should\nbe worshiped on the level of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, because\nof his being His very confidential servitor, and it is accepted by great\nauthorities that the spiritual master is the external manifestation of Kr�!la.\nThe gopis were relieved from their transcendental burning conditio_n by\nrealizing that Kr�!la was with them. Internally, they remembered His\nassociation within their hearts, and externally U ddhava helped them to\nappreciate Krwa by conclusive instructions.\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead is described in the scriptures as\nadhok§aja, which indicates that He is beyond the perception of all\nmaterial senses. Although He is beyond the perception of material senses,\nHe is present in everyone's heart. At the same time, He is present everywhere by His all-pervasive feature of Brahman. All three transcendental\nfeatures of the Absolute Truth (Bhagaviin the Personality of Godhead,\nParamiitmii the localized Supersoul, and the all-pervasive Brahman) can be\nrealized simply by studying the condition of the gopis in their meeting\nwith Uddhava, as described by the S rimad-Bhiigavatam.\nIt is said by Srinivasa Acarya that the six Gosvamis were always merged\nin thoughts of the activities of the gopis. Caitanya Mahaprabhu has also\n·recommended the gopis ' method of worship of the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead as superexcellent. Srila Sukadeva Gosvamihas also recommended\nthat anyone who hears from the right source about the dealings of the\ngopis with Kr�!la and who follows the instructions will be elevated to the\ntopmost position of devotional service and will be able to give up the lust\nof material enjoyment.\nAll the gopis were solaced by the instruction of Uddhava, and they\nrequested him to stay in Vrndavana for a few days more. Uddhava agreed\nto their proposal and stayed with them not only for a few days, but for a\nfew months. He always kept them engaged in thinking of the transcendental\nmessage of Kr��a and His pastimes, and the gopis were feeling as if they\nwere experiencing direct association with Kr�!la. While U ddhava remained\nin V rndavana, the inhabitants enj oyed his association. As they discussed\nthe activities of Kr�pa, the days passed just like moments. Vrndavana's\nnatural atmosphere, with the presence of the River Yamuna, its nice\norchards of trees decorated with various fruits, Govardhana Hill, caves,\nblooming flowers-all combined to inspire U ddhava to narrate Kr�!la's\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0421": "Delivering the Message of Kr�l}a to the Gopis\n\n311\n\npastimes. The inhabitants enjoyed Uddhava's association in the same way\nthey enj oyed the association of Kr�Fa·\nUddhava was attracted by the attitude of the gopis because they were\ncompletely attached to Kr�Fa, and U ddhava was inspired by the gopis '\nanxiety for Krwa. He began to offer them his respectful obeisances and\ncomposed songs in praise of their transcendental qualities as follows:\n\"Among all the living entities who have accepted the human form of life,\nthe gopis are superexcellently successful in their mission. Their thought is\nthoroughly absorbed in the lotus feet of KnFa. Great sages and saintly\npersons are also trying to be absorbed in meditation upon the lotus feet of\nKr��1a, who is Mukunda Himself, the giver of liberation, hut the gopis,\nhaving lovingly accepted the Lord, are automatically accustomed to this\nhabit. They do not depend on any yogic practice. The conclusion is that\none who has attained the gopis ' condition of life does not have to take\nbirth as Lord Brahma or be born in a b rahmara family or be initiated as a\nas\n\nbrahmana. \"\n\nSri Uddhava confirmed the statement of Bhagavad-gitii spoken by Lord\nKr��1a ; one who takes shelter of Him for the right purpose, be he a sudra\nor lower, will attain the highest goal of life. The gopis have set the standard\nof devotion for the whole world. By following in the footsteps of the gopis\nby constantly thinking of J5rwa, one can attain the highest perfectional\nstage of spiritual life. The gopis were not born of any highly cultured family; they were born of cowherd men, and yet they developed the highest\nlove of Kr��1a. For self-realization or God realization there is no need to\ntake birth in a high family. The only thing needed is ecstatic development\nof love of God. In achieving perfection in Kg;�1a consciousness, no other\nqualification is required than to he constantly engaged in the loving service\nof Krwa. Kr��1a is the supreme nectar, the reservoir of all pleasure. The\neffect of taking up Kr�Fa consciousness is just like that of drinking nectar;\nwith or without one's knowledge, it will act. The active principle of Kr�Fa\nconsciousness will manifest itself everywhere; it does not matter how and\nwhere one has taken his birth. Krwa will bestow His benediction upon\nanyone who takes to Krwa consciousness, without any doubt. The\nsupreme benediction attained by the gopis in spite of their being horn in\nthe family of cowherd men was never attained even by the goddess of\nfortune herself, and certainly not by the denizens of heaven, though their\nbodily forms are like lotuses. The gopis are so fortunate that during rasah1ii Kr��1a personally embraced them with His arms. Kr��1a kissed them\nface to face. Certainly it is not possible for any women in the three worlds\nto achieve this except the gopis.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0422": "312\n\nKf�l)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nUddhava appreciated the exalted position of the gopis and wished to fall\ndown and take the dust of their feet on his head. Yet he did not dare to\nask the gopis to offer the dust from their feet; perhaps they would not be\nagreeable. He therefore desired to have his head smeared with the dust of\nthe gopis' feet without their knowledge. He desired to become only an\ninsignificant clump of grass or herbs in the land of v rndavana.\nThe gopis were so much attracted to Kf§!la that when they heard the\nvibration of His flute, they instantly left their families, children, honor and\nfeminine bashfulness and ran towards the place where Kf§!la was standing.\nThey did not consider whether they were passing over the road or through\nthe jungles. Imperceptibly, the dust of their feet was bestowed on small\ngrasses and herbs of Vrndavana. Not daring to place the dust of the gopis'\nfeet on his own head, Uddhava aspired to have a future birth in the position\nof a clump of grass and herbs. He would then be able to have the dust of\nthe gop�s' feet.\nUddhava appreciated the extraordinary fortune of the gopis, who\nrelieved themselves of all kinds of material contamination by placing on\ntheir high, beautiful breasts the lotus feet of Kf§!J.a, which are not only\nworshiped by the goddess of fortune, but by such exalted demigods as\nBrahma and Lord Siva, and which are meditated upon by great yogis\nwithin their hearts. Thus Uddhava desired to be able to constantly pray to\nbe honored by the dust of the gopis ' lotus feet. The gopis' chanting of the\ntranscendental pastimes of Lord Krwa has become celebrated all over the\nthree worlds.\nAfter living in Vrndavana for some days, Uddhava desired to go back to\nKf§!J.a, and he begged permission to leave from Nanda Maharaja and Y asoda.\nHe had a farewell meeting with the gopis, and taking permission of them\nalso, he mounted his chariot to start for Mathura.\nWhen U ddhava was about to leave, all the inhabitants of V rndavana,\nheaded by Maharaja Nanda and Yasoda, came to bid him good-bye and\npresented him with various kinds of valuable goods secured in V rndavana.\nThey expressed their feelings with tears in their eyes due to intense attachment for Krwa. All of them desired benediction from Uddhava. They\ndesired always to remember the glorious activities of Krwa and wanted\ntheir minds to be always fixed upon His lotus feet, their words always\nengaged in glorifying Kr§!J.a, and their bodies always engaged in bowing\ndown and constantly remembering Him. This prayer of the inhabitants of\nVrndavana is the superexcellent type of self-realization. The method is\nvery simple: to fix the mind always on the lotus· feet of Kr§!J.a, to talk\nalways of Kr§!la without passing on to any other subject matter, and to\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0423": "Del iver y of the Message of Kf�l)a to the Gopis\n\n313\n\nengage the body i n Kr�l)a ' s service constantly. Specifically i n this human\nform of life, one should engage his life, his , resources, words and intelligence\nfor the service of the L ord. Such kinds of activities only can elevate a\nhuman being to the highest level of perfection. This is the verdict of all\nauthorities.\nThe inhabitants of V rndavana said : \" By the will of the supreme\nauthority and according to the results of our own work, we may take our\nbirth anywhere. It doesn't matter where we are born, but our only prayer\nis that we may simply be engaged in Kr��1a consciousness.\" A pure devotee\nof L ord Kr�pa never desires to be promoted to the heavenly planets, or\neven to V aiku!ltha or Goloka V rndavana, because he has no desire for his\nown personal satisfaction. A pure devotee regards both heaven and hell to\nbe on an equal level. Without Kr��1a, heaven is hell ; and with Kr�!la, hell is\nheaven. When U ddhava had sufficiently honored the worship of the pure\ndevotees of V rndavana, he returned to Mathura and to his master, Krsna.\nAfter offering respects by bowing down before L ord Kr�pa and Balarama,\nhe began to describe the wonderful devotional life of the inhabitants of\nV rndavana. He presented all of the gifts given by the inhabitants of\nV rndavana to Vasudeva, the father of Kr�pa, and U grasena, the grandfather\nof Kr�pa.\n.\n\n.\n\n. .\n\nTh us ends the Bhak tivedanta purport of the Forty-sixth Chap ter of\nKr�pa, \"Delivery of the Message of K�fla to the Gopis. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0424": "4 7 I . Krsna Pleases His Devotees\n•\n\n• •\n\nFor days together, Kr�!la heard from Uddhava all the details of his visit\nto Vrndavana, of the condition of His father and mother, and of the gopis\nand the cowherd boys. Lord Kr�!la was fully satisfied that Uddhava was able\nto solace them by his instruction and by the message delivered to them.\nLord Kr�!la then decided to go to the house of Kubj a, the hunchback\nwoman who had pleased Him by offering Him sandalwood when He was\nentering the city of Mathura. As stated in the Bhagavad-gitii, Kr�!la always\ntries to please His devotees, and the devotees try to please Kr�!la. As the\ndevotees always think of Kr�!la within their hearts , so Krwa also thinks\nof His devotees within Himself. When Kubja was converted into a beautiful society girl, she wanted Kr�!la to come to her place so that she could\ntry to receive and worship Him in her own way. Society girls generally try\nto satisfy their clients by offering their bodies to the men to enjoy. But\nthis society girl, Kubja, was actually captivated by a lust to satisfy her\nsenses with Kr�!la. When Kr�!la desired to go to the house of Kubja, He\ncertainly had no desire for sense gratification. By supplying the sandalwood pulp to Krwa , Kubja had already satisfied His senses. On the plea of\nher sense gratification, He decided to go to her house, not actually for sense\ngratification, but to turn her into a pure devotee. Kr�!la is always served\nby many thousands of goddesses of fortune ; therefore He has no need to\nsatisfy His senses by going to a society girl. But as He is kind to everyone,\nHe decided to go there. It is said that the moon does not withhold its\nshining from the courtyard of a crooked person. Similarly, Kr�!la's transcendental mercy is never denied to anyone, whether one has rendered\nservice unto Him through lust , anger, fear or pure love. In the Caitanyacaritiimrta it is stated that if one wants to serve Kr�!la and at the same time\nwants to satisfy his own lusty desires, Kr�!la will handle it so that the\ndevotee forgets his lusty desire and becomes fully purified and constantly\nengaged in the service of the Lord.\n\n314\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0425": "Krsna Pleases His Devotees\n.\n\n. .\n\n315\n\nIn order to fulfill His past promise, Kr�IJa, along with Uddhava, went to\nthe house of Kubja. When Kr�IJa reached her house, He saw that it was\ncompletely decorated in a way to excite the lusty desires of a man. This\nsuggests that there were many nude pictures, on top of which were canopies and flags embroidered with pearl necklaces, along with comfortable\nbeds and cushioned chairs. The rooms were provided with flower garlands\n'and were nicely scented with incense and sprinkled with scented water.\nAnd the rooms were illuminated by nice lamps.\nWhen Kubja saw that Lord Kr�IJa had come to her house in order to\nfulfill His promised visit, she immediately got up from the chair to receive\nHim. Accompanied by her many girl friends, she began to talk with Him\nwith great respect and honor. After offering Him a nice place to sit, she\nworshiped Lord Kr�IJa in a manner just suitable to her position. Uddhava\nwas similarly received by Kubja and her girl friends, but he was not on an\nequal level with Kr�IJa, and he simply sat down on the floor.\nWithout wasting time, as one does in such situations, Kr�IJa entered\nthe bedroom of Kubja. In the meantime, Kubja took her bath and\nsmeared her body with sandalwood pulp. She dressed herself with nice\ngarm�nts, valuable j ewelry, ornaments and flower garlands. Chewing betel\nnut and other intoxicating eatables and spraying herself with scents, she\nappeared before Kr�IJa. Her smiling glance and moving eyes were full of\nfeminine bashfulness as she stood gracefully before Lord Kr�IJa, who is\nknown as Madhava, the husband of the goddess of fortune. When Kr�IJa\nsaw that Kubja was hesitating to come before Him, He immediately caught\nhold of her hand, which was decorated with bangles. With great affection,\nHe dragged her beside Him and made her sit by His side. Simply by having\npreviously supplied pulp of sandalwood to the Supreme Lord, Kr�IJa,\nKubja became free from all sinful reactions and eligible to enjoy with Him.\nShe then took Kr�IJa's lotus feet and placed them on her breasts, which\nwere burning with the blazing fire of lust. By smelling the fragrance of\nKr�IJa's lotus feet, she immediately became relieved of all lusty desires.\nShe was thus allowed to embrace Krwa with her two arms and thus\nmitigate her long-cherised desire to have Kr�IJa as a visitor in her house.\nIt is stated in the Bhagavad-gitii that without being freed of all material\nsinful reactions, one cannot be engaged in the transcendental loving service\nof the Lord. Simply by supplying sandalwood pulp to Kr�IJa, Kubja was\nthus rewarded. She was not trained to worship Kr�IJa in any other way;\ntherefore she wanted to satisfy Him by her profession. It is confirmed in\nthe Bhagavad-gitii that the Lord can be worshiped even by one's profession,\nif it is sincerely offered for the pleasure of the Lord. Kubja then told\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0426": "316\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nKr��a, \"My dear friend, kindly remain with me at least for a few days.\nEnjoy with me, You and Your lotus-eyed friend. I cannot leave You\nimmediately. Please grant my request. \"\nAs stated in the Vedic versions, the Supreme Personality o f Godhead\nhas multi-potencies. According to expert opinion, Kubja represents the\npuru�a-sakti potency of Kfwa, just as Srimati Radhara�ti represents His\ncit-sakti potency. Although she requested Kr��a to remain with her for\nsome days, Kr��a politely impressed upon her that it was not possible for\nHim to stay. Kr��a visits this material world occasionally, whereas His\nconnection wjth the spiritual world is eternal. Kr��a is always present\neither in the Vaiku�tha planets or in the Goloka Vrndavana planet. The\ntechnical term for His presence in the spiritual world is prakata-lilii\nAfter satisfying Kubja with sweet words, Kr��a returned to His place\nalong with Uddhava. There is a -warning in the Srimad-Bhagavatam that\nKH�a is not very easily worshiped because He is the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead, the chief among the Vi§rz.u-tattvas. To worship Kr��a or have\nassociation with Him is not a very easy job. Specifically, there is a warning\nfor devotees who are attracted to Kr��a through conjugal love; it is not\ngood for them to desire to have sense gratification by direct association\nwith Kr��a. Actually, the activities of sense gratification are material. In\nthe spiritual world there are symptoms like kissing and embracing, but\nthere is no sense-gratificatory process as it exists in the material world.\nThis warning is specifically for those known as sahajiya, who take it for\ngranted that Kr��a is an ordinary human being. They desire to enjoy sex\nlife with Him in a perverted way. In a spiritual relationship, sense gratification is most insignificant. Anyone who desires a relationship of perverted\nsense gratification with Kr�va must be considered to be less intelligent.\nHis mentality requires to be reformed.\nAfter a while, Kr�va fulfilled His promise to visit Akriira at his house.\nAkriira was in relationship with Kr�va as His servitor, and Kr��a wanted\nto get some service from him. He went there accompanied by both\nLord Balarama and U ddhava. When Kr��a, Balarama and U ddhava were\napproaching the house of Akriira, Akriira came forward, embraced Uddhava and offered respectful obeisances, bowing down before Lord Kn�a\nand Balarama. Kr��a, Balarama and U ddhava offered him obeisances in\nturn and were offered appropriate sitting places by Akriira. When all were\ncomfortably seated, Akriira washed their feet and sprinkled the water on\nhis head. Then he offered nice flowers and sandalwood pulp in regular\nworship. All three of them became very satisfied by the behavior of Akriira.\nAkriira then bowed down before KH�a, putting his head on the ground.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0427": "Krsna Pleases His Devotees\n. . .\n\n317\n\nThen, keeping Kr��a's lotus feet on his lap, Akrura began to gently\nmassage them. When Akrura was fully satisfied in the presence of Kr�p.a\nand Balarama, his eyes became filled with tears of love for Kr��a, and he\nb egan to offer his prayers as follows.\n\"My dear Lord Kr��a, it is very kind of You to have killed Kamsa and\nhis associates. You have delivered the whole family of the Y adu dynasty\nfrom the greatest calamity. Your saving of the great Y adu dynasty will\nalways be remembered by them. My dear Lord Kr��a and Balarama, You\nare the original personality from whom everything has emanated. You\nare the original cause of all causes. You have inconceivable energy, and\nYou are all-pervasive. But for Yourself, there is no other cause and effect,\ngross or subtle. You are the Supreme Brahman realized by the study of the\nVedas. By Your inconceivable energy, You are actually visible before us.\nYou create this cosmic manifestation by Your own potencies, and You\nenter into it Yourself. As the five material elements, earth� water, fire, air,\nand sky, are distributed in everything manifested by different kinds of\nbodies, so You alone enter into different varieties of bodies, created by\nYour own energy. You enter the body as the individual soul as well as\nindependently as the Supersoul. The material body is created by Your\ninferior energy. The living entities, individual souls, are part and parcel of\nYou, and the Supersoul is Your localized representation. This material\nbody, the living entity and the Super soul constitute an individual living\nbeing, but originally they are all different energies of the one Supreme\nLord.\n\"In the material world, You are creating, maintaining and dissolving the\nwhole manifestation by interaction of three qualities, namely goodness,\npassion and ignorance. You are not implicated by the activities of those\nmaterial qualities because Your supreme knowledge is never overcome,\nas is the case with the individual li ving entity.\"\nAs the Supreme Lord enters into this material creation and thus the\ncreation, maintenance and destruction are going on in their due course, so\nthe part and parcel living entity enters the material elements and has his\nmaterial body created for him. The difference between the living entity\nand the Lord is that the living entity is part and parcel of the Supreme\nLord and has the tendency to be overcome by the interaction of material\nqualities. Kr��a, the Parambrahman or the Supreme Brahman, being always\nsituated in full knowledge, is never overcome by such activities. Therefore\nKr��a's name is A cyuta, meaning He who never falls down. Kr��a's knowledge of spiritual identity is never overcome by material action, whereas\nthe identity of the minute part and parcel living entities is prone to be\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0428": "318\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\novercome by material action. The individual living entities are eternally\npart and parcel of God. As minute sparks of the original fire, Kr��a, they\nhave the tendency to become extinguished.\nAkriira continued: \"The less intelligent class of men misunderstand\nYour transcendental form to be also made of material energy. That concept is not at all applicable to You. Actually, You are all spiritual, and\nthere is no, difference between You and Y our body. Because of this, there\nis no question of Your being conditioned or liberated. You are everliberated in any condition of life. As stated in the Bhagavad-gitii, 'Only the\nfools and rascals consider You to be an ordinary man.' To consider Your\nLordship to be one of us, conditioned by the material nature, is a mistake\ndue to our imperfect knowledge. When people deviate from the original\nknowledge of the Vedas, they try to identify the ordinary living entities\nwith Your Lordship. Your Lordship has appeared on this earth in Your\noriginal form in order to reestablish the real knowledge that the living\nentities are neither one with nor equal to the Supreme God. My dear\nLord, You are always situated in uncontaminated goodness (suddhasattva). Your appearance is necessary to reestablish actual Vedic knowledge, as o pposed to the atheistic philosophy which tries to establish that\nGod and living entities are one and the same. My dear Lord Kr�:pa, this\ntime You have appeared in the home of Vasudeva as His son, along with\nYour plenary expansion, Sri Balarama. Your mission is to kill all the\natheistic royal families, along with their huge military strength. You have\nadvented Yourself to minimize the overburden of the world, and in order\nto fulfill this mission, You have glorified the dynasty of Yadu, appearing\nin the family as one of its members.\n\"My dear Lord, today my home has become purified by Your presence.\nI have become the most fortunate person in the world. The Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, who is worshipable by all different kinds of demigods, Pitrs, living entities, kings and emperors, and who is the Supersoul\nof everything, has come into my home. The water of His lotus feet is\npurifying the three worlds, and now He has kindly come to my place. Who\nis there in the three worlds among factually learned men who will not take\nshelter of Your lotus feet and surrender unto You? Who, knowing well\nthat no one can be as affectionate as You are to Your devotees, is so\nfoolish that he will decline to become Your devotee? Throughout the\nVedic literature it is declared that You are the dearmost friend of every\nliving entity. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad�gitii: suhrdam sarvabhfltiiniim. You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, completely\ncapable of fulfilling the desires of Your devotees. You are the real friend\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0429": "Kr�l).a Pleases His Devotees\n\n319\n\no f everyone. In spite of giving Yourself t o Your devotees, You are never\ndepleted of Your original potency. Your potency neither decreases nor\nincreases in volume.\n\"My dear Lord , it is very difficult for even the great mystic yogzs and\ndemigods to ascertain Your movement. You cannot be approached b y\nthem, and yet out of Your causeless mercy You have kindly consented to\ncome to my ho me. This is the most auspicious mo ment in the j ourney of\nmy material existence. B y Your grace only, I can j ust understand that my\nhome , my wife , my children and my worldly possessions are all different\nbonds to material existence. Please cut the knot and save me from this\nentanglement of false society, friendship and love . \"\nLord Sri Kr§�la was very pleased by Akriira's offering o f prayers. His\nsmile was captivating Akriira more and more. The Lord replied him as\nfollows : \"My dear Akriira, in spite of your submissiveness, I consider you\nto be My superior, on the level with My father and teacher and most\nwell-wishing friend. Y ou are , therefore , worshipable by Me, and since Y ou\nare My uncl e , I am always to be protected by you . I desire to be maintained by you because I am one of your own children. Apart from this\nfilial relationship, you are always to be worshiped . Anyone who desires\ngood fortune must offer his respectful obeisances unto personalities like\nyou . Y ou are more than the demigods. People go to worship the demigods\nwhen they are in need of some sense gratification ; the demigods offer\nbenediction to their devotees after being worshiped by them. But a devotee\nlike Akriira is always ready to offer the greatest benediction to the people.\nA saintly person or devotee is free to offer benediction to everyone,\nwhereas the demigods can offer benediction only after being worshiped.\nOne can take advantage of the place of pilgrimage only after going there.\nBy worshiping the particular demigod, it takes a long time for fulfillment\nof the desire ; but saintly persons like you , My dear Akriira , can immediately fulfill all the desires of the devotees. My dear Akriira, you are always\nour friend and well-wisher. Y ou are always ready to act for our welfare.\nKindly , therefore , go to Hastinapura and see what arrangement has been\nmade for the Pal).<).avas. \"\nKrwa was very anxious t o know about the sons of Pap<).u , because a t a\nvery young age , they had lost their father. Being very friendly to His\ndevotees, Kr§pa was anxious to know about them, and therefore He\ndeputed Akriira to go to H astinapura and get information of the real\nsituation. Kr§pa continued to say, \"I have heard that after the death of\nKing Pap<).u , his young sons , Yudhi§thira, Bhima, Arjuna, N akula and\nSahadeva, along with their widowed mother , have come under the charge\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0430": "320\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nof Dhrtara�tra, who is to look after them as their guardian. But I have also\nheard that Dhftara�tra is not only blind from birth, but also blind in his\naffection for his cruel son, Duryodhana. The five Pa��avas are the sons of\nKing Pa��u, but Dhftara�tra, due to his plans and designs, is not favorably\ndisposed towards the Pa��avas. Kindly go there and study how Dhrtara�tra\nis dealing with the Pa��avas. On receipt of your report, I shall consider\nhow to favor the Pa��avas.\" In this way the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, K.rwa, ordered Akriira to go to Hastinapura, and then He\nreturned home, accompanied by Balarama and Uddhava.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Forty-seventh Chapter of\n\nKr��a, \"K[§rza Pleases His Devotees. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0431": "48 I Ill-motivated Dhrtarastra\n•\n\n• •\n\nThus being ordered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead , Sri Kr�!la,\nAkriira visited H astinapura. H astinapura is said to be the site of what is\nnow New D elhi. The part of N ew D elhi, which is still known as Indraprastha, is accepted by people in general as the old capital of the Pa!l�avas.\nThe very name H astinapura suggests that there were many has tis, or\nelephants. Because the Pa!l�avas kept many elephants in the capital, it was\ncalled H astinapura. Keeping elephants is a very expensive j ob ; to keep\nmany elephants, therefore, the kingdom must be very rich, and H astinapura\nwas full of elephants, horses, chariots and other opulences. When Akriira\nreached Hastinapura, he saw that the capital was full of all kinds of\nopulences. The kings of H astinapura were taken to b e the ruling kings of\nthe whole world . Their fame was widely spread throughout the entire\nkingdom , and their administration was conducted under the good counsel\nof learned b riihmaT;ws.\nAfter seeing the very opulent capital city, Akriira met King Dhrtara�tra.\nH e also saw grandfather Bhi�ma sitting with him. After meeting the.m, he\nwent to see Vidura and then Vidura's sister, Kunti. One after another, he\nsaw the son of Somadatta, and the King of Bahlika, Dro!lacarya, Krpacarya,\nKar!la and Suyodhana. ( Suyodhana is another name of Duryodhana. ) H e\nsaw the five Pa!l�ava brothers and _other friends and relatives living i n the\ncity. Akriira was known as the son of Gandi, so whomever he met was very\npleased to receive him . He was offered a good seat at his receptions, and he\ninquired all about his relatives' welfare and other activities.\nSince he was deputed by L ord Krwa to visit H astinapura, it is understood that he was very intelligent in studying a diplomatic situation.\nDhrtara�tra was unlawfully occupying the throne after the death of the\nKing Pa!l�u , despite the presence of Pa!l�u 's sons. Akriira wanted to study\nthe whole situation by remaining there. H e could understand very well\n\n32 1\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0432": "322\n\nKr�!J.a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nthat ill-motivated Dhrtara§tra was much inclined in favor of his own sons.\nIn fact, Dhrtara§tra had already usurped the kingdom and was now instigating and planning to dispose of the five Pat;J.9-ava brothers. Akrura knew\nalso that all the sons of Dhrtara§tra, headed by Duryodhana, were very\ncrooked politicians. Dhftara§tra did not act in accordance with the good\ninstruction given by Bhi§ma and Vidura, but he was being conducted by\nthe ill instruction of such persons as Kart;J.a, Sakuni and others. Akrura\ndecided to stay in Hastinapura for a few months to study the whole\npolitical situation.\nGradually Akrura learned from Kunti and Vidura that Dhrtara§tra was\nvery intolerant and envious of the five Pat;J.9-ava brothers because of their\nextraordinary learning in military science and their greatly developed\nbodily strength. They acted as true chivalrous heroes, exhibited all the\ngood qualities of k§atriyas, and were very responsible princes, always\nthinking of the welfare of the citizens. Akrura also learned that the envious\nDhrtara§tra, in consultation with his ill-advised son, had tried to kill the\nPat;J.9-avas by poisoning them.\nAkrura happened to be one of the cousins of Kunti; therefore, after\nmeeting him, she began to inquire about her paternal relatives. Thinking\nof her birthplace, she began to cry. She asked Akrura whether her father,\nmother, brothers, sisters and other friends at home were still remembering\nher. She especially inquired about Kr§t;J.a and Balarama, her glorious\nnephews. She asked: \"Does Krwa, who is the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, who is very affectionate to His devotees, remember my sons?\nDoes Balarama remember us?\" Inside herself, Kunti felt like a she-deer in\nthe midst of tigers, and actually her position was like that. After the death\nof her husband, King Pat;J.9-u, she was supposed to take care of the five\nPat;J.9-ava children, but D hrtara§tra was always planning to kill them. She\nwas certainly living as a poor innocent animal in the midst of several tigers.\nBeing a devotee of Lord Krwa, she was always thinking of Him and\nexpecting that one day Krwa would come and save them from their\ndangerous position. She inquired from Akrura whether Kr§t;J.a proposed to\ncome to advise the fatherless Pat;I9-avas how to get free of the intriguing\npolicy of Dhrtara§tra and his sons. By talking with Akrura about all these\naffairs, she felt herself helpless and began to exclaim: \"My dear Krwa,\nmy dear Krwa, You are the supreme mystic, the Supersoul of the universe.\nYou are the real well-wisher of the whole universe. My dear Govinda, at\nthis time You are far away from me, yet I pray to surrender unto Y our\nlotus feet. At the present moment I am very much griefstricken with my\nfive fatherless sons. I can fully understand that but for Y our lotus feet\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0433": "Ill-Motivated Dhrtarastra\n.\n\n. .\n\n323\n\nthere is no shelter or protection. Your lotus feet can deliver all aggrieved\nsouls because You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One can be\nsafe from the clutches of repeated birth and death by Your mercy only.\nMy dear Kn�a, You are the supreme pure one, the Supersoul and the\nmaster of all yogis. What can I say? I can simply offer my respectful\nobeisances unto You. Accept me as Your fully surrendered devotee.\"\nAlthough Kn�a was not present before her, Kunti offered her prayers to\nHim as if she were in His presence face to face. This is possible for anyone\nfollowing in the footsteps of Kunti. Kr��a does not have to be physically\npresent everywhere. He is actually present everywhere by spiritual potency,\nand one simply has to surrender unto Him sincerely. When Kunti was\noffering her prayers very feelingly to Kn�a, she could not check herself\nand began to cry loudly before Akrura. Vidura was also present, and both\nAkrura and Vidura became very sympathetic to the mother of the\nPa�l)avas. They began to solace her by glorifying her sons, Yudhi�thira,\nArjuna and Bhima. They pacified her, saying that her sons were extraordinarily powerful; she should not be perturbed about them, since they\nwere born of great demigods, Y amaraja, Indra and V ayu�\nAkrura decided to return and report on the extreme circumstances in\nwhich he found Kunfi and her five sons. He first wanted to give good\nadvice to Dhrtara�tra, who was so favorably inclined toward his own\nson and unfavorably inclined toward the Pa�l)avas. When Kunti and\nDhrtara�tra were sitting among friends and relatives, Akrura began to\naddress him, calling him \"Varcitravirya.\" Viircitravirya means the son of\nVicitravirya. Vicitravirya was the name of the father of Dhftara�tra, but\nDhrtara�tra was not actually the begotten son of Vicitravirya. He was the\nbegotten son of Vyasadeva. F ormerly it was the system that if a man were\nunable to beget a child, his brother could beget a child in the womb of his\nwife. That system is now forbidden in this age of Kali. Akrura called\nDhrtara�tra \"Varcitravirya\" sarcastically because he was not actually\nbegotten by his father. He was the son of Vyasadeva. When a child was\nbegotten in the wife by the husband's brother, the child was claimed by\nthe husband, but of course the child was not begotten by the husband.\nThis sarcastic remark pointed out that Dhrtara�tra was falsely claiming the\nthrone on heriditary grounds. Actually the son of Pa�9u was the rightful\nking, and in the presence of Pa�l)u's sons, the Pa�l)avas, Dhrtara�tra should\nnot have occupied the throne.\nAkrura then said, \"My dear son of Vici�ravirya, you have unlawfully\nusurped the throne of the Pa�9avas. Anyway, somehow or other you are\nnow on the throne. Therefore I beg to advise you to please rule the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0434": "324\n\nK[�t;Ia, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nkingdom on moral and ethical principles. If you do so and try to teach your\nsubjects in that way, then your name and fame will be perpetual.\" Akriira\nhinted that although Dhrtara�tra was ill-treating his nephews, the Pal)-9-avas,\nthey happened to be his subjects. \"Even if you treat them not as the\nowners of the throne, but as your subjects, you should impartially think\nof their welfare as though they were your own sons. But if you do not\nfollow this principle and act in just the opposite way, then you will be\nunpopular among your subjects, and in the next life you will have to live\nin a hellish condition. I therefore hope you will treat your sons and the\nsons of Pal}9-u equally. Akriira hinted that if Dhftara�tra did not treat the\nPal}9-avas and his sons as equals, then surely there would be a fight between\nthe two camps of cousins. Since the Pal}9-avas cause was just, they would\ncome out victorious, and the sons of Dhrtara�tra would be killed. This was\na prophecy told by Akriira to Dhrtara�tra.\nAkriira further advised Dhrtara�tra, \"In this material world, no one can\nremain as an eternal companion to another. By chance only we assemble\ntogether in the family, in the society, in the community or in the nation,\nbut at the end, because every one of us has to give up the body, we must\nbe separated. One should not, therefore, be unnecessarily affectionate\ntoward family members.\" Dhrtara�tra's affection was also unlawful and\ndid not show much intelligence. In plain words, Akriira hinted to\nDhrtara�tra that his staunch family affection was due to his gross ignorance\nof fact. Although we appear to be combined together in family, society\nor nation, each one of us has an individual destiny. Everyone takes birth\naccording to individual past work; therefore everyone has to individually\nenjoy or suffer the result of his own karma. There is no possibility of\nimproving one's destiny by cooperate living. Sometimes it happens that\none's father accumulates wealth by illegal ways, and the son takes away\nthe money, although it is hard -earned by the father. It is just like a small\nfish in the ocean who eats the material body of the large, old fish. One\nultimately cannot accumulate wealth illegaly for the gratification of his\nfamily, society, community or nation. That many great empires which\ndeveloped in the past are no longer existing because their wealth was\nsquandered away by later descendants is an illustration of this principle.\nOne who does not know this subtle law of fruitive activities and thus gives\nup the principles of moral and ethical principles only carries with him the\nreactions of his sinful activities. His ill-gotten wealth and possessions are\ntaken by someone else, and he goes to the darkest region of hellish life.\nOne should not, therefore, accumulate more wealth than is alloted to him\nby destiny; otherwise he will be factually blind to his own interest. Instead\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0435": "Ill-Motivated Dhrtarastra\n.\n\n. .\n\n325\n\nof fulfilling his self-interest, he will act in just the opposite way for his own\ndownfall.\nAkrura continued: \"My dear Dhrtara�tra, I beg to advise you not to be\nblind about the fact of this material existence. Material conditional life,\neither in distress or in happiness, is to be accepted as a dream. One should\ntry to bring his mind and senses under control and live very peacefully for\nspiritual advancement in Kr�va consciousness.\" In the Caitanya-caritamrta\nit is said that except for persons who are in Kr�va consciousness, everyone\nis always in a disturbed condition of mind and is full of anxiety. Even those\nwho are trying for liberation, or merging into the Brahman effulgence, or\nthe yog'is who are trying to achieve perfection in mystic power, cannot\nhave peace of mind. Pure devotees of Kr�va have no demands to make of\nKr�va. They are simply satisfied with service to Him. Actual peace and\nmental tranquility can be attained only in perfect Knva consciousness.\nAfter hearing moral instructions from Akrura, Dhrtara�tra replied: \"My\ndear Akrura, you are very charitable in giving me good instructions, but\nunfortunately I cannot accept it. A person who is destined to die does not\nutilize the effect of nectar, although it may be administered to him. I can\nunderstand that your instructions are very valuable. Unfortunately, they\ndo not stay in my flickering mind, just as the glittering lightning in the sky\ndoes not stay in a fixed cloud. I can understand only that no one can stop\nthe onward progress of the supreme will. I understand that the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, Knp.a, has appeared in the family of the Yadus in\norder to decrease the overburdened load of this earth.\"\nDhftara�tra gave hints to Akrura that he had complete faith in Kr�va,\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead. At the same time, he was very much\npartial to his family members. In the very near future, Kr�va would\nvanquish all the members of his family, and in a helpless condition,\nDhftara�tra would take shelter of Kr�va's feet. In order to show His special\nfavor to a devotee, Kr�va usually takes away all the objects of his material\naffection. He thus forces the devotee to be materially helpless, with no\nalternative than to accept the lotus feet of Kr�va. This actually happened\nto Dhftara�tra after the end of the Battle of Kuruk�etra.\nD hrtaraHra could realize two opposing factors acting before him. He\ncould understand that Kr�va was there to remove all the unnecessary\nburdens of the world. His sons were an unnecessary burden, and so he\nexpected that they would be killed. At the same time, he could not rid\nhimself of his unlawful affection for his sons. Understanding these two\ncontradictory factors, he began to offer his respectful obeisances to the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead. \"The contradictory ways of material\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0436": "326\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nexistence are very difficult to understand; they can only be taken as the\ninconceivable execution of the plan of the Supreme, who by His inconceivable energy creates this material world and enters into it and sets into\naction the three modes of nature. When everything is created, He enters\ninto each and every living entity and into the smallest atom. N o one can\nunderstand the incalculable plans of the Supreme Lord.\"\nAfter hearing this statement, Akrura could clearly understand that\nDhftara�tra was not going to change his policy of discriminating against\nthe Pa��avas in favor of his sons. He at once took leave of his friends in\nHastinapura and returned to his home in the kingdom of the Yadus. After\nreturning home, he vividly informed Lord Kr��a and Balarama of the\nactual situation in Hastinapura and the intentions of Dhrtara�tra. Akrura\nwas sent to Hastinapura by Kr��a to study. By the grace of the Lord, he\nwas successful and informed Krsna about the actual situation .\n.\n\n. .\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Forty-eighth Chapter of\n\nKr��a, \"Ill-Motivated Dhrtarii§tra. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0437": "49 I Krsna Erects the Dvaraka Fort\n•\n\n• •\n\nAfter his death, Kamsa 's two wives became widows. According to Vedic\ncivilization, a woman is never independent. She has three stages of life: In\nchildhood a woman should live under the protection of her father, a\nyouthful woman should live under the protection of her young husband,\nand in the event of the death of her husband she should live either under\nthe protection of her grown-up children, or if she has no grown-up children,\nshe must go back to her father and live as a widow under his protection. It\nappears that Kamsa had no grown-up sons. After becoming widows, his\nwives returned to the shelter of their father. Kamsa had two queens. One\nwas Asti, and the other Prapti, and both happened to be the daughters of\nKing Jarasandha, the lord of the B ehar Province (known in those days as\nMagadharaj a ) . After reaching home, both queens explained their awkward\nposition following Kamsa's death. The King of Magadha, Jarasandha, was\nmortified on hearing their pitiable condition due to the slaughter. When\ninformed of the death of Kamsa, J arasandha decided on the spot that he\nwould rid the world of all the members of the Y adu dynasty . He decided\nthat since Kr§!la had killed Kamsa, the whole dynasty of the Y adus should\nbe killed.\nHe began to make extensive arrangements to attack the kingdom of\nMathura with his innumerable military phalanxes , consisting of many\nthousands of chariots, horses, elephants and infantry soldiers. J arasandha\nprepared thirteen such military phalanxes in order to retaliate the death of\nKamsa. Taking with him all his military strength, he attacked the capital\nof the Y adu kings, Mathura, surrounding it from all directions. Sri Kf§pa ,\nwho appeared a s a n ordinary human being, saw the immense strength of\nJ ariisandha, which appeared as an ocean about to cover a beach at any\nmoment . He also perceived that the inhabitants of Mathura were overwhelmed with fear. He began to think within Himself about the situation\n\n327\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0438": "Kr�J?a , the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n328\n\nof His mission as an incarnation and how to tackle the present situation\nbefore Him. His mission was to diminish the overburdened population of\nthe whole world ; therefore He took the opportunity of facing so many\nmen, chariots, elephants, and horses. The military strength of J arasandha\nhad appeared before Him, and He decided to kill the entire force of\nJarasandha so that they would not be able to go back and again reorganize their military strength.\nWhile Lord Kr��a was thinking in that way, two military chariots,\nfully equipped with drivers, weapons, flags and other implements, arrived\nfor Him from outer space. Kr��a saw the two chariots present before\nHim, and immediately addressed His attendant brother, Balarama, who is\nalso known as Sankar�a�a: \"My dear elder brother, You are the best\namong the Aryans, You are the Lord of the universe, and specifically,\nYou are the protector of the Y adu dynasty. The members of the Y adu\ndynasty sense great danger before the soldiers of Jarasandha, and they are\nvery much aggrieved. Just to give them protection, Your chariot is also\nhere, filled with military weapons. I request You to sit down on Your\nchariot and kill all these soldiers, the entire military strength of the\nenemy. Naturally, both of Us have descended on this earth just to\nannihilate such unnecessary bellicose forces and to give protection to the\npious devotees. So we have the opportunity to fulfill Our mission. Please\nlet Us execute it.\" Thus Kr��a and Balarama, the descendants of the\nGadaha King, Dasarha, decided to annihilate the thirteen military companies of J arasandha.\nKr��a went upon the chariot on which Daruka was the driver and with\na small army, and to the blowing of conchshells, He came out of the city\nof Mathura. Curiously enough, although the other party was equipped\nwith greater military strength, just after hearing the vibration of Kr��a's\nconchshell, their hearts were shakened. When Jarasandha saw both\nBalarama and Kr��a, he was a little bit compassionate, because both Kr�!la\nand Balarama happened to be related to him as grandsons. He specifically\naddressed Kr��a as Puru�adhama, meaning the lowest among men.\nActually Kr��a is known in all Vedic literatures as Puru�ottama, the\nhighest among men. Jarasandha had no intention of addressing Kr�!la as\nPuru�ottama, but great scholars have determined the true meaning of the\nword puru§iidhama to be \"one who makes all other personalities go\ndownward.\" Actually no one can be equal to or greater than the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead.\nJ arasandha said, \"It will be a great dishonor for me to fight with boys\nlike Krsna and Balarama.\" Because Krsna had killed Kamsa, J arasandha\n.\n\n. .\n\n. . .\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0439": "Kr�t:Ia Erects the Dvaraka Fort\n\n329\n\nspecifically addressed Him as the killer of His own relatives. Kamsa had\n. killed so many of his own nephews, yet J arasaudha did not take notice\nof it; but because Kr§�a had killed His maternal uncle, Kamsa, J arasandha\ntried to criticize Him. That is the way of demoniac dealing. Demons do\nnot try to find their own faults, but try to find the faults of their friends.\nJ arasandha also criticized Kr§�a for not even being a k§atriya. Because\nHe was raised by Maharaja N anda, Kr§�a was not a k§atriya, but a vaisya.\nVaisyas are generally called guptas, and the word gupta can also be used\nto mean \"hidden.\" So Krwa was both hidden and raised by Nanda\nMaharaja. Jarasandha accused Kr§�a of three faults: that He killed His own\nmaternal uncle, that He was hidden in His childhood, and that He was\nnot even a k§atriya. And therefore Jarasandha felt ashamed to fight with\nHim.\nNext he turned toward Balarama and addressed Him: \"You, Balarama!\nIf You like You can fight along with Him, and if You have patience, then\nYou can wait to be killed by my arrows. Thus You can be promoted to\nheaven. \" It is stated in the Bhagavad-gitii that a k§atriya can become\nbenefited in two ways while fighting. If a k§atriya gains victory in the\nfight, he enjoys the results of victory, but even if he is killed in the fight,\nhe is promoted to the heavenly kingdom.\nAfter hearing Jarasandha speak in that way, Kr§�a answered: \"My dear\nKing J arasandha, those who are heroes do not talk much. Rather, they\nshow their prowess. Because you are talking much, it appears that you are\nassured of your death in this battle. We do not care to hear you anymore,\nbecause it is useless to hear the words of a person who is going to die or\none who is very distressed.\" In order to fight with Kr§�a, J arasandha\nsurrounded Him from all sides with great military strength, and the sun\nappeared covered by the cloudy air and dust. Similarly, Kr§�a, the\nsupreme sun, was covered by the military strength of Jarasandha.\nKr§�a's and Balarama's chariots were marked with pictures of Garu�a and\npalm trees. The women of Mathura were all standing on the tops of the\nhouses and palaces and gates to see the wonderful fight, but when Kr§�a's\nchariot was surrounded by Jarasandha's military force, they became so\nfrightened that some of them fainted. Kr§�a saw Himself overwhelmed by\nthe military strength of J arasandha. His small number of soldiers were\nbeing harassed by them, so He immediately took up His bow, named\nSani.ga.\nHe began to take His arrows from their case, and one after another He\nset them on the bowstring and shot them toward the enemy. They were so\naccurate that the elephants, horses and infantry soldiers of J arasandha\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0440": "330\n\nKn�a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nwere quickly killed. The incessant arrows thrown by Kr�t;Ia appeared as a\nwhirlwind of blazing fire killing all the military strength of J arasandha.\nAs Kr�t;Ia released His arrows, gradually all the elephants began to fall\ndown, their heads severed by the arrows. Similarly, all the horses fell, and\nthe chariots also, along with their flags. The chariot fighters and the\nchariot drivers fell as well. Almost all the infantry soldiers fell on the field\nof battle, their heads, hands and legs cut off. In this way, many thousands\nof elephants and horses were killed, and their blood began to flow just like\nthe waves of a river. In that river, the severed arms of the men appeared to\nbe snakes, their heads appeared to be tortoises, and the dead bodies of the\nelephants appeared to be small islands. The dead horses appeared to be\nsharks. By the arrangement of the supreme will, there was a great river\nof blood filled with paraphernalia. The hands and legs of the infantry\nsoldiers were floating like seaweed, and the floating bows of the soldiers\nappeared to be waves of the river. And all the j ewelry from the bodies of\nthe soldiers and commanders appeared to be so many pebbles flowing\ndown the river of blood.\nLord Balarama, who is also known as Sankar�at;I-a, began to fight with\nHis club in such a heroic way that the river of blood created by Kr�t;Ia\noverflooded. Those who were cowards became very much afraid upon\nseeing the ghastly and horrible scene, and those who were heroes began to\ntalk delightedly among themselves about the heroism of the two brothers.\nAlthough Jarasandha was equipped with a vast ocean of military strength,\nthe fighting of Lord Kr�t;I-a and Balarama converted the whole situation\ninto a ghastly scene which was far beyond ordinary fighting. Persons of\nordinary mind cannot estimate how it could be possible, but when such\nactivities are accepted as pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\nunder whose will everything is possible, then this can be understood. The\nSupreme Personality of Godhead is creating, maintaining and dissolving\nthe cosmic manifestation by His will only. For Him to create such a vast\nscene of devastation while fighting with an enemy is not so wonderful.\nAnd yet, because Kr��a and Balarama were fighting with J arasandha just\nlike ordinary human beings, the affair appeared to be wonderful.\nAll the soldiers of Jarasandha were killed, and he was the only one left\nalive. Certainly he became very depressed at this point. Sri Balarama\nimmediately arrested him, just as, with great strength, one lion captures\nanother lion. But while Lord Balarama was binding J arasandha with the\nrope of V aru�a and ordinary ropes also, Lord Kr��a, with a greater plan in\nmind for the future, asked Him not to arrest him. Jarasandha was then\nreleased by Kr�t;I-a. As a great fighting hero, Jarasandha became very much\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0441": "Krsna\nErects the Dvaraka Fort\n.\n.\n\n.\n\n331\n\nashamed, and he decided that he would no longer live as a king, but would\nresign from his position in the royal order and go to the forest to practice\nmeditation under severe austerities and penances.\nAs he was returning home with other royal friends, however, they\nadvised him not to retire, but to regain strength to fight again with KHrta\nin the near future. The princely friends of J arasandha began to instruct\nhim that ordinarily it would not have been possible for him to have been\ndefeated by the strength of the Yadu kings, but the defeat which he had\nexperienced was simply due to his ill luck. The princely order encouraged\nKing Jarasandha. His fighting, they said, was certainly heroic ; therefore,\nhe should not take his defeat very seriously, as it was due only to his past\nmistakes. After all, there was no fault in his fighting.\nIn this way, Jarasandha, the King of Magadha Province, having lost all\nhis strength and having been insulted by his arrest and subsequent release,\ncould do nothing but return to his kingdom. Thus Lord Kr�IJa conquered\nthe soldiers of Jarasandha. Although Krwa's army was tiny in comparison\nto Jarasandha's, not a pinch of His strength was lost, whereas all of\nJarasandha's men were killed.\nAt that time the denizens of heaven became very pleased and began to\noffer their respects by chanting in glorification of the Lord and by\nshowering Him with flowers. They accepted the victory with great appreciation. Jarasandha returned to his kingdom, and Mathura City was\nmade safe from the danger of an imminent attack. The citizens of Mathura\norganized the combined services of a circus of professional singers, like\nsiitas, miigadhas, and poets who could compose nice songs, and they began\nto chant the victory glorification of Lord Kr�IJa. When Lord Krwa entered\nthe city after the victory, many bugles, conches and kettledrums were\nsounded, and the vibrations of various musical instruments, like bherya,\ntiirya, vir-a, flute and mrdw iga all j oined together to make a beautiful\nreception. While Krwa was entering, the whole city was very much\ncleansed, all the different streets and roads were sprinkled with water, and\nthe inhabitants, being joyous, decorated their respective houses, roads and\nshops with flags and festoons. The briih mar-as chanted Vedic mantras at\nnumerous places. The people constructed road crossings, entrances, lanes\nand streets. When Lord Kr�rta was entering the nicely decorated city of\nMathura in a festive attitude, the ladies and girls of Mathura prepared\ndifferent kinds of flower garlands to make the ceremony more auspicious.\nIn accordance with the Vedic custom, they took yogurt mixed with\nfreshly grown green grass and began to strew it here and there to make the\nvictory jubilation even more auspicious. As Kr�rta passed through the\n-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0442": "332\n\nKr��' the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nstreet, all the ladies and women began to regard Him with great affection.\nKn�a and Balarama carried various kinds of booty, ornaments and j ewels\ncarefully collected from the battlefield and presented them to King\nUgrasena. Krwa thus offered His respect to His grandfather because he was\nat that time the crowned king of the Yadu dynasty.\nJarasandha, the King of Magadha, not only besieged the city of Mathura\nonce, but he attacked it seventeen times in the same way, equipped with\nthe same number of military phalanxes. Each and every time, he was\ndefeated, and all his soldiers were killed by Kr�Fa, and each time he had\nto return disappointed in the same way. Each time, the princely order of\nthe Yadu dynasty arrested Jarasandha in the same way and again released\nhim in an insulting manner, and each time Jarasandha shamelessly returned\nhome.\nWhile J arasandha was attempting one such attack, a Y avan a king\nsomewhere to the south of Mathura became attracted by the opulence of\nthe Yadu dynasty and also attacked the city. It is said that the king of the\nY avanas, known as Kalayavana, was induced to attack by Narada.\nThis story is narrated in the Vi§[!-U Puriir-a. Once, Gargamuni, the priest of\nthe Yadu dynasty, was taunted by his brother-in-law. When the kings of\nthe Yadu dynasty heard the taunt they laughed at him, and Gargamuni\nbecame angry at the Y adu kings. He decided that he would produce someone who would be very fearful to the Yadu dynasty, so he pleased Lord\nSiva and received from him the benediction of a son. He begot this son,\nKalayavana, in the wife of a Y avana king. This Kalayavana inquired\nfrom Narada, \"Who are the most powerful kings in the world?\" Narada\ninformed him that the Y adus were the most powerful. Being thus informed\nby Narada, Kalayavana attacked the city of Mathura at the same time that\nJarasandha attempted to attack it for the eighteenth time. Kalayavana was\nvery anxious to declare war on a king of the world who would be a suitable\ncombatant for him, but he had not found any. However, being informed\nabout Mathura by Narada, he thought it wise to attack this city. When he\nattacked Mathura he brought with him thirty million Y avana soldiers. When Mathura was thus besieged, Lord Sri Kr��J-a began to consider\nhow much the Yadu dynasty was in distress, being threatened by the attacks of two formidable enemies, J arasandha and Kalayavana. Time was\ngrowing very short. Kalayavana was already besieging Mathura from all\nsides, and it was expected that the next day Jarasandha would also come,\nequipped with the same number of divisions of soldiers as in his previous\nseventeen attempts. Kr��J-a was certain that Jarasandha would take advantage of the opportunity to capture Mathura when it was also being besieged\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0443": "Kf�l)a Erects the Dvaraka Fort\n\n333\n\nby Kalayavana. He therefore thought it wise to take precautionary\nmeasures to defend the strategic points of Mathura. If both Kr�l)a and\nBalarama were engaged in fighting with Kalayavana at one place,\nJarasandha might come at another place to attack the whole Yadu family\nand take his revenge. J adisandha was very powerful, and having been\ndefeated seventeen times, he might vengefully kill the members of the\nYadu family or arrest them and take them to his kingdom. Kf�l)a therefore\ndecided to construct a formidable fort in a place where no two-legged\nanimal, either man or demon, could enter. He decided to keep His relatives\nthere so that He would then be free to fight with the enemy. It appears\nthat formerly Dvaraka was also part of the kingdom of Mathura, because in\nthe Srimad-Bhagavatam it is stated that Kr�l)a constructed a fort in the\nmidst of the sea. Remnants of the fort which Kf�l)a constructed are still\nexisting on the Bay of Dvaraka.\nHe first of all constructed a very strong wall covering ninety-six square\nmiles, and the wall itself was within the sea. It was certainly wonderful\nand was planned and constructed by Visvakarma. No ordinary architect\ncould construct such a fort within the sea, but an architect like V isvakarma,\nwho is considered to be the engineer among the demigods, can execute\nsuch wonderful craftmanship anywhere in any part of the universe. If huge\nplanets can be floated in weightlessness in the outer space by the arrangement of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, surely the architectural\nconstruction of a fort within the sea covering a space of ninety-six square\nmiles was not a very wonderful act.\nIt is stated in the Srimad-Bhiigavatam that this new, well-constructed\ncity, developed within the sea, had regular planned roads, streets and lanes.\n�ot only were there well-planned roads, trees and lanes, but there were wellplanned paths and gardens filled with plants known as kalpavrk�as, or desire\ntrees. These desire trees are not like the ordinary trees of the material world;\nthe desire trees are found in the spiritual world. By Kr�l)a 's supreme will,\neverything is possible, so such desire trees were planted in this city of\nDvaraka constructed by Kr�l)a. The city was also filled with many palaces\nandgopuras, or big gates. These gopuras are still found in some of the larger\ntemples. They are very high and constructed with extreme artistic skill.\nSuch palaces and gates held golden waterpots (kalasa). These water pots on\nthe gates or in the palaces are considered to be auspicious signs.\nAlmost all the palaces were skyscrapers. In each and every house there\nwere big pots of gold and silver and grains stocked in underground rooms.\nAnd there were many golden waterpots within the rooms. The bedrooms\nwere all bedecked with jewels, and the floors were mosiac pavements of\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0444": "334\n\nKr�J)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nmarakata j ewels. The V i��u Deity, worshiped by the descendants of Y adu,\n\nwas installed in each house in the city. The residential quarters were so\narranged that the different castes, briihmarzas, k§atriyas, vaisyas and sudras,\nhad their respective quarters. It appears from this that the caste system\nwas existing even at that time. In the center of the city there was another\nresidential quarter made specifically for King Ugrasena. This place was the\nmost dazzling of all the houses.\nWhen the demigods saw that Kr��a was constructing a particular city of\nHis own choice, they sent the celebrated piirijiita flower of the heavenly\nplanet to be planted in the new city, and they also sent a parliamentary\nhouse, Sudharma. The specific quality of this assembly house was that\nanyone participating in a meeting within it would overcome the influence\nof invalidity due to old age. The demigod Varu�a also presented a horse,\nwhich was all white except for black ears and which could run at the speed\nof the mind. Kuvera, the treasurer of the demigods, presented the art of\nattaining the eight perfectional stages of material opulences. In this way,\nall the demigods began to present their respective gifts according to their\ndifferent capacities. There are thirty-three million demigods, and each of\nthem is entrusted with a particular department of universal management.\nAll the demigods took the opportunity of the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead's constructing a city of His own choice to present their respective\ngifts, making the city of Mathura unique within the universe. This proves\nthat there are undoubtedly innumerable demigods, but none of them are\nindependent of Kr��a. As stated in the Caitanya-caritiimrta, Kr�va is the\nsupreme master, and all others are servants. So all the servants took the\nopportunity of rendering service to Kr��a when He was personally present\nwithin this universe. This example should be followed by all, especially\nthose who are Kr�va conscious, for they should serve Kr�l}a by their\nrespective abilities.\nWhen the new city was fully constructed according to plan, Kr��a\ntransferred all the inhabitants of Mathura and entrusted SriBalarama as the\ncity father. After this He consulted with Balarama, and being garlanded\nwith lotus flowers, He came out of the city to meet Kalayavana, who had\nalready seized Mathura without taking up any weapons.\nWhen Kr�va came out of the city, Kalayavana, who had never seen\nKr��a before, saw Him to be extraordinarily beautiful, dressed in yellow\ngarments. Passing through His assembly of soldiers, Kr�l}a appeared like\nthe moon in the sky passing through the assembled clouds. Kalayavana\nwas fortunate enough to see the lines of Srfvatsa, a particular impression\non the chest of Sri Kr�!la, and the Kaustubha jewel which He was wearing.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0445": "Krsna Erects the Dvaraka Fort\n. . .\n\n335\n\nKalayavana saw Him, however, in His Vi�J!U form, with a well-built body,\nwith four hands, and eyes like newly blooming lotus petals. Kr�r;Ia appeared\nblissful, with a handsome forehead and beauitful face, with smiling restless\neyes and moving earrings. Before seeing Krwa, Kalayvana had heard about\nHim from Narada, and now the descriptions of Narada were confirmed. He\nnoticed Kr�f!a's specific marks and the j ewels on His chest, His beautiful\ngarland of lotus f1owers, His lotus-like eyes and similarly beautiful bodily\nfeatures. He concluded that this beautiful personality must be Vasudeva,\nbecause every description of Narada's which he had heard previously was\nsubstantiated by the presence of KHJ!a. Kalayavana was very much\nastonished to see that He was passing through without any weapon in His\nhands and without any chariot. He was simply walking on foot. Kalayavana\nhad come to fight with Krwa, and yet he had sufficient principles not to\ntake up any kind of weapon. He decided to fight with Him hand to hand.\nThus he prepared to capture Kr�r;Ia and fight.\nKr��a, however, went ahead without looking at Kalayavana, and Kalayavana began to follow Him with a desire to capture Him. But in spite of\nall his swift running, he could not capture Kr�f!a. Kr�r;Ia cannot be captured even by the mental speed attained by great yogis. He can be\ncaptured only by devotional service, and Kalayavana was not practiced in\ndevotional service. He wanted to capture KHI;Ia, and as he could not do so\nhe was following him from b ehind.\nKalayavana b egan running very fast, and he was thinking, \" N ow I am\nnearer ; I will capture Him,\" but he could not. Kr�r;Ia led him far away,\nand He entered the cave of a hill. Kalayavana thought that Kr�f!a was\ntrying to avoid fighting with him and was therefore taking shelter of the\ncave. He began to chastise Him with the following words: \"Oh You,\nKr�r;Ia! I heard that You are a great hero born in the dynasty of Y adu, but\nI see that You are verily running away from fightjng, like a coward. It is\nnot worthy of Your good name and family tradition.\" Kalayavana was\nfollowing, running very fast, but still he could not catch Kr�f!a because he\nwas not freed from all contaminations of sinful life.\nAccording to Vedic culture, anyone who does not live following the\nregulative principles of life observed by the higher castes like the brahmarz,as, k§atriyas, vaisyas and even the laborer class is called mleccha. The\nVedic social situation is so planned that persons who are accepted as\nsiidras can gradually be elevated to the position of brahmar-as by the\ncultural advancement known as samskara, or the purificatory process. The\nversion of the Vedic scriptures is that no one becomes a brahma!l-a or a\nmleccha simply by birth; by birth everyone is accepted as siidra. One has\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0446": "336\n\nKr�)}a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nto elevate himself by the purificatory process to the stage of hrahminical\nlife. If he doesn't, if he degrades himself further, then he is called mle ccha.\nKalayavana belonged to the class of mleccha and yavanas. He was contaminated by sinful activities and could not approach Kr�J}a. The principles\nfrom which higher class men are restricted, namely illicit sex indulgence,\nmeat eating, gambling and intoxication, are part and parcel of the lives of\nthe mlecchas and yavanas. Being bound by such sinful activities one cannot\nmake any advancement in God realization. The Bhagavad-gitii •confirms\nthat only one who is completely freed from all sinful reactions can be\nengaged in devotional service or Kr�l}a consciousness.\nWhen Kf�l}a entered the cave of the hill, Kalayavana followed, chastising\nHim with various harsh words. Kr�l}a suddenly disappeared from the\ndemon's sight, hut Kalayavana followed and also entered the cave. The\nfirst thing he saw was a man lying down asleep within the cave. Kalayavana\nwas very anxious to fight with Kr�!la, and when he could not see Kr�!la,\nhut saw instead only a man lying down, he thought that Kr�!la was sleeping\nwithin this cave. Kalayavana was very puffed up and proud of his strength,\nand he thought Kf�l}a was avoiding the fight. Therefore, he very strongly\nkicked the sleeping man, thinking him to be Kr�J}a. The sleeping man had\nbeen lying down for a very long time. When he was awakened by the\nkicking of Kalayavana, he immediately o pened his eyes and began to look\naround in all directions. At last he began to see Kalayavana, who was\nstanding nearby. This man was untimely awakened and therefore very\nangry, and when he looked upon Kalayavana in his angry mood , rays of\nfire emanated from his eyes, and Kalayavana burned into ashes within a\nmoment.\nThus ends the Bhak tivedanta purport of the Fo rty-ninth Chapter of\nKr�!la, \"K[§!ta Erects the Dviirakii Fort. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0447": "-:r'\"' u_ '-/ /\\/\n'j----\n\n---,1\n\n� 1 ; , )t\n'�\n�); · �\nL\n�· ..\n\n.\n\nI\n'\n\nI\n\n.\n\n-\n\n��\n\nl, . �J\n\n.\n\n;\n\n) .\n\n50 I Deliverance of Mucukunda\n\nWhen Maharaj a Parik�it heard this incident of Kalayavana's being burned\nto ashes, he inquired about the sleeping man from Sukadeva Gosvami:\n\"Who was he? Why was he sleeping there? H ow had he achieved so much\npower that instantly, by his glance, Kalayavana was burned to ashes? H ow\ndid he happen to be lying down in the cave of the hill? \" Many questions\nwere put before Sukadeva Gosvami, and Sukadeva also answered , as\nfollows.\n\"My dear King, this person was born in the very great family of King\nIk�vaku , in which L ord Ramacandra was also born, and he happened to\nbe the son of a great king known as Mandhat�. H e himself was also a great\nsoul and was known popularly as Mucukunda. King Mucukunda was a very\nstrict follower of the Vedic principles of brahminical culture, and he was\ntruthful to his promise. He was so powerful that even demigods like lndra\nand others used to ask him to please help in fighting with the demons, and\nas such, he often fought against the demons to protect the demigods.\"\nThe commander-in-chief of the demigods, known as Karttikeya, was\nsatisfied with the fighting of King Mucukunda, but once he asked that the\nKing, having taken too much trouble in fighting with the demons, retire\nfrom fighting and take rest. The commander-in-chief, Karttikeya, addressed\nKing Mucukunda, \"My dear King, you have sacrificed everything for the\nsake of the demigods. You had a very nice kingdom undisturbed by any\nkind of enemy. Y ou left that kingdom , you neglected your opulence and\npossessions, and you never cared for fulfillment of your personal ambition.\nDue to your long absence from your kingdom while fighting with the\ndemons on behalf of the demigods, your family, your children, your\nrelatives and your ministers have all passed away in due course of time.\nTime and tide wait for no living man. N ow even if you retire to your home,\nyou will find that no . one is living there. The influence of time is very\n\n337\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0448": "338\n\nKf��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nstrong; all your relatives have passed away in due course of time. Time is\nso strong and powerful because it is a representation of the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead; time is therefore stronger than the strongest. By\nthe influence of time, changes in subtle things can be effected without any\ndifficulty. No one can check the process of time. As an animal tamer\ntames the animals according to his own will, so time also enters things\naccording to its own will. None can supersede the arrangement made by\nthe supreme time.\"\nThus addressing Mucukunda, the demigods requested him to ask for\nany kind of benediction he might be pleased with, excepting the benediction of liberation. Liberation cannot be awarded by any living entity except\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vi��u. Therefore another name of\nLord Vi��u or Kr��a is Mukunda, He who can award liberation.\nKing Mucukunda had not slept for many, many years. He was engaged\nin the duty of fighting, and therefore he was very tired. So when the\ndemigod offered benediction, Mucukunda simply thought of sleeping. He\nreplied as follows: \"My dear Karttikeya, the best of the demigods, I want\nto sleep now, and I want from you the following benediction. Grant me\nthe power to burn, by my mere glance, anyone to ashes who tries to\ndisturb my sleeping and awakens me untimely. Please give me this benediction.\" The demigod agreed and also gave him the benediction that he\nwould be able to take complete rest. Then King Mucukunda entered the\ncave of the mountain.\nOn the strength of the benediction of Karttikeya, Kalayavana was burnt\ninto ashes simply by Mucukunda's glancing at him. When the incident was\nover, Kr��a came before King Mucukunda. Krwa had actually entered the\ncave to deliver King Mucukunda from his austerity, but He did not first\nappear before him. He arranged that first Kalayavana should come before\nhim. That is the way of the activities of the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead; He does one thing in such a way that many other purposes are\nserved. He wanted to deliver King Mucukunda, who was sleeping in the\ncave, and at the same time He wanted to kill Kalayavana, who had\nattacked Mathura city. By this action He served all purposes.\nWhen Lord Kr��a appeared before Mucukunda, the King saw Him\ndressed in a yellow garment, His chest marked with the symbol of Srivatsa,\nand the Kaustubha-mar:i hanging around His neck. Kr��a appeared before\nhim with four hands, as Vi��m-murti, with a garland called vaijayanti\nhanging from His neck down to His knees. He was looking very lustrous,\nHis face was very beautifully smiling, and He had nice jeweled earrings in\nboth His ears. Kr��a appeared more beautiful than a human can conceive.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0449": "Deliverance of Mucuknnda\n\n339\n\nNot only did He appear in this feature, but He glanced over Mucukunda\nwith great splendor, attracting the King's mind. Although He was the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead, the oldest of all, He looked like a fresh\nyoung boy, and His movement was just like that of a free deer. He appeared\nextremely powerful; His excellence in power is so great that every human\nbeing should be afraid of Him.\nWhen King Mucukunda saw Kr§�a's magnificent features, he wondered\nabout His identity, and with great humility he began to inquire from the\nLord: \"My dear Lord, may I inquire how it is that You happened to be in\nthe cave of this mountain? Who are You? I can see that Your feet are just\nlike soft lotus flowers. How could You walk in this forest full of thorns\nand hedges? I am simply surprised to see this! Are You not, therefore, the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead, who is the most powerful amongst the\npowerful? Are You not the original source of all illumination and fire? Can\nI consider You one of the great demigods, like the sun, the moon, or\nIndra, King of heaven? Or are You the predominating deity of any other\nplanet?\"\nMucukunda knew well that every higher planetary system has a predominating deity. He was not ignorant like modern men who consider that\nthis earthly planet is full of living entities and all others are vacant. The\ninquiry from Mucukunda about Krwa's being the predominating deity of\na planet unknown to him is quite appropriate. Because he was a pure\ndevotee of the Lord, King Mucukunda could immediately understand that\nLord Kr§�a, who had appeared before him in such an opulent feature,\ncould not be one of the predominating deities in the material planets. He\nmust be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kf§�a, who has His many\nVi§�U forms. He therefore took Him to be Puru�ottama, Lord Vi��u. He\ncould see also that the dense darkness within the mountain cave had\nalready been dissipated due to the Lord's presence; therefore He could not\nbe other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He knew very well\nthat wherever the Lord is personally present by His transcendental name,\nquality, form, etc., there cannot be any darkness of ignorance. He is like a\nlamp placed in the darkness; He immediately illuminates a dark place.\nKing Mucukunda became very much anxious to know about the identity\nof Lord Kr§�a, and therefore he said, \"0 best of human beings, if You\nthink that I am fit to know about Your identity, then kindly tell me who\nYou are. What is Your parentage? What is Your occupational duty, and\nwhat is Your family tradition?\" King Mucukunda thought it wise, however,\nto identify himself to the Lord; otherwise he had no right to ask the\nLord's identity. Etiquette is such that a person of less importance cannot\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0450": "340\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nask the identity of a person of higher importance without first disclosing\nhis own identity. King Mucukunda therefore informed Lord KH�a, \"My\ndear Lord, I must inform You of my identification. I belong to the most\ncelebrated dynasty of King Ik�vaku, but personally I am not as great as my\nforefather. My name is Mucukunda. My father's name wasMandha.t�, and\nmy grandfather's name was Yuvanasva, the great king. I was very much\nfatigued due to not resting for many thousands of years, and because of\nthis all my bodily limbs were flattened and almost incapable of acting. In\norder to revive my energy, I was taking rest in this solitary cave, but I have\nbeen awakened by some unknown man who has forced me to wake up\nalthough I was not willing to do so. For such an offensive act, this person\nhas been burnt into ashes simply by my glancing over him. Fortunately,\nnow I can see You in Your grand and beautiful features. I think, therefore,\nthat You are the cause of killing my enemy. My dear Lord, I must admit\nthat due to the effulgence of Your body, unbearable to my eyes, I cannot\nsee You properly. I can fully realize that by the influence of Your effulgence my powerful potency has been diminished. I can understand that\nYou are quite fit for being worshiped by all living entities. \"\nSeeing King Mucukunda so anxious to know about His identity, Lord\nKr��1a began to answer smilingly, as follows: \"My dear King, it is practically\nimpossible to tell about My birth, appearance, disappearance and activities.\nPerhaps you know that My incarnation Anantadeva has unlimited mouths,\nand for an unlimited time he has been trying to narrate fully about My\nname, fame, qualities, activities, appearance, disappearance and incarnation,\nbut still he has not been able to finish. Therefore, it is not possible to\nknow exactly how many names and forms I possess. It may be possible for\na material scientist to estimate the number of atomic particles which make\nup this earthly planet, but the scientist cannot enumerate My unlimited\nnames, forms and activities. There are many great sages and saintly persons\nwho are trying to make a list of My different forms and activities, yet they\nhave failed to make a complete list. But since you are so anxious to know\nabout Me, I may inform you.that presently I have appeared on this planet\njust to annihilate the demoniac principles of the people in general and to\nreestablish the religious principles enjoined in the Vedas. I have been\ninvited for this purpose by Brahma, the superintending deity of this\nuniverse, and thus I have now appeared in the dynasty of the Yadus as one\nof their 'family members. I have specifically taken My birth as the son of\nVasudeva in the Yadu Dynasty, and people therefore know Me as Vasudeva, the son of Vasudeva. You may also know that I have killed Kamsa,\nwho was in a previous life known as Kalanemi, as well as Pralambasura\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0451": "Deliverance of Mucukunda\n\n341\n\nand many other demons. They have acted as My enemies and have been\nkilled by Me. The demon who was present before you also acted as My\nenemy, and you have very kindly burned him into ashes by glancing over\nhim. My dear King Mucukunda, you are My great devotee, and just to\nshow you My causelet::s mercy, I have appeared in this form. I am very\naffectionately inclined toward My devotees, and in your previous life,\nbefore your present condition, you ac.ted as My great devotee and prayed\nfor My causeless mercy. I have, therefore, come to see you to fulfill your\ndesire. Now you can see Me to your heart's content. My dear King, now\nyou can ask from Me any benediction that you wish, and I am prepared to\nfulfill your desire. It is my eternal principle that anyone who comes under\nMy shelter must have all his desires fulfilled by My grace.\"\nWhen Lord Kr�t;J.a ordered King Mucukunda to ask a benediction from\nHim, the King became very joyful, and he immediately remembered the\nprediction of Gargamuni, who had foretold long before that in the twentyeighth millennium of Vaivasvata Manu, Lord Kf�l).a would appear on this\nplanet. As soon as he remembered this prediction, he began to understand\nthat the Supreme Person, Narayal).a, was present before Him as Lord\nKr�t;J.a. He immediately fell down at His lotus feet and began to pray as\nfollows.\n\"My dear Lord, 0 Supreme Personality of Godhead, I can understand\nthat all living entities on this planet are illusioned by Your external\nenergy and are enamored of the illusory satisfaction of sense gratification.\nBeing fully engaged in illusory activities, they are reluctant to worship\nYour lotus feet, and because they are unaware of the benefits of surrendering unto Your lotus feet they are subjected to various miserable\nconditions of material existence. They are foolishly attached to so-called\nsociety, friendship and love, which simply produce different kinds of\nmiserable conditions. Illusioned by Your external energy, everyone, both\nman and woman, is attached to this material existence, and all are engaged\nin cheating one another in a great society of the cheaters and the cheated .\nThese foolish persons do not know how fortunate they are to have\nobtained this human form of life, and they are reluctant to worship Your\nlotus feet. By the influence of Your external energy, they are simply\nattached to the glare of material activities. They are attached to so-called\nsociety, friendship and love like dumb animals that have fallen into a dark\nwell.\" The example of a dark well is given because in the fields there are\nmany wells, unused for years and covered over by grass, and the poor\nanimals, without knowing of them, fall into them, and unless they are\nrescued, they die. Being captivated by a few blades of grass, the animals\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0452": "342\n\nKr�J?a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nfall into a dark well and meet death. Similarly, foolish persons, without\nknowing the importance of the human form of life, spoil it simply for\nsense gratification and die unnecessarily, without any useful purpose.\n\"My dear Lord, I am not an exception to this universal law of material\nnature. I am also one of those foolish persons who has wasted his time for\nnothing. And my position is especially difficult. On account of my being\nsituated in the royal order, I was more puffed up than ordinary persons.\nAn ordinary man thinks of becoming the proprietor of his body or of his\nfamily, but I began to think in that way on a larger scale. I wanted to be\nthe master of the whole world, and as I became puffed up with ideas of\nsense gratification, my bodily concept of life became stronger and stronger.\nMy attachment for home, wife and children, for money and for supremacy\nover the world, became more and more acute ; in fact, it was limitless. So I\nremained always attached to thoughts of my material living conditions.\n\" Therefore , my dear Lord, I wasted so much of my valuable lifetime\nwithout any benefit. My misconception of life having been intensified, I\nbegan to think of this material body, which is just a bag of flesh and bones,\nas the all in all, and in my vanity I was like a dog who believes that he has\nbecome the king of human society. In this misconception of bodily life, I\nbegan to travel all over the world, accompanied by my military strengthsoldiers, charioteers, elephants and horses. Assisted by many commanders\nand puffed up by power, I could not trace out Your Lordship, who is\nalways sitting within my heart as the most intimate friend. I did not care\nfor You, and this was the fault of my so-called exalted material condition.\nI think that, like me, all living creatures are careless about spiritual realization and are always full of anxieties, thinking, 'What is to be done?' 'What\nis next?' But because we are strongly bound by material desires, we\ncontinue to remain in craziness.\n\"Yet in spite of our being so absorbed in material thought, inevitable\ntime, which is only a form of Yourself, is always careful about its duty,\nand as soon as the alloted time is over, Your Lordship immediately ends\nall the activities of our material dreams. As the time factor, You end all\nour activities, as the hungry blacksnake swiftly swallows up a small rat\nwithout any leniency. Due to the action of cruel time, the royal body\nwhich was always decorated with gold ornaments during life and which\nmoved on a chariot drawn by beautiful horses or on the back of an\nelephant nicely decorated with golden ornaments, and which was advertised as the king of human society-that same royal body decomposes\nunder the influence of inevitable time and becomes fit for being eaten by\nworms and insects or being turned into ashes or the stool of an animal.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0453": "Deliverance of Mucukunda\n\n343\n\nThis beautiful body may be nice while in the living condition, but after\ndeath even the body of a king is eaten by an animal and therefore turns\ninto stool or is cremated in the crematorium and turned into ashes or is\nput into an earthly grave where different kinds of worms and insects are\nproduced out of it.\n\"My dear Lord, not only do we become under the full control of this\ninevitable time after death, but also while living, in a different way. For\nexample, I may be a powerful king, and yet when I come home after\nconquering over the world I become subjected to many material conditions.\nIt may be that when I come back after being victorious all subordinate\nkings come and offer their respects, but as soon as I enter into the inner\nsection of my palace, I myself become an instrument in the hands of the\nqueens, and for sense gratification I have to fall down at the feet of women.\nThe material way of life is so complicated that before taking the enjoyment of material life one has to work so hard that there is scarcely an\nopportunity for enjoying. And to attain the youthful condition with all\nmaterial facilities one has to undergo severe austerities and penances and\nbecome elevated to the heavenly planets. If one gets the opportunity of\ntaking birth in a very rich or royal family, even then in that condition he\nis always anxious to maintain the status quo and prepare for the next life\nby performing various kinds of sacrifices and by distributing charity. Even\nin the royal condition of life one is not only full of anxieties because of\npolitical administration, but he is also in anxiety over being elevated to\nheavenly planets.\n\"It is therefore very difficult to get out of the material entanglement,\nbut somehow or other if one is favored by You, by Your mercy only he is\ngiven the opportunity to associate with a pure devotee. That is the beginning point of liberation from the entanglement of material conditional\nlife. My dear Lord, only by the association of pure devotees is one entrapped by Y our Lordship, who is the controller of both the material and\nspiritual existences. You are the supreme goal of all pure devotees, and by\nassociation with pure devotees one can develop his dormant love for You.\nTherefore, development of Krwa consciousness in the association of pure\ndevotees is the cause of liberation from this material entanglement.\n\"My dear Lord, You are so merciful that in spite of my being reluctant\nto associate with Your great devotees You have shown Your extreme\nmercy upon me as a result of my slight contact with a pure devotee like\nGargamuni. By Your causeless mercy only have I lost all my material\nopulences, my kingdom and my family. I do not think that I could have\ngotten rid of all these entanglements without Your causeless mercy. Kings\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0454": "344\n\nKr�J..la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nand emperors accept the life of austerity to forget the royal condition of\nlife, but by Your special causeless mercy I have already been bereft of the\nroyal condition. Other kings exert themselves to get out of the attachment\nof kingdom and family by acceptance of the hardships of renunciation,\nbut by Your mercy I do not need to become a mendicant or to practice\nrenunciation.\n\"My dear Lord, I therefore pray that I may simply be engaged in\nrendering transcendental loving service unto Your lotus feet, which is the\nambition of the pure devotees who are freed from all kinds of material\ncontamination. You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and You\ncan offer me anything I want, including liberation. But who is such a\nfoolish person that after pleasing You he would ask from You something\nwhich might be the cause of entanglement in this material world? I do not\nthink any sane man would ask such a benediction from You. I therefore\nsurrender unto You because You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\nYou are the Supersoul living in everyone's heart, and You are the impersonal Brahman effulgence. Moreover, You are also this material world,\nbecause this material world is only the manifestation of Your external\nenergy. Therefore, from any angle of vision, You are the supreme shelter\nfor everyone. Everyone, either in the material plane or in the spiritual\nplane, must take shelter under Your lotus feet. I therefore submit unto\nYou, my Lord. For many, many births I have been suffering from the\nthreefold miseries of this material existence, and I am now tired of it. I\nhave simply been impelled by my senses, and I was never satisfied. I\ntherefore take shelter of Your lotus feet, which are the source of all\npeaceful conditions of life and which can eradicate all kinds of lamentation\ncaused by material contamination. My dear Lord, You are the Supersoul of\neveryone, and You can understand everything. Now I am free from all\ncontamination of material desire. I do not wish to enj oy this material\nworld, nor do I wish to take advantage of merging into Your spiritual\neffulgence, nor do I wish to meditate upon Your localized aspect of\nParamatma, for I know that simply by taking shelter of You, I shall become\ncompletely peaceful and undisturbed.\"\nOn hearing this statement of King Mucukunda, Lord Kfwa replied, \"My\ndear King, I am very much pleased with your statement. You have been\nthe King of all the lands on this planet, but I am surprised to find that\nyour mind is now freed from all material contamination. You are now fit\nto execute devotional service. I am most pleased to see that although I\noffered you the opportunity of asking from Me any kind of benediction,\nyou did not take advantage of asking for material benefit. I can understand\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0455": "Deliverance of Mucukunda\n\n345\n\nthat your mind is now fixed in Me, and it is not disturbed by any material\nfault.\n\"The material qualities are three, namely goodness, passion and ignorance. When one is placed in the mixed material qualities of passion and\nignorance, he is impelled by various kinds of dirtiness and lusty desires to\ntry to find comfort in this material world. When he is situated in the\nmaterial quality of goodness, he tries to purify himself by performing\nvarious kinds of penances and austerities. When one reaches the platform\nof a real brahmara, he aspires to merge into the existence of the Lord,\nbut when one desires simply to render service unto the lotus feet of the\nLord, that is transcendental to all these three qualities. The pure Kr��a\nconscious person is therefore always free from all material qualities. My\ndear King, I offered to give you any kind of benediction, just to test how\nmuch you have advanced in devotional service. Now I can see that you are\non the platform of the pure devotees because your mind is not disturbed\nby any kind of greedy or lusty desires of this material world. The yogis\nwho are trying to elevate themselves by controlling the senses and who\nmeditate upon Me by practicing the breathing exercise of prap,ayama are\nnot so thoroughly freed from material desires. It has been seen in several\ncases that as soon as there is allurement, such yogis again come down to\nthe material platform.\"\nThe vivid example verifying this statement is Visvamitra Muni. Visvamitra Muni was a great yogi who practiced prarayama, a breathing\nexercise, but still when he was visited by Menaka, a society woman of the\nheavenly planet, he lost all control and begot in her a daughter named\nSakuntala. But the pure devotee Haridasa Thakur was never disturbed,\neven when all such allurements were offered by the prostitutes.\n\"My dear King,\" Lord Kr��la continued, \"I therefore give you the\nspecial benediction that you will always think of Me. Thus you will be\nable to traverse this material world freely, without being contaminated by\nthe qualities.\" This statement of the Lord confirms that a person in true\nKr�!la consciousness, engaged in the transcendental loving service of the\nLord under the direction of the spiritual master, is never subjected to the\ncontamination of material qualities.\n\"My dear King,\" the Lord said, \"because you are a k§atriya, you have\ncommitted the offense of slaughtering animals, both in hunting and in\npolitical engagements. To become purified, just engage yourself in bhaktiyoga practice and always keep your mind absorbed in Me. Very soon you\nwill be freed from all reactions to such sordid activities.\" In this statement\nit appears that although the k§atriyas are allowed to kill animals in the\n�\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0456": "346\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nhunting process, they are not freed from the contamination of other\nsinful reactions. Therefore it does not matter whether one is k§atriya,\nvaiSya, or briihmar-a; everyone is recommended to take sannyiisa at the end\nof life, to engage himself completely in the service of the Lord and thus\nbecome freed from all sinful reactions of his past life.\nThe Lord then assured King Mucukunda, \"In your next life you will\ntake yt)ur birth as a first-class Vai�!lava, the best of briihmar-as, and in that\nlife your only business will be to engage yourself in My transcendental\nservice.\" The Vai�!lava is the first-class briihmar-a, because one who has not\nacquired the qualification of a bona fide briihmar-a cannot come to the\nplatform of a V ai�!lava. When one comes to the platform of a V ai�!lava, he\nis completely engaged in welfare activities for all living entities. The\nhighest welfare activity for living entities is the preaching of Kr�!la\nconsciousness. It is stated herein that those who are specifically favored by\nthe Lord can become absolutely Kr�!la conscious and be engaged in the\npreaching work of the Vaiwava philosophy.\n\nThus ends the Bhak tivedanta purport of the Fiftieth Chapter of Kr�!la,\n\"Deliverance of Mucukunda. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0457": "5 1 I Krsna, the Ranchor\n•\n\n• •\n\nWhen Mucukunda , the celebrated descendant of the Ik�vaku dynasty,\nwas favored by Lord Kr�!la, he circumambulated the Lord within the cave\nand then came out. On coming out of the cave, Mucukunda saw that the\nstature of the human species had surprisingly been reduced to pigmy size.\nSimilarly, the trees had also far reduced in size, and Mucukunda could\nimmediately understand that the current age was Kali-yuga. Therefore,\nwithout diverting his attention, he began to travel north. Eventually he\nreached the mountain known as Gandhamadana. It appeared there were\nmany trees on this mountain, such as sandalwood and other flower trees,\nthe flavor of which made anyone j oyful who reached them . He decided to\nremain in that Gandhamadana Mountain region in order to execute austerities and penances for the rest of his life. It appears that this place is\nsituated in the northernmost part of the Himalayan Mountains, where the\nabode of Nara-N araya!la is situated. This place is still existing and is called\nBadarikasrama. In Badarikasrama he engaged himself in the worship of\nLord Kr�!la, forgetting all pain and pleasure and the other dualities of this\nmaterial world. Lord Kr�!la also returned to the vicinity of the city of\nMathura and began to fight with the soldiers of Kalayavana and kill them\none after another. After this, He collected all the booty from the dead\nbodies, and under His direction, it was loaded on bullock carts by big men\nand brought back to D varaka.\nMeanwhile, J arasandha again attacked Mathura, this time with bigger\ndivisions of soldiers, numbering twenty-three ak §auhi[liS.\n. Lord S ri Kr�!la wanted to save Mathura from the eighteenth attack of\nthe great military divisions of King J arasandha. In order to prevent further\nkilling of soldiers and to attend to other important business, Lord Kr�!la\nleft the battlefield without fighting. Actually He was not at all afraid, but\nHe pretended to be an ordinary human being frightened by the immense\n\n347\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0458": "348\n\nKr��a, the Supre me Personality of G odhead\n\nquantity of soldiers and resources of Jarasandha. Without any weapons\nHe left the battlefield. Although His lotus feet were as soft as the petals of\nthe lotus flower , He proceeded for a very long distance on foot.\nThis time, Jarasandha thought that Kr��ta and Balarama were very much\nafraid of His military strength and were fleeing from the battlefield. He\nbegan to follow Them with all his chariots, horses and infantry. He thought\nKr��a and Balarama to be ordinary human beings, and he was trying to\nmeasure the activities of the Lord. Kr��1a is known _as Ranchor, which\nmeans \"one who has left the battlefield. \" In India, especially in Guj arat,\nthere are many temples of Kr��a which are known as temples of Ranchorji.\nOrdinarily , if a king leaves the battlefield without fighting he is called a\ncoward, but when Kr��a enacts this pastime , leaving the battlefield without\nfighting, He is worshiped by the devotee. A demon always tries to measure\nthe opulence of Krwa, whereas the devotee never tries to measure His\nstrength and o pulence, but always surrenders unto Him and worships Him.\nBy following the footsteps of pure devotees we can know that Kr��a, the\nRanchorji, did not leave the battlefield because He was afraid, but because\nHe had some other purpose. The purpose, as it will be revealed , was to\nattend to a confidential letter sent by Rukmitti, His future first wife. The\nact of Kr�va 's leaving the battlefield is a display of one of His six opulences. Kr��a is the supreme powerful, the supreme wealthy, the supreme\nfamous, the supreme wise , the supreme beautiful ; similarly He is the\nsupreme renouncer. S rimad-Bhiigavatam clearly states that He left the\nbattlefield in spite of having ample military strength. Even without His\nmilitia, however, He alone would have been sufficient to defeat the\narmy of J arasandha , as He had done seventeen times before. Therefore,\nHis leaving the battlefield is an example of His supermost opulence of\nrenunciation.\nAfter traversing a very long distance , the brothers pretended to become\nvery tired. To mitigate Their weariness They climbed up a very high\nmountain several miles above sea level. This mountain was called Pravar�a�a\ndue to constant rain. The peak was always covered with clouds sent by\nlndra. Jarasandha took it for granted that the two brothers were afraid of\nhis military power and had hidden Themselves at the top of the mountain.\nFirst he tried to find Them, searching for a long time, but when he failed\nhe decided to trap and kill Them by setting fires around the peak . He\ntherefore surrounded the peak with oil and set it on fire. As the blaze\nspread more and more, Kr��ta and Balarama jumped from the top of the\nmountain down to the ground-a distance of eighty-eight miles . Thus, while\nthe peak was burning u p , Kr�!la and Balarama escaped without being seen\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0459": "Kr��a, the Ranchor\n\n349\n\nby Jarasandha. Jarasandha concluded that the two brothers had been\nburned to ashes and that there was no need of further fighting. Thinking\nhimself successful in his efforts, he left the city of Mathura and returned\nto his home in the kingdom of Magadha. Gradually Kpgta and Balarama\nreached the city of Dvaraka, which was surrounded on all sides by the sea.\nFollowing this, Sri Balarama married Revati, daughter of King Raivata,\nruler of the Anarta province. This is explained in the Ninth Canto of\nSrimad-Bhiigavatam. After the marriage of Baladeva, Kr�l!a married Rukmit;i. Rukmit;i was the daughter of King Bhi�maka, ruler of the province\nknown as Vidarbha. Just as Kr�l!a is the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\nVasudeva, Rukmit;i is the supreme goddess of fortune, Maha-Lak�mi.\nAccording to the authority of Caitanya-caritiimrta, the expansion of Kr�l!a\nand Sri Radharai,li is simultaneous; Krwa expands Himself into various\nVi�ru-tattva forms, and Srimati Radharal}i expands Herself into various\nsakti-tattva forms by Her internal potency, as multi-forms of the goddess\nof fortune.\nAccording to Vedic convention, there are eight kinds of marriages. In\nthe first-class marriage system, the parents of the bride and bridegroom\narrange the marriage date. Then, in royal style, the bridegroom goes to the\nhouse of the bride, and in the presence of briihmaras, priests and relatives,\nthe bride is given in charity to the bridegroom. Besides this, there are other\nsystems, such as the gandharva and riik�asa marriages. Rukmil}i was married\nto Kr�l!a in the riik�asa style because she was kidnapped by Him in the\npresence of His many rivals, like Sisupala, Jarasandha, Salva 'and others.\nWhile Rukmil}i was being given in charity to Sisupala, she was snatched\nfrom the marriage arena by Kr�l!a, exactly as Garw_la snatched the pot of\nnectar from the demons. Rukmil}i, the only daughter of King Bhi�maka,\nwas exquisitely beautiful. She was known as Ruciranana, which means\n\"one who has a beautiful face, expanding like a lotus flower.''\nDevotees of Kr�t;a are always anxious to hear about the transcendental\nactivities of the Lord. His activities of fighting, kidnapping and running\naway from the battlefield are all transcendental, being on the absolute\nplatform , and devotees take a transcendental interest in hearing of them.\nThe pure devotee does not make the distinction that some activities of the\nLord should be heard and others should be avoided. There is, however, a\nclass of so-called devotees known as prakrta sahajiyii who are very interested in hearing about Kr�l!a's riisa-lilii with the gopis, but not about His\nfighting activities with His enemies. They do not know that His bellicose\nactivities and His friendly activities with the gopis are equally transcendental, being on the absolute platform. The transcendental pastimes of\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0460": "350\n\n'Kf�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nKH�a described in the Srimad-Bhiigavatam are relished by pure devotees\nthrough submissive aural reception. They do not reject even a drop.\nThe story of Kr��a's marriage with Rukmi�i is described as follows.\nThe King of Vidarbha, Maharaja Bhi�maka, was a very qualified and\ndevoted prince. He had five sons and only one daughter. The first son was\nknown as Rukmi; the second, Rukmaratha; the third, Rukmabahu ; the\nfourth and youngest, Rukmake8a; and the fifth, Rukmamali. The brothers\nhad one young sister, Rukmi�i. She was beautiful and chaste and was\nmeant to be married to Lord Kr��a. Many saintly persons and sages like\nNarada Muni and others used to visit the palace of King Bhi�maka.\nNaturally Rukmi�i had a chance to talk with them, and in this way she\nobtained information about Kr��a. She was informed about the six\nopulences of Kr��a, and simply by hearing about Him, she desired to\nsurrender herself to His lotus feet and become His wife. Kr��a had also\nheard of Rukmi�i. She was the reservoir of all transcendental qualities:\nintelligence, liberal-mindedness, exquisite beauty and righteous behavior.\nKr��a therefore decided that she was fit to be His wife. All of the family\nmembers and relatives of King Bhi�maka decided that Rukmi�i should be\ngiven in marriage to Kr��a. However her elder brother, Rukmi, despite\nthe desire of the others, arranged for her marriage with Sisupala, a\ndetermined enemy of Kr��a. When the black-eyed, beautiful Rukmi�i\nheard the settlement, she immediately became very morose. However,\nbeing a king's daughter, she understood political diplomacy and decided\nthat there was no use in simply becoming morose. Some steps should be\ntaken immediately. After some deliberation, she decided to send a message\nto Kr��a, and so that she might not be deceived, she selected a qualified\nbriihmar-a as her messenger. Such a qualified b riihmar-a is always truthful\nand is a devotee of Vi��u. Without delay, the briihmar-a was sent to\nDvaraka.\nReaching the gate of Dvaraka, the b riihmar-a informed the doorkeeper of\nhis arrival, and the doorkeeper led him to the place where Kr��a was sitting\non a golden throne. Since the briihmm;w had the opportunity of being\nRukmi�i's messenger, he was fortunate enough to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kr��a,who is the original cause of all causes. A b riihmar-a\nis the spiritual teacher of all the social divisions. Lord Sri Kr��a, in order to\nteach everyone the Vedic etiquette of how to respect a briihmarz.a, immediately got up and offered him His throne. When the briihmar-a was seated\non the golden throne, Lord Sri Kr��a began to worship him exactly in the\nmanner in which the demigods worship Kr��a. In this way, He taught everyone that worshiping His devotee is more valuable than worshiping Himself.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0461": "Kr�JJa, the Ranchor\n\n351\n\nIn due time, the briihmw;w took his bath, accepted his meals and took\nto rest on a bedstead completely bedecked with soft silk. As he was\nresting, Lord Sri Kr��a silently approached and, with great respect, put\nthe briihmm;w 's legs on His lap and began to massage them. In this way,\nKr��a appeared before the briihmmya and said, \"My dear briihma[ta, I hope\nthat you are executing the religious principles without any difficulty and\nthat your mind is always in a peaceful condition.\" Different classes of\npeople in the social system are engaged in various professions, and when\none inquires as to the well-being of a particular person, it must be done\non the basis of that person's occupation. Therefore, when one inquires as\nto the welfare of a briihmwya, the questions should be worded according\nto his condition of life so as not to disturb him. A peaceful mind is the\nbasis for becoming truthful, clean, equipoised, self-controlled and tolerant.\nThus by attaining knowledge and knowing its practical application in life,\none becomes convinced about the Absolute Truth. The briihmwya knew\nKr�JJa to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and still he accepted\nthe respectful service of the Lord on the grounds of Vedic social convention. Lord Sri Krwa was playing just like a human being. Belonging to the\nk�atriya division of the social system, and being a young hoy, it was\nHis duty to show respect to such a briihmar;w.\nLord Krwa continued : \"0 best of all the briihmar;ws, you should\nalways remain satisfied because if a briihmar;w is always self-satisfied he\nwill not deviate from his prescribed duties; and simply by sticking to\none's prescribed duties, everyone, especially the briihmar-as, can attain the\nhighest perfection of all desires. Even if a person is as opulent as the King\nof heaven, Indra, if he is not satisfied he inevitably has to transmigrate\nfrom one planet to another. Such a person can never be happy under any\ncircumstances; but if a person's mind is satisfied, even if he is bereft of\nhis high position, he can be happy living anywhere and everywhere.\"\nThis instruction of Kr�lJa to the briihmau,a is very significant. The\npurport is that a true briihmarta should not be disturbed in any situation.\nIn this modern age of Kali-yuga, the so-called bnihmar-as have accepted\nthe abominable position of the sudras or less than sudras and still want to\npass as qualified briihmar-as. Actually, a qualified briihmar-a always sticks\nto his own duties and never accepts those of a sudra or of one less than a\nsudra. It is advised in the authorized scriptures that a briihmar-a may,\nunder awkward circumstances, accept the profession of a k§atriya or even\na vaiSya, but never is he to accept the profession of a sudra. Lord Kr�JJa\ndeclared that a briihmar-a should never be disturbed by any adverse\nconditions of life if he scrupulously sticks to his religious principles. In\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0462": "352\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nconclusion, Lord Sri Kr��a said: \"I offer My respectful obeisances to the\nbriihmm;ws and V ai��avas, because the briihmar;tas are always self-satisfied,\nand the V ai��avas are always engaged in actual welfare activities for the\nhuman society. They are the best friends of the people in general; both are\nfree from false egoism and are always in a peaceful condition of mind.\"\nLord Krwa then desired to know about the rulers (k§atriyas) in the\nbriihmarya's kingdom, so He inquired whether the citizens of the kingdom\nwere all happy. A king's qualification is judged by the temperament of the\npeople in the kingdom. If they are very happy in all respects, it is to be\nunderstood that the king is honest and executing his duties rightly. Kr�pa\nsaid that the king in whose kingdom the citizens are happy is very dear to\nHim. Of course Kr�pa could understand that the briihmmy.a had come with\na confidential message; therefore he said, \"If you have no objection, I am\ngiving you permission to speak about your mission.\" Thus, being very\nsatisfied by these transcendental pastimes with the Lord, the briihmar;ta\nnarrated the whole story of his mission to come and see Kr�pa. He got out\nthe letter which Rukmi�i had written to Kr��a and said, \"These are the\nwords of Princess Rukmi�i: 'My dear Krwa, 0 infallible and most\nbeautiful one, any human being who happens to hear about Your transcendental form and pastimes immediately absorbs through his ears Your\nname, fame and qualities; thus all his material pangs subside, and he fixes\nYour form in his heart. Through such transcendental love for You, he sees\nYou always within himself; and by this process all his desires become fulfilled. Similarly, I have heard of Your transcendental qualities. I may be\nshameless in expressing myself so directly, but You have captivated me\nand taken my heart. You may suspect that I am an unmarried girl, young\nin age, and may doubt my steadiness of character, but my dear Mukunda,\nYou are the supreme lion among the human beings, the supreme person\namong persons. Any girl, although not yet out of her home, or any woman\nwho may be of the highest chastity, would desire to marry You, being\ncaptivated by Your unprecedented character, knowledge, o pulence and\nposition. I know that You are the husband of the goddess of fortune and\nthat You are very kind toward Your devotees; therefore I have decided to\nbecome Your eternal maidservant. My dear Lord, I dedicate my life and\nsoul unto Your lotus feet. I have accepted Your Lordship as my selected\nhusband, and I therefore request You to accept me as Your wife. You are\nthe supreme powerful, 0 lotus-eyed one. Now I belong to You. If that\nwhich is enjoyable for the lion to eat is taken away by the jackal, it will\nbe a ludicrous affair; therefore I request You to immediately take care\nof me before I am taken away by Sisupala and other princes like him.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0463": "K{��a, the Ranchor\n\n353\n\nMy dear Lord, in my previous life I may have done public welfare work\nlike digging wells and growing trees, or pious activities such as performing\nritualistic ceremonies and sacrifices and serving the superior spiritual\nmaster, the briihmm:zas and Va��avas. By these activities, perhaps I have\npleased the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Naraya�a. If this is so, then\nI wish that You, Lord Kr��a, the brother of Lord Balarama, would please\ncome here and catch hold of my hand so that I may not be touched by\nSisupala and his company.\"'\nRukmi�\\i's marriage with Sisupala was already settled ; therefore she\nsuggested that Kr��a kidnap her so that this might be changed. This sort\nof marriage, in which the girl is kidnapped by force, is known as riiksasa\nand is practiced among the k§atriyas, or the administrative, martial\nspirited type of men. Because her marriage was already arranged to take\nplace the next day, Rukmi�l suggested that Kr��a come there incognito to\nkidnap her and then fight with Sisupala and his allies like the King of\nMagadha. Knowing that no one could conquer Kr��a and that He would\ncertainly emerge victorious, she addressed Him as Ajita-the unconquerable.\nRukmiJ?I told Kr��a not to be concerned that many of her family members,\nincluding other women, might be wounded or even killed if the fighting\ntook place within the palace. As the king of a country thinks of diplomatic\nways to achieve his object, similarly Rukmi�1, being the daughter of a\nking, was diplomatic in suggesting how this unnecessary and undesirable\nkilling could be avoided.\nShe explained that it was the custom of her family to visit the temple\nof the goddess Durga, their family deity, before a marriage. (The k§atriya\nkings were mostly staunch V ai�J?avas, worshiping Lord V i��u in either\nthe Radha-Kr§�a or Lak§mi-Narayal}a form; still, for their material welfare,\nthey used to worship the goddess Durga. They never made the mistake,\nhowever, of accepting the demigods as the Supreme Lord on the level of\nVi§ru-tattva, as did some of the less intelligent men.) In order to avoid\nthe unnecessary killing of her relatives, Rukmivl suggested that it would\nbe easiest for Him to kidnap her while she was either going from the\npalace to the temple or else while she was returning home.\nShe also explained to Kr§va why she was so anxious to be married to\nHim, even though her marriage was to take place with Sisupala, who was\nalso qualified, being the son of a great king. RukmiJ?I said that she did not\nthink anyone was greater than K�§�a, not even Lord Siva, who is known\nas Mahadeva, the greatest of all demigods. Lord Siva also seeks the pleasure\nof Lord Kr§�a in order to be delivered from his entanglement in the quality\nof ignorance within the material world. In spite of the fact that Lord\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0464": "354\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nSiva is the greatest of all great souls, mahiitmiis, he keeps on his head the\npurifying water of the Ganges, which emanates from a hole in this material\nuniverse made by the toe of Lord Vi�pu. Lord Siva is in charge of the\nmaterial quality of ignorance, and in order to keep himself in a transcendental position, he always meditates on Lord Vi�t;J.U. Therefore Rukmipi\nknew very well that obtaining the favor of Kr�pa was not an easy job. If\neven Lord Siva must purify himself for this purpose, surely it would he\ndifficult for Rukmipi, who was only the daughter of a k�atriya king. Thus\nshe desired to dedicate her life to observing severe austerities and penances,\nsuch as fasting and going without bodily comforts. If it were not possible\nin this lifetime to gain Kr�pa's favor by these activities, she was prepared\nto do the same lifetime after lifetime. In the Bhagavad-gitii it is said that\npure devotees of the Lord execute devotional service with great determination. Such determination, as exhibited by Rukmi!lidevi, is the only price\nfor purchasing Kr�pa's favor and is the way to ultimate success in Kr�pa\nconsciOusness.\nAfter explaining Rukmi�idevi's statement to Kr�pa, the briihmar.a said :\n\"My dear KHt;J.a, chief of the Yadu dynasty, I have brought this confidential message for You from Rukmipi; now it is placed before You for\nYour consideration. After due deliberation You can act as You please, ,hut\nif You want to do something, You must do it immediately. There is not\nmuch time left for action.\"\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Fifty-first Chapter of\nKn>t;J. a, \"Kr�r-a, the Ranchor. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0465": "52 I Kr��a Kidnaps Rukmi�i\n\nAfter hearing Rukmi�i''s statement , L ord Kr§�a was very pleased. He\nimmediately shook hands with the b riih mm;w and said : \" My dear b riihma[ta,\nI am very glad to hear that Rukmi�i' is anxious to marry Me, since I am\nalso anxious to get her hand. My mind is always absorbed in the thought\nof the daughter of Bhi§maka, and sometimes I cannot sleep at night because\nI am thinking of her. I can understand that the marriage of Rukmi�i' with\nSisupala has been arranged by her elder brother in a spirit of animosity\ntoward Me ; so I am determined to give a good lesson to all of these princes.\nJust as fire is extracted and utilized after manipulating ordinary wood,\nsimilarly, after dealing with these demoniac princes, I shall bring forth\nRukmi�i, like fire, from their midst.\"\nKr§�a, upon being informed of the specific date of Rukmi�l's marriage,\nbecame anxious to leave immediately. He asked His driver, D aruka, to\nharness the horses for His chariot and prepare to go to the kingdom of\nVidarbha. The driver , j ust after hearing this order , brought Kr§�a's four\nspecial horses. The names and descriptions of these horses are mentioned\nin the Padma Purii[ta. The first one , Saivya, was greenish; the second ,\nSugri'va, was grayish like ice ; the third , Meghapu§pa, was the color of a\nnew cloud ; and the last , Balahaka, was of ashen color. When the horses\nwere yoked and the chariot ready to go , Kr§�a helped the b riih marta up\nand gave him a seat by His side . I mmediately they started from D varaka\nand within one night arrived at the province of V idarbha. The kingdom of\nD varaka is situated in the western part of India, and V idarbha is situated\nin the northern part. They are separated by a distance of not less than\n1 ,000 miles, but the horses were so fast that they reached their destination,\na town called Ku�?ina, within one night , or at most , twelve hours.\nKing Bhi§maka was not very enthusiastic about handing his daughter\nover to Sisupala, but he was obliged to accept the marriage settlement due\n\n3 55\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0466": "356\n\nKr�l!a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nto his affectionate attachment for his eldest son, who had negotiated it. As\na matter of duty, he was decorating the city for the marriage ceremony\nand was acting in great earnestness to make it very successful. Water was\nsprinkled all over the streets, and the city was cleansed very nicely. Since\nIndia is situated in the tropical zone, the atmosphere is always dry. Due to\nthis, dust always accumulates on the streets and roads; so they must be\nsprinkled with water at least once a day, and in big cities like Calcutta,\ntwice a day. The roads of Ku!llJina were arranged with colored flags and\nfestoons, and gates were constructed at particular crossings. The whole city\nwas decorated very nicely. The beauty of the city was enhanced by the\ninhabitants, both men and women, who were dressed in washed cloth,\ndecorated with sandalwood pulp, pearl necklaces and flower garlands.\nIncense was burning everywhere, and fragrances like aguru scented the air.\nPriests and brahmm;ws were sumptuously fed and, according to ritualistic\nceremony, were given sufficient wealth and cows in charity. In this way,\nthey were engaged in chanting Vedic hymns. The King's daughter,\nRukmi!li, was exquisitely beautiful. She was very clean and had beautiful\nteeth. The auspicious sacred girdle was tied on her wrist. She was given\nvarious types of j ewelry to put on and long silken cloth to cover the upper\nand lower parts of her body. Learned priests gave her protection by\nchanting mantras from the Siima Veda, {{g Veda and Yajur Veda. After\nthis they chanted mantras from the Atharva Veda and offered oblations in\nthe fire to pacify the ominous conjunctions of different stars.\nKing Bhi�maka was very experienced in dealing with the b riihmartas and\npriests when such ceremonies were held. He specifically distinguished the\nbrahmmyas by giving them large quantities of gold and silver, grains mixed\nwith molasses, and cows decorated with golden ornaments. D amagho�a,\nSisupala 's father, executed all kinds of ritualistic performances to invoke\ngood fortune for his own family. Sisupala's father was known as\nDamagho�a due to his superior ability to cut down unregulated citizens.\nDama means curbing down, and gho�a means famous; so he was famous\nfor controlling the citizens. Damagho�a thought that if Kr�!la came to\ndisturb the marriage ceremony, he would certainly cut Him down with his\nmilitary power. Therefore, after performing the various auspicious ceremonies, D amagho�a gathered his military divisions, known as Madasravi.\nHe took many elephants, garlanded with golden necklaces, and many\nchariots and horses which were similarly decorated. It appeared that\nDamagho�a, along with his son and other companions, was going to\nKu!llJina, not completely forgetting the marriage, but mainly intent on\nfighting.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0467": "Kr��a Kidnaps Rukmi�i\n\n357\n\nWhen King Bhi�maka learned that Damagho�a and his party were\narriving, he left the city to receive them. Outside the city gate there were\nmany gardens where the guests were welcomed to stay. In the Vedic system\nof marriage, the bride's father receives the large party of the bridegroom\nand accomodates them in a suitable place for two or three days until the\nmarriage ceremony is performed. The party led by Damagho�a contained\nthousands of men, among whom the prominent kings and personalities\nwere Jarasandha, Dantavakra, Vidiiratha and Pau�9raka. It was an open\nsecret that Rukmini was meant to be married to Krsna but that her elder\nbrother, Rukmi, had arranged her marriage to Sis�pala. There was also\nsome whispering going on about a rumor that Rukmi�i had sent a messenger to Kr��a; therefore the soldiers suspected that Kr��a might cause a\ndisturbance by attempting to kidnap Rukmi�i. Even though they were not\nwithout fear, they were all prepared to give Kr��a a nice fight in order to\nprevent the girl from being taken away. Sri Balarama received the news\nthat Kr��a had left for Ku!t9ina accompanied only by a b riihmal)a; He also\nheard that Sisupala was there with a large number of soldiers. Suspecting\nthat they would attack Kr��a, Balarama took strong military divisions of\nchariots, infantry, horses and elephants and arrived at the precinct of\n'\nKundina.\nMeanwhile, inside the palace, Rukmi�i was expecting Kr��a to arrive,\nbut when neither He nor the briihmal)a who took her message appeared,\nshe became full of anxiety and began to think how unfortunate she was.\n\"There is only one night between today and my marriage day, and still\nneither the b riihmal)a nor Syamasundara has returned. I cannot ascertain\nany reason for this.\" Having little hope, she thought perhaps Kr��a had\nfound reason to become dissatisfied and had rejected her fair proposal. As\na result, the briihmar-a might have become disappointed and not come\nback. Although she was thinking of various causes for the delay, she\nexpected them both at every moment.\nRukmi�i further began to think that demigods such as Lord Brahma,\nLord Siva and the goddess Durga might have been displeased. It is generally\nsaid that the demigods become angry when they are not properly\nworshiped. For instance, when lndra found that the inhabitants of\nVrndavana were not worshiping him (Kr��a having stopped the Indrayajiia), he became very angry and wanted to chastise them. Thus Rukmi�i\nwas thinking that since she did not worship Lord Siva or Lord Brahma\nvery much, they might have become angry and tried to frustrate her plan.\nSimilarly she thought that the goddess Durga, the wife of Lord Siva,\nmight have taken the side of her husband. Lord Siva is known as Rudra,\n.\n\n.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0468": "358\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nand his wife is known as Rudra�i. Rudra�i and Rudra refer to those who\nare very accustomed to putting others in a distressed condition so they\nmight cry forever. Rukmi�i was thinking of the goddess Durgii as Girijii,\nthe daughter of the Himalayan Mountains. The Himalayan Mountains are\nvery cold and hard, and she thought of the goddess Durgii as hardhearted\nand cold. In her anxiety to see Kr��1a, Rukmi�i, who was after all still a\nchild, thought this way about the different demigods. The gopis worship\ngoddess Katyayani to get KH�a as their husband; similarly Rukmi�i was\nthinking of the various types of demigods, not for material benefit, but in\nrespect to Kr��a. Praying to the demigods to achieve the favor of Krwa is\nnot irregular, and Rukmi�i was fully absorbed in thoughts of Kr��a.\nEven though she pacified herself by thinking that the time for Govinda\nto arrive had not yet expired, Rukmi�i felt that she was hoping against\nhope. She began to shed tears, and when they became more forceful, she\nclosed her eyes in helplessness. While Rukmi�i was in such deep thought,\nauspicious symptoms appeared in different parts of her body. Trembling\nbegan to occur in her left eyelid and in her arms and thighs. When\ntrembling occurs in these parts of the body, it is an auspicious sign\nindicating that something lucrative can be expected.\nJust then, Rukmi�i, full of anxiety, saw the briihmm;w messenger.\nKr��a, being the Supersoul of all living beings, could understand Rukmi�i's\nanxiety; therefore he sent the briihmarza inside the palace to let her know\nthat He had arrived. When Rukmi�i saw the briihmm;w, she could understand the auspicious trembling of her body and immediately became\nelated. She smiled and inquired from him whether or not Kr�!la had\nalready come. The briihmarza replied that the son of the Y adu dynasty,\nSri Kr��a, had arrived; he further encouraged her by saying that Kr��Ia\nhad promised to carry her away without fail. Rukmi�i was so elated by the\nbriihmm;w's message that she wanted to give him in charity everything she\npossessed. However, finding nothing suitable for presentation, she simply\noffered him her respectful obeisances. The significance of offering resp'ectful obeisances to a superior is that the one offering obeisances is obliged\nto the respected person. In other words, Rukmiiii implied that she would\nremain ever grateful to the briihmm;w. Anyone who gets the favor of the\ngoddess of fortune, as did this briihmarza, is without a doubt always happy\nin material opulence.\nWhen King Bhi�maka heard that KH�a and Balariima had come, he\ninvited Them to see the marriage ceremony of his daughter. Immediately\nhe arranged to receive Them, along with Their soldiers, in a suitable\ngardep house. As was the Vedic custom, the King offered Kr��a and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0469": "Kr�t;�a Kidnaps Rukmi�i\n\n359\n\nBalarama honey and fresh washed cloth. He was hospitable not only to\nKr��a, Balarama and kings such as Jarasandha, but he also received many\nother kings and princes according to their respective personal strength, age\nand material possessions. Out of curiosity and eagerness, the people of\nKu!1�ina assembled before Krwa and Balarama and began to drink the\nnectar of Their beauty. With tearful eyes, they offered Them their silent\nrespects. They were very pleased, considering Lord Kr��a the suitable\nmatch for Rukmi!li They were so eager to unite Kr��a and Rukmi!li that\nthey began to pray to the Personality of Godhead : \"My dear Lord, if we\nhave performed any pious activities that You are satisfied with, kindly be\nmerciful upon us and accept the hand of Rukmi�i'.\" It appears that\nRukmi�i was a very popular princess, and all the citizens, out of intense\nlove for her, prayed for her best fortune. In the meantime, Rukmi�i, being\nvery nicely dressed and protected by bodyguards, came out of the palace\nto visit the temple of Ambika, the goddess Durga.\nDeity worship in the temple has been in existence since the beginning\nof Vedic culture. There is a class of men described in the Bhagavad-gita as\nthe veda-viida-rata; they only believe in the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies,\nbut not in the temple worship. Such foolish people may here take note\nthat although this marriage of Kr�!la and Rukmi�i took place more than .\n5 ,000 years ago, there were arrangements for temple worship. In the\nBhagavad-gita the Lord says, yiinti deva-vratii deviin: \"The worshipers of\nthe demigods attain the abodes of the demigods . \" There were many\npeople who worshiped the demigods and many who directly worshiped\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead. The system of demigod worship was\ndirected mainly to Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, Lord Ga!lesa, the sun-god and\nthe goddess Durga. Lord Siva and the goddess Durga were worshiped even\nby the royal families; other minor demigods were worshiped by silly\ninferior people. As far as the briihmar;ws and V ai��avas are concerned, they\nsimply worship Lord Vi��u, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the\nBhagavad-gita the worship of demigods is condemned, but not forbidden;\nthere it is clearly stated that the less intelligent class of men worship the\ndifferent kinds of demigods for material benefit. On the other hand, even\nthough Rukmi�i' was the goddess of fortune, she went to the temple of the\ng oddess Durga because the family deity was worshiped there. In the\nS rimad-Bhiigavatam it is stated that as Rukmi�i was proceeding towards\nthe temple of the goddess Durga, within her heart she was always thinking\nof the lotus feet of Kr�!la. Therefore when Rukmi!ll went to the temple\nit was not with the intention of an ordinary person, who goes to beg for\nmaterial benefits; her only target was Kr�!la. When people go to the temple\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0470": "360\n\nKr�J)a, the Supre me Perso nality of Godhead\n\nof a demigod, the obj ective is actually Kf§l)a, since it is He who empowers\nthe demigods to provide material benefits.\nAs Rukmi�1i proceeded toward the temple, she was very silent and grave.\nHer mother and her girl friend were by her side, and the wife of a b riihmarta\nwas in the center ; surrounding her were royal bodyguards. (This custom\nof a would-be bride going to the temple of a demigod is still practiced in\nIndia. ) As the procession continued , various musical sounds were heard.\nD rums, conchshells, and bugles of different sizes such as par-avas, turyas\nand b h e ris combined to make a sound which was not only auspicious but\nvery sweet to hear. There were thousands of wives of respectable\nb riihmaras present . These women were all dressed very nicely with suitable\nornaments. They presented Rukmipi with flower garlands, sandalwood\npulp and a variety of colorful garments to assist her in w orshiping Lord\nSiva and the goddess Durga. Some of these ladies were very old and knew\nperfectly well how to chant prayers to the goddess Durga and Lord Siva ;\nso , followed by Rukmi�1i and others, they led these prayers before the\ndeity.\nRukmi!ll offered her prayers to the deity by saying, \"My dear goddess\nDurga, I offer my respectful obeisances unto you as well as to your children . \" The goddess Durga has four famous children : two daughters-the\ngoddess of fortune, Lak§mi, and the goddess of learning, Sarasvati-and\ntwo famous sons, Lord Gape8a and Lord Karttikeya. They are all considered to be demigods and goddesses. Since the goddess Durga is always\nworshiped along with her famous children, Rukmipi specifically offered\nher respectful obeisances to the deity in that way ; however her prayers\nwere different. Ordinary people pray to the goddess Durga for material\nwealth, fame, profit, strength and so on ; Rukmi�1i, however, desired to\nhave Kr§pa for her husband and therefore prayed to the deity to be\npleased upon her and bless her. Since she desired only Kr§pa, her worship\nof the demigods is not condemned. While Rukmipi was praying, a variety\nof items were presented before the deity, chief of which were water,\ndifferent kinds of flames, incense, garments, garlands and various foodstuffs prepared with ghee, such as pu ris and lwcuris. There were also\nfruits, sugar cane, betel nuts and spices offered. With great devotion,\nRukmi!ll offered them to the deity according to the regulative principles\ndirected by the old b riihma!W ladies. After this ritualistic ceremony, the\nladies offered the remnants of the foodstuffs to Rukmipi as prasiidam,\nwhich she accepted with great respect. Then Rukmipi offered her obeisances to the ladies and to the goddess Durga. After the business of deity\nworship was finished , Rukmipi caught hold of the hand of one of her\ngirl friends and left the temple, accompanied by the others.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0471": "\"Rukmi�i was praying to Kr��a for the life of her brother. \" (p. 365)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0472": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0473": "\"Kalayavana burnt into ashes within a moment. \" (p . 336)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0474": "\"The cook found a nice baby within the belly of the fish. \" (p. 372)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0475": "Kr�JJa Kidnaps Rukmini\n\n361\n\nAll the princes and visitors who came to Ku��ina for the marriage were\nassembled outside the temple to see Rukmi�i. The princes were especially\nvery eager to see her because they all actually thought that they would\nhave Rukmi�i as their wife . Struck with wonder upon seeing Rukmi�i,\nthey thought that she was specially manufactured by the Creator to\nbewilder all the great chivalrous princes. H er body was well-constructed,\nthe middle portion being thin. She had green eyes, pink lips, and a beautiful face which was enhanced by her scattered hair and by different kinds\nof earrings . Around her feet she wore j eweled lockets. The bodily luster\nand beauty of Rukrni�i appeared as if painted by an artist perfectly\npresenting beauty following the description of great poets. The breast of\nRukmi�i is described as heing a little bit high , indicating that she was just\na youth not more than thirteen or fourteen years old. H er beauty was specifically intended to attract the attention of Krsna. Although the princes\ngazed u pon her beautiful features , she was not at all proud. Her eyes moved\nrestlessly, and when she smiled very simply, like an innocent girl, her teeth\nappeared j ust like lotus flowers. Expecting Kr��a to take her away at any\nmoment , she proceeded very slowly towards her home . Her legs moved\njust like a full-grown swan , and her ankle bells tinkled very mildly.\nAs already explained, the great chivalrous princes who assembled there\nwere so overwhelmed by Rukmi�i's beauty that they almost became\nunconscious. Full of lust , they hopelessly desired Rukmini's hand , comparing their own beauty with hers. Srimati Rukmini, however , was not\ninterested in any of them ; in her heart she was simply expecting Kr��a to\ncome and carry her away. As she was adjusting the ornaments on her lefthand finger, she happened to look upon the princes and suddenly saw that\nKr��a was present amongst them. Although Rukmi�i had never before seen\nKr��a, she was always thinking of Him ; thus she had no difficulty in\nrecognizing Him amongst the princely order. Krsna, not being concerned\nwith the other princes, immediately took the opportunity of placing\nRukmi�i on His chariot, marked by a flag bearing an image of Garuda. He\nthen proceeded slowly, without fear, taking away Rukmini exactly as the\nlion takes the deer from the midst of the j ackals. Meanwhile Balarama\nappeared on the scene with the soldiers of the Yadu dynasty.\nJ arasandha, who had many times experienced defeat by Kr��a, began\nto roar : \" H ow is this? Kr��a is taking Rukmi�i away from us without\nany opposition! What is the use in our being chivalrous fighters with\narrows? My dear princes , just look ! We are losing our reputation by\nthis action. It is just like the j ackal taking away the booty from the lion.\"\nTh us ends t h e Bhak tivedan ta purport of the Fifty-second Chap ter of\nKr� �a, \"K!§!W Kidnaps R uk mini. \"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0476": "53 I Krsna Defeats All the Princes\n•\n\n• •\n\nand Takes Rukmini Home to Dvaraka\n•\n\nAll the princes led by Jarasandha became very angry at Kr�pa's kidnapping Rukmi!li. Struck by the beauty of Rukmipi, they had fallen from\nthe backs of their horses and elephants, but now they began to stand up\nand properly arm themselves. Picking up their bows and arrows, they\nbegan to chase Kr�pa on their chariots, horses and elephants. To check\ntheir progress, the soldiers of the Y adu dynasty turned and faced them.\nThus terrible fighting between the two belligerant groups began. The\nprinces opposing Kr�pa were led by J arasandha, and they were all very\nexpert in fighting. They began to shoot their arrows at the soldiers of\nY adu just as a cloud splashes the face of a mountain with torrents of rain.\nGathered on the face of a mountain, a cloud does not move very much,\nand therefore the force of rain is much more severe on a mountain than it\nis anywhere else.\nThe opposing princes were determined to defeat Kr�pa and recapture\nRukmivi from His custody, and they fought with Him as severely as\npossible. Rukmi!1i, seated by the side of Kr�!la , saw arrows raining from\nthe opposing party onto the faces of the soldiers of Y adu . In a fearful\nattitude , she began to look on the face of Kr�!la, expressing her gratefulness that He had taken such a great risk for her sake only. H er eyes moving,\nshe appeared to be very sorry, and Kr�!la could immediately understand\nher mind. He encouraged her with these words : \"My dear Rukmi!li, don't\nworry. Please rest assured that the soldiers of the Y adu dynasty will kill\nall the opposing soldiers without delay.\"\nAs Kr�!la was speaking with Rukmi!li, the commanders of the Y adu dynasty's soldiers, headed by L ord Balarama, who is also known as Sankar�a!la,\nas well as by Gadadhara, not tolerating the defiant attitude of the\nopposing soldiers, began to strike their horses, elephants, and chariots with\narrows. As the fighting progressed , the princes and soldiers of the enemy\n\n362\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0477": "Kr��a Defeats All the Princes\n\n363\n\ncamp began to fall from their horses, elephants and chariots. Within a very\nshort time, it was seen that millions of severed heads, decorated with\nhelmets and earrings, had fallen on the battlefield. The soldiers' hands\nwere cut up along with their bows and arrows and clubs; one head was\npiled upon another, and one horse was piled upon another. All the\ninfantry soldiers, as well as their camels, elephants and asses, fell down\nwith severed heads.\nWhen the enemy, headed by J arasandha, found that they were gradually\nbeing defeated by the soldiers of Kr�IJa, they thought it unwise to risk\nlosing in the battle for the sake of Sisupala. Sisupala himself should\nhave fought to rescue RukmiiJI from the hands of Kr��m, but when the\nsoldiers saw that Sisupala was not competent enough to fight with Kr91Ja,\nthey decided not to lose their strength unnecessarily; therefore they\nceased fighting and dispersed.\nSome of the princes, as a matter of etiquette, appeared before Sisupala.\nThey saw that Sisupala was very much discouraged, like one who has lost\nhis wife. His face appeared to be dried up, he had lost all his energy, and\nall the luster of his body had disappeared. They began to address Sisupala\nthus: \"My dear Sisupala, don't be discouraged in this way. You belong to\nthe royal order and are the chief amongst the fighters. There is no\nquestion of distress or happiness for a person like you because neither of\nthese conditions is everlasting. Take courage. Don't be disappointed by\nthis temporary reverse. After all, we are not the final actor; as puppets\ndance in the hands of a magician, we are all dancing by the will of the\nSupreme, and according to His grace only we suffer distress or enjoy\nhappiness, which therefore balance equally in all circumstances.\"\nThe whole catastrophe of the defeat was due to the envious nature of\nRukmivi's elder brother, Rukmi. Having seen his sister forcibly taken\naway by Kr�!la after he had planned to marry her with Sisupala, Rukmi\nwas frustrated. So he and Sisupala, his friend and intended brother-in-law,\nreturned to their respective homes. Rukmi, very much agitated, was\ndetermined to personally teach Kr9�1a a lesson. He called for his own\nsoldiers-a military phalanx consisting of several thousand elephants;\nhorses, chariots and infantry-and, equipped with this military strength,\nhe began to follow Kr�IJa to Dvaraka. In order to show his prestige,\nRukmi began to promise before all the returning kings, \" You could not\nhelp Sisupala marry my sister Rukmivi, but I cannot allow Rukmipi to be\ntaken away by Kr�IJa. I shall teach Him a lesson. Now I am going there.\"\nHe presented himself as a big commander and vowed before all the princes\npresent, \"Unless I kill Kr�va in the fight and bring back my sister from\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0478": "364\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nHis clutches, I shall no more return to my capital city, Ku�9Jna. I make\nthis vow before you all, and you will see that I shall fulfill it.\" After thus\nvibrating all these boasting words, Rukmi immediately got on his chariot\nand told his chariot driver to pursue Kr��a. He said, \"I want to fight with\nHim immediately. This cowherd boy has become very proud because of\nHis tricky way of fighting with the k�atriyas, but today I shall teach Him a\ngood lesson. Because He has the impudency to kidnap my sister, I, with\nmy sharpened arrows, shall teach Him very good lessons indeed.\" Thus this\nunintelligent man, Rukmi, ignorant of the extent of the strength and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, began to voice impudent\nthreats.\nIn great stupidity he soon stood before Kr��a, telling Him repeatedly,\n\"Stop for a minute and fight with me! \" After saying this he drew his\nbow and directly shot three forceful arrows against Kr��a's body. Then he\ncondemned Kr��a as the most abominable descendant of the Y adu dynasty\nand asked Him to stand before him for a minute so that he could teach\nHim a good lesson. \"You are carrying away my sister just like a crow\nstealing clarified butter meant for use in a sacrifice. You are simply proud\nof Your military strength, but You cannot fight according to regulative\nprinciples. You have stolen my sister; now I shall relieve You of Your\nfalse prestige. You can keep my sister under Your possession only as long\nas I do not pinion You to the ground for good with my arrows.\"\nLord Kr��a, after hearing all these cra7'.y words from Rukmi, immediately shot an arrow and severed the string of Rukmi's bow, making\nhim unable to use another arrow. Rukmi immediately took another bow\nand shot another five arrows at Krwa. Being attacked for the second time\nby Rukmi, Krwa again severed his bowstring. Rukmi took a third bow,\nand Kr��a again cut off its string. This time, in order to teach Rukmi c\nlesson, Kr��a personally shot six arrows at him, and then He shot another\neight arrows. Thus four horses were killed by four arrows, the chariot\ndriver was killed by another arrow, and the upper portion of Rukmi's\nchariot, including the flag, was chopped off with the remaining three\n.\narrows.\nHaving run out of arrows, Rukmi took the assistance of swords, shields,\ntridents, lances and similar other weapons used for fighting hand-to-hand,\nbut Kr��a immediately severed them all in the same way. Being repeatedly\nbaffled in his attempts, Rukmi simply took his sword and ran very swiftly\ntoward Kr��a, just as a fly proceeds toward a fire. As soon as Rukmi\nreached Krwa, Kr��a cut his weapon to pieces. This time Kr��a took out\nHis sharp sword and was about to kill him immediately, but Rukmi's\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0479": "Kr ��a Defeats All the Princes\n\n365\n\nsister Rukmil)i, understanding that this time Kf�l)a would not excuse her\nbrother , fell down at the lotus feet of Kr�!la and in a very grievous tone,\ntrembling with great fear , began to plead with her husband.\nRukmil)i first addressed Kf�l)a as \" Yoge8vara. \" Y oge8vara means one\nwho is possessed of inconceivable opulence and energy. Kf�l)a possesses\ninconceivable opulence and energy, whereas Rukmi�i's brother had only\nlimited military potency. Kr�!la is immeasurable , whereas her brother was\nmeasured in every step of his life. Therefore , Rukmi was not even comparable to an insignificant insect before the unlimited power of Kf�J)a. She\nalso addressed Kr�!la as the God of the gods. There are many powerful\ndemigods, such as Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, Indra, and Candra ; Kf�l)a is\nthe Lord of all these gods, whereas Rukmil)i's brother was not only an\nordinary human being, but was , in fact , the lowest of all because he had\nno understanding of Kr��a. In other words, a human being who has no\nconception of the actual position of Kr�!la is the lowest in human society.\nRukmil)i also addressed Kr�!la as \"J agatpati,\" the master of the whole\ncosmic manifestation. In comparison, her brother was only a ordinary\nprmce.\nIn this way, Rukmil)i compared the position of Rukmi to that of\nKr�!la and very feelingly pleaded with her husband not to kill her brother\njust before the auspicious time of her being united with Kr�:l)a, but to\nexcuse him. In other words, she displayed her real position as a woman.\nShe was happy to get Kr�!la as her husband just at the moment when her\nmarriage to another was to be performed , but she did not want it to be at\nthe loss of her elder brother, who , after all, loved his young sister and\nwanted to hand her over to one who was, according to his own calculations, a better man. While Rukmil)i was praying to Kf�l)a for the life of her\nbrother , her whole b ody trembled , and because of her anxiety, her face\nappeared to be dried up, her throat became choked , and , due to her\ntrembling, the ornaments on her b ody loosened and fell scattered on the\nground. Lord Kr�!la immediately became compassionate and agreed not to\nkill the foolish Rukmi. But, at the same time , He wanted to give him\nsome light punishment , so He tied him up with a piece of cloth and\nsnipped at his moustache , beard and hair , keeping some spots here and\nthere.\nWhile Kr�!la was dealing with Rukmi in this way, the soldiers of the\nYadu dynasty, commanded by Balarama Himself, broke the whole strength\nof Rukmi's army just as an elephant in a tank discards the feeble stem of a\nlotus flower . In other words, as an elephant breaks the whole construction\nof a lotus flower while bathing in the reservoir of water , so the military\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0480": "366\n\nKf��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nstrength of the Yadus broke up Rukmi's forces. Yet when the commanders of the Y adu dynasty came back to see Kr�!la, they were all\nsurprised to see the condition of Rukmi. Lord Balarama became especially\ncompassionate for His sister-in-law , who was newly married to His brother.\nIn order to please Rukmi!li, Balarama personally untied Rukmi, and in\norder to further please her, Balarama, as the elder brother of Kr�!la, spoke\nsome words of chastisement. \"Kr�!la, Your action is not at all satisfactory,\"\nHe said. \"This is an abomination very much contrary to our family tradition! To cut someone's hair and shave his moustache and beard is almost\ncomparable to killing him. Whatever Rukmi might have been, he is now\nour brother-in-law, a relative of our family, and _ You should not have put\nhim in such a condition.\"\nAfter this, in order to pacify her, Lord Balarama said to Rukmi!li, \"You\nshould not be sorry because your brother has been made very odd-looking.\nEveryone suffers or enjoys the results of his own actions.\" Lord Balarama\nwanted to impress upon Rukmivi that she should not have been sorry for\nthe consequences suffered by her brother due to his actions. There was no\nneed of being too affectionate toward such a brother. Lord Balarama again\nturned toward Kr�va and said, \"My dear Kr�!la, a relative, even though he\ncommits such a blunder and deserves to be killed, should be excused. For\nwhen such a relative is conscious of his own fault, that consciousness itself\nis like 'death. Therefore, there is no need in killing him.\" He again turned\ntoward Rukmi!li and informed her that the current duty of the k§atriya in\nthe human society is so fixed that, according to the principles of fighting,\none's own brother may become an enemy on the opposite side. A k§atriya\ndoes not hesitate to kill his own brother. In other words, Lord Balarama\nwanted to instruct Rukmi!li that Rukmi and Kr�rta were right in_ not showing mercy to each other in the fighting, despite the family consideration\nthat they happened to be brothers-in-law. Sri Balarama continued to inform\nRukmi!li that k§atriyas are typical emblems of the materialistic way of life;\nthey become puffed-up whenever there is a question of material acquisition.\nTherefore, when there is a fight between two belligerent k§atriyas on\naccount of kingdom, land, wealth, women, prestige or power, they try to\nput one another into the most abominable condition. Balarama instructed\nRukmi!li that her affection toward her brother Rukmi, who had created\nenmity with so many persons, was a perverse consideration befitting an\nordinary materialistic person. Her brother's character was not at all adorable, considering his treatment toward other friends, and yet Rukmi!li, as\nan ordinary woman, was so affectionate toward him. He was not fit to be\nher brother, and still Rukmini was lenient toward him.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0481": "Kr�pa Defeats All the Princes\n\n367\n\n\"Besides that,\" Balarama continued, \"the consideration that a person is\nneutral or is one's friend or enemy is generally made by persons who are in\nthe bodily concept of life. Such foolish persons become bewildered by the\nillusory energy of the Supreme Lord. The spirit soul is of the same pure\nquality in any embodiment of matter, but those who are not sufficiently\nintelligent see only the bodily differentiations of animals and men, literates\nand illiterates, rich and poor, and so on, which cover the pure spirit soul.\nSuch differentiation, observed purely on the basis of the body, is exactly\nlike differentiation between fires in terms of the different types of fuel\nthey consume. Whatever the size and shape of the fuel, there is no such\nvariety of size and shape of the fire which comes out. Similarly, in the sky\nthere are no differences in size or shape.\"\nIn this way Balarama appeased them by His moral and ethical instruction.\nHe stated further: \"This body is part of the material manifestation. The\nliving entity or spirit soul, being in contact with matter, is transmigrating,\ndue to illusory enjoyment, from one body to another, and that is known as\nmaterial existence. This contact of the living entity with the material\nmanifestation has neither integration nor disintegration. My dear chaste\nsister-in-law, the spirit soul is, of course, the cause of this material body, as\nmuch as the sun is the cause of sunlight, eyesight and the forms of material\nmanifestation. The example of the sunshine and the material manifestation\nis very appropriate in the matter of understanding the living entities' contact with this material world. In the morning, there is sunrise, and the heat\nand light expand gradually throughout the whole day. The sun is the cause\nof all material production and shapes and forms ; it is due to the sun that\nintegration and disintegration of material elements take place. But as soon\nas the sun is set, the whole manifestation is no longer connected to the sun,\nwhich has passed from one place to another. When the sun passes from the\neastern to the western hemisphere, the result of interaction due to the\nsunshine in the eastern hemisphere remains, but the sunshine itself is\nvisible again on the western hemisphere. Similarly, the living entity\naccepts or produces different bodies and different bodily relationships in a\nparticular circumstance, but as soon as he gives up the present body and\naccepts another, he has nothing to do with the former body. Similarly, the\nliving entity has nothing to do with the next body which he accepts. He is\nalways free from the contact of this bodily contamination. Therefore, the\nconclusion is that the appearance and disappearance of the body have nothing to do with the living entity, as much as the waxing and waning ofthe\nmoon have nothing to do with the moon. When there is waxing of the\nmoon, we falsely think that the moon is developing, and when there is\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0482": "368\n\nKH!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nwaning of the moon we think that the moon is decreasing. Factually the\nmoon, as it is, is always the same; it has nothing to do with such visible\nwaxing and waning activities.\n\"Consciousness of material existence can be compared to sleeping and\ndreaming. When a man sleeps, he dreams of many nonfactual happenings,\nand as a result of dreaming he becomes subjected to different kinds of\ndistress and happiness. Similarly, when a person is in the dreaming\ncondition of material consciousness, he suffers the effects of accepting a\nbody and giving it up again in material existence. Opposite to this material\nconsciousness is KH�a consciousness. In other words, when a man is\nelevated to the platform of Kr��a consciousness he becomes free from\nthis false conception of life.\"\nIn this way, Sri Balarama instructed them in spiritual knowledge. He\naddressed his sister-in-law thus: \"Sweet, smiling Rukmipi, do not be\naggrieved by false motives caused by ignorance. Due to false notions only\none becomes unhappy, but this unhappiness is immediately removed by\ndiscussing the philosophy of actual life. Be happy on that platform only.\"\nAfter hearing such enlightening instruction from Sri Balarama, Rukmipi\nimmediately became pacified and happy and adjusted her mental condition,\nwhich was very much afflicted by seeing the degraded position of her\nbrother, Rukmi. As far as Rukmi was concerned, neither was his promise\nfulfilled nor his mission successful. He had come from home with his\nsoldiers and military phalanx to defeat Kr�pa and release his sister, but on\nthe contrary, he lost all his soldiers and military strength. He was personally\nmuch degraded, and in that condition he was very sorry; but by the grace\nof the Lord he could continue his life to the fixed destination. Because he\nwas a k§atriya, he could remember his promise that he would not return\nto his capital city, Kupl).ina, without killing Kr�pa and releasing his sister,\nwhich he had failed to do; therefore, he decided in anger not to return\nto his capital city, and he constructed a small cottage in the village known\nas Bhojakata and began to reside there for the rest of his life.\nAfter defeating all the opposing elements and forcibly carrying away\nRukmipi, Kr�pa brought her to His capital city, Dvaraka, and then\nmarried her according to the Vedic ritualistic principle. After this marriage,\nKr�pa became the King of the Y adus at Dvaraka. On the occasion of His\nmarriage with Rukmipi, all the inhabitants were happy, and in every house\nthere were great ceremonies. The inhabitants of Dvaraka City became so\npleased that they dressed themselves with the nicest possible ornaments\nand garments, and they went to present gifts according to their means to\nthe newly married couple, Kr�pa and Rukmipi. All the houses of Y adupuri\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0483": "Krsna Defeats All the Princes\n0\n\n0 0\n\n369\n\n(Dvaraka) were decorated with flags, festoons and flowers. Each and every\nhouse had an extra gate specifically prepared for this occasion, and on\nboth sides of the gate there were big water jugs filled with water. The\nwhole city was flavored by the burning of high quality mcense, and at\nnight there was illumination by thousands of lamps, decorating each and\nevery building.\nThe entire city appeared jubilant on the occasion of Lord KH�a's\nmarriage with Rukmi.l).i. Everywhere in the city there was profuse decoration of banana trees and betel nut trees. These two trees are considered\nvery auspicious in happy ceremonies. At the same time there was an\nassembly of many elephants, who carried the respective kings of different\nfriendly kingdoms. It is the habit of the elephant that whenever he sees\nsome small plants and trees, out of his sportive frivolous nature, he\nuproots the trees and throws them hither and thither. The elephants\nassembled on this occasion also scattered the banana and betel nut trees,\nbut in spite of such intoxicated action, the whole city, with the trees\nthrown here and there, looked very nic&.\nThe friendly kings of the Kurus and the Pa\\19avas were represented by\nDhftara�tra, the five Pa�9u brothers, King Drupada, King Santardana, as\nwell as Rukmi�i's father, Bhi�maka. Because of Kf��a's kidnapping\nRukmi�i, there was initially some misunderstanding between the two\nfamilies, but Bhi�maka, King of Vidarbha, b eing approached by Sri Balarama and persuaded by many saintly persons, was induced to participate in\nthe marriage ceremony of Kr�lJa and Rukmi�i. Although the incidence of\nKf��a's kidnapping was not a very happy occurrence in the kingdom of\nVidarbha, kidnapping was not an unusual affair among the k�atriyas. Kidnapping was, in fact, current in almost all marriages. Anyway, King\nBhi�maka was from the very beginning inclined to hand over his beautiful\ndaughter to .Kf�lJa. In one way or another his purpose had been served, and\nso he was pleased to join the marriage ceremony, even though his eldest son\nwas degraded in the fight. It is mentioned in the Padma Purt1[la that Maharaja N anda and the cowherd boys of Vrndavana joined the marriage ceremony. Kings from the kingdoms of Kuru, Srn.jaya, Kekaya, Vidarbha and\nKunti came to Dvaraka on this occasion with all their royal paraphernalia.\nThe story of Rukmi�Jl'S being kidnapped by Kf�l}a was poeticized, and\nthe professional readers recited it everywhere. All the assembled kings and,\nespecially, their daughters were struck with wonder and became very\npleased upon hearing the chivalrous activities of Kr��a. In this way, all\nvisitors as well as the inhabitants of Dvaraka City became joyful seeing\nKf��a and Rukmi�i together. In other words, the Supreme Lord, the main-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0484": "370\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ntainer of everyone, and the goddess of fortune were united, and all the\npeople felt extremely jubilant.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Fifty-third Chapter of\nKr��a, \"Kr�r-a Defeats all the Princes and Takes R ukmi!li Home to\nDviirakii. \"·\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0485": "54 I Prad yumna Born\nto Krsna and Rukmini\n•\n\n•\n\n• •\n\nIt is said that Cupid, who is directly part and parcel of Lord Vasudeva\nand who was formerly burnt to ashes by the anger of Lord Siva, took\nbirth in the womb of Rukmil)i begotten by Kr�!la . This is Kamadeva,\na demigod of the heavenly planets especially capable of inducing lusty\ndesires. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kr�!la, has many grades of\nparts and parcels, but the quadruple expa !lsions of Kr�l)a- Vasudeva,\nSankar�al)a, Pradyumna and Aniruddha-are directly in the Vi�pu category.\nKama, or the Cupid demigod, who later on took his birth in the womb of\nRukmil)i, was also named Pradyumna, but he cannot be the Pradyumna of\nthe Vi�I)U category. He belongs to the category of jiva-tattva, but for\nspecial power in the category of demigods, he was a part and parcel of the\nsuper prowess of Pradyumna. That is the verdict of the Gosvamis.\nTherefore, when Cupid was bu�nt into ashes by the anger of Lord Siva\nhe merged into the body of Vasudeva, and in order to get his body again,\nhe was begotten by Lord Kr�l)a Himself; he was directly released from his\nbody in the womb of Rukmil)i and was born as the son of Krwa,\ncelebrated by the name Pradyumna. Because he was begotten by Lord\nKr�l)a directly, his qualities were most similar to those of Kr�!la.\nThere was a demon of the name Sambara who was destined to be killed\nby this Pradyumna. The S ambara demon knew of his destiny, and as soon\nas he learned that Pradyumna was born, he took the shape of a woman\nand kidnapped the baby from the maternity home less than ten days after\nhis birth. The demon took him and threw him directly into the sea. But,\nas it is said, \"Whoever is protected by Kr�pa, no one can kill ; and whoever\nis destined to be killed by Kr�!la, no one can protect. \" When Pradyumna\nwas thrown in the sea, a big fish immediately swallowed him . Later on\nthis fish was caught by the net of a fisherman, and the fish was later on\nsold to the Sambara demon. In the kitchen of the demon there was a\n\n37 1\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0486": "372\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Pe rsonality of Godhead\n\nmaidservant whose name was Mayavati. This woman had formerly been\nthe wife of Cupid , and had been called Rati. When the fish was presented\nto the demon Sambara, it was taken charge of by his cook , who was to\nmake it into a palatable fish preparation. D emons and the riik§asas are\naccustomed to eat meat , fish and similar non-vegetarian foods. Similarly ,\nother demons, like Rava�a, Karhsa and Hira�yakasipu , although born of\nb riih mar-a and k§atriya fathers, used to take meat and flesh without\ndiscrimination. This practice is still prevalent in India, and those who are\nmeat and fish eaters are generally called demons and riik§asas.\nWhen the cook was cutting the fish, he found a nice baby within the\nbelly of the fish, and he immediately presented him to the charge of\nMayavati, who was an assistant in the kitchen affairs. This woman was\nsurprised to see how such a nice baby could remain within the belly of a\nfish, and the situation perplexed her. The great sage Narada then appeared\nand explained to her about the birth of Pradyumna, how the baby had\nbeen taken away by Sambara and later on thrown into the sea, and so on.\nIn this way the whole story was disclosed to Mayavati, who had formerly\nbeen Rati , the wife of Cupid. Mayavati knew that she had previously been\nthe wife of Cupid ; after her husband was burnt into ashes by the wrath of\nLord S iva, she was always expecting him to come back again in the material\nform . This woman was engaged for cooking rice and dahl in the kitchen,\nbut when she got this nice baby and understood that he was Cupid , her\nown husband , she naturally took charge of him and with great affection\nbegan to bathe him . Miraculously, the baby very swiftly grew up, and\nwithin a very short period he became a very beautiful young man. His eyes\nwere just like the petals of lotus flowers, his arms were very long, down to\nthe knees , and any woman who happened to see him became captivated by\nhis bodily beauty.\nMayavati could understand that her former husband , Cupid , born as\nPradyumna, had grown into such a nice young man, and she also gradually\nbecame captivated and lusty. She was smiling before him with a feminine\nattractiveness, expressing her desire for sexual unity. He therefore inquired\nfrom her, \" How is it possible that first of all you were affectionate like a\nmother, and now you are expressing the symptoms of a lusty woman?\nWhat is the reason for such a change? \" On hearing this statement from\nPradyumna, the woman, Rati, replied , \" My dear sir, you are the son of\nLord Kr�p.a . Before you were ten days old , you were stolen by the\nS ambara demon and later on thrown into the water and swallowed up by a\nfish. In this way you have come under my care, but actually, in your\nformer life as Cupid , I. was your wife ; therefore, my manifestation of\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0487": "Pradyumna Born to Kr��a and Rukmi�i\n\n373\n\nconjugal symptoms is not at all incompatible. Sambara wanted to kill\nyou, and he is endowed with various kinds of mystic powers. Therefore,\nbefore he again attempts' to kill you, please kill him as soon as possible\nwith your divine power. Since you were stolen by Sambara, your mother,\nRukmi�idevi', has been in a very grievous condition, like a cuckoo bird who\nhas lost her babies. She is very affectionate toward you, and since you have\nbeen taken away from her, she has been living like a cow aggrieved over\nthe loss of its calf.\"\nMayavati had mystic knowledge of supernatural power. Supernatural\npowers are generally known as miiyii, and to supersede all such supernatural power there is another supernatural power, which is called mahiimiiyii. Mayavati had the knowledge of the mystic power of mahiimiiyii,\nand she delivered to Pradyumna this specific energetic power in order to\ndefeat the mystic powers of the Sambara demon. Thus being empowered\nby his wife, Pradyumna immediately went before Sambara and challenged\nhim to fight. Pradyumna began to address him in very strong language, so\nthat his temper might be agitated and he would be moved to fight. At\nPradyumna's words, the demon Sambara, being insulted, felt just like a\nsnake feels after being struck by one's leg. A serpent cannot tolerate being\nkicked by another animal or by a man, and he immediately bites the\nopponent.\nSambara felt the words of Pradyumna as if they were a kick. He immediately took his club in his hand and appeared before Pradyumna to fight.\nIn great anger, he began to beat Pradyumna with his club, just as a thunderbolt beats a mountain. The demon was also groaning and making a\nnoise like a thundering cloud. Pradyumna protected himself with his own\nclub, and eventually he struck the demon very severely. In this way, the\nfighting between Sambarasura and Pradyumna began very seriously.\nBut Sambarasura knew the art of mystic powers and could raise himself\nin the sky and fight from outer space. There is another demon of the\nname Maya, and Sambarasura learned many mystic powers from him. He\nthus raised himself high in the sky and began to throw various types of\nnuclear weapons at the body of Pradyumna. In order to combat the\nmystic powers or Sambarasura, Pradyumna remembered another mystic\npower, known as mahiividyii, which was different from the black mystic\npower. The mahiividyii mystic power is based on the quality of goodness.\nUnderstanding that his enemy was formidable, Sambara took assistance\nfrom various kinds of demonic mystic powers belonging to the Guhyak as,\nthe Gandharvas, the Pi.Siicas, the snakes and the Riik�asas. But although the\ndemon exhibited his mystic powers and took shelter of supernatural\n�\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0488": "374\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nstrength, Pradyumna was able to counteract his strength and powers by the\nsuperior power of mahiividyii. When Sambadisura was defeated in every\nrespect, Pradyumna then took his sharpened sword and immediate!y cut off\nthe demon's head, which was decorated with a helmet and with valuable\njewels. When Pradyumna thus killed the demon, all the demigods in the\nhigher planetary systems began to shower flowers on him.\nPradyumna's wife, Mayavati, could travel in outer space, and therefore\nthey directly reached his father's capital, Dvaraka, by the airways. They\npassed above the palace of Lord KH�a and began to come down as a cloud\ncomes down with lightning. The inner section of a palace is known as\nanta�pura (private apartments). Pradyumna and Mayavati could see that\nthere were many women there, and they sat down among them. When the\nwomen saw Pradyumna, dressed in bluish garments, with very long arms,\ncurling hair, beautiful eyes, a smiling reddish face, jewelry and ornaments,\nthey first of all could not recognize him as Pradyumna, a personality\ndifferent from Kr��a. They all felt themselves to be very much blessed by\nthe sudden presence of Kr��a, and they wanted to hide in a different\ncorner of the palace.\nWhen the women saw, however, that all the characteristics of Kr��a were\nnot present in the personality of Pradyumna, out of curiosity they came\nback again to see him and his wife, Mayavati. All of them were conjecturing\nas to who he was, for he was so beautiful. Among the women was\nRukmi�idevi, who was equally beautiful, with her lotus-like eyes. Seeing\nPradyumna, she naturally remembered her own son, and milk began to\nflow from her breast out of motherly affection. She then began to wonder,\n\"Who is this beautiful young boy? He appears to b e the most beautiful\nperson. Who is the fortunate young woman able to give birth to this nice\nboy in her womb and become his mother? And who is that young woman\nwho has accompanied him? How have they met? Remembering my own\nson, who was stolen even from the maternity home, I can only guess that\nif he is living somewhere, he might have grown by this time to be like this\nboy.\" Simply by intuition, Rukmi�1i could understand that Pradyumna\nwas her own lost son. She could also observe that Pradyumna resembled\nLord Kr��il in every respect. She was struck with wonder as to how he\nacquired all the symptoms of Kr��a. She therefore began to think more\nconfidently that the boy must be her own grown-up son because she felt\nmuch affection for him, and, as an auspicious sign, her left arm was\ntrembling.\nAt that very moment, Lord Kr��a, along with His father and mother,\nDevaki and Vasudeva, appeared on the scene. Kr��a, the Supreme Person-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0489": "Pradyumna Born to Kr�!J.a and Rukmi!J.i\n\n375\n\nality of Godhead, could understand everything, yet in that situation He\nremained silent. However, by the desire of Lord Sri Kn�a, the great sage\nNarada also appeared on the scene, and he began to disclose all the incidences-how Pradyumna had been stolen from the maternity home and\nhow he had grown up and had come there with his wife Mayavati, who\nformerly had been Rati, the wife of Cupid. When everyone was informed\nof the mysterious disappearance of Pradyumna and how he had grown up,\nthey all became struck with wonder because they had gotten back their\ndead son after they were almost hopeless of his return. When they understood that it was Pradyumna who was present, they began to receive him\nwith great delight. One after another, all of the members of the familyDevaki, Vasudeva, Lord Sri Kr��a, Lord Balarama, and Rukmi�i and all\nthe women of the family-began to embrace both Pradyumna and his wife\nMayavati. When the news of Pradyumna 's return was spread all over the\ncity of Dvaraka, all the astonished citizens began to come with great\nanxiety to see the lost Pradyumna. They began to say, \"The dead son has\ncome back. What can be more pleasing than this?\"\nSrila Sukadeva Gosvami has explained that, in the beginning, all the\nresidents of the palace, who were all mothers and stepmothers of\nPradyumna, mistook him to be Kr��a and were all bashful, infected by the\ndesire for conjugal love. The explanation is that Pradyumna's personal\nappearance is exactly like Kf§�a's, and he was factually Cupid himself.\nThere was no cause of astonishment, therefore, when the mothers of\nPradyumna and other women mistook him in that way. It is clear from the\nstatement that Pradyumna 's bodily characteristics were so similar to\nKr��a's that he was mistaken to be Kr��a even by his mother.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Fifty-fourth Chapter of\nKr�IJ-a, 'Pradyumna Born to Knrw and Rukmirti. \"\nThus ends Volume One of Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0490": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0491": "Glossary\n\nA gh iis u ra - de m on who appe a re d in V rndavana in the shape of a serpent\nAji ta- the unconquerable one, a name of Kr�!la\nB riih ma r- as- the spiritual ord er of society whose occupation is the cultivation of Vedic knowledge\nDhenukiisura- demon in the shape of an ass who was killed by Kr�!la\nG aru !Ia- the giant bird carrier of v�!\\U\n]a m n ii§ t a m i - birthda y anniversary of Lord Kr�!la\n]ariisandha- demon who attacked Mathura eighteen times and was finally\nkilled b y Bl)hn a\nKadamba- tree bearing a round yellow flower, seen generally only in the\nv rndavana area\nKiilaya v ana- demonic enemy of Kr�!la who attacked Mathura and was\nkilled by Mucukunda\nKaumiira- childhood age of Kr�!la\nKaus tubha- transcendental j ewel w or n around the neck of the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead\nKr§r-a k a thii- narrations spoken by or about Kr�!la\nMah ii bh iiga va ta- highly advanced devotee\nMah ii m iiy ii - e x ter n al energy of the Supreme Lord, which covers the conditioned soul and does not allow him to understand the Supreme\nPersonality of Godh e ad\nMuk unda- Lord Kr�!la, who awards liberation and whose smiling face is\nlike a k unda flower\nNirgur-a- literally , without q u a li ti e s (used to describe the Supreme Lord,\nwhose qualities cannot be estimated)\nNagapatn is-wives of the Kaliya serpent\nPrakrta sahajiyii- p ? eudo-de votees of Kr�!la who fail to understand His\nabsolute , transcendental position.\n-\n\n377\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0492": "378\n\nGlossary\n\nPrii[tiiyiima-yogic breathing exercise\nPasughna-one who kills animals or is killing himself\nRanchor-literally, \"one who has left the battlefield\"-(describes Kr��a in\nHis pastimes with Jarasandha when He left the battle with the motive\nof renunciation)\nRasa-transcendental mellow relationship between the individual soul and\nthe Supreme Lord\nSamiidhi-trance, absorption in meditation upon the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead\nSankarsana-Balarama, the brother of Krsna\nSiiradu;-piirrimii-full-moon night of th�. �arat season, during which Kr��a\nenjoyed the rasa dance with the gopis\nVaisya-the agricultural community in Vedic culture, who protect cows\nand cultivate crops\nVi.§ru-all-pervasive, fully empowered expansion of Lord Kr��a, qualified\nby full truth, full knowledge and full bliss.\nYadu dynasty-the family in which Kr��a appears; descending from Soma,\nthe god of the moon planet\nYogamiiya-the principal, internal potency of the Supreme Lord\nYogesvara-a name of Kr��a, the master of all mystic powers -\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0493": "Index\nAghasura, 8 1 -84\nAkriira\nsummoned by Kamsa, 238239\narrives in v rndavana, 244-250\ntakes Krw.a to M athura &\nvisits Viw.uloka, 25 1 -256\nprayers of, 257-260\nreceives Kr�!la at home , 3 1 6320\nvisits Hastinapura, 3 2 1 -326\nAri�tasura, 236-237\nAutu mn, description of, 1 36 - 1 46\nBakasura, 77-78\nBalarama\ntransferred from womb of\nDevaki, 9 - 1 1\nnaming of, 58\nkills Pralambasura, 1 32- 1 33\nkills D henukasura, 226\nas Se�a N aga, 2 5 5\nkills wrestle rs , 277\nkills brothers of Kamsa, 279\ninstruction to Kr�!la & Rukmi!D, 366-368\nBhagavad-gitii, xii-xiv, 14, 18, 20,\n48 , 50, 8 1 , 9 1 , 136, 149 ,\n173, 185, 187, 194-195, 2 1 1 ,\n2 1 5 , 247, 258, . 276, 278 ,\n29 2, 294, 303 , 306, 3 1 5 ,\n359\n�\n\nBhak ti-yoga\n\nas process to reach spiritual\nsky , 1 8 6 , 1 87\nrequired to understand Kr�!la,\n306-307\nBrahma, Lord\napproaches Vi�!lu in Svetadvipa, 1\nsteals Kr�!la's cows & bewildered by Kr� !la, 88-9 1\nprayers to Kr�!la, 96- 1 1 2\nBrah majyoti\nas emanation from Kr�!la, 26,\n103\nfull o f living entities , 1 36\nBriih maT}aS\n\npersecuted by Kamsa, 35-36\nwives of, delivered, 1 5 7- 1 65\nV ai� !lavas as first-class , 346\nBrah ma-sarhhitii, 1 6 , 1 9 , 8 1 , 9 6 ,\n·\n155, 192, 195 , 2 1 1 , 216,\n245 , 249\n\nCaitanya, Lord Sri\nmunificence of, 209\npraise of gopis by, 2 1 3\nfeelings o f separation of, 2 3 1\nCaitanya-caritamrta, xviii, 1 1 , 30,\n93, 1 66, 2 1 5 , 247, 3 14, 325,\n334\nC�iira & Mu�tika, 273-277\n\n379\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0494": "Kr�J!a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n380\nCow\n\ntry to stop Kr�l).a's departure,\nthe wealth of v rndavana, 39\n\n252-255\n\nprayers to Kr��a of, 182-183\n\nas topmost yogis, 276, 306-\n\n308\n& Uddhava, 296-3 1 3\n\nDemigods\nprayers for Kr��a in womb\nby, 16-22\nworship\n\nof,\n\n152-153,\n\n228-\n\nGosvamls, Six\nfeelings of separation of, 2 3 1 ,\n\n307\n\n229 , 257, 258, 359-360\n\nhumanitarian\n\n(see\n\n265\n\nalso\n\nBrahmii,\n\nIndra,\n\nVarur-a)\n\nactivities\n\nof,\n\nGovardhana Hill\n\nDevaki\nprays to Kr�!J.a, 28, 29\nconsoled by Kr�!J.a, 281-282\nDhenukasura, l l5 - l l 7\n\nworship of, 162-172\nlifted by Kr�l).a, 175-176\nHaridasa Thakur, 345\n\nD hrtara�!ra, 321-326\nDvaraka, 333-334\n\nIndra\nworship of, stopped by Kf§l)a,\n\nGargamuni (Gargacarya)\n\n166-170\n\ncalculates life of Kr�l).a, 56-59\n\nsends rain to Vrndavana, 173-\n\nstatements of, related to cow­\n\n176\n\nherd men, 178-179\n\nprayers by, 180-183\n\ninitiates Kr�l).a & Balarama,\nJarasandha, 327-332, 347-348\n\n284\nbecomes angry at Yadus, 332\n\nKalayavana, 332, 334-336\n\nGaru�a, 128-129\n\nKaliya, 1 19-127\n\nGopis\naffairs with Kr§!la appealing\n\nKamsa\n\nto all , xxi\n\nhears omen, 3\n\nelderly, at Kr�l).a's birth cere­\n\nspares Devaki, 1 3\n\nmony, 39\n\ninformed o f Krwa's where­\n\nelderly,\n\nlodge\n\ncomplaints\n\nabouts, 237-238\n\nagainst Kr��a, 60-61\n\nsends Akrura for Kf§l)a, 238-\n\nattracted by flute, 147-151\n\n239\n\nKrwa steals garments of, 152-\n\nKr�pa's estimation of, 249-\n\n156\n\n250, 251\n\nattracted to rasa dance, 188-\n\nsees signs of death, 269\n\n202\n\nkilling of, 277-280\n\nidentity of, 192, 2 l l , 216,\n\nKesi Demon, 240\n\n219-220\n\nKr§!la\nidentity & opulences of, xi­\n\nKmm hides from, 203-207\nsongs by, 208-2 1 3\n\nxm\n\nfeelings of separation of, 231-\n\nbirth of, 23-28\n\n235\n\nincarnations of, 28, 259\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0495": "38 1\n\nIndex\n\nappears by spiritual potency,\n1 94 - 1 9 5\neducation o f , 285-288\nK[§!ta-kathii, xxi\n\nKubj a (hunchback wo man ) , 266267 , 3 14-3 1 6\nKuntl, 3 2 1 -323\nKuvalayapl�a, 2 3 8 , 2 39 , 271 -272\n\nL ilii- s mararam, 29 1\n\nLove\n\nKr � !l a as obj ect of, xiii-xv,\n235\ndistinguished from lust, 1 89\n\nMathura, 26 1 -265\nMayavatl ( Rati ) , 372-375\nMucukunda, 3 37-346\nNagapatnis , prayers of, 1 23 - 1 26\nNalakiivara & Ma!J.igrlva, 67-72\nNanda\nmeeting with Vasudeva, 40-42\narrested by V aru!J.a, 1 84 - 1 85\n& Vidyadhara, 225-229\n& Uddhava, 293-29 6 , 3 1 2\nNarada\ninforms Kamsa of K�!J.a's\nbirth, 8\ncurses Nalakuvara & 1\\lanigriva, 67-68\ninforms Kamsa of �!\\a's\n·\n\nidentity , 237-238\noffers obeisances\n\nto · �!Ia,\n\n24 1 -242\n\ndiscloses identity of Pradyumna, 375\nNarottamadis Thakur, 1 4 1 , 248\nPaiicajana Demon , 288-289\np-��avas, 322-236\nPamk iya-rosa ( paramour l o ve ) , 190\nParik�i t Maharaja\nquestions S uka de va, xxiii-\n\nxxw\n\nPoverty , as aid to spiritual life ,\n69 , 182\nPradyumna (son of Kr�!la) , 3 7 1 375\nPrak rta\nSahajiyii\n(pseudo-devotees) , 198 , 3 1 6 , 349\nPralambasura , 1 3 1 - 1 3 3\nPrayers\nof demigods to Krwa m\nwo mh , 1 3-22\nof V asudeva, 25-28\nof D evakl, 28-29\nof Nalakuvara & Ma!J.igrlva ,\n7 1 -72\nof Brahma, 96-1 1 0\no f N agapatnls , 1 2 3 - 1 26\nof Kaliya, 1 26- 1 27\nof lndra, 180- 1 8 3\nof Akrura , 2 5 7-260 , 3 1 7- 3 1 9\nof Kuntl, 322-323\nof Mucukunda, 34 1 -344\nPlitana, xiii, 4 3 -49\nRa dhara !ll\nassociation of with Kr�!J.a,\n206-207\nchief of gopis, 2 1 0-2 1 1\n& bumblebee , 298-302\nexpansion of; 349\nRasas\n\ndefined, xiv\nKr�!l a as reservoir of, 272\nRiisa Dance\nintroduction to, 1 88-202\ndescribed & explained, 2 14224\nimitation of, 2 1 9-220\nRukmi, 3 6 3 , 368\nRukmi!J.i\nsends message to Kr � !J.a, 350,\n354\nkidnapped by Kr � !J.a, 3 55-3 6 1\nprays for her b rother & in-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0496": "382\n\nKr��a, the Supre me Pe rs o nalit_y of G odhead\n\nSambara D emon, 3 7 1 -374\nSandipani Muni\ninstructs Kr��a & Balarama,\n285-288\nson of, recovered, 288-289\nSankhasura, 229-230\nSeparation, feeling of, 2 3 1 -235,\n304-3 1 0\nSisupala, 349 -363\nSudama (florist), 264-265\n\nV atsasura, 77\nVidyadhara, 225-229\nVi��u\nmanifestation before L ord\nBrahma, 9 2-9 3\nas birthsite of Brahma, 1 0 1\nappears within Yam una, 255256\nVisvamitra Muni , 245\nVrndavana\ncowherd men move to, 75-77\ntrees of, 1 5 6\ninhabitants saved from flood,\n1 73 - 1 76\nprocess to reach, 248\nVyomasura, 242-243\n\nTg1avarta, 5 3-54\n\nWoman , duty of, 1 9 6 - 1 9 8\n\nUddhava\nwith Nanda & Y asoda, 293296\nwith gopis, 296-3 1 3\nUgrasena\nimprisoned, 8\nmade king by Kr��a, 282-283\n\nY amaraj a , 289\nYasoda\nprays for Kr��a 's protection,\n46-47\nsees universal form, 6 1 -62\nbinding Kr��a, 64-66\n& Uddhava, 294\nY ogamaya\nappears in Vrndavana, 1 0- l l\nappears before Kamsa, 3 3\ninfluence of, 28 1\n\nstructed by Balarama, 365368\nmarriage of, 369-370\nPradyumna b orn to, 3 7 1 -375\nRupa Gosvami, 2 1 , 145, 1 9 2 , 209\n\nVaru�a, 1 84- 185\nVasudeva\npacifies Kamsa , 4-6\nprayers to Kr��a, 25-28\nmeeting with Nanda Maharaj a , 40-42\nconsoled by Kr��a , 281 -282\n\nYogis\nbhak ti-, desti nation of, 1 8 6\n\nthe highest, 1 9 2 , 2 7 6 ,\n306-308\n\ngopis\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0497": "Note on Transliterated Sanskrit Words\n\n383\n\nThe vowels are pronounced almost as in Italian. The sound of the\nshort a is like . the u in but, the long a is like the a in far and held\ntwice as long as the short a, and e is like the a in evade. Long i is like\nthe i in pique. The vowel r is pronounced like the re in the English\nword fibre. The c is pronounced as in the-English word chair, and the\naspirated consonants (ch, jh, dh, etc.) are pronounced as in staunchheart, hedge-hog, red-hot, etc. The two spirants s and f are pronounced\nJike the English sh; s is pronounced · as in sun.\n\n·\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0498": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0499": "Other Books by :\\.C. BhaktiH�dant.a ��ami\nThe 'ectar of Oe,·otion\nThis book is especially mtended for\n\nthose\n\nwho\n\nare\n\nconsciousness\n\nengaged\n\nmm·ement.\n\nin\n\nthe\n\n��!la\n\nThe\n\nex-t\n\nis\n\nflooded with nectarean storie�. philo=-<>phy\n\nand poetic verse\n\nabout �!la and His\n\npure devotees-all taken directly fr•Jm the\n\nVedic literatures. It is a �ummlll\") 5tudy of\nBhakti-rasiimrta-sindh u . which w\n\nin Sanskrit\n\nwritten\n\n•\n\nby Srila Riipa Go�' ami. the\n\nchief of the six direct disciple� of Lord\nCaitanya Mahiiprabhu.\n\nThe subject matter is love of God. The\n\nNectar of Devotion\nplace our love\n\nhappy\n\nso\n\nteach\n\nthat all\n\nwhere\n\nto\n\nbecome\n\ncan\n\nand instructs how to love the\n\nultimate reservoir of lm·e. �:;-!Ja. in five\ndifferent transcendental mellow�.\n\n404 pp. 4 full-color plate:.. \"oftbound.\n$3.95\nThe Bhagand-gita & It Is\n:\\\" ow for the first time this renowned\n\nscripture is being brought to the \" .. st as it\nu\n\n-\n\nas taught by l<fl}!la Himself and under­\n\nstood by His disciple Arjuna-in a unique\ntranslation and com mentar.·.\n\nFrom the Introduction : \"The perplexi­\n\nties of life appear like a forest fire which\ntakes place without being set by anyone.\n\nThe man in material perplexitie� is he who\n\ndoes not understand the problems of life .\nOut of many many human beings. the\n\nBhagavad-gitii is directed to the one who\n\nseeks to understand his position . \"\n\n318 pp., softbound $2.95\n\nTeachings of Lord Caitanya\nA Treatue on Factual \"piritual Life\n\nLord Caitanya, the most munificent incarnation of Godhead, appeared 500 years\n\nago\n\nto\n\ndemonstrate\n\nage.\n\nLord\n\nhow\n\nto\n\nlive the\n\nteachings of Bhagavad-gitii in the present\nCaitanya\n\nwas famous as a\n\nscholar and spoke authoritatively on Kn!Ja,\n\nyoga, liberation and nirvii!la. Still , He is\n\nbetter known as the divine origin of the\n\nHare Kr��·a movement, distributing love of\nGod simply by singing the holy names.\n\n292 pp., 1 1 pp. illus. ; hardbound $5.95\nAvailable from ISKCON Pre ·\n38 N. Beacon St., Boston, Massach usetts\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0500": "H is Divi ne Grace A. C. B haktivedanta Swam i Prab h u pada\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.1_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0501": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0001": "•\n\n•\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nHis Divine Grace\nA.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada\nFounder-Acarya of the International Society for Kri shna Consciousness\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0002": "$8.00\n\nU.S.A.\n\n£3\n\nU.K.\n\nThe most comprehensive and authorita·\ntivc\n\nVedic\n\nscriptural\n\nliterature\n\nis\n\nthe\n\nGodhead\"),\n\nthe\n\nSrimad-Bhiiguvatam ( The Beautiful Story\n\"\n\nof\n\nthe\n\nPersonality of\n\nmature contribution of\n\nS rila Vyasadeva,\n\nthe compiler of the Vedas. Of the twelve\n\ncantos of Srimad-Bhiigavatam, the tenth\n\ncanto is considered the most confidential,\nsince it describes all the transcendental\npastimes of S ri K:�r:a, the Supreme Per·\n\nsonality of Godhead. K[§[W is a summary\nstudy\n\nof\n\nthe\n\nBhiigavatam.\n\ntenth\n\ncanto\n\nof Srimad­\n\nThe activities of K:�r:a, which appear to\nbe like those of an ordinary human being,\ncan only be properly understood with the\n\nhelp of a bona fide spiritual master fully\nrealized in the knowledge of this transcen­\n\ndental nature. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami\nPrabhupada is authorized by an unbreakable disciplic succession of spiritual mas­\n\nters going back thousands of years to the\ntime when K:�pa appeared. Because he is\nthe\n\nrepresentative\n\nof the disciplic suc­\n\ncession for this age and because of his\ncomplete\n\nimmersion\n\nin\n\nlove of\n\nK:�r:a\n\nPrabhupada is uniquely qualified to present K:�pa as He is.\n\nSakadeva Gosvami, the original speaker\n\nof Srimad-Bhiigavatam, has declared that\n\nthere are three classes of men and that the\npastimes of K:�r:a will be relished by each\nof them. The liberated soul who is no\n\nlonger intereste d in mundane topics most\ncertainly hears about K:�r:a with the high­\n\nest plea:;ure. The person who is trying to\nbecome\n\nliberated \\\\ill abo enjoy these\n\ntopic:;\n\nof the Pen,onality\n\nwhich\n\npurify anyone who hears them.\n\nof Godhead.\n\nAnd e\\en the gros s materialist will enjoy\n\nhearing about K:::r:a because of the resemblance between His affairs with the gopis\n\nand the 10\\ing affairs of ordinary boys and\n\ngirls.\n\nForseeing the p ub lication of this book,\n\n\\\\it h it:- fi ft y -e igh t full-color illustrations,\n\ncommented. \\' o other relihaz ;ouch a full c o nc ept of God. I\nthink our K�[la book will convince them.\nWhoe,·er read;, it \\\\ill become a devotee\nPrabhupada\n\n··\n\ngion\n\nof K::;r:a.··\n\nWith Introductory note by George Harrison\n_\n\n-ot for Sale in India\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0003": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0004": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0005": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0006": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0007": "Kpgta and Jambavan foughllikc lwo opposing vultures.\n\n(p. 4)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0008": "While Kr�{la and Arjuna were resting and drinking water, they saw a beautiful\ngirl of marriageable age walking alone at the bank of the Yamuna. (p. 18)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0009": "Kr�.p.a pu�ed them strongly, just as a child pulls a toy wooden bull.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0010": "Lord Kr�pa saw that the trident of the Mura demon was gradually rushing\ntoward His carrier, Garu9a. (p. 26)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0011": "Rukmi!li fell down straight, like a banana tree cut down by a whirlwind. (p. 39)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0012": "(&£ ·d) ·p-egt{ ;)t{1\n110 !W)j111:J. )[:.lll.J1S \"){jln .J;)t{llllJ 1110l{l�M ·pue pURl{ S�l-1 U� qnp B )jOOl BWtl.IRfB8.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0013": "When Ba!lasura saw him, Aniruddha was engaged in playing with U�a. (p. 57)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0014": "Bapasura rushed towards Kr�!\\a, simultaneously working 500 bows and 2,000 arrows.\n\n(p. 61)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0015": "The demigod was obliged to accept the body of a lizard. (p. 69)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0016": "Balarama passed every night with the gopis in the forest of Vrndavana. (p. 78)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0017": "Seeing Pau�u;lraka imitating His posture and dress, He could not check His\nlaughter.\n\n(p. 225)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0018": "..:.·\n\n.\n\n.�·\n:r.,i'·\n\n.. !'�\n\n�\n\n.\n\n�\n\n'\n\n;\n\n1\n\n..\n\nThis time, Narada Muni saw that Lord Kr�:p.a was engaged as an affectionate\nfather petting His small children. (p. 103)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0019": "Si.Supala continued to insult l<f�!la, and l<f�!la patiently heard him without\nprotest. (p. 144)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0020": "They were all enjoying the occasion by throwing liquid substances on each\nother. (p. 148)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0021": "Kr�va cut off Salva's head, and the head, with earrings and helmets, fell on the\nground. (p. 160}\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0022": "Balarama killed Romahar�atJ.a simply by striking him with a blade of grass.\n(p. 165)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0023": "At the first opportunity Balarama dragged the demon down with His plow.\n\n(p. 168)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0024": "The women in the palace were surprised to see that the poor briihmap.a was\nseated on the bedstead of Lord Kr�!la. (p. 179)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0025": "Arjuna was simply looking over beautiful Subhadra, who was very enchanting\neven to the great heroes and kings . (p. 228)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0026": "(£'V6 ·d)\n·m�H AJ�l OJ� Ol u��q pu11 plo1 �l{l punom �Jqm�sSll svpaA p�y�osJ�d �lf.L\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0027": "The Lord would sprinkle water on the bodies of the queens with a syringe-like\ninstrument. (p. 342)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0028": "Lord Kr�t�-a immediately stood up along with His ministers and secretaries to receive the great sage Narada Muni. (p. ll5)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0029": "All the members of the Y adu dynasty again took their baths in the lakes created\nby Lord Parasurama. (page not known)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0030": "•\n\n•\n\n•\n\nVNSll)l\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0031": "OTHER BOOKS\nby His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada\n\nThe Bhagavad-gitii As It Is\nSrimad-Bhiigavatam\nTeachings of Lord Caitanya\nThe Nectar of Devotion\nEasy Journey to Other Planets\nKr§!ta Consciousness: The Topmo_st Yoga System\nBack to Godhead Magazine (Editor)\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0032": "•\n\n•\n\n•\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead\nA Summary Study of Srila Vyasadeva's Srimad-Bhagavatam, Tenth Canto.\n\nVOLUME TWO\n\nHis Divine Grace\nA. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada\nFounder-Aciirya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness\n\nISKCON PRESS\n38 North Beacon Street\nBoston, Massachusetts 02134\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0033": "Copyright© 1970\nby His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada\nLibrary of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 74-118081\nALL RIGHTS RESERVED\nPrinted in Japan by Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0034": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0035": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0036": "Contents\n\n1 I\n2 I\n3 I\n4 I\n5 I\n6 I\n\nThe Story of the Syamantaka Jewel\n1\n9\nThe Killing of Satrajit and Satadhanva\nFive Queens Married by Kf�!la\n15\nDeliverance of the Demon Bhaumasura\n25\nTalks Between Kr�!la and Rukmi!li\n33\nThe Genealogical Table of the Family of Kr�!la\n\n48\n\nThe Meeting of U�a and Aniruddha\n53\n8 I Lord ·Kf�!la Fights with Ba!lasura\n59\n7 I\n\n9 I\n\nThe Story of King Nrga\n\n69\n\nLord Balarama Visits Vrndavana\n76\n11 I Deliverance of Pau!l�raka and the King of Kasi\n10 I\n\n12 I\n13 I\n14 I\n\nDeliverance of Dvivida Gorilla\nThe Marriage of Samba\n\n81\n\n87\n\n91\n\nThe Great Sage Narada Visits the Different Homes of Lord Kf�!la\n\n107\n15 I Lord Kr�!la's Daily Activities\n118\n16 I Lord KH!la in Indraprastha City\n17 I\n18 I\n\nLiberation of King Jarasandha\n125\nLord Kf�!la Returns to the City of Hastinapura\n\n133\n\n19 I\n\nThe Deliverance of Sisupala\n\n20 I\n\nWhy Duryodhana Felt Insulted at the End of the Rajasuya\nSacrifice\n14 7\n\n139\n\nThe Battle Between Salva and the Yadu Dynasty\n22 I The Deliverance of Salva\n157\n21 I\n\n153\n\nThe Killing of Dantavakra, Viduratha and Romahaqa!la\n161\n24 I The Liberation of Balvala, and Lord Balarama's Touring the Sacred\n168\nPlaces\n25 I Meeting of Lord Kr�!la with Sudama Brahma!la\n174\n23 I\n\n26 I\n\nThe Brahma!la Sudama Benedicted by Lord KH!!a\n\n183\n\n100\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0037": "27 I\n28 I\n29 I\n30 I\n\nLord KH!J-a and Baladim� Meet the Inhabitants of Vrndavana\nDraupadi Meets the Queens of Kr�!la\n\n1 90\n\n200\n\nSacrificial Ceremonies Performed by Vasudeva\n\n2 07\n\nSpiritual Instruction for Vasudeva and Return of the Six Dead. Sons\nof Devaki by Lord Kr�!la\n21 7\n31 I The Kidnapping of Subhadra and Lord Kr�!la's Visiting Srutadeva\nand Bahulasva\n\n32 I\n33 I\n34 I\n35 I\n\n227\n\nPrayers b y the Personified Vedas\nDeliverance of Lord Siva\n305\nThe Superexcellent Power of Kr�!la\n\n32 1\n\nSummary Description of Lord KH!J-a's Pastimes\n\nGlossary\nIndex\n\n238\n\n338\n\n357\n361\n\nBibliography\n\n363\n\nNote on Pronunciation of Transliterated Sanskrit Words\n\n38 3\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0038": "l I The Story of the Syamantaka Jewel\n\nThere was a king of the name Satrajit within the jurisdiction of\nDvarakadhama. He was a great devotee of the sun-god, who awarded him\nthe benediction of a jewel known as Syamantaka. Because of this Syamantaka jewel, there was a misunderstanding between King Satrajit and the\nYadu dynasty. Later on the matter was settled when Satrajit voluntarily\noffered KH�a his daughter, Satyabhama, along with the jewel Syamantaka.\nNot only was Satyabhama married to Kr��a on account of the Syamantaka\njewel, but Jambavati, the daughter of Jambavan, was also married to Kr��a.\nThese two marriages took place before the appearance of Pradyumna, as\ndescribed in the last chapter. How King Satrajit offended the Yadu\ndynasty and how he later on came to his senses and offered his daughter\nand the Syamantaka jewel to Kr��a is described as follows.\nSince he was a great devotee of the sun-god, King Satrajit gradually\nentered into a very friendly relation�hip with him. The sun-god was much\npleased with him and delivered to him an exceptional jewel known as\nSyamantaka. When this jewel was worn by Satrajit in a locket around his\nneck, he appeared exactly like an imitation sun-god. Putting on this jewel,\nhe would enter the city of Dvaraka, and people would think that the sun�\ngod had come into the city to see Kr��a. They knew that Kr��a, being the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead, was sometimes visited by the demigods,\nso while Satrajit was visiting the city of Dvaraka all the inhabitants except\nKr��a took him to be the sun-god himself. Although King Satrajit was\nknown to everyone, he could not be recognized because of the dazzling\neffulgence of the Syamantaka jewel.\nOnce, mistaking him to be the sun-god, some of the important citizens\nof Dvaraka immediately went to KH�a to inform Him that the sun-god had\narrived to see Him. At that time, Kr��a was playing chess. One of the\nimportant residents of Dvaraka spoke thus; \"My dear Lord Naraya�a, You\nI\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0039": "2\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nare the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In Your plenary portion of\nNaraya�a or Vi��u, You have four hands with different symbols-the\n\nconchshell, disc, club and lotus flower. You are actually the owner of\n\neverything, but in spite of Your being the Supreme Personality of God­\n\nhead, Naraya�a, You have descended in Vrndavana to act as the child of\nYasodamata, who sometimes used to tie You up with her ropes, and You\n\nare celebrated, therefore, by the name Damodara.\"\n\nThat KH�a is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Naraya�a, as\n\naccepted by the citizens of Dvaraka, was later on confirmed by the great\nMayavadi philosophical leader, Sankaracarya. By accepting the Lord as\n\nimpersonal, he did not reject the Lord's personal form. He meant that\n\neverything which has form in this material world is subjected to creation,\n\nmaintenance and annihilation, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\n\nNaraya�a, does not have a material form subjected to these limitations. In\n\norder to convince the less intelligent class of men who take Kr��a to be an\n\nordinary human being, Sankaracarya therefore said that God is impersonal.\n\nThis impersonality means that He is not a person of this material condition.\nHe is a transcendental personality without a material body.\n\nThe citizens of Dvaraka addressed Lord Kr��a not only as Damodara,\n\nbut also as Govinda, which indicates that Kr��a is very affectionate to the\n\ncows and calves; and just to refer to their intimate connection with\nKr��a, they addressed Him as Yadunandana. He is the son of Vasudeva,\n\nborn in the Yadu dynasty. In this way, the citizens of Dvaraka concluded\n\nthat they were addressing Kr��a as the supreme master of the whole\n\nuniverse. They addressed Kr��a in many different ways, proud of being\n\ncitizens of Dvaraka who could see Kr��a daily.\n\nWhen Satrajit was visiting the city of Dvaraka, the citizens felt great\n\npride to think that although Kr��a was living in Dvaraka like an ordinary\nhuman being, the demigods were coming to see Him. Thus they informed\nLord Kr��a that the sun-god, with his appealing bodily effulgence, was\n\ncoming to see Him. The citizens of Dvaraka confirmed that the sun-god's\n\ncoming into Dvaraka was not very wonderful, because people all over the\n\nuniverse who were searching after the Supreme Personality of Godhead\nknew that He had appeared in the family of the Yadu dynasty and was\n\nliving in Dvaraka as one of the members of that family. Thus the citi­\n\nzens expressed their joy on this occasion. On hearing the statement of\nHis citizens, the all-pervasive Personality of Godhead, Kr��a, simply\n\nsmiled. Being pleased with the citizens of Dvaraka, Kr��a informed them\nthat the person whom they described as the sun-god was actually King\n\nSatrajit, who had come to visit Dvaraka City to show his opulence\n\n,j\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0040": "The Story of the Syamantaka Jewel\n\n3\n\nin the form of the valuable jewel obtained from the sun-god.\n\nSatrajit, however, did not come to see Kr��a; he was instead over­\n\nwhelmed by the jewel of Syamantaka. He installed the jewel in a temple\n\nto be worshiped by briihmar-as he engaged for this purpose. This is an\n\ninstance of a less intelligent person worshiping a material thing. In the\n\nBhagavad-gitii it is stated that less intelligent persons, in order to get\nimmediate results from their fruitive activities, worship the demigods who\n\nare created within this universe. The word \"materialist\" means one\n\nconcerned with gratification of the senses within this material world.\n\nAlthough Kr��a later asked for this Syamantaka jewel, King Satrajit did\nnot deliver it to Him, but he installed the jewel for his purposes of worship.\n\nAnd who would not worship that jewel? The Syamantaka jewel was so\n\npowerful that it was daily producing a large quantity of gold. A quantity\n\nof gold is counted by a measurement called a bhiira. According to Vedic\n\nformulas, one bhiira is equal to sixteen pounds of gold; one mound equals\neighty-two pounds. The jewel was producing about 170 pounds of gold\n\nevery day. Besides that, it is learned from Vedic literature that in whatever\n\npart of the world this jewel is worshiped there is no possibility of famine;\n\nnot only that, but wherever the jewel is present, there is no possibility of\nanything inauspicious, such as pestilence or disease.\n\nLord Kr��a wanted to teach the world that the best of everything\n\nshould be offered to the ruling chief of the country. King Ugrasena was\n\nthe overlord of many dynasties and happened to be the grandfather of\nKr��a, and Kr��a asked Satrajit to present the Syamantaka jewel to Ki!J.g\n\nUgrasena. Kr��a pleaded that the best should be offered to the king. Bht\n\nSatrajit, being a worshiper of the demigods, had become too materialistic\n\nand, instead of accepting the request of Kr��a, thought it wiser to worship\nthe jewel in order to get the 170 pounds of gold every day. Materialistic\n\npersons who can achieve such huge quantities of gold every day are no�\n\ninterested in Krwa consciousness. Sometimes, therefore, in order to show\n\nspecial favor, Kr��a takes away great accumulations of materialistic wealth\nfrom a person and thus makes him a great devotee. But Satrajit refused to\n\nabide by the order of Kr��a and did not deliver the jewel to him.\n\nAfter this incident, Satrajit's younger brother, in order to display the\n\nopulence of the family, took the jewel, put it on his neck and rode on\n\nhorseback into the forest making a show of his material opulence. While\nthe brother of Satrajit, who was known as Prasena, was moving here and\n\nthere in the forest, a big lion attacked him, killing both him and the horse\n\non which he was riding, and took away the jewel to his cave. The news was\nreceived by the gorilla king, Jambavan, who then killed that lion in the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0041": "Kr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n4\n\ncave and took away the jewel. Jambavan had been a great devotee of the\nLord since the time of Lord Ramacandra, so he did not take the valuable\njewel as something he very much needed. He gave it to his young son to\nplay with as a toy.\nIn the city, when Satrajit's younger brother Prasena did not return\nfrom the forest with the jewel, Satrajit became very upset. He did not\nknow that his brother had been killed by a lion and that the lion had been\nkilled by Jambavan. He was thinking instead that because Kr�!la wanted\nthat jewel and it had not been delivered to Him, Kr�!la might have therefore taken the jewel away from Prasena by force and killed him. This idea\ngrew into a rumor which was being spread by Satrajit in every part of\nDvaraka.\nThe false rumor that Kr�!la had killed Prasena and had taken away the\njewel was spread everywhere like wildfire. Kr�!la did not like to be defamed\nin that way, and therefore He decided that He would go to the forest and\nfind the Syamantaka jewel, taking with Him some of the inhabitants of\nDvaraka. Along with important men ·of Dvaraka, Kr�!la went to search out\nPrasena, the brother of Satrajit, and He found him dead, killed by the lion.\nAt the same time, Krwa also found the lion which had been killed by\nJambavan, who is generally called by the name J.{k�a. It was found that the\nlion had been killed by the hand of J.{k�a without the assistance of any\nweapon. Kr�!la and the citizens of Dvaraka then found in the forest a\ngreat tunnel, said to be the path to J.{k�a's house. Kr�!la knew that the\ninhabitants of Dvaraka would be afraid to enter the tunnel; therefore He\nasked them to remain outside, and He Himself entered the dark tunnel\nalone to find J.{k�a, Jambavan. After entering the tunnel, Kr�!la saw that\nthe . very valuable jewel known as Syamantaka had been given to the\nson of �k�a as a toy, and in order to take the jewel from the child, He\nwent there and stood before him. When the nurse who was taking care of\nJ.{k�a's child saw Kr�!la standing before her, she was <Jfraid, thinking the\nvaluable Syamantaka jewel might be taken away by Him. She began to\ncry loudly out of feat.\nHearing the nurse crying, Jambavan appeared on the scene in a very\nangry mood. Jambavan was actually a great devotee of Lord Kr�!la, but\nbecause he was in an angry mood he could not recognize his master; he\nthought Him to be an ordinary man. This brings to mind the statement of\nthe Bhagavad-gitii in which the Lord advises Arjuna to get free from anger,\ngreed and lust in order to rise up to the spiritual platform. Lust, anger and\ngreed run parallel in the heart and check one's progress on the spiritual path.\nNot recognizing his master, Jambavan first challenged Him to fight.\nThere was then a great fight between Kr�!la and Jambavan in which they\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0042": "The Story of the Syamantaka Jewel\n\n5\n\nfought like two opposing vultures. Whenever there is an eatable corpse the\nvultures fight heartily over the prey. Kr�J}a and Jambavan first of all began\nfighting with weapons, then with stones, then with big trees, then hand to\nhand, until at last they were hitting one another with their fists, and the\nblows were like the striking of thunderbolts. Each was expecting victory\nover the other, but the fighting continued for days, both in daytime and\nat night, without stopping. In this way the fighting continued for twentyeight days.\nAlthough Jambavan was the strongest living entity of that time, practically all the joints of his bodily limbs became slackened and his strength\nreduced to practically nil after being constantly struck by the fists of Sri\nKr�J}a. Feeling very tired, with perspiration all over his bddy, Jamb avan\nwas astonished. Who was this opponent who was weakening him? Jambavan\nwas quite aware of his own superhuman bodily strength, but when he\nfelt tired from being struck by Kr�)}a, he could understand that Krwa was\nno one else but his worshipable Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\nThis incident has a special significance for the devotees. In the beginning,\nJambavan could not understand Krsna because his vision was obscured\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\nby material attachment. He was attached to his boy and to the greatly\nvaluable Syamantaka jewel, which he did not want to spare for Kr�J}a. In\nfact, when Kr�J}a came there he became angry, thinking that He had come\nto take away the jewel. This is the material position; although one is very\nstrong in body, that cannot help him understand Kr�J}a.\nIn a sporting attitude, Kr�J}a wanted to engage in a mock fight with His\n\ndevotee. As we have experienced from the pages of the Srimad-Bhiigavatam,\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead has all the propensities and instincts\nof a human being. Sometimes, in a sportive spirit, He wishes to fight to\nmake a show of bodily strength, and when He so desires, He selects one of\n\nHis suitable devotees to give Him that pleasure. Kr�J}a desired this pleasure\nof mock fighting with Jambavan. Although Jambavan was a devotee by\nnature, he was without knowledge of Krwa while giving service to the\nLord by his bodily strength. But as soon as Kr�J}a was pleased by the\nfighting, Jambavan immediately understood that his opponent was none\nother than the Supreme Lord Himself. The conclusion is that he could\nunderstand Kr�!la by his service. Kr�J}a is sometimes satisfied by fighting\nalso.\nJambavan therefore said to the Lord, \"My dear Lord, I can now understand who You are. You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord\nVi�)}U, the source of everyone's strength, wealth, reputation, beauty,\nwisdom and renunciation.\" This statement of Jambavan's is confirmed by\n\nthe Vediinta-siitra, wherein the Supreme Lord is declared to be the source\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0043": "Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n6\n\nof everything. Jambavan identified Lord Kr��a as the Supreme Personality,\nLord Vi��u: \"My dear Lord, You are the creator of the creators of the\nuniversal affairs.\" This statement is very instructive to the ordinary man,\nwho is amazed by the activities of a person with an exceptional brain. The\nordinary man is surprised to see the inventions of a great scientist, but the\nstatement of Jambavan confirms that although a scientist may be a creator\nof many wonderful things, Kr��a is the creator of the scientist. He is not\nonly the creator of one scientist, but of millions and trillions, all over the\nuniverse. Jambavan said further, \"You are not only creator of the creator,\nbut You are also creator of the material elements which are manipulated .\nby the. so-called creators.\" Scientists utilize the physical elements or laws\nof material nature and do something wonderful, but actually such laws\nand elements are also the creation of Kr��a. This is actual scientific understanding. Less intelligent men do not try to understand who created the\nbrain of the scientist; they are simply satisfied by seeing the wonderful\ncreation or invention of the scientist.\nJambavan continued: \"My dear Lord, the time factor which combines\nall the physical elements is also Your representative. You are the supreme\ntime factor in which all creation takes place, is maintained, and is finally\nannihilated. And not only the physical elements and the time factors but\nalso the persons who manipulate the ingredients and advantages of creation\nare part and parcel of You. The living entity is not, therefore, an independent creator. By studying all factors in the right perspective, one can see\nthat You are the supreme controller and Lord of everything. My dear\nLord, I can therefore understand that You are the same Supreme Personality of Godhead whom I worship as Lord Ramacandra. My Lord\nRamacandra wanted to construct a bridge over the ocean, and I saw\npersonally how the ocean became agitated simply by my Lord's glancing\nover it. And when the whole ocean became agitated, the living entities\nlike the whales, alligators and timingila fish, all became perturbed. [The\n\ntimingila fish in the ocean can swallow big aquatics like whales in one\ngulp.] In this way the ocean was forced to give way and allow Ramacandra\nto cross to. the island known as Lanka [now supposed to be Ceylon] . This\nconstruction of a bridge over the ocean from Cape Comorin to Ceylon is\nstill well-known to everyone. After the construction of the bridge, a fire\nwas set all over the kingdom of Rava�a. During the fighting with Rava�a,\neach and every part of Rava�a 's limbs was slashed and cut into pieces by\nYour sharp arrows, and his head fell to the face of the earth. Now I can\nunderstand that You are none other than my Lord Ramacandra. No one\nelse has .such immeasurable strength; no one else could defeat me in this\nway.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0044": "The Story of the Syamantaka Jewel\n\n7\n\nLord Kr�tla became satisfied by the prayers and statements of Jambavan,\n\nand to mitigate the pains of his body, He began to smear the lotus palm of\n\nHis hand all over the body of Jambavan. Jambavan at once felt relieved\n\nfrom the fatigue of the great fight. Lord Kr�tla then addressed him as King\n\nJambavan, because he and not the lion was actually the king of the forest;\n\nwith his naked hand, without a weapon, Jambavan had killed the lion.\nKr�tla informed Jambavan that He had come to him to ask for the Syaman­\n\ntaka jewel because since the Syamantaka jewel had been stolen His name\n\nhad been defamed by the less intelligent. Kr�tla plainly informed him that\n\nhe had come there to ask him for the jewel in order to be free from this\ndefamation. Jambavan understood the whole situation, and to satisfy the\nLord he not only immediately delivered the Syamantaka jewel, but he also\n\n.brought his daughter Jambavati, who was of marriagable age, and presented\nher to Lord Kr�tla.\n\nThe episode of Jambavati's marriage with Kr�tla and the delivery of the\n\njewel known as Syamantaka was finished within the mountain cave. Al­\n\nthough the fighting between Krwa and Jambavan went on for twenty-eight\n\ndays, the inhabitants of Dvaraka waited outside the tunnel for twelve\ndays, and after that they decided that something undesirable must have\n\nhappened. They could not understand what had actually happened for\n\ncertain, and being very sorry and tired, they had returned to the city of\nDvaraka.\n\nAll the members of the family, namely the mother of Kr�tla, Devaki, His\n\nfather Vasudeva, and His chief wife Rukmitli, along with all other friends,\n\nrelatives and residents of the palace, became very sorry when the citizens\n\nreturned home without Krsna. Because of their natural affection for Krsna,\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\nthey began to call Satrajit ill names, for he was the cause of Kr�tla's disap-\n\npearance. They went to worship the goddess Candrabhaga, praying for the\nreturn of Kr�pa. The goddess was satisfied by the prayers of the citizens of\nDvaraka, and she immediately offered them her benediction. Simulta­\n\nneously, Kr�tla appeared on the scene accompanied by His new wife\n\nJambavati, and all the inhabitants of Dvaraka and relatives of Kr�tla\n\nbecame joyful. The inhabitants of Dvaraka became as joyful as someone\nreceiving a dear relative back from the dead. The inhabitants of Dvaraka\nhad concluded that Kr�tla had been put into great difficulties due to the\n\nfighting; therefore, they had become almost hopeless of His return. But\n\nwhen they saw that Kr�pa had actually returned, not al�ne but with a\nnew wife, Jambavati, they immediately performed another celebration\n\nceremony.\n\nKing U grasena then called for a meeting of all important kings and\n\nchiefs. He also invited Satrajit, and Kr�pa explained before the whole\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0045": "L\n\n.Kf�pa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n8\n\nassembly the incident of the recovery of the j ewel from Jambavan. Kr�pa\nwanted to return the valuable j ewel to King Satraj it. Satraj it, however,\n\nbecame ashamed because he had unnecessarily defamed Kr�pa. He accepted\n\nthe j ewel in his hand, but he remained silent, bending his head downwards,\n\nand without speaking anything in the assembly of the kings and chiefs, he\n\nreturned home with the j ewel. Then he thought about how he could clear\nhimself from the abominable action he had performed by defaming Kr��a.\n\nHe was conscious that he had offended Kr��a very grievously and that he\n\nhad to find a remedial measure so that Kr��a would again be pleased with\nhim.\n\nKing Satraj it was eager to get relief from the anxiety he had foolishly\n\ncreated due to being attracted by a material thing, specifically the Syaman­\n\ntaka j ewel. Satraj it was truly afflicted by the offense he had committed\n\ntoward Kr�pa, and he sincerely wanted to rectify it. From within, Kr�p.a\n\ngave him good intelligence, and Satraj it decided to hand over to Kr�p.a\nboth the j ewel and his beautiful daughter, Satyabhama. There was no\n\nalternative for mitigating the situation, and therefore he arranged the\n\nmarriage ceremony of Kr�pa and his beautiful daughter. He gave in charity\nboth the j ewel and his daughter to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\nSatyabhama was so beautiful and qualified that Satraj it, in spite of being\n\nasked for the hand of Satyabhama by many princes, was waiting to find a\n\nsuitable son-in-law. By the grace of Kr�pa he decided to hand his daughter\nover to Him.\n\nLord Kr�pa, being pleased upon Satraj it, informed him that He did not\n\nhave any need of the Syamantaka j ewel. \"It is better to let it remain in the\n\ntemple as you have kept it,\" He said, \"and every one of us will derive\n\nbenefit from the j ewel. Because of the j ewel's presence in the city of\nDvaraka, there will be no more famine or disturbances created by pesti­\n\nlence or excessive heat and cold.\"\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second\nChapter, of K!§\"t;ta, \"The Story of the Syamantaka Jewel.\"\n\nVolume, First\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0046": "�\n\n2 I The Killing of Satrajit and Satadhanva\n\nAfter Akrura visited Hastinapura and reported the condition of the\nPa��avas to Kr��a, there were further developments. The Pa��avas were\n\ntransferred to a house which was made of shellac and was later on set\nablaze, and everyone understood that the Pa��avas along with their\n\nmother, Kunti, had been killed. This information was also sent to Lord\n\nKr��a and Balarama. After. consulting together, They decided to go to\nHastinapura to show sympathy to Their relatives. Kr��a and Balarama\n\ncertainly knew that the Pa��avas could not have been killed ih the\n\ndevastating fire, but in spite of this knowledge They wanted to go to\nHastinapura to take part in the bereavement. On arriving in Hastinapura,\n\nKr��a and Balarama first of all went to see Bhi�madeva, because he was the\n\nchief of the Kuru dynasty. They then saw Vidura, Gandhari and Dro�a.\n\nOther members of the Kuru dynasty were not sorry, because they wanted\n\nthe Pa��avas and their mother to be killed. But some family members,\n\nheaded by Bhi�ma, were actuall;y very sorry for the incident, and Kr��a\n\nand Balarama expressed equal sorrow, without disclosing the actual situation.·\n\nWhen Kr��a and Balarama were away from the city of Dvaraka, there\n\nwas a conspiracy to take away the Syamantaka jewel from Satrajit. The\nchief conspirator was Satadhanva. Along with others, Satadhanva wanted\n\nto marry Satyabhama, the beautiful daughter of Satrajit. Satrajit had\npromised that he would give his beautiful daughter in charity to various\n\ncandidates, but later on the decision was changed, and Satyabhama was\ngiven to Krwa along with the 'Syamantaka jeweL Satrajit had no desire to\ngive the jewel away along with his daughter, and Kr��a, knowing his\nmentality, accepted his daughter but returned the jeweL After getting\nback the jewel from Kr��a, he was satisfied and kept it with him always.\nBut in the absence of Krwa and Balarama there was a conspiracy by many\n\n9\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0047": "Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n10\n\nmen, including even Akrura and Krtavarma, who were devotees of Lord\n\nKr��a, to take the jewel from Satrajit. Akrura and Krtavarma joined the\nconspiracy because they wanted the jewel for Krwa. They knew that\nKr�!la wanted the jewel and that Satrajit had not delivered it properly.\n\nOthers joined the conspiracy because they were disappointed in nothaving\n\nthe hand of Satyabhama. Some of them incited Satadhanva to kill Satrajit\nand take away the jewel.\n\nThe question is generally raised, Why did a great devotee like Akrura\n\njoin this conspiracy? And why did Krtavarma, although a devotee of the\n\nLord, join the conspiracy also? The answer is given by great authorities like\n\nJiva Gosvami and others that although Akrura was a great devotee, he was\n\ncursed by the inhabitants of V rndavana because of his taking Kr�!la away\n\nfrom their midst. Because of his wounding their feelings, Akrura was\nforced to join the conspiracy declared by sinful men. Similarly, Krtavarma\n\nwas a devotee, but because of his intimate association with Kamsa, he was\nalso contaminated by sinful reaction, and he also joined the conspiracy.\n\nBeing inspired by all the members of the conspiracy, Satadhanva one\n\nnight entered the house of Satrajit and killed him while he was sleeping.\n\nSatadhanva was a sinful man of abominable character, and although due\n\nto his sinful activities he was not to live for many days, he decided to kill\nSatrajit while Satrajit was sleeping at home. When he entered the house to\n\nkill Satrajit, all the women there began to cry very loudly, but in spite of\ntheir great protests, Satadhanva mercilessly butchered Satrajit without\nhesitation, exactly as a butcher kills an animal in the slaughterhouse.\n\nSince Kr��a was absent from home, His wife Satyabhama was also present\n\non the night Satrajit was murdered, and she began to cry, \"My dear father!\n\nMy dear father! How mercilessly you have been killed!\" The dead body of\nSatrajit was not immediately removed for cremation because Satyabhama\n\nwanted to go to Kr��a in Hastinapura. Therefore the body was preserved\nin a tank of oil so that Kr�!la could come back and see the dead body of\nSatrajit and take real action against Satadhanva. Satyabhama immediately\n\nstarted for Hastinapura to inform Kr��a about the ghastly death of her\nfather.\n\nWhen Kr��a was informed by Satyabhama of the murder of His father­\n\nin-law, He began to lament like an ordinary man. His great sorrow is, again,\n\na strange thing. Lord Kr�!la has nothing to do with action and reaction, but\n\nbecause he was playing the part of a human being He expressed His full\nsympathy\n\nfor\n\nthe bereavement of\n\nSatyabhama, and His eyes filled\n\nwith tears upon hearing about the death of His father-in-law. He thus began\n\nto lament, \"Oh, what unhappy incidents have taken place! \" In this way\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0048": "The Killing of Satrajit and Satadhanva\n\nII\n\nboth Kr�!la and Balarama, along with Satyabhama, the wife of Kr�!la,\n\nimmediately returned to\n\nDvaraka and began to make plans to kill\n\nSatadhanva and take away the jewel. Although he was a great outlaw in\nthe city� Satadhanva was still very much afraid of Kr�!la's power, and thus\n\nhe bec'ime most afraid on Kr�!la's arrival.\n\nUnderstanding Kr�!la's plan to kill him, he immediately went to take\n\nshelter of Krtavarma. But on being approached by him, Krtavarma said,\n\n\"I shall never be able to offend Lord KH!la and .Balarama because They\n\nare not ordinary persons. They are the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\n\nWho can be saved from death if he has offended Balarama and Kr�!la? No\none can be saved from Their wrath.\" Krtavarma further said that Kamsa,\n\nalthough powerful and assisted by many demons, could not be saved from\nthe wrath of Kr�!la, and what to speak of J arasandha, who had been\n\ndefeated by Kr�!la eighteen times and each time had to return from the\nfighting in disappointment.\n\nWhen Satadhanva was refused help by Krtavarma he went to Akriira\n\nand implored him to help. Akriira also replied, \"Both Balarama and Kr�!la\n\nare Themselves the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and anyone who\n\nknows Their unlimited strength would never dare to offend Them or fight\n\nwith Them.\" He further informed Satadhanva, \"Kr�!la and Balarama are so\n\npowerful that simply by willing They are creating the whole cosmic\nmanifestation, maintaining it and dissolving it. Unfortunately, persons who\nare bewildered by the illusory energy cannot understand the strength of\nKr�!la, although the whole cosmic manifestation is fully under His control.\"\n\nHe cited, as an example, that Kr�!la, even at the age of seven years, had\n\nlifted Govardhana Hill and had continued to hold up the mountain for\n\nseven days, exactly as a child carries a small umbrella. Akriira plainly\n\ninformed Satadhanva that he would always offer his most respectful\nobeisances to Krwa, the Supersoul of everything that is created and the\noriginal cause of all causes. When Akriira also refused to give him shelter,\n\nSatadhanva decided to deliver to the hands of Akriira the Syamantaka\n\njewel. Then, riding on a horse which could run at great spe�d and up to\nfour hundred miles at a stretch, he fled the city.\nWhen Kr�!la and Balarama were informed of the flight of Satadhanva,\n\nThey mounted Their chariot, its flag marked by the picture of Garu�a,\n\nand followed immediately. Kr�!la was particularly angry with Satadhanva\nand wanted to kill him because he had killed Satrajit, a superior person­\n\nality. Satrajit happened to be the father-in-law of Kr�!la, and it is the\ninjunction of the siistras that anyone who has rebelled against a superior\nperson, or gurudruha, must be punished in proportion to the volume of\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0049": "12\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\noffense. Because Satadhanva had killed His father-in-law, Kr��a was determined to kill him by any means.\n\nSatadhanva's horse became exhausted and died near a garden house in\n\nMithila. Unable to take help of the horse, Satadhanva began to run with\ngreat speed. In order to be fair to Satadhanva, Kr��a and Balarama also\nleft Their chariot and began to follow Satadhanva on foot. While both\n\nSatadhanva and Kr��a were running on foot, Kr��a took His disk and\n\ncut off the head of Satadhanva. After Satadhanva was killed, Kr��a\n\nsearched through his clothing for the Syamantaka jewel, but He could not\nfind it. He then returned to Balarama and said, \"We have killed this\n\nperson uselessly because the jewel is not to be found on his body.\" Sri\nBalarama suggested, \"The jewel might have been kept in custody of\n\nanother man in Dvaraka, so You'd better return and search it out.\" Sri\n\nBalarama expressed His desire to remain in Mithila City for some days\n\nbecause He enjoyed an intimate friendship with the king. Therefore, Kr��a\n\nreturned to Dvaraka, and Balarama entered the city of Mithila.\n\nWhen the King of Mithila saw the arrival of Sri Balarama in his city, he\n\nbecame most pleased and received the Lord with great honor and hospi­\n\ntality. He presented many valuable presents to Balaramaji in order to seek\n\nHis pleasure. At this time Sri Balarama lived in the city for several years as\n\nthe honored guest of the King of Mithila, Janaka Maharaja. During this\n\ntime, Duryodhana, the eldest son of Dhrtara�tra, took the opportunity o�\n\ncoming to Balarama and learning from Him the art of fighting with a club.\nAfter killing Satadhanva, Kr��a returned to Dvaraka, and in order to\n\nplease His wife Satyabhama, He informed her of the death of Satadhanva,\n\nthe killer of her father. But He also informed her that the jewel had not\n\nbeen found in his possession. Then, according to religious principles,\n\nKr��a, along with Satyabhama, performed all kinds of ceremonies in honor\n\nof the death of His father-in-law. In that ceremony all the friends and\nrelatives of the family joined together.\n\nAkriira and Krtavarma, who were prominent members in the conspiracy\n\nto kill Satrajit, had incited Satadhanva to kill him, but when they heard\nof the death of Satadhanva at Kr��a's hand, and when they heard also that\n\nKr��a had returned to Dvaraka, they both immediately left Dvaraka. The\n\ncitizens of Dvaraka felt themselves threatened with pestilence and natural\ndisturbances due to the absence of Akriira from .the city. This was a kind\n\nof superstition because while Lord Kr��a was present there could not be\n\nany pestilence, famine or natural disturbances. But in the absenc� of Akriira\n\nthere were some disturbances in Dvaraka. Once in the province of Kasi\nwithin the barricade of Vara�asi there was severe drought and practically\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0050": "-1\n\nThe Killing of Satrajit and Satadhanva\n\n13\n\nno rainfall. At that time the King of Kasi arranged the marriage of his\n\ndaughter, known as Gandini, with Svaphalka, the father of Akriira. This\nwas done by the King of Kasi on the advice of an astrologer, and actually\n\nit so happened that after the marriage of the King's daughter with\nSvaphalka there was sufficient rainfall in the province. Due to this super­\n\nnatural power of Svaphalka, his son Akriira was also considered equally\n\npowerful, and people were under the impression that wherever Akriira or\n\nhis father remained; there would be no natural disturbance, famine or\n\ndrought. That kingdom is considered to be happy where there is no famine,\npestilence, or excessive heat and cold and where people are happy mentally,\nspiritually and bodily. As soon as there is some disturbance, people con­\n\nsider the cause to be due to the absence of an auspicious personality in the\n\ncity. Thus there was a rumor that because of the absence of Akriira\ninauspicious things were happening. After the departure of Akriira, some\n\nof the elderly members of the town began to perceive that there were also\n\ninauspicious signs due to the absence of the Syamantaka jewel. When Lord\nSri Kr�!la heard these rumors spread by the people He decided to summon\n\nAkriira from the kingdom of Kasi. Akriira was Kr�!la's uncle; therefore,\n\nwhen he came back to Dvaraka Lord Kr�!la first of all welcomed him as\nbefitting a superior person. Kr�!la is the Supersoul in everyone's heart; He\n\nknows everything going on in everyone's heart. He knew everything that\nhad happened in connection with Akriira's conspiracy with Satadhanva.\n\nTherefore, He smilingly began to address Akriira.\n\nAddressing him as the chief among magnificent men, Kr�!la said, \"My\n\ndear uncle, it is already known to Me that the Syamantaka jewel was left\n\nby Satadhanva with you. Presently there is no direct claimant of the\nSyamantaka jewel, for King Satrajit has no male issue. His daughter\nSatyabhama is not very anxious for this jewel, yet her expected son, as\n\ngrandson of Satrajit, would, after performing the regulative principles of\ninheritance, be the legal claimant of the jewel.\" Lord Kr�!la indicated by\n\nthis statement that Satyabhama was already pregnant and that her son\n\nwould be the real claimant for the jewel and would certainly take the jewel\nfrom him.\n\nKr�!la continued, \"This jewel is so powerful that no ordinary man is\n\nable to keep it. I know that you are very pious in activities, so there is no\n\nobjection to the jewel being kept with you. There is one difficulty, and\nthat is that My elder brother, Sri Balarama, does not believe My version\n\nthat the jewel is with you. I therefore request you, 0 large-hearted one, to\n\nshow Me the jewel before My other relatives so that they may be pacified.\n\nYou cannot deny that the jewel is with you because from various kinds of\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0051": "�··\n\n14\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nrumors we can understand that you have enhanced your opulence and are\nperforming sacrifices on an altar made of solid gold.\" The properties of\nthe jewel were known: wherever the jewel remained, it would produce for\n\nthe keeper almost nine mounds of pure gold daily. Akriira was getting gold\nin that proportion and was distributing it very profusely at sacrificial\nperformances. Lord Kr�pa cited Akriira's lavishly spending in gold as\npositive evidence of his possessing the Syamantaka jewel.\nWhen Lord KHpa, in friendly terms and in sweet language, impressed\nAkriira about the real fact and Akriira understood that nothing could be\nconcealed from the knowledge of Sri Kr�pa, he brought the valuable jewel,\n\nshining like the sun and covered by cloth, and presented it before Kr�pa.\nLord Kr�pa took the Syamantaka jewel in His hand and showed it to all\nHis relatives and friends present there and then again returned the jewel to\nAkriira in their presence so that they would know that the jewel was\nactually being kept by Akriira in Dvaraka City.\n\nThis story of the Syamantaka jewel is very significant. In the Srimad­\n\nBhagavatam it is said that anyone who hears the story of the Syamantaka\njewel or describes it or simply remembers it will be free from all kinds of\ndefamation and the reactions of all impious activities and thus will attain\nthe highest perfectional condition of peace.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Second\n\nChapter of Kr�pa, \"The Killing of Satriijit and Satadhanvii.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0052": "3 I Five Queens Married by Kr�!la\n\nThere was a great rumor that the five Pa�9ava brothers, along with their\n\nmother Kunti, had, under the plan of Dhrtara�tra, died in a fire accident\n\nin the house of shellac in which they were living. But then the five brothers\nwere detected at the marriage ceremony of Draupadi; so again another\n\nrumor spread that the Pa�9avas and their mother were not dead._ it\nwas a rumor, but actually it was so; they returned to their capital city,\n\nHastinapura, and people saw them face to face. When this news was carried\n\nto Kr��a and Balarama, Kr��a wanted to see them personally, and therefore\nKr��a decided to go to Hastinapura.\n\nThis time, Kr��a visited Hastinapura in state, as a royal prince, accom­\n\npanied by His commander-in-chief, Yuyudhana, and by many other\n\nsoldiers. He had not actually been invited to visit the city, yet He went to\n\nsee the Pa�9avas out of His affection for His great devotees. He visited the\nPa�9avas without warning, and all of them got up from their respective\n\nseats as soon as they saw Him. Kr��a is called Mukunda because as soon as\n\none comes in constant touch with Krsna or sees Him in full Krsna\n. ..\n\n. ..\n\nconsciousness, one immediately becomes freed from all material anxietie?.\n\nNot only that, but he immediately becomes blessed with all spiritual bliss.\n\nOn receiving Kr��a, the Pa�9avas became very enlivened, just as if\n\nawakened from unconsciousness or from loss of life. When a man is lying\n\nunconscious, his senses and the different parts of his body are not active,\n\nbut when he regains his consciousness, the senses immediately become\n\nactive. Similarly, the Pa!i9avas received Kr�!la as if they had just regained\ntheir consciousness, and so they became very much enlivened. Lord Krwa\n\nembraced every one of them, and by the touch of the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead, the Pa�9avas immediately became freed from all reactions of\nmaterial contamination, and therefore they were smiling in spiritual bliss.\nBy seeing the face of Lord Kr��a, everyone was transcendentally satisfied.\n15\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0053": "16\n\nKr�pa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nLord Kr�pa, although the Supreme Personality of Godhead, was playing\n\nthe part of an ordinary human being, and thus He immediately touched\nthe feet of Yudhi�thira and Bhima because they were His two older cousins.\n\nArjuna embraced Kr�pa as a friend of the same age, whereas the two\n\nyounger brothers, namely N akula and Sahadeva, touched the lotus feet of\nKrwa to show Him respect. After an exchange of greetings according to\n\nthe social etiquette befitting the position of the Pa!!-9avas and Lord KH!ia,\n\nKr�!la was offered an exalted seat. When He was comfortably seated, the\n\nnewly married Draupadi, young and very beautiful in her natural feminine\n\ngracefulness, came before Lord Kr�!la to offer her respectful greetings. The\nYadavas who accompanied Krwa to Hastinapura were also very respect­\n\nfully received; specifically, Satyaki, or Yuyudhana, was also offered a nice\n\nseat. In this way, when everyone else was properly seated, the five brothers\ntook their seats nearby Lord Kr�!la.\n\nAfter meeting with the five brothers, Lord KH!ia personally went to\n\nvisit Srimati Kuntidevi, the mother of the Pa!!-9avas, who was also the\npaternal aunt of Kr�!la. In offering His respects to His aunt, Kr�!la also\n\ntouched her feet. Kuntidevi's eyes became wet, and, in great love, she\n\nfeelingly embraced Lord Kr�!la. She then inquired from Him about the\n\nwell-being of her paternal family members-her brother Vasudeva, his\nwife, and other members of the family. Similarly, Kr�!la also inquired\n\nfrom His aunt about the welfare of the Pa!!-9ava families. Although Kunti­\n\ndevi was related to Kr�!la by family ties, she knew immediately after\n\nmeeting Him that He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. She remem­\n\nbered the past calamities of her life and how by the grace of Kr�!la the\n\nPa!!-9avas and their mother had been saved. She knew perfectly well that\n\nno one, without Krwa 's grace, could have saved them from the fire\n\naccident designed by Dhrtara�tra and his sons. In a choked up voice, she\nbegan to narrate before Kr�!la the past history of their life.\n\nSrimati Kunti said: \"My dear Kr�!la, I remember the day when You sent\n\nmy brother Akrura to gather information about us. This means that You\nalways remember us automatically. When You sent Akrura, I could under­\n\nstand that there was no possibility of our being put into danger. All good\n\nfortune in our life began when You sent Akrura to us. Since then, I have\n\nbeen convinced that we are not without protection. We may be put into\n\nvarious types of dangerous conditions by our family members, the Kurus,\n\nbut I am confident that You remember us and that You always keep us safe\n\nand sound. Devotees who simply think of You are always immune from all\nkinds of material dangers, and what to speak of ourselves, who are\n\npersonally remembered by You. So, my dear Krwa, there is no question\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0054": "Five Queens Married by Kr��a\n\n17\n\nof bad luck; we are always in an auspicious position because of Your grace.\nBut because You have bestowed a special favor on us, people should not\nmistakenly think that You are partial to some and inattentive to others.\nYou make no such distinction. No one is Your favorite and no one is Your\nenemy. As the Supreme Personality of Godhead, You are equal to everyone, and everyone can take advantage of Your special protection. The fact\nis that although You are equal to everyone, You are especially inclined to\nthe devotees who always think of You. The devotees are related to You by\nties of love. As such, they cannot forget You even for a moment. You are\npresent in everyone's heart, but because the devotees always remember\nYou, You also respond accordingly. Although the mother has affection for\nall the children, she takes special care of the one who is fully dependent. I\nknow certainly, my dear Krwa, that being seated in everyone's heart, You\nalways create auspicious situations for Your unalloyed devotees.\"\nThen King Yudhi�thira also praised Kr�!la as the Supreme Personality\nand universal friend of everyone, but because Kr��a was taking special\ncare of the Pa�9avas, King Yudhi�thira said: \"My dear Kr��a, we do not\nknow what sort of pious activities we have executed in our past lives that\nhave made You so kind and graceful to us. We know very well that the\ngreat mystic:S who are always engaged in meditation to capture You do not\nfind it easy to obtain such grace, nor can they draw any personal attention\nfrom You. I cannot understand why You are so kind upon us. We are not\nyogis, but, on the contrary, we are attached to material contaminations.\nWe are householders dealing in politics, worldly affairs. I do not know why\nYou are so kind upon us.\"\nBeing requested by King Yudhi�thira, Kr��a agreed to stay in Hastinapura for four months during the rainy season. The four months of the\nrainy season are called\n\nCiiturmiisya. During this period, the generally\nitinerant preachers and briihmar-as stop at a certain place and live under\nrigid regulative principles. Although Lord Kr��a is above all regulative\nprinciples, He agreed to stay at Hastinapura out of affection for the\nPap.9avas. Taking this opportunity of Kr��a's residence in Hastinapura,\nall the citizens of the town got the privilege of seeing Him now and then,\nand thus they merged into transcendental bliss simply by seeing Lord\nKr�p.a eye to eye.\nOne day while Kr�p.a was staying with the Pap.9avas, He and Arjuna\nprepared themselves to go to the forest to hunt. Both of them sat down on\nthe chariot, which flew a flag with a picture of Hanuman. Arjuna's special\nchariot is always marked with the picture of Hanuman, and therefore his\nname is also Kapidhvaja. (Kapi means Hanuman, and dhvaja means \"flag.\")\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0055": "18\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nThus Arjuna went to the forest with his bow and infallible arrows. He\ndressed himself with suitable protective garments, for he was to practice\nkilling many enemies. He specifically entered that part of the forest where\nthere were many tigers, deer and various other animals. Kr��a did not go\nwith Arjuna to practice animal killing because He doesn't have to practice\nanything; He is self-sufficient. He accompanied Arjuna to see how he was\npracticing because in the future he would have to kill many enemies. After\nentering the forest, Arjuna killed many tigers, boars, bisons, gavayas (a\nkind of wild animal), rhinoceroses, deer, hares, porcupines and similar\nother animals, which he pierced with his arrows. Some of the dead animals,\nwhich were fit to be offered in the sacrifices, were carried by the servants\nand sent to King Yudhi�thira. Other ferocious animals, such as tigers and\nrhinoceroses, were killed only to stop disturbances in the forest. Since\nthere are many sages and saintly persons who are residents of the forests,\nit is the duty of the k§atriya kings to keep even the forest in a peaceful\ncondition for living.\nArjuna felt tired and thirsty from hunting, and therefore he went to the\nbank of the Yamuna along with Kf�l)a. When both the Kr��as, namely\nKr�!la and Arjuna (Arjuna is sometimes called Kr�!la, as is Draupadi),\nreached the bank of the Yamuna, they washed their hands and feet and\nmouths and drank the clear water of the Yam una. While they were resting\nand drinking water, they saw a beautiful girl of marriagable age walking\nalone on the bank of the Yamuna. Kf�l)a asked His friend Arjuna to go\nforward and ask the girl who she was. By the order of Kr�!!a, Arjuna\nimmediately approached the girl, who was very beautiful. She had an\nattractive body and nice glittering teeth and smiling face. Arjuna inquired,\n\"My dear girl, you are so beautiful with your raised breasts-may I ask you\nwho you are? We are surprised to see you loitering here alone. What is your\npurpose in coming here? We can guess only that you are searching after a\nsuitable husband. If you don't mind, you can disclose your purpose. I\nshall try to satisfy you.\"\nThe beautiful girl was the river Yamuna personified. She replied, \"Sir, I\nam _the daughter of the sun-god, and I am now performing penance and\nausterity to have Lord Vi��u as my husband. I think He is the Supreme\nPerson and just suitable to become my husband. I disclose my desire thus\nbecause you wanted to know it.\"\nThe girl continued, \"My dear sir, I know you are the hero Arjima;\nso I may further say that I'll not accept anyone as my husband besides\nLord Vi��u, because He is the only protector of all living entities and the\nbestower of liberation for all conditioned souls. I shall be thankful unto\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0056": "Five Queens Married by Kr��a\n\n19\n\nyou if you pray to Lord V��u to become pleased With me.\" The girl\nYamuna knew it well that Arjuna was a great devotee of Lord Kr��a and\nthat if he would pray, Kr��a would never deny his request. To approach\nKr��a directly may sometimes be futile, but to approach Kr��a through\n\nHis devotee is sure to be successful. She further told Arjuna, \"My name is\n\nKalindi, and I live within the water of the Yamuna. My father was kind\n\nenough to construct a special house for me within the waters of the\nYamuna, and I have vowed to remain in the water as long as I cannot find\n\nLord Kr��a. \"-The message of the girl Kalindi was duly carried to Kr��a by\n\nArjuna although Kr��a, as the Supersoul of everyone's heart, knew every­\n\nthing. Without further discussion, Kr��a immediately accepted Kalindi and\nasked her to sit down on the chariot. Then all of them approached King\nYudhi�thira.\n\nAfter this, Kr��a was asked by King Yudhi�thira to help in constructing\n\na suitable house to be planned by the great architect Visvakarma, the\n\ncelestial engineer in the heavenly kingdom. Kr��a immediately called for\n\nVisvakarma, and He made him construct a wonderful city according to\n\nthe desire of King Yudhi�thira. When this city was constructed, Maharaj a\nYudhi�thira requested Kr��a to live with them a few days more in order to\n\ngive them the pleasure of His association. Lord Kr��a accepted the request\nof Maharaja Yudhi�thira and remained there for many days more.\nIn the meantime, Kr��a engaged in the pastime of offering Kha��ava\n\nForest, which belonged to King Indra. Kr��a wanted to give it to Agni, the\nfire-god. Kha��ava Forest contained many varieties of drugs, and Agni\nrequired to eat them for rejuvenation. Agni, however, did not touch\n\nKha��ava Forest directly, but requested Kr��a to help him. Agni knew\n\nthat Kr��a was very much pleased with him because he had formerly given\nHim the Sudarsana disc. So in order to satisfy Agni, KH�a became the\n\nchariot driver of Arjuna, and both went to the Kha��ava Forest. After\n\nAgni had eaten up the Kha��ava Forest, he was very much pleased. This\n\ntime, he offered a specific bow known as Ga��iva, four white horses, one\nchariot, and an invincible quiver with two specific arrows considered to be\n\ntalismans, which had so much power that no warrior could counteract\n\nthem. When the Kha��ava Forest was being devoured by the fire-god,\nAgni, there was a demon of the name Maya who was saved by Arjuna from\nthe devastating fire. For this reason, that former demon became a great\n\nfriend of Arjuna, and in order to please Arjuna he constructed a nice\n\nassembly house within the city constructed by Visvakarma. This assembly\n\nhouse had some corners so puzzling that when Duryodhana came to visit\n\nthis house he was misdirected, accepting water as land and land as water.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0057": "Kf�J)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n20\n\nDuryodhana thus became insulted by the opulence of the PaJ)�avas, and\nhe became their determined enemy.\nAfter a few days, Kr�J)a took permission from King Yudhi�thira to\nreturn to Dvaraka. When he got permission, he went to his country, accompanied by Satyaki, the leader of the Y adus who were living in Hastinapura\nwith Him. Kalindi also returned with Kr�J)a to Dvaraka. After returning,\nKr�!la consulted many learned astrologers to find the suitable moment at\nwhich to marry Kalindi, and then He married her with great pomp. This\nmarriage ceremony gave much pleasure to the relatives of both parties,\nand all of them enjoyed the great, occasion.\nThe kings of Avantipura (now known as Ujjain) were named Vinda and\nAnuvinda. Both kings were under the control of Duryodhana. They had\none sister named Mitravinda, who was a very qualified, learned and elegant\ngirl. She was the daughter of one of Kr�!!a's aunts. She was to select her\nhusband in the assembly of princes, but she strongly desired to have Krwa\nas her husband. During the assembly for selecting her husband, however,\nKr�!la was present, and He forcibly carried away Mitravinda in the presence\nof all other royal princes. Being unable to resist Kf�J)a, the princes were\nleft simply looking at each other.\nAfter this incident, Krwa married the daughter of the King of Kosala.\nThe King of Kosala Province was called N agnajit. He was very pious and\nwas a follower of the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies. His most beautiful\ndaughter was named Satya. Sometimes Satya was called Nagnajiti, for she\nwas the daughter of King Nagnajit. King Nagnajit wanted to give the hand\nof his daughter to any prince who could defeat seven very strong, stalwart\nbulls maintained by him. No one in the princely order could defeat the\nseven bulls, and therefore no one could claim the hand of Satya. The seven\nbulls were very strong, and they could hardly bear even the smell of any\nprince. Many princes approached this kingdom and tried to subdue these\nbulls, but instead of controlling them, they themselves were defeated. This\nnews was spread all over the country, and when Krwa heard that the girl\nSatya could be achieved only by defeating the seven bulls, He prepared\nHimself to go to the kingdom of Kosala. With many soldiers, He approached that part of the country, known as Ayodhya, making a regular\nstate visit.\nWhen it was known to the King of Kosala that Kr�!la had come to ask\nthe harid of his daughter, he became very pleased. With great respect and\npomp, he welcomed Kr�!la to the kingdom. When Kr�!la approached him,\nhe offered Him a suitable sitting place and articles for reception. Everything\nappeared to be very elegant. Kr�!la also offered him respectful obeisances,\nthinking him to be His future father-in-law.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0058": "Five Queens Married by Kr��a\n\n21\n\nWhen Satya, the daughter of King N agnajit, understood that Kr�tta\nHimself had come to marry her, she was very much pleased that the husband\nof the goddess of fortune had so kindly come there to accept her. She had\ncherished the idea of marrying Kr�tta for a long time and was following the\nprinciples of austerities in order to obtain her desired husband. She then\n\nbegan to think, \"If I have performed any pious activities to the best of my\n\ncapacity and if I have sincerely thought all along to have Kr�tta as my hus­\n\nband, then Kr�tta may be pleased to fulfill my long-cherished desire.\" She\nbegan to offer prayers to Kr�tta mentally, thinking, \"I do not know how the\n\nSupreme Personality of Godhead can be pleased upon me. He is the master\n\nand Lord of everyone. Even the goddess of fortune, whose place is next to\n\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Lord Siva, Lord Brahma and\n\nmany other demigods of different planets always offer their respectful\n\nobeisances unto the Lord. The Lord also sometimes descends on this earth\n\nin different incarnations in order to fulfill the desire of His devotees. He is\nso exalted and great that I do not know how to satisfy Him.\" She thought\nthat the Supreme Personality of Godhead could be pleased only out of His\nown causeless mercy upon the devotee; otherwise, there was no other\n\nmeans to please Him. Lord Caitanya, in the same way, prayed in His\n\nSik�ii�taka verses, \"My Lord, I am Your eternal servant. Somehow or other\nI have fallen into this material existence. If You kindly pick me up and fix\n\nme as an atom of dust at Your lotus feet, it will be a great favor to Your\neternal servant.\" The Lord can be pleased only by a humble attitude in the\nservice spirit. The more we render service unto the Lord under the direc­\n\ntion of the spiritual master, the more we make advancement on the path\n\nof approaching the Lord. We cannot demand any grace or mercy from the\nLord because of our service rendered to Him. He may accept or not accept\n\nour service, but the only means to satisfy the Lord is through the service\nattitude, and nothing else.\n\nKing N agnijit was already a pious king, and having Kr��a in his palace,\n\nhe began to worship Him to the best of his knowledge and capacity. He\n\npresented himself before the Lord thus: \"My dear Lord, You are the pro­\n\nprietor of the whole cosmic manifestation, and You are Naraya�a, the rest\n\nof all living creatures. You are self-sufficient and pleased with Your per­\n\nsonal opulences, so how can I offer You anything? And how could I please\nYou by such offering? It is not possible, because I am an insignificant living\n\nbeing. Actually I have no capacity to render any service unto You.\"\n\nKr�tta is the Supersoul of all living creatures, so He could understand the\n\nmind of Satya, the daughter of King N agnajit. He was also very much\npleased with the respectful worship of the King in offering Him a sitting\nplace, eatables, residence, etc. He was appreciative, therefore, that both the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0059": "22\n\nKr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ngirl and the father of the girl were anxious to have Him as their intimate\nrelative. He began to smile and in a great voice said, \"My dear King\nNagnajit, you know very well that anyone in , the princely order who is\n\nregular in his position will never ask anything from anyone, however\nexalted he may be. Such requests by a k§atriya king- from another person\nhave been deliberately forbidden by the learned Vedic followers. If a\nk§atriya breaks this regulation, his action is condemned by learned scho­\n\nlars. But in spite of this rigid regulative principle, I am asking you for the\n\nhand of your beautiful daughter just to establish our relationship in return\nfor your great reception of Me. You may also be pleased to be informed\n\nthat in our family tradition there is no scope for our offering anything in\n\nexchange for accepting your daughter. We cannot pay any price which you\n\nmay impose for delivering her.\" In other words, Kr�pa wanted the hand of\n\nSatya from the King without fulfilling the condition of defeating the seven\n\nbulls.\n\nAfter hearing the statement of Lord Kr�pa, King Nagnajit said, \"My\n\ndear Lord, You are the reservoir of all pleasure, all opulences and all qua­\n\nlities. The goddess of fortune, Lak�mijl, always lives onYour chest. Under\n\nthese circumstances, who can be a better husband for my daughter? Both\n\nmyself and my daughter have always prayed for this opportunity.You are\n\nthe chief of the Yadu dynasty. You may kindly know that from the very\n\nbeginning I have made a vow to marry my daughter to a suitable candidate,\n\none who can come out victorious in the test I have devised. I have imposed\n\nthis test just to understand the prowess and position of my intended son­\n\nin-law. You are Lord Kr�pa, andYou are the chief of all heroes. I am sure\n\nYou shall be able to bring these seven bulls under control without any\n\ndifficulty. Until now they have never been subdued by any prince; anyone\nwho has attempted to bring them under control has simply had his limbs\nbroken.\"\nKing Nagnajit continued his request: \"Kr�pa, ifYou'll kindly bridle the\n\nseven bulls and bring them under control, then undoubtedly You will be\nselected as the desired husband of my daughter, Satya.\" After hearing\nthis statement, Krwa could understand that the King did not want to\nbreak his vow. Thus, in order to fulfill his desire, He tightened His belt\nand prepared to fight with the bulls. He immediately divided Himself\ninto seven Kr�!las, and each one of Them immediately caught hold of\na bull and bridled its nose, thus bringing it under control as if it were\na plaything.\n\nKr�!la's dividing Himself into seven is very significant. It was known to\n\nSatya, the daughter of King N agnajit, that Kr�!la had already married many\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0060": "Five Queens Married by K r��a\n\n23\n\nother wives, and still she was attached to Kr��a. In order to encourage her,\nHe immediately expanded Himself into seven. The purport is that Krwa is\none, but He has unlimited forms of expansions. He married many hundreds\nof thousands of wives, but this does not mean that while He was with one\nwife the others were bereft of His association. Kr��a could associate with\neach and every wife by His expansions.\nWhen Krwa brought the bulls under His control by bridling their noses,\ntheir strength and pride were immediately smashed. The name and fame\nwhich the bulls had attained was thus vanquished. When the bulls had been\nbridled by Kr��a, He pulled them strongly, just as a child pulls a toy\nwooden bull. Upon seeing this advantage of Krwa, King N agnajit became\nvery much astonished and immediately, with great pleasure, brought his\ndaughter Satya before Kr��a and handed her over to Him. Kr��a also\nimmediately accepted Satya as His wife. Then there was a marriage ceremony with great pomp. The queens of King N agnajit also were very much\npleased because their daughter Satya got Kr��a as her husband. Since the\nKing and queens were very pleased on this auspicious occasion, there was a\ncelebration all over the city in honor of the marriage. Everywhere was\nheard the sounds of the conchshell and kettledrum and various other\nvibrations of music and song. The learned briihmar;ws began to shower their\nblessings upon the newly married couple. In jubilation, all the inhabitants\nof the city dressed themselves with colorful garments and ornaments. King\nN agnajit was so pleased that he began to give a dowry to the daughter and\n\nson-in-law, as follows.\nFirst of all he gave them ten thousand cows and three thousand welldressed young maidservants, ornamented up to their necks. This system of\ndowry is still current in India especially for the k§atriya princes. Also,\nwhen a k§atriya prince is married, at least a dozen maidservants of similar\nage are given along with the bride. After giving the cows and maidservants,\nthe King also enriched the dowry by giving 9,000 elephants and a hundred\ntimes more chariots than elephants. This means that he gave 900,000\nchariots. And he gave a hundred times more horses than chariots, or\n\n90,000,000 horses, and a hundred times more slaves than horses. Such\nslaves and maidservants were maintained by the royal princes with all provisions, as if they were their own children or family members. After giving\nthis dowry as described, the King of the Kosala Province bade his daughter\nand great son-in-law be seated on a chariot. He allowed them to go to\ntheir home, guarded by a division of well-equipped soldiers. When they\nwere travelling fast to their new home, his heart became enlivened with\naffection for them.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0061": "24\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nBefore this marriage of Satya with Kr��a, there had been many competitive engagements with the bulls of King Nagnajit, and many other\n\nprinces of the Y adu dynasty and of other dynasties as well had tried to win\n\nthe hand of Satya. When the frustrated princes of the other dynasties heard\nthat Kr�!la was successful in getting the hand of Satya by subduing the\n\nbulls, naturally they became envious. While Kr�!la was travelling to Dvaraka,\nall the frustrated and defeated princes encircled Him and began to\n\nshower their arrows on the bridal party. When they attacked Kr�!la's party\nand threw arrows like incessant torrents of rain, Arjuna, the best friend of\n\nKr�!la, took charge of the challenge, and he alone drove them off very\n\neasily to please his great friend Kr�!la on the occasion of His marriage. He\nimmediately took up his bow of the name Ga!l�iva and chased away all the\nprinces; exactly\n\nas\n\na lion drives away all other small animals simply by\n\nchasing them, Arjuna drove away all the princes without killing even one\n\nof them. After this, the chief of the Y adu dynasty, Lord Kr�!la, along with\n\nHis newly married wife and a huge dowry, entered the city of Dvaraka\nwith great pomp. Krwa then lived there with His wife very peacefully.\nKr�!la had another aunt, His father's sister, whose name was Srutakirti,\nand who was married and lived in the Kekaya province. She had a daughter\nwhose name was Bhadra. Bhadra also wanted to marry Kr�!la, and her\n\nbrother handed her· over to Him unconditionally. Kr�!la also accepted her\nas His bona fide wife. Thereafter, Kr�!la married a daughter of the king of\nthe Madras Province, and her name was Lak�ma�a. Lak�ma!la had all good\n\nqualities. She was also forcibly married by Kr�!la, who took her in the\n\nsame way that Garu�a snatched the jar of nectar from the hands of the\n\ndemons. Kr�!la kidnapped this girl in the presence of many other princes in\nthe assembly of her svayarhvara. Svayarhvara is a ceremony in which the\n\nbride can select her own husband from an assembly of many princes.\n\nThe description of Kr�!la's marriage with the five girls mentioned in this\n\nchapter is not sufficient. He had many other thousands of wives besides\n\nthem. The other thousands of wives were accepted by Kr�!la after killing one\n\ndemon named Bhaumasura. All these thousands of girls were held captive\n\nin the palace of Bhaumasura, and Kr�!la released them and married them.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Third\nChapier of Kr�!la, \"Five Queens Married by Knew.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0062": "4 I Deliverance of the Demon Bhaumasura\n\nThe story of Bhaumasura-how he kidnapped and made captive 16,000\n\nprincesses by collecting them from the palaces of various kings and how he\n\nwas killed by Kr�pa, the Supreme Lord of wonderful character-is all\n\ndescribed by Sukadeva Gosvami to King Parik�it in the Srimad-Bhiigavatam.\n\nGenerally, the demons are always against the demigods. This demon,\n\nBhaumasura, having become very powerful, took by force the umbrella\n\nfrom the throne of the demigod V arupa. He also took the earrings of Aditi,\n\nthe mother of the demigods. He conquered a portion of heavenly Mount\nMeru and occupied the portion which was known as Mapiparvata. The\n\nKing of the heavenly planets, Indra, therefore came to Dvaraka to com­\n\nplain about Bhaumasura before Lord Krwa.\n\nHearing this complaint by Indra, the King of heaven, Lord Kr�pa, ac­\n\ncompanied by His wife Satyabhama, immediately started for the abode of\nBhaumasura. Both of them rode on the back of Garuda, who flew them to\n.\n\n.\n\nPragjyoti�apura, the capital city of Bhaumasura. It was not a very easy task\nto enter into the city of Pragjyoti�apura, because it was very well fortified.\n\nFirst of all, there were four formidab!e forts guarding the four directions\n\nof the city, and it was well-protected on all sides by formidable military\n\nstrength. The next boundary was a water canal all around the city, and in\n\naddition the whole city was surrounded with electric wires. The next\n\nfortification was of anila, a gaseous substance. After this, there was a net­\n\nwork of barbed wiring constructed by a demon of the name Mura. It\n\nappeared that the city was well-protected even in terms of today's scientific\nadvancements.\n\nWhen Kr�pa arrived, He broke all the forts to pieces by the strokes of\n\nHis club, and the military strength scattered here and there by the constant\n\nonslaught of the arrows of Kr�pa. With His celebrated Sudarsana-cakra\n\nHe counteracted the electrified boundary; the channels of water and the\n25\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0063": "26\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ngaseous boundary were made null and void, and He cut to pieces the\nelectrified network fabricated by the demon Mura. By the vibration of His\n\nconchshell, He not only broke the hearts of great fighters, but also the\n\nfighting machines which were there. Similarly, the walls around the city\n\nwere broken by His invincible club.\n\nThe vibration of His conchshell sounded like the thunderbolt at the time\n\nof the dissolution of the whole cosmic situation. The demon Mura heard\n\nthe vibration of the conchshell, awakened from his sleep, and personally\ncame out to see what had happened. He had five heads and had long been\nliving within the water. The Mura demon was as brilliant as the sun at the\n\ntime of the dissolution of the cosmic manifestation, and his temper was like\n\nblazing fire. The effulgence of his body was so dazzling that it was difficult\n\nto see him with open eyes. When he came out, he first of all took out his\n\ntrident and began to rush the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The\nonslaught of the demon Mura was like a big snake attacking Garu�a. His\n\nangry mood was very severe, and he appeared ready to devour the three\n\nworlds. First of all he attacked the carrier of Kr�ga, Garu�a, by whirling\nhis trident and he began to vibrate sounds through his five faces like the\n\nroaring of a lion. The roaring produced by the vibration of his mouths\n\nspread all over the atmosphere until it extended not only all over the\n\nworld, but also into outer space, up and down and out to the ten direc­\n\ntions. In this way, the sound was rumbling throughout the whole universe.\n\nLord Kf�ga saw that the trident of the Mura demon was gradually\n\nrushing toward His carrier, Garu�a. Immediately, by a trick of His hand,\n\nHe took two arrows ,and threw them toward the trident, cutting it to\n\npieces. Simultaneously, using many arrows, He pierced the mouths of the\ndemon Mura. When he saw himself outmaneuvered by the Supreme\n\nPersonality of Godhead, the Mura demon immediately began to strike\nHim in great anger with his club. But Lord Kr�ga, with His own club,\n\nbroke the club of Mura to pieces before it could reach Him. The demon,\n\nbereft of his weapon, decided to attack Kr�ga with his strong arms, but by\nthe aid of His Sudarsana-cakra, Kr�ga immediately separated the demon's\n\nfive heads from his body. The demon then fell into the water, just as the\npeak of a mountain falls into the ocean after being struck by the thunder­\n\nbolt of lndra.\n\nThis demon Mura had seven sons, named Tamra, Antarik�a, Sravaga,\n\nVibhavasu, Vasu, Nabhasvan and Aruga. All of them became puffed up\n\nand vengeful because of the death of their father, and in order to retaliate,\n\nthey prepared in great anger to fight with Kr�ga. They equipped themselves\n\nwith necessary weapons and situated Pitha, another demon,\n\nto act as\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0064": "Deliverance of the Demon Bhaumasura\n\n27\n\ncommander in the battle. By the order of Bhaumasura, all of them combinedly attacked Kr��a.\n\nWhen they came before Lord Kr��a, they began to shower Him with\n\nmany kinds of weapons, like swords, clubs, lances, arrows and tridents. But\n\nthey did not know that the strength of the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead is unlimited and invincible. Kr��a, with His arrows, cut all the\nweapons of\n\nthe men of Bhaumasura into pieces, like grains. K:r��a\n\nthen threw His weapons, and Bhaumasura's commander-in-chief,\n\nPilha,\n\nalong with his assistants, fell down, their military dress cut off and their\n\nheads, legs, arms and thighs severed. All of them were sent to the\nsuperintendent of death, Y amaraja.\n\nBhaumasura was also known as N arakasura, for he happened to -be the\n\nson of the earth personified. When he saw that all his soldiers, commanders\nand fighters were killed on the battlefield by the strokes of the weapons of\n\nthe Personality of Godhead, he became exceedingly angry at the Lord. He\n\nthen came out of the city with a great number of elephants who had all\n\nbeen born and brought up on the seashore. All of them were highly intoxi­\n\ncated. When they came out, they saw that Lord Kr��a and His wife were\n\nbeautifully situated high in outer space just like a blackish cloud about the\nsun, glittering with the light of electricity. The demon Bhaumasura im­\n\nmediately released a weapon called Sataghni, by which he could kill\n\nhundreds of warriors with one stroke, and simultaneously all his assistants\nalso threw their respective weapons at the Supreme Personality of God­\n\nhead. Lord Kr��a began to counteract all these weapons by releasing His\n\nfeathered arrows. The result of this fight was that all the soldiers and\n\ncommanders of Bhaumasura fell to the ground, their arms, legs and heads\n\nseparated from their trunks, and all their horses and elephants also fell\n\nwith them. In this way, all the weapons released by Bhaumasura were cut\n\nto pieces by the reaction of the Lord's arrows.\n\nThe Lord was fighting on the back of Garu�a, and Garu�a was also\n\nhelping the Lord by striking the horses and the elephants with his wings\n\nand scratching their heads with his nails and sharpened beak. The elephants\n\nwere feeling much pain by Garu�a's attack pn them, and they were all\n\ndispersing from the battlefield. Bhaumasura alone remained on the battle­\n\nfield, and he engaged himself in fighting with Kr��a. He saw that Kr��a's\n\ncarrier, Garu�a, was causing great disturbance to his soldiers and elephants,\n\nand in great anger he struck Garu�a with all his strength, which defied the\n\nstrength of the thunderbolt. Fortunately, Garu�a was not an ordinary bird,\n\nand he felt the strokes given by Bhaumasura just as a great elephant feels\n\nthe impact of a garland of flowers.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0065": "28\n\nKr�pa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\nBhaumasura thus came to see that none of his tricks would act upon\n\nKr�pa, and he became aware that all his attempts to kill Kr�pa would be\nfrustrated. Yet he attempted for the last time, taking a trident in his hand\nto strike Him. Kf�I}-a was so dexterous that before Bhaumasura could touch\nhis trident, his head was cut off by the sharp Sudarsana-cakra. His head,\nilluminated by earrings and helmets, fell down on the battlefield. On the\noccasion of Bhaumasura's being killed by Lord Kr�pa, all the demon's\nrelatives began to scream in disappointment, and the saintly persons began\nto glorify the chivalrous activities of the Lord. Taking this opportunity,\nthe denizens of the heavenly planets began to shower flowers on the Lord.\nAt this time, the earth personified appeared before Lord Kr�pa and\ngreeted Him with a garland of vaijayanti jewels. She also returned the\ndazzling earrings of Aditi, bedecked with jewels and gold. She also returned\nthe umbrella of V arupa, along with another valuable jewel, which she\npresented to Kr�pa. After this, . the earth personified began to offer her\nprayers to Kf�pa, the Supreme Personality and master of the world, who is\nalways worshiped by very exalted demigods. She fell down in obeisances\nand, in great devotional ecstasy, began to speak.\n\"Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the Lord, who is always\npresent with four kinds of symbols, namely His conchshell, disc, lotus and\nclub, and who is the Lord of all demigods. Please accept my respectful\nobeisances unto You. My dear Lord, You are the Supersoul, and in order\nto satisfy the aspiration of Your devotees, You descend on the earth in\nYour various transcendental incarnations, which are just appropriate to the\ndevotees' worshipful desire. Kindly accept my respectful obeisances.\n\"My dear Lord, the lotus flower is grown out of Your navel, and You\nare always decorated with a garland of lotus flowers. Your eyes are always\nspread like the petals of the lotus flower, and therefore they are all-pleasing\nto the eyes of others. Your lotus feet are so soft and delicate that they are\nalways worshiped by Your unalloyed devotees, and they pacify their\nlotus-like hearts. I therefore repeatedly offer my respectful obeisances\nunto You.\n\"You possess all kinds of religions, fame, property, knowledge and\nrenunciation; You are the shelter of all five opulences. Although You are\nall-pervading, You have nevertheless appeared as the son of Vasudeva.\nPlease, therefore, accept my respectful obeisances. You are the original\nSupreme Personality of Godhead and the supreme cause of all causes.\nOnly Your Lordship is the reservoir of all knowledge. Let me offer my\nrespectful obeisances unto You. Personally You are unborn; still, You are\nthe father of the whole cosmic manifestation. You are the reservoir and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0066": "Deliverance of the Demon Bhaumasura\n\n29\n\nshelter of all kinds of energies. The manifestive appearance of this world is\n\ncaused by You, and You are both the cause and effect of this cosmic\nmanifestation. Please therefore accept my respectful obeisances.\n\n\"My dear Lord, as for the three gods-Brahma, Vi�pu and Siva-they are\n\nalso not independent of You. When there is necessity of creating this\n\ncosmic manifestation, You create Your passionate appearance of Brahma,\nand when You want to maintain this cosmic manifestation, You expand\n\nYourself as Lord Vi�pu, the reservoir of all goodness. Similarly, You appear\n\nas Lord Siva, master of the modes of ignorance, and thus dissolve the\nwhole creation. Your transcendental position is always maintained, in\n\nspite of creating these three modes of material nature. You are never\n\nentangled like the ordinary living entities with these modes of material\nnature.\n\n\"Actually, my Lord, You are the material nature, You are the father of\n\nthe universe, and You are the eternal time that has caused the combination\n\nof nature and the material creator. Still, You are always transcendental to\n\nall these material activities. My dear Lord, 0 Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, I know that earth, water, fire,. air, sky, the five sense objects,\n\nmind, the senses and their deities, egotism, as well as the total material\n\nenergy-everything animate and inanimate in this phenomenal world is\n\nresting upon You. Since everything is produced of You, nothing can be\n\nseparated from You. Yet, since You are transcendentally situated, neither\n\ncan anything material be identified with Your personality. Everything is,\n\ntherefore, simultaneously one and different from You, and the philoso­\n\nphers who try to separate everything from you are certainly mistaken in\ntheir viewpoint.\n\n\"My dear Lord, may I inform You that this boy, whose name is\n\nBhagadatta, is the son of my son, Bhaumasura. He has been very much\naffected by the ghastly situation created by the death of his father and\nhas become very much confused, being afraid of the present situation.\n\nI have therefore brought him to surrender unto Your lotus feet. I request\n\nYour Lordship to give shelter to this boy and bless him with Your lotus\n\nfeet. I am bringing him to You so that he may become relieved from the\n\nreactions of all the sinful activities of his father.\"\n\nWhen Lord Kr�pa heard the prayers of mother Earth, He immediately\n\nassured her of immunity from all fearful situations. He said to Bhagadatta,\n\"Don't be afraid.\" Then He entered the palace of Bhaumasura, which was\n\nequipped with all kinds of opulences. In the palace of Bhaumasura Lord\nKr�pa saw\n\n16,100 young princesses, who had been kidnapped and\n\nheld captive there. When the princesses saw the Supreme Personality of\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0067": "30\n\nKf�l).a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nGodhead, Kr��ta, enter the palace, they immediately became captivated by\n\nthe beauty of the Lord and prayed for His causeless mercy. Within their\n\nminds, they decided to accept Lord Kr�l).a as their husband without any\n\nhesitation. Each one of them began to pray to providence that Kr�p.a might\nbecome her husband. Sincerely and seriously, they offered their hearts to\n\nthe lotus feet of Kr�p.a with an unalloyed devotional attitude. As the\nSupersoul in everyone's heart, Kr�p.a could understand their uncontami­\n\nnated desire, and He agreed to accept them as His wives. Thus, He arranged\nfor suitable dresses and ornaments for them, and each of them, seated on\n\na palanquin, was dispatched to Dvaraka City. Kr�p.a also collected unlimited\n\nwealth from the palace, along with chariots, horses, jewels and treasure.\n\nHe took from the palace fifty white elephants, each with four tusks, and\n\nall of them were dispatched to Dvaraka.\n\nAfter this incident, Lord Kr�p.a and Satyabhama entered Amaravati, the\n\ncapital city of the heavenly planet, and they immediately entered the\n\npalace of King Indra and his wife, Sacidevi, who welcomed them. Kr�p.a\n\nthen presented Indra with the earrings of Aditi.\n\nWhen Kr�p.a and Satyabhama were returning from the capital city of\n\nIndra, Satyabhama remembered Kr�l).a's promise to give her the plant of\n\nthe piirijiita flower. Taking the opportunity of having come to the heavenly\n\nkingdom, she plucked a piirijiita plant and kept it on the back of Garu�a.\n\nOnce Narada 'took a piirijiita flower and presented it to Kr�p.a's senior Wife,\n\nSri Rukmip.idevi. On account of this, Satyabhama developed an inferiority\ncomplex; she also wanted a flower from Kr�p.a. Kr�p.a could understand\n\nthe competitive womanly nature of His co-wives, and He smiled. He\n\nimmediately asked Satyabhama, \"Why are you asking for only one flower?\nI would like to give you a whole tree of piirijiita flowers.\"\n\nActually, Kr�p.a had purposely taken His wife Satyabhama with Him so\n\nshe could collect the piirijiita with her own hand. But the denizens of the\n\nheavenly planet, including Indra, became very irritated. Without their\n\npermission, Satyabhama had plucked a piirijiita plant, which is not to be\n\nfound on the earth planet. Indra, along with other demigods, offered\n\nopposition to Kr�l).a and Satyabhama for taking away the plant, but in\norder to please His favorite wife Satyabhama, Kr�p.a became determined\nand adamant, so there was a fight between the demigods and Kr�J).a. As,\n\nusual, Kr�p.a came out victorious, and He triumphantly brought the\n\npiirijiita plant chosen by His wife to this earth planet, to Dvaraka. After\nthis, the plant was installed in the palace garden of Satyabhama. On\naccount of this extraordinary tree, the garden house of Satyabhama became\n\nextraordinarily beautiful. As the piirijiita plant came down to the earthly\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0068": "·Deliverance of the Demon Bhaumasura\n\n31\n\nplanet, the fragrance of the flower also came down, and the celestial\n\nswans also migrated to this earth in search of its fragrance and honey.\n\nKing lndra's behavior toward Kr��a was not very much appreciated\n\nby great sages like Sukadeva Gosvami. Out of His causeless m ercy, Kr��a\n\nhad gone to the heavenly kingdom, Amaravati, to present King lndra with\n\nhis mother's earrings, which had been lost to Bhaumasura, and lndra had\n\nbeen very glad to receive them. But when a flower plant from the heavenly\n\nkingdom was taken by Kr�pa, Indra offered to fight with Him. This was\n\nself-interest on the part of lndra. He offered his prayer, tipping down his\nhead to the lotus feet of Kr�pa, but as soon as his purpose was served, he\n\nbecame a different creature. That is the way of the dealings of materialistic\nmen. Materialistic men are always interested in their own profit. For this\npurpose they can offer any kind of respect to anyone, but when their\n\npersonal interest is over, they are no longer friends. This selfish nature is\n\nnot only found among the richer class of men on this planet, but is present\neven in personalities like lndra and other demigods. Too much wealth\n\nmakes a man selfish. A selfish man is not prepared to take to Kr�pa\n\nconsciousness and is condemned by great devotees like Sukadeva Gosvami.\nIn other words, possession of too many worldly riches is a disqualification\n\nfor advancemert in Kr�pa consciousness.\n\nAfter defeating lndra, Kr�pa arranged to marry the 16,100 girls brought\n\nfrom the custody of Bhaumasura. By expanding Himself in 16,100 forms,\n\nHe simultaneously married them all in· different palaces in one auspicious\n\nmoment. He thus established the truth that Kr�pa and no one else is the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead. There is nothing impossible, for Kr�pa\n\nis the Supreme Personality of Godhead; He is all-powerful, omnipresent\nand imperishable, and as such there is nothing wonderful in this pastime.\n\nAll the palaces of the more than 16,000 queens of Kr�pa were full with\n\nsuitable gardens, furniture and other paraphernalia, of which there is no\nparallel in this world. There is no exaggeration in this story from Srimad­\n\nBhiigavatam. The queens of Kr�pa were all expansions of the goddess of\n\nfortune, Lak�miji. Kr�pa used to live with them in different palaces, and\nHe treated them in exactly the same way as an ordinary man treats his\n\nwife.\n\nWe should always remember that the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nKr�pa was playing exactly like a human being; although He showed His\n\nextraordinary opulences by simultaneously marrying more than 16,000\n\nwives in more than 16,000 palaces, He behaved with them just like an\nordinary man, and He strictly followed the relationship between husband\n\nand wife required in ordinary homes. Therefore, it is very difficult to\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0069": "32\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nunderstand the characteristics of the Supreme Brahman, the Personality of\nGodhead. Even demigods like Brahma and others are unable to probe into\nthe transcendental pastimes of the Lord. The wives of Kr��a were so\nfortunate that they got the Supreme Personality of Godhead as their\nhusband, although their husband's personality was unknown even to the\ndemigods like Brahma.\nIn their dealings as husband and wife, Kr�r;ta and His queens would\nsmile, talk, joke, embrace, and so on, and their conjugal relationship ever\nincreasingly developed. In this way, both Kr��a and the queens enjoyed\ntranscendental happiness in their household life. Although each and every\nqueen had thousands of maidservants engaged for her service, the queens\nwere all personally attentive in serving Kr��a. Each one of them used to\nreceive Kr��a personally when He entered the palace. They engaged in\ngetting Him seated on a nice couch, presenting Him with all kinds of\nworshipable paraphernalia, washing His lotus feet with Ganges water,\noffering Him betel nuts and massaging His legs. In this way, they were\ngiving Him relief from the fatigue of being away from home. They saw to\nfanning Him nicely, offering Him fragrant essential floral oil, decorating\nHim with flower garlands, dressing His hair, asking Him to lie down to\ntake rest, bathing Him personally and feeding Him nice palatable dishes.\n\nAll these things were done by each queen herself. They did not wait for the\nmaidservants. In other words, Krwa and His different queens displayed\non this earth an ideal household life.\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Fourth\nChapter, of Kr�r;ta, \"The Deliverance of the Demon Bhaumiisura.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0070": "5 I Talks Between Krsna a11d Rukmini\n•\n\n•\n\n•\n\n•\n\nOnce upon a time, Lord Kr�!la the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the\n\nbestower of all knowledge to all living entities from Brahma to the\n\ninsignificant ant, was sitting in the bedroom of Rukmi!li, who was\nengaged in the service of the Lord along with her assistant maidservants.\n\nKr�!la was sitting on the bedstead of Rukmi!li, and the maidservants were\n\nengaged in fanning Him with ciimaras (yak-tail fly-whisks).\n\nLord Krwa's dealings with Rukmi!li as a perfect husband is a perfect\n\nmanifestation of the supreme perfection of the Personality of Godhead.\n\nThere are many philosophers who propound a concept of the Absolute\n\nTruth in which God cannot do this or that. They deny the incarna�on of\nGod, or the Supreme Absolute Truth in human form. But actually, the\nfact is different:\n\nGod cannot be subjected to our imperfect sensual\n\nactivities. He is the all-powerful, omnipresent Personality of Godhead, and\n\nby His supreme will, He can not only create, maintain and annihilate the\n\nwhole cosmic manifestation, but He can also descend as an ordinary human\n\nbeing in order to execute the highest mission. As stated in the Bhagavad­\n\ngitii, whenever there are discrepancies in the discharge of human occupa­\n\ntional duties, He descends. He is not forced to appear by any external\n\nagency, but descends by His own internal potency in order to reestablish\nthe standard functions of human activities as well as to simultaneously\n\nannihilate the disturbing elements in the progressive march of human\ncivilization. In accordance with this principle of the transcendental pastimes\n\nof the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He descended in His eternal form\nof Sri Kr�!la in the dynasty of the Y adus.\n\nThe palace of Rukmi!li was wonderfully finished. There were many\n\ncanopies hanging on the ceiling with laces bedecked with pearl garlands,\n\nand the whole palace was illuminated by the effulgence of valuable jewels.\n\nThere were many flower orchards of baela and ciimeli, which are con33\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0071": "34\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nconsidered to be the most fragrant flowers in India. There were many clusters of these plants, with blooming flowers enhancing the beauty of the\npalace. And because of the exquisite fragrance of the flowers, little groups\nof humming bees were gathered around the trees, and at night the pleasing\nmoonshine glittered through the network of holes in the windows. There\nwere many heavily flowered trees of piirijiita, and the mild wind stirred\nthe flavor of the flowers all around. Within the walls of the palace, there\nwas incense burmng, and the fragrant smoke was leaking out of the\nwindow shutters. Within the room there were mattresses covered with\nwhite bedsheets resembling the foam of milk; the bedding was as soft and\n\nwhite as milk foam. In this situation, Lord Sri Kr�pa was very comfortably\nsitting and enjoying the service of Rukmipi'ji assisted by her maidservants.\nRukmipi' was also very eager to get the opportunity of serving the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead as her husband. She therefore wanted\nto serve the Lord personally and took the handle of the ciimara from the\nhand of the maidservant and began to move the fan. The handle of the\nciimara was made of gold, decorated and bedecked with valuable jewels,\nand it became more beautiful when it was taken by Rukmipi', because all\nof her fingers were beautifully set with jeweled rings. Her legs were\ndecorated with ankle bells and jewels, which rang very softly between the\npleats of her sari. Rukmipi''s raised breasts were smeared with kunkuma\nand saffron; thus her beauty was enhanced by the reflection of the reddish\ncolor emanating from her covered breasts. The highly raised lower part of\nher buttocks was decorated with a jeweled lace girdle, and a locket of\ngreat effulgence hung on her neck. Above all, because she was engaged in\nthe service of Lord Kr�pa-although at that time she was old enough to\nhave grown-up sons-her beautiful body was beyond compare in the three\nworlds. When we take account of her beautiful face, it appears that the\ncurling hair on her head, the beautiful earrings on her ears, her smiling\nmouth, and her necklace of gold, all combined to shower rains of nectar;\nand it was definitely proved that Rukmipi' was none other than the original\ngoddess of fortune who is always engaged in the service of the lotus feet\nof Nadiyapa.\nThe pastimes of Kr�pa and Rukmipi' in Dvaraka are accepted by great\nauthorities as manifestations of those of Narayapa and Lak�mi', which are\nof an exalted opulence. The pastimes of Radha and Kr�pa in V rndavana\nare simple and rural, distinguished from the polished urban characteristics\nof those of Dvaraka. The characteristics of Rukmipi' were unusually bright�\nand Kr�pa was. very much satisfied with her behavior.\nKr�pa had experienced that when Rukmipi' was offered a piirijiita flower\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0072": "Talks Between Kr��a and Rukmi�i\n\n35\n\nby Narada Muni, Satyabhama had become envious of her co-wife and had\nimmediately demanded a similar flower from Kr��a. In fact, she could not\nbe pacified until she was promised the whole tree. That was actually done\nby Kr��a; the tree was brought down to the earth planet from the heavenly\nkingdom. After this episode, Kr��a expected that because Satyabhama had\n\nbeen rewarded by a full tree of piirijiita, Rukmi�i would also demand\nsomething. Rukmi�i did not mention anything of the incident, however,\n\nfor she was grave and simply satisfied in her service. Kr��a wanted to see\n\nher a bit irritated, and therefore He schemed in order to see the beautiful\n\nface of Rukmi�i in an irritated condition. Although Kr��a had more than\n\n16,100 wives, He used to behave with each of them with familial affection;\n\nHe would create a particular situation between Himself and His wife in\n\nwhich the wife would criticize Him in the irritation of love, and Krwa\n\nwould enjoy this. In this case, because Kr��a could not find any fault with\nRukmi�i, for she was very great and always engaged in His service, He\n\nsmilingly, in great love, began to speak to her. Rukmi�i was the daughter\nof King Bhi�maka, a powerful king. Thus Kr��a did not address her as\n\nRukmi�i; He addressed her this time as the princess. \"My dear princess, it\n\nis very surprising. Many great personalities in the royal order wanted to\nmarry you. Although not all of them were kings, all possessed the opulence\nand riches of the kingly order; they were well-behaved, learned, famous\namong kings, ·beautiful in their bodily features and personal qualifications,\n\nliberal, very powerful in strength, and advanced in every respect. They were\n\nnot unfit in any way, and over and above that, your father and your\nbrother had no objection to such marriages. On the contrary, they gave\ntheir word of honor that you would be married with Sisupala; the marriage\n\nwas sanctioned by your parents. Sisupala was a great king and was so lusty\nand mad after your beauty that if he had married you, I think he would\nalways have remained with you just like your faithful servant.\n\"In comparison to Sisupala, with his personal qualities, I am nothing.\n\nAnd you may personally realize it. I am surprised that you rejected the\nmarriage with Sisupala and accepted Me, who am inferior in comparison to\n\nSisupala. I think myself completely unfit to be your husband because you\n\nare so beautiful, sober, grave and exalted. May I inquire from you the\n\nreason that induced you to accept Me? Now, of course, I can address you\nas My beautiful wife, but still I may inform you of My actual position-that\n\nI am inferior to all those princes who wanted to marry you.\n\n\"First of all, you may know that I was so much afraid of Jarasandha that\n\nI could not dare to live on the land, and thus I have constructed this house\nwithin the water of the sea. It is not my business to disclose this secret to\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0073": "36\n\nKr�!ia, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nothers, but you must know that I am not very heroic; I am a coward and\n\nam afraid of them. Still I am not safe, because all the great kings of the\n\nland are inimical to Me. I have personally created this inimical feeling by\n\nfighting with them in many ways. Another fault is' that although I am on\nthe throne of Dvaraka, I have no immediate claim. Although I got a\n\nkingdom by killing My maternal uncle, Kamsa, the kingdom was to go to\n\nMy grandfather; so actually I have no possession of a kingdom. Besides\n\nthat, I have no fixed aim in life. People cannot understand Me very well.\n\nWhat is the ultimate goal of My life? They know very well that I was a\n\ncowherd boy in Vrndavana. People expected that I would follow the\n\nfootsteps of My foster father, Nanda Maharaja, and be faithful to Srimati\nRadhara!li and all Her friends in the village of Vrndavana. But all of a\nsudden I left them. I wanted to become a famous prince. Still I could not\nhave any kingdom, nor could I rule as a prince. People are bewildered about\nMy ultimate goal of life; they do not know whether I am a cowherd boy or\na\n\nprince, whether I am the son of Nanda Maharaja or the son of Vasudeva.\n\nBecause I have no fixed aim in life, people may call Me a vagabond. Therefore, I am surprised that you could select such a vagabond husband.\n\n\"Besides this, I am not very much polished, even in social etiquette. A\n\nperson should be satisfied with one wife, but you see I have married many\n\ntimes, and I have more than 16,000 wives. I cannot please all of them as a\n\npolished husband. My behavior with them is not very nice, and I know you\nare very much conscious of it. I sometimes create a situation with My wives\n\nwhich is not very happy. Because I was trained in a village in My childhood,\n\nI am not well acquainted with the etiquette of urban life. I do not know\n\nthe way to please a wife with nice words and behavior. And from practical\n\nexperience it is found that any woman who follows My way or who\n\nbecomes attracted by Me is ultimately left to cry for the rest of her life. In\nVrndavana, many gopis were attracted to Me, and now I have left them,\n\nand they are living but are simply crying for Me in separation. I have\nheard from Akriira and U ddhava that since I left Vrndavana, all my\ncowherd hoy friends, the gopis and Radhara!li, and My foster father\nNanda Maharaja are simply crying constantly for Me. I have left Vrndavana\n\nfor good and am now engaged with the queens in Dvaraka, but I am not\n\nwell-behaved with any of you. So you can very easily understand that I\n\nhave no steadiness of character; I am not a very reliable husband. The net\nresult of being attracted to Me is to acquire a life of bereavement only.\n\"My dear beautiful princess, you may also know that I am always\n\npenniless. Just after My birth, I was carried penniless to the house of\nNanda Maharaja, and I was raised just like a cowherd boy. Although My\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0074": "Talks Between Kr�J)a and RukmiJ)i\n\n37\n\nfoster father possessed many hundreds of thousands of cows, I was not\nproprietor of even one of them. I was simply entrusted to take care of\nthem and tender them, but I was not the proprietor. Here also, I am not\nproprietor of anything, but am always penniless. There is no cause to\nlament for such a penniless condition; I possessed nothing in the past, so\nwhy should I lament that I do not possess anything at present? You may\nnote also that My devotees are not very opulent persons; they also are very\npoor in worldly goods. Those who are very rich, possessing worldly wealth,\nare not interested in devotion to Me or Kr�J)a consciousness. On the\ncontrary, when a person becomes penniless, whether by force or by\ncircumstances, he may become interested in Me if he gets the proper\nopportunity. Persons who are proud of their riches, even if they are offered\nassociation with My devotees, do not take advantage of consciousness of\nMe. In other words, the poorer class of men may have some interest in Me,\nbut the richer class of men have no interest. I think, therefore, that your\nselection of Me was not very intelligent. You appear to be very intelligent,\ntrained by your father and brother, but ultimately you have made a great\nmistake in seleCting your life's companion.\n\"But there is no harm; it is better late than never. You are at liberty to\nselect a suitable husband who is actually an equal to you in opulence,\nfamily tradition, wealth, beauty, education-in all respects. Whatever mistakes you may have made may be forgotten. Now you may chalk out your\nown lucrative path of life. Usually a person does not establish a marital\nrelationship with a person who is either higher or lower than his position.\nMy dear daughter of the King of Vidarbha, I think you did not consider\nvery sagaciously before your marriage. Thus you made a wrong selection\nby choosing Me as your husband. You mistakenly heard about My having\nvery exalted character, although factually I was nothing more than a\nbeggar. Without seeing Me and My actual position, simply by hearing about\nMe, you selected Me as your husband. That was not very rightly done.\nTherefore I advise you that it is better late than never; you can now select\none of the great k§atriya princes and accept him as your life's companion,\nand you can rej ect Me.\"\nKr��a was proposing that Rukmi�i divorce Him at a time when Rukmi�i\nalready had many grown-up children. Therefore Kr��a's whole proposition\nto Rukmi�i appeared to be something unexpected, because according to\nVedic culture there was no such thing as separation of husband and wife by\ndivorce. Nor was it possible for Rukmi�i to do so in advanced age, when\nshe had many married sons. Each and every one of Kr��a's proposals\nappeared to Rukmi�i to be crazy, and she was surprised that Kr��a could\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0075": "38\n\nKr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nsay such things. Simple as she was, her anxiety was increasing more and\n\nmore at the thought of separation from Kr��a.\n\nKr�p.a continued: \"After all, you have to prepare yourself for your next\n\nlife. I therefore advise that you select someone who can help you both in\n\nthis life and the next life, for I am completely unable to help. My dear\nbeautiful princess, you know that all the members of the princely order,\n\nincluding Sisupala, Salva, Jarasandha, Dantavakra and even your elder\n\nbrother Rukmi, are all My enemies; they do not like Me at all. They hate\n\nMe from the core of their hearts. All these princes were very much puffed\n\nup with their worldly possessions, and they did not care a fig for anyone\n\n·who came· before them. In order to teach them some lessons, I agreed to\n\nkidnap you according to your desire; otherwise I actually have no love for\nyou, although you loved Me even before the marriage.\n\n\"As I have already explained, I am not very much interested in family\n\nlife or love between husband and wife. By nature, I am not very fond of\n\nfamily life, wife, children, home and opulences. As My devotees are always\n\nneglectful of all these worldly possessions, I am also like that. Actually, I\n\nam interested in self-realization; that gives Me pleasure, and not this family\nlife.\" After submitting His statement, Lord Kr�p.a suddenly stopped.\n\nThe great authority Sukadeva Gosvami remarks that Kr��a almost always\n\npassed His time with Rukmip.i, and Rukmip.i was a bit proud to be so for­\n\ntunate that Kr�p.a never left her even for a moment. Kr�p.a, however, does\nnot like any of His devotees to be proud. As soon as a devotee becomes so,\n\nby some tactic He cuts down that pride. In this case also, Kr�p.a said many\n\nthings which were hard for Rukmip.i to hear. She could only conclude that\n\nalthough she was proud of her position, Kr�p.a could be separated from her\nat any moment.\n\nRukmip.i was conscious that her husband was not an ordinary human\n\nbeing. He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of the three\nworlds. By the way He was speaking, she was afraid of being separated from\n\nthe Lord, for she had never heard such harsh words from Kr�p.a before.\n\nThus she became perplexed with fear of separation, and her heart began to\n\npalpitate. Without replying to a word of Kr�p.a 's statement, she simply cried\n\nin great anxiety, as if being drowned in an ocean of grief. She silently\nscratched the ground with the nails of her toes, which were reflecting\n\nreddish light on the ground. The tears from her eyes were pink, mixed\n\nwith the black cosmetic ointment from her eyelids, and the waters were\ndropping down, washing the kunkuma and saffron from her breasts.\n\nChoked up on account of great anxiety, unable to speak even a word, she\n\nkept her head downward and remained standing just like a stick. Due to\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0076": "Talks Between Kr�!la and Rukmi!li\n\n39\n\nextremely painful fearfulness and lamentation, she lost all her reasoning\npowers and became so weak that immediately her body lost so much\nweight that the bangles on her wrists became slackened. The ciimara rod\nwith which she was serving Kr��a immediately fell from her hand. Her\nbrain and memory became puzzled, and she lost consciousness. The nicely\ncombed hair on her head scattered here and there, and she fell down\nstraight, like a banana tree cut down by a whirlwind.\nLord Kr��a immediately realized that Rukmi�i had not taken His words\nin a joking spirit. She had taken them very seriously, and in her extreme\nanxiety over immediate separation from Him, she had fallen into this\ncondition. Lord\n\nSri Kr��a is naturally very affectionate toward His\n\ndevotees, and seeing Rukmi�i's condition, His heart immediately became\nsoftened. At once He became merciful to her. The relationship between\nKr��a and Rukmi�i was as Lak�mi-Naraya�a; therefore, He appeared before\nher in His four-handed manifestation of Naraya�a. He got down from the\nbedstead, brought her up by her hands, and, placing His cooling hands on\nher face, smoothed the scattered hairs on her head. Lord Kr��a dried the\nwet breast of Rukmip.iji with His hand. Understanding the seriousness of\nRukmi�i's love for Him, He embraced her to His chest.\nThe Supreme Personality is very expert in putting a thing reasonably for\none's understanding, and thus He tried to retract all that He said before.\nHe is the only resort for all the devotees, and so He knows very well how\nto satisfy His pure devotees. Kr��a understood that Rukmip.i could not\nfollow the statements which He had made in a joking way. To counteract\nher confusion, He again began to speak, as follows.\n\"My dear daughter of King Vidarbha, My dear Rukmip.i, please do not\nmisunderstand Me. Don't be unkind unto Me like this. I know you are\nsincerely and seriously attached to Me; you are My eternal companion.\nThe words which have affected you so much are not factual. I wanted to\nirritate you a bit, and I was expecting you to make counter answers to\nthose joking words. Unfortunately, you have taken them seriously; I am\nvery sorry for it. I expected that your red lips would tremble in anger on\nhearing My statement and you would chastise Me in many words. 0\nperfection of love, I never expected that your condition would be like\nthis. I expected that you would put your blinking eyes upon Me in\nretaliation, and in that way, I would be able to see your beautiful face in\nthat angry mood.\n\"My dear beautiful wife, you know that we are householders. We are\nalways busy in many household affairs, so we long for a time that we can\nenjoy some joking words between us. That is our ultimate game in\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0077": "40\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nhousehold life. Actually, the householders work very hard day and night,\n\nbut all fatigue of the day's labor becomes minimized as soon as they meet,\nhusband and wife together, and enjoy life in many ways.\" Lord Kr��a\n\nwanted to exhibit Himself just as an ordinary householder who delights\n\nhimself by exchanging joking words with his wife. He therefore repeatedly\nrequested Rukmi�i not to take those words very seriously.\n\nIn this way, when Lord K��a pacified Rukmi�i by His sweet words,\n\nshe could understand that what was formerly spoken by Him was not\n\nactually meant, but was spoken to evoke some joking pleasure between\n\nthemselve�. She was therefore pacified by hearing the words of Kr��a.\n\nGradually she was freed from all fearfulness of separation from Him, and\n\nshe began to look on His face very cheerfully with her naturally smiling\n\nface. She said, \"My dear lotus-eyed Lord, Your statement that we are not\n\na fit combination is completely right. It is not possible for me to come to\n\nan equal level with You because You are the reservoir of all qualities, the\n\nunlimited Supreme Personality of Godhead. How can I be a fit match\n\nfor You? There is no possibility of comparison with You, who are\n\nthe master of all greatness, controller of the three qualities and the object\n\nof worship for great demigods like Brahma and Lord Siva. As far as I am\n\nconcerned, I am a production of the three modes of material nature. The\n\nthree modes of material nature are impediments towards the progressive\nadvancement of devotional service. When and where can I be a fit match\n\nfor You? My dear husband, You have rightly said also that being afraid of\n\nthe kings, You have taken shelter in the water of the sea. But who is the\n\nking of this material world? I do not think that the so-called royal\n\nfamilies are kings of the material world. The kings of the material world\n\nare the three modes of material nature. They are actually the controllers\nof this material world. You are situated in the core of everyone's heart,\n\nwhere You remain completely aloof from the touch of the three modes\nof material nature, and there is not doubt about it.\n\n\"You say You always maintain enmity with the worldly kings. But who\n\nare the worldly kings? I think the worldly kings are the senses. They are\n\nmost formidable, and they control everyone. Certainly You maintain\n\nenmity with these material senses. You are never under the control of\n\nthe senses; rather, You are the controller of the senses, Hr�ikesa. My dear\n\nLord, You have said that You are bereft of all royal power, and that is also\n\ncorrect. Not only are You bereft of material world supremacy, but even\n\nYour servants, those who have some attachment to Your lotus feet, also\n\ngive up the material world supremacy because they consider the material\n\nposition to be the darkest region, which checks the progress of spiritual\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0078": "Talks Between Kr��a and Rukmi�i\n\n41\n\nenlightenment. Your servants do not like material supremacy, so what to\nspeak of You? My dear Lord, Your statement that You do not act as an\nordinary person with a particular aim\n\nm\n\nlife is also perfectly correct.\n\nEven Your great devotees and servants, known as great sages and saintly\npersons, remain in such a state that no one can get any clue to the aim of\ntheir lives. They are considered by the human society to be crazy and\ncynical. Their aim of life remains a mystery to the common _human being;\nthe lowest of the mankind can know neither You nor Your servant.\nA contaminated human being cannot even imagine the pastimes of You\nand Your devotees. 0 unlimited one, when the activities and endeavors of\nYour devotees remain a mystery to the common human being, how can\nthey understand Your motive and endeavor? All kinds of energies and\nopulences are engaged in Your service, but still they are resting at\nYour shelter.\n\"You have described Yourself as penniless, but this condition is not\npoverty. Since there is nothing in existence but Yourself, You do not\nrequire to possess anything-You Yourself are everything. Unlike others,\nYou do not require to purchase anything extraneously. With You all\ncontrary things can be adjusted because You are absolute. You do not\npossess anything, but no one is richer than You. In the material world no\none can be rich without possessing. SinceYour Lordship is absolute,You\ncan adjust the contradiction of possessing nothing but at the same time\nbeing the richest. In the Vedas it is stated that although You have no\nmaterial hands and legs,You accept everything which is offered in devotion\nby the devotees. You have no material eyes and ears, but stillY ou can see\neverything everywhere, andYou can hear everything everywhere. Although\nYou do not possess anything, the great demigods who accept prayers and\nworship from others come and worship You to solicit Your mercy.\nHow can You be categorized among the poor?\n·\"My dear Lord, You have also stated that the richest section of human\nsociety does not worship You. This is also correct, because persons who\nare puffed up with material possessions think of utilizing their property\nfor sense gratification. When a poverty-stricken man becomes rich, he\nmakes a program for sense gratification. This is due to his ignorance of\nhow to utilize his hard-earned money. Under the spell of the external\nenergy, he thinks that his money is properly employed in sense gratification,\nand thus he neglects to render transcendental service. My dear Lord, You\nhave stated that persons who possess nothing are very dear to You;\nrenouncing everything, Your devotee wants to possess You only. I see,\ntherefore, that a great sage like Narada Muni who does not possess any\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0079": "42\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nmaterial property is still very dear to You. And such persons do not care\nfor anything but Your Lordship.\n\"My dear Lord, You have stated that a marriage between persons equal\nin status of social standing, beauty, riches, strength, influence and renunciation can be a suitable match. But this status of life can only be possible\nby Your grace. You are the supreme perfectional source of all opulences.\nWhatever opulent status of life one may have is all derived from You. As\ndescribed in the Vediinta-siltra, janmiidyasya yata�: You are the supreme\nsource from which everything emanates, the reservoir of all pleasures.\nTherefore, persons who are endowed with knowledge desire only to\nachieve You, and nothing else. To achieve Your favor, they give up\neverything-even the transcendental realization of Brahman. You are\nthe supreme ultimate goal of life. You are the reservoir of all interests\nof the living entities. Those who are actually well-motivated desire only\nYou, and for this reason they give up everything to attain success. They\ntherefore deserve to be associated with You. In the society of the servitors\nand served in Kr�!la consciousness, one is not subjected to the pains and\npleasures of material society, which functions according to sex attraction.\nTherefore, everyone, man or woman, should seek to be an associate in Your\nsociety of servitors and served. You are the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead; no one can excel You, nor can anyone come up to an equal\nlevel with You. The perfect social system is that in which You remain in\nthe center, being served as the Supreme, and all others engage as Your\nservitors. In such a perfectly constructed society, everyone can remain\neternally happy and blissful.\n\"My Lord, You have stated that only the beggars praise Your glories,\nand that is also perfectly correct. But who are those beggars? Those\nbeggars are all exalted devotees, liberated personalities and those in the\nrenounced order of life. They are all great souls and devotees who have no\nother business than to glorify You. Such great souls forgive even the\nworst offender. These so-called beggars execute their spiritual advancement\nof life, tolerating all kinds of tribulations in the material world. My dear\nhusband, do not think that out of my inexperience I accepted You as my\nhusband; actually, I followed all these great souls. I followed the path of\nthese great beggars and decided to surrender my life unto Your lotus feet.\n\"You have said that You are penniless, and that is correct. You distribute Yourself completely to these great souls and devotees. Knowing\nthis fact perfectly well, I rejected even such great personalities like Lord\nBrahma and King Indra. My Lord, the great time factor acts under Your\ndirection only. The time factor is so great and powerful that within\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0080": "Talks Between Kr��a and Rukmi�i\n\n43\n\n.moments it can effect devastation anywhere within the creation. Con­\n\nsidering all these factors, I thought J arasandha, Sisupala and similar other\n\nprinces who wanted to marry Me to be no more important than ordinary\n\ninsects.\n\n\"My dear all-powerful son of Vasudeva, Your statement that You have\n\ntaken shelter within the water of the ocean, being afraid of all the great\nprinces, is quite suitable, but my experience with You contradicts this. I\n\nhave actually seen that You kidnapped me forcibly in the presence of all\n\nthese princes. At the time of my marriage ceremony, simply by giving a\n\njerk to the string of Your bow, You very easily drove the others away and\nkindly gave me shelter at Your lotus feet. I still remember vividly that You\n\nkidnapped me in the same way as a lion forcibly takes his share of hunted\n\nbooty, driving away all other small animals within the twinkling of an eye.\n\n\"My dear lotus-eyed Lord, I cannot understand Your statement that\n\nwomen and other persons who have taken shelter under Your lotus feet\n\npass their days only in bereavement. From the history of the world we can\nsee that princes like Ari.ga, Prthu, Bharata, Yayati and Gaya were all gre.at\n\nemperors of the world, and there were no competitors to their exalted\npositions. But in order to achieve the favor of Your lotus feet, they re­\n\nnounced their exalted positions and. entered into the forest to practice\npenances and. austerities. When they voluntarily accepted such a position,\n\naccepting Your lotus feet as all in all, does it mean that they were in\n\nlamentation and bereavement?\n\n\"My dear Lord, You have advised me that I can still select another from\n\nthe princely order and divorce myself of Your companionship. But, my\ndear Lord, it is perfectly well-known to m� that You are the reservoir of all\n\ngood qualities. Great saintly persons like Narada Muni are always engaged\n\nsimply in glorifying Your transcendental characteristics. If someone simply\n\ntakes shelter of such a saintly person, he immediately becomes freed from\n\nall material contamination. And by coming in direct contact with Your\n\nservice the goddess of fortune agrees to bestow all her blessings. Under the\n\ncircumstances, what woman who has once heard of Your glories from\n\nauthoritative sources and somehow or other has tasted the nectarean flavor\nof Your lotus feet can be foolish enough to agree to marry someone of\n\nthis material world who is always afraid of death, disease; old age and\n\nrebirth? I have therefore accepted Your lotus feet, not without considera­\n\ntion, but after mature and deliberate decision. My dear Lord, You are th6\nmaster of the three worlds. You can fulfill all the desires of all Your devo­\n\ntees in this world and the next, because You are the Supreme Soul of\n\neveryone. I have therefore selected You as my husband, considering You\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0081": "44\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nto be the only fit personality. You may throw me in any species of life\naccording to the reaction of my fruitive activities, and I haven't the least\nconcern for this. My only ambition is that I may always remain fast to\nYour lotus feet, because You can deliver Your devotees from the illusory\nmaterial existence and are always prepared to distribute Yourself to Your\ndevotees.\n\n\"My dear Lord, You have advised me to select one of the princes such\n\nas Sisupala, J arasandha or Dantavakra, but what is their position in this\n\nworld? They are always engaged in hard labor to maintain their household\nlife, just like the bulls working hard day and night with the oil-pressing\nmachine. They are compared to asses, beasts of burden. They are always\ndishonored like the dogs, and they are miserly like the cats. They have sold\n\nthemselves like slaves to their wives. Any unfortunate woman who has\n\nnever heard of Your glories may accept such a man as her husband, but a\n\nwoman who has learned about You-that You are praised not only in this\nworld, but in the halls of the great demigods like Lord Brahma and Lord\n\nSiva-will not accept anyone besides Yourself as her husband. A man\n\nwithin this material world is just a dead body. In fact, superficially, the\n\nliving entity is covered by this body, which is nothing but a bag of skin\n\ndecorated with beards and moustaches, hairs on the body, nails on the\n\nfingers and hairs on the head. Within this decorated bag there are bunches\n\nof muscles, bundles of bones, and pools of blood, always mixed up with\n\nstool, urine, mucus, bile and polluted air, and enjoyed by different kinds\nof insects and germs. A foolish woman accepts such a dead body as her\nhusband and, in sheer misunderstanding, loves him as her dear companion.\n\nThis is only possible because such a woman has never tasted the everblissful flavor of Your lotus feet.\n\n\"My dear lotus-eyed husband, You are self-satisfied. You do not care\n\nwhether or not I am beautiful or qualified; You are not at all concerned\n\nabout it. Therefore Your nonattachment for me is not at all astonishing; it\n\nis quite natural. You cannot be attached to any woman, however exalted\nher position and beauty. Whether You are attached to me or not, may my\n\ndevotion and attention be always engaged at Your lotus feet. The material\n\nmode o f passion is also Your creation, so when You passionately glance\n\nupon me, I accept it as the greatest boon of my life. I am ambitious only\nfor such auspicious moments.\"\n\n. After hearing Rukmi�i's statement and her clarification of each and\n\nevery word which He had used to arouse her anger of love toward Him,\n\nKr��a addressed Rukmi�i as follows: \"My dear chaste wife, My dear\n\nprincess, I was expecting such an explanation from you, and for this\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0082": "Talks Between Kr�!la and Rukmi!li\n\n45\n\npurpose only I spoke all those joking words, so that you might be cheated\"\nof the real point of view. Now My purpose has been served. The wonderful\nexplanation that you have given to each and every word of Mine is completely factual and approved by Me. 0 most beautiful Rukmi!li, You are\nMy dearmost wife. I am greatly pleased to understand how much love you\nhave for Me. Please take it for granted that no matter what ambition and\ndesire you might have and no matter what you might expect from Me, I\nam always at your service. And it is a fact also that My devotees, My \"dear­\n\nmost friends and servitors, are always free from material contamination,\neven though they are not inclined to ask from Me such liberation. My\n\ndevotees never desire anything from Me except to be engaged in My service.\n\nAnd yet because they are completely dependent upon Me, even if they are\nfound to ask something from Me, that is not material. Such ambitions and\ndesires, instead of becoming the cause of material bondage, become the\nsource of liberation from this material world.\n\n\"My dear chaste and pious wife, I have tested, on the basis of strict\n\nchastity, your love for your husband, and you have passed the examination\nmost successfully. I have purposely agitated you by speaking many words\nwhich were not applicable to your character, but I am surprised to see that\nnot a pinch of your devotion to Me has been deviated from its fixed\nposition. My dear wife, I am the bestower of all benedictions, even up to\nthe standard ofliberation from this material world, and it is I only who can\nstop the continuation of material existence and call one back to home,\nback to Godhead. One whose devotion for Me is adulterated worships Me\nfor some material benefit, just to keep himself in the world of material\nhappiness, culminating in the pleasure of sex life. One who engages himself\nin severe penance and austerities just to attain this material happiness is\ncertainly under the illusion of My external energy. Persons who are en­\n\ngaged in My devotional service simply for the purpose of material gains\nand sense gratification certainly are very foolish. Material happiness based\n\non sex life is available in the most abominable species of life, such as the\nhogs and dogs. No one should try to approach Me for such happiness,\n\nbecause it is available even if one is put into a hellish condition of life. It\nis better, therefore, for persons who are simply after material happiness\nand not after Me to remain in that hellish condition.\"\n\nMaterial contamination is so strong that everyone is working very hard\n\nday and night for materia! happiness. The show of religiousness, austerity\npenance, humanitarianism, philanthropy, politics, science-everything is\naimed at realizing some material benefit. For the immediate success of\n\nmaterial benefit, the materialistic persons generally worship different demi-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0083": "46\n\nKr�pa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ngods, and under the spell of material propensities they sometimes take to\nthe devotional service of the Lord. Sometimes it so happens that if a\nperson sincerely serves the Lord and at the same time maintains material\nambition, the Lord very kindly removes the sources of material happiness.\nWithout finding any recourse in material happiness, the devotee then engages himself absolutely in pure dev o tional service.\nLord Kr§tta continued, \"My dear best of the queens, it is clearly understood by Me that you have no material ambition; your only purpose is to\nserve Me, and you have long been engaged in unalloyed service. Exemplary\nunalloyed devotional service not only can bestow upon the devotee liberation from this material world, but it also promotes him to the spiritual\nworld for being eternally engaged in My service. Persons who are too\naddicted to material happiness cannot·render such service. Women whose\nhearts are polluted and full of material desires devise various means of sense\ngratification while outwardly showing themselves to be great devotees.\n\"My dear honored wife, although I have thousands of wives, I do not\nthink that any one of them can love Me more than you. The practical\nproof of your extraordinary position is that you had never seen Me before\nyour marriage; you had simply heard about Me from a third person, and\nstill your faith in Me was so fixed that even in the presence of many qualified, rich and beautiful men of the royal order, you did not select any one\nof them as your husband, but insisted on having Me. You neglected all the\nprinces present, and very politely you sent Me a confidential letter inviting\nMe to kidnap you. While I was kidnapping you, your elder brother Rukmi\nviolently protested and fought with Me. As a result of the fight, I defeated\nhim mercilessly and disfigured his body. At the time of Aniruddha's\nmarriage, when we were all engaged in playing chess, there was another\nfight with your brother Rukmi on a controversial verbal point, and My\nelder brother Balarama finally killed him. I was surprised to see that you\ndid not utter even a word of protest over this incidence. Because of your\ngreat anxiety that you might be separated from Me, you suffered all. the\nconsequences without speaking even a word. As the result of this great\nsilence, My dear wife, you have purchased Me for all time; I have become\neternally under your control. You sent your messenger to Me inviting Me\nto kidnap you, and when you found that there was a little delay in My\narriving on the spot, you began to see the whole world as vacant. At that\ntime you concluded that your beautiful body was not fit to be touched by\nanyone else; therefore, thinking that I was not coming, you decided to\ncommit suicide and immediately end that body. My dear RukmitJ.i, such\ngreat and exalted love for Me will always remain within My soul. As far as\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0084": "Talks Between Kr��a and Rukmi�i\n\n47\n\nI am concerned, it is not within My power to repay you for your unalloyed\ndevotion to Me.\"\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead Kr��a certainly has no business\nbeing anyone's husband or son or father, because everything belongs to\nHim and everyone is under His control. He does not require anyone's help\nfor His satisfaction. He is iitmiiriima, self-satisfied; He can derive all pleasure\nby Himself, without anyone's help. When the Lord descends to play the\npart of a human being, He plays a role either as a husband, son, friend or\nenemy, in full perfection. As such, when He was playing as the perfect\nhusband of the queens, especially of Rukmi�iji, He enjoyed conjugal love\nin complete perfection.\nAccording to Vedic culture, although polygamy is allowed, none of the\nwives should be ill-treated. In other words, one may take many wives only\nif he is able to satisfy all of them equally as an ideal householder; otherwise\nit is not allowed. Lord Kr��a is the world-teacher; therefore, even though\nHe had no need for a wife, He expanded Himself into as many forms as He\nhad wives, and He lived with them as an ideal householder, observing the\nregulative principles, rules and commitments in accordance with the Vedic\ninjunctions and the social laws and customs of society. For each of His\n16,108 wives, He simultaneously maintained different palaces, different\nestablishments and different atmospheres. Thus the Lord, although one,\nexhibited Himself as 16,108 ideal householders.\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Fifth\nChapter, of Kr��a, \"Talks Between K[f!W and Rukmir-i.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0085": "6 I The Genealogical Table\nof the Family of Kr��a\nKr��a had 16,108 wives, and in each of them He begot ten sons, all of\n\nthem equal to their father in the opulences of strength, beauty, wisdom,\n\nfame, wealth and renunciation. \"Like father like son.\" All the 16,108\n\nwives of Kr��a were princesses, and when each saw that Kr��a was always\n\npresent in her respective palace and did not leave home, they considered\n\nKr��a to be a henpecked husband who was very much attached to them.\n\nEvery one of them thought that Kr��a was her very obedient husband,\n\nbut actually Kr��a had no attraction for any of them. Although each\n\nthought that she was the only wife of Kr��a and was very, very dear to\n\nHim, Lord Kr��a, since He is iitmiiriima, self-sufficient, was neither dear\n\nnor inimical to any one of them; He was equal to all the wives and treated\n\nthem as a perfect husband just to please them. For Him, there was no need\n\nfor even a single wife. In fact, since they were women, the wives could not\nunderstand the exalted position of Kr��a nor the truths about Him.\n\nAll the princesses who were wives of Kr��a were exquisitely beautiful,\n\nand each one of them was attracted by Kr��a's eyes, which were just like\n\nlotus petals, and by His beautiful face, long arms, broad ears, pleasing\n\nsmile, humorous talk and sweet words. Influenced by these features of\nKr��a, they all used to dress themselves very attractively, desiring to attract\n\nKrwa by their feminine bodily appeal. They used to exhibit their feminine\n\ncharacteristics by smiling and moving their eyebrows, thus throwing\n\nsharpened arrows of conjugal love just to awaken Kr��a's lusty desires for\n\nthem. Still, they could not arouse the mind of Kr��a or His sex appetite.\n\nThis means that Kr��a never had any sex relations with any of His many\n\nwives, save and except to beget children.\n\nThe queens of Dvaraka were so fortunate that they got Lord Sri Kr��a\n\nas their husband and personal companion, although He is not approachable\nby exalted demigods like Brahma. They remained together as husband and\n48\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0086": "The Genealogical Table of the Family of Kr��a\n\n49\n\nwife, and Krwa, as an ideal husband, treated them in such a way that at\n\nevery moment there was an increase of transcendental bliss in their smiling\n\nexchanges, talking and mixing together. Each and every wife had hundreds\nand thousands of maidservants, yet when Kr��a entered the palaces of His\n\nthousands of wives, each one of them used to receive Kr��a personally by\nseating Him in a nice chair, worshiping Him with all requisite paraphernalia,\n\npersonally washing His lotus feet, offering Him betel nuts, massaging His\nlegs to relieve them from fatigue, fanning Him to make Him comfortable,\n\noffering all kinds of scented sandalwood pulp, oils and aromatics, putting\nflower garlands on His neck, dressing His hair, getting Him to lie down on\n\nthe bed and assisting Him in taking His bath. Thus they served always in\n\nevery respect, especially when Kr��a was eating. They were always engaged\nin the service of the Lord.\n\nOf the 16,108 queens of Kr��a, each of whom had ten sons, there is the\n\nfollowing list of the sons of the first eight queens. By Rukmi�i, Kr��a had\n\nten sons: Pradyumna, Carude��a, Sude��a, Carudeha, Sucaru, Carugupta,\n\nBhadracaru, Carucandra, Vicaru, and Caru. None of them were inferior in\n\ntheir qualities to their divine father, Lord Kr��a. Similarly, Satyabhama\n\nhad ten sons, and their names are as follows: Bhanu, Subhanu, Svarbhanu,\n\nPrabhanu, Bhanuman, Candrabhanu, Brhadbhanu, Atibhanu, Sribhanu and\n.\n\nPratibhanu. The next queen, Jambavati, had ten sons, headed by Samba.\n\nTheir names are as follows: Samba, Sumitra, Purujit, Satajit, Sahasrajit,\nVijaya, Citraketu, Vasuman, Dravi�a and Kratu. Lord Krwa was specifically\n\nvery affectionate to the sons of Jambavati. By His wife Satya, the daughter\n\nof King Nagnajit, Lord Kr��a had ten sons. They are as follows: Vira,.\n\nCandra, Asvasena, Citragu, Vegavan, Vr�a, Ama, Sariku, Vasu and Kunti.­\n\nAmongst all of them, Kunti was very powerful. Kr��a had ten sons by\n\nKalindi, and they are as follows: Sruta, Kavi, Vr�a, Vira, Subahu, Bhadra,\n\nSanti, Dar8a, Piir�amasa and the youngest, Somaka. For His next wife,\n\nLak�ma�a, the daughter of the King of Madras Province, He begot ten\n\nsons, of the names Pragho�a, Gatravan, Simha, Bala, Prabala, Urdhvaga,\n\nMahasakti, Saha, Oja and Aparajita. Similarly, His next wife, Mitravinda,\n\nhad ten sons. They are as follows: Vrka, Har�a, Anila, Grdhra, Vardhana,\n\nAnnada, Mahamsa, Pavana, Vahni and Ksudhi. His next wife, Bhadra, had\nten sons, of the names Sarigramajit, Brhatsena, Sura, Prahara�a, Arijit,\n\nJaya, Subhadra, Varna, Ayu and Satyaka. Besides these eight chief queens,\n\nKrwa had 16,100 other wives, and all of them had ten sons each.\n\nThe eldest son of Rukmi�i, Pradyumna, was married with Mayavati from\n\nhis very birth, and afterwards he was again married with Rukmavati, the\n\ndaughter of his maternal uncle, Rukmi. From this Rukmavati, Pradyumna\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0087": "50\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nhad a son named Aniruddha. In this way, Kr��a's family-Kr��a and His\n\nwives, along with their sons and grandsons and even great-grandsons-all\ncombined together to include very nearly one billion family members.\n\nRukmi, the elder brother of KH9-a's first wife, Rukmi9-i, was greatly\n\nharrassed and insulted in his fight with Kr��a, but on the request of\n\nRukmi9-i his life was saved. Since then Rukmi had held a great grudge\n\nagainst Krwa and was always inimical toward Him. Nevertheless, his\n\ndaughter was married with Kr�9-a's son, and his granddaughter was married\nwith Kr�9-a's grandson, Aniruddha. This fact appeared to be a little aston­\n\nishing to Maharaja Parik�it when he heard it from Sukadeva Gosvami. \"I\n\nam surprised that Rukmi and Kr�9-a, who were so greatly inimical to one\n\nanother, could again be united by marital relationships between their\n\ndescendants.\" Parik�it Maharaja was curious about the mystery of this\nincident, and therefore he inquired further from Sukadeva Gosvami\n\nBecause Sukadeva Gosvami was a practical yogi, nothing was hidden from\n\nhis power of insight. A perfect yogi like Sukadeva Gosvami can see past,\n\npresent and future in all details. Therefore, from such yogis or mystics\n\nthere can be nothing concealed. When Panlqit Maharaja inquired from\nSukadeva Gosvami, Sukadeva Gosvami answered as follows.\n\nPradyumna, the eldest son of Kr��a, born of Rukmi�i, was Cupid\n\nhimself. He was so beautiful and attractive that the daughter of Rukmi,\nnamely Rukmavati, could not select any husband other than Pradyumna\n\nduring her svayarhvara. Therefore, in that selection meeting, she garlanded\n\nPradyumna in the presence of all other princes. When there was a fight\n\namong the princes, Pradyumna came out victorious, and therefore Rukmi\n\nwas obliged to offer his beautiful daughter to him. Although a far-off\n\nenmity was always blazing in the heart of Rukmi because of his being\n\ninsulted by Kr�9-a's kidnapping of his sister Rukmi9-i, when his daughter\n\nselected Pradyumna as her husband Rukmi could not resist consenting\n\nto the marriage ceremony just to please his sister, Rukmi9-i. And so\nPradyumna became the nephew of Rukmi. Besides the ten sons described\n\nabove, Rukmi9-i had one beautiful daughter with big eyes, and she was\nmarried to the son of Krtavarma, whose name was Bali.\n\nAlthough Rukmi was a veritable enemy of Kr��a, he had great affection\n\nfor his sister, Rukmi�i, and he wanted to please her in all respects. On this\n\naccount, when Rukmi�i's grandson Aniruddha was to be married, Rukmi\n\noffered his granddaughter Rocana to Aniruddha. Such marriage between\nimmediate cousins is not very much sanctioned by the Vedic culture, but\nin order to please Rukmi�i, Rukmi offered his daughter and granddaughter\n\nto the son and grandson of Kr�9-a. In this way, when the negotiation of the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0088": "The Genealogical' Table of the Family of Kr��a\n\n51\n\nmarriage of Aniruddha with Rocana was complete, a big marriage party\naccompanied Aniruddha and started from Dvaraka. They travelled until\nthey reached Bhojakata, which Rukmi had colonized after his sister had\n\nbeen kidnapped by Kr�!la. This marriage party was led by the grandfather,\n\nnamely Lord Kr��a, accompanied by Lord Balarama, as well as Kr�!la's\nfirst wife, Rukmi!li, His son Pradyumna, Jambavati's son Samba and many\n\nother relatives and family members. They reached the town of Bhojakata,\n\nand the marriage ceremony was peacefully performed.\n\nThe King of Kalinga was a friend of Rukmi's, and he gave him the ill\n\nadvice to play with Balarama and thus defeat Him in a bet. Amongst the\n\nk§atriya kings, betting and gambling in chess was not uncommon. If\n\nsomeone challenged a friend to play on the chessboard, the friend could\nnot deny the challenge. Sri Balaramaji was not a very expert chess player,\n\nand this was known to the King of Kaliilga. So Rukmi was advised to\n\nretaliate against the family members of Kr�!la by challenging Balarama to\n\nplay chess. Although not a very expert chess player, Sri Balaramaji was\nvery enthusiastic in sporting activities. He accepted the challenge of Rukmi\nand\n\nsat\n\ndown to play. Betting was with gold coins, and Balarama\nfirst of all challenged with one hundred coins, then 1,000 coins, then\n10,000 coins. Each time, Balarama lost, and Rukmi became victorious.\nSri Balarama's losing the game was an opportunity for the King of\nKaliilga to criticize Kr�!la and Balarama. Thus the King of Kaliilga was\n\ntalking jokingly and purposefully showing his teeth to Balarama. Because\nBalarama was the loser in the game, He was a little intolerant of the\n\nsarcastic joking words. He became a little agitated, and when Rukmi again\nchallenged Baladima, he made a bet of 100,000 gold coins. Fortunately,\nthis time Balarama won. Although Balaramaji had won, Rukmi, out of his\ncunningness, began to claim that BaHuama was the loser and that he\nhimself had won. Because of this lie, Balaramaji became most angry with\n\nRukmi. His agitation was so sudden and great that it appeared like a tidal\nwave in the ocean on a full moon day. Balarama's eyes are naturally\n\nreddish, and when He became agitated and angry His eyes became more\nreddish. This time He challenged and made a bet of a hundred million coins.\n\nAgain Balarama was the winner according to the rules of chess, but\n\nRukmi again cunningly began to claim that he had won. Rukmi appealed\n\nto the princes present, and He especially mentioned the name of the King\nof Kaliilga. At that time there was a voice from the air during the dispute,\n\nand it announced that for all honest purposes Balarama, the actual winner\nof this game, was being abused and that the statement of Rukmi that he\n\nhad won was absolutely false.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0089": "52\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\nIn spite of this divine voice, Rukmi insisted that Balarama had lost, and\n\nby his persistence it appeared that he had death upon his head. Falsely\npuffed up by the ill advice of his friend, he did not give much importance\nto the oracle, and he began to criticize Balaramaji. He said, \"My dear\nBalaramaji, You two brothers, cowherd boys only, may be very expert in tending cows, but how can You be expert in playing chess\nor shooting arrows on the battlefield? These arts are well-known only to\nthe princely order.\" Hearing this kind of pinching talk by Rukmi and\nhearing the loud laughter of all the other princes present there, Lord\nBalarama became as agitated as burning cinders. He immediately took a\nclub in His hand and, without any further talk, struck Rukmi on the head.\nFrom that one blow, Rukmi fell down immediately and was dead and\ngone. Thus Rukmi was killed by Balarama on that auspicious occasion of\nAniruddha's marriage.\nThese things are not very uncommon in k§atriya society, and the King\nof Kalinga, being afraid that he would be the next to be attacked, fled\nfrom the scene. Before he could escape even a few steps, however,\nBalaramaji immediately captured him and, because the King was always\nshowing his teeth while criticizing Balarama and Kr��a, broke all his teeth\nwith His club. The other princes who were supporting the King of Kalinga\nand Rukmi were also captured, and Balarama beat them with His club,\nbreaking their legs and hands. They did not try to retaliate but thought it\nwise to run away from the bloody scene.\nDuring this strife between Balarama and Rukmi, Lord Kr��a did not\nutter a word, for He knew that if He supported Balarama Rukmi�i would\nbe unhappy, and if He said that the killing of Rukmi was unjust, then\nBalarama would be unhappy. Therefore, Lord Kr��a was silent on the\ndeath of His brother-in-law, Rukmi, on the occasion of His grandson's\nmarriage. He did not disturb either His affectionate relationship with\nBalarama or with Rukmi�i. After this, the bride and the bridegroom\nwere ceremoniously seated on the chariot, and they started for Dvaraka,\naccompanied by the bridegroom's party. The bridegroom's party was\nalways protected by Lord Kr��a, the killer of the Madhu demon. Thus\nthey left Rukmi's kingdom, Bhojakata, and happily started for Dvaraka.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Sixth\nChapter of Kr§�a, \"The Genealogical Table of the Family of K[§[W.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0090": "7 I The Meeting of U�a and Aniruddha\n\nThe meeting of Aniruddha and U�a, which caused a great fight between\n\nLord Kr��a and Lord Siva, is very mysterious and interesting. Maharaja\n\nPanK:�it was anxious to hear the whole story from Sukadeva Gosvami, and\n\nthus Sukadeva narrated it. \"My dear King, you must have heard the name\n\nof King Bali. He was a great devotee who gave away in charity all that he\nhad-namely, the whole world-to Lord Vamana, the incarnation of Vi��u\nas a dwarf briihmarz,a. King Bali had one hundred sons, and the eldest of all\n\nof them was Ba�asura.\"\n\nThis great hero Ba�asura, born of Maharaja Bali, was a great devotee of\n\nLord Siva and was always ready to render service unto him. Because of his\n\ndevotion, he achieved a great position in society, and he was honored in\nevery respect. Actually, he was very intelligent and liberal also, and his\n\nactivities are all praiseworthy because he never deviated from his promise\nand word of honor; he was very truthful and fixed in his vow. In those\n\ndays, he was ruling over the city of Sonitapura. By the grace of Lord Siva,\n\nBa�asura had one thousand hands, 'and he became so powerful that even\n\ndemigods like King Indra were serving him as most obedient servants.\n\nLong ago, when Lord Siva was dancing in his celebrated fashion called\n\ntiirz,flava-nrtya, for which he is known as Nataraja, Ba�asura helped Lord\nSiva in his dancing by rythmically beating drums with his one thousand\n\nhands. Lord Siva is well-known as Asuto�a, very easily pleased, and he is\n\nalso very affectionate to his devotees. He is a great protector for persons\nwho take shelter of him and is the master of all living entities in this\n\nmaterial world. Being pleased with Ba�asura, he said, \"Whatever you desire\n\nyou can have from me because I am very much pleased with you.\"\n\nBa�asura replied, \"My dear lord, if you please, you can remain in my city\n\njust to protect me from the hands of my enemies.\"\n\nOnce upon a time, Ba�asura came to offer his respects to Lord Siva. By\n53\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0091": "54\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ntouching the lotus feet of Lord Siva with his helmet, which was shining\n\nlike the sun globe, he offered his obeisances unto him. While offering his\nrespectful obeisances, Ba�asura said, \"My dear lord, anyone who has not\n\nfulfilled his ambition will be able to do so by taking shelter of your lotus\n\nfeet, which are just like desire trees-one can take from them anything he\n\ndesires. My dear lord, you have given me one thousand arms, but I do not\nknow what to do with them. Please pardon me, but it appears that I\n\ncannot use them properly in fighting. I cannot find anyone competent to\n\nfight with me except your lordship, the original father of the material\n\nworld. Sometimes I feel a great tendency to fight with my arms, and I go\n\nout to find a suitable warrior. Unfortunately, everyone flees, knowing my\n\nextraordinary power. Being baffled at not finding a match, I simply satisfy\n\nthe itching of my arms by beating them against the mountains. In this way,\nI tear many great mountains to pieces.\"\n\nLord Siva realized that his benediction had become troublesome for\n\nBapasura and addressed him, \"You rascal! You are very eager to fight, but\n\nsince you have no one to fight with, you are distressed. Although you\n\nthink that there is no one in the world to oppose you except me, I say that\nyou will eventually find such a competent person. At that time your days\n\nwill come to an end, and your flag of victory will no longer fly. Then you\nwill see your false prestige smashed to pieces!\"\n\nAfter hearing Lord Siva's statement, Bapasura became very puffed up\n\nwith his power. He was elated that he would meet someone who would be\nable to smash him to pieces. Bapasura then returned home with�great\n\npleasure, and he always waited for the day when the suitable fighter would\n\ncome to cut down his strength. He was such a foolish demon. It appears\nthat foolish, demonic human beings, when unnecessarily overpowered with\n\nmaterial opulences, want to exhibit these opulences, and such foolish\n\npeople feel satisfaction when these opulences are exhausted. The idea is\nthat they do not know how to expend their energy for right causes, being\n\nunaware of the benefit of Kr�pa consciousness. Actually, there are two\nclasses of men-one is Krsna conscious, the other is non-Krsna conscious.\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\nThe non-Kr�pa conscious men are generally devoted to the demigods,\n\nwhereas the Kr�pa conscious men are devoted to the Supreme Personality\n\nof Godhead. Kr�pa conscious persons utilize everything for the service of\n\nthe Lord. The non-Kr�pa conscious persons utilize everything for sense grati­\n\nfaction, and Bapasura is a perfect example of such a person. He was very\nanxious to utilize for his own satisfaction his extraordinary power to fight.\nNot finding any combatant, he struck his powerful hands against the moun­\n\ntains, breaking them into pieces. In contrast to this, Arjuna also possessed\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0092": "The Meeting of U�a and Aniruddha\n\n55\n\nextraordinary powers for fighting, but he utilized them only for Kr�!la.\nBa!lasura had a very beautiful daughter, whose name was U�a. When she\nhad attained the age of marriage and was sleeping amongst her many girl\nfriends, she dreamt one night that Aniruddha was by her side and that she\nwas enjoying a conjugal relationship with him, although she had never\nactually seen him nor heard of him before. She awoke from her dream\nexclaiming very loudly, \"My dear beloved, where are you?\" Being exposed\nto her other friends in this way, she became a little bit ashamed. One of\nU�a's girl friends was Citralekha, who was the daughter of Ba!lasura's prime\nminister. Citralekha and U�a were intimate friends, and out of great\ncuriosity Citralekha asked, \"My dear beautiful princess, as of yet you are\nnot married to any young boy, nor have you seen any boys until now; so\nI am surprised that you are exclaiming like this. Who are you searching\nafter? Who is your suitable match?\"\nOn hearing Citralekha's inquiries, U�a replied, \"My dear friend, in my\ndream I saw a nice young man who is very, very beautiful. His complexion\nis swarthy, his eyes are just like lotus petals, and he is dressed in yellow garments. His arms are very long, and his general bodily features are S<?\npleasing that any young girl would be attracted. I feel much pride in\nsaying that this beautiful young man was kissing me, and I was very much\nenjoying the nectar of his kissing. I am sorry to inform you that just after\nthis he disappeared, and I have been thrown into the whirlpool of disappointment. My dear friend, I am very anxious to find this wonderful young\nman, the desired lord of my heart.\"\nAfter hearing U�a's words, Citralekha immediately replied, \"I can understand your bereavement, and I assure you that if this boy is within these\nthree worlds-the upper, middle, and lower planetary systems-! must find\nhim for your satisfaction. If you can identify him from your dream, I shall\nbring you peace of mind. Now, let me draw some pictures for you to\ninsp�ct, and as soon as you find the picture of your desired husband,\nlet me know. It doesn't matter where he is; I know the art of bringing him\nhere. So, as soon as you identify him, I shall imrb.ediately arrange for it.\"\nCitralekha, while talking, began to draw many pictures of the demigods\ninhabiting the higher planetary systems, then pictures of the Gandharvas,\nSiddhas, Cara!las, Pannagas, Daityas, Vidyadharas and Y ak�as, as well as\n\nmany human beings. (The statements of Srimad-Bhiigavatam and other\nVedic literature prove definitely that on each and every planet there are\nliving entities of different varieties. Therefore, it is foolish to assert that\nthere are no living entities but those on this earth.) Citralekha painted\nmany pictures. Among those of the human beings was the Vr�!li dynasty,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0093": "56\n\nKr�pa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nincluding Vasudeva, the father of Kr�pa, Siirasena, the grandfather of\n\nKr�pa, Sri Balaramaji, Lord Kr�pa and many others. When U�a saw the\n\npicture of Pradyumna, she became a little bashful, but when she saw the\n\npicture of Aniruddha, she became so bashful that she immediately lowered\n\nher head and smiled, having found the man she was seeking. She identified\nthe picture to Citralekha as that of the man who had stolen her heart.\n\nCitralekha was a great mystic yogini, and as soon as U�a identified the\n\npicture, although neither of them had ever seen him nor knew his name,\nCitralekha could immediately understand that the picture was of Ani­\n\nruddha, a grandson of Kr�!la· That very night she traveled in outer space\n\nand within a very short time reached the city of Dvaraka, which was\n\nwell-protected by Kr�!la. She entered the palace and found Aniruddha\n\nsleeping in his bedroom on a very opulent bed. Citralekha, by her mystic\n\npower, immediately brought Aniruddha, in that sleeping condition, to the\ncity of Sonitapura so that U�a might see her desired husband. U�a im­\n\nmediately bloomed in happiness and began to enjoy the company of\nAniruddha with great satisfaction.\n\n__\n\nThe palace in which U�a and Citralekha lived was so well fortified that\n\nit was impossible for any male to either enter or see inside. U�a and\nAniruddha lived together in the palace, and day after day the love of U�a\nfor Aniruddha grew four times upon four times. U�a pleased Aniruddha\n\nwith her valuable dresses, flowers, garlands, scents and incense. By his\n\nbedside sitting place were other paraphernalia for residential purposes-nice\ndrinks such as milk and sherbet and nice eatables which could be chewed\n\nor swallowed. Above all, she pleased him with sweet words and very\n\nobliging service. Aniruddha was worshiped by U�a as if he were the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead. By her excellent service, U�a made\n\nAniruddha forget all other things and was able to draw his attention and\nlove upon her without deviation. In such an atmosphere of love and\n\nservice, Aniruddha practically forgot himself and could not recall how\n\nmany days he had been away from his real home.\n\nIn due course of time, U�a exhibited some bodily symptoms by which\n\nit could be understood that she was having intercourse with a male friend.\n\nThe symptoms were so prominent that her actions could no longer be\n\nconcealed from anyone. U�a was always cheerful in the association of\n\nAniruddha, but she did not know the bounds of her satisfaction. The\n\nhousekeeper and the watchmen of the palace could guess very easily that\n\nshe was having relations with a male friend, and without waiting for\n\nfurther development, all of them informed their master, Ba!iasura. In Vedic\n\nculture, an unmarried girl having association with a male is the greatest\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0094": "The Meeting of U�a and Aniruddha\n\n57\n\ndisgrace to the family, and so the caretaker cautiously informed his master\n\nthat U�a was developing symptoms indicating a disgraceful association. The\nservants informed their master that they were not at all neglectful in\n\nguarding the house, being alert day and night against any young man who\nmight enter. They were so careful that a male could not even see what was\ngoing on there, and so they were surprised that she had become contaminated. Since they could not trace out the reason for it, they submitted the\nwhole situation before their master.\nBa!J.asura was shocked to understand that his daughter U �a was no\nlonger a virgin maiden. This weighed heavily on his heart, and without\ndelay he rushed towards the palace where U�a was living. There he saw that\nU�a and Aniruddha were sitting together and talking. U�a and Aniruddha\nlooked very beautiful together, Aniruddha being the son of Pradyumna,\nwho was Cupid himself. Ba!J.asura saw his daughter and Aniruddha as a\nsuitable match, yet for family prestige, he did not like the combination at\nall. Ba!J.aSura could not understand who the boy actually was. He appreciated the fact that U�a could not have selected anyone in the three\nworlds more beautiful. Aniruddha's complexion was brilliant and swarthy.\nHe was dressed in yellow garments and had eyes just like lotus petals. His\narms were very long, and he had nice, curling, bluish hair. The glaring rays\nof his glittering earrings and the beautiful smile on his lips were certainly\ncaptivating. Still, Ba!J.asura was very angry.\n\nWhen Ba!J.asura saw him, Aniruddha was engaged in playing with U�a.\n\nAniruddha was nicely dressed, and U�a had garlanded him with various\nbeautiful flowers. The reddish kunkuma powder put on the breasts of\nwomen was spotted here and there on the garland, indicating that U�a had\nembraced him. Ba!J.asura was struck with wonder that, even in his presence,\nAniruddha was peacefully sitting in front of U�a. Aniruddha knew, however, that his would-be father-in-law was not at all pleased and that he was\ngathering many soldiers in the palace to attack him.\nThus, not finding any other weapon, Aniruddha took hold of a big iron\nrod and stood up before Ba!J.asura and his soldiers. He firmly took a posture\nindicating that if he were attacked he would strike all of the soldiers down\nto the ground with the iron rod. Ba\\}asura and his company of soldiers saw\nthat the boy was standing before them just like the superintendent of\ndeath with his invincible rod. Now, under the order of Banasura, the\n.\n\nsoldiers from all sides attempted to capture and arrest him. When they\ndared to come before him, Aniruddha struck them with the rod, breaking\ntheir heads, legs, arms and thighs, and one after another, they began to fall\nto the ground. He killed them just as the leader of a flock of hawks kills\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0095": "-\n\nKr��a, th e Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n58\n\nbarking dogs, one after another . .In this way, Aniruddha was able to escape\nthe palace.\n\nBa!iasura knew various arts of fighting, and by the grace of Lord Siva,\n\nhe knew how to arrest his opposing enemy by the use of a niigapiiSa,\n\nsna�e-noose, and so Aniruddha was seized as he. came out of the palace.\n\nWhen U�a received the news that her father had arrested Aniruddha, she\n\nbecame overwhelmed with grief and confusion. Tears began to glide down\n\nher eyes, and being unable to check herself, she began to cry very loudly.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Seventh\nChapter of Kr�!ia, \"The Mee ting of U§ii and A n iru ddha.\n,\n\n\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0096": "8 I Lord Kr��a Fights with Ba�asura\n\nWhen the four months of the rainy season passed and still Aniruddha\n\nhad not returned home, all the members of the Y adu family became much\nperturbed. They could not understand how the boy was missing. Fortu­\n\nnately, one day the great sage Narada came and informed the family about\n\nAniruddha's disappearance from the palace. He explained how Aniruddha\nhad been carried to the city of Sonitapura, the capital of Ba!llisura's empire,\n\nand how Ba!lasura had arrested him with the niigapiisa, even though\n\nAniruddha had defeated his soldiers. This news was given in detail, and the\nwhole story was disclosed. Then the members of the Y adu dynasty, all of\n\nwhom had great affection for Kr�!la, prepared to attack the city of\n\nSonitapura. Practically all the leaders of the family, including Pradyumna,\n\nSatyaki, Gada, Samba, Sara�a, Nanda, Upananda and Bhadra, combined\n\ntogether and gathered eighteen ak§auhirti military divisions into phalanxes.\n\nThen they all went to Sonitapura and surrounded it with soldiers, ele-·\nphants, horses and chariots.\n\nBa!lasura heard that the soldiers of the Y adu dynasty were attacking\n\nthe whole city, tearing down various walls, gates and nearby gardens.\n\nBecoming very angry, he immediately ordered his soldiers, who were of\n\nequal caliber, to go and face them. Lord Siva was so kind to Ba!lasura that\nhe personally came as the commander-in-chief of the military force,\n\nassisted by his heroic sons Karttikeya.and Ga!!apati. Seated on his favorite\nbull, Nandisvara, Lord Siva, led the fighting against Lord Kr��a and\nBalarama. We can simply imagine how fierce the fighting was-Lord Siva\n\nwith his valiant sons on one side and Lord Kr�!la, the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead, and His elder brother, Sri Balaramaji, on the other. The\n\nfighting was so fierce that those who saw the battle were struck with\n\nwonder, and the hairs on their bodies stood up. Lord Siva was engaged in\n\nfighting directly with Lord Kr�!la, Pradyumna was engaged with Karttikeya,\n\n59\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0097": "Kr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n60\n\nand Lord Balarama was engaged with Bapasura's commander-in-chief,\n\nKumbhap�a, who was assisted by Kiipakarpa. Samba, the son of Kr�pa,\n\nwas engaged in fighting with the son of Bapasura, and Bapasura was\n\nengaged in fighting with Satyaki, commander-in -chief of the Y adu dynasty.\n\nIn this way the fighting was waged.\n\nNews of the fighting spread all over the universe. Demigods such as Lord\n\nBrahma, from higher planetary systems, along with great sages and saintly\n\npersons, Siddhas, Carapas and Gandharvas-all being very curious to see\n\nthe fight between Lord Siva, Lord Kr�pa and their assistants-were hovering\nover the battlefield in their airplanes. Lord Siva is called the bhilta-niitha,\n\nbeing assisted by various types of powerful ghosts and denizens of the\ninferno bhiltas, pretas, pramathas, guhyakas, fliikinis, piSiicas, kil�mii!'-flas,\n-\n\nvetiilas, viniiyakas, and brahma-riik§asas.\n\n(Of all kinds of ghosts, the\n\nbrahma-riik§asas are very powerful. Briihmaras transferred to the role of\n\nghosts become brahma-riik§asas.)\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Kr�pa simply drove all these\n\nghosts away from the battlefield, beating them with His celebrated bow,\n\nSarngadhanu. Lord Siva then began to release all his selected weapons upon\n\nthe Personality of Godhead. Lord Sri Kr�pa, without any difficulty,\n\ncounteracted all these weapons with counter-weapons. He counteracted\n\nthe brahmiistra, similar to the atomic bomb, by another brahmiistra, and\nan air weapon by a mountain weapon. When Lord Siva released a particular\nweapon bringing about a violent hurricane on the battlefield, Lord Kr�pa\n\npresented just the opposing element, a mountain weapon which checked\n\nthe hurricane on the spot. Similarly when Lord Siva released his weapon\nof devastating fire, Kr�pa counteracted it with torrents of rain.\n\nAt last, when Lord Siva released his personal weapon, called piisupata­\n\nsastra, Kr�pa immediately counteracted it by the niiriiyara-sastra. Lord\n\nSiva then became exasperated·in fighting with Lord Kr�pa. Kr�pa then took\nthe opportunity to release His yawning weapon. When this weapon is\n\nreleased, the opposing party becomes tired, stops fighting, and begins to\n\nyawn. Consequently, Lord Siva became so fatigued that he refused to fight\n\nanymore and began to yawn. Kr�pa was now able to turn His attention\nfrom the attack of Lord Siva to the efforts of Bapasura, and He began to\n\nkill his .(>ersonal soldiers with swords and clubs. Meanwhile, Lord Kr�pa's\n\nson Pradyumna was fighting fiercely with Karttikeya, the commander­\n\nin-chief of the demigods. Karttikeya was wounded, and his body was\nbleeding profusely. In this condition, he left the battlefield and, without\n\nfighting anymore, rode away on the back of his peacock carrier. Similarly,\nLord Balarama was smashing Bapasura's commander-in-chief, Kumbhap�a,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0098": "Lord Kr��a Fights with B�asura\n\n61\n\nwith the strokes of his club. Kiipakar�a was also wounded in this way, and\n\nboth he and Kumbha��a fell on the battlefield, the commander-in-chief\n\nbeing fatally wounded. Without guidance, all of Ba�asura's soldiers scattered here and there.\n\nWhen Ba�asura saw that his soldiers and commanders had been defeated,\n\nhis anger only increased. He thought it wise to stop fighting with Satyaki,\nKr��a's commander-in-chief, and instead directly attacked Lord Kr�!la.\n\nNow having the opportunity to use his one thousand hands, he rushed\n\ntowards Kr��a, simultaneously working 500 bows and 2,000 arrows. Such\na foolish person could never measure Kr��a's strength. Immediately, with­\n\nout any difficulty, Krwa cut each of Ba!lasura's bows into two pieces and,\n\nto check him from going further, made his chariot horses lay on the\nground. The chariot then broke to pieces. After doing this, Kr��a blew His\nconchshell, Paiicajanya.\n\nThere was a demigoddess named Kotara who was worshiped by Ba�asura,\n\nand their relationship was as mother and son. Mother Kotara was upset\n\nthat Ba!lasura 's life was in danger, so she appeared on the scene. With\n\nnaked body and scattered hair, she stood before Lord KH�a. Sri Kr��a did\n\nnot like the sight of this naked woman, and to avoid seeing her, He turned\n\nHis face. Ba�asura, getting this chance to escape Kr�!la's attack, left the\n\nbattlefield. All the strings of his bows were broken, and there was no\n\nchariot or driver, so he had no alternative than to return to his city. He lost\neverything in the battle.\n\nBeing greatly harassed by the arrows of Kr�!la, all the associates of Lord\n\nSiva, the hobgoblins and ghostly bhiitas, pretas and k§atriyas, left the\n\nbattlefield. Lord Siva then took to his last resort. He released his greatest\n\ndeath weapon, known as Sivajvara, which destroys by excessive tempera­\n\nture. It is said that at the end of this creation the sun becomes twelve\n\ntimes more scorching than usual. This twelve-times-hotter temperature is\ncalled Sivajvara. When the Sivajvara personified was released, he had three\n\n�eads and three legs, and as he came toward Kr�!la it appeared that he was\nburning everything into ashes. He was so powerful that he made blazing\nfire appear in all directions, and Kr�!la observed that he was specifically\ncoming toward Him.\n\nAs there is a Sivajvara weapon, there is also a Naraya�ajvara weapon.\n\nNaraya�ajvara is represented by excessive cold. When there is excessive\n\nheat, one can somehow or other tolerate it, but when there is excessive\n\ncold, everything collapses. This is actually experienced by a person at the\n\ntime of death. At the time of death, the temperature of the body first of\n\nall increases to l 07 degrees, and then the whole body collapses and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0099": "Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n62\n\nimmediately becomes as cold as ice. To counteract the scorching heat of\n\nthe Sivajvara, there was 'no other weapon but Naraya�ajvara.\n\nWhen Lord Kr�!la saw that the Sivajvara had-been released by Lord Siva,\n\nHe had no other recourse than to release Naraya!lajvara. Lord Sri Kr�!!a is\n\nthe original Naraya�a and the controller of the Naraya�ajvara weapon.\n\nWhen the Naraya!lajvara was released, there was a great fight between the\n\ntwo jvaras. When excessive heat is counteracted by extreme cold, it is\n\nnatural for the hot temperature to gradually reduce, and this is what\n\noccurred in the fight between Sivajvara and Naraya�ajvara. Gradually,\n\nSivajvara's temperature diminished, and Sivajvara began to cry for help\n\nfrom Lord Siva, but Lord Siva was unable to help him in the presence of\nthe Naraya!lajvara. Unable to get any help from Lord Siva, the Sivajvara\n\ncould understand that he had no means of escape outside surrendering\nunto Naraya!la, Lord Kr�!la Himself. Lord Siva, the greatest of the demi­\n\ngods, could not help him, what to speak of the lesser demigods, and\n\ntherefore Sivajvara ultimately surrendered unto Kr�!la, bowing before Him\n\nand offering a prayer so that the Lord might be pleased and give him\nprotection.\n\nBy this incidence of the fight between the ultimate weapons of Lord\n\nSiva and Lord Kr�!la it is proved that if Kr�!la gives someone protection, no\n\none can kill him. But if Kr�!la does not give one any protection, then no\none can save him. Lord Siva is called Mahadeva, greatest of all demigods,\n\nalthough sometimes Lord Brahma is considered the greatest of all demi­\n\ngods, because he can create, whereas Lord Siva can annihilate the creations\n\nof Brahma. But both Lord Brahma and Lord Siva act only in one capacity.\n\nLord Brahma can create, and Lord Siva can annihilate, but neither of them\n\ncan maintain. Lord Vi�!lu, however, not only maintains, but He creates,\n\nand annihilates also. Factually, the creation is not effected by Brahma,\n\nbecause Brahma himself is created by Lord Vi��u. Lord Siva is created,\n\nor born, of Brahma. The Sivajvara thus understood that without Kr�!la or\nNaraya!la, no one could help him. He therefore rightly took shelter of Lord\nKr�!la and, with folded hands, began to pray as follows.\n\n\"My dear Lord, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You because You\n\nhave unlimited potencies. No one can surpass Your potencies, and thus\n\nYou are the Lord of everyone. Generally people consider Lord Siva to be\n\nthe most powerful personality in the material world, but Lord Siva is not\n\nall-powerful; You are all-powerful. This is factual. You are the original\n\nconsciousness or knowledge. Without knowledge or consciousness, nothing\n\ncan be powerful. A material thing might be very powerful, but without\n\nthe touch of knowledge or consciousness it cannot act. A material machine\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0100": "Lord Kr��a Fights with Ba�asura\n\n63\n\nmay be very gigantic and wonderful, but without the touch of someone\nconscious and in knowledge, the material machine is useless for all pur­\n\nposes. My Lord, You. are complete knowledge, and there is not a pinch of\n\nmaterial contamination in Your personality. Lord Siva may be a powerful\ndemigod because of his specific power to annihilate the· whole creation,\n\nand similarly, Lord Brahma may be very powerful because he can create\n\nthe entire universe, but actually neither Brahma nor Lord Siva is the\n\noriginal cause of this cosmic manifestation. You are the Absolute Truth,\n\nthe Supreme Brahman, and You are the original cause. The original cause\nof the cosmic manifestation is not the impersonal Brahman effulgence.\n\nThat impersonal Brahman effulgence is resting on Your personality. As is\n\nconfirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, the cause of the impersonal Brahman is\n\nLord Kr��a. This Brahman effulgence is likened to the sunshine which\n\nemanates from the sun globe. Therefore, impersonal Brahman is not the\n\nultimate cause. The ultimate cause of everything is the supreme eternal\n\nform of Kr��a. All material actions and reactions are taking place in the\n\nimpersonal Brahman, but in the personal Brahman, the eternal form of\nKrwa, there is no action and reaction. My Lord, Your body is therefore\n\ncompletely\n\npeaceful,\n\ncontamination.\n\ncompletely blissful\n\nand is devoid of\n\nmaterial\n\n\"In the material body there are actions and reactions of the three\n\nmodes of material nature. The time factor is the most important element\n\nand is above all others, because the material manifestation is effected by\n\ntime agitation. Thus natural phenomena come into existence, and as soon\nas\n\nthere is the appearance of phenomena, fruitive activities are visible. As\n\nthe result of these fruitive activities, a living entity takes his form. He\n\nacquires a particular type of nature which is packed up in a subtle body\n\nand gross body formed by the life air, the ego, the ten sense organs, the\n\nmind and the five gross elements: These then create the type of body which\n\nlater becomes the root or cause of various other bodies, which are acquired\n\none after another by the transmigration of the soul. All these phenomenal\nmanifestations are the combined actions of Your material energy. Unaf­\n\nfected by the action and reaction of different elements, You are the cause\n\nof this external energy, and because You are transcendental to such\ncompulsions of material energy, You are the supreme tranquility. You are\n\nthe last word in freedom from material contamination. I am therefore\n\ntaking shelter at Your lotus feet, giving up all other shelter.\n\n\"My dear Lord, Your appearance as the son of Vasudeva in Your role as\n\na human being is one of the pastimes of Your complete freedom. To\n\nbenefit Your devotees and to vanquish the nondevotees, You appear in\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0101": "64\n\nKr�pa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nmulti-incarnations. All such incarnations descend in fulfillment of Your\n\npromise in the Bhagavad-gitii that You appear as soon as there are\n\ndiscrepancies in the system of progressive life. When there are disturbances\n\nby irregular principles, my dear Lord, You appear by Your internal\npotency. Your main business is to protect and maintain the demigods and\n\nspiritually inclined persons and maintain the standard of material law and\n\norder. Simultaneous to the maintenance of such law and order, Your\n\nviolence to the miscreants and demons is quite befitting. This is not the\n\nfirst time You have incarnated; it is to be understood that You have done\nso many, many times before.\n\n\"My dear Lord, I beg to submit that I have been very greatly chastised\n\nby the release of Your Naraya!lajvara. It is certainly very cooling, yet at\nthe same time very severely dangerous and unbearable for all of us. My\n\ndear Lord, as long as one is forgetful of Kr�!la consciousness, driven by the\n\nspell of material desires and ignorant of the ultimate shelter at Your lotus\nfeet, one who has accepted this material body becomes disturbed by the\nthree miserable conditions of material nature. Because one does riot sur­\n\nrender unto You, he therefore continues to suffer perpetually.\"\n\nAfter hearing the Sivajvara, Lord Kr�!la replied, \"0 three-headed one, I\n\nam pleased with your statement. Be assured there is no more suffering for\n\nyou from the Naraya!lajvara. Not only are you now free from fear of\n\nNaraya!lajvara, but- anyone in the future who simply recollects this fight\n\nbetween Sivajvara and Naraya!lajvara will also be freed from all kinds of\n\nfearfulness.\" After hearing the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the\n\nSivajvara offered his respectful obeisances unto His lotus feet and left.\n\nIn the meantime Ba!lasura somehow or other recovered from his setbacks\n\nand, with rejuvenated energy, returned to fight. This time Ba!lasura\n\nappeared before Lord Krwa, who was seated on His chariot, with different\n\nkinds of weapons in his one thousand hands. Ba!lasura was very much\n\nagitated. He began to splash his different weapons, like torrents of rain,\n\nupon the body of Lord Kr�!la. When Lord Kr�!la saw the weapons of\nBa!lasura coming at Him, like water coming out of a strainer, He took His\n\nsharp-edged Sudarsana disc and began to cut off the demon's one thou­\n\nsand hands one after another, just as a gardener trims the twigs of a tree\n\nwith sharp cutters. When Lord Siva saw that his devotee Ba!lasura could\n\nnot be saved even in his presence, he came to his senses and personally\n\ncame before Lord Kr�!la and began to pacify Him by offering the following\nprayers.\n\nLord Siva said, \"My dear Lord, You are the worshipable object of the\n\nVedic hymns. One who does not know You considers the impersonal\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0102": "Lord Kr��a Fights with Ba�asura\n\n65\n\n�rahmajyoti to be the ultimate Supreme Absolute Truth, without any\n\nknowledge that You are existing behind Your spiritual effulgence in Your\n\neternal abode. My dear Lord, You are therefore called Parambrahman.\n\nThis word, Parambrahman, has been used in the Bhagavad-gitii to identify\n\nYou. Saintly persons who have completely cleansed their hearts of all\n\nmaterial contamination can realize Your transcendental form, although\n\nYou are all-pervading like the sky, unaffected by any material thing. Only\nthe devotees can realize You, and no one else. In the impersonalists'\n\nconception of Your supreme existence, the sky is just like Your navel, the\n\nfire is Your mouth, and the water is Your semina. The heavenly planets are\n\nYour head, all the directions are Your ears, the Urvi planet is Your lotus\n\nfeet, the moon is Your mind, and the sun is Your eye. As far as I am\n\nconcerned, I act as Your ego. The ocean is Your abdomen, and the King of\nheaven, lndra, is Your arm. Trees and plants are the hairs of Your body,\n\nthe cloud is the hair on Your head, and Lord Brahma is Your intelligence.\nAll the great\n\nprogenitors,\n\nknown\n\nas\n\nPrajapatis,\n\nare\n\nYour symbolic\n\nrepresentatives. And religion is ·Your heart. The impersonal feature of\n\nYour supreme body is conceived of in this way, but You are ultimately the\nSupreme Person. The impersonal feature of Your supreme body is only a\n\nsmall expansion of Your energy. You are likened to the original fire, and\nthe exp�nsions are Your light and heat.\"\n\nLord Siva continued: \"My dear Lord, although You are manifested\n\nuniversally, different parts of the universe are the different parts of Your\n\nbody, and by Your inconceivable potency You can simultaneously be\n\nboth localized and universal. In the Brahma-samhitii we also find it stated\n\nthat although You always remain in Your abode, Goloka Vrndavana, You\n\nare nevertheless present everywhere. As stated in the Bhagavad-gitii, You\nappear to protect the devotees, which indicates good fortune for all the\n\nuniverse. All of the demigods are directing different affairs of the universe\n\nby Your grace only. Thus the seven upper planetary systems are being\n\nmaintained by Your grace. At the end of this creation, all manifestations\n\nof Your energies, whether in the shape of demigods, human beings or\n\nlower animals, enter into You, and all immediate and remote causes of\ncosmic manifestation rest in You without distinctive features of existence.\n\nUltimately, there is no possibility of distinction between Yourself and any\n\nother thing on an equal level with You or subordinate to You. You are\n\nsimultaneously the cause of this cosmic manifestation and its ingredients\nas\n\nwell. You are the Supreme Whole, one without a second. In the pheno­\n\nmenal manifestation there are three stages: the stage of consciousness, the\n\nstage of semiconsciousness in dreaming, and the stage of unconsciousness.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0103": "66\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nBut Your Lordship is transcendental to all these different material stages\nof existence. You exist, therefore, in a fourth dimension, and Your\nappearance and disappearance do not depend on anything beyond Yourself. You are the supreme cause of everything, but for Yourself there is no\ncause. You Yourself cause Your own appearance and disappearance.\nDespite Your transcendental position, my Lord, in order to show Your\nsix opulences and advertise Your transcendental qualities, You have\nappeared in Your different incarnations-fish, tortoise, boar, Nrsimha,\nKesava, etc.-by Your personal manifestation; and You have appeared as\ndifferent living entities by Your separated manifestations. By Your internal\npotency, You appear as the different incarnations of Vi��u, and by Your\nexternal potency You appear as the phenomenal world.\n\"Because it is a cloudy day to the common man's eyes, the sun appears\nto be covered. But the fact is that because the sunshine creates the cloud,\neven though the whole sky is cloudy, the sun can never actually be\ncovered. Similarly, the less intelligent class of men claims that there is no\nGod, but when the manifestation of different living entities and their\nactivities is visible, enlightened persons see You present in every atom and\nthrough the via media of Your external and marginal energies. Your unlimited potential activities are experienced by the most enlightened devotees,\nbut those who are bewildered by the spell of Your external energy identify\nthemselves with this material world and become attached to society, friendship and love. Thus they embrace the threefold miseries of material existence and are subjected to the dualities of pain and pleasure. They are sometimes drowned in the ocean of attachment and sometimes taken out of it.\n\n\"My dear Lord, only by Your mercy and grace can the living entity get\n\nthe human form of life, which is a chance to get out of the miserable\ncondition of material existence. However, a person who possesses a human\nbody but who cannot bring the senses under control is carried away by the\nwaves of sensual enjoyment. As such, he cannot take shelter of Your lotus\nfeet and thus engage in Your devotional service. The life of such a person\nis very unfortunate, and anyone living such a life of darkness is certainly\ncheating himself and thus cheating others also. Therefore, human society\nwithout Kr��a consciousness is a society of cheaters and the cheated.\n\"My Lord, You are actually the dearmost Supersoul of all living entities\nand the supreme controller of everything. The human being who is always\nillusioned is afraid of ultimate death. A man who is simply attached to\nsensual enjoyment voluntarily accepts the miserable material existence and\nthus wanders after the will-o'-the-wisp of sense pleasure. He is certainly the\nmost foolsih man, for he drinks poison and puts aside the nectar. My dear\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0104": "Lord Kr�!ia Fights with B�asura\n\n67\n\nLord, all the demigods, including myself and Lord Brahma, as well as great\n\nsaintly persons and sages whotbave cleansed their hearts of this material\nattachment, have, by Your grace, wholeheartedly taken shelter of Your\nlotus feet. We have all taken shelter of You, because we have accepted\n\nYou as the Supreme Lord and the dearmost life and soul of all of us. You\n\nare the original cause of this cosmic manifestation, You are its supreme\n\nmaintainer, and You are the cause of its dissolution also. You are equal\n\nto everyone, the most peaceful supreme friend of every living entity. You\n\nare the supreme worshipahle object for every one of us. My dear Lord, let\nus always be engaged in Your transcendental loving service so that we may\n\nget free from this material entanglement.\n\n\"Lastly, my Lord, I may inform You that this Ba!lasura is very dear to\n\nme. He has rendered very valuable service unto me; therefore I want to see\n\nhim always happy. Being pleased with him, I have given him the assurance\n\nof safety. I pray to You, my Lord, that as You were pleased upon his\n\nforefathers King Prahlada and Bali Maharaja, You will also be pleased\n\nwith him.\"\n\nAfter hearing Lord Siva's prayer, Lord Kr�!la addressed him also as\n\nlord and said, \"My dear Lord Siva, I accept your statements, and your\n\ndesire for Ba�asura is also accepted by Me. I know that this Ba�asura is the\nson of Bali Maharaja, and as such I cannot kill him because that is My\n\npromise. I gave a benediction to King Prahlada that all the demons who\n\nwould appear in his family would never be killed by Me. Therefore, with­\n\nout killing this Ba�asura, I have simply cut off his arms to deprive him of\n\nhis false prestige. The large number of soldiers which he was maintaining\n\nbecame a burden on this earth, and I have killed them all in order to\nminimize the burden. Now he has four remaining arms, and he will remain\n\nimmortal, without being affected by the material pains and pleasures.\n\nI know that he is one of the chief devotees of your lordship, so you c�m\n\nnow rest assured that henceforward he need have no fear from anything.\"\n\nWhen Ba�asura was benedicted by Lord K��!Ja in this way, he came\n\nbefore the Lord and bowed down before Him, touching his head to the\nearth. He immediately arranged to bring Aniruddha along with his daughter\nU�a, seated on a nice chariot, and presented them before Lord Kr��a.\n\nAfter this, Lord Kr��a took charge of Aniruddha and U�a, who had become\nvery opulent materially because of the blessings of Lord Siva. Thus,\n\nkeeping forward a division of one ak§auhir-i of soldiers, Kr��a began to\nproceed toward Dvaraka. In the meantime, all the people at Dvaraka,\n\nhaving\n\nreceived\n\nthe\n\nnews\n\nthat\n\nLord\n\nKr��a\n\nwas\n\nreturning\n\nwith\n\nAniruddha and U�a in great opulence, decorated every corner of the city\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0105": "Kr��a, The Supreme Personlaity of Godhead\n\n68\n\nwith flags, festoons and garlands. All the big roads and crossings were\ncarefully cleansed and sprinkled with sandalwood pulp mixed with water.\n\nEverywhere there was the flavor of sandalwood. All the citizens, ac­\n\ncompanied by their friends and relatives, welcomed Lord Kr��a with great\n\npomp and jubilation. At that time, there was a tumultuous vibration of\n\nconchshells and drums and bugles to receive the Lord. In this way the\n\nSupreme Personality of Godhead Kr��a entered His capital, Dvaraka.\n\nSukadeva Gosvami assured King Parik�it that the narration of the fight\n\nbetween Lord Siva and Lord Kr�tta is not at all inauspicious like ordinary\n\nfights. On the contrary, if one remembers the narration of this fight\n\nbetween Lord Kr��a and Lord Siva in the morning and takes pleasure in the\nvictory of Lord Kr��a, he will never experience defeat anywhere in his\n\nstruggle of life.\n\nThis episode of Ba�asura's fighting with Kr��a and later on being\n\nsaved by the grace of Lord Siva is confirmation of the statement in the\n\nBhagavad-gitii that the worshipers of demigods cannot achieve any benedic­\n\ntion without its being sanctioned by the Supreme Lord, Kr��a. Here, in\nthis narration, we find that although Ba�asura was a great devotee of Lord\n\nSiva, when he f�ced death by Kr��a, Lord Siva was not able to save him.\n\nBut Lord Siva appealed to KH�a to save his devotee, and it was thus\n\nsanctioned by the Lord. This is the position of Lord Kr�tta. The exact\nwords used in this connection in the Bhagavad-gitii are mayaiva vihitiin hi\n\ntiin.\n\nThis means that without the sanction of the Supreme Lord, no\n\ndemigod can award any benediction to the worshiper.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Eighth\nChapter, of Kr�!J.a, Lord Knew Fights with Bariisura.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0106": "9 I The Story of King N rga\n\nOnce the family. members of Lord Kr�!J.a, such as Samba, Pradyumna,\nCarubhanu and Gada, all princes of the Y adu dynasty, went for a long\npicnic in the forest near Dvaraka. In the course of their excursion, all of\nthem became thirsty, and so they began to try to find out where water wasavailable in the forest. When they approached a well, they found that ther-e\nwas rio water in it, but on the contrary, within the well was a wonderful\nliving entity. It was a large lizard, and all of them became astonished to see\nsuch a wonderful animal. They could understand that the animal was\ntrapped and could riot escape by its own effort, so out of compassion they\ntried to take the large lizard out of the well. Unfortunately, they could not\nget the lizard out, even though they tried to do so in many ways.\nWhen the princes returned home, their story was narrated before Lord\nKr�!J.a. Lord Kr�!la is the friend of all living entities. Therefore, after\nhearing the appeal from His sons, He personally went to the well and easily\ngot the great lizard out simply by extending His left hand. Immediately\nupon being touched by the hand of Lord Kr�!J.a, that great lizard gave up\nits former shape and appeared as a beautiful demigod, an inhabitant of the\nheavenly planets. His bodily complexion glittered like molten gold. He was\ndecorated with fine garments, and he wore costly ornaments around his\nneck.\nHow the demigod had been obliged to accept the body of a lizard was\nnot a secret to Lord Krsna, but still, for others' information, the Lord\n. ..\n\ninquired, \"My dear fortunate demigod, now I see that your body is so\nbeautiful and lustrous. Who are you? We can guess that you are one of the\nbest demigods in the heavenly planets. All good fortune to you. I think\nthat you are not meant to be in this situation. It must be due to the\nresults of your past activities that you have been put into the species of\n.,\n\nlizard life. Still, I want to hear from you how you were put in this\n\n69\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0107": "70\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nposition. If you think that you can disclose this secret, then please tell us\nyour identity.\"\nActually this large lizard was King Nrga, and when he was questioned by\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead he immediately bowed down before\nthe Lord, touching to the ground the helmet on his head, which was as\ndazzling as the sunshine. In this way, he first of all offered his respectful\nobeisances unto the Supreme Lord. He then said, \"My dear Lord, I am the\nson of King Ilu]vaku, and am King Nrga. If you have ever taken account of\nall charitably disposed men, I am sure that You must have heard my name.\nMy Lord, You are the witness. You are aware of every bit of work done by\nthe living entities-past, present and future. Nothing can be hidden from\nYour eternal cognizance. Still, You have ordered me to explain my history,\nand I shall therefore narrate the full story.\"\nKing Nrga proceeded to narrate the history of his degradation, caused\nby his karma-kii!f-pa activities. He was very charitably disposed and had\ngiven away so many cows that he said the number was equal to the amount\nof dust on the earth, the stars in the sky, and the rainfall. According to the\nVedic titualistic ceremonies, a man who is charitably disposed is commanded to give cows to the briihma!f-aS. From King Nrga's statement, it\nappears that he followed this principle earnestly; however, as a result of a\nslight discrepancy in his action, he was forced to take birth as a lizard.\nTherefore it is recommended by the Lord in the Bhagavad-gitii that one\nwho is charitably disposed and desires to derive the benefit of his charity\nshould offer his gifts to please Kr�tJ.a. To give in charity means to perform\npious activities. As a result of pious activities one may be elevated to the\nhigher planetary systems; but promotion to the heavenly planets is no\nguarantee that one will never fall down. Rather, from the example of King\nNrga, it is definitely proved that fruitive activities, even if they are very\npious, cannot give us eternal blissful life. As stated in the Bhagavad-gitii,\nthe result of work, either pious or impious, is sure to bind a man unless it\nis discharged as yajiia on behalf of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\nKing Nrga continued to say that the cows given in charity were not\nordinary cows. Each one was very young and had given birth to only one\ncalf. They were full of milk, very peaceful and healthy. All the cows were\npurchased with money that had been earned legally. Furthermore, their\nhorns were gold-plated, their hooves were bedecked with silver plates, and\nthey were covered with silken wrappers which were embroidered with\npearls and necklaces. He stated that these valuably decorated cows were\nnot given to any worthless person, but were distributed to the first-class\n\nbriihma!f-as, whom he had also decorated with nice garments and gold\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0108": "The Story of King N rga\n\n71\n\nornaments. The brahmaflaS were well qualified, none of them were rich,\nand their family members were always in want for the necessities of life.\n\nA real brahma!la never hoards money for a luxurious life, like the k�atriyas\nor the vaisyas, but always keeps himself in a poverty -stricken condition,\nknowing that money diverts the mind to materialistic ways of life. To live\nin this way is the vow of a qualified brahmafla, and all of these brahma!las\nwere well situated in that exalted vow. They were well learned in Vedic\nknowledge. They executed the required austerities and penances in their\nlives, and were liberal, meeting the standard of qualified brahmaflaS. They\nwere equally friendly to everyone; above all, they were young and quite\nfit to act as qualified brahmaflaS. Besides the cows, they were also given\nland, gold, houses, horses and elephants. Those who were not married were\ngiven wives, maidservants, grains, silver, utensils, garments, jewels, household furniture, chariots, etc. This charity was nicely performed as a sacrifice according to the Vedic rituals. The King also stated that not only had\nhe bestowed gifts on the brahma£laS, but he had performed other pious\nactivities, such as digging a well, planting trees on the roadside and installing ponds on the highways.\nThe King continued, \"In spite of all this, unfortunately one of the\nbrahma£la's cows chanced to enter amongst my other cows. Not knowing\n\nthis, I again gave it in charity to another brahmafla. As the cow was being\ntaken away by the brahma£la, its former master claimed it as his own,\nstating, 'This cow was formerly given to me, so how is it that you are\ntaking it away?' Thus there was arguing and fighting between the two\nbrahma£las, and they came before me and charged that I had taken back a\n\ncow that I had previously given in charity.\" To give something to someone\nand then to take it away is considered a great sin, especially in dealing with\na brahmafla. When both the brahma£laS charged the King with the same\ncomplaint, he was simply puzzled as to how it had happened. Thereafter,\nwith great humility' the King offered each of them one hundred thousand\ncows in exchange for the one cow that was causing the fight between them.\nHe prayed to them that he was their servant and that there had been some\nmistake. Thus, in order to rectify it, he prayed that they would be very\nkind upon him and accept his offer in exchange for the cow. The King\nfervently appealed to the brahma£laS not to cause his downfall into hell\nbecause of this mistake. A brahma!la's property is called brahma-sva, and\naccording to Manu's law, it cannot be acquired even by the government.\nBoth brahma£laS insisted that the cow was theirs and could not be taken\nback under any condition; neither of them agreed to exchange it for the\none hundred thousand cows. Thus disagreeing with the King's proposal,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0109": "Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n72\n\nboth briihmartas left the palace in anger, thinking that their lawful position\nhad been usurped.\nAfter this incident, when the time came for the King to give up his\nbody,\n\nhe was\n\ntaken before Yamaraja, the superintendent of death.\n\nYamaraja asked him whether he wanted to first enjoy the results of his\npious activities or first suffer the results of his impious activities. Y amaraja\n. also hinted that since the King had executed so many pious activities and\ncharities, the limit of Nrga's enjoyment would be unknown to him. There\nwas practically no end to the King's material happiness, but in spite of this\nhint, he was bewildered. He decided to first suffer the results of his\nimpious activities and then to accept the results of his pious activities;\ntherefore Yamaraja immediately turned him into a lizard.\nKing N rga had remained in a well as a big lizard for a very long time. He\ntold Lord Kr��a: \"In spite of being put into that degraded condition of\nlife, I simply thought of You, my dear Lord, and my memory was never\nvanquished.\" It appears from these statements of King Nrga that persons\nwho follow the principles of fruitive activities and derive some material\nbenefits are not very intelligent. Being given the choice by the superintendent of death, Yamaraja, King Nrga could have first accepted the\nresults of his pious activities. Instead he thought it would be better to\nfirst receive the effects of his impious activities and then enjoy the effects\nof his pious activities without disturbance. On the whole, he had not\ndeveloped Kr��a consciousness. The Kr��a conscious person develops love\nof God, Kr��a, not love for pious or impious activities; therefore he is not\nsubjected to the results of such action. As stated in the Brahma-sarhhitii, a\ndevotee, by the grace of the Lord, does not become subjected to the\nresultant reactions of fruitive activities.\nSomehow or other, as a result of his pious activities, King Nrga had\naspired to see the Lord. He continued to say: \"My dear Lord, I had a great\ndesire that someday I might be able to see You personally. I think that my\ntendency to perform ritualistic and charitable activities, combined with\nthis great desire to see You personally, has enabled me to retain the\nmemory of who I was in my former life, even though I became a lizard.\"\n(Such a person, who remembers his past life, is called jiiti-smara.) \"My\ndear Lord, You are the Supersoul seated in everyone's heart. There are\nmany great mystic yogis who have eyes to see You through the Vedg.s and\n\nUpani§ads. In order tp achieve the elevated position of being equal in\nquality with You, they always meditate on You within their hearts. Although such exalted saintly persons may see You constantly within their\nhearts, they still cannot see You eye to eye; therefore I am very much\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0110": "The Story of King N rga\n\n73\n\nsurprised that I am able to see You personally. I know that I was engaged\n\nin so many. activities, especially as a king. Although I was in the midst of\n\nluxury and opulence and was subjected to so much of the happiness and\n\nmisery of material existence, I am so fortunate to be seeing You personally.\n\nAs far as I know, when one becomes liberated from material existence, he\ncan see You in this way.\"\n\nWhen King Nrga elected to receive the results of his impious activities,\n\nhe was given the body of a lizard because of the mistake in his pious\nactivities; thus he could not be directly converted to a higher status of life\n\nlike a great demigod. However, along with his pious activities, he thought\n\nof Kr��a, so he was quickly released from the body of a lizard and given\n\nthe body of a demigod. By worshiping the Supreme Lord, those who desire\nmaterial opulences are given the bodies of powerful demigods. Sometimes\n\nthese demigods can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead eye to eye,\n\nbut they are still not yet eligible to enter into the spiritual kingdom, the\n\nVaiku�tha planets. However, if the demigods continue to become devotees\n\nof the Lord, the next chance they get they will enter into the Vaiku�t�a\n\nplanets.\n\nHaving attained the body of a demigod, King Nrga, continuing to re­\n\nmember everything, said, \"My dear Lord, You are the Supreme Lord and\n\nare worshiped by all the demigods. You are not one of the living entities,\n\nbut You are the Supreme Person, Puru�ottama. You are the source of all\n\nhappiness to all living entities; therefore You are known as Govinda. You\nare the Lord of those living entities who have accepted a material body and\n\nthose who have not yet accepted a material body.\" (Among the living\n\nentities who have not accepted a material body are those who are hovering\n\nin the material world as evil spirits or living in the ghostly atmosphere.\nHowever, those who live in the spiritual kingdom, the Vaiku�thalokas,\n\nhave bodies that are not made of material elements.) \"You are, my Lord,\n\ninfallible. You are the Supreme, the purest of all living entities. You are\n\nliving in everyone's heart. You are the shelter of all living entities,\n\nNaraya�a. Being seated in the heart of all living entities, You are the\n\nsupreme director of everyone's sensual activities; therefore, You are called\nHr�ikesa.\n\n\"My dear Supreme Lord Kr��a, because You have given me this body of\n\na demigod, I will have to go to some heavenly planet; so I am taking this\nopportunity to beg for Your mercy, that I may have the benediction of\n\nnever forgetting Your lotus feet, no matter to which form of life or planet\n\nI may be transferred. You are all-pervading, present everywhere as cause\n\nand effect. You are the cause of all causes, and Your potency and power\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0111": "...1\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n74\n\nare unlimited. You are the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead and the Supreme Brahman. I therefore offer my respectful\nobeisances unto You again and again. My dear Lord, Your body is full of\ntranscendental bliss and knowledge, and You are eternal. You are the\nmaster of all mystic powers; therefore You are known as Yoge8vara. Kindly\naccept me as insignificant dust at Your lotus feet.\"\nBefore entering the heavenly planets, King Nrga circumambulated the\nLord. He touched his helmet to the lotus feet of the Lord and bowed\nbefore Him. Seeing the airplane from the heavenly planets present before\nhim, he was given permission by the Lord to board it. After the departure\nof King Nrga, Lord Kr��a expressed His appreciation for the King's devotion to the briihmartas as well as his charitable disposition and his performance of Vedic rituals. Therefore, it is recommended that if one cannot\ndirectly become a devotee of the Lord, one should follow the Vedic principles of life. This will enable him, one day, to see the Lord by being\npromoted either directly to the spiritual kingdom or indirectly to the\nheavenly kingdom, where he has hope of being transferred to the spiritual\nplanets.\nAt this time, Lord Kr��a was present among His relatives who were\nmembers of the k§atriya class. To teach them through the exemplary\ncharacter of King Nrga, He said: \"Even though a k§atriya king may be as\npowerful as fire, it is not possible for him to usurp the property of a\n\nbriihmarta and utilize it for his own purpose. If this is so, how can ordinary\nkings, who falsely think of themselves as the most powerful beings within\nthe material world, usurp a briihmarta's property? I do not think that\ntaking poison is as dangerous as taking a briihmarta's property. For ordinary\npoison there is treatment-one can be relieved from its effects; but if one\ndrinks the poison of taking a briihmarta's property, there is no remedy for\nthe mistake. The perfect example was King Nrga. He was very powerful\nand very pious, but due to the small mistake of unknowingly usurping a\n\nbriihmarta's cow, he was condemned to the abominable life of a lizard.\nOrdinary poison affects only those who drink it, and ordinary fire can be\nextinguished simply by pouring water on it; but the ararti fire ignited by\nthe spiritual potency of a briihmarta can burn to ashes the whole family of\na person who provokes such a briihmarta.\" (Formerly, the briihmartas used\nto ignite the fire of sacrifice not with matches or any other external fire\nbut with their powerful mantras, called ararti.) \"If someone even touches\na briihmarta's property, he is ruined for three generations. However, if a\n\nbriihmarta's property is forcibly taken away, the taker's family for ten\ngenerations before him and for ten generations after him will become\n\n·\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0112": "The Story of King N rga\n\n75\n\nsubject to ruination. On the other hand, if someone becomes a V ai�!lava or\n\ndevotee of the Lord, ten generations of his family before his birth and ten\ngenerations after will become liberated.\"\nLord Kr�!la continued: \"If some foolish king who is puffed up by his\n\nwealth, prestige and power wants to usurp a briihma!'a's property, it\nshould be understood that such a king is clearing his path to hell; he does\nnot know how much he has to suffer for such unwise action. If someone\ntakes away the property of a very liberal briihma!'a who is encumbered by\na large dependent family, then such a usurper is put into the hell known as\nKumbhipaka; not only is he put into this hell, but his family members also\nhave to accept such a miserable condition of life. A person who takes away\nproperty which has either been awarded to a briihma!'a or given away by\nhim is condemned to live for at least 60,000 years as miserably as an insect\nin stool. Therefore I instruct you, all My boys and relatives present here,\ndo not, even by mistake, take the possession of a briihma!'a and thereby\npollute Your whole family. If someone even wishes to possess such\nproperty, let alone attempts to take it away by force, the duration of his\nlife will be reduced. He will be defeated by his enemies, and after being\nbereft of his royal position, when he gives up his body he will become a\nserpent. A serpent gives trouble to all other living entities. My dear boys\nand relatives, I therefore advise you that even if a briihma!'a becomes angry\nwith you and calls you by ill names or cuts you, still you should not retaliate. On the contrary, you should smile, tolerate him and offer your respects\nto the briihmara. You know very well that even I Myself offer My obeisances to the briihmaras with great respect three times daily. You should\ntherefore follow My instruction and example. I shall not forgive anyone\nwho does not follow them, and I shall punish him. You should learn from\nthe example of King Nrga that even if someone unknowingly usurps the\nproperty of a briihmaf'a, he is put into a miserable condition of life.\"\nThus Lord Kr�!la, who is always engaged in purifying the conditioned\nliving entities, gave instruction not only to His family members and the\ninhabitants of Dvaraka, but to all the members of human society. After this\nthe Lord entered His palace.\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Ninth\nChapter, of Kr�!la, \"The Story of King Nrga.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0113": "10 I Lord Balarama Visits Vrndavana\n•\n\nLord Balarama became very anxious to see His father and mother,\nMaharaja Nanda and Ya.Soda. Therefore He started for Vrndavana on a\nchariot with great enthusiasm. The inhabitants of Vrndavana had been\nanxious to see· Kr��a and Balarama for a very long time. When Lord\nBalarama returned to Vrndavana, all the cowherd boys and the gopis had\ngrown up; but still, on His arrival, they all embraced Him, and Balarama\nembraced them in reciprocation. After this He came before Maharaja\nNanda and Yasoda and offered His respectful obeisances unto them. In\nresponse, mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja offered their blessings unto\nHim. They addressed Him as Jagadisvara, or the Lord of the universe who\nmaintains everyone. The reason for this was that both Kr��a and Balarama\nmaintain all living entities, and yet Nanda and Yasoda were put into such\ndifficulties on account of Their absence. Feeling like this, they embraced\nBalarama and, seating Him on their laps, began their perpetual crying,\nwetting Balarama with their tears. Lord Balarama then offered His respectful obeisances to the elderly cowherd men and accepted the obeisances\nof the younger cowherd men. Thus, according to their different ages and\nrelationships, Lord Balarama exchanged feelings of friendship with them.\nHe shook hands with those who were His equals in age and friendship, and\nwith loud laughing embraced each one of them.\nAfter being received by the cowherd men and boys, the gopis, and King\nNanda and Yasoda, Lord Balarama sat down, feeling satisfied, and they all\nsurrounded Him. First Lord Balarama inquired from them about their\nwelfare, and then, not having seen Him for such a long time, they began\nto ask Him different questions. The inhabitants of Vrndavana had sacrificed\neverything for Kr��a, simply being captivated by the lotus eyes of the\nLord. Because of their great desire to love Kr��a, they never desired\nanything like elevation to the heavenly planets or merging into the\neffulgence of Brahman to become one with the Absolute Truth. They were\n\n76\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0114": "Lord Balarama Visits Vrndavana\n\n77\n\nnot even interested in enjoying a life of opulence, but were satisfied in\nliving a simple life in the village as cowherd men. They were always\nabsorbed in thoughts of Kr�!la and did not desire any personal benefits,\nand they were all so much in love with Him that in His absence their\nvoices faltered when they began to inquire from Balaramaji.\nFirst Nanda Maharaja and Yasodamayi inquired, \"My dear Balarama,\nare our friends like Vasudeva and others in the family doing well? Now\nYou and Kr�!ia are grown-up married men with children. In the happiness\nof family life, do You sometimes remember Your poor father and mother,\nNanda Maharaja and Yasodadevi? It is very good news that the most\nsinful King Kamsa has been killed by You and that our friends like\nVasudeva and the others, who had been harrassed by him, have now been\nrelieved. It is also very good news that both You and Kr�!ia defeated\n\nJ arasandha and Kalayavana, who now is dead, and that You are now\nliving in a fortified residence in Dvaraka.\"\nWhen the gopis arrived, Lord Balarama glanced over them with loving\neyes. Being overjoyed, the gopis, who had so long been mortified on\naccount of Krwa's and Balarama's absence, began to ask about the welfare\nof the two brothers. They specifically asked Balarama whether Kr�!la was\nenjoying His life surrounded by the enlightened women of Dvaraka Puri.\n\"Does He sometimes remember His father Nanda and His mother Yasoda\nand the other friends with whom He so intimately behaved while He was\nin Vrndavana? Does Krwa have any plans to come here to see His\nmother Yasoda, and does He remember us gopis who are now pitiably\nbereft of His company? Kr�!la might have forgotten us in the midst of the\ncultured women of Dvaraka, but as far as we are concerned, we are still\nremembering Him by collecting flowers and sewing them into garlands.\nWhen He does not come, however, we simply pass our time by crying. If\nonly He would come here and accept these garlands that we have made.\nDear Lord Balarama, descendant of Dasarha, You know that we would\ngive up everything for Kr�!la's friendship. Even in great distress one cannot\ngive up the connection of family members, but although it might be\nimpossible for others, we gave up our fathers, mothers, sisters and relatives\nwithout caring at all about our renunciation. Then, all of a sudden, Kr�!la\nrenounced us and went away. He broke off our intimate relationship\nwithout any serious consideration and left for a foreign country. But He\nwas so clever and cunning that He manufactured very nice words. He said,\n'My dear gopis, please do not worry. The service that you have rendered\nMe is impossible for Me to repay.' After all, we are women, so how could\nwe disbelieve Him? Now we can understand that His sweet words were\nsimply for cheating us.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0115": "Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n78\n\nAnother gopi, protesting Kr��a's absence from V rndavana, began to say:\n\"My dear Balaramaji, we are of course village girls, so Kr��a could cheat us\nin that way, but what about the women of Dvaraka? Don't think they are\nas foolish as we are! We village women might be misled by Kr��a, but the\nwomen in the city of Dvaraka are very clever and intelligent. Therefore I\nwould be surprised if such city women could be misled by Kr��a and could\nbelieve His words.\"\nThen another gopi began to speak. \"My dear friend,\" she said, \"Kr��a\nis very clever in using words. No one can compete with Him in that art.\nHe can manufacture such colorful words and talk so sweetly that the\nheart of any woman would be misled. Besides that, He has perfected the\nart of smiling very attractively, and by seeing His smile women become\nmad after Him and would give themselves to Him without any hesitation.\"\nAnother gopi, after hearing this, said, \"My dear friends, what is the use\nin talking about Kr��a? If you are at all interested in passing away time\nby talking, let us talk on some subject other than Him. If cruel Kr��a can\npass His time without us, why can't we pass our time withouf Kr��a?\nOf course, Kr��a is passing His days very happily without us, but the\ndifference is that we cannot pass our days very happily without Him.\"\nWhen the gopis were talking in this way, their feelings for Kr��a became\nmore and more intensified, and they were experiencing Kr��a's smiling,\nKrsna's words of love, Krsna's attractive features, Krsna's characteristics\n.\n\n. .\n\n.\n\n. .\n\n.\n\n. .\n\nand Kr��a's embraces. By the force of their ecstatic feelings, it appeared\nto them that Kr��a was personally present and dancing before them.\nBecause of their sweet remembrance of Kr��a, they could not check their\ntears, and they began to cry without consideration.\nLord Balarama could, of course, understand the ecstatic feelings of the\n\ngopis, and therefore He wanted to pacify them. He was expert in presenting an appeal, and thus, treating the gopis very respectfully, He began to\nnarrate the stories of Kr��a so tactfully that the gopis became satisfied.\nIn order to keep the gopis in V rndavana satisfied, Lord Balarama stayed\nthere continually for two months, namely the months of Caitra (MarchApril) and Vaisakha (April-May). For those two months He kept Himself\namong the gopis, and He passed every night with them in the forest of\nVrndavana in order to satisfy their desire for conjugal love. Thus Balarama\nalso enjoyed the rasa dance with the gopis during those two months.\nSince the season was springtime, the breeze on the bank of the Yamuna\nwas blowing very mildly, carrying the aroma of different flowers, especially\nof the flower known as kaumudi. Moonlight filled the sky and spread\neverywhere, and thus the banks of the Yamuna appeared to be very bright\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0116": "Lord Balarama Visits V rndavana\n\n79\n\nand pleasing, and Lord Balarama enjoyed the company of the go pis there.\n\nThe demigod known as Varu:tla. sent his daughter Varu:tli in the form of\n\nliquid honey oozing from the hollows of the trees. Because of this honey\n\nthe whole forest became aromatic, and the sweet aroma of the liquid\n\nhoney, Varu:tli, captivated Balaramaji. Balaramaji and all the gopis became\nvery much attracted by the taste of Varu:tli, and all of them drank it\n\ntogether. While drinking this natural beverage, Varu:tli, all the gopis chanted\n\nthe glories of Lord Balarama, and Lord Balarama felt very happy, as if He\nhad become intoxicated by drinking that Varu:tli beverage. His eyes rolled\nin a pleasing attitude. He was decorated with long garlands of forest\n\nflowers, and the whole situation appeared to he a great function of\n\nhappiness because of this transcendental bliss. Lord Balarama smiled\nbeautifully, and the drops of perspiration decorating His face appeared\nto he soothing morning dew.\n\nWhile Balarama was in that happy mood, He desired to enjoy the\ncompany of the gopis in the water of the Yamuna. Therefore He called\nYamuna to come nearby. But Yamuna neglected the order of Balaramaji,\nconsidering Him to he intoxicated. Lord Balarama became very much\ndispleased at Yamuna's neglecting His order. He immediately wanted to\nscratch the land near the river with His plowshare. Lord Balarama has two\nweapons, a plow and a club, and He takes service from them when they are\nrequired. This time He wanted to bring the Yamuna by force, and He took\n\nthe help of His plow. He wanted to punish Yamuna because she did not\n\ncome in obedience to His order. He addressed Yamuna: \"You wretched\n\nriver! You did not care for My order. Now I shall teach you a lesson! You\ndid not come to Me voluntarily. Now with the help of My plow I shall\n\nforce you to come. I shall divide you into hundreds of scattered streams!\"\n\nWhen Yamuna was threatened like this, she became greatly afraid of the\n\npower of Balarama and immediately came in person, falling at His lotus\n\nfeet and praying thus: \"My dear Balarama, You are the most powerful\npersonality, and You are pleasing to everyone. Unfortunately, I forgot\n\nYour glorious, exalted position, hut now I have come to my senses, and I\n\nremember that You hold all the planetary systems on Your head merely\n\nby Your partial expansion as Se�a. You are the sustainer of the whole\nuniverse. My dear Supreme Personality of Godhead, You are full of six\nopulences. Because I forgot Your omnipotence, I have mistakenly disobeyed\nYour order, and thus I have become a great offender. But, my dear Lord,\nplease know that I am a surrendered soul unto You. You are very much\naffectionate to Your devotees. Therefore please excuse my impudence\nand mistakes and, by Your causeless mercy, may You now release me.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0117": "80\n\nKf��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\nUpon displaying this submissive attitude, Yamuna was forgiven, and\n\nwhen she came nearby, Lord Balarama wanted to enjoy the pleasure of\nswimming within her water along with the gopis in the same way an\nelephant enjoys himself along with his many she-elephants. After a long\ntime, when Lord Balarama had enjoyed to His full satisfaction, He came\nout of the water, and immediately a goddess of fortune offered Him a\nnice blue garment and a valuable necklace made of gold. After taking\nbath in the Yamuna, Lord Balarama, dressed in blue garments and\ndecorated with golden ornaments, looked very attractive to everyone.\nLord Balarama's complexion is white, and when He was properly dressed\nHe looked exactly like the white elephant of King Indra in the heavenly\nplanet. The River Yamuna still has many small branches due to being\nscratched by the plowshare of Lord Balarama. And all these branches of\nthe River Yamuna are still glorifying the omnipotency of Lord Balarama.\nLord Balarama and the gopis enjoyed transcendental pastimes together\nevery night for two months, and time passed away so quickly that all\nthose nights appeared to be only one night. In the presence of Lord\nBalarama, all the gopis and inhabitants of V rndavana became as cheerful\nas they had been before in the presence of both brothers, Lord Kr�!la\nand Lord Balarama.\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Tenth\nChapter of Kr��a, \"Lord Balariima Visits Vrndiivana.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0118": "11 I Deliverance of Paundraka\n•\n\n•\n\nand the King of Kasi\nThe story of King Pau:p�raka is very interesting because there have\nalways been many rascals and fools who have considered themselves to be\nGod. Even in the presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kr�:pa,\nthere was such a foolish person. His name was Pau:p�raka, and He wanted\nto declare himself to be God. While Lord Balarama was absent in\nVrndavana, this King Pau:p�raka, the King of the Karii�a province, being\nfoolish and puffed up, sent a messenger to Lord Kr�:pa. Lord Kf�:pa is\naccepted as the Supreme Personality· of Godhead, and King Pau:p�raka directly challenged Kf�:pa through the messenger, who stated that Pau:p�raka,\nand not Kr�:pa, was Vasudeva. In the present day there are many foolish\nfollowers of such rascals. Similarly, in his day, many foolish men accepted\nPau:p�raka as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because he could not\nestimate his own position, Pau:p�raka falsely thought himself to be Lord\nVasudeva. Thus the messenger declared to Kr�:pa that out of his causeless\nmercy,\n\nKing Pau:p�raka,\n\nthe\n\nSupreme Personality of Godhead, had\n\ndescended on the earth just to deliver all distressed persons.\nSurrounded by many other- foolish persons, this rascal Pau:p�raka had\nactually concluded that he was Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead. This kind of conclusion is certainly childish. When children are\nplaying, they sometimes create a king amongst themselves, and the child\nwho is so selected thinks that he is the king. Similarly, many foolish\npersons, due to ignorance, select another fool as God, and then the rascal\nconsiders himself God, as if God could be created by childish play or by\nthe votes of men. Under this false impression, thinking himself the Supreme Lord, Pau:p�raka sent his messenger . to Dvaraka to challenge the\nposition of Kf�:pa. The messenger reached the royal assembly of Kr�:pa in\nDvaraka and conveyed the message given by his master, Pau:p�raka. The\nmessage contained the following statements.\n81\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0119": "82\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\"I am the only Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva. There is no\n\nman who can compete with me. I have descended as King Pau�9raka,\ntaking compassion on the distressed conditioned souls out of my unlimited\ncauseless mercy. You have falsely taken the position of Vasudeva without\nauthority, but you should not propagate this false idea. You must give up\nYour position. 0 descendant of the Yadu dynasty, please give up all the\nsymbols of Vasudeva which You have falsely assumed. And after giving up\nthis position, come and surrender unto me. If out of Your gross impudence\nYou do not care for my words, then I challenge You to fight. I am inviting\nYou to a battle in which the decision will be settled.\"\nWhen all the members of the royal assembly, including King U grasena,\nheard this message sent by Pau!J-9raka, they laughed very loudly for a\nconsiderable time. After enjoying the loud laughter of all the members of\nthe assembly, Kr�!la replied to the messenger as follows. \"0 messenger of\nPau!J-9raka, you may carry My message to your master: He is a foolish\n\nrascal. I dire(:tly call him a rascal, and I refuse to follow his instructions. I\n\nshall never give up the symbols of Vasudeva, especially My disc. I shall\n\nuse this disc to kill not only King Pau!l9raka but all his followers also. I\nshall destroy this Pau!J-9raka and his foolish associates, who merely con­\n\nstitute a society ot cheaters and cheated. When this action is taken, foolish\n\nKing, you will have to conceal your face in disgrace, and when your head\nis severed from your body by My disc, it will be surrounded by meat eating\n-\n\nbirds like vultures, hawks and eagles. At that time, instead of becoming My\n\nshelter as you have demanded, you will be subjected to the mercy of these\nlow-born birds. At that time your body will be thrown to the dogs, who\n\nwill eat it with great pleasure.\"\n\nThe messenger carried the words of Lord Kr��a to his master, Pau�9raka,\n\nwho patiently heard all these insults. Without waiting longer, Lord Sri\nKr��a immediately started out on His chariot to punish the rascal\n\nPau�9raka. Because at that time the King of Karii�a was living with his\nfriend the King of Kasi, KH�a surrounded the whole city of Kasi.\n\nKing Pau�9raka was a great warrior, and as soon as he heard of Kr��a s\n'\n\nattack, he came out of the city along with two ak§auhiri divisions of\nsoldiers. The King of Kasi was also a friend to King Pau�9raka, and he\ncame out with three ak§auhiri divisions. When the two kings came before\n\nLord Kr��a to oppose Him, Kr��a saw Pau�9raka face to face for the first\n\ntime. Kr�!la saw that Pau�9raka had decorated himself with the symbols\n\nof the conchshell, disc, lotus and club. He carried the Sarnga bow, and on\n\nhis chest was the insignia of Srivatsa. His neck was decorated with a false\n\nKaustubha jewel, and he wore a flower garland in exact imitation of Lord\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0120": "Deliverance of Pau�c;Iraka and the King of Kasi\n\n83\n\nVasudeva. He was dressed in yellow colored silken garments, and the flag\n\non his chariot carried the symbol of Garuc;Ia, exactly imitating Kr��a's. He\nhad a very valuable helmet on his head, and his earrings, like swordfish,\n\nglittered brilliantly. On the whole, however, his dress and makeup were\n\nclearly imitation. Anyone could understand that he was just like someone\n\nonstage playing the part of Vasudeva in false dress. When Lord Sri Kr�pa\n\nsaw Pau�c)raka imitating His posture and dress, He could not check His\nlaughter, and thus He laughed with great satisfaction.\n\nThe soldiers on the side of King Pau�c)raka began to shower their weap­\n\nons upon Kr�pa. The weapons, including various kinds of tridents, clubs,\n\npoles, lances., swords, daggers and arrows, came flying in waves, and Kf�pa\n\ncounteracted them. He smashed not onlythe weapons but also the soldiers\nand assistants of Paupc)raka, just as during the dissolution of this universe\n\nthe fire of devastation burns everything to ashes. The elephants, chariots,\n\nhorses, and infantry belonging to the opposite party were scattered by the\n\nweapons of Kf�pa. The whole battlefield became scattered with the bodies\n\nof animals and chariots. There were fallen horses, elephants, men, asses\n\nand camels. Although the devastated battlefield appeared like the dancing\nplace of Lord Siva at the time of the dissolution of the world, the warriors\n\nwho were on the side of Kr�pa were very much encouraged by seeing this,\nand they fought with greater strength.\n\nAt this time, Lord Kr��a told Paupc)raka, \"Paupc)raka, you requested Me\n\nto give up the symbols of Lord Vi�pu, specifically My disc. Now I will give\n\nit up to you. Be careful! You falsely declare yourself to be Vasudeva,\n\nimitating Myself. Therefore no one is a greater fool than you.\" From this\n\nstatement of Kr�pa 's it is clear that any rascal who advertises himself as\nGod is the greatest fool in human society. Kr�pa continued: \"Now, Paup­\n\nc)raka, I shall force you to give up this- false representation. You wanted Me\nto surrender unto you. Now this is your opportunity. We shall now fight,\n\nand if I am defeated and you become victorious, I shall certainly surrender\n\nunto you.\" In this way, after chastising Paupc)raka very severely, He\n\nsmashed his chariot to pieces by shooting an arrow. With the help of His\n\ndisc He separated the head of Paupc)raka from his body, just as Indra\n\nshaves off the peaks of mountains by striking them with his thunderbolt.\n\nSimilarly, He also killed the King of Kasi with His arrows. Lord Kr�pa\n\nspecifically arranged to throw the head of the King of Kasi into the city of\nKasi itself so that his relatives and family members could see it. This was\n\ndone by Kr�pa just as a hurricane carries a lotus petal here and there. Lord\n\nKr�pa killed Paupc)raka and his friend Kasiraja on the battlefield, and then\nHe returned to His capital city, Dvaraka.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0121": "84\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nWhen Lord Kr�!la returned to the city of Dvaraka, all the Siddhas from\n\nthe heavenly planets were singing the glories of the Lord. As far as\n\nPau!l9raka was concerned, somehow or other he was always thinking of\nLord Vasudeva by falsely dressing himself in that way, and therefore\n\nPau!l9raka achieved siiriipya, one of the five kinds of liberation, and was\nthus promoted to the Vaiku!ltha planets, where the devotees have the\n\nsame bodily features as Vi�!lu, with four hands holding the four symbols.\nFactually, his meditation was concentrated on the Vi�!lu form, hut because\n\nhe thought himself to he Lord Vi�!lu, it was offensive. After being killed\n\nby Kr�!la, however, that offense was also mitigated. Thus he was given\n\nsiiriipya liberation, and he attained the same form as the Lord.\n\nWhen the head of the King of Kasi was thrown through the city gate,\n\npeople gathered and were astonished to see that wonderful thing. When\n\nthey found out that there were earrings on it, they could understand that\n\nit was someone's head. They conjectured as to whose head it might he.\nSome thought it was Kr�!la's head because Kr�!la was the enemy of\nKas'iraja, and they calculated that the King of KaSi' might have . thrown\n\nKr�!la 's head into the city so that the people might take pleasure that the\n\nenemy was killed. But it was finally detected that the head was not Kr�!ia's,\nhut that of Kasiraja himself. When it was so ascertained, the queens of the\nKing of Kasi immediately approached and began to lament the death of\n\ntheir husband. \"My dear lord,\" they cried, \"upon your death, we have\nbecome just like dead bodies.\"\n\nThe King of KaSi' had one son whose name was Sudak�i!la. After\n\nobserving the ritualistic funeral ceremonies, he took a vow that since Krwa\n\nwas the enemy of his father, he would kill Kr�!la and in this way liquidate\n\nhis debts to his father. Therefore, accompanied by a learned priest\nqualified to help him, he began to worship Mahadeva, Lord Siva. The\nlord of the kingdom of KaSi' is Visvanatha (Lord Siva). The temple of Lord\nVisvanatha is still existing in Vara!lasi, and many thousands of pilgrims\n\nstill gather daily in that temple. By the worship of Sudak�i!la, Lord Siva\n\nwas very much pleased, and he wanted to give a benediction to his devotee.\nSudak�i!la's purpose was to kill Kr�!la, and therefore he prayed for a\n\nspecific power by which he could kill Him. Lord Siva advised that\nSudak�i!la, assisted by the briihmarws, execute the ritualistic ceremony for\n\nkilling one's enemy. This ceremony is also mentioned in some of the\nTantras. Lord Siva informed Sudak�i!la that if such a black ritualistic\n\nceremony were performed properly then the evil spirit named Dak�i!lagni\n\nwould appear to carry out any order given to him. He would have to he\n\nemployed, however, to kill someone other than a qualified briihmarw. In\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0122": "Deliverance of Pau��raka and the King of KaSi\n\n85\n\nsuch a case he would be accompanied by Lord Siva's ghostly companions,\nand the desire of Sudak�ipa to kill his enemy would be fulfilled.\n\nWhen Sudak�ipa was encouraged by Lord Siva in that way, he became\n\nassured that he would be able to kill Kr�pa. With a determined vow of\n\nausterity, he began to execute the black art of chanting mantras, assisted\n\nby the priests. After this, out of the fire came a great demonic form, whose\n\nhair, beard and moustache were exactly the color of hot copper. This form\nwas very big and fierce. As the demon arose from the fire, cinders of fire\nemanated from the sockets of his eyes. The giant fiery demon appeared\n\nstill more fierce due to the movements of his eyebrows. He exhibited long\n\nsharp teeth and, sticking out his long tongue, licked both sides of his lips.\nHe was naked, and he carried a big trident, which was blazing like fire.\n\nAfter appearing from the fire of sacrifice, he stood wielding the trident in\n\nhis hand. Instigated by Sudak�ipa, the demon proceeded toward the\n\ncapital city, Dvaraka, along with many hundreds of ghostly companions,\n\nand it appeared that he was going to burn all outer space to ashes. The\n\nsurface of the earth .trembled because of his striking steps. When he\nentered the city of Dvaraka, all the residents panicked, just like animals\nat the time of a forest fire.\n\nAt that time Kr�pa was engaged in playing chess in the royal assembly\n\ncouncil hall. All the residents of Dvaraka approached and addressed Him,\n\n\"Dear Lord of the three worlds, there is a great fiery demon ready to burn\n\nthe whole city of Dvaraka. Please save us.\" Thus, after approaching Lord\n\nK.f�pa, all the inhabitants of Dvaraka began to appeal to Him for protection\n\nfrom the fiery demon who had just appeared in Dvaraka to devastate the\nwhole city.\n\nLord Kr�pa, who specifically protects His devotees, saw that the whole\n\npopulation of Dvaraka was most perturbed by the presence of the great\n\nfiery demon. He immediately began to smile and assured them, \"Don't\n\nworry. I shall give you all protection.\" The Supreme Personality of God­\n\nhead, Kr�pa, is all-pervading. He is within everyone's heart, and He is without also in the form of the cosmic manifestation. He could understand\n\nthat the fiery demon was a creation of Lord Siva, and in order to vanquish\n\nhim He took His Sudarsana-cakra and ordered him to take the necessary\nsteps. The Sudarsana-cakra appeared with the effulgence of millions of\n\nsuns, his temperature being as powerful as that of the fire created at the\n\nend of the cosmic manifestation. By his own effulgence, the Sudarsana­\n\ncakra began to illuminate the entire universe, on the surface of the earth\n\nas well as in outer space. Then the Sudarsana-cakra began to freeze the\n\nfiery demon created by Lord Siva. In this way, the fiery demon was\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0123": "86\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of God head\n\nchecked by the Sudarsana-cakra of Lord Kr��a, and being defeated in his\nattempt to devastate the city of Dvaraka, he turned back.\n\nHaving failed to set fire to Dvaraka, he went back to Varapasi, the\n\nkingdom of Kasiraja. As a result of his return, all the priests who had\nhelped instruct the black art of mantras, along with their employer,\n\nSudak�ipa were burned into ashes by the glaring effulgence of the fiery\n\ndemon. According to the methods of black art mantras instructed in the\n\nTantra, if the mantra fails to kill the enemy, then, because it must kill\n\nsomeone, it kills the original creator. Sudak�ipa was the originator, and the\n\npriests assisted him; therefore all of them were burned to ashes. This is the\nway of the demons: the demons create something to kill God, but by the\n\nsame weapon the demons themselves are killed.\n\nFollowing just behind the fiery demon, the Sudarsana-cakra also entered\nVarapasi. This city of Varapasi had been very opulent and great for a very\n\nlong time. Even now, the city of Varapasi is very opulent and famous, and\nit is one of the important cities of India. There were then many big\n\npalaces, assembly houses, marketplaces and gates, with very important\n\nlarge monuments by the palaces and gates. Lecturing platforms could be\nfound at each and every crossing of the roads. There was a treasury house,\n\nand elephant heads, horse heads, chariots, granaries and places for distribu­\n\ntion of foodstuff. The city of Varapasi had been filled with all these\n\nmaterial opulences for a very long time, but because the king of KaSi and\n\nhis son Sudak�ipa were against Lord Kr�pa, the Vi�pu-cakra Sudarsana\n\n(the disc weapon of Lord Kr�pa) devastated the whole city by burning all\n\nthese important places. This excursion was more ravaging than modern\nbombing. The Sudarsana-cakra, having thus finished his duty, came back\n\nto his Lord Sri Kf�pa at Dvaraka.\n\nThis narration of the devastation of Varapasi by K��I_la's disc weapon,\n\nthe Sudarsana-cakra, is transcendental and auspicious. Anyone who narrates\n\nthis �tory or anyone who hears this story with faith and attention will be\n\nreleased from all reaction to sinful activities. This is the assurance of\nSukadeva Gosvami who narrated this story to Parik�it Maharaja.\n\nThus ends the Second Volume, Eleventh Chapter, of Kf wa, \"Deliverance\n\nof Paur!lraka.and the King of Kiisi.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0124": "12 I Deliverance of Dvivida Gorilla\n\nWhile\n\nS ukadeva Gosvami continued to speak on the transcendental\n\npastimes and characteristics of Lord K��f}a, King PanK:�it, upon hearing\nhim, became more and more enthusiastic and wanted to hear further.\n\nS ukadeva Gosvami next narrated the story of Dvivida, the gorilla who was\n\nkilled by Lord Balarama.\nThis gorilla was a great friend of Baumasura's or Narakasura's, who was\nkilled by Kr��a in connection with his kidnapping sixteen thousand princesses from all over the world. Dvivida was the minister of King Sugriva. His\nbrother, Mainda, was also a very powerful gorilla king. When Dvivida\ngorilla heard the story of his friend Baumasura's being killed by Lord\nK��f}a, he planned to create mischief throughout the country in order to\navenge the death of Baumasuta. His first business was to set fires in\nvillages, towns, and industrial and mining places, as well as the residential\nquarters of the mercantile men who were busy dairy farming and protecting cows. Sometimes he would uproot a big mountain and tear it to\npieces. In this way he created great disturbances all over the country,\nespecially in the province of Kathwar. The city of Dvaraka· was situated in\nthis Kathwar province, and because Lord K��qa used to live in this city,\nDvivida specifically made it his target of disturbance.\nDvivida was as powerful as 10,000 elephants. Sometimes he would go\nto the seashore, and with his powerful hands he would create so much\ndisturbance in the sea that he would overflood the neighboring cities and\nvillages. Often he would go to the hermitages of great saintly persons and\nsages and cause a great disturbance by smashing their beautiful gardens\nand orchards. Not only did he create disturbances in that way, but\nsometimes he would pass urine and stool on their sacred sacrificial arena.\nHe would thus pollute the whole atmosphere. He also kidnapped both\nmen and women, taking them away from their residential places to the\n87\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0125": "88\n\nKr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ncaves of the mountains. Putting them within the caves, he would close the\nentrances with large chunks of stone, like the bh[hgi insect, which arrests\nand carries away many flies and other insects and puts them within the\nholes of the trees where he lives. He thus regularly defied the law and\norder of the country. Not only that, but he would sometimes pollute the\nfemale members of many aristocratic families by forcibly raping them.\nWhile creating such great disturbance all over the country, sometimes he\nheard very sweet musical sounds from the Raivataka mountain, and so he\nentered that mountainous region. There he saw that Lord Balarama was\npresent in the midst of many beautiful young girls, enjoying their company\nwhile engaged in singing and dancing. He became captivated by the beautiful features of Lord Balarama's body, each and every part of which was\nvery beautiful, decorated as He was with a garland of lotus flowers.\nSimilarly, all the young girls present, dressed and garlanded with flowers,\nexhibited much beauty. Lord Balarama seemed to be fully intoxicated\nfrom drinking the Varu!li beverage, and His eyes appeared to be rolling in\na drunken state. Lord Balarama appeared just like the king of the elephants\nin the midst of many she-elephants.\nThis gorilla by the name of Dvivida could climb up on the trees and\njump from one branch to another. Sometimes he would jerk the branches,\ncreating a particular type of sound, \"Kila, kila,\" so that Lord Balarama\nwas greatly distracted from the pleasing atmosphere. Sometimes Dvivida\nwould come before the women and exhibit different types of caricatures.\nBy nature young women are apt to enjoy everything with laughter and\njoking, and when the gorilla came before thein they did not take him\nseriously, but simply laughed at him. However, the gorilla was so rude that\neven in the presence of Balarama he began to show the lower part of his\nbody to the women, and sometimes he would come forward to show his\nteeth while moving his eyebrows. He disrespected the women, even in the\npresence of Balarama. Lord Balarama's name suggests that He is not only\nvery powerful, but that He takes pleasure in exhibiting extraordinary\nstrength. So He took a stone and threw it at Dvivida. The gorilla, however,\nartfully avoided being struck by the stone. In order to insult Balarama,\nthe gorilla took away the earthen pot in which the Varu!li was kept.\nDvivida, being thus intoxicated, with his limited strength began to tear off\nall the valuable clothes worn by Balarama and the accompanying young\ngirls. He was so puffed up that he thought that Balarama could not do\nanything to chastise him, and he continued to offend Balaramaji and\nHis companions.\nWhen Lord Balarama personally saw the disturbances created by the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0126": "Deliverance of Dvivida Gorilla\n\n89\n\ngorilla and heard that he had already performed many mischievous activities all over the country, He became very angry and decided to kill him.\nImmediately He took His club in His hands. The gorilla could understand\nthat now Balarama was going to attack him. In order to counteract\nBalarama, he immediately uprooted a big oak tree, and with great force he\ncame and struck at Lord Balarama's head. Lord Balarama, however,\nimmediately caught hold of the big tree and remained undisturbed, just\nlike a great mountain. To retaliate, He took His club by the name of\nSunanda and began to hit the gorilla with it. The gorilla's head was\nseverely injured. Currents of blood flowed from his head with great force,\nbut the stream of blood enhanced his beauty like a stream of liquid\nmanganese coming out of a great mountain. The striking of Balarama's\nclub did not even slightly disturb him. On the contrary, he immediately\nuprooted another big oak tree, and after clipping off all its leaves, he\nbegan to strike Balarama 's head with it. But Balarama, with the help of\nHis club, tore the tree to pieces. Since the gorilla was very angry, he took\nanother tree in his hands and began to strike �ord Balarama's body.\nAgain Lord Balarama tore the tree to pieces, and the fighting continued.\nEach time the gorilla would bring out a big tree to strike Balarama, Lord\nBalarama would tear the tree to pieces by the striking of His club. The\ngorilla Dvivida would clutch another tree from another direction and again\nattack Balarama in the same way. As a result of this continuous fighting,\nthe forest became treeless. When no more trees were available, Dvivida\ntook help from the hills and threw large pieces of stone, like rainfall, upon\nthe body of Balarama. Lord Balarama, also in a great sporting mood, began\nto smash those big pieces of stone into mere pebbles. The gorilla, being\nbereft of all trees and stone slabs, now stood before Him and waved his\nstrong fists. Then, with great force, .he began to beat the chest of Lord\nBalarama with his fists. This time Lord Balarama became most angry.\nSince the gorilla was striking Him with his hands, He would not strike him\nback with His own weapons, the club or the plow. Simply with His fist He\nbegan to strike the collarbone of the gorilla. This striking proved to be\nfatal to Dvivida, who immediately vomited blood and fell unconscious\nupon the ground. When the gorilla fell, it appeared that all the hills and\nforests tottered.\nAfter this horrible incident, all the Siddhas, great sages and saintly\npersons from the upper planetary system began to shower flowers on the\nperson of Lord Balarama, and sounds glorifying the supremacy of Lord\nBalarama were vibrated. All of them began to chant, \"All glories to Lord\nBalarama! Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto Your lotus feet. By\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0127": "90\n\nJ<.r�J)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nYour killing this great demon, Dvivida, You have initiated an auspicious\nera ; for· the· world.\" All such jubilant sounds of victory were heard from\nouter space� After killing the great demon Dvivida and being worshiped by\nshowers of flowers and glorious sounds of victory, Balarama returned to\nHis cap�tal city, Dviiraka.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volumf!, Twelfth\nChapter, of J<.r�J)a, \"Deliverance of Dvivida Gorilla. ''\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0128": "13 I The Marriage of Samba\n\nDuryodhana, the son of Dhrtara�tra, had a marriageable daughter by\n\nthe name of Lak�ma!la. She was a very highly qualified girl of the Kuru\ndynasty, and many princes wanted to marry her. In such cases, the sva­\n\nyarhvara ceremony is held so that the girl may select her husband according\n\nto her own choice. In Lak�mapa's svayarhvara assembly, when the girl\n\nwas to select her husband, Samba appeared. He was the son of Kr�!la_ by\n\nJambavati, one of the chief wives of Lord Kr�!la. This son Samba is so\n\nnamed because he was a very bad child, and he always lived close to his\n\nmother. The name Samba indicates a son who is very much his mother's\n\npet. -A mbii �eans mother, and sa means with. So this special name was\n\ngiven to him. because he always remained with his mother. He was also\n\nknown as Jambavatisuta for the same reason. As previously explained, all\n\nthe sons of Kr�!la were as qualified as their great father, Lord Kr�!ia. Samba\n\nwanted the daughter of Duryodhana, Lak�ma!la, although she was not\ninclined to have him. Therefore Samba kidnapped Lak�ma!la by force\nfrom the svayarhvara assembly.\n\nBecause Samba took Lak�ma!la away from the assembly by force, all\n\nthe members of the Kuru dynasty, namely, Dhrtara�tra, Bhi�ma, Vidura,\nUjahan and Arjuna, thought it an insult to their family tradition that the\n\nboy, Samba, could possibly have kidnapped their daughter. All of them\n\nknew that Laksmana was not at all inclined to select him as a husband and\n.\n\n-\n\n.\n\nthat she was not given the chance to select her own husband; instead she\n\nwas forcibly taken away by this boy. Therefore, they decided that he must\nbe punished. They unanimously declared that he was most impudent and\n\nthat he had degraded the Kurus' family tradition. Therefore, all of them,\n\nunder the counsel of the elderly members of the Kuru family, decided to\n\narrest the boy but not kill him. They concluded that the girl could not be\n\nmarried to anr boy other than Samba since she had already been touched\n\n91\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0129": "92\n\nKH�a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nby him. (According to the Vedic system, once being used by some boy, a\n\ngirl cannot be married or given to any other boy. Nor would anyone agree\nto marry a girl who had already thus associated with another boy.) The\n\nelderly members of the family, such as Bhi�ma, wanted to arrest him. All\n\nthe members of the Kuru dynasty, especially the great fighters, joined\ntogether just to teach him a lesson, and Kar�a was made the commanderin-chief for this small battle.\n\nWhile the plan was being made to arrest Samba, the Kurus counciled\n\namongst themselves that upon his arrest, the members of theYadu dynasty\n\nwould be very angry with them. There was every possibility of the Yadus'\n\naccepting the challenge and fighting with them. But they also thought,\n\"If they came. here to fight with us, what could they do? The members\n\nof the Yadu ·dynasty cannot equal the members of the Kuru dynasty\nbecause the kings of the Kuru dynasty are the emperors, whereas the\n\nkings of the Yadu dynasty are able to enjoy their landed property.\" The\n\nKurus thought, \"If they come here to challenge us because their son was\n\narrested, we will nevertheless accept the fight. All of us will teach them a\n\nlesson, so that automatically they will become subdued under pressure, as\n\nthe senses are subdued by the mystic yoga process, prar-ayiima.\" (In the\n\nmechanical system of mystic yoga, the airs within the body are controlled,\n\nand the senses are f:ubdued and checked from being engaged in anything\nother than meditation upon Lord Vi��u.)\n\nAfter consultation and after receiving permission from the elderly mem­\n\nbers of the Kuru dynasty, such as Bhi�ma and Dhrtara�tra, six great warriors\n\n-Kar�a, Sala, Bhurisrava, Yajfiaketu, and Duryodhana, the father of the\n\ngirl-all mahii-rathis and guided by the great fighter Bhi�madeva,attempted\n\nto arrest the boy Samba. There are different grades of fighters, including\n\nmahii-rathi, eka-rathi, and rathi, classified according to their fighting\n\ncapacity. These mahii-rathis could fight alone with many thousands of\n\nmen. All of them combined together to arrest Samba. Samba was also a\n\nmahii-rathi, but he was alone and had to fight with the six other mahii­\n\nrathis. Still he was not deterred when he saw all the great fighters of the\nKuru dynasty coming up behind him to arrest him.\n\nAlone, he turned towards them and took his nice bow, posing exactly\n\nas a lion stands adamant in the face of other animals. Kar�a was leading\n\nthe party, and he challenged Samba, \"Why are you fleeing? Just stand, and\n\nwe shall teach you a lesson!\" When challenged by another k§atriya to\n\nstand and fight, a k§dtriya cannot go away; he must fight. Therefore, as\n\nsoon as Samba accepted the challenge and stood alone before them, he was\n\noverpowered by showers of arrows thrown by all the great warriors. As a\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0130": "The Marriage of Samba\n\n93\n\nlion is never afraid of being chased by many wolves and j ackals, similarly,\nSamba, the glorious son of the Yadu dynasty, endowed with inconceivable\npotencies as the son of Lord KHv.a, became very angry at the,warriors of\nthe Kuru dynasty for improperly using arrows against him. He fought\nthem with great talent. First of all, he struck each of the six charioteers\nwith six separate arrows. Another four arrows were used to kill the\ncharioteers' horses, four on each chariot. One arrow was used to kill the\ndriver, and one arrow was used for Karv.a as well as the other celebrated\nfighters. While Samba was so diligently fighting alone with the six great\nwarriors, they all appreciated the inconceivable potency of the boy. Even\nin the midst of fighting, they admitted frankly that this boy Samba was\nwonderful. But the fighting was conducted in the k§atriya spirit, so all\ntogether, although it was improper, they obliged Samba to get down from\nhis chariot, now broken to pieces. Of the six warriors, four took care to\nkill Samba's four horses, and one of them managed to cut the string of\nSamba's bow so that he could no longer fight with them. In this way, with\ngreat difficulty and after a severe fight, Samba was left bereft of his\nchariot, and they were able to arrest him. Thus, the warriors of the Kuru\ndynasty accepted their great victory and took their daughter, Lak�matJ.a,\naway from him. Thereafter, they entered the city of Hastinapura in great\ntriumph.\nThe great sage Narada immediately carried the news to the Yadu dynasty\nthat Samba was arrested and told them the whole story. The members of\nthe Yadu dynasty became very angry at Samba's being arrested, and improperly so by six warriors. Now, with the permission of the head of the\nYadu dynasty's king, Ugrasena, they prepared to attack the capital city of\nthe Kuru dynasty.\nAlthough Lord Balarama knew very well that by slight provocation\npeople are prepared to fight with one another in the age of Kali, He did\nnot like the idea that the two great dynasties, the Kuru dynasty and the\nYadu dynasty, would fight amongst themselves, even though they were\ninfluenced by Kali-yuga.\n\n\"Instead of fighting with them,\" He wisely\n\nthought, \"let Me go there and see the situation, and let Me try to ·see if the\nfight can be settled by mutual understanding.\" Balarama's idea was that if\nthe Kuru dynasty could be induced to release Samba along with his wife,\nLak�mav.a, then the fight could be avoided. He therefore immediately\narranged for a nice chariot to go to Hastinapura, accompanied by learned\npriests and briihmar-as, as well as by some of the elderly members of the\nYadu dynasty. He was confident that the members of the Kuru dynasty\nwould agree to this marriage and avoid fighting amongst themselves. As\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0131": "94\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nLord Balarama proceeded towards Hastinapura in this chariot, accompanied\nby the learned briihmarzas and the elderly members of the Yadu dynasty,\n\nHe looked like the moon shining in the clear sky amongst the glittering\n\nstars. When Lord Balarama reached the precincts of the city of Hastinapura,\n\nHe did not enter, but stationed ·Himself in a camp outside the city in a\nsmall garden house. Then He asked Uddhava to see the leaders of the Kuru\n\ndynasty and inquire from them whether they wanted to fight with the\n\nY adu dynasty or to make a settlement. U ddhava went to see the leaders of\n\nthe Kuru dynasty, and he met all the important members, including\nBhi�madeva, Dhrtara�tra, Dro�acarya, Bali, Duryodhana and Bahlika. After\n\noffering them due respects, . he informed them that Lord Balarama had\nalready arrived at the garden, outside the city door.\n\nThe leaders of the Kuru dynasty, especially Dhrtara�tra and Duryodhana,\n\nwere very joyful because they knew very well that Lord Balarama was a\n\ngreat well-wisher of their family. There were no bounds to their joy on\nhearing the news, and so immediately they welcomed Uddhava. In order\n\nto properly receive Lord Balarama, they all took auspicious paraphernalia\nfor His reception in their hands and went to see Him outside the city door.\n\nAccording to their respective positions, they welcomed Lord Balarama by\n\ngiving Him in charity nice cows and argha (an assortment of articles such\nas iiriitrika water, sweet preparations of honey, butter, etc., and flowers,\n\nand garlands scented with pulp). Because all of them knew the exalted\n\nposition of Lord Balarama as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they\n\nbowed their heads before the Lord with great respect. They all exchanged\n\nwords of reception by asking one another of their welfare, and when such\n\nformality was finished, Lord Balarama, in a great voice and very patiently,\n\nsubmitted before them the following words for their consideration. \"My\n\ndear friends, this time I have come to you as a messenger with the order of\n\nthe all-powerful King Ugrasena. Please, therefore, hear the order with attention and great care. Without wasting a single moment, please try to carry\n\nout the order. King Ugrasena knows very well that you warriors of the\nKuru dynasty improperly fought with the pious Samba, who was alone,\n\nand that with great difficulty and tactics you have arrested him. We have\n\nall heard this news, but we are not very agitated because we are most\n\nintimately related to each other. I do not think we should disturb our\n\ngood relationship; we should continue our friendship without any un­\n\nnecessary fighting. Please, therefore, immediately release Samba and bring\n\nhim, along with his wife, Lak�mal}a, before Me.\"\nWhen Lord Balarama spoke in\n\na\n\ncommanding tone full of heroic\n\nassertion, supremacy and chivalry, His statements were not appreciated by\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0132": "The Marriage of Samba\n\n95\n\nthe leaders of the Kuru dynasty. Rather, all of them became agitated, and\nwith great anger they said: \"Hello! These words are very astonishing but\nquite befitting the age of Kali; otherwise .how could Balarama speak so\nvituperatively? The language and tone used by Balarama are simply\nabusive, and due to the influence of this age, it appears that the shoes\nbefitting the feet want to rise to the top of the head where the helmet is\nworn. We are connected with the Y adu dynasty by marriage, and because\nof this they have been given the chance to come live with us, dine with us,\nand sleep with us; now they are taking advantage of these privileges. They\nhad practically no position before we gave them a portion of our kingdom\nto rule, and now they are trying to command us. We have allowed the Y adu\ndynasty to use the royal insignias like the whisk, fan, conchshell, white\numbrella, crown, royal throne, sitting place, bedstead, and everything\nbefitting the royal order. They should not have used such royal paraphernalia in our presence, but we did not check them due to our family relationships. Now they have the audacity to order us to do things. Well, this\nis enough of their impudence! We cannot allow them to do any more of\nthese things, nor shall we allow them to use these royal insigr:.ias. It would\nbe best to take all these things away; it is improper to feed a snake with\nmilk, since such merciful activities simply increase his venom. The Y adu\ndynasty is now trying to go against those who have fed them so nicely.\nTheir flourishing condition is due to our gifts and merciful behavior, and\nstill they are so shameless that they are trying to order us. How regrettable\nare all these activities! No one in the world can enjoy anything if the\nmembers of the Kuru dynasty like Bhi�ma, Dro�acarya and Arjuna do not\nallow them to. Exactly as a lamb cannot enjoy life in the presence of a\nlion, without our desire it is not even possible for the demigods in heaven,\nheaded by King Indra, to find enjoyment in life, not to speak of ordinary\nhuman beings!\" Actually the members of the Kuru dynasty were very\npuffed up due to their opulence, kingdom, aristocracy, family tradition,\ngreat warriors, family members and vast expansive empire. They did not\neven observe common formalities of civilized society, and in the presence\nof Lord Balarama they uttered insulting words about the Y adu dynasty. Speaking in this unmannerly way, they returned to their city of\nHastinapura.\nAlthough Lord Balarama patiently heard their insulting words and\nsimply observed their uncivil behavior, from His appearance it was clear\nthat He was burning with anger and was thinking of retaliating with great\nvengeance. His bodily features became so agitated that it was difficult for\nanyone to look at Him. He Jaughed very loudly and said: \"It is true that if\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0133": "96\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\na man becomes too puffed up because of his family, opulence, beauty and\n\nmaterial advancement, he no longer wants a peaceful life but becomes\n\nbelligerent toward all others. It is useless to give such a person good\ninstruction for gentle behavior and peaceful life, but on the contrary, one\nshould search out the ways and means to punish him.\" Generally, due to\n\nmaterial opulence a man becomes exactly like an animal. To give an animal\npeaceful instructions\n\nis useless, and the only means is argumentum\n\nvaculum. In other words, the only means to keep animals in order is a\nstick. \"Just see how impudent the members of the Kuru dynasty are! I\n\nwanted to make a peaceful settlement despite the anger of all the other\nmembers of the Yadu dynasty, including Lord Kr��a Himself. They were\n\npreparing to attack the whole kingdom of the Kuru dynasty, but I pacified\n\nthem and took the trouble to come here to settle the affair without any\n\nfighting. Still these rascals behave like this! It is clear that they do not\n\nwant a peaceful settlement, but that they are factually warmongers.\n\nWith great pride they have repeatedly insulted Me by calling the Yadus\ndynasty ill names.\n\n\"Even the King of heaven, Indra, abides by the order of the Yadu\n\ndynasty; and you consider King Ugrasena, who is the head of the Bhojas,\n\nVr��is, Andhakas and Yadavas, to be the leader of a small phalanx! Your\n\nconclusion is wonderful! You do not care for King U grasena, whose order\n\nis obeyed even by King lndra. Consider the exalted position of the Y adu\n\ndynasty. They have forcibly used both the assembly house and the\n\npiirijiita tree of the heavenly planet, and still you think that they cannot\norder you. Don't you even think that Lord Kr��a, the Supreme Personality\n\nof Godhead, can sit on the exalted royal throne and command everyone?\n\nAll right! If your thinking is like that, then you deserve to be taught a very\n\ngood lesson. You have thought it wise that the royal insignias like the\n\nwhisk, fan, white umbrella, royal throne and other princely paraphernalia\n\nnot be used by the Yadu dynasty. Does this mean that even Lord Krwa,\n\nthe Lord of the whole creation and the husband of the goddess of fortune,\n\ncannot use this royal paraphernalia? The dust of i<n�a's lotus feet is\nworshiped by all the great demigods. The Ganges water is inundating the\n\nwhole world, and since it is emanating from His lotus feet, its banks have\n\nturned into great places of pilgrimage. The principal deities of all planets\n\nare engaged in His service, and they consider themselves most fortunate to\ntake the dust of the lotus feet of Kr��a on their helmets. Great demigods\n\nlike Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, and even the goddess of fortune and I are\n\nsimply plenary parts of His spiritual identity, and still you think that He\n\nis not fit to use the royal insignia or even sit on the royal throne? Alas,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0134": "The Marriage of Samba\n\n97\n\nhow regrettable it is that these fools consider us, the members of the Yadu\ndynasty, to be like shoes and themselves like helmets. It is clear now that\nthese ·leaders of the Kuru dynasty have become mad over their worldly\npossessions and opulence. Every statement they made was full of crazy\nproposals. I should immediately take them to task and bring them to their\nsenses. If I do not take steps against them, it will he improper on My part.\nTherefore, on this very day, I shall rid the whole world of any trace of the\nKuru dynasty. I shall finish them off immediately!\" While talking like this,\nLord Balarama seemed so furious that He looked as if He could burn the\nwhole cosmic creation to ashes. He stood up steadily, and taking His plow\nin His hand, began striking the earth with it. In this way the whole city of\nHastinapura was separated from the earth. Lord Balarama then began to\ndrag the city toward the flowing water of the river Ganges. Because of\nthis, there was a great tremor throughout Hastinapura, as if there had been\nan earthquake, and it seemed that the whole city would be dismantled.\nWhen all the members of the Kuru dynasty saw that their city was\nabout to fall into the water of the Ganges and when they heard their\ncitizens howling in great anxiety, they immediately came to their senses\nand understood what was happening. Thus without waiting another second\nthey brought forward their daughter Lak�ma�a. They also brought Samba,\nwho had forcibly tried to take her away, keeping him in the forefront with\nLak�ma!1a at his back. All the members of the Kuru dynasty appeared\nbefore Lord Balarama with folded hands just to beg the pardon of the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead. Now using good sense, they said: \"0\nLord Balarama, You are the reservoir of all pleasures. You are the maintainer and support of the entire cosmic situation. Unfortunately we were\n·all unaware of Your inconceivable potencies. Dear Lord, please consider\nus most foolish. Our intelligence was bewildered and not in order. Therefore we have come before You to beg Your pardon. Please excuse us. You\n·are the original creator, sustainer and annihilator of the whole cosmic manifestation, and still Your position is always transcendental. 0 all-powerful\nLord, great sages speak about You. You are the original puppeteer, and\neverything in the world is just like Your toys. 0 unlimited one, You have\na hold on everything, and like child's play You hold all the planetary\nsystems on Your head. When the time for dissolution comes, You close\nup the whole cosmic manifestation within Yourself. At that time nothing\nremains but Yourself lying in the Causal Ocean as Maha-Vi��u. Our dear\nLord, You have appeared on this earth in Your transcendental body just\nfor the maintenance of the cosmic situation. You are above all anger, envy\nand enmity. Whatever\n\nYou do, even in the form of chastisement, is\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0135": "98\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nauspicious for the whole material existence. We are offering our respectful\nobeisances unto You because You are the imperishable Supreme Person­\n\nality of Godhead, the reservoir of all opulences and potencies. 0 creator\n\nof innumerable universes, let us fall down and offer You our respectful\n\nobeisances, again and again. We are now completely surrendered unto\nYou. Please, therefore, be merciful upon us and give us Your protection.\"\n\nWhen the prominent members of the Kuru dynasty, beginning with\ngrandfather Bhi�madeva down to Arjuna and Duryodhana, had offered\n\ntheir respectful prayers in that way, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\n\nLord Balarama, immediately became softened and assured them there was\n\nno cause for fear and that they need not worry.\n\nFor the most part it was the practice of the k§atri\"ya kings to inaugurate\n\nsome kind of fighting between the parties of the bride and bridegroom\nbefore the marriage. When Samba forcibly took away Lak�ma!la, the\n\nelderly members of the Kuru dynasty were pleased to see that he was\nactually the suitable match for her. In order to see his personal strength,\n\nhowever, they fought with him, and without any respect for the regula­\n\ntions of fighting, they all arrested him. When the Y adu dynasty decided to\n\n,release Samba from the confinement of the Kurus, Lord Balarama came\n\npersonally to settle the matter, and as a powerful k§atriya, He ordered\n\nthem to free Samba immediately. The Kauravas became superficially in­\n\nsulted by this order, so they challenged Lord Balarama 's power. They\nsimply wanted to see Him exhibit His inconceivable strength. Thus with\n\ngreat pleasure they handed over their daughter to Samba, and the whole\nmatter was settled. Duryodhana, being affectionate· towards his daughter\n\nLak�ma!la, had her married to Samba in great pomp. For her dowry, he\n\nfirst gave 1,200 elephants, each of which were at least sixty years old; then\n\nhe gave 10,000 nice horses, 6,000 chariots, which were dazzling just like\n\nthe sunshine, and 1,000 maidservants who were decorated with golden\nornaments. Lord Balarama, the most prominent member of the Yadu\n\ndynasty, acted as guardian of the bridegroom Samba and very pleasingly\naccepted the dowry. Balarama was very satisfied after His great reception\nfrom the side of the Kurus, and accompanied by the newly married couple,\nHe started towards His capital city of Dvaraka.\n\nLord Balarama triumphantly reached Dvaraka, where He met with many\n\ncitizens who were all His devotees and friends. When they all assembled,\n\nLord Balarama narrated the whole story of the marriage, and they were\n\nastonished to hear how Balarama had made the city of Hastinapura\n\ntremble. It is confirmed by Sukadeva Gosvami that the site of Hastinapura\n\nis now known as New Delhi, and the river flowing through the city is called\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0136": "The Marriage of Samba\n\n99\n\nthe Yamuna, although in those days it was known as the Gariges. From\nauthorities like Jiva Gosvami it is also confirmed that the Ganges and\nYamuna are the same river flowing in different courses. The part of the\nGanges which flows through Hastinapura to the area of V rndavana is\ncalled the Yamuna because it is sanctified by the transcendental pastimes\nof Lord Kr�!la. The part of Hastinapura which slopes towards the Yamuna\nbecomes inundated during the rainy season and reminds everyone of Lord\nBalarama 's threatening to cast the city into the Ganges.\n\nThus ends the BhaMivedanta' purport of the Second Volume, Thirteenth\n\nChapter, of Kr�!la, \"The Marriage of Samba.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0137": "14 I The Great Sage Narada Visits\nthe Different Homes of Lord Krsna\n•\n\n•\n\n•\n\nThe great sage Narada heard that Lord Kr��a had married 16,000 wives\nafter He had killed the demon Narakasura, sometimes called Bhaumasura.\nNarada became astonished that Lord Kr��a had expanded Himself into\n16,000 forms and married these wives simultaneously in different palaces.\n\nBeing inquisitive as to how Kr��a was managing His household affairs with\n\nso many wives, Narada desired to see these pastimes and so set out to visit\n\nKr��a's different homes. When Narada arrived in Dvaraka, he saw that the\n\ngardens and parks were full of various flowers of different co1ors and\n\norchards that were overloaded with a variety of fruits. Beautiful birds were\nchirping, and peacocks were delightfully crowing. There were tanks and\nponds full of blue and red lotus flowers, and some of these sites were filled\nwith varieties of lilies. The lakes were full of nice swans and cranes whose\nvoices resounded everywhere. In the city there were as many as 900,000\ngreat palaces built of first-class marble with gates and doors made of silver.\nThe posts of the houses and palaces were bedecked with jewels such as\ntouchstone, sapphires and emeralds, and the floors gave off a beautiful\nluster. The highways, lanes, streets, crossings and marketplaces were all\nbeautifully decorated. The whole city was full of residential homes, assembly houses, and temples, all of different architectural beauty. All of this\nmade ·nvaraka a glowing city. The big avenues, crossings, lanes, streets, and\nalso the thresholds of every residential house, were very clean. On both\nsides of every path there were bushes, and at regular intervals there were\nlarge trees that shaded the avenues so that the sunshine would not bother\n\nthe passersby.\n\nIn this greatly beautiful city of Dvaraka, Lord Kr��a, the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, had many residential quarters. The great kings\nand princes of the world used to visit these palaces just to worship Him.\n\nThe architectural plans were made personally by Visvakarma, the engineer\n100\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0138": "Narada Visits the Different Homes of Lord Kr��a\n\n101\n\nof the demigods, and in the construction of the palaces he exhibited all\nof his talents and ingenuity. These residential quarters numbered more\nthan 16,000, and a different queen of Lord Kr��a resided in each of them.\nThe great sage Narada entered one of these houses and saw that the pillars\nwere made of coral and the ceilings were bedecked with jewels. The walls\nas well as the arches between the pillars glowed from the decorations of\ndifferent kinds of sapphires. Throughout the palace there were many\ncanopies made by Visvakarma that were decorated with strings of pearls.\nThe chairs and other furniture_ were made of ivory, bedecked with gold\nand diamonds, and jeweled lamps dissipated the darkness within the\npalace. There was so much incense and flavored gum burning that the\nscented fumes were coming out of the windows. The peacocks sitting on\nthe steps became illusioned by the fumes, mistaking them for clouds, and\nbegan dancing jubilantly. There were many maidservants, all of whom were\ndecorated with gold necklaces, bangles and beautiful saris. There were also\nmany male servants, who were nicely dressed in cloaks and turbans and\njeweled earrings. Beautiful as they were, the servants were all engage_d in\ndifferent household duties.\nNarada saw that Lord Kr��a was sitting with Rukmi�idevi, the mistress\nof that particular palace, who was bearing the rod of a ciimara whisk. Even\nthough there· were many thousands of maidservants who were equally\nbeautiful and qualified, and who were of the same age, Rukmi�idevi\npersonally was engaged in fanning Lord Kr��a. Kr��a is the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, worshiped even by Narada, but still, as soon as\nHe saw Narada enter the palace, Kr��a got down immediately from\nRukmi�i's bedstead and stood up to honor him. Lord KH�a is the teacher\nof the whole world, and in order to instruct everyone how to respect a\nsaintly person like Narada Muni, Kr��a bowed down, touching His helmet\nto the ground. Not only did Kr��a bow down, but He also touched the\nfeet of Narada and with folded hands requested him to sit on His chair.\nLord Kr��a is the Supreme Personality worshiped by all devotees. He is the\nmost worshiped spiritual master of everyone. The Ganges water which\nemanates from His feet sanctifies the three worlds. All qualified briihma'{laS\nworship Him, and therefore He is called brahma'{lya-deva.\nBrah-rrw'{lya means one who fully possesses the brahminical qualifications, which are said to be as follows: truthfulness, self-control, purity,\nmastery of the senses, simplicity, full knowledge by practical application,\nand engagement in devotional service. Lord Kr��a personally possesses all\nthese qualities, and He is worshiped by persons who themselves possess\nsuch qualities. There are thousands and millions of names of Lord Kr��a-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0139": "102\n\n.Kf�pa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nVi�ru-sahasra-numa-and all of them are given to Him because of His\n\ntranscendental qualities.\n\nLord KH!la in Dvaraka enjoyed the pastimes of a perfect human being.\n\nWhen, therefore, He washed the feet of the sage Narada and took the water\n\non His head, Narada did not object, knowing well that the Lord did so to\n\nteach everyone how to respect saintly persons. The Supreme Personality of\n\nGodhead, Kr�!la, who is the original Naraya!la and eternal friend of all\n\nliving entities, thus worshiped the sage Narada according to Vedic regulative\n\nprinciples. Welcoming him with sweet nectarean words, He addressed\n\nNarada as bhagavun, or one who is self-sufficient, possessing all kinds of\n\nknowledge, renunciation, strength, fame, beauty, and similar other opu­\n\nlences. He particularly asked Narada, \"What can I do in your service?\"\n\nNarada replied, \"My dear Lord, this kind of behavior by Your Lordship\n\nis not at all astonishing because You are the Supreme Personality of\n\nGodhead and master of all species of living entities. You are the supreme\n\nfriend of all living entities, but at the same time You are the supreme\n\nchastiser of the miscreants and the envious. I know that Your Lordship\n\nhas descended on this earth for the proper maintenance of the whole\n\nuniverse. Your appearance, therefore, is not forced by any other agency.\nBy Your sweet will only, You agree to appear and disappear. It is my\n\ngreat fortune that I have been able to see Your lotus feet today. Anyone\n\nwho becomes attached to Your lotus feet is elevated to the supreme\nposition of neutrality and is uncontaminated by the material modes of\n\nnature. My Lord, You are unlimited; there is no limit to Your opulences.\n\nGreat demigods like Lord Brahma and Lord Siva are always busy placing\nYou within their hearts and meditating upon You. The conditioned souls\n\nwho have now been put into the blind well of material existence can get\n\nout of this eternal captivity only by accepting Your lotus feet. Thus, You\nare the only shelter of all conditioned souls. My dear Lord, You have very\n\nkindly asked what You can do for me. In answer to this I simply request\n\nthat I may not forget Your lotus feet at any time. I do not care where I\n\nmay be, but I pray that I may be allowed to constantly remember Your\nlotus feet.\"\n\nThe benediction which the sage Narada asked from the Lord is the ideal\n\nprayer of all pure devotees. A pure devotee never asks for any kind of\n\nmaterial or spiritual benediction from the Lord, but his only prayer is that\n\nhe may not forget the lotus feet of the Lord in any condition of life. A\npure devotee does not care whether he is put in heaven or hell; he is\nsatisfied anywhere, provided he can constantly remember the lotus feet of\n\nthe Lord. Lord Caitanya also taught this same process of prayer in His\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0140": "Narada Visits the Different Homes of Lord Kr��a\n\n103\n\nSik§ii§taka, in which He clearly stated that all He wanted was devotional\nservice, birth after birth. A pure devotee does not even want to stop the\nrepetition of birth and death. To a pure devotee, it does not matter\nwhether he has to take birth again in the various species of life. His only\nambition is that he may not forget the lotus feet of the Lord in any\ncondition of life.\nAfter departing from the palace of Rukmi!li, Naradaji wanted to see the\n\nactivities of Lord Kr�!la 's internal potency, yogamiiyii; thus he entered the\npalace of another queen. There he saw Lord Kr��a engaged in playing\nchess, along with His dear wife and Uddhava. The Lord immediately got\nup from His seat and invited Narada Muni to sit on His personal seat. The\nLord again worshiped him with as much paraphernalia for reception as He\nhad in the palace of Rukmi!li. After worshiping him properly, Lord Kr��a\nacted as if He did not know what had happened in the palace of Rukmi!li.\nHe therefore told Narada, \"My dear sage, when your holiness comes here,\n\nyou are full in yourself. Although we are householders and are always in\nneed, you don't require anyone's help because you are self -satisfied.\nUnder the circumstances, what reception can we offer you, and what can\n\nwe possibly give you? Yet, since your holiness is a briihmar-a, it is our duty\nto offer you something as far as possible. Therefore, I beg your pleasure to\norder Me. What can I do for you?\"\nNaradaji knew everything about the pastimes of the Lord, so without\nany further discussion, he simply left the palace silently, in great astonishment over the Lord's activities. He then entered another palace. This time\nNaradaji saw that Lord Kr�!la was engaged as an affectionate father petting\nHis small children. From there he entered another palace and saw Lord\nKr�!la preparing to take His bath. In this way, Saint Narada entered each\nand every one of the sixteen thousand residential palaces of the queens of\nLord Kr�!la, and in each of them he found Kr�!la engaged in different\nways.\nIn one place he found Kf�J)a engaged in offering oblations to the\n\nsacrificial fire and performing the ritualistic ceremonies of the Vedas as\nenjoined for householders. In another palace, Kf�J)a was found performing\n\nthe paiica-yajfia sacrifice, which is compulsory for a householder. This\n\nyajfia is also known as paiica-suna. Knowingly or unknowingly, everyone,\nspecifically the householder, is committing five kinds of sinful activities.\n\nWhen we receive water from a water pitcher, we kill many germs that are in\nit. Similarly, when we use a grinding machine or take foodstuff, we kill\nmany germs. When sweeping a floor or igniting a fire we kill many germs,\nand when we walk on the street we kill many ants and other insects.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0141": "104\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nConsciously or unconsciously, in all our different activities, we are killing.\nTherefore, it is incumbent upon every householder to perform the paiica­\n\nsilna sacrifice to rid himself of the reactions to such sinful activities.\nIn one palace Lord Kr��a was found engaged in feeding briihmaras after\nperforming ritualistic yajiias. In another palace, Narada found Kr��a\nengaged in silently chanting the Gayatri mantra, and in a third he found\nHim practicing fighting with a sword and shield. In some palaces Lord\nKr��a was found riding on horses or elephants or chariots and wandering\nhither and thither. Elsewhere He was found lying down on His bedstead\ntaking rest, and somewhere else He was found sitting in His chair, being\npraised by the prayers of His different devotees. In some of the palaces\nHe was found consulting with ministers like Uddhava and others on\nimportant matters of business. In one palace He was found surrounded by\nmany young society girls, enjoying in a swimming pool. In another palace\nHe was found engaged in giving well-decorated ·cows in charity to the\n\nbrahmaras, and in another palace He was found hearing the narrations of\nthePu raras or histories, such as theMahabharata, which are supplementary\nliteratures for disseminating Vedic knowledge to common people by\nnarrating important instances in the history of the universe. Somewhere\nLord KH�a was found enjoying the company of a particular wife by\nexchanging joking words with her. Somewhere else He was found engaged\nalong with His wife in religious ritualistic functions. Since it is necessary\nfor householders to increase their financial assets for various expenditures,\nKr��a was found somewhere engaged in matters of economic development.\nSomewhere else He was found enjoying family life according to the\nregulative principles of the sastras.\nIn one palace He was found sitting in meditation as if He were concentrating His mind on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond\nthese material universes. Meditation, as recommended in authorized scripture, is meant for concentrating one's mind on the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead, Vi��u. Lord Kr��a is Himself the original Vi��u, but because\nHe played the part of a human being, He taught us definitely by His\npersonal behavior what is meant by meditation. Somewhere Lord Krwa\nwas found satisfying elderly superiors by supplying them things which\nthey needed. Somewhere else Naradaji found that Lord Kr��a was engaged\nin discussing topics of fighting, and somewhere else in making peace with\nenemies.\n\nSomewhere\n\nLord\n\nKr��a was found discussing the ultimate\n\nauspicious activity for the entire human society with His elder brother\nLord Balarama. Narada saw Lord KH�a engaged in getting His sons and\ndaughters married with suitable brides and bridegrooms in due course of\ntime, and the marriage ceremonies were being performed with great pomp.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0142": "Narada Visits the Different Homes of Lord Kr��a\n\n105\n\nIn one palace He was found bidding farewell to His daughters, and in\n\nanother He was found receiving a daughter-in-law. People throughout the\n\nwhole city were astonished to see such pomp and ceremonies.\n\nSomewhere the Lord was seen engaged in performing different types of\n\nsacrifices to satisfy the demigods, who are only Hi� qualitative expansions.\n\nSomewhere He was seen engaged in public welfare activities, establishing\n\ndeep wells for water supply, rest houses and gardens for unknown guests,\nand great monastaries and temples for saintly persons. These are some of\n\nthe duties enjoined in the Vedas for householders for fulfillment of their\n\nmaterial desires. Somewhere Kr��a was found as a k§atriya king engaged in\nhunting animals in the forest and riding on very beautiful sindhi horses.\n\nAccording to Vedic regulations, the k§atriyas were allowed to kill pre­\n\nscribed animals on certain occasions, either to maintain peace in the\n\nforests or to offer the animals in the sacrificial fire. K§atriyas are allowed\nto practice this killing art because they have to kill their enemies merci­\n\nlessly to maintain peace in society. In one situation the great sage Narada\n\nsaw Lord Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and master of\n\nmystic powers, acting as a spy by changing His usual dress in order to\n\nunderstand the motives of different citizens in the city and within the\n\npalaces.\n\nSaint Narada saw all these activities of the Lord, who is the Supersoul of\n\nall living entities but who played the role of an ordinary human being in\n\norder to manifest the activities of His internal potency. He was smiling\n\nwithin himself and began to address the Lord as follows: \"My dear Lord\n\nof all mystic powers, object of the meditation of great mystics, the\nextent of Your mystic power is certainly inconceivable, even to mystics\n\nlike Lord Brahma and Lord Siva. But by Your mercy, because of my being\nalways engaged in the transcendental loving service of Your lotus feet,\n\nYour Lordship has very kindly revealed to me the actions of Your\n\ninternal potency. My dear Lord, You are worshipable by all, and demigods\nand predominating deities of all fourteen planetary systems are completely\n\naware of Your transcendental fame. Now please give me Your blessings so\n\nthat I may be able to travel all over the universes singing the glories of\nYour transcendental activities.\"\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kr��a, replied to Narada as\n\nfollows: \"My dear Narada, 0 sage among the demigods, you know that I\nam the supreme instructor and perfect follower of all religious principles,\nas\n\nwell as the supreme enforcer of such principles. I am therefore per­\n\nsonally executing such religious principles in order to teach the whole\nworld how to act. My dear son, it is My desire that you not be bewildered\n\nby such demonstrations of My internal energy.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0143": "106\n\nKr�!ia, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead was engaged in His so-called\nhousehold affairs in order to teach people how one can sanctify one's\nhousehold life although he may be attached to the imprisonment of material existence. Actually, one is obliged to continue the term of material\nexistence because of household life. But the Lord, being very kind upon\nhouseholders, demonstrated the path of sanctifying ordinary household\nlife. Because Kr��a is the center of all activities, a Krwa conscious householder's life is tr.anscendental to Vedic injunctions and is automatically\nsanctified.\nThus Narada saw one single Kr��a living in sixteen thousand palaces by\nHis plenary expansions. Due to His inconceivable energy, He was visible\nin each and every individual queen's palace. Lord Krwa has unlimited\npower, and Narada's astonishment was boundless upon observing again\nand again the demonstration of Lord Kr��a's internal energy. Lord Kr�!la\nbehaved by His personal example as if He were very .much attached to the\nfour principles of civilized life, namely religiousness, economic development, sense gratification and salvation. These four principles of material\nexistence are necessary for the spiritual advancement of human society, and\nalthough Lord Kr�!la had no need to do so, He exhibited His household\nactivities so that people might follow in His footsteps for their own interest.\n\nLord Kr��a satisfied the sage Narada in every way. Narada was very much\n\npleased by seeing the Lord's activities in Dvaraka, and thus he departed.\nIn narrating the activities of Lord Kr�!la in Dvaraka, Sukadeva Gosvami\nexplained to· King Parik�it how Lord Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, descends on this material universe by the agency of His internal\npotency and personally exhibits the principles which, if followed, can lead\none to achieve the ultimate goal of life. All the queens in Dvaraka, more\nthan sixteen thousand in number, engaged their feminine attractive features\nin the transcendental service of the Lord by smiling and serving, and the\nLord was pleased to behave with them exactly as a perfect husband enjoying household life. One should know definitely that such pastimes cannot\nbe performed by anyone but Lord Sri Kr�!la. Lord Sri Kr��a is the original\ncause of the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the whole cosmic\nmanifestation. Anyone who attentively hears the narrations of the Lord's\npastimes in Dvaraka or supports a preacher of the Kr��a consciousness\nmovement will certainly find it very easy to traverse the path of liberation\nand taste the nectar of the lotus· feet of Lord Kr�!J.a. And thus he will be\nengaged in His devotional service.\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Fourteenth\nChapter, of Kr�!J.a, \"The Gre.at Sage Niirada Visits the Different Homes of\nLord Knew.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0144": "15 I Lord Kr��a's Daily Activities\n\nFrom the Vedic mantras we learn that the Supreme Personality of God­\n\nhead has nothing to do: na tasya karyarh k ranarh ca vidyate. If the\nSupreme Lord has nothing to do, then how can we speak of the activities\n\nof the Supreme Lord? From the previous chapter it is clear that no one\ncan act in the w�y that Lord Kr�!la does. We should clearly note this fact:\nthe activities of the Lord should be followed, but they cannot be imitated.\nFor example, Kr�!la's ideal life as a householder can be followed, but if one\nwants to imitate Kr�!la by expanding into many forms, that is not possible.\nWe should always remember, therefore, that Lord Kr�!la, although playing\nthe part of a human being, nevertheless simultaneously maintains the\nposition of the Suprerrie Personality of Godhead. We can follow Lord\n\nKr�!la's dealing with His wives ;;ts an ordinary human being, but His d�aling\n\nwith more than sixteen thousand wives at one time cannot be imitated.\n\nThe conclusion is that to become ideal householders we should follow in the\n\nfootsteps of Lord Kr�!la as He displayed His daily activities, but we cannot\n\nimitate Him at any stage of our life.\n\nLord Kr�!la used to lie down with His sixteen thousand wives, but also\n\nHe would rise up from bed very early in the morning, three hours before\nsunrise. By nature's arrangement the crowing of the cocks warns of the\n\nbnihma-muhiirta hour. There is no need of alarm clocks; as soon as the\ncocks crow early in the morning, it is to be understood that it is time to\nrise from bed. Hearing that sound, Kr�!la would get up from bed, but His\nrising early was not very much to the liking of His wives. The wives of\nKr�!la were so much attached to Him that they would lie in bed· embracing\nHim, but as soon as the cocks crowed, Kr�!la 's wives would be very sorry\nand would immediately condemn the crowing.\nIn the garden within the compound of each palace there were piirijiita\nflowers. Parijata is not an artificial flower. We remember that Kr�!la\n107\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0145": "108\n\nKr�pa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nbrought the piirijiita trees from heaven and implanted them in all His\npalaces. Early in the morning, a mild breeze would carry the aroma of the\n\npiirijiita flower, and Kr��a would smell it just after rising from bed. Due to\n\nthis aroma, the honeybees would begin their humming vibration, and the\n\nbirds also would begin their sweet chirping sounds. All together it would\n\nsound like the singin g of professional chanters engaged in offering prayers\nto Kr��a. Although Srimati Rukmi�idevi, the first queen of Lord Kr��a,\n\nknew that briihma-muhiirta is the most auspicious time in the entire day,\n\nshe would feel disgusted at the appearance of briihma-muhiirta because she\nwas not very happy to have Kr��a leave her side in bed. Despite Srimati\n\nRukmi�idevi's disgust, Lord Kr��a would immediately get up from bed\n\nexactly on the appearance of briihma-muhiirta. An ideal hous€holder\n\nshould learn from the behavior of Lord Kr��a how to rise early in the\n\nmorning, however comfortably he may be lying in bed embraced by his\nwife.\n\nAfter rising from bed, Lord Kr��a would wash His mouth, hands and\n\nfeet and would immediately sit down and meditate on Himself. Tnis does\nnot mean, however, that we should also sit down and meditate on ourselves.\n\nWe have to meditate upon Kr��a, Radha-Kr��a. That is real meditation,\n\nKr��a is Kr��a Himself; therefore He was teaching us that briihma-muhiirta\n\nshould be utilized for meditation on Radha-Kr��a. By doing so, Kr��a\nwould feel very much satisfied, and similarly we will also feel transcen­\n\ndentally pleased and satisfied if we utilize the briihma-muhiirta period to\nmeditate on Radha and Krwa and if we think of how Sri Rukmi�idevi and\n\nKr��a acted as ideal householders to teach the whole human society to rise\n\nearly in the morning and immediately engage in Kr��a consciousness. There\n\nis no difference between meditating on the eternal forms of Radha-Kr��a\n\nand chanting the mahiimantra, Hare Krwa. As for Kr��a's meditation, He\n\nhad no alternative but to meditate on Himself. The object of meditation\n\nis Brahman, Paramatma or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but\nKr��a Himself is all three: He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\n\nBhagavan; the localized Paramatma is His plenary parcel expansion; and the\n\nall-pervading Brahman effulgence is the personal rays of His transcendental\n\nbody. Therefore Kr��a is always one, and for Him there is no differentia­\n\ntion. That is the difference between an ordinary living being and Kr�l)a.\n\nFor an ordinary living being there are many distinctions. An ordinary\n\nliving being is different from his· body, and he is different from other\nspecies of living entities. A human being is different from other human\nbeings and different from the animals. Even in his own body, there are\n\ndifferent bodily limbs. We have our hands and legs, but our hands are\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0146": "Lord ���a's Daily Activities\n\n109\n\ndifferent from our legs. The hand cannot act like the leg, nor can the leg\nact like the hand. The eyes cannot hear like the ears, nor can the ears see\nlike the eyes. All these differences are technically called svajtiya vijtiya.\nThe bodily limitation whereby one part of the body cannot act as\nanother part is totally absent in the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\nThere is no difference between His body and Himself. He is completely\nspiritual, and therefore there is no material difference between His body\nand His soul. Similarly, He is not different from His millions of incarnations\nand plenary expansions. Baladeva is the first expansion of K�!la, and from\nBaladeva expand Sa�kar�a!la, Vasudeva, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. From\nSarikar�a!la there is again an expansion of Naraya!la, and from Naraya!la\nthere is a second quadruple expansion of Sa!lkar�a!la, Vasudeva, Pradyumna\nand Aniruddha. Similarly there are innumerable expansions of Kr�!la, but\nall of them are one. Kr�!la has many incarnations, such as Lord Nrsimha,\nLord, Boar, Lord Fish and Lord Tortoise, but there is no difference\nbetween Kr�!ia's original two-handed form, like that of a human being,\nand these incarnations of gigantic animal forms. Nor is there any difference.\nbetween the action of one part of His body and that of another. His hands\ncan act as His legs, His eyes can act as His ears, or His nose can act as\nanother part of His body. Kr�!la's smelling and eating and hearing are all\nthe same. We limited living entities have to use a particular part of our\nbody for a particular purpose, but there is no such distinction for Kr�!la·\nIn the Brahma-sarhhitii it is said, angiini yasya sakalendriya-vrtti: He can\nperform the activities of one limb with any other limb. So by analytical\nstudy of Kr�!la and His person, it is concluded that He is the complete\nwhole. When He meditates, therefore, He meditates on Himself. The\nself-meditation by ordinary men, designated in Sanskrit as so'ham,is simply\nimitation. Kr�!la may meditate on Himself because He is the complete\nwhole, but we cannot imitate Him and meditate on ourselves. Our body is\na designation; Kr�!ia's body is not a designation. Kr�!ia's body is also\nKr�!la· There is no existence of anything foreign in Kr�!la·\n\nWhatever\n\nthere is in K�!la is also Kr�!la. He is therefore the supreme, indestructible\ncomplete existence, or the supreme truth.\nKrwa's existence is not relative existence. Everything else but Kr�!la is a\nrelative truth, but Kr��a is the Supreme Absolute Truth. Kr��a does not\ndepend on anything but Himself for His existence. Our existence, however\nis relative. For example, only when there is the light of the sun, the moon\nor electricity are we able to see. Our seeing, therefore, is relative, and the\nlight of the sun and moon and electricity is also relative; they are called illuminating only because we see them as such. Dependence and relativity\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0147": "110\n\n��!'a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ndo not exist in Kr�!J.a. His activities are not dependent on anyone else's\nappreciation, nor does He depend on anyone else's help. He is beyond the\n\nexistence of limited time and space, and because He 'is transcendental to\ntime and space, He cannot be covered by the illusion of miiyii, whose\n\nactivities are limited. In the Vedic literature we find that the Supreme\n\nPersonality of Godhead has multi-potencies. Since all such potencies are\n\nemanations from Him, there is no difference between Him and His poten­\n\ncies. Certain philosophers say, however, that when Kr�!la comes He accepts\na material body. But even if it is accepted that when He comes to the\n\nmaterial world He accepts a material body, it should be concluded also\n\nthat because the material energy is not different from Him, this body does\n\nnot act materially. In the Bhagavad-gitii it is said, therefore, that He\nappears by His own internal potency, iitma-miiyii.\n\nKr�!la is called the Supreme Brahman because He is the cause of creation,\n\nthe cause of maintenance and the cause of dissolution. Lord Brahma,\n\nLord Viwu and Lord Siva are different expansions of these material\n\nqualities. All these material qualities can act upon the conditioned souls,\n\nbut there is no such action and reaction upon Kr�!la because these qualities\nare all simultaneously one and different from Him. Kr�!la Himself is simply\n\nsac-cid-iinanda- vigraha, the eternal form of bliss and knowledge, and\n\nbecause of His inconceivable greatness, He is called the Supreme Brahman.\n\nHis meditation on Brahman or Paramatrna or Bhagavan is on Himself only\n\nand not on anything else beyond Himself. This meditation cannot be\nimitated by the ordinary living entity.\n\nAfter His meditation, the Lord would regularly bathe early in the\n\nmorning with clear -sanctified water. Then He would change into fresh\nclothing, cover Himself with a wrapper and then engage Himself in His\n\ndaily religious functions. Out of His many religious duties, the first was to\noff�r oblations into the sacrificial fire and silently chant the Gayatri mantra.\n\nLord Kr�!J.a, as the ideal householder, executed all the religious functions\nof a householder without deviation. When the sunrise became visible,\n\nthe Lord would offer specific prayers to the sun-god. The sun-god and\nother demigods mentioned in the Vedic scriptures are described as different\n\nlimbs of the body of Lord Kr�!J.a, and it is the duty of the householder to\n\noffer respects to the demigods and great sages, as well as the forefathers.\n\nAs it is said in the Bhagavad-gitii, The Lord has no specific duty to\n\nperform in this world, and yet He acts just like an ordinary man living an\nideal life within this material world. In accordance with Vedic ritualistic\n\nprinciples, the Lord would offer respects to the demigods. The regulative\nprinciple by which the demigods and forefathers are worshiped is called\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0148": "Lord Kf��a's Daily Activities\n\n111\n\ntarpar-a, which means pleasing. One's forefathers might have to take a\n\nbody on another planet, but by performance of this tarpar-a system, they\nbecome very happy wherever they may be. It is the duty of the householder to make his family members happy, and by following this 'tarpar-a\nsystem he can make his forefathers happy also. As the perfect exemplary\nhouseholder, Lord Sri Kr��a followed this tarpar-a system and offered\nrespectful obeisances to the elderly superior members of His family.\nHis next duty was to give cows in charity to the briihmar-as. Lord Kr��a\nused to give as many as 13,084 cows. Each of them was decorated with a\nsilken cover and pearl necklace, their horns were covered with gold plating,\nand their hooves were silver-plated. All of them were full of milk, due to\nhaving their first-born calves with them, and they were very- tame and\npeaceful. When the cows were given in charity to the briihmar-as, the\nbriihmar-as also were given nice silken garments, and each was given a deerskin and sufficient quantity of sesame grains. The Lord is generally known\nas go-briihmar-a-hitiiya ca, which means that His first duty is to see to the\nwelfare of the cows and the briihmar-as. Thus He used to give cows in\ncharity to the briihmar-as, with opulent decorations and paraphernalia.\nThen, wishing for the welfare of all living entities, He would touch auspicious articles such as milk, fire, honey, ghee (clarified butter), gold,\njewels and fire. Although the Lord is by nature very beautiful due to the\nperfect figure of His transcendental body, still He would dress Himself in\nyellow colored garments and put on His necklace of Kaustubha jewels.\nHe would wear flower garlands, smear His body with the pulp of sandalwood and decorate Himself with other similar cosmetics and ornaments.\nIt is said that the ornaments themselves became beautiful upon being\nplaced on the transcendental body of the Lord. After decorating Himself\nin this way, the Lord would then look at marble statues of the cow and\ncalf and visit temples of God or demigods like Lord Siva. There were many\nbriihmar-as who would come daily to see the Supreme Lord before takin g\ntheir breakfast; they were anxious to see Him, and He welcomed them.\nHis next duty was to please all kinds of men belonging to the different\ncastes, both in the city and within the palace compound. He made them\nhappy by fulfilling their different desires, and when the Lord saw them\nhappy He also became very much pleased. The flower garlands, betel nuts,\nsandalwood pulp and other fragrant cosmetic articles which were offered\nto the Lord would be distributed by Him, first to the briihmar-as and\nelderly members of the family, then to the queens, then to the ministers,\nand if there were still some balance He would utilize it for His own personal\nuse. By the time the Lord finished all these daily duties and activities,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0149": "112\n\nKr�!J.a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nHis charioteer Daruka would come with His wonderful chariot to stand\nbefore the Lord with folded hands, intimating that the chariot was ready,\nand the Lord would come out of the palace to travel. Then the Lord, accompanied by U ddhava and Satyaki, would ride on the chariot just as the\nsun-god rides on his chariot in the morning, appearing with his blazing\nrays on the surface of the world. When the Lord was about to leave His\npalaces, all the queens would look at Him with feminine gestures. The Lord\nwould respond to their greetings with smiles, attracting their hearts so\nmuch so that they would feel intense separation from the Lord.\nThen the Lord would go to the assembly house known as Sudharma. It\nmay be remembered that the Sudharma assembly house was taken away\nfrom the heavenly planet and was reestablished in the city of Dvaraka. The\nspecific significance of the assembly house was that anyone who entered\nit would be freed from the six kinds of material pangs, namely hunger,\nthirst, lamentation, illusion, old age and death. These are the webs of\nmaterial existence, and as long as one remained in that assembly house of\nSudharma he would not be infected by these six material webs. The Lord\nwould say good-bye in all the sixteen thousand palaces, and again He\nwould become one and enter the Sudharma assembly house in procession\nwith other members of the Yadu dynasty. After entering the assembly\nhouse, He used to sit on the exalted royal throne and would be seen to\nemanate glaring rays of transcendental effulgence. In the midst of all the\ngreat heroes of the Yadu dynasty, Kr�!la resembled the full moon in the\nsky, surrounded by multi-luminaries. In the assembly house there were\nprofessional jokers, dancers, musicians and ballet girls, and as soon as the\nLord sat on His throne, they would begin their respective functions in\norder to please the Lord and put Him in a happy mood. First of all the\njokers would talk in such a way that the Lord and His associates would\nenjoy their humor which would refresh the morning mood. The dramatic\nactors would then play their parts, and the dancing ballet girls would\nseparately display their artistic movements. All these functions would be\naccompanied by the beating of mrdanga drums and the sounds of the\n\nvir-a and flutes and bells, followed by the sound of the piikhvaj, another\ntype of drum. Along with these musical vibrations, the auspicious sound\nof the conchshell would also be added. The professional singers called\n\nsiltas and miigadhas would sing, and others would perform their dancing\nart. In this way, as devotees, they would offer respectful prayers to the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead. Sometimes the learned briihmar-as present in that assembly would chant Vedic hymns and explain them to the\naudience to their best knowledge, and sometimes some of them would\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0150": "Lord Kr�!ia's Daily Activities\n\n113\n\nrecite old historical accounts of the activities of prominent kings. The\nLord, accompanied by His associates, would be very much pleased to hear\nthem.\nOnce upon a time, a person arrived at the gateway of the assembly\nhouse who was unknown to all the members of the assembly, and with the\npermission of Lord Kr�!la he was admitted into the assembly by the doorkeeper. The doorkeeper was ordered to present him before the Lord, and\nthe man appeared and offered his respectful obeisances unto the Lord\nwith folded hands. It had happened that when King Jarasandha conquered\nall other kingdoms many kings did not bow their heads before Jarasandha,\nand as a result of this all of them, numbering twenty thousand, were\narrested and made his prisoners. The man who was brought before Lord\nKrwa by the doorkeeper was a representative messenger from all these\nimprisoned kings. Being duly presented before the Lord, the man began to\nexplain the actual situation as follows:\n\"My dear Lord, You are the eternal form of transcendental bliss and\nknowledge. As such, You are beyond the reach of the mental speculation\nor vocal description of any materialistic man within this world. A slight\nportion of Your glories can be known by persons who are fully surrendered\nunto Your lotus feet, and by Your grace only such persons become freed\nfrom all material anxieties. My dear Lord, I am not one of these surrendered\nsouls; I am still within the duality and illusion of this material existence.\nI have therefore come to take shelter of Your lotus feet, for I am afraid\nof the cycle of birth and death. My dear Lord, I think that there are many\nliving entities like me who are eternally entangled in fruitive activities and\ntheir resultant reactions. They are never inclined to follow Your instructions by performance of devotional service, although it is pleasing to the\nheart and most auspicious for one's existence. On the contrary, they are\nagainst the path of Kr�!la conscious life, and they are wandering within\nthe three worlds impelled by the illusory energy of material existence.\n\"My dear Lord, who can estimate Your mercy and Your powerful\nactivities? You are present always as the insurmountable force of eternal\ntime, engaged in baffling the indefatigable desires ofthe materialists, who\nare thus repeatedly becoming confused and frustrated. I therefore offer\nmy respectful obeisances unto You in Your form of eternal time. My\ndear Lord, You are the proprietor of all the worlds, and You have incarnated Yourself along with Your plenary expansion Lord Balarama.\nIt is said that Your appearance in this incarnation is for the purpose of\nprotecting the faithful and destroying the miscreants. Under the circumstances, how is it possible that miscreants like Jarasandha can put us into\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0151": "114\n\nKr�pa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nsuch deplorable conditions of life against Your authority? We are puzzled\nat the situation and cannot understand how it is possible. It may be that\nJarasandha has been deputed to give us such trouble because of our past\nmisdeeds, but we have heard from revealed scriptures that anyone who\nsurrenders unto Your lotus feet immediately becomes immuned to the\nreactions of sinful life. I have therefore been deputed by all the imprisoned\nkings to whole-heartedly offer ourselves unto Your shelter, and we hope\nthat Your Lordship will now give us full protection. We have now come to\nthe real conclusion of our lives. Our kingly positions are nothing but the\nreward of our past pious activities, just as our suffering imprisonment by\nJarasandha is the result of our past impious activities. We realize now\nthat the resultant reactions of both pious and impious activities are\ntemporary and that we can never be happy in this conditioned life. This\nmaterial body is awarded to us by the modes of material nature, and on\naccount of this we are full of anxieties. The material condition of life simply\ninvolves bearing the burden of this dead body. As a result of fruitive\nactivities we have thus been subjected to being beasts of burden for these\nbodies, and being forced by conditional life, we have given up the pleasing\nlife of Kr��a consciousness .. Now we realize that we are the most foolish\npersons. We have been entangled in the network of material reaction due\nto our ignorance. We have therefore come to the shelter of Your lotus\nfeet, which can immediately eradicate all the results of fruitive action and\nthus free us from the contamination of material pains and pleasures.\nDear Lord, because we are now surrendered souls at Your lotus feet,\nYou can give us relief from the entrapment of fruitive action made\npossible by the form of J arasandha. Dear Lord, it is known to You that\nJarasandha possesses the power of ten thousand elephants, and with this\npower he has imprisoned us, just as a lion hypnotizes a flock of sheep.\nMy dear Lord, You have already fought with J arasandha eighteen times\nconsecutively, out of which You have defeated him seventeen times by\nsurpassing his extraordinary powerful position. But in Your eighteenth\nfight, You exhibited Your human behavior, and thus it appeared that You\nwere defeated. My dear Lord, we know very well that J arasandha cannot\ndefeat You at any time because Your power, strength, resources and\nauthority are all unlimited. No one can equal You or surpass You. The\nappearance of defeat by J arasandha in the eighteenth engagement is nothing\nbut an exhibition of human behavior. Unfortunately, foolish Jarasandha\ncould not understand Your tricks, and he has since then become puffed up\nover his material power and prestige. Specifically, he has arrested us and\nimprisoned us, knowing fully that as Your devotees, we are subordinate to\nYour sovereignty.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0152": "Lord Kf��a's Daily Activities\n\n115\n\n\"Now I have explained our awful position, and Your Lordship can\n\nconsider and do whatever You like. As the messenger and representative of\n\nall those imprisoned kings, I have submitted my words before Your\n\nLordship and presented our prayers to You. All the kings are very anxious\n\nto see You so that they can all personally surrender at Your lotus feet.\n\nMy dear Lord, be merciful upon them and act for their good fortune.\"\n\nAt the very moment the messenger of the imprisoned kings was\n\npresenting his appeal before the Lord, the great sage Narada also arrived.\n\nBecause he was a great saint, his hair was dazzling like gold, and when he\n\nentered the assembly house it appeared that the sun-god was personally\n\npresent in the midst of the assembly. Lord Kr��a is the worshipable\nmaster of even Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, yet as soon as He saw that the\n\nsage Narada had arrived, He immediately stood up along with His ministers\n\nand secretaries to receive the great sage and offer His respectful obeisances\nby bowing His head. The great sage Narada took a comfortable seat, and\n\nLord Kr��a worshiped him with all paraphernalia, as required for the\n\nregular reception of a saintly person. While He was trying to satisfy\n\nNaradaji, Lord Kr��a spoke the following words in His sweet and natural\n\nVOICe.\n\n\"My dear great sage among the demigods, I think that now everything\n\nis well within the three worlds. You are perfectly eligible to travel\n\neverywhere in space in the upper, middle and lower planetary systems of\n\nthis universe. Fortunately, when we meet you we can very easily take\n\ninformation from your holiness of all the news of the three worlds;\n\nwitl�in this cosmic manifestation of the Supreme Lord, there is nothing\n\nconcealed from your knowledge. You know everything, and so I wish to\n\nquestion you. Are the Pa��avas doing well, and what is the present plan of\nKing Yudhi�thira? Will you kindly let Me know what they want to do at\npresent?\"\n\nThe great sage Narada spoke as follows: \"My dear Lord, You have\n\nspoken about the cosmic manifestation created by the Supreme Lord, but\n\nI know that You are the all-pervading creator. Your energies are so\nextensive and inconceivable that even powerful personalities like Brahma,\nthe lord of this particular universe, cannot measure Your inconceivable\n\npower. My dear Lord, You are present as the Supersoul in everyone's\nheart by Your inconceivable potency, exactly like the fire which is present\n\nin everyone but which no one can see directly. In conditioned life, every\nliving entity is within the jurisdiction of the three modes of material\n\nnature. As such, they are unable to see Your presence everywhere with\n\ntheir material eyes. By Your grace, however, I have seen many times the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0153": "116\n\nKf�l)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\naction of Your inconceivable potency, and therefore when You ask me for\nnews of the Pii!J.�avas, which is not at all unknown to You, I am not\nsurprised at Your inquiry. My dear Lord, by Your inconceivable potencies\nYou create this cosmic manifestation, maintain it and again dissolve it. It\nis by dint of Your inconceivable potency only that this material world,\nalthough a shadow representation of the spiritual world, appears to be\nfactual. No one can understand what You plan to do in the future. Your\ntranscendental position is always inconceivable to everyone. As far as I am\nconcerned, I can simply offer my respectful obeisances unto You again\nand again. In the bodily concept of knowledge, everyone is driven by\nmaterial desires, and thus everyone develops new material bodies one after\nanother in the cycle of birth and death. Being absorbed in such a concept\nof existence, one does not know how to get out of this encagement of the\nmaterial body. Out of Your causeless mercy, my Lord, You descend to\nexhibit Your different transcendental pastimes, which are illuminating\nand full of glory. Therefore I have no alternative but to offer my\nrespectful obeisances unto You. My dear Lord, You are the supreme\nParambrahman, and Your pastimes as an ordinary human are another\ntactical resource, exactly like a play on the stage in which the actor. plays\nparts different from his own identity. You have inquired about Your\ncousins the Pli!J.�avas in the role of their well-wisher, and therefore I shall\nlet You know about their intentions. Now please hear me. First of all may\nI inform You that King Yudhi�thira has all material opulences which are\n\npossible to achieve in the highest planetary system, Brahmaloka. He has\nno mateirla opulence for which to aspire, and yet he wants to perform\nRajasuya sacrifices only to get Your association and please You.\nNarada informed Lord Kr1!J.a, \"King Yudhi�thira is so opulent that he\nhas attained all the opulences of Brahmaloka even ori this earthly planet.\nHe is fully satisfied, and he does not need anything more. He is full in\neverything, but now he wants to worship You in order to achieve Your\ncauseless mercy, and I beg to request You to fulfill his desires. My dear\nLord, in these great sacrificial performances by King YudhiHhira there will\nbe an assembly of all the demigods and all the famous kings of the world.\n\"My dear Lord, You are the Supreme Brahman, Personality of Godhead.\nOne who engages himself in Your devotional service by the prescribed\nmethods of hearing, chanting and remembering certainly becomes purified\nfrom the contamination of the modes of material nature, and what to\nspeak of those who have the opportunity to see You and touch You\ndirectly. My dear Lord, You are the symbol of everything auspicious.\nYour transct.:ndental name and fame have spread all over the universe,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0154": "Lord Kf�l)a's Daily Activities\n\n117\n\nincluding the higher, middle and lower planetary systems. The transcendental water which washes Your lotus feet is known in the higher\nplanetary system as Mandakini, in the lower planetary system as Bhogavati,\nand in this earthly planetary system as the Ganges. This sacred, transcendental water flows throughout the entire universe, purifying wherever it\nflows.\"\nJust before the great sage Narada arrived in the Sudharma assembly\nhouse of Dvaraka, Lord Kr�I)a and His ministers and secretaries had been\nconsidering how to attack the kingdom of Jarasandha. Because they were\nseriously considering this subject, Narada's proposal that Lord Kr�p.a go\nto Hastinapura for Maharaja Yudhi�thira's great Rajasuya sacrifice did not\nmuch appeal to them. Lord Kf�I)a could understand the intentions of his\nassociates because He is the ruler of even Lord Brahma. Therefore, in order\nto pacify them, He smilingly said. to Uddhava, \"My dear Uddhava, you are\nalways my well-wishing confidential friend. I therefore wish to see everything through you because I believe that your counsel is always right. I\nbelieve that you understand the whole situation perfectly. Therefore I am\nasking your opinion. What should I do? I have faith in you, and therefore\nI shall do whatever you advise.\" It was known to Uddhava that although\n\nLord Kr�I)a was acting like an ordinary man, He knew everything-past,\npresent and future. However, because the Lord was trying to consult with\nhim, U ddhava, in order to render service to the Lord, began to speak.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Fifteenth\nChapter, of Kr�p.a, \"Lord K[§!la's Daily Activities.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0155": "16 I Lord Kr��a in lndraprastha City\n\nIn the presence of the great sage Narada and all the other associates of\nLord Kr�pa, Uddhava considered the situation and then spoke as follows:\n\"My dear Lord, first of all let me say that the great sage Narada Muni\nhas requested You to go to Hastinapura to satisfy King Yudhi�thira,\nyour cousin, who is making arrangements to perform the great sacrifice\nknown as Rajasiiya. I think, therefore, that Your Lordship should immediately go there to help the King in this great adventure. However,\nalthough to accept the invitation offered by the sage Narada Muni as\nprimary is quite appropriate, at the same time, my Lord, it is Your duty\nto give protection to the surrendered souls. Both purposes can be served\nif we understand the whole situation. Unless we are victorious over all the\nkings, no one can perform this Rajasiiya sacrifice. In other words, it is to\nbe understood that King Yudhi�thira canhot perform this great sacrifice\nwithout gaining victory over the belligerent King Jarasandha. The Rajasiiya\nsacrifice can only be performed by one who has gained victory over all\ndirections. Therefore, to execute both purposes, we first of all have to kill\nJarasandha. I think that if we can somehow or other gain victory over\nJarasandha, then automatically all our purposes will be served.\n\nThe\n\nimprisoned kings will be released, and with great pleasure we shall enjoy\nthe spread of Your transcendental fame at having saved the innocent\nkings whom Jarasandha has imprisoned.\n\"But King Jarasandha is not an ordinary man. He has proved a stumbling\nblock even to great warriors because his bodily strength is equal to the\nstrength of 10,000 elephants. If there is anyone who can conquer this king,\nhe is none other than Bhimasena because he also possesses the strength of\n10,000 elephants. The best thing would be for Bhimasena to fight alone\n\nwith him. Then there would be no unnecessary killing of many soldiers.\nIn fact, it will be very difficult to conquer Jarasandha when he stands with\n118\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0156": "Lord Kr��a in Indraprastha City\n\n119\n\nhis ak§auhir-i divisions of soldiers. We may therefore adopt a policy more\n\nfavorable to the situation. We know that King Jarasandha is very much\n\ndevoted to the briihmar-as. He is very charitably disposed towards them;\n\nhe never refuses any request from a briihmar-a. I think, therefore, that\n\nBhimasena should approach Jarasandha in the dress of a briihmar-a, beg\n\ncharity from Him, and then personally engage in fighting Him. And in\norder to assure Bhimasena's victory, I think that Your Lordship should\n\nalso accompany him. If the fighting takes place in Your presence, I am\n\nsure Bhimasena will emerge victorious because simply by Your presence\n\neverything impossible is made possible, just as Lord Brahma creates this\nuniverse and Lord Siva destroys it simply through Your influence.\n\n\"Actually, You are creating and destroying the entire cosmic manifesta­\n\ntion; Lord Brahma and Lord Siva are only the superficially visible causes.\n\nCreation and destruction are actually being performed by the invisible time\n\nfactor, which is Your impersonal representation. Everything is under the\n\ncontrol of this time factor. If Your invisible time factor can perform such\n\nwonderful acts through Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, will not Your\n\npersonal presence help Bhimasena to conquer Jarasandha? My dear Lord,\n\nwhen Jarasandha is killed, then the queens of all the imprisoned kings will\n\nbe so joyful at their husbands' being released by Your mercy that they will\n\nall begin to sing Your glories. They will be as pleased as the gopis were\n\nwhen they were relieved from the hands of Sarikhasura. All the great sages,\n\nthe King of the elephants, Gajendra, the goddess of fortune, Sita, and\neven Your father and mother, were all delivered by Your causeless mercy.\n\nWe also have been thus delivered, and we are always singing the transcen­\n\ndental glories of Your activities.\n\n\"Therefore, I think that if the killing of Jarasandha is undertaken first,\n\nthat will automatically solve many o�her problems. As for the Rajasuya\nsacrifice arranged in Hastinapura, it will be held, either because of the\n\npious activities of the imprisoned kings or the impious activities of\n\nJarasandha.\n\n\"My Lord, it appears that You are also personally to go to Hastinapura\n\nto perform this great sacrifice so that demoniac kings like J arasandha and\n\nSisupala may be conquered, the pious imprisoned kings released, and at\n\nthe same time the great Rajasuya sacrifice performed. Considering all\n\nthese points, I think that Your Lordship should immediately proceed to\nHastinapura.\"\n\nThis advice of U ddhava's was appreciated by all who were present in the\n\nassembly, and everyone considered that Lord Kr��a 's going to Hastinapura\n\nwould be beneficial from all points of view. The great sage Narada, the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0157": "120\n\nKf�J)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nelderly personalities of the Y adu dynasty, and the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead Kr��a Himself all supported the statement of U ddhava. Lord\nKr��a then took permission from His father Vasudeva and grandfather\nUgrasena, and He immediately ordered His servants Daruka and Jaitra to\narrange for travel to Hastinapura. When everything was prepared, Lord\nKr��a especially bid farewell to Lord Balarama and the King of the Y adus,\nU grasena, and after dispatching His queens along with their children and\nsending their necessary luggage ahead, He mounted His chariot, which bore\nthe flag marked with the symbol of Garu�a.\nBefore starting the procession, Lord Kr��a satisfied the great sage\nNarada by offering him different kinds of worshipable articles. Naradaji\nwanted to fall at the lotus feet of Kr��a, but because the Lord was playing\nthe part of a human being, he simply offered his respects within his mind,\nand fixing the transcendental form of the Lord within his heart, he left\nthe assembly house by the airways. Usually the sage Narada never walks on\nthe surface of the globe, but travels in outer space. After the departure of\nNarada, Lord Kr��a addressed the messenger who had come from the\nimprisoned kings. He told him that they should not be worried. He would\nvery soon arrange to kill the King of Magadha, Jarasandha. Thus He wished\ngood fortune to all the imprisoned kings and the messenger. After receiving\nthis assurance from Lord Kr��a, the messenger returned to the imprisoned\nkings and informed them of the happy news of the Lord's forthcoming\nvisit. All the kings became joyful at the news and began to wait very\nanxiously for the Lord's arrival.\nThe chariot of Lord Kr��a began to proceed, accompanied by many\nother chariots, along with elephants, cavalry, infantry and similar royal paraphernalia. Bugles, drums, trumpets, conchshells, horns and coronets all\nbegan to produce a loud auspicious sound which vibrated in all directions.\nThe 16,000 queens, headed by the goddess of fortune Rukmi�idevi, the\nideal wife of Lord Kr��a, and accompanied by their respective sons, all\nfollowed behind Lord Kr��a. They �ere dressed in costly garments\ndecorated with ornaments, and their bodies were smeared with sandalwood\npulp and garlanded with fragrant flowers. Riding on palanquins which were\nnicely decorated with silks, flags, and golden lace, they followed their\nexalted husband, Lord Kr��a. The infantry soldiers carried shields, swords\nand lances in their hands and acted as royal bodyguards to the queens. In\nthe rear of the procession were the wives and children of all the other\nfollowers, and there were many society girls also following. Many beasts\nof burden like bulls, buffaloes, mules, and asses carried the camps, bedding\nand carpets, and the women who were following were seated in separate\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0158": "Lord Kr��a in lndraprastha City\n\n121\n\npalanquins on the backs of camels. This panoramic procession was accompanied by the shouts of the people and was full with the display of different colored flags, umbrellas and whisks and different varieties of\nweapons, dress, ornaments, helmets and armaments. The procession, being\nreflected in the sunshine, appeared just like an ocean with high waves and\nsharks.\nIn this way the procession of Lord Kr�!la's party advanced towards\nHastinapura (New Delhi) and gradually passed through the kingdoms of\nAnarta (Gujarat Province), Sauvira (Sauret), the great desert of Rajasthan,\nand then Kuruk�etra. In between those kingdoms there were many moun-_\ntains, rivers, towns, villages, pasturing grounds and mining fields. The\nprocession passed through all of these places in its advance. On His way to\nHastinapura, the Lord crossed two big rivers, the Dr�vati and the Sarasvati\nThen He crossed the province of Pafichala and the province of Matsya. In\nthis way, ultimately He arrived at Indraprastha.\nThe audience of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kr��a, is not very\ncommonplace. Therefore, when King Yudhi�thira heard that Lord Kr�!la\nhad already arrived in his capital city, Hastinapura, he became so joyful\nthat all his hairs stood on end in great ecstasy, and he immediately came\nout of the city to properly receive Him. He ordered the musical vibration\nof different instruments and songs, and the learned briihmar-as of the city\nbegan to chant the hymns of the Vedas very loudly. Lord Kr��a is known\nas Hr�ike8a, the master of the senses, and King Yudhi�thira went forward\nto receive Him exactly as the senses meet the consciousness of life. King\nYudhi�thira was the elderly cousin of Kr�!la. Naturally he had great affection for the Lord, and as soon as he saw Him, his heart became filled with\ngreat love and affection. He had not seen the Lord for many days, and\ntherefore he thought himself most fortunate to see Him present before\nhim. The King therefore began to embrace Lord Kr��a again and again in\ngreat affection.\nThe eternal form of Lord Kr�!la is the everlasting residence of the\ngoddess of fortune. As soon as King Yudhi�thira embraced Him, he became\nfree from all the contamination of material existence. He immediately felt\ntranscendental bliss, and he merged in an ocean of happiness. There were\ntears in his eyes, and his body shook due to ecstasy. He completely forgot\nthat he was living in this material world. After this, Bhimasena, the secopd\nbrother of the Pa!l-9-avas, smiled and embraced Lord Kr�Ifa, thinking of\nHim as his own maternal cousin, and thus he was merged in great ecstasy.\nBhimasena also was so filled with ecstasy that for the time being he forgot\n\nhis material existence. Then Lord Sri Kr�!la Himself embraced the other\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0159": "122\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nthree Pa��avas, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. The eyes of all three\nbrothers were inundated with tears, and Arjuna began to embrace Kr�!la\nagain and again because they were intimate friends. The two younger\nPa!l�ava brothers, after being embraced by Lord Kr�!la, fell down at His\nlotus feet to offer their respects. Lord Kr�!la thereafter offered His\nobeisances to the briihma1;zas present there, as well as to the elderly\nmembers of the Kuru dynasty, like Bhi�ma, Dro�a and Dhrtara�tra. There\nwere many kings of different provinces such as Kuru, Srnjaya and Kekaya,\nand Lord Kr�!la duly reciprocated greetings and respects with them. The\nprofessional reciters like the siitas, miigadhas, and vandinas, accompanied\nby the briihmar-as, began to offer their respectful prayers to the Lord.\nArtists and musicians like the Gandharvas, as well as the royal jokers, began\nto play their drums, conchshells, kettledrums, vir-as, mrdaiigas, and bugles,\nand they exhibited their dancing art in order to please the Lord. Thus the\nall-famous Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kr�!la, entered the great\ncity of Hastinapura, which was opulent in every respect. While Lord Kr�!la\nwas entering the city, everyone was talking amongst themselves about the\nglories of the Lord, praising His transcendental name, quality, form, etc.\nThe roads, streets and lanes of Hastinapura were all sprinkled with\nfragrant water through the trunks of intoxicated elephants. In different\nplaces of the city there were colorful festoons and flags decorating the\nhouses and streets. At important road crossings there were gates with\ngolden decorations, and at the two sides of the gates there were golden\nwater jugs. These beautiful decorations glorified the opulence of the city.\nParticipating in this great ceremony, all the citizens of the city gathered\nhere and there, dressed in colorful new clothing, decorated with ornaments,\nflower garlands, and fragrant scents. Each and every house was illuminated\nby hundreds and thousands of lamps placed in different corners of the\ncornices, walls, columns, bases and architraves, and from far away the\nrays of the lamps resembled the festival of Dipavali (a particular festival\nobserved on the New Year's Day of the Hindu calendar). Within the walls\nof the houses, fragrant incense was burning, and smoke rose through the\nwindows, making the entire atmosphere very pleasing. On the top of every\nhouse flags were flapping, and the gold water pots kept on the roofs shone\nvery brilliantly.\nLord Kr�!la thus entered the city of the Pa��avas, enjoyed the beautiful\natmosphere and slowly proceeded ahead. When the young girls in every\nhouse heard that Lord Krwa, the only object worth seeing, was passing on\nthe road, they became very anxious to see this all-famous personality. Their\nhair loosened, and their tightened saris became slack due to their hastily\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0160": "Lord Kr��a in lndraprastha City\n\n123\n\nrushing to see Him. They gave up their household engagements, and those\nwho were lying in bed with their husbands immediately left them and\ncame directly down onto the street to see Lord Kr�!la·\nThe procession of elephants, horses, chariots, and infantry was very\ncrowded; some, being unable to see properly in the crowd, got up on the\n\nroofs of the houses. They were pleased to see Lord Sri Kr�!la passing with\nHis thousands of queens. They began to shower flowers on the procession,\n\nand they embraced Lord Kr�!la within their minds and gave Him a hearty\nreception. When they saw Him in the midst of His many queens, like the\nfull moon situated amidst many luminaries, they began to talk amongst\nthemselves.\nOne girl said to another, \"My dear friend, it is very difficult to guess\nwhat kind of pious activities these queens might have performed, for they\nare always enjoying the smiling face and loving glances of Kr�!la.\" While\nLord Kr�!la was thus passing on the road, at intervals some of the opulent\ncitizens, who were all rich, respectable and freed from sinful activities\npresented auspicious articles to the Lord, just to offer Him a reception to\nthe city. Thus they worshiped Him as humble servitors.\nWhen Lord Kr�!la entered the palace, all the ladies there became overwhelmed with affection just upon seeing Him. They immediately received\nLord Kr�!la with glittering eyes expressing their love and affection for\nHim, and Lord Kr�!la smiled and accepted their feelings and gestures of\nreception. When Kunti, the mother of the Pa��avas, saw her nephew Lord\nKr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, she became overpowered\nwith love and affection. She at once got up from her bedstead and appeared\nbefore Him with her daughter-in-law, Draupadi, and in maternal love and\naffection she embraced Him. As he brought Kr�!la within the palace, King\nYudhi�thira became so confused in his jubilation that he practically forgot\nwhat he was to do at that time in order to receive Kr�!la and worship Him\nproperly. Lord Krwa delightfully offered His respects and obeisances to\nKunti and other elderly ladies of the palace. His younger sister, Subhadra,\nwas also standing there with Draupadi, and both offered their respectful\nobeisances unto the lotus feet of the Lord. At the indication of her motherin-law, Draupadi brought clothing, ornaments and garlands, and with this\nparaphernalia they received the queens Rukmi�i, Satyabhama, Bhadra,\nJambavati, Kalindi, Mitravinda, Lak�ma!la and the devoted Satya. These\nprincipal queens of Lord Kr�!la were first received, and then the remaining\nqueens were also offered a proper reception. King Yudhi§thira arranged\nfor Kr�!ia's rest and saw that all who came along with Him-namely His\nqueens, His soldiers, His ministers and His secretaries-were comfortably\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0161": "124\n\nKr�pa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nsituated. He had arranged that they would experience a new feature of\nreception everyday while staying as guests of the Patt9avas.\n\nIt was during this time that Lord Sri Kr§tta, with the help of Arjuna, for\n\nthe satisfaction of the fire-god,\n\nAgni, allowed Agni to devour the\n\nKhap9ava Forest. During the forest fire, Krwa saved the demon Mayasura,\nwho was hiding in the forest. Upon being saved, Mayasura felt obliged to\nthe Patt9avas and Lord Kr§pa, and he constructed a wonderful assembly\nhouse within the city of Hastinapura. In this way, Lord Kr§tta, in order to\nplease King Yudhi§thira, remained in the city of Hastinapura for several\nmonths. During His stay, He enjoyed strolling here and there. He used to\ndrive on chariots along with Arjuna, and many warriors and soldiers used\nto follow them.\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Sixteenth\nI\n\n,\n\ni\n;I\n\nChapter, of Kr§tta, \"Lord KrHta in Indrap ras tha City.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0162": "1 7 I Liberation of King J arasandha\nIn the great assembly of respectable persons, citizens, friends, relatives,\n\nbriihmaras, k§atriyas and vaisyas, King Yudhi�!hira, in the presence of all,\n\nincluding his brothers, directly addressed Lord Kr�!la as follows: \"My dear\n\nLord Krwa, the sacrifice known as the Rajasiiya yaji'ia is to be performed·\n\nby the emperor, and it is considered to be the king of all sacrifices. By\n\nperforming this sacrifice, I wish to satisfy all the demigods, who are Your\nempowered representatives within this material world, and I wish that\nYou will kindly help me in this great adventure so that it may be success­\n\nfully executed. As far as the Pal}�avas are concerned, we have nothing to\n\nask from the demigods. We are personally fully satisfied by being Your\n\ndevotees. As You say in the Bhagavad-gitii, \"Persons who are bewildered\nby material desires worship the demigods,\" but our purpose is different.\n\nI want to perform this Rajasiiya sacrifice and invite the demigods to show\nthem that they have no power independent of You. They are all Your\nservants, and You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Foolish persons\n\nwith a poor fund of knowledge consider Your Lordship an ordinary human\n\nbeing. Sometimes they try to find fault in You, and sometimes they\n\ndefame You. Therefore I wish to perform this Rajasiiya yaji'ia. I wish to\n\ninvite all the demigods, beginning from Lord Brahma, Lord Siva and other\n\nexalted chiefs of the heavenly planets, and in that great assembly of\ndemigods from all parts of the universe, I want to substantiate that You\nare the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that everyone is Your servant.\n\n\"My dear Lord, those who are constantly in Kr�!la consciousness and\n\nwho think of Your lotus feet or of Your shoes certainly become free from\nall contamination of material life. Persons who are engaged in Your service\n\nin full Kr�tla consciousness, who meditate upon You only or who offer\n\nprayers unto You, are purified souls. Being constantly engaged in Kr�tla\nconscious service, such persons become freed from th�cycle of repeated\n125\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0163": "'\n\n126\n\nKr�t;�a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n)\n\nbirth and death. They do not even desire to become freed from this\nmaterial existence or to enjoy material opulences; their desires are fulfilled\nby Kr�t;�a conscious activities. As far as we are concerned, we are fully\nsurrendered unto Your lotus feet, and by Your grace we are so fortunate to\nsee You personally. Therefore, naturally we have no desire for material\nopulences. The verdict of the Vedic wisdom is that You are the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead. I want to establish this fact, and I also want to\nshow the world the difference between accepting You as the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead and accepting You as an ordinary powerful historical person. I wish to show the world that one can attain the highest\nperfection of life simply by taking shelter at Your lotus feet, exactly as\none can satisfy the branches, twigs, leaves and flowers of an entire tree\nsimply by watering the root. Thus, if one takes to Kr�.pa consciousness,\nhis life becomes fulfilled both materially and spiritually.\n\"This does not mean that You are partial to the Kr�.pa conscious person\nand are indifferent to the non-Kr�.pa conscious person. You are equal to\neveryone; that is Your declaration. You cannot be partial to one and not\ninterested in others because You are sitting in everyone's heart as the\nSupersoul and giving everyone the respective results of his fruitive activities. You give every living entity the chance to enjoy this material world\nas\n\nhe desires. As Supersoul, You are sitting in the body along with the\n\nliving entity, giving him the results of his own actions as well as opportunities to turn toward Your devotional service by developing Kr�.pa\nconsciousness. You openly declare that one should surrender unto You,\ngiving up all other engagements, and that You will take charge of him,\ngiving him relief from the reactions of all sins. You are like the desire tree\nin the heavenly planets, which awards benediction according to one's\ndesires. Everyone is free to achieve the highest perfection, but if one does\nnot so desire, then Your awarding of lesser benedictions is not due to\npartiality.\"\nOn hearing this statement of King Yudhi�thira, Lord Kr�.pa replied as\nfollows: \"My dear King Yudhi§thira, 0 killer of enemies, 0 ideal justice\npersonified, I completely support your decision to perform the Rajasiiya\nsacrifice. By performing this great sacrifice, your good name will remain\nwell established forever in the history of human civilization. My dear King,\nmay I inform you that it is the desire of all great sages, your forefathers,\nthe demigods, and your relatives and friends, including Myself, that you\nperform this sacrifice, and I think that it will satisfy every living entity.\nBut, because it is necessary, I request that you first of all conquer all the\nkings of the world and collect all requisite paraphernalia for executing this\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0164": "Liberation of King Jarasandha\n\n127\n\ngreat sacrifice. My dear King Yudhi§thira, your four brothers are direct\n\nrepresentatives of important demigods like Varu�a, Indra, etc. [It is said\n\nthat Bhima was born of the demigod Varu�a, and Arjuna was born of the\ndemigod Indra, whereas King Yudhi§thira himself was born of the demi­\n\ngod Yamaraja.] Your brothers are great heroes, and you are the most pious\n\nand self-controlled king and are therefore known as Dharmaraja. All of\n\nyou are so qualified in devotional service unto Me that automatically I\nhave become rivalled by you.\"\n\nLord Kf§�a told King Yudhi§thira that He becomes conquered by the\n\nlove of one who has conquered his senses. One who has not conquered his\n\nsenses cannot conquer the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the\n\nsecret of devotional service. To conquer the senses means to engage them\n\nconstantly in the service of the Lord. The specific qualification of all the\n\nPa��ava brothers was that they always engaged their senses in the service\nof the Lord. One who thus engages his senses becomes purified, and with\n\npurified senses one can actually render service to the Lord. The Lord can\nthus be conquered by the devotee by lovingtranscendental service.\n\nLord Kr§�a continued: \"There is no one in the three worlds of the\n\nuniverse, including the powerful demigods, who can surpass My devotees\nin any of the six opulences, namely, wealth, strength, reputation, beauty,\nknowledge and renunciation. Therefore, if you want to conquer the worldly kings, there is no possibility of their emerging victorious.\"\n\nWhen Lord Kr§�a thus encouraged King Yudhi§thira, the King's face\n\nbrightened like a blossoming flower because of transcendental happiness,\n\nand thus he ordered his younger brothers to conquer all the worldly king.s\n\nin all directions. Lord Krwa empowered the Pa��avas to execute His\n\ngreat mission of chastising the infidel miscreants of the world and giving\n\nprotection to His faithful devotees. In His Vi§�U form, the Lord therefore\n\ncarries four kinds of weapons in His four hands. He carries a lotus flower\nand a conchshell in two hands, and in the other two hands He carries a\n\nclub and a disc. The club and disc are meant for the nondevotees, but\n\nbecause the Lord is the Supreme Absolute, the resultant action of all His\n\nweapons is one and the same. With the club and the disc He chastises the\n\nmiscreants so that they may come to their senses and know that they are\n\nnot all in all. Over them there is the Supreme Lord. And by bugling with\nthe conchshell and by offering blessings with the lotus flower, He always\n\nassures the devotees that no one can vanquish them, even in the greatest\n\ncalamity. King Yudhi§thira, being thus assured by the indication of Lord\nKr§�a, ordered his youngest brother, Sahadeva, accompanied by soldiers\n\nof the Srnjaya tribe, to conquer the southern countries. Similarly, he\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0165": "128\n\nKr�tJ.a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nordered Nakula, accompanied by the soldiers of Matsyadesa, to conquer\nthe kings of the western side. He sent Arjuna, accompanied by the soldiers\nof Kekayadesa, to conquer the kings of the northern side, and Bhimasena,\naccompanied by the soldiers of Madradesa (Madras), was ordered to conquer the kings on the eastern side.\nIt may be noted that by dispatching his younger brothers to conquer in\ndifferent directions, King Yudhi�!hira did not actually intend that they\ndeclare war with the kings. Actually, the brothers started for different\ndirections to inform the respective kings about King Yudhi�!hira's intention to perform the Rajasiiya sacrifice. The kings were thus informed that\nthey were required to pay taxes for the execution of the sacrifice. This\npayment of taxes to Emperor YudhiHhira meant that the king accepted\nhis subjugation before him. In case of a king's refusal to act accordingly,\nthere was certainly a fight. Thus by their influence and strength, the\nbrothers conquered all the kings in different directions, and they were\nable to bring in sufficient taxes and presentations. These were brought\nbefore King Yudhi�!hira by his brothers.\nKing Yudhi�!hira was very anxious, however, when he heard that King\nJarasandha of Magadha did not accept his sovereignty. Seeing King\nYudhi�!hira's anxiety, Lord Kr��a informed him of the plan explained by\nUddhava for conquering King Jarasandha. Bhimasena, Arjuna and Lord\nKr��a then started together for Girivraja, the capital city of Jarasandha,\ndressing themselves in the garb of briihmarws. This was the plan devised\nby Uddhava before Lord Krwa started for Hastinapura, and now it was\ngiven practical application.\nKing Jarasandha was a very dutiful householder, and he had great\nrespect for the briihmarws. He was a great fighter, a k§atriya king, but he\nwas never neglectful of the Vedic injunctions. According to Vedic injunctions, the briihmarws are considered to be the spiritual masters of all\nother castes. Lord Kr�tJ.a, Arjuna and Bhimasena were actually k§atriyas,\nbut they dressed themselves as briihmarws, and at the time when King\nJarasandha was to give charity to the briihmarws and receive them as\nguests, they approached him.\nLord Kr��a, in the dress of a briihmm;w, said to the King: \"We wish all\nglories to your majesty. We are three guests at your royal palace, and we\nare coming from a great distance. We have come to ask you for charity, and\nwe hope that you will kindly bestow upon us whatever we ask from you.\nWe know about your good qualities. A person who is tolerant is always prepared to tolerate everything, even though distressful. Just as a criminal can\nperform the most abominable acts, so a greatly charitable person like you\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0166": "Liberation of King Jarasandha\n\n129\n\ncan give anything and everything he is asked for. For a great personality\n\nlike you, there is no distinction between relatives and outsiders. A famous\n\nman lives forever, even after his death; therefore, any person who is com­\n\npletely fit and able to execute acts which will perpetuate his good name\n\nand fame and yet does not do so becomes abominable in the eyes of great\n\npersons. Such a person cannot be condemned enough, and his refusal to\ngive charity is lamentable throughout his whole life. Your majesty must\n\nhave heard the glorious names of charitable personalities such as Hariscan­\n\ndra, Rantideva and Mudgala, who used to live only on grains picked up\n\nfrom the paddy field, and the great Maharaja Sibi, who saved the life of a\n\npigeon by supplying flesh from his own body. These great personalities\n\nhave attained immortal fame simply by sacrificing this temporary and im­\n\nperishable body.\" Lord Kr�!la, in the garb of a briihmara, thus informed\n\nJarasandha that fame is imperishable, but the body is perishable. If one\n\ncan attain imperishable name and fame by sacrificing his perishable body,\nhe becomes a very respectable figure in the history of human civilization.\n\nWhile Lord Kr�!la was speaking in the garb of a briihmara along with\n\nArjuna and Bhima, J arasandha marked that the three of them did not\n\nappear to be actual briihmaras. There were signs on their bodies by which\nJadisandha could understand that they were k�atriyas. Their shoulders\n\nwere marked with an impression due to carrying bows; they had beautiful\nbodily structure, and their voices were grave and commanding. Thus he\n\ndefinitely concluded that they were not briihmaras, but k�atriyas. He was\nalso thinking that he had seen them somewhere before. Although these\n\nthree persons were k§atriyas, they had come to his door begging alms like\n\nbriihmaras. Therefore he decided that he would fulfill their desires, in\n\nspite of their being k§atriyas. He thought in this way because their position\n\nhad already been diminished by their appearing before him as beggars.\n\n\"Under the circumstances,\" he thought, \"I am prepared to give them any­\n\nthing. Even if they ask for my body, I shall not hesitate to offer it to\n\nthem.\" In this regard, he began to think o f Bali Maharaja. Lord Vi�!lu in\n\nthe dress of a briihmara appeared as a beggar before Bali, and in that way\nHe snatched away all of his opulence and kingdom. He did this for the\n\nbenefit of Indra, who, having been defeated by Bali Maharaja, was bereft\n\nof his kingdom. Although Bali Maharaja was cheated, his reputation as a\n\ngreat devotee who was able to give anything and everything in charity is\n\nstill glorified throughout the three worlds. Bali Maharaja could guess that\n\nthe briihmara was Lord Vi�!lu Himself and that He had come to him just\nto take away his opulent kingdom on behalf of Indra. Bali's spiritual\n\nmaster and family priest, Sukracarya, repeatedly warned him about this,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0167": "130\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nand yet Bali did not hesitate to give in charity whatever the briihmara\nwanted, and at last he gave up everything to that briihmara. \"It is my\nstrong determination,\" thought J arasandha, \"that if I can achieve immortal\nreputation by sacrificing this perishable body, I must act for that purpose;\nthe life of a k§atriya who does not live for the benefit of the briihmara is\ncertainly condemned.\"\nActually King Jarasandha was very liberal in giving charity to the br iih\n\n­\n\nmaras, and thus he informed Lord Kr��a, Bhima and Arjuna: \"My dear\nbriihmaras, you can ask' from me whatever you like. If you so desire, you\ncan take my head also. I am prepared to give it.\"\nAfter this, Lord Kr��a addressed Jarasandha as follows: \"My dear King,\nplease note that we are not actually briihmaras, nor have we come to ask\nfor foodstuffs or grains. We are all k§atriyas, and we have come to beg a\nduel with you. We hope that you will agree to this proposal. You may note\nthat here is the second son of King Pa�9u, Bhimasena, and the third son\nof Pa�9u, Arjuna. As for Myself, you may know that I am your old enemy,\nKrsna, the cousin of the Pandavas.\"\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\nWhen Lord Kr��a disclosed their disguise, King J arasandha began to\nlaugh very loudly, and then in great anger and in a grave voice he exclaimed,\n\"You fools! If you want to fight with me, I immediately grant your request. But, Kr��a, I know that You are a coward. I refuse to fight with\nYou because You become very confused when You face me in fighting.\nOut of fear of me You left Your own city, Mathura, and now You have\ntaken shelter within the sea; therefore I must refuse to fight with You.\nAs far as Arjuna is concerned, I know that he is younger than me and is\nnot an equal fighter. I refuse to fight with him because he is not in any\nway an equal competitor. But as far as Bhimasena is concerned, I think he\nis a suitable competitor to fight with me.\" After speaking in this way,\nKing J arasandha immediately handed a very heavy club to Bhimasena,\nand he himself took another, and thus all of them went outside the city\nwalls to fight.\nBhimasena and King J arasandha engaged themselves in fighting, and\nwith their respective clubs, which were as strong as thunderbolts, they\nbegan to strike one another very severely, both of them being eager to\nfight. They were both expert fighters with clubs, and their techniques of\nstriking one another were so beautiful that they appeared to be two\ndramatic artists dancing on a stage. When the clubs of J arasandha and\nBhimasena loudly collided, they sounded like the impact of the big tusks\nof two fighting elephants or like a thunderbolt in a flashing electrical\nstorm. When two elephants fight together in a sugarcane field, each of them\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0168": "Liberation of King J arasandha\n\n131\n\nsnatches a stick of sugarcane and, by catching it tightly in its trunk, strikes\nthe other. Each elephant heavily strikes his enemy's shoulders, arms, collarbones, chest, thighs, waist, and legs, and in this way the sticks of sugarcane are smashed. Similarly, all the clubs used by Jarasandha and Bhimasena\nwere broken, and so the two enemies prepared to fight with their strongfisted hands. Both Jarasandha and Bhimasena were very angry, and they\nbegan to smash each other with their fists. The striking of their fists\nsounded like the striking of iron bars or like the sound of thunderbolts,\nand they appeared to be like two elephants fighting. Unfortunately, however, neither was able to defeat the other because both were very expert in\nfighting, both were of equal strength, and their fighting techniques were\nequal also. Neither J arasandha nor Bhimasena became fatigued or defeated\nin the fighting, although they struck each other continually. At the end of\na day's fighting, both lived at night as friends in Jarasandha's palace, and\nthe next day they fought again. In this way they passed twenty-seven days\nin fighting.\nOn the twenty-eighth day, Bhimasena told Kr§!la, \"My dear Kr§!la, I\nmust frankly admit that I cannot conquer Jarasandha.\" Lord Kr�!la, however, knew the mystery of the birth of J arasandha. Jarasandha was born\nin two different parts from two different mothers. When his father saw\nthat the baby was useless, he threw the two parts in the forest, where\nthey were later found by a black-hearted witch named Jara. She managed\nto join the two parts of the baby from top to bottom. Knowing this,\nLord Kf§!la therefore also knew how to kill him. He gave hints to Bhimasena that since Jarasandha was brought to life by the joining of the two\nparts of his body, he could be killed by the separation of these two parts.\nThus Lord Kf§!la transferred His power into the body of Bhimasena and\ninformed him of the device by which J arasandha could be killed. Lord\nKr§!la immediately picked up a twig from a tree and, taking it in His hand,\nbifurcated it. In this way He hinted to Bhimasena how J arasandha could\nbe killed. Lord Krwa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is omnipotent,\n<�.nd if He wants to kill someone, no one can save that person. Similarly, if\nHe wants to save someone, no one can kill him.\nInformed by the hints of Lord Kf§!la, Bhimasena immediately took hold\nof the legs of J arasandha and threw him to the ground. When J arasandha\nfell to the ground, Bhimasena immediately pressed one of Jarasandha's\nlegs to the ground and took hold of the other leg with his two hands.\nCatching Jarasandha in this way, he tore his body in two, beginning from\nthe anus up to the head. As an elephant breaks the branches of a tree in\ntwo,. so Bhimasena separated the body of Jarasandha. The audience\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0169": "132\n\nKf��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nstanding nearby saw that the body of J arasandha was now divided into\ntwo halves, so that each half had one leg, one thigh, one testicle, one\nbreast, half a backbone, half a chest, one collarbone, one arm, one eye,\none ear, and half a face.\n\nAs soon as the news of J arasandha 's death was announced, all the\ncitizens of Magadha began to cry, \"Alas, alas,\" while Lord Kr§tta and\nArjuna embraced Bhimasena to congratulate him. Although J arasandha\nwas killed, neither Kr§�a nor the two Pa�9ava brothers made a claim to\nthe throne. Their purpose in killing J arasandha was to stop him from\ncreating a disturbance against the proper discharge of world peace. A\ndemon always creates disturbances, whereas a demigod always tries to\nkeep peace in the world. The mission of Lord Kr§tta is to give protection\nto the righteous persons and to kill the demons who disturb a peaceful\nsituation. Therefore Lord Kr§tta immediately called for the son of Jarasandha, whose name was Sahadeva, and with due ritualistic ceremonies\nHe asked him to occupy the seat of his father and reign over the kingdom\npeacefully. Lord Kf§tta is the master of the whole cosmic creation, and\nHe wants everyone to live peacefully and execute Kr�tta consciousness.\nAfter installing Sahadeva on the throne, He released all the kings and\nprinces who had been imprisoned unnecessarily by J arasandha.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Seventeenth Chapter, of Kr§tta, \"Liberation of King ]ariisandha.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0170": "18 I Lord Krsna Returns\n•\n\n•\n\n•\n\nto the City of Hastinapura\nThe kings and the princes released by Lord Kr�J.la after the death of\nJarasandha were rulers of different parts of the world. Jarasandha was so\npowerful in military strength that he had conquered all these princes and\nkings, numbering 20,800. They were all incarcerated within a mountain\ncave especially constructed as a fort, and for a long time they were kept\nin that situation. When they were released by the grace of Lord Kr��a,\nthey all looked very unhappy, their garments were niggardly, and their\nfaces were almost dried up for want of proper bodily care. They were\nvery weak due to hunger, and their faces had lost all beauty and luster.\nBecause of the kings' long imprisonment, every part of their bodies had\nbecome slackened and invalid. But although suffering in that miserable\ncondition of life, they had the opportunity to think about the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, Vi��u.\nNow before them they saw the color of the transcendental body of\nLord Kr��a, exactly like the hue of a newly arrived cloud in the sky. He\nappeared before them nicely covered by yellow colored silken garments,\nwith four hands like Vi��u, and carrying the different symbols of the club,\nthe conchshell, the disc and the lotus flower. There were marks of golden\nlines on His chest, and the nipples of His breast appeared to be like the\nwhorl of a lotus flower. His eyes appeared to be spread like the petals of a\nlotus flower, and His smiling face exhibited the symbol of eternal peace\nand prosperity. His glittering earrings were set beautifully, and His helmet\nwas bedecked with valuable j ewels. The Lord's necklace of pearls and the\nbangles and bracelets nicely situated on His body all shone with a\ntranscendental beauty. The Kaustubha j ewel han gi ng on His chest glittered\nwith great luster, and the Lord wore a beautiful flower garland. After so\nmuch distress, when the kings and princes saw Lord Kr��a, with His\nbeautiful transcendental features, they looked upon Him to their hearts'\n133\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0171": "134\n\nKr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ncontent, as if they were drinking nectar through their eyes, licking His\nbody with their tongues, smelling the aroma of His body with their noses,\nand embracing Him with their arms. Just by dint of their being in front of\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead, all reactions to their sinful activities\nwere washed away.\n\nTherefore, without reservation, they surrendered\n\nthemselves at the lotus feet of the Lord. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gitii\nthat unless one is freed from all kinds of sinful reactions, one cannot fully\nsurrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord. All the princes who saw Lord\nKr�v-a forgot all their past tribulations. With folded hands and with great\ndevotion, they began to offer prayers to Lord Kr�v.a, as follows.\n\"Dear Lord, 0 Supreme Personality of Godhead, master of all demigods, You can immediately remove all Your devotees' pangs because Your\ndevotees are fully surrendered unto You. 0 dear Lord Kr�v.a, 0 eternal\nDeity of transcendental bliss and knowledge, You are imperishable, and\nwe offer our respectful obeisances unto Your lotus feet. It is by Your\ncauseless mercy that we have been released from the imprisonment of\n\nJ arasandha, but now we pray unto You to release us from the imprisonment with the illusory energy of this material existence. Please, therefore,\nstop our continuous cycle of birth and death. We now have sufficient\nexperience of the miserable material condition of life in which we are\nfully absorbed, and having tasted its bitterness, we have come to take\nshelter under Your lotus feet. Dear Lord, 0 killer of the demon Madhu,\nwe can now clearly see that Jarasandha was not at fault in the least; it is\nactually by Your causeless mercy that we were bereft of our kingdomsbecause we were very proud of calling ourselves rulers and kings. Any\nruler or king who becomes too puffed up with false prestige and power\ndoes not get the opportunity to understand his real constitutional position\nand eternal life. Such foolish so-called rulers and kings become falsely\nproud of their position under the influence of Your illusory energy; they\nare just like a foolish person who considers a mirage in the desert to be a\nreservoir of water. Foolish persons think that their material possessions\nwill give them protection, and those who are engaged in sense gratification\nfalsely accept this material world as a place of eternal enjoyment. 0 Lord,\n\n0 Supreme Personality of Godhead, we must admit that, before this, we\nwere puffed up with our materiaJ opulences. Because we were all envious\nof each other and wanted to conquer one another, we all engaged in\nfighting for supremacy, even at the cost of sacrificing the lives of many\ncitizens.\"\nThis is the disease of political power. As soon as a king or a nation becomes rich in material opulences, it wants to dominate other nations by\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0172": "Lord Kr��a Returns to the City of Hastinapura\n\n135\n\nmilitary aggression. Similarly, mercantile men want to monopolize a\ncertain type of business and control other mercantile groups. Degraded by\nfalse prestige and infatuated by material opulences, human society, instead\nof striving for Kfwa consciousness, creates havoc and disrupts peaceful\nliving. Thus men naturally forget the real purpose of life: to attain the\nfavor of Lord Vi��u, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\nThe kings continued: \"0 Lord, we were simply engaged in the abominable task of killing citizens and alluring them to be �nnecessarily killed,\njust to satisfy our political whims. We did not consider thatYour Lordship\nis always present before us in the form of cruel death. We were so fooled\nthat we became the cause of death for others, forgetting our own impending death. But, dear Lord, the retaliation of the time element, which\nis Your representative, is certainly insurmountable. The time element is so\nstrong that no one can escape its influence; therefore we have received the\nreactions of our atrocious activities, and we are now bereft of all opulences\nand stand before You like street beggars. We consider our position to be\nYour causeless, unalloyed mercy upon us because now we can understand\nthat we were falsely proud and that our material opulences could be withdrawn from us within a second by Your will. By Your causeless mercy\nonly, we are now able to think ofYour J otus feet. This is our greatest gain.\nDear Lord, it is known to everyone that the body is a breeding ground of\ndiseases. Now we are sufficiently aged, and instead of being proud of our\nbodily strength, we are getting weaker day by day. We are no longer\ninterested in sense gratification or the false happiness derived through the\nmaterial body. By Your grace, we have now come to the conclusion that\nhankering after such material happiness is just like searching for water in a\ndesert mirage. We are no longer interested in the results of our pious activities, such as performing great sacrifices in order· to be elevated to the\nheavenly planets. We now understand that such elevation to a higher\nmaterial standard of life in the heavenly planets may sound very relishable,\nbut actually there cannot be any happiness within this material world. We\npray for Your Lordship to favor us by instructing us how to engage in the\ntranscendental loving service of Your lotus feet so that we may never\nforget our eternal relationship withYour Lordship. We do not want liberation from the entanglement of material existence. By Your will we may\ntake birth in any species of life; it does not matter. We simply pray that\nwe may never forgetYour lotus feet under any circumstances. Dear Lord,\nwe now surrender\nobeisances\n\nunto Your lotus feet by offering our respectful\n\nunto You because You are the Supreme Lord, the Per­\n\nsonality of Godhead, Kr�!la, the son of Vasudeva. You are the Super-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0173": "136\n\n���a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nsoul in everyone's heart, and You are Lord Hari, who can take away\nall miserable conditions of material existence. Dear Lord, Your name is\nGovinda, the reservoir of all pleasure. One who is engaged in satisfying\nYour senses automatically satisfies his own senses also, and therefore You\nare known as Govinda. Dear Lord, You are ever famous, for You can put\nan end to all the miseries of Your devotees. Please, therefore, accept us as\nYour surrendered servants.\"\nAfter hearing the prayers of the kings released from the prison of\n\nJarasandha, Lord Kr��a, who is always the protector of surrendered souls\nand the ocean of mercy for the devotees, replied to them as follows in His\nsweetly transcendental voice, which was grave and full of meaning. \"My\ndear kings,\" He said, \"I bestow upon you My blessings. From this day\nforth you will be attached to My devotional service without fail. I give you\nthis benediction, as you have desired. You may know from Me that I am\n'always sitting within your hearts as Supersoul, and because you have now\nturned your faces towards Me, I, as master of everyone, shall always give\nyou good counsel so that you may never forget Me and so that gradually\nyou will come back home, back to Godhead. My dear kings, your decision to give up all conceptions of material enjoyment and turn instead\ntoward My devotional service is factually the symptom of your good\nfortune. Henceforward you will always be blessed with blissful life. I\nconfirm that all you have spoken about Me in your prayers is factual. It is\na fact that the materially opulent position of one who is not fully Kr�p.a\nconscious is the cause of his downfall and of his becoming a victim of the\n\nillusory energy. In the past, there were many rebellious kings, such as\nHaihaya, Nahu�a, Vena, Rava�a and Narakasura. Some of them were\ndemigods, and some of them were demons, but because of their false\nperception of their positions, they fell from their exalted posts, and thus\nthey no longer remained the kings of their respective kingdoms.\n\"While lost in the violence of conditional life, every one of you must\nunderstand that anything material has its starting point, growth, expansion,\ndeterioration, and, finally, disappearanc�. All material bodies are subjected\nto these six conditions, and any relative acquisitions which are accumulated\nby this body are definitely subject to final destruction. Therefore, no one\nshould be attached to perishable things. As long as one is within this\nmaterial body, he should be very cautious in worldly dealings. The most\nperfect way of life in this material world is simply to be devoted to My\ntranscendental loving service and to honestly execute the prescribed duties\nof one's particular position of life. As far as you are concerned, you all\nbelong to k§atriya families. Therefore, you should live honestly, according\n\nLJ\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0174": "Lord K���a Returns to the City of Hastinapura\n\n137\n\nto the prescribed duties befitting the royal order, and you should make\nyour citizens happy in all respects. Keep to the standard of k§atriya life.\nDo not beget children out of sense gratification, but simply take charge o f\nthe welfare of the people in general. Everyone takes birth in this material\nworld because of the contaminated desires of his previous life, and thus he\nis subjected to the stringent laws of nature, such as birth and death,\ndistress and happiness, profit and loss. One should not be disturbed by\nduality, but should always be fixed in My service and thus remain balanced\nin mind and satisfied in all circumstances, considering all things to be\ngiven by Me, and one should remain undeviated from engagement in\ndevotional service. Thus one can live a very happy and peaceful life, even\nwithin this material condition. In other words, one should actually be\ncallous to this material body and its by-products and should remain\nunaffected by them. He should remain fully satisfied in the interests of the\nspirit soul and be engaged in the service of the Supersoul. One should\nengage his mind only on Me, one should simply become My devotee, one\nshould simply worship Me, and one should offer his respectful obeisances\nunto Me alone. In this way, one can cross over this ocean of nescience very\neasily and at the end come back to Me. In conclusion, your lives should\nconstantly be engaged in My service.\"\nAfter delivering His instructions to the kings and princes, Lord Krwa\nimmediately arranged for their comfort and asked many servants and\nmaidservants to take care of them. Lord K���a requested Sahadeva, the\nson of King Jarasandha, to supply all necessities to the kings and also\nasked him to show them all respect and honor. In pursuance of the order\nof Lord Kt��a, Sahadeva offered them all honor, and presented them with\nornaments, garments, garlands, and other paraphernalia. After taking\ntheir baths and dressing very nicely, the kings appeared happy and gentle.\nThen they were supplied nice foodstuffs. Lord Kt��a supplied everything\nfor their comfort, as was befitting their royal positions. Since the kings\nwere so mercifully treated by Lord K���a, they felt great happiness, and\nall their bright faces appeared just like the stars in the sky after the end\nof the rainy season. They were all nicely dressed and ornamented, and\ntheir earrings glittered. Each one was then seated on a chariot bedecked\nwith gold and jewels and drawn by decorated horses. After seeing that\neach was taken care of, Lord Kt��a, in a sweet voice, asked them to return\nto their respective kingdoms. By His very liberal behavior, unparalleled in\nthe history of the world, Lord Kt��a released all the kings who had been\nin the clutches of J arasandha, and being fully satisfied, the kings began to\nengage in chanting His holy name, thinking of His holy form, and glorify-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0175": "138\n\nKr�J)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ning His transcendental pastimes as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\nSo engaged, they returned to their respective kingdoms. The citizens of\ntheir kingdoms were very greatly pleased to see them return, and when\n\nthey heard of the kind dealings of Lord Kr�tta, they all became very\nhappy. The kings began to manage the affairs of their kingdoms in accord­\n\nance with the instructions of Lord Kr�tta, and all those kings and their\n\nsubjects passed their days very happily. This is the vivid example of the\nKr§tta conscious society. If the people of the world divide the whole\n\nsociety, in terms of their respective material qualities, into four orders for\nmaterial and spiritual progress, centering around K�§tta and following the\n\ninstructions of K�§tta as stated in Bhagavad-gitii, the entire human society\n\nwill undoubtedly be happy. This is the lesson that we have to take from\nthis incident.\n\nAfter thus causing the annihilation of J arasandha by Bhimasena and\n\nafter being properly honored by Sahadeva, the son of Jarasandha, Lord\n\nKf§tta, accompanied by Bhimasena and Arjuna, returned to the city of\nHastinapura. When they reached the precincts of Hastinapura, they blew\n\ntheir respective conchshells, and by hearing the sound vibrations and\nunderstanding who was arriving, everyone immediately became cheerful.\n\nBut upon hearing the conchshells, the enemies of Kr§tta became very sorry.\n\nThe citizens of lndraprastha felt their hearts become joyful simply by\n\nhearing the vibration of Kr§tta's conchshell because they could understand\nthat J arasandha had been killed. Now the performance of the Rajasiiya\n\nsacrifice by King Yudhi§!hira was almost certain. Bhimasena, Arjuna, and\nKf§tta, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, arrived before King Yudhi­\n\n§!hira and offered their respeCts to the King. King Yudhi§!hira attentively\n\nheard the narration of the killing of J arasandha and the setting free of the\n\nkings. He also heard of the tactics which were adopted by Kr§tta to kill\n\nJ arasandha. The king was naturally affectionate toward Kr§tta, but after\n\nhearing the story, he became even more bound in love for Krwa; tears of\n\necstasy glided from his eyes, and he became so stunned that he was almost\nunable to speak.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Eighteenth\nChapter, of Kf§tta, \"Lord Kr§\"!la Returns to the City of Hastiniipura.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0176": "19 I The Deliverance of Sisupala\n\nKing Yudhi§thira became very happy after hearing the details of the\n\nJarasandha episode, and he spoke as follows: \"My dear Kr§v.a, 0 eternal\n\nform of bliss and knowledge, all the exalted directors of the affairs of this\n\nmaterial world, including Lord Brahma, Lord Siva and King Indra, are\nalways anxious to receive and carry out orders from You, and whenever\n\nthey are fortunate enough to receive such orders, they immediately take\n\nthem and keep them in their hearts. 0 Kr§v.a, You are unlimited, and\n\nalthough we sometimes think of ourselves as royal kings and rulers of the\nworld and become puffed up over our paltry positions, we are very poor\n\nin heart. Actually, we are fit to be punished by You, but the wonder is\nthat instead of punishing us, You so kindly and mercifully accept our\n\norders and carry them out properly. Others are very surprised that Your\n\nLordship can play the part of an ordinary human, but we can understand\n\nthat You are performing these activities just like a dramatic artist. Your\n\nreal position is always exalted, exactly like that of the sun, which always\n\nremains at the same temperature both during the time of its rising and the\n\ntime of its setting. Although we feel the difference in temperature between\n\nthe rising and the setting sun, the temperature of the sun never changes.\nYou are always transcendentally equiposed, and thus You are neither\n\npleased nor disturbed by any condition of material affairs. You are the\nSupreme Brahman, the Personality of Godhead, and for You there are no\n\nrelativities. My dear Madhava, You are never defeated by anyone. Material\n\ndistinctions-'This is me.' 'This is you.' 'This is mine.' 'This is yours.' -are\n\nall conspicious by dint of their absence in You. Such distinctions are\n\nvisible in the lives of everyone, even the animals, but those who are pure\n\ndevotees are freed from these false distinctions. Since these distinctions\nare absent in Your devotees, they cannot possibly be present in You.\"\n\nMter satisfying Kr§v.a in this way, King Yudhi§thira arranged to perform\n\n139\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0177": "140\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nthe Rajasiiya sacrifice. He invited all the qualified briihmar-as and sages to\n\ntake part and appointed them to different positions as priests in charge\nof the sacrificial arena. He invited the most expert briihmar-as and sages;\n\nwhose names are as follows: Kr�tta-dvaipayana Vyasadeva, Bharadvaja,\nSumantu, Gautama, Asita, Vasi�tha, Cyavana, Kattva, Maitreya, Kava�a,\n\nTrita, Visvamitra, Vamadeva, Sumati, .Jaimini, Kratu, Paila, Parasara, Garga,\nVaisampayana,\n\nAtharva,\n\nKasyapa, Dhaumya, Parasurama, Sukracarya,\n\nAsuri, Vitihotra, Madhucchanda, Virasena, and Akrtavratta. Besides all these\nbriihmar-as and sages, he invited such respectful old men as Drottacarya,\n\nBhi�ma, the grandfather of the Kurus, Krpacarya, and Dhrtara�tra. He\n\nalso invited all the sons of Dhrtara�tra, headed by Duryodhana, and the\ngreat devotee Vidura was also invited. Kings from different parts of the\n\nworld, along with their ministers and secretaries, were also invited to see\n\nthe great sacrifice performed by King Yudhi�thira, and the citizens,\n\ncomprising learned briihmar-as, chivalrous k§atriyas, well-to-do vaisyas, and\nfaithful sudras, all visited the ceremony.\n\nThe briihmar-a priests and sages in charge of the �acrificial ceremony\n\nconstructed the sacrificial arena as usual with a plow of gold, and they\n\ninitiated King Yudhi�thira as the performer of the great sacrifice, in ac­\n\ncordance with Vedic rituals. Long years ago, when Varutta performed a\n\nsimilar sacrifice, all the sacrificial utensils were made of gold. Similarly,\n\nin the Rajasiiya sacrifice of King Yudhi�thira, all the utensils required for\n\nthe sacrifice were golden.\n\nIn order to participate in the great sacrifice performed by King\n\nYudhi�thira, all the exalted demigods like Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, and\n\nIndra the King of heaven, accompanied by their associates, as well as the\n\npredominating deities of higher planetary systems like Gandharvaloka,\n\nSiddhaloka, Janaloka, Tapoloka, Nagaloka, Yak�aloka, Rak�asaloka, Pak�i­\n\nloka and Carattaloka, as well as famous kings and their queens, were all\n\npresent by the invitation of King Yudhi�thira. All the respectable sages,\n\nkings and demigods who assembled there unanimously agreed that King\n\nYudhiHhira was quite competent to take the responsibility of performing\nthe Rajasiiya sacrifice; no one was in disagreement on this fact. All of them\n\nknew thoroughly the position of King Yudhi�thira; because he was a great\n\ndevotee of Lord Kr�tJ-a, no accomplishment was extraordinary for him.\nThe learned briihmar-as and priests saw to it that the sacrifice by Maharaja\n\nYudhi�thira was performed in exactly the same way as in bygone ages by\n\nthe demigod Varutta. According to the Vedic system, whenever there is an\narrangement for sacrifice, the members participating in the sacrifice are\n\noffered the juice of the soma plant. The juice of the soma plant is a kind\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0178": "The Deliverance of Sisupala\n\n141\n\nof life-giving beverage. On the day of extracting the soma juice, King\nYudhi�thira very respectfully received the special priest who had been\n\nengaged to detect any mistake in the formalities of sacrificial procedures.\n\nThe idea is that the Vedic mantras must be enuciated perfectly and chanted\n\nwith the proper accent; if the priests who are engaged in this business\ncommit any mistake, the checker or referee priest immediately corrects\nthe procedure, and thus the ritualistic performances are perfectly executed.\n\nUnless it is perfectly executed, a sacrifice cannot yield the desired result.\n\nIn this age of Kali there is no such learned briihmarw or priest available;\n\ntherefore, all such sacrifices are forbidden. The only sacrifice recommended\n\nin the siistras is the chanting of the Hare Kr�!la mantra.\n\nAnother important procedure is that the most exalted personality in\n\nthe assembly of such a sacrificial ceremony is first offered worship. After\n\nall arrangements were made for Yudhi�thira's sacrifice, the next considera­\n\ntion was who should be worshiped first in the ceremony. This particular\n\nceremony is called Agrapilja. Agra means first, and pfijii means worship.\n\nThis Agrapilja is similar to election of the president. In the sacrificial\n\nassembly, all the members were very exalted. Some proposed to elect one\nperson as the perfect candidate for accepting Agrapilja, and others pro­\n\nposed someone else.\n\nWhen the matter remained undecided, Sahadeva began to speak in\n\nfavor of Lord Kr�!la. He said, \"Lord Kr�!la, the best amongst the members\n\nof the Yadu dynasty and the protector of His devotees, is the most exalted\n\npersonality in this assembly. Therefore I think that He should without any\n\nobjection be offered the honor of being worshiped first. Although demi­\n\ngods such as Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, lndra, the King of heavenly planets,\n\nand many other exalted personalities are present in this assembly, no one\ncan be equal to or greater than Krwa in terms of time, space, riches,\n\nstrength, reputation, wisdom, renunciation or any other consideration.\n\nAnything which is considered opulent is present originally in Kr§!la. As an\n\nindividual soul is the basic principle of the growth of his material body,\n\nsimilarly Kr�!la is the Supersoul of this cosmic manifestation. All kinds of\nVedic ritualistic ceremonies, such as the performance of sacrifices, the\n\noffering of oblations in the fire, the chanting of the Vedic hymns and the\n\npractice of mystic yoga-all are meant for realizing Kr�!la. Whether one\nfollows the path of fruitive activities or the path of philosophical specu­\n\nlation, the ultimate destination is Kr�!la; all bona fide methods of self­\n\nrealization are meant for understanding Kr�!la. Ladies and gentlemen, it is\n\nsuperfluous to speak about Kr§!la, because every one of you exalted per­\n\nsonalities know the Supreme Brahman, Lord Kr�!la, for whom there are no\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0179": "142\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nmaterial differences between body and soul, between energy and the\nenergetic, or between one part of the body and another. Since everyone is\na part and parcel of Kr��a, there is no qualitative difference between\nKr�!la and all living entities. Everything is an emanation of Kr�!la's energies,\nthe m aterial and spiritual energies. Kr��a's energies are like the heat and\nlight of the fire; there is no difference between the quality of heat and\nlight and the fire itself.\n\"Also, Kr�!la can do anything He likes with any part of His body. We\ncan execute a particular action with the help of a particular p art of our\nbody, but He can do anything and everything with any part of His body.\nAnd because His transcendental body is full of knowledge and bliss in\neternity, He doesn't undergo the six kinds of material changes-birth,\nexistence, growth, fruitive action, dwindling and vanishing. Unforced by\nany external energy, He is the supreme cause of the creation, maintenance\nand dissolution of everything that be. By the grace of Kr�!la only, everyone\nis engaged in the practice of religiousness, the development of economic\nconditions, the satisfaction of the senses and, ultimately, the achievement\nof liberation from material bondage. These four principles of progressive\nlife can be executed by the mercy of Kr��a only. He should therefore be\noffered the first worship of this great sacrifice, and no one should disagree.\n\nAs by watering the root, the w atering of the branches, twigs, leaves and\nflowers is automatically accomplished, or as by supplying food to the\nstomach, the nutrition and metabolism of all parts of the body are automatically established, so by offering the first worship to Kr��a, everyone\npresent in this meeting-including the great demigods-will be satisfied. If\nanyone is charitably disposed, it will be very good for him to give in charity\nonly to Kr��a, who is the Supersoul of everyone, regardless of his particular\nbody or individual personality. Kr�!la is present as the Supersoul in every\nliving being, and if we can satisfy Him, then automatically every living\nbeing becomes satisfied.\"\n\nI\nI\n\nI\n\nSahadeva was fortunate to know of the glories of Kr��a, and after\ndescribing them in brief, he stopped speaking. After this speech was delivered, all the members present in that great sacrificial assembly applauded,\nconfirming his words continuously by saying, \"Everything that you have\nsaid is completely perfect. Everything that you have said is completely\nperfect.\" King YudhiHhira, after hearing the confirmation of all present,\nespecially of the briihmar-as and learned sages, worshiped Lord Kr��a\naccording to the regulative principles of the Vedic injunctions. First of all,\nKing Yudhi�thira-along with his brothers, wives, children, other relatives\nand ministers-washed the lotus feet of Lord Kr��a and sprinkled the water\non their heads. After this, Lord Kr��a was offered various kinds of silken\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0180": "The Deliverance of Sisupala\n\n143\n\ngarments of yellow color, and heaps of jewelry and ornaments were\n\npresented before Him for His use.\n\nKing Yudhi�thira felt such ecstasy by honoring Kr§�a, who was his only\n\nlovable object, that tears glided down from his eyes, and although He\nwanted to, he could not see Lord Kr§�a very well. Lord Kr§�a was thus\nworshiped by King Yudhi§thira. At that time all the members present in\n\nthat assembly stood up with folded hands and began to chant, \"Jaya!\n\n]aya! Nama�! Nama�!\" When all joined together to offer their respectful\n\nobeisances to Kr§�a, there were showers of flowers from the sky.\nIn that meeting, King Sisupala was also present. He was an avowed\n\nenemy of Kf§�a for many reasons, especially because of Kr§�a's having\n\nstolen Rukmi�i from the marriage ceremony; therefore, he could not\n\ntolerate such honor to Kr§�a and glorification of His qualities. Instead of\n\nbeing happy to hear the glories of the Lord, he became very angry. When\n\neveryone offered respect to Kr§�a by standing up, Sisupala remained in his\nseat, but when he became angry at Kr§�a's being honored, Sisupala stood\nup suddenly, and, raising his hand, began to speak very strongly and fear­\n\nlessly against Lord Krwa. He spoke in such a way that Lord Kr�!la could\nhear him very distinctly.\n\n\"Ladies and gentlemen, I can appreciate now the state�ent of the Vedas\n\nthat, after all, time is the predominating factor. In spite of all endeavors to\n\nthe contrary, the time element executes its own plan without opposition.\n\nFor example, one _may try his best to live, but when the time for death\n\ncomes, no one can check it. I see here that although there are many\n\nstalwart personalities present in this assembly, the influence of time is so\n\nstrong that they have been misled by the statement of a boy who has\nfoolishly spoken about Kr§�a. There are many learned sages and elderly\n\npersons present, but still they have· accepted the statement of a foolish\n\nboy. This means that by the influence of time, even the intelligence of such\n\nhonored persons as are present in this meeting can be misdirected. I fully\nagree with the respectable persons present here that they are competent\n\nenough to select the personality who can be first worshiped, but I cannot\n\nagree with the statement of a boy like Sahadeva, who has spoken so highly\nabout Kr§�a and has recommended that Kr§�a is fit to accept the fjrst\nworship in the sacrifice. I can see that in this meeting there are many\npersonalities who have undergone great austerities, who are highly learned\nand who have performed many penances. By their knowledge and dir�ction,\n\nthey can deliver many persons who are suffering from the pangs of material\n\nexistence. There are great [§is here whose knowledge has no bounds, as\n\nwell as many self-realized persons and briihmartas also, and therefore I\n\nthink that any one of them could have been selected for the first worship\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0181": "144\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nbecause they are worshipable even by the great demigods, kings and em­\n\nperors. I cannot understand how you could have selected this cowherd\n\nboy, Kr§�a, and have left aside all these other great personalities. I think\n\nKrwa to be no better than a crow-how can He be fit to accept the first\n\nworship in this great sacrifice?\n\n\"We cannot even ascertain as yet to which caste this Kr��a belongs or\n\nwhat His actual occupational duty is.\" Actually, Krwa does not belong to\n\nany caste, nor does He have to perform any occupational duty. It is stated\n\nin the Vedas that the Supreme Lord has nothing to do as His prescribed\n\nduty. Whatever has to be done on His behalf is executed by His different\nenergtes.\n\nSisupala continued: \"Kr§�a does not belong to a high family. He is so\n\nindependent that no one knows His principles of religious life. It appears\n\nthat He is outside the jurisdiction of all religious principles. He always acts\n\nindependently, not caring for the Vedic injunctions and regulative prin­\n\nciples. Therefore He is devoid of all good qualities.\" Sisupala indirectly\n\npraised Kr§�a by saying that He is not within the jurisdiction of Vedic\n\ninjunction. This is true because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\n\nThat He has no qualities means that Kr§�a has no material qualities, and\n\nbecause He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He acts independently,\nnot caring for conventions or social or religious principles.\n\nSisupala continued: \"Under these circumstances, how can He be fit to\n\naccept the first worship in the sacrifice? Krwa is so foolish that He has left\n\nMathura, which is inhabited by highly elevated persons following the Vedic\n\nculture, and He has taken shelter in the ocean, where there is not even talk\n\nof the Vedas. Instead of living openly, He has constructed a fort within the\n\nwater and is living in an atmosphere where there is no discussion of Vedic\n\nknowledge. And whenever He comes out of the fort, He simply harrasses\nthe citizens like a dacoit, thief or rogue.\"\n\nSisupala went crazy because of Kr§�a's being elected the supreme\n\nfirst-worshiped person in that meeting, and he spoke so irresponsibly that\n\nit appeared that he had lost all his good fortune. Being overcast with\n\nmisofrutne, Sisupala continued to insult Kr§�a further, and Lord Kr§�a\n\npatiently heard him without protest. Just as a lion does not care when a\n\nflock of jackals howl, Lord Kr§�a remained silent and unprovoked. Kr§�a\n\ndid not reply to even a single accusation made by Sisupala, but all the\nmembers present in the meeting, except a few who agreed with Sisupala,\n\nbecame very agitated because it is the duty of any respectable person not\n\nto tolerate blasphemy against God or His devotee. Some of them, who\n\nthought that they could not properly take action against Sisupala, left the\nassembly in protest, covering their ears with their hands in order not to\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0182": "The Deliverance of Sisupala\n\n145\n\nhear further accusations. Thus they left the meeting condemning the action\nof Sisupala. It is the Vedic injunction that whenever there is blasphemy of\n\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead, one must immediately leave. If he\ndoes not do so, he becomes bereft of his pious activities and is degraded to\nthe lower condition of life.\n\nAll the kings present, belonging to the Kuru dynasty, Matsya dynasty,\n\nKekaya dynasty and S�fijaya dynasty, became very angry and immediately\ntook up their swords and shields to kill Sisupala. Sisupala was so foolish\nthat he did not become even slightly agitated, although all the kings present\n\nwere ready to kill him. He did not care to think of the pros and cons\n\nof his foolish talking, and when he saw that all the kings were ready\nto kill him, instead of stopping, he stood to fight with them and took\n\nup his sword and shield. When Lord Kr�!la saw that they were going\nto engage in fighting In the arena of the auspicious Rajasiiya yajiia, He\n\npersonally pacified them. Out of His causeless mercy He Himself decided\n\nto kill Sisupala. When Sisupala was abusing the kings who were about to\n\nattack him, Lord Kr�!la took up His disc, which was as sharp as the blade of\na razor, and immediately separated the head of Sisupala from his body.\n\nWhen Sisupala was thus killed, a great roar and howl went up from the\n\ncrowd of that assembly. Taking advantage of that disturbance, the few\nkings who were supporters of Sisupala quickly left the assembly out of fear\n\nof their lives. But despite all this, the fortunate Sisupala's spirit soul imme­\n\ndiately merged into the body of Lord Kr�!la in the presence of all members,\n\nexactly as a burning meteor falls to the surface of the globe. Sisupala's soul's\n\nmerging into the transcendental body of Kr�!la reminds us of the story of\n\nJaya and Vijaya, who fell to the material world from the Vaiku!ltha planets\n\nupon being cursed by the four Kumaras. For their return to the V aiku!ltha\n\nworld, it was arranged that both Jaya and Vijaya for three consecutive\nbirths would act as deadly enemies of the Lord, and at the end of these\nlives they would again return to the V aiku!ltha world and serve the Lord\nas His associates.\n\nAlthough Sisupala acted as the enemy of Kr�!la, he was not for a single\n\nmoment out of Kr�!la consciousness. He was always absorbed in thought\n\nof Kr�!la, and thus he got first the salvation of siiyujya-muk ti, merging into\n\nthe existence of the Supreme, and finally became reinstated in his original\n\nposition of personal service. The Bhagavad-gitii corroborates the fact that\nif one is absorbed in the thought of the Supreme Lord at the time of death,\n\nhe immediately enters the kingdom of God after quitting his material body.\n\nAfter the salvation of Sisupala, King Yudhi�thira rewarded all the members\npresent in the sacrificial assembly. He sufficiently remunerated the priests\nand the learned sages for their engagement in the execution of the sacrifice,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0183": "Kr�!J.a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n146\n\nand after performing all this routine work, he took his bath. This bath at\n\nthe end of the sacrifice is also technical. It is called the avabhrtha bath.\n\nLord Kr�!la thus enabled the performance of the Rajasiiya yajfia arranged\n\nby King Yudhi�thira to be successfully completed, and, being requested by\nHis cousins and relatives, He remained in Hastinapura for a few months\n\nmore. Although King Yudhi�!hira and his brothers were not willing to have\nLord Kr�!la leave Hastinapura, Kr��a arranged to take permission from the\n\nKing to return to Dvaraka, and thus He returned home along with His\n\nqueens and ministers.\n\nThe story of the fall of Jaya and Vijaya from the Vaiku!J.tha planets to\n\nthe material world is described in the Seventh Canto of Srimad-Bhiigavatam.\n\nThe killing of Sisupala has a direct link with that narration of J aya and\nVijaya, but the most important instruction that we get from this incident\n\nis that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, being absolute, can give salva­\n\ntion to everyone, whether one acts as His enemy or as His friend. It is\ntherefore a misconception that the Lord act� with someone in the relation­\n\nship of a friend and with someone else in the relationship of an eneiny. His\n\nbeing an enemy or friend is always on the absolute platform. There is no\nmaterial distinction.\n\nAfter King Yudhi�thira took his bath after the sacrifice and stood in the\n\nmidst of all the learned sages and briihmar-as, he seemed exactly like the\nKing of heaven and thus looked very beautiful. King YudhiHhira suffi­\n\nciently rewarded all the demigods who participated in the yajfia, and being\n\ngreatly satisfied, all of them left praising the King's activities and glorifying\nLord Krsna.\n\nWhe� S ukadeva Gosvami was narrating these incidents of Kr�!la 's killing\n·\n\nSisupala and describing the successful execution of the Rajasiiya yajfia by\nMaharaja Yudhi�thira, he pointed out also that after the successful ter­\n\nmination of the yajfia there was only one person who was not happy. He\n\nwas Duryodhana. Duryodhana by nature was very envious because of his\n\nsinful life, and he appeared in the dynasty of the Kurus as a chronic disease\n\npersonified in order to destroy the whole family.\n\nSukadeva Gosvami assured Maharaja Pan1qit that the pastimes of Lord\n\nKr��a-the killing of Sisupala and Jarasandha and the releasing of the\n\nimprisoned kings-are all transcendental vibrations, and anyone who hears\n\nthese narrations from the authorized persons will be immediately freed\n\nfrom all the reactions of the sinful activities of his life.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Nineteenth\n\nChapter of Kr�!J.a, \"The Deliverance of Sisupiila.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0184": "20 I Why Duryodhana Felt Insulted\nat the End of the Raj asiiya Sacrifice\nKing Yudhi�thira was known as\n\najiitasatru, or a person who has no\n\nenemy. Therefore, when all men, all demigods, all kings, sages and saints\n\nsaw the successful termination of the Rajasuya yajiia performed by King\nYudhi�thira, they became very happy. That Duryodhana alone was not\n\nhappy was astonishing to Maharaja Parik�it, and therefore he requested\nSukadeva Gosvami to explain this.\n_\n\nS�kadeva Gosvami said, \"My dear King Parik�it, your grandfather, King\n\nYudhi�thira, was a great soul. His congenial disposition attracted everyone\n\nas his friend, and therefore he was known as ajiitasatru, one who never\n\ncreated an enemy. He engaged all the_ members of the Kuru dynasty in\ntaking charge of diffP-rent departments for the management of the Raja­\n\nsuya sacrifice. For example, Bhimasena was put in charge of the kitchen\n\ndepartment, Duryodhana in charge of the treasury department, Sahadeva\n\nin charge of the reception department, Nakula in charge of the store\n\ndepartment, and Arjuna was engaged in looking after the comforts of the\n\nelderly persons. The most astonishing feature was that Kr�v-a, the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, took charge of washing the feet of all the incoming\n\nguests. The Queen, the goddess of fortune Draupadi, was in charge of\nadministering the distribution of food, and because Karv-a was famous for\n\ngiving charity, he was put in charge of the charity department. In this way\nSatyaki, Vikaqta, Hardikya, Vidura, Bhurisrava, and Santardana, the son\n\nof Bahlika, were all engaged in different departments for managing the\n\naffairs of the Rajasiiya sacrifice. They were all so bound in loving affection\nfor King Yudhi�thira that they simply wanted to please him.\n\nAfter Sisupala had died by the mercy of Lord Kr�v-a and had become\n\nmerged in the spiritual existence, and after the end of the Rajasiiya yajiia,\nwhen all friends, guests and well-wishers had been sufficiently honored and\n\nrewarded, King Yudhi�thira went to bathe in the Ganges. The city of\n147\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0185": "148\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nHastinapura is today standing on the bank of the Yamuna, and the state­\n\nment of Srimad-Bhiigavatam that King Yudhi�thira went to bathe in the\n\nGanges indicates, therefore, that during the time of the Pa1)9-avas, the\n\nRiver Yamuna was also known as the Ganges. While the King was taking\n\nthe avabhrtha bath, different musical instruments, such as mrdangas, conchshells, drums, kettledrums and bugles, vibrated. In addition, the ankle bells\n\nof the dancing girls jingled. Many groups of professional singers played\n\nviriis,\n\nflutes, gongs and cymbals, and thus a tumultuous sound vi­\n\nbrated in the sky.\n\nThe princely\n\nguests from many kingdoms, like\n\nSrnjaya, Kamboja, Kuru, Kekaya and Kosala, were present with their\n\ndifferent flags and gorgeously decorated elephants, chariots, horses and\nsoldiers. All were passing in a processio1,1, and King Yudhi�thira was in the\n\nforefront. The executive members, such _as the priests, religious ministers\nand briihmar;ws, were performing a sacrifice, and all were loudly chanting\n\nthe Vedic hymns. The demigods, the inhabitants of the Pitrloka and\nGandharvaloka, as well as many sages, showered flowers from the sky.\n\nThe men and women of Hastinapura, lndraprastha, their bodies ·smeared\n\nwith scents and floral oils, were nicely dressed in colorful garments and\n\ndecorated with garlands, jewels and ornaments. They were all enjoying the\n\nceremony, and they threw on each other liquid substances like water, oil,\n\nmilk, butter and yogurt. Some even smeared these on each other's bodies.\n\nIn this way, they were enjoying the occasion. The professional prostitutes\n\nwere also engaged by jubilantly smearing these liquid substances on the\nbodies of the men, and the men reciprocated in the same way. All the\n\nliquid substances had been mixed with turmeric and saffron, and their\n\ncolor was a lustrous yellow.\n\nIn order to observe the great ceremony, many wives of the demigods\n\nhad come in different airplanes, and they were visible in the sky. Similarly,\n\nthe queens of the royal family arrived gorgeously decorated and surrounded\n\nby bodyguards on the surface on different palaquins. During this time,\n\nLord Krwa, the maternal cousin of the Pa1)9-avas, and His special friend\n\nArjuna, were both throwing the liquid substances on the bodies of the\n\nqueens. The queens became bashful, but at the same time their beautiful )\n\nsmiling brightened their faces. Because of the liquid substances thrown on\ntheir bodies, the saris covering them became completely wet. The different\nparts of their beautiful bodies, particularly their breasts and their waists,\n\nbecame partially visible because of the wet cloth. The queens also brought\nin buckets of liquid substances and sprinkled them on the bodies of their\n\nbrothers-in-law. As they engaged in such jubilant activities, their hair fell\nloose, and the flowers decorating their bodies began to fall. When Lord\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0186": "Why Duryodhana Felt Insulted\n\n149\n\nKr�tJ-a, Aijuna and the queens were thus engaged in these jubilant activities,\npersons who were not clean in heart became agitated by lustful desires. In\nother words, such behavior between pure males and females is enjoyable,\nbut persons who are materially contaminated become lustful.\nKing Yudhi�thira, in a gorgeous chariot yoked by excellent horses, was.\npresent with his queens, including Draupadi and others. The festivities of\nthe sacrifice were so beautiful that it appeared as if Rajasiiya was standing\nthere in person with the functions of the sacrifice.\nFollowing the Rajasiiya sacrifice, there was the Vedic ritualistic duty\nknown as patnisarhyiija. This sacrifice was performed along with one's\nwife, and it was also duly performed by the priests of King Yudhi�thira.\nWhen Queen Draupadi and King Yudhi�thira were taking their avabhrtha\nbath, the citizens of Hastinapura as well as the demigods began to beat on\ndrums and blow trumpets out of feelings of happiness, and there was a\nshower of flowers from the sky. When the King and the Queen finished\ntheir bath in the Ganges, all the other citizens, consisting of all the varras\nor castes-the briihmaras, the k§atriyas, the vaisyas, and the sudras-took\ntheir baths in the Ganges. Bathing in the Ganges is recommended in the\nVedic literatures because by such bathing one becomes freed from all\nsinful reactions. This is still current in India, especially at particularly\nauspicious moments. At such times, millions of people bathe in the Ganges.\nMter taking his bath, King Yudhi�thira dressed in a new silken cloth\nand wrapper and decorated himself with valuable jewelry. The King not\nonly dressed himself and decorated himself, but he also gave clothing and.\nornaments to all the priests and to the others who had participated in the\nyajiias. In this way, they were all worshiped by King Yudhi�thira. He\n\nconstantly worshiped his friends, his family members, his relatives, his\nwell-wishers and everyone present, and because he was a great devotee of\nLord Narayal).a, or because he was a Vai�tJ-ava, he therefore knew how to\ntreat everyone well. The Mayavadi philosophers' endeavor to see everyone\nas God is an artificial way towards oneness, but a Vai§tJ-ava or a devotee of\nLord NarayatJ-a sees every living entity as part and parcel of the Supreme\nLord. Therefore, a Vai§tJ-ava 's treatment of other living entities is 011: the\nabsolute platform. Since one cannot treat one part of his body differently\nfrom another part because they all belong to the same body, so a V ai§tJ-ava\ndoes not see a human being as distinct from an animal because in both of\nthem he sees the soul and the Supersoul seated simultaneously.\nWhen everyone was refreshed after bathing and was dressed in silken\nclothing with jeweled earrings, flower garlands, turbans, long wrappers and\npearl necklaces, they looked, altogether, like the demigods from heaven.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0187": "150\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nThis was especially true of the women, who were very nicely dressed. Each\nwore a golden belt around the waist. They were all smiling. Spots of tilaka\nand curling hair were scattered here and there. This combination was very\nattractive.\nPersons who had participated in the Rajasiiya sacrifice-including the\nmost cultured priests, the briihmarws who had assisted in the performance\nof the sacrifice, the citizens of all vaqws, kings, demigods, sages, saints and\ncitizens of the Pitrloka-were all very much satisfied by the dealings of King\nYudhi�thira, and at the end they happily departed for their residences.\nWhile returning to their homes, they talked of the dealings of King\nYudhi�thira, and even after continuous talk of his greatness they were not\nsatiated, just as one may drink nectar over and over again and never be\nsatisfied. After the departure of all others, Maharaja Yudhi�thira restrained\nthe inner circle of his friends, including Lord Kr��a, by not allowing them\nto leave. Lord Kr��a could not refuse the request of the King. He therefore\nsent back all the heroes of the Yadu dynasty, like Samba and others. All\nof them returned to Dvaraka, and Lord Kr��a personally remained in\norder to give pleasure to the King.\nIn the material world, everyone has a particular type of desire to be\nfulfilled, but one is never able to fulfill his desires to his full satisfaction.\nBut King Yudhi�thira, because of his unflinching devotion to Kr§!la, could\nfulfill all his desires successfully by the performance of the Rajasiiya\n\nyajfia. From the description of the execution of the Rajasiiya yajfia, it\nappears that such a function is a great ocean of opulent desires. It is not\npossible for an ordinary man to cross over such an ocean; nevertheless, by\nthe grace of Lord Kr§!la, King Yudhi§thira was able to cross over it very\neasily, and thus he became freed from all anxieties.\nWhen Duryodhana saw that Maharaja Yudhi�thira had become very\nfamous after performance of the Rajasiiya yajfia and was fully satisfied in\nevery respect, he began to burn with the fire of envy because his mind was\nalways poisonous. For one thing, he envied the imperial palace which had\nbeen constructed by the demon Maya for the Pa!!9avas. The palace was\nexcellent in its puzzling artistic workmanship and was befitting the position of great princes, kings or leaders of the demons. In that great palace,\nthe Pa�9avas were living with their family members, and Queen Draupadi\nwas serving her husbands very peacefully. And because in those days\nLord Kr��a was also there, the palace was also decorated by His thousands of queens. When the queens, with their heavy breasts and thin\nwaists, moved within the palace, and their ankle bells rang very melodiously\nwith their movement, the whole palace appeared to be more opulent than\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0188": "Why Duryodhana Felt Insulted\n\n151\n\nthe heavenly kingdoms. Because a portion of their breasts was sprinkled\n\nwith saffron powder, the pearl necklaces on their breast appeared to be\nreddish. With their full earrings and flowing hair, the queens appeared very\nbeautiful. After looking at such beauties in the palace of King Yudhi�thira,\n\nDuryodhana became envious. He became especially envious and lustful\n\nupon seeing the beauty of Draupadi because he had cherished a special\nattraction for her from the very beginning of her marriage with the Pa!J.­\n\ncjavas. In the marriage selection assembly of Draupadi, Duryodhana had\n\nalso been present, and with other princes he had been very much captivated\nby the beauty of Draupadi, but had failed to achieve her.\nOnce upon a time, King Yudhi�thira was sitting on the golden throne in\nthe palace constructed by the demon Maya. His four brothers and other\nrelatives, as well as his great well-wisher, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kr�!J.a, were present and the material opulence of King Yudhi�thira\nseemed no less than that of Lord Brahma. When he was sitting on the\nthrone surrounded by his friends, and the reciters were offering prayers to\nhim in the form of nice songs, Duryodhana, with his younger brother, came\nto the palace. Duryodhana was decorated with a helmet, and he carried_ a\nsword in his hand. He was always in an envious and angry mood, and\ntherefore, on a slight provocation, he spoke sharply with the doorkeepers\nand became angry. He was irritated because he failed to distinguish between water and land. By the craftmanship of the demon Maya, the palace\nwas so decorated in .different places that one who did not know the tricks\nwould consider water to be land and land to be water. Duryodhana was\nalso illusioned by this craftmanship, and when he was crossing water\nthinking it to be land, he fell down. When Duryodhana, out of his foollishness, had thus fallen, the queens enjoyed the incident by laughing.\n\nKing Yudhi�thira, could understand the feelings of Duryodhana, and he\n\ntried to restrain the queens from laughing, but Lord Kr�!la indicated that\nKing Yudhi�thira should not restrain them from enjoying the incident:\n\nKr�!la desired that Duryodhana might be fooled in that way and that all of\n\nthem might enjoy his foolish behavior. When everyone laughed, Duryodhana felt very insulted, and his hair stood up in anger. Being thus insulted,\n\nhe immediately left the palace, bowing his head. He was silent and did not\nprotest. When Duryodhana left in such an angry mood, everyone regretted\nthe incident, and King Yudhi�thira also became very sorry. But despite all\n\noccurrences, Kr�!la was silent. He did not say anything against or in favor\nof the incident. It appeared that Duryodhana had been put into illusion by\n\nthe supreme will of Lord Kr�!J.a, and this was the beginning of the enmity\nbetween the two sects of the Kuru dynasty. It appeared that it was a part\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0189": ". I\n\nI\n\nj\n\n152\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nI !\nI\n\nof Kr��a 's plan in His mission to decrease the burden of the world.\n\nKing PanK�it had inquired from Sukadeva Gosvami as to why Duryo­\n\ndhana was not satisfied after the termination of the great Rajasiiya\n\nsacrifice, and thus it was explained by Sukadeva Gosvami.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Twentieth\n\nChapter, of Kr��a, \"Why Duryodhana Felt Insulted at the End of the\n, ,\n\nRiijasuya Sacrifice.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0190": "21 I The Battle Between Salva\nand the Members of the Y adu Dynasty\nWhile Sukadeva Gosvami was narrating various activities of Lord Kr�!la\n\nin playing the role of an ordinary human being, he also narrated the\n\nhistory of the battle between the dynasty of Yadu and a demon of the\nname Salva, who had managed to possess a wonderful airship named\n\nSaubha. King Salva was a great friend of Sisupala's. When Sisupala went to\n\nmarry Rukmi!J.i, Salva was one of the members of the bridegroom's party.\n\nWhen there was a fight between the soldiers of the Yadu dynasty and the\n\nkings of the opposite side, Salva was defeated by the soldiers of the Yadu\ndynasty. But, despite his defeat, he made a promise before all the kings\n\nthat he would in the future rid the whole world of all the members of the\nYadu dynasty. Since his defeat in the fight during the marriage of Rukmi!J.i,\n\nhe had maintained within himself an unforgettable envy of Lord Krwa, and\nhe was, in fact, a fool, because he had promised to kill Kr�!J.a.\n\nUsually such foolish demons take shelter of a demigod like Lord Siva to\n\nexecute their ulterior plans, and so Salva, in order to get strength, took\nshelter of the lotus feet of Lord Siva. He underwent a severe type of\n\nausterity during which he would eat no more than a handful of ash«:s\n\ndaily. Lord Siva, the husband of Parvati, is generally very merciful, and he\n\nbecomes very quickly satisfied if someone undertakes severe austerities in\norder to please him. So after continued austerities by Salva for one year,\n\nLord Siva became pleased with him and asked him to beg for the fulfillment\n\nof his desire.\n\nSalva begged from Lord Siva the gift of an airplane which would be so\n\nstrong that it could not be destroyed by any demigod, demon, human\n\nbeing, Gandharva, Naga, or even by any Rak�asa. Moreover, he desired\n\nthat the airplane be able to fly anywhere and everywhere he would like to\n\npilot it, and be specifically very dangerous and fearful to the dynasty of\n\nthe Yadus. Lord Siva immediately agreed to give him the benediction, and\n153\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0191": "154\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nSalva took the help of the demon Maya to manufacture this iron airplane,\n\nwhich was so strong and formidable that no one could crash it. It was a\nvery big machine, almost like a big city, and it could fly so high and at\n\nsuch a great speed that it was almost impossible to see where it was, and so\n\nthere was no question of attacking it. Although it might be dark outside,\n\nthe pilot could fly it anywhere and everywhere. Having acquired such a\n\nwonderful airplane, Salva flew it to the city of Dvaraka, because his main\n\npurpose in obtaining the airplane was to attack the city of the Yadus,\ntoward whom he maintained a continual feeling of animosity.\n\nSalva thus not only attacked the city of Dvaraka from the sky, but he\n\nalso surrounded the city by a large number of infantry. The soldiers on the\n\nsurface began to attack the beautiful spots of the city. They began to\n\ndestroy the baths, the city gates, the palaces and the skyscraper houses, the\n\nhigh walls around the city and the beautiful spots where people would\n\ngather for recreation. While the soldiers were attacking on the surface, the\n\nairplane began to drop big slabs of stone, tree trunks, thunderbolts,\n\npoisonous snakes and many other dangerous things. Salva also managed to\n\ncreate such a strong whirlwind within the city that ail of Dvaraka became\n\ndark because of the dust that covered the sky. The airplane occupied by\n\nSalva put the entire city of Dvaraka into distress equal to that caused on\n\nthe earth long, long ago by the disturbing activities of Tripurasura. The\n\ninhabitants of Dvaraka Purl became so harrassed that they were not in a\n\npeaceful condition for even a moment.\n\nThe great heroes of Dvaraka City, headed by commanders such as\n\nPradyumna, counterattacked the soldiers and the airplane of Salva. When\n\nhe saw the extreme distress of the citizens, Pradyumna immediately\n\narranged his soldiers and personally got upon a chariot, encouraging the\n\ncitizens by assuring safety. Following his command, many warriors like\nSatyaki, Carude�v.a and Samba, all young brothers of Pradyumna, as well\n\nas Akriira, Krtavarma, Bhanuvinda, Gada, Suka and Sarana-all came out of\nthe city to fight with Salva. All of them were great fighters; each one\n\ncould fight with thousands of men. All were fully equipped with necessary\nweapons and assisted by hundreds and thousands of charioteers, elephants,\n\nhorses and infantry soldiers. Fierce fighting began between the two\n\nparties, exactly as was formerly carried\n\non between the demigods\n\nand the demons. The fighting was very severe, and whoever observed the\nfierce nature of the fight felt his hairs stand on end.\n\nPradyumna immediately counteracted the mystic demonstration occa­\n\nsioned by the airplane of Salva, the King of Saubha. By the mystic power\n\nof the airplane, Salva had created a darkness as dense as night, but\n\nPradyumna all of a sudden appeared like the rising sun. As with the rising\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0192": "The Battle Between Salva and the Y adu Dynasty\n\n155\n\nof the sun the darkness of night is immediately dissipated, so with the\n\nappearance of Pradyumna the power exhibited by Salva became null and\nvoid. Each and every one of Pradyumna 's arrows had a golden feather at\n\nthe end, and the shaft was fitted with a sharp iron edge. By releasing\n\ntwenty-five such arrows, Pradyumna severely injured Salva's commanderin-chief. He then released another one hund red arrows toward the body of\nSalva. After this, he pierced each and every soldier by releasing one arrow,\n\nand he killed the chariot drivers by firing ten arrows at each one of them.\n\nThe carriers like the horses and elephants were killed by the release of\n\nthree arrows directed toward each one of them. When everyone present on\nthe battlefield saw this wonderful feat of Pradyumna, the great fighters on\n\nboth the sides began to praise his acts of chivalry.\n\nBut still the airplane occupied by Salva was very mysterious. It was so\n\nextraordinary that sometimes there would appear to be many airplanes in\n\nthe sky, and sometimes it would be seen that there was none. Sometimes\n\nit was visible, and sometimes it was not visible, and the warriors of the Yadu\ndynasty became puzzled about the whereabouts of the peculiar airplane.\nSometimes they would see the airplane on the ground, and sometimes\n\nthey would see it flying in the sky. Sometimes they would see the airplane\nresting on the peak of a hill, and sometimes it was seen floating on the\n\nwater. The wonderful airplane was flying in the sky like a firefly in the\n\nwind-it was not steady even for a moment. But despite the mysterious\n\nmaneuvering of the airplane, the commanders and the soldiers of the\nY adu dynasty would immediately rush toward Salva wherever he was\n\npresent with his airplane and soldiers. The arrows released by the dynasty\nof the Yadus were as brilliant as the sun and as dangerous as the tongues\nof serpents. All the soldiers fighting on behalf of Salva became soon dis­\n\ntressed by the incessant release of arrows upon them by the heroes of the\nY adu dynasty, and Salva himself became. unconscious from the attack of\n\nthese arrows.\n\nThe soldiers and the fighters fighting on behalf of Salva were also very\n\nstrong, and the release of their arrows also harassed the heroes of the\n\nYadu dynasty. But still the Yadus were so strong and determined that\n\nthey did not move from their strategic positions. The heroes of the Yadu\ndynasty were determined to either die in the battlefield or gain victory.\n\nThey were confident of the fact that if they would die in the fighting they\n\nwould attain a heavenly pl_anet, and if they would come out victorious\n\nthey would enjoy the world. The name of Salva's commander-in-chief was\nDyuman. He was very powerful, and although bitten by twenty-five of\nPradyumna's arrows, he suddenly attacked Pradyumna with his fierce\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0193": "156\n\n.Kf�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nclub and struck him so strongly that Pradyumna became unconscious.\nImmediately there was a roaring, \"Now he is dead! Now he is dead!\" The\nforce of the club on the chest of Pradyumna was very severe, enough to\ntear asunder the chest of an ordinary man.\nPradyumna's chariot was being driven by the son of Daruka. According\nto Vedic military principles, the chariot driver and the hero on the chariot\nhave to cooperate during the fighting. As such, it was the duty of the\nchariot driver to take care of the hero on the chariot during the dangerous\nand precarious fighting on the battlefield. Thus Daruka removed the body\nof Pradyumna from the battlefield. Two hours later, in a quiet place,\nPradyumna regained his consciousness, and when he saw that he was in a\nplace other than the battlefield he addressed the charioteer and condemned\nhim:\n\"Oh, you have done the most abominable act! Why have you moved me\nfrom the battlefield? My dear charioteer, I have never heard that anyone\nin our family was ever removed from the battlefield. None of them left\nthe battlefield while fighting. By this removal you have overburdened me\nwith a great defamation. It will be said that I left ·the battlefield while\nfighting was going on. My dear charioteer, I must accuse you-you are a\ncoward and emasculator! Tell me, how can I go before my uncle Balarama\nand before my father Kr�!J.a, and what shall I say before them? Everyone\nwill talk about me and say that I fled from the fighting place, and if they\ninquire from me about this, what will be my reply? My sisters-in-law will\nplay jokes upon me with sarcastic words: 'My dear hero, how have you\nbecome such a coward? How have you become a eunuch? How have you\nbecome so low in the eyes of the fighters who opposed you?' I think, my\ndear charioteer, that you have committed a great offense by removing me\nfrom the battlefield.\"\nThe charioteer of Pradyumna replied, \"My dear sir, I wish a long life for\nyou. I think I did not do anything wrong, as it is the duty of the charioteer\nto help the fighter in the chariot when he is in a precarious condition. My\ndear sir, you are completely competent in the battlefield activities. It is\nthe mutual duty of the charioteer and the warrior to give protection to\neach other in a precarious condition. I was completely aware of the\nregulative principles of fighting, and I did my duty. The enemy all of a\nsudden struck you with his club so severely that you lost consciousness.\nYou were in a dangerous position, surrounded by your enemies. Therefore\nI was obliged to act as I did.\"\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Twentyfirst chapter, of Kf§!J.a, \"The Battle between Salva and the Members of the\nYadu Dynasty.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0194": "22 I The Deliverance of Salva\n\nAfter talking with his charioteer, the son of Daruka, Pradyumna could\n\nunderstand the real circumstances, and therefore he refreshed himself by\n\nwashing his mouth and hands. Arming himself properly with bows and\n\narrows, he asked his charioteer to take him near the place where Salva's\ncommander-in-chief was standing. During the short absence of Pradyumna\n\nfrom the battlefield, Dyuman, Salva's commander-in-chief, had been taking\n\nover the position of the soldiers of the Yadu dynasty. By appearing in the\n\nbattlefield, Pradyumna immediately stopped him and struck him with\n\neight arrows. With four arrows he killed his four horses, with one arrow he\n\nkilled his chariot driver and with another arrow he cut his bow in two;\n\nwith another arrow, he cut his flag into pieces, and with another he severed\nhis head from his body.\n\nOn the other fronts, heroes like Gada, Satyaki and Samba were engaged\n\nin killing the soldiers of Salva. The soldiers who were staying with Salva in\n\nthe airplane were also killed in the fighting, and they fell into the ocean.\n\nEach party began to strike the opposite party very severely. The battle was\n\nfierce and dangerous and continued for twenty-seven days without stop.\n\nWhile the fight was going on in the city of Dvaraka, Kf�l)a was staying at\nlndraprastha along with the Pal)�avas and King Yudhi�thira. This fighting\n\nwith Salva took place after the Rajasiiya yajiia had been performed by\nKing Yudhi�thira and after the killing of Sisupala. When Lord Kr�l)a\n\nunderstood that there was great danger in the city of Dvaraka, He took\n\npermission from the elderly members of the Pal)�ava family, especially\n\nfrom his aunt Kuntidevi� and started immediately for Dvaraka.\n\nLord Kf�l)a began to think that while He was arriving in Hastinapura\n\nwith Balarama after the killing of Sisupala, Sisupala's men must have\n\nattacked Dvaraka. On reaching Dvaraka, Lord Kr�!la saw that the whole\n\ncity was greatly endangered. He placed Balaramaji in a strategic position\n\nfor the protection of the city, and He Himself asked His charioteer Daruka\n157\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0195": "158\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nto prepare to start. He said, \"Daruka, please immediately take Me to where\nSalva is staying. You may know that this Salva is a very powerful,\n\nmysterious man. Don't fear him in the least.\" As soon as he got his orders\n\nfrom Lord Kr��a, Daruka had Him seated on the chariot and drove very\n\nquickly toward Salva.\n\nThe chariot of Lord Kr��a was marked with the flag bearing the\n\ninsignia of Garu�a, and as soon as the soldiers and warriors of the Yadu\n\ndynasty saw the flag, they could understand that Lord Kr��a was on the\n\nbattlefield. By this time, almost all the soldiers of Salva had been killed,\n\nbut when Salva saw that Kr��a had come to the battlefield, he released a\ngreat, powerful weapon which flew through the sky with a roaring sound\n\nlike a great meteor. It was so bright that the whole sky lit up by its\n\npresence. But as soon as Lord Kr��a appeared, He tore the great weapon\ninto hundreds and thousands of pieces by releasing His own arrow.\n\nLord Kr��a struck Salva with sixteen arrows, and with showers of arrows\nHe overpowered the airplane, just as the sun in a clear sky over powers the\n_\nwhole sky by an unlimited number of molecules of sunshine. Salva struck\na severe blow to Kr��a's left side, where the Lord was carrying ·His bow,\nSarriga, and as a result the Sarriga bow fell from Lord Kr��a's hand. This\n\ndropping of the bow was indeed wonderful. Great personalities and demi­\n\ngods who were observing the fighting between Salva and Kr��a became\nmost perturbed by this, and they began to exclaim, \"Alas! Alas!\"\n\nSalva thought that he had become victorious, and with a roaring sound\n\nbegan to address Lord Kr��a as follows: \"You rascal, Kr��a! You kid­\n\nnapped Rukmi�i forcibly, even in our presence. You baffled my friend\n\nSisupala and married Rukmi�i Yourself. And in the great assembly at King\nYudhi�thira's Rajasiiya yajiia, while my friend Sisupala was a little absent­\n\nminded, You took an opportunity to kill him. Everyone thinks that You\nare a great fighter and that no one can conquer You. So now You'll have\nto prove Your strength. I think that if You stand before me any longer,\n\nwith my sharpened arrows I shall send You to a place wherefrom You will\nnever return.\"\n\n\"\n\nTo this Lord Kr��a replied, \"Foolish Salva, you are talking nonsensically.\n\nYou do not know that the moment of death is already upon your head.\nThose who are actually heroes do not talk much. They prove their prowess\n\nby practical exhibition of chivalrous activities.\" Mter saying this, Lord\nKr��a, in great anger, struck Salva on the collarbone with His club so severe­\n\nly that he began to bleed internally and tremble as if he were ·going to\ncollapse from severe cold. Before Kr��a was able to strike him again,\nhowever, Salva became invisible by his mystic power.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0196": "The Deliverance of Salva\n\n159\n\nWithin a few moments, a mysterious unknown man came before Lord\n\nKrwa. Crying loudly, he bowed down at the Lord's lotus feet and said to\n\nHim, \"Since You are the most beloved son of Your father Vasudeva, Your\n\nmother Devaki has sent me to inform You of the unfortunate news that\n\nYour father has been arrested by Salva and taken away by force. He took\n\nhim just as a butcher mercilessly takes away an animal.\" When Lord Kr�!la\nheard this unfortunate news from the unknown man, He at first became\n\nmost perturbed, just like an ordinary human being. His face showed signs\nof grief, and He began to cry in a pitious tone, \"How could that happen?\n\nMy brother Lord Balarama is there, and it is impossible for anyone to\n\nconquer Balaramaji. He is in charge of Dvaraka City, and I know He is\n\nalways alert. How could Salva possibly enter the city and arrest My father\n\nin that way? Whatever he may be, Salva's power is limited, so how could it\n\nbe possible that\n\nhe has conquered the strength of Balaramaji and\n\ntaken away My father, arresting him as described by this man? Alas!\n\nDestiny is, after all, very powerful.\"\n\nWhile Sri Kr�!la was thinking like this, Salva brought before Him in\n\ncustody a man exactly resembling Vasudeva, His father. These were all\ncreations of the mystic power of Salva.\n\nSalva began to address Kr�!la, \"You rascal, Kr�!la! Look. This is Your\n\nfather who has begotten You and by whose mercy You are still living.\n\nNow just see how I kill Your father. If You have any strength, try to save\n\nhim.\" The mystic juggler, Salva, speaking in this way before Lord Kr�!la,\n\nimmediately cut off the head of the false Vasudeva. Without hesitation\n\nhe took away the dead body and got into his airplane. Lord Kr�!la is the\nself-sufficient Supreme Personality of Godhead, yet because He was playing\n\nthe role of a human being, He became very depressed for a moment, as if\nHe had actually lost His father. But at the next moment He.could under­\n\nstand that the arrest and killing of His father were demonstrations of the\n\nmystic powers which Salva had learned from the demon Maya. Coming to\n\nHis right consciousness, He could see that there was no messenger and no\nhead of His father, but that only Salva had left in his airplane, which was\nflying in the sky. He then began to think of slaying Salva.\n\nKr�!la's reaction is a controversial point among great authorities and\n\nsaintly persons. How could Kr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\n\nthe reservoir of all power and knowledge, be bewildered in such a way?\n\nLamentation, aggrievement and bewilderment are characteristics of persons\n\nwho are conditioned souls, but how can such things affect the person of\n\nthe Supreme, who is full of knowledge, power and all opulence? Actually,\n\nit is not at all possible that Lord Kr�!la was misled by the mystic jugglery\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0197": "160\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nof Salva. He was displaying His pastime. in playing the role of a human\nbeing. Great saintly persons and sages who are engaged in the devotional\n\nservice of the lotus feet of Lord Kr�:pa and who have thus achieved the\n\ngreatest perfection of self-realization have transcended the bewilderments\nof the bodily concept of life. Lord Kr�:pa is the ultimate goal of life for\n\nsuch saintly persons. How then could Kr��a have been bewildered by the\n\nmystic jugglery of Salva? The conclusion is that Lord Kr�:pa's bewilderment\n\nwas another opulence of His supreme personality.\n\nWhen Salva thought that Kr�:pa had been bewildered by his mystic\n\nrepresentations, he became encouraged and began to attack the Lord with\ngreater strength and energy by showering volumes of arrows upon Him.\n\nBut the enthusiasm of Salva can be compared to the speedy march of flies\n\ninto a fire. Lord Kr�:pa, by hurling His arrows with unfathomable strength,\n\ninjured Salva, whose armor, bow and jewelled helmet all scattered into\npieces. With a crashing blow from Kr�:pa's club, Salva's wonderful airplane\n\nburst into pieces and fell into the sea. Salva was very careful, and instead\n\nof crashing with the airplane, he managed to jump onto the land. He again\n\nrushed towards Lord Kr��a. When Salva ran swiftly to attack Kr�:pa with\n\nHis club, Lord Kr�:pa cut off his hand, which fell to the ground with the\n\nclub. Finally deciding to kill him, the Lord took up His wonderful disc,\n\nwhich was shining like the brilliant sun at the time of the dissolution of the\nmaterial creation. When Lord Sri Kr�:pa stood up with His disc to kill\n\nSalva, He appeared just like the red sun rising over a mountain. Lord Krwa\n\nthen cut off his head, and the head, with its earrings and helmet, fell on\n\nthe ground. Salva was thus killed in the same way as V rtrasura was killed\nby Indra, the King of heaven.\n\nWhen Salva was killed, all his soldiers and followers began to cry, \"Alas!\n\nAlas!\" While Salva's men were thus crying, the demigods from the heavenly\n\nplanets showered flowers on Kr�:pa and announced the victory by beating\n\non drums and blowing bugles. At this very moment, other friends of\nSisupala, such as Dantavakra, appeared on the scene to fight with Kr�:pa\n\nin order to avenge the death of Sisupala. When Dantavakra appeared\n\nbefore Lord Kr§�a, he was extremely angry.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta· purport of the Second Volume, Twentysecond Chapter, of Kr��a, \"The Deliverance of Siilva.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0198": "23 I The Killing of Dantavakra,\nVidiiratha and Romaharsana\n•\n\n•\n\nAfter the demise of Sisupala, Salva and Pau!J.9ra, another foolish de­\n\nmoniac king of the name Dantavakra wanted to kill Kr�!la in order to\n\navenge the death of his friend Salva. He became so agitated that he\npersonally appeared on the battlefield without the proper arms and\n\nammunition and without even a chariot. His only weapon was his great\n\nanger, which was red-hot. He carried only a club in his hand, but he was\nso powerful that when he moved, everyone felt the earth trem.ble. When\n\nLord Kr�!la saw him approaching in a very heroic mood, He imme­\n\ndiately got down from His chariot, for it was a rule of military etiquette\n\nthat fighting should take place only between equals. Knowing that\n\nDantavakra was alone and armed with only a club, Lord Krwa responded\n\nsimilarly and prepared Himself by taking His club in His hand. When\nKr�!la appeared before him, Dantavakra's heroic march was immediately\n\nstopped just as the great, furious waves of the ocean are stopped by the\n\nbeach.\n\nAt that time, Dantavakra, who was the King of KanJ.�a, stood up firmly\n\nwith his club and spoke to Lord K(�!la as follows: \"It is a great pleasure\nand fortunate opportunity, Kr�!J.a, that we are facing each other eye to\neye. My dear Kr�!J.a, after all, You are my eternal cousin, and I should not\n\nkill You in this way, but unfortunately You have commited a great mistake\nby killing my friend Salva. Moreover, You are not satisfied by killing my\nfriend, but I know that You want to kill me also. Because of Your deter­\n\nmination, I must kill You by tearing You into pieces with my club. Kr�tta,\n\nalthough You are my relative, You are foolish. You are our greatest\n\nenemy, so I must kill You today just as a person removes a boil on his\n\nbody by a surgical operation. I am always very much obliged to my friends,\n\nand I therefore consider myself indebted to my dear friend Salva. I can\nonly liquidate my indebtedness to him by killing You.\"\n161\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0199": "162\n\nKr�pa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nAs the caretaker of an elephant tries to control the animal by striking it\n\nwith his trident, so Dantavakra tried to control Kf§pa simply by speaking\nstrong words. After finishing his vituperation, he struck Kr§!la on the head\n\nwith his club and made a roaring sound like a lion. Although struck\n\nstrongly by the club of Dantavakra, Kr§!la did not move even an inch, nor\ndid He feel any pain. Taking His Kaumodaki club and moving very skill­\n\nfully, Kf§!la struck the chest of Dantavakra so fiercely that the heart of\nDantavakra split in twain. As a result, Dantavakra began to vomit blood,\n\nhis hairs became scattered, and he fell to the ground, spreading his hands\n\nand legs. Within only a few minutes all that remained of Dantavakra was a\n\ndead body on the ground. After the death of Dantavakra, just as at the\ntime of Sisupala's death, in the presence of all persons standing there, a\n\nsmall particle of spiritual effulgence came out of the demon's body and\nvery wonderfully merged into the body of Lord Kr§!la.\n\nDantavakra had a brother named Vidiiratha who became overwhelmed\n\nwith grief at the death of Dantavakra. Out of grief and anger, Vidiiratha was\n\nbreathing very heavily, and just to avenge the death of his brother he also\n\nappeared before Lord Kf§!la with a sword and a shield in his hands. He\n\nwanted to kill Kr§!la immediately. When Lord Krwa understood that Vidii­\n\nratha was looking for the opportunity to strike I im with his sword, He\nemployed His Sudarsana cakra, His disc, which was as sharp as a razor, and\n\nwithout delay he cut off the head of Vidiiratha, with its helmet and earrings.\n\nIn this way, after killing Salva and destroying his wonderful airplane and\n\nthen killing Dantavakra and Vidiiratha, Lprd Kr§!la at last entered His city,\n\nDvaraka. It would not have been possible '.for anyone but Kr§!la to kill these\ngreat heroes, and therefore all the demigods from heaven and the human\n\nbeings on the surface of the globe were glorifying Him. Great sages and\n\nascetics, the denizens of the Siddha and Gandharva planets, the denizens\nknown as Vidyadharas, Vasuki and the Mahanagas, the beautiful angels,\n\nthe inhabitants of Pitrloka, the Y aksas, the Kinnaras and the Caranas all\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\nbegan to shower flowers upon Him and sing the songs of His victory in\n\ngreat jubilation. Decorating the entire city very festively, the citizens of\nDvaraka held a great celebration, and when Lord Kr§!la passed through\n\nthe city all the members of the Vf§!li dynasty and the heroes of the Y adu\n\ndynasty followed Him with great respect. These are some of the transcendental pastimes of Lord Kr§tta, who is the master of all mystic power and\n\nthe Lord of all cosmic manifestations. Those who are fools, who are like\n\nanimals, sometimes think that Kr§!la is defeated, but factually He is the\n\nSupreme Personality of Godhead, and no one can defeat Him. He always\nremains victorious over everyone. He is the only one God, and all others\n\nare His subservient order carriers.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0200": "The Killing of Dantavakra, Vidiiratha and Romahar��a\n\n163\n\nOnce upon a time, Lord Balarama heard that there was an arrangement\nbeing made for a fight between the two rival parties in the Kuru dynasty,\none headed by Duryodhana and the other by the Pa�c).avas. He did not\nlike the idea that He was to be only a mediator to stop the fighting. Finding\nit unbearable not to take an active part on behalf of either of the parties,\nHe left Dvaraka on the plea of visiting various holy places of pilgrimage.\nHe first of all visited the place of pilgrimage known as Prabhasak�etra. He\ntook His bath there, and He pacified the local briihmar-as and offered oblations to the demigods, pitas, great sages and people in general, in accordance with Vedic ritualistic ceremonies. That is the Vedic method of\nvisiting holy places. After this, accompanied by some respectable briihmar-as, He decided to visit different places on the bank of the River\nSarasvati.\n\nHe\n\ngradually visited such places as P�thiidaka, Bindusara,\n\nTritakiipa, Sudarsanatirtha, Visalatirtha, Brahmatirtha and Cakratirtha.\nBesides these, He also visited all the holy places on the bank of Sarasvati\nRiver running toward the east. After this He visited all the principal holy\nplaces on the bank of the Yamuna and on the bank of the Ganges. Thus\nHe gradually came to the holy place known as Naimi�ara�ya.\nThis holy place, Naimi�ara�ya, is still existing in India, and in ancient\ntimes it was especially used for the meetings of great sages and saintly\npersons with the aim of understanding spiritual life and self-realization.\nWhen Lord Balarama visited that place there was a great sacrifice being\nperformed by a great assembly of transcendentalists. Such meetings were\nplanned to last thousands of ye�us. When Lord Balarama arrived, all the\n\nparticipants of the meeting-great sages, ascetics, briihmar-as and learned\nscholars-immediately arose from their seats and welcomed Him with\n\ngreat honor and respect. Some offered Him respectful obeisances, and\nthose who were elderly great sages and briihmar-as offered Him blessings\nby standing up. After this formality, Lord Balarama was offered a suitable\nseat, and everyone present worshiped Him. Everyone in the assembly stood\nup in the presence of Balarama because they knew Him to be the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead. Education or learning means to understand the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead; therefore, although Lord Balarama\nappeared on the earth as a k§atriya, all the briihmar-as and sages stood up\nbecause they knew who Lord Balarama was.\nUnfortunately, after being worshiped and seated at His place, Lord\nBalarama saw Romahar�a�a, the disciple of Vyasadeva (the literary incarnation of Godhead), still sitting on the Vyasasana. He had neither gotten\nup from his seat nor offered Him respects. Because he was seated on the\nVyasasana, he foolishly thought himself greater than the Lord; therefore\nhe did not get down from his seat or bow down before the Lord. Lord\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0201": "164\n\nKr�!ia, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nBalarama then considered the history of Romahar§a!la: he was born in a\n\nsuta family or a mixed family, born of a briihmar-a woman and k§atriya\nman. Therefore although Romahar§a!la considered Balarama a k§atriya,\nhe should not have remained sitting on a higher seat. Lord Balarama\nconsidered that Romahar§ap.a, according to his position by birth, should\nnot have accepted the higher sitting position, because there were many\n\nlearned briihmar-as and sages present. He also observed that Romahar§ap.a\nnot only did not come down from his exalted seat, but he did not even\n\nstand up and offer his respects when Balaramaji entered the assembly.\nLord Baladima did not like the audacity of Romahar§ap.a, and he became\nvery angry with him.\nWhen a person is seated on the Vyasasana, he does not generally have to\nstand up to receive a particular person entering the assembly, but in this\ncase the situation was different because Lord Baladeva is not an ordinary\nhuman being. Therefore, although Romahar§ap.a Siita was voted to the\n\nVyasasana by all the briihmar-as, he should have followed the behavior of\n\nother learned sages and briihmar-as who were present and should have\nknown that Lord Balarama is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\nRespects are always due to Him, even though such respects can be avoided\nin the case of an ordinary man. The appearances of Kr§p.a and Balarama\nare especially meant for reestablishment of the religious principles. As\n\nstated in the Bhagavad-gitii, the highest religious principle is to surrender\nunto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is also confirmed in the\n\nSrimad-Bhagavatam that the topmost perfection of religiousness is to be\nengaged in the devotional service of the Lord.\nWhen Lord Balarama saw that Romahar§a!la Siita did not understand\nthe highest principle of religiousness in spite of having studied all the\n\nVedas, He certainly could not support his position. Romahar§a!la Siita had\n\nbeen given a chance to become a perfect briihmar-a, but because of his ill\n\nbehavior in his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his\nlow birth was immediately remembered. Romahar§a!la Siita had been\ngiven the position of a briihmar-a, but he had not been born in the family\n\nof a briihmar-a; he had been born in a pratiloma family. According to the\nVedic concept, there are two kinds of mixed family heritage. They are\n\ncalled anuloma and pratiloma. When a male is united with a female of a\n\nlower caste, the offspring is called anuloma; but when a male unites with\n\na woman of a higher caste, the offspring is called pratiloma. Romahar§ap.a\nSiita belonged to the pratiloma family because his father was a k§atriya\n\nand his\n\nmother a\n\nbriihmar-a.\n\nBecause Romahar§ap.a's transcendental\n\nrealization was not perfect, Lord Balarama remembered his pratiloma\n\nheritage. The idea is that any man can be given the chance to become a\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0202": "The Killing of Dantavakra, Vidiiratha and Romahar�a!la\n\n165\n\nbriihmar-a, but if he improperly uses the position of a briihmar-a without\nactual realization, then his elevation to the brahminical position is not\nvalid.\nAfter seeing the deficiency of realization in Romahar�av.a Siita, Lord\nBalarama decided to chastise him for being puffed up. Lord Balarama.\ntherefore said, \"This man is liable to be awarded the death punishment\nbecause, although he has the good qualification of being a disciple of\nLord Vyasadeva and although he has studied all the Vedic literature from\nthis exalted personality, he was not submissive in the presence of the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead.\" As stated in the Bhagavad-gitii, a person\n\nwho is actually a briihmar-a and is very learned must automatically become\nvery gentle also. In the case of Romahar�av.a Siita, although he was very\n\nlearned and had been given the chance to become a briihmar-a, he had not\n\nbecome gentle. From this we can understand that when one is puffed up\nby material acquisition, he cannot acquire the gentle behavior befitting a\n\nbriihmar-a. The learning of such a person is as good as a valuable jewel\ndecorating the hood of a serpent. Despite the valuable jewel on the hood,\na serpent is still a serpent and is as fearful as an ordinary serpent. If a\n\nperson does not become meek and humble, all his studies of the Vedas\n\nand Puriir-as and his vast knowledge in the siistras become simply outward\n\ndress, like the costume of a theatrical artist dancing on the stage. Lord\nBalarama began to consider thus: \"I have appeared in order to chastise\nfalse persons who are internally impure but externally pose themselves to\nbe very learned and religious. My killing of such persons is proper to check\nthem from further sinful activity.\"\nLord Balarama had avoided taking part in the Battle of Kuruk�etra,\nand yet because of His position, the reestablishment of religious principles\nwas his prime duty. Considering these points, He killed Romahar�a!la\nSiita simply by striking him with a kusa straw, which was nothing but a\nblade of grass. If someone questions how Lord Balarama could kill.\nRomahar�a!la Siita sim p ly by striking him with a blade of kusa grass, the\nanswer is given in the Srimad-Bhiigavatam by the use of the word prabhu\n\n(master). The Lord's position is always transcendental, and because He is\nomnipotent He can act as He likes without being obliged to the material\nlaws and principles. Thus it was possible for Him to kill Romahar�a!la Siita\nsimply by striking him with a blade of kusa grass.\n\nAt the death of Romahar�av.a Siita, everyone present became much\n\naggrieved, and there was roaring and crying. Although all the briihmar-as\nand sages present there knew Lord Balarama to be the Supreme Person­\n\nality of Godhead, they did not hesitate to protest the Lord's action, and\nthey humbly submitted, \"Our dear Lord, we think that Your action is not\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0203": "L\n\n166\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nin line with the religious principles. Dear Lord Yadunandana, we may\n\ninform You that we briihmar-as posted Romahar�a�a Siita on that exalted\nposition for the duration of this great sacrifice. He was seated on the\n\nVyasasana by our election, and when one is seated on the Vyasasana, it is\n\nimproper for him to stand up to receive a person. Moreover, we awarded\nRomahar�a�a Siita an undisturbed duration of life. Under the circumstances, since Your Lordship has killed him without knowing all these\nfacts, we think that Your action has been equal to that of killing a briih­\n\nmar-a. Dear Lo�d, deliverer of all fallen souls, we know certainly that You\nare the knower of all Vedic principles. You are the master of all mystic\n\npowers; therefore ordinarily the Vedic injunctions cannot be applied to\nYour personality. But we request that You show Your causeless mercy\n\nupon others by kindly atoning for this killing of Romahar�a�a Siita. We\ndo not, however, suggest what kind of act You should perform to atone\nfor killing him; we simply suggest that some method of atonement be\nadopted by You so that others may follow Your action. What is done by\n\na great personality is followed by the ordinary man.\"\n\nThe Lord replied, \"Yes, I must atone for tl;tis action, which may have\n\nbeen proper for Me, but is improper for others; therefore, I think it is My\nduty to execute a suitable act of atonement enjoined in the authorized\n\nscriptures. Simultaneously I can also give this Romahar§a�a Siita life\nagain, with a span of long duration, sufficient strength, and full power\n\nof the senses. Not only this, if you desire, I shall be glad to award\n\nhim anything else which you may ask. I shall be very glad to grant all\n\nthese boons in order to fulfill your desires.\"\n\nThis statement of Lord Balarama definitely confirms that the Supreme\n\nPersonality of Godhead is free to act in any way. Although it may be\nconsidered that His killing of Romahar�atta Siita was improper, He could\nimmediately counteract the action with- greater profit to all. Therefore,\n\none should not imitate the actions of the Supreme Personality of God­\n\nhead; one should simply follow the instructions of the Lord. All the great\n\nlearned sages present realized that although they considered the action of\nLord Balarama to be improper, the Lord was able to immediately compen­\n\nsate with greater profits. Not wanting to detract from the mission of the\nLord in killing Romahar§atta Siita, all of them prayed, \"Our dear Lord, the\n\nuncommon use of Your kusa weapon to kill Romahar�atta Siita may remain\nas it is; because of Your' desire to kil! him, he should not be brought to\nlife again. At the same time Your Lordship may remember that we sages\nand briihmar-as voluntarily gave him long life; therefore, such a benediction\nshould not be nullified.\" Thus the request of all the learned briihmar-as in\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0204": "The Killing of Dantavakra, Vidiiratha and Romahar�a!la\n\n167\n\nthe assembly was ambiguous because they wanted to keep intact the\nbenediction given by them that Romahar�a�a Siita would continue to\nlive until the end of the great sacrifice, but at the same time they did not\nwant to nullify Balarama's killing him..\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead therefore solved the problem in a·\nmanner befitting His exalted position, and said, \"Because the son is produced from the body of the father, it is the inj unction of the Vedas that\nthe son is the father's representative. Therefore I say that Ugrasrava Siita,\nthe son of Romahar�a!la Siita, should henceforth take his father's position\nand continue the discourses on the Puriirws, and because you wanted\nRomahar�a!la to have a long duration of life, this benediction will be\ntransferred to his son. The son, Ugrasrava, will therefore have all the\nfacilities you offered-long duration of life in a good and healthy body,\nwithout any disturbances and full strength of all the senses.\nLord Balarama then implored all the sages and briihma!las that aside\nfrom the benediction offered to the son of Romahar�a!la, they should\nask from Him any other benediction, and He would be prepared to fulfill\nit immediately. The Lord thus placed Himself in the position of an ordinary k§atriya and informed the sages that He did not know in what way\nHe could atone for His killing of Romahar�a�a, but whatever they would\nsuggest He would be glad to accept.\nThe briihma!las could understand the purpose of the Lord, and thus,\nthey suggested that 1-le atone for His action in a manner which would be\nbeneficial for them. They said, \"Our dear Lord, there is a demon of the\nname Balvala. He is the son of Ilvala, but he is a very powerful demon, and\nhe visits this sacred place of sacrifice every fortnight on the full moon\nand moonless days and creates a great disturbance to the discharge of our\nduties in the sacrifice. 0 descendant of the Dasarha family, we all request\nYou to kill this demon. We think that if You kindly kill him, that will be\nYour atonement on our behalf. The demon occasionally comes here and\nprofusely throws upon us contaminated, impure things like puss, blood,\nstool, urine and wine, and he pollutes this sacred place by showering such\nfilth upon us. After killing Balvala, You may continue touring all these\nsacred places of pilgrimage for twelve months, and in that way You will\nbe completely freed from all contamination. That is our prescription.\"\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Twentythird\n\nChapter,\n\nf Kr��a,\n\no\n\n\"The Killing\n\nf Dantavakra,\n\no\n\nVidfiratha and\n\nRomahar§a!la.\"\n\nI\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0205": "24 I The Liberation of Balvala, and Lord\nBalarama's Touring the Sacred Places\nLord Balarama prepared Himself to meet the demon Balvala. At the\ntime when the demon usually attacked the sacred place, there appeared\na great hailstorm, the whole sky became covered with dust and the atmosphere became surcharged with a filthy smell. Just after this, the mischievous\ndemon Balvala began to shower torrents of stool and urine and other\nimpure substances on the arena of sacrifice. After this onslaught, the demon\nhimself appeared with a great trident in his hand. He was a gigantic person,\nand his black body was like a huge mass of carbon. His hair, his beard and\nhis moustache appeared reddish, like copper, and because of his great beard\nand moustache, his mouth appeared to be very dangerous and fierce.\nAs soon as He saw the demon, Lord Balarama prepared to attack him.\nHe first began to consider how He could smash the great demon to pieces.\nLord Balarama called for His plow and club, and they immediately\nappeared before Him. The demon Balvala was flying in the sky, and at the\nfirst opportunity Lord Balarama dragged him down with His plow and\nangrily smashed the demon's head with His �lub. By Balarama's striking,\nthe forehead of the demon became fractured. There was a profuse flow of\nblood from his forehead, and he began to scream loudly. In this way the\ndemon, who had been such a great disturbance to the pious briihmapas, fell\nto the ground. His falling was like a great mountain with a red oxide peak\nbeing struck by a thunderbolt and smashed to the ground.\nThe inhabitants of Naimi§ara!lya, learned sages and briihmarws, became\nmost pleased by seeing this, and they offered their respectful prayers to\nLord Balarama. They offered their heartfelt blessings upon the Lord, and\nall agreed that Lord Balarama's attempt to do anything would never be\na failure. The sages and briihmaT)aS then performed a ceremonial bathing\nof Lord Balara.ma, just as King Indra is bathed by the demigods when he\nis victorious over the demons. The briihmal)aS and sages honored Lord\n\n168\n\nJ\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0206": "Lord Balarama's Touring the Sacred Places\n\n169\n\nBalarama by presenting Him first-class new clothing and ornaments and\n\nthe lotus flower garland of victory, the reservoir of all beauty, which was\n\nnever to be dried up, being in everlasting existence.\n\nAfter this incidence, Lord Balarama took permission from the briihmap,as\n\nassembled at Naimi�aragya and, accompanied by other briihmartas, went\n\nto the bank of the River Kau�iki. After taking His bath in this holy place,\nHe proceeded toward the River Sarayu and visited the source of the river.\n\nHe began to travel on the bank of the Sarayu River, and He gradually\n\nreached Prayaga, where there is a confluence of three rivers, the Ganges,\n\nYamuna and Sarasvati. Here also He regularly took His bath, worshiped the\n\nlocal temples of God and, as it is enjoined in the Vedic literature, offered\noblations to the forefathers and sages. He gradually reached the iisrama of\nthe sage Pulaha and from there went to Gag�aki on the River Gomati\n\nAfter this He took His bath in the River Vipasa. Then gradually He came to\n\nthe bank of the Soga River. (The Soga River is still running as one of the\n\nbig rivers in the Behar Province.) He also took His bath there and\n\nperformed the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies. He continued His travels and\ngradually came to the pilgrimage city of Gaya where there is a celebrated\n\nVi�gu temple. According to the advice of His father Vasudeva, He offered\n\noblations to the forefathers in this Vi�gu temple. From here He traveled to\nthe delta of the Ganges, where the sacred River Ganges mixes with the Bay\n\nof Bengal. This sacred place is called Gangasagara, and at the end of\n\nJanuary every year there is still a great assembly of saintly persons and\n\npious men, just as there is an assembly of saintly persons in Prayaga every\n\nyear which is called the Magh Mela Fair.\n\nAfter finishing His bathing and ritualistic ceremonies at Gangasagara,\n\nLord Balarama proceeded toward the mountain known as Mahendra\n\nParvata. At this place He met Parasurama, the incarnation of Lord Kr�ga,\n\nand He offered him respect by bowing down before him. After this He\n\ngradually turned toward southern India and visited the banks of the River\n\nGodavari. After taking His bath in the River Godavari and performing the\n\nnecessary ritualistic ceremonies, He gradually visited the other rivers-the\n\nVega, Pampa and Bhimarathi. On the bank of the River Bhimarathi there\n\nis the deity called Svami Karttikeya. After visiting Karttikeya Lord\nBalarama gradually proceeded to Sailapura, a pilgrimage city in the prov­\n\nince of Mahara�tra. Sailapura is one of the biggest districts in Mahara�tra\n\nProvince. He then gradually proceeded towards the Dravi�adesa. Southern\n\nIndia is divided into five parts, called Paficadravi�a.\n\nNorthern India\n\nis also divided into five parts, called Paficagaura. All the important\n\niiciiryas\n\nof\n\nthe\n\nmodern\n\nage,\n\nnamely\n\nSankaracarya,\n\nRamanujacarya,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0207": "170\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nMadhvacarya, V.i��usvami, and Nimbarka, advented themselves in these\n\nDravi�a Provinces. Lord Caitanya appeared in Bengal, which is part of the\n\nfive Gauradesas.\n\nThe most important place of pilgrimage in southern India, or Dravi�a, is\n\nVenkatacala, commonly known as Balaji. After visiting this place Lord\n\nBalarama proceeded toward Vi§�ukafici, and from there He proceeded on\n\nthe bank of the Kaveri. He took His bath in the River Kaveri; then He\n\ngradually reached Rangak§etra. The biggest temple in the world is in\n\nRangak�etra, and the Vi�!lu deity there is celebrated as Ranganatha. A\n\nsimilar temple of Ranganatha is in Vrndavana, although it is not as big as\nthe temple in Rangak�etra.\n\n·\n\nWhile going to Vi§!lukafici, Lord Balarama also visited Sivakafici. After\n\nvisiting Rangak§etra, He gradually proceeded toward Mathura, commonly\n\nknown as the Mathura of southern India. After visiting this place, He\n\ngradually proceeded toward Setubandha. Setubandha is the place where\n\nLord Ramacandra constructed the stone bridge from India to Lanka\n\n(Ceylon). In this particularly holy place, Lord Balarama distributed ten\nthousand cows to the local bnihmarw priests. It is the Vedic custom that\n\nwhen a rich visitor goes to any place of pilgrimage he gives in charity to\n\nthe local priests gifts of horses, cows, ornaments and garments. This system\n\nof visiting places of pilgrimage and providing the local briihma[La priests\nwith all necessities of life has greatly deteriorated in this age of Kali. The\n\nricher section of the population, because of its degradation in Vedic\n\nculture, is no longer attracted by these places of pilgrimage, and the\n\nbriihma[La priests who depended on such visitors have also deteriorated in\n\ntheir professional duty of helping the visitors. These briihma[La priests in\n\nthe places of pilgrimage are called pa[Lf}a or pa[Lf}it. This means that they\n\nformerly were very learned briihma[LaS and used to guide the visitors in all\ndetails·of the purpose of coming there, and thus both the visitors and the\n\npriests were benefitted by mutual cooperation.\n\nIt is clear from the description of Srimad-Bhiigavatam that when Lord\n\nBalarama was visiting the different places of pilgrimage, He properly\n\nfollowed the Vedic system. Mter distributing cows at Setubandha, Lord\n\nBalarama proceeded toward the Krtamala and Tamrapar!li Rivers. These\n\ntwo rivers are celebrated as sacred, and Lord Balarama bathed in both. He\n\nthen proceeded toward Malaya Hill. This Malaya Hill is very great, and it is\n\nsaid that it is one of seven peaks called the Malaya Hills. The great sage\n·\nAgastya used to live there, and Lord Balarama visited him and offered His\nrespects by bowing down before him. After taking the sage's blessings,\n\nLord Balarama, with the sage's permission, proceeded toward the Indian\n\nOcean.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0208": "Lord Balarama's Touring the Sacred Places\n\n171\n\nAt the point of the cape there is a big temple of the goddess Durga\n\nwhere she is known as Kanyakumari. This temple of Kanyakumari was\n\nalso visited by Lord Ramacandra, and therefore it is to be understood\n\nthat the temple has been existing for millions of years. From there, Lord\nBalarama went on to visit the pilgrimage city known as Phalgunatirtha,\n\nwhich is on the shore of the Indian Ocean, or the Southern Ocean.\n\nPhalgunatirtha is celebrated because Lord Vi§�U in His incarnation of\n\nAnanta is lying there. From Phalgunatirtha, Lord Balarama went on to\n\nvisit another pilgrimage spot known as Paficapsarasa. There also He bathed\n\naccording to the regulative principles and observed the ritualistic cere­\n\nmonies. This site is also celebrated as a shrine of Lord Vi§�U; therefore\nLord Balarama distributed ten thousand cows to the local bruhmal}a priests.\n\nFrom Cape Comarin Lord Balarama turned toward Kerala. The country\n\nof Kerala is still existing in southern India under the name of South Kerala.\n\nAfter visiting this place, He came to Gokar�atirtha, where Lord Siva is\n\nconstantly worshiped. Balarama then visited the temple of Aryadevi,\n\nwhich is completely surrounded by water. From that island, He went on to\n\na place known as Siirparaka. After this He bathed in the rivers known as\n\nTapi, Payo§�i, and Nirvindhya, and He came to the forest known as\nDa��akara�ya. This is the same Dat�-�akarat�-ya Forest where Lord Rama­\n\ncandra lived while He was in exile. Lord Balarama next came to the bank\n\nof the River Narmada, the biggest river in central India. On the bank of\n\nthis sacred Narmada there is a pilgrimage spot known as Mahi§mati Puri.\n\nAfter bathing there, according to regulative principles, Lord Balarama\nreturned to Prabhasatirtha, wherefrom He had begun His journey.\n\nWhen Lord Balarama returned to Prabhasatirtha He heard from the\n\nbrahmal}as that most of the k§atriyas in the Battle of Kuruk§etra had been\n\nkilled. Balarama felt relieved to hear that the burden of the world had been\n\nreduced. Lord Kf§t�-a and Balarama appeared on this earth to lessen the\n\nburden of military strength created by the ambitious k§atriya kings. This\nis the way of materialistic life: not being satisfied by the absolute\n\nnecessities of lif�, people ambitiously create extra demands, and their\nillegal desires are checked by the laws of nature or by laws of God,\n\nappearing as famine, war, pestilence and similar catastrophes. Lord Balarama\nheard that although most of the k§atriyas had been killed, the Kurus were\n\nstill engaged in fighting. Therefore He returned to the battlefield just\n\non the day Bhimasena and Duryodhana were engaged in a personal duel\n\nAs well-wisher of both of them, Lord Balarama wanted to stop them, but\n\nthey would not stop.\n\nWhen Lord Balarama appeared on the scene, King Yudhi§thira and his\n\nyoung brothers, N akula, Sahadeva, Lord Kr§�a and Aijuna, immediately\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0209": "172\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\noffered Him their respectful obeisances, but they did not speak at all. The\nreason they were silent was that Lord Balarama was somewhat affectionate\ntoward Duryodhana, and Duryodhana had learned from Balaramaji the art\nof fighting with a club. Thus, when the fighting was going on, King\nYudhiHhira and others thought that Balarama might come there to say\nsomething in favor of Duryodhana, and they therefore remained silent.\nBoth Duryodhana and Bhimasena were very enthusiastic in fighting with\nclubs, and in the midst of large audiences, each was very skillfully trying\nto strike the other, and while attempting to do so they appeared to be\ndancing. But although they appeared to be dancing, it was clear that both\nof them were very angry.\nLord Balarama, wanting to stop the fighting, said, \"My dear King\nDuryodhana and Bhimasena, 1 know that both of you are great fighters\nand are well known in the world as great heroes, but still I think that\nBhimasena is superior to Duryodhana in bodily strength. On the other\nhand, Duryodhana is superior in the art of fighting with a club. Taking this\ninto consideration, My opinion is that neither of you is inferior to the\nother in fighting. Under the circumstances, there is very little chance of\none of you being defeated by the other. Therefore I request you not to\nwaste your time in fighting in this way. I wish you to stop this unnecessary\nfight.\"\nThe good instruction given by Lord Balarama to both Bhimasena and\nDuryodhana was intended for the equal benefit of both of them. But they\nwere so enwrapped in anger against each other that they could only\nremember their long-lasting personal enmity. Each thought only of killing\nthe other, and they did not give much importance to the instruction of\nLord Balarama. Both of them then became like madmen in remembering\nthe strong accusations and ill behavior they had exchanged with one\nanother. Lord Balarama, being able to understand the destiny which was\nawaiting them, was not eager to go further in the matter. Therefore, instead\nof staying, He decided to return to the city of Dvaraka.\nWhen He returned to Dvaraka, He was received with great jubilation by\nrelatives and friends, headed by King Ugrasena and other elderly persons;\nall of them came forward to welcome Lord Balarama. After this, He again\nwent to the holy place of pilgrimage at Naimi�ara�ya, and the sages,\nsaintly persons and briihmaras all received Him standing. They understood\nthat Lord Balarama, although a k§atriya, was now retired from the fighting\nbusiness. The briihmanas and the sages, who were always for peace and\ntranquility, were very pleased at this. All of them embraced Balarama with\ngreat affection and induced Him to perform various kinds of sacrifices in\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0210": "Lord Balarama's Touring the Sacred Places\n\n173\n\nthat sacred spot of Naimi§iira�ya. Actually Lord Balarama had no business\nperforming the sacrifices recommended for ordinary human beings; He is\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore He Himself is the\nenjoyer of all such sacrifices. As such, His exemplary action in performing\nsacrifices was only to give a lesson to the common man to show how one\nshould abide by the injunction of the Vedas.\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead Balarama instructed the sages and\nsaintly persons at Naimi§iiranya on the subject matter of the living entities'\nrelationship with this cosmic manifestation, on how one should accept this\nwhole universe and on how one should relate with the cosmos in order to\nachieve the highest goal of perfection, the understanding that the whole\ncosmic manifestation is resting on the Supreme Personality of Godhead\nand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is also all-pervading, even\nwithin the minutest atom, by the function of His Paramatma feature.\nLord Balarama then took the avabhrtha bath which is accepted after\nfinishing sacrificial performances. After taking His bath, He dressed Himself\nin new silken garments and decorated Himself with beautiful jewelry\namidst His relatives and friends. He appeared to be a shining full moon\namidst the luminaries in the sky. Lord Balarama is the Personality of\nGodhead Ananta Himself; therefore He is beyond the scope of understanding by mind, intelligence or body. He descended exactly like a human\nbeing and behaved in that way for His own purpose; we can only explain\nHis activities as the Lord's pastimes. No one can even estimate the extent\nof the unlimited demonstrations of His pastimes because He is allpowerful. Lord Balarama is the original Vi§�U; therefore anyone remembering these pastimes of Lord Balarama in the morning and evening, will\ncertainly become a great devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\nand thus his life will become successful in all respects.\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Twentyfourth Chapter, of Krwa, \"The Liberation of Balvala, and Lord Balariim a 's\nTouring Sacred Places.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0211": "25 I Meeting of Lord Kr��a\nwith Sudama Brahmana\n•\n\nKing Parik�it was hearing the narrations of the pastimes of Lord Kr�!la\n\nand Lord Balarama from Sukadeva Gosvami These pastimes are all tran­\n\nscendentally pleasurable to hear, and Maharaja Parik�it addressed Sukadeva\n\nGosvami as follows: \"My dear Lord, the Supreme Personality ofGodhead\n\nKr�!la is the bestower of both liberation and love ofGod simultaneously.\nAnyone who becomes a devotee of the Lord automatically attains libera­\n\ntion without having to make a separate attempt. The Lord is unlimited,\n\nand as such, His pastimes and activities for creating, maintaining and\n\ndestroying the whole cosmic manifestation are unlimited. I therefore wish\nto hear about His other pastimes of which you may not have spoken as\n\nyet. My dear master, the conditioned souls within this material world have\nbeen frustrated by searching out the pleasure of happiness derived from\nsense gratification. Such desires for material enjoyment are always piercing\n\nthe heart of conditioned souls. But I am actually experiencing how the\ntranscendental topics of Lord Kr�!la's pastimes can relieve one from the\n\nstate of being affected by such sense gratificatory material activities. I\n\nthink that no intelligent person can reject this method of hearing the\ntranscendental pastimes of the Lord again and again; simply by hearing,\n\none can remain always steeped in transcendental pleasure. Thus one will\nnot be attracted by material sense gratification.\"\n\nIn this statement, Maharaja Parik�it has used two important words:\n\nvi§arz-rw� and vise§ajiia�: vi§arz,rz,a�\n\nmeans \"morose.\" The materialistic\n\npersons are inventing many ways and means to become fully satisfied, but\nactually they remain morose. The point may be raised that sometimes\n\nthose who are transcendentalists also remain morose. Parik�it Maharaja has\nused, however, the word vise§ajiia�. There are two kinds of transcenden­\n\ntalists, namely the impersonalists and the personalists. Vise§ajiia� refers to\n\nthe personalists, who are interested in transcendental variegatedness. The\n174\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0212": "Meeting of Lord Kr��a with Sudama Brahma�a\n\n175\n\ndevotees become jubilant by hearing the descriptions of the personal\nactivities of the Supreme Lord, whereas the impersonalists, who are actually more attracted by the impersonal feature of the Lord, are only\nsuperficially attracted by the personal activities of the Lord. As such, in\nspite of coming in contact with the pastimes of the Lord, the impersonalists do not fully realize the benefit to be derived, and thus they remain\nin exactly the same morose position, due to fruitive activity, with the\nmaterialists.\nKing Parik�it continued: \"The capacity for talking can be perfected only\nby describing the transcendental qualities of the Lord. The capacity for\nworking with one's hands can be successful only when one engages him'self\nin the service of the Lord with those hands. Similarly, one's mind can be\npacified only when he simply thinks of Kr�tta in full KHtta consciousness.\nThis does not mean that one has to be very thoughtful, but one simply has\nto understand that Kr�tta, the Absolute Truth, is all-pervasive, by His\nlocalized aspect as Paramatma. If only one can think that Kr§tta, as\nParamatma, is everywhere, even within the atom, then one can perfect the\nthinking, feeling and willing function of his mind. The perfect devotee does\nnot see the material world as it appears to material eyes, but he sees\neverywhere the presence of his worshipable Lord in His Paramatma\nfeature.\"\nMaharaja Parik§it continued to say that the function of the ear can be\nperfected simply by engagement in hearing the transcendental activities of\nthe Lord. He said further that the function of the head can be fully\nutilized when the head is engaged in bowing down before the Lord and\nHis representative. That the Lord is represented in everyone's heart is a\nfact, and therefore the highly advanced devotee offers his respects to\nevery living entity, considering that the body is the temple of the Lord.\nBut it is not possible for all men to come to that stage of life immediately,\nbecause that stage is for the first-class devotee. The second-class devotee\ncan consider the V ai§ttavas, or the devotees of the Lord, to be representatives of Kr�tta, and the devotee who is just beginning, the neophyte or\nthird-class devotee, can bow his head before the Deity in the temple and\nbefore the spiritual master, who is the direct manifestation of the Suprem�\nPersonality of Godhead. In the neophyte stage, in the intermediate stage,\nor in the fully advanced perfected stage, one can make the function of the\nhead perfect by bowing down before the Lord or His representative.\nSimilarly, he can perfect the function of the eyes by seeing the Lord and\nHis representative. In this way, everyone can elevate the functions of the\ndifferent parts of his body to the highest perfectional stage simply by\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0213": "176\n\nKr�tJ.a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nengaging them in the service of the Lord or His representative. If one is\n\nable to do nothing more, he can simply bow down before the Lord and\nHis representative and drink the carar-amrta, the water which has washed\n\nthe lotus feet of the Lord or His devotee.\n\nOn hearing these statements of Maharaja PanK.�it, Sukadeva Gosvami\nbecame overwhelmed with devotional ecstasy because of King Parik�it's\n\nadvanced understanding of the V ai��ava philosophy. Sukadeva Gosvami\nwas already engaged in describing the activities of the Lord, and when he\nwas asked by Maharaja Parik�it to describe them further, he continued\nwith great pleasure to narrate Srimad-Bhiigavatam.\nThere was a very nice briihmarw friend of Lord Kr�tJ.a. As a perfect\n\nbriihmar-a, he was very elevated in transcendental knowledge, and because\n\nof his advanced knowledge, he was not at all attached to material enjoy­\n\nment. Therefore he was very peaceful and had achieved supreme control\nover his senses. This means that the briihmar-a was a perfect devotee\nbecause unless one is a perfect devotee, he cannot achieve the highest\n\nstandard of knowledge. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gftii that a person who\n\nhas come to the point of perfection of knowledge surrenders unto the\n\nSupreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, any person who has\n\nsurrendered his life for the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead\nhas come to the point of perfect knowledge. The result of perfect know­\n\nledge is that one becomes detached from the materialistic way of life.\n\nThis detachment means complete control of the senses, which are always\n\nattracted by material enjoyment. The senses of the devotee become\n\npurified, and in that stage the senses are engaged in the service of the\nLord. That is the complete field of devotional service.\n\nAlthough the briihmar-a friend of Lord Kr��a was a householder, he was\n\nnot busy accumulating wealth for very comfortable living; therefore he\n\nwas satisfied by the income which automatically came to him according to\n\nhis destiny. This is the sign of perfect knowledge. A man who is in perfect\nknowledge knows that one cannot be happier than he is destined to be. In\n\nthis material world, everyone is destined to suffer a certain amount of\ndistress and to enjoy a certain amount of happiness. The amount of happi­\n\nness and distress is already predestined for every living entity. No one can\n\nincrease or decrease the happiness of the materialistic way of life. The\nbriihmar;w, therefore, did not exert himself for more material happiness,\n\nbut he used his time for advancement of Kr�t�a consciousness. Externally\n\nhe appeared to be very poor because he had no rich dress and could not\n\nprovide a very rich dress for his wife, and because their material condition\n\nwas not very opulent they were not even eating sufficiently, and thus both\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0214": "Meeting of Lord Kr��a with Sudama Brahma�a\n\n177\n\nhe and his wife appeared to be very thin. The wife was not very anxious\nfor her personal comfort, put she felt very concerned for her husband,\nwho was such a pious briihmar;ta. She was trembling due to her weak\nhealth, and although she did not like to dictate to her husband, she spoke\nas follows:\n\"My dear lord, I know that Lord Kr��a, who is the husband of the\ngoddess of fortune, is your personal friend. You are also a devotee of Lord\nKr��a, and He is always ready to help His devotee. Even if you think that\nyou are not rendering any devotional service to the Lord, still you are\nsurrendered to Him, and the Lord is the protector of the surrendered soul.\nMoreover, I know that Lord Kr�tla is the ideal personality of Vedic culture.\nHe is always in favor of brahminical culture and is very kind to the qualified briihmar;tas. You are the most fortunate person because you have as\nyour friend the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Kr�tla is the only\nshelter for personalities like you because you are fully surrendered unto\nHim. You are saintly, learned and fully in control of your senses. Under\nthe circumstances, Lord Krwa is your only shelter. Please, therefore, go to\nHim. I am sure that He will immediately understand your impoverished\nposition. You are also a householder; therefore without any money you\nare in a distressed condition. But as soon as He understands your position,\nHe will certainly give you sufficient riches so that you can live very comfortably. Lord Kr�tla is now the King of the Bhoja, Vr�tJ.i and Andhaka\ndynasties, and I have heard that He never leaves His capital city, Dvaraka.\nHe is living there. without outside engagements. He is so kind and liberal\nthat He immediately gives everything, even His personal self, to any person\nwho surrenders unto Him. When He is prepared to give Himself personally\nto His devotee, then there is nothing wonderful in giving some material\nriches. Of course, He does not give much material wealth to His devotee if\nthe devotee is not very fixed, but I think in your case He knows perfectly\nwell how much you are fixed in devotional service. Therefore He will not\nhesitate to award you some material benefit for the bare necessities of\nlife.\"\nIn this way, the wife of the briihmar;ta again and again requested, in\ngreat humility and submission, that he go to Lord Kr�tJ.a. The briihmapa\n\nthought that there was no need to ask any material benefit from Lord Sri\nKr��a, but he was induced by the repeated requests of his wife. Moreover,\nhe thought, \"If I go there I shall be able to see the Lord personally. That\nwill be a great opportunity, even if I don't ask any material benefit from\nHim.\" When he had decided to go to Kr��a, he asked his wife if she had\nanything in the home that he could offer to Kr�tJ.a, because he must take\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0215": "178\n\nKr��}l, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nsome presentation for his friend. The wife immediately collected four\n\npalmsful of chipped rice from her neighboring friends and tied it in a\n\nsmall cloth, like a handkerchief, and gave it to her husband to present to\n\nKr��a. Without waiting any longer, the briihmarw took the presentation\n\nand began to proceed toward Dvaraka to see his Lord. While he was pro­\n\nceeding toward Dvaraka he was absorbed in the thought of how he could\n\nbe able to see Lord Kr�!la. He had no thought within his heart other than\nKrwa.\nIt was of course very difficult to reach the palaces of the kings of the\n\nY adu dynasty, but briihmaf!-as were allowed to visit, and when the briih­\n\nmaf!-a friend of Lord Kr�l).a went there, he,. along with other briihmaf!-as,\n\nhad to pass through three military encampments. In each camp there were\n\nvery big gates, and he also had to pass through them. After the gates and\n\nthe camps, there were sixteen thousand big palaces, the residential quar­\n\nters of the sixteen thousand queens of Lord Kf�l).a. The briihmaf!-a entered\none palace which was very gorgeously decorated. When he entered this\n\nbeautiful palace, he felt that he was swimming in the ocean of transcen­\n\ndental pleasure. �e felt himself constantly diving and surfacing in that\n\ntranscendental ocean.\n\nAt that time, Lord Kr�!la was sitting on the bedstead of Queen Rukmil).i.\n\nEven from a considerable distance He could see the briihmara coming to\nHis home, and He could recognize him as His friend. Lord Kr��a immedi­\n\nately left His seat and came forward to receive His briihmara friend and,\n\nupon reaching him, embraced the briihmara with His two arms. Lord Kr�!la\n\nis the reservoir of all transcendental pleasure, and yet He Himself felt\n\ngreat pleasure upon embracing the poor briihmaf!-a because He was meeting\nHis very dear friend. Lord Kr�!la had him seated on His own bedstead and\n\npersonally brought him all kinds of fruits and drinks to offer him, as is\n\nproper in receiving a worshipable guest. Lord Sri Kr�!la is the supreme\npure, but because He was playing the role of an ordinary human being, He\nimmediately washed the briihmara's feet and, for His own purification,\n\nsprinkled the water onto His head. After this the Lord smeared the body\n\nof the briihmara with different kinds of scented pulp, such as sandalwood,\n\naguru and saffron. He immediately burned several kinds of scented incense,\n\nand, as is usual, He offered him iiriitrika with burning lamps. After thus\n\noffering him an adequate welcome and after the briihmara had taken food\n\nand drink, Lord Kf�l).a said, \"My dear friend, it is a great fortune that you\n\nhave come here.\"\n\nThe briihmara, being very poor, was not dressed nicely; his clothing was\n\ntorn and dirty, and his body was also very lean and thin. He appeared not\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0216": "Meeting of Lord Kr��a with Sudama Brahma�a\n\n179\n\nto be very clean, and because of his weak body, his bones were distinctly\nvisible. The goddess of fortune Rukmi�idevi personally began to fan him\nwith the ciimara fan, but the other women in the palace became astonished\nat Lord Kr��a's behavior in receiving the briihmara in that way. They were\nsurprised to see how eager Lord Kr§�a was to welcome this particular\n\nbriihmara. They began to wonder how Lord Kr��a could personally receive a briihmara who was poor, not very neat or clean, and poorly dressed;\nbut at the same time they could realize that the briihmar.a was not an\nordinary living being. They knew that he must have performed great pious\nactivities; otherwise why was Lord Kr��a, the husband of the goddess of\nfortune, taking so much care for him? They were still more surprised to see\nthat the briihmara was seated on the bedstead of Lord Kr��a. They were\nespecially surprised to see that Lord Kr��a had embraced him exactly as\nHe embraced His elder brother, Balaramaji, because Lord Kr��a used to\nembrace only Rukmi�i or Balarama, and no one else.\nAfter receiving the briihma!)a nicely, and seating him on His own cushioned bed, Lord Kr��a said, \"My dear briihmara friend, you are a most\nintelligent personality, and you know very well the principles of religious\nlife. I believe that after you finished your education at the house of our\nteacher and after you sufficiently remunerated him, you must have gone\nback to your home and accepted a suitable wife. I know very well that\nfrom the beginning you were not at all attached to the materialistic way\nof life, nor did you desire to be very opulent materially, and therefore you\nare in need of money. In this material world, persons who are not attached\nto material opulence are very rarely found. Such unattached persons\nhaven't the least desire to accumulate wealth and prosperity for sense\ngratification, but sometimes they are found to collect money just to\nexhibit the exemplary life of a householder. They show how by proper\ndistribution of wealth one can become an ideal householder and at the same\ntime become a great devotee. Such ideal householders are to be considered\nfollowers of My footsteps. I hope, My dear briihmara friend, you remember\nall those days of our school life when both you and I were living together\nat the boarding house. Actually, whatever knowledge both you and I received in our life was accumulated in our student life.\n\"If a man is sufficiently educated in student life under the guidance of a\nproper teacher, then his life becomes successful in the future. He can very\neasily cross over the ocean o f nescience, and he is not subjected to the\ninfluence of illusory energy. My dear friend, everyone should consider his\nfather to be his first teacher because by the mercy of one's father one gets\nthis body. The father is therefore the natural spiritual master. Our next\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0217": "180\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nspiritual master is he who initiates us into transcendental knowledge, and\nhe is to be worshiped as much as I am. The spiritual master may be more·\nthan one. The spiritual master who instructs the disciples about spiritual\nmatters is called sik§a-guru, and the spiritual master who initiates the\ndisciple is called diksii-guru. Both of them are My representatives. There\nmay be many spiritual masters who instruct, but the initiator spiritual\nmaster is one. A human being who takes advantage of these spiritual\nmasters and, receiving proper knowledge from them, crosses the ocean of\nmaterial existence, is to be understood as having properly utilized his\nhuman form of life. He has practical knowledge that the ultimate interest\nof life, which is to be gained only in this human form, is to achieve spiritual\nperfection and thus be transferred back home, back to Godhead.\n\"My dear friend, I am Paramatma, the Supersoul present in everyone's\nheart, and it is My direct order that human society must follow the principles of varrz.a and iisrama. As I have stated in the Bhagavad-gitii, the\nhuman society should be divided, according to quality and action, into\nfour varrz.as. Similarly, everyone should divide his life into four pa�;ts. One\nshould utilize the first part of life iri becoming a bona fide student,\nreceiving adequate knowledge and keeping oneself in the vow of brahmacarya, so that one may completely devote his life for the service of the\nspiritual master without indulging in sense gratification. A brahmaciiri\nis meant to lead a life of austerities and penance. The householder is\nmeant to live a regulated life of sense gratification, but no one should\nremain a householder for the third stage of life. In that stage, one has to\nreturn to the austerities and penances formerly practiced in brahmaciiri\nlife and thus relieve himself of the attachment to household life. Mter\nbeing relieved of his attachments to the materialistic way of life, one may\naccept the order of sannyiisa.\n\"As the Supersoul of the living entities, sitting in everyone's heart, I\nobserve everyone's activity in every stage and order of life. Regardless of\nwhich stage one is in, when I see that one is engaged seriously and sincerely\nin discharging the duties ordered by the spiritual master, and is thus\ndedicating his life to the service of the spiritual master, that person becomes most dear to Me. As far as the life of brahmacarya is concerned, if\none can continue the life of a brahmaciiri under the direction of a spiritual\nmaster, that is extremely good; but if in brahmaciiri life one feels sex\n\nimpulses, then he should take leave of his spiritual master, satisfying him\naccording to the guru's desire. According to the Vedic system, a gift is\noffered to the spiritual master, which is called guru-dak§irz.ii. Then the\ndisciple should take to householder life and accept a wife according to\nreligious rites.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0218": "Meeting of Lord Kr��a with Sudama Brahma�a\n\n181\n\nThese instructions given by Lord Kr§v.a while talking with His friend\nthe learned briihmara are very good for the guidance of human society. A\nsystem of human civilization that does not promote varra and iisrama is\nnothing but polished animal society. Indulgence in sex life by a man or\nwoman living single is never acceptable in human society. A man should\neither strictly follow the principles of brahmaciiri life or, with the permission of the spiritual master, should get married. Single life with illicit sex\nis animal life. For the animals there is no marriage institution.\nModern society does not aim at fulfilling the mission of human life. The\nmission of human life is to go back home, back to Godhead. To fulfill\nthis mission, the system of varra and iisrama must be followed. When the\nsystem is followed rigidly and consciously, it fulfills this mission of life.\nWhen it is followed indirectly, without guidance of superior order, then it\nsimply creates a disturbing condition in human society, and there is no\npeace and prosperity.\nKr§v.a continued to talk with His briihmara friend: \"My dear friend, I\nthink you remember our activities during the days when we were living as\nstudents. You may remember that once we went to collect fuel from-the\nforest on the order of the guru's wife. While we were collecting the dried\nwood, we by chance entered the dense forest and became lost. There was\nan unexpected dust storm and then clouds and lightning in the sky and the\nexplosive sound of thunder. Then sunset came, and we were lost in the\ndark jungle. After this, there was severe rainfall; the whole ground was\noverflooded with water, and we could not trace out the way to return to\nour guru's iisrama. You may remember that heavy rainfall-it was not\nactually rainfall but a sort of devastation. On account of the dust storm\nand the heavy rain, we began to feel greatly pained, and in whichever\ndirection we turned we were bewildered. In that distressed condition, we\ntook each other's hand and tried to find our way out. We passed the whole\nnight in that way, and early in the morning when our absence became\nknown to our gurudeva, he sent his other disciples to search us out. He also\ncame with them, and when they reached us in the jungle they found us to\nbe very distressed.\n\"With· great compassion our gurudeva said, 'My dear boys, it is very\n\nwonderful that you have suffered so much trouble for me. Everyone likes\n\nto take care of his body as the first consideration, but you are so good and\nfaithful to your guru that without caring for bodily comforts you have\ntaken so much trouble for me. I am also glad to see that bona fide students\nlike you will undergo any kind of trouble for the satisfaction of the\nspiritual master. That is the way for a bona fide disciple to become free\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0219": "Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\nfrom his debt to the spiritual master. It is the duty of the disciple to dedicate his life to the service of the spiritual master. My dear best of the\ntwice-born, I am greatly pleased by your action, and I bless you: May all\nyour desires and ambitions be fulfill e d. May the understanding of the\nVedas which you have learned from me always continue to remain within\nyour memory, so that at every moment you can remember the teachings of\nthe\n\nVedas and quote their instructions without difficulty. Thus you\n\nwill never be disappointed in this life or in the next.'\"\nKr��a continued: \"My dear friend, you may remember that many such\nincidents occurred while we were in the iisrama of our spiritual master.\nBoth of us can realize that without the blessings of the spiritual master no\none can be happy. By the mercy of the spiritual master and by his blessings,\none can achieve peace and prosperity and be able to fulfill the mission of\nhuman life.\"\nOn hearing this, the learned briihmarza replied, \"My dear Kr��a, You are\nthe Supreme Lord and the supreme spiritual master of everyone, and since\nI was fortunate enough to live with You in the house of our guru, I think\nI have nothing more to do in the matter of prescribed Vedic duties. My\ndear Lord, the Vedic hymns, ritualistic ceremonies, religious activities, and\nall other necessities for the perfection of human life, including economic\ndevelopment, sense gratification and liberation, are all derived from one\nsource: Your supreme personality. AU the different processes of life are\nultimately meant for the understanding of Your personality. In other\nwords, they are the different parts of Your transcendental form. And yet\nYou played the role of a student and lived with us in the house of the guru.\nThis means that You adopted all these pastimes for Your pleasure only;\notherwise there was no need for Your playing the role of a human being.\"\n\"Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Twentyfifth Chapter, of Kr��a, \"Meeting of Lord Knrza with Sudiimii Briihmarza.,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0220": "26 I The Brahmana Sudama\n•\n\nBenedicted by Lord Kr��a\nLord Kr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul of all\nliving entities, knows very well everyone's heart. He is especially inclined\nto the briihmm;w devotees. Lord Kr�!la is also called brahmal)yadeva, which\nmeans that He is worshiped by the briihmal)aS. Therefore it is understood\nthat a devotee who is fully surrendered unto the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead has already acquired the position of a briihmal)a. Without becoming a briihmal)a, one cannot approach the Supreme Brahman, Lord\nKr�!la. Kr�!la is especially concerned with vanquishing the distress of His\ndevotees, and He is the only shelter of pure devotees.\nLord Kr�!la was engaged for a long time in talking with Sudama Vipra\nabout their past association. Then, just to enj oy the company of an old\nfriend, Lord Kr�!la began to smile, and asked, \"My dear friend, what have\nyou brought for Me? Has your wife given you some nice eatable for Me?\"\nWhile He. was addressing His friend, Lord Kr�!la was looking upon him and\nsmiling with great love. He continued: \"My dear friend, you must have\nbrought some presentation for Me from your home.\"\nLord Kr�!la knew that Sudama was hesitating to present Him the paltry\nchipped rice which was actually unfit for His eating, and understanding\nthe mind of Sudarna Vipra the Lord said, \"My dear friend, certainly I am\nnot in need of anything, but if My devotee gives Me something as an offering of love, even though it may be very insignificant, I accept it with great\npleasure. On the other hand, if a person is not a devotee, even though he\nmay offer Me very valuable things, I do not like to accept them. I actually\naccept only things which are offered to Me in devotion and love; otherwise, however valuable the thing rnay be, I do not accept it. If My pure devotee offers Me even the most insignificant things-a little flower, a little piece\nof leaf, a little water-but saturates the offering in devotional love, then\nI not only gladly accept such an offering, but I eat it with great pleasure.\"\n\n183\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0221": "184\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nLord Kr��a assured Sudama Vipra that He would be very glad to accept\nthe chipped rice which he had brought from home, yet out of great\nshyness, Sudama Vipra hesitated to present it to the Lord. He was\nthinking, \"How can I offer such insignificant things to Kr��a?\" and he\nsimply bowed his head.\nLord Krwa, the Supersoul, knows everything in everyone's heart. He\nknows everyone's determination and everyone's want. He knew, therefore, the reason for Sudama Vipra's coming to Him. He knew that, driven\nby extreme poverty, he had come there at the request of his wife. Thinking\nof Sudama as His very dear class friend, He knew that Sudama's love for\nHim as a friend was never tainted by any desire for material benefit. Kr§�a\nthought, \"Sudama has not come asking anything from Me, but being\nobliged by the request of his wife, he has come to see Me just to please\nher.\" Lord Kr§�a therefore decided that He would give more material\nopulence to Sudama Vipra than could be imagined even by the King of\nheaven.\nHe then snatched the bundel o f chipped rice which was hanging on the\nshoulder of the poor briihmar;w, packed in one corner of his wrapper, and\nsaid, \"What is this? My dear friend, you have brought Me nice, palatable\nchipped rice!\" He encouraged Sudama Vipra, saying, \"I consider that this\nquantity of chipped rice will not only satisfy Me, but will satisfy the\nwhole creation.\" It is understood from this statement that Kr§�a, being\nthe original source of everything, is the root of the entire creation. As\nwatering the root of a tree immediately distributes water to every part of\nthe tree, so an offering made to Kf§�a, or any action done for Krwa, is to\nbe considered the highest welfare work for everyone, because the benefit of\nsuch an offering is distributed throughout the creation. Love for Kr§�a\nbecomes distributed to all living entities.\nWhile 'Lord Kr§�a was speaking to Sudama Vipra, He ate one morsel of\nchipped rice from his bundle, and when He attempted to eat a second\nmorsel, Rukmi�idevi, who is the goddess o f fortune herself, checked the\nLord by catching hold of His hand. After touching the hand of Krwa,\nRukmi�i said, \"My dear Lord, this one morsel of chipped rice is sufficient\nto cause him who offered it to become very opulent in this life and to\ncontinue his opulence in the next life. My Lord, You are so kind to Your\ndevotee that even this one morsel of chipped rice pleases You very greatly,\nand Your pleasure assures the devotee opulence both in this life and in the\nnext.\" This indicates that when food is offered to Lord Kr��a with love\nand devotion and He is pleased and accepts it from the devotee, Rukmi�idevi, the goddess of fortune, becomes so greatly obliged to the devotee\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0222": "The Brahma!la Sudama Benedicted by Lord Kr�!la\n\n185\n\nthat she has to personally go to the devotee's home to turn it into the\n\nmost opulent home in the world. If one feeds Naraya�a sumptuously, the\n\ngoddess of fortune, Lak�mi', automatically becomes a guest in one's house,\n\nwhich means that one's home becomes opulent. The learned briihmara\nSudama passed that night at the house of Lord Kr��a, and while he was\n\nthere he felt as if he were living in the V aiku�tha planet. Actually he was\nliving in V aiku�tha, because wherever Lord Kr��a, the original Naraya�a,\n\nand Rukmi!li'devi', the goddess of fortune, live is not different from the\n\nspiritual planet, V aiku!lthaloka.\nThe learned briihmara Sudama did not appear to have received anything\n\nsubstantial from Lord Kr��a while he was at His place, and yet he did not\nask anything from the Lord. The next morning he started for his home,\n\nthinking always about his reception by Kr��a, and thus he became merged\n\nin transcendental bliss. All the way home he was simply remembering the\ndealings of Lord Kr��a, and he was feeling very happy to have seen the\nLord.\n\nThe briihmara began to think as follows: \"It is most pleasurable to see\nLord Kr��a, who is most devoted to the briihmaras. How great a lover He\n\nis of the brahminical culture! He is the Supreme Brahman Himself, yet He\nreciprocates with the briihmaras. He also respects the briihmaras so much\nthat He embraced to His chest a poor briihmara like me, although He never\nembraces anyone to His chest except the goddess of fortune. How can\n\nthere be any comparison between me, a poor, sinful briihmara, and the\n\nSupreme Lord Krwa, who is the only shelter of the goddess of fortune?\nAnd yet, considering me as a briihmara, He embraced me with heartfelt\n\npleasure in His two transcendental arms. Lord Kr��a was so kind to me\n\nthat He allowed me to sit down on the same bedstead where the goddess of\n\nfortune lies down. He considered me to be His real brother. How can I\nappreciate my obligation to Him? When I was tired, Sri'mati' Rukmi�i'devi',\n\nthe goddess of fortune, began to fan me, holding the ciimara whisk in her·\nown hand. She never considered her exalted position as the first queen of\n\nLord Kr��a. I was rendered service by the Supreme Personality of Godhead\nbecause of His high regard for the briihmaras, and by massaging my legs\n\nand feeding me with His own hand, He practically worshiped me! Aspiring\n\nfor elevation to the heavenly planets, or liberation or all kinds of material\nopulences, or perfection in the mystic yoga powers, everyone throughout\n\nthe universe worships the lotus feet of Lord Kr��a. Yet the Lord was so\n\nkind to me that He did not give me even a farthing, knowing very well that\n\nI am a poverty-stricken man who, if I got some money, might become\npuffed up and mad after material opulence and so forget Him.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0223": "186\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nThe statement of the briihmar-a Sudama is correct. An ordinary man\nwho is very poor and prays to the Lord for benediction in material opulence, and who somehow or other becomes richer in material opulence,\nimmediately forgets his obligation to the Lord. Therefore, the Lord does\nnot offer opulences to His devotee unless the devotee is thoroughly destitute. Rather, if a neophyte devotee serves the Lord very sincerely and at the\nsame time wants material opulence, the Lord keeps him from obtaining it.\nThinking in this way, the learned briihmar-a gradually reached his own\nhome. But on reaching there he saw that everything was wonderfully\nchanged. He saw that in place of his cottage there were big palaces made\nof valuable stones and jewels, glittering like the sun, moon and rays of fire.\nNot only were there big palaces, but at intervals there were beautifully\ndecorated parks, in which many beautiful men and women were strolling.\nIn those parks there were nice lakes full of lotus flowers and beautiful\nlilies, and there were flocks of multicolored birds. Seeing the wonderful\nconversion of his native place, the briihmar-a began to think to himself,\n\"How am I seeing all these changes? Does this place belong to me, or to\nsomeone else? If it is the same place where I used to live, then how has it\nso wonderfully changed?\"\nWhile the learned briihmar-a was considering this, a group of beautiful\nmen and women with features resembling those of the demigods, accompanied by musical chanters, approached to welcome him. All were singing\nauspicious songs. The wife of the briihmar-a became very glad on hearing\nthe tidings of her husband's arrival, and with great haste she also came out\nof the palace. The briihmar-a's wife appeared s� beautiful that it seemed\nas if the goddess of fortune herself had come to receive him. As soon as\nshe saw her husband present before her, tears of joy began to fall from\nher eyes, and her voice became so choked up that she could not even\naddress her husband. She simply closed her eyes in ecstasy. But with\ngreat love and affection she bowed down before her husband, and\n\nI.\n\njl\n\nwithin herself she thought of embracing him. She was fully decorated\nwith a gold necklace and ornaments, and while standing among the\nmaidservants she appeared like the wife of a demigod just alighting\nfrom an airplane. The briihmar-a was surprised to see his wife so beautiful,\nand in great affection and without saying a word he entered the palace\nwith his wife.\nWhen the briihmar-a entered his personal apartment in the palace, he saw\nthat it was not an apartment, but the residence of the King of heaven. The\npalace was surrounded by many columns of jewels. The couches and the\nbedsteads were made of ivory, bedecked with gold and jewels, and the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0224": "The Brahma!la Sudama Benedicted by Lord Kr�!la\n\n187\n\nbedding was as white as the foam of milk and as soft as a lotus flower.\n\nThere were many whisks hanging from golden rods, and many golden\n\nthrones with sitting cushions as soft as the lotus flower. In various places\n\nthere were velvet and silken canopies with laces of pearls hanging all\n\naround. The structure of the building was standing on first-class transparent\n\nmarble, with engravings made of emerald stones. All the women in the\n\npalace were carrying lamps made of valuable jewels. The flames and the\n\njewels combined to produce a wonderfully brilliant light. When the\n\nbrahmm:w saw his position suddenly changed to one of opulence, and\n\nwhen he could not determine the cause for such a sudden change, he\n\nbegan to consider very gravely how it had happened.\n\nHe thus began to think, \"From the beginning of my life I have been\n\nextremely poverty-stricken, so what could be the cause of such great and\n\nsudden opulence? I do not find any cause other than the all-merciful\n\nglance of my friend Lord Kr�9-a, the chief of the Yadu dynasty. Certainly\n\nthese are gifts of Lord Kr�!la's causeless mercy. The Lord is self-sufficient,\n\nthe husband of the goddess of fortune, and thus He is always' full with six\n\nopulences. He can understand the mind of His devotee, and He sumptuous­\n\nly fulfills the devotee's desires. All these are acts of my friend, Lord Kr�9-a.\n\nMy beautiful dark friend Kr�!la is far more liberal than the cloud which\n\ncan fill up the great ocean with water. Without disturbing the cultivator\n\nwith rain during the day, the cloud brings liberal rain at night just to\n\nsatisfy him. And yet when the cultivator wakes up in the morning, he\n\nconsiders that it has not rained enough. Similarly, the Lord fulfills the\n'\ndesire of everyone according to his position, and yet one who is not in\n\nKr�!la consciousness considers all the gifts of the Lord to be less than his\ndesire. On the other hand, when the Lord receives a little thing in love\nand affection from His devotee, He considers it a great and valuable gift.\n\nThe vivid example is myself. I simply offered Him a morsel of chipped\n\nrice, and in exchange He has given me opulences greater than the opulence\n\nof the King of heaven.\"\n\nWhat the devotee actually offers to the Lord is not needed by the Lord.\n\nHe is self-sufficient. If the devotee offers something to the Lord, it acts\n\nfor his own interest because whatever a devotee offers to the Lord comes\n\nback in a quantity a million times greater than what was offered. One\n\ndoes not become a loser by giving to the Lord, but he becomes a gainer by\n\nmillions of times.\n\nThe brahmarw, feeling great obligation to Kr�9-a, thought, \"I pray to\n\nhave the friendship of Lord Kr�!la and to engage in His service, and to\nsurrender fully unto Him in love and affection, life after life. I do not\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0225": "J\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n188\n\nwant any opulence. I only desire not to forget His service. I simply\nwish to be associated with His pure devotees. May my mind and activities be always engaged in His service. The unborn Supreme Personality of Godhead Kr��a knows that many great personalities have\nfallen\n\nfrom\n\ntheir\n\npositions\n\nbecause of extravagant opulence.\n\nThere­\n\nfore, even when His devotee asks for some opulence from Him, the\nLord sometimes does not give it. He is very cautious about His devotees.\nBecause a devotee in an immature position of devotional service may, if\noffered great opulence, fall from his position due to being in the material\nworld, the Lord does not offer opulence to him. This is another manifestation of the causeless mercy of the Lord upon His devotee. His first interest\nis that the devotee may not fall. He is exactly like a well-wishing father\nwho does not give much wealth into the hand of his immature son, but\nwho, when the son is grown up and knows h ow to spend money, gives\nhim the whole treasury house.\"\nThe learned briihmarw thus concluded that whatever opulences he had\nreceived from the Lord should not be used for his extravaga�t sense\ngratification, but for the service of the Lord. The briihmarw accepted his\nnewly-acquired opulence, but he did so in a spirit of renunciation,\nunattached to sense gratification, and thus he lived very peacefully with\nhis wife, enjoying all the facilities of opulence as prasiidam of the Lord.\nHe enjoyed varieties of foodstuff by offering it to the Lord and then\ntaking it as prasiidam. Similarly, if by the grace of the Lord we get such\nopulences as material wealth, fame, power, education and beauty, it is our\nduty to consider t.hat they are all gifts of the Lord and must be used for\nHis service, not for our sense enjoyment. The learned briihmarw remained\nin that position, and instead of deteriorating due to great opulence, his\nlove and affection for Lord Kr�!la increased day after day. Material\nopulence can be the cause of degradation and also the cause of elevation,\naccording to the purposes for which it is used. If opulence is used for\nsense gratification, it is the cause of degradation, and if it is used for the\nservice of the Lord, it is the cause of elevation.\nIt is evident from Lord Kr�l!a's dealings with Sudama Vipra that the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead is very, very pleased with a person who is\npossessed of brahminical qualities. A qualified briihmm;w like Sudama\nVipra is naturally a devotee of Lord Kr��a. Therefore it is said, briihmarzo\n\nvai§rava�: a briihmm;w is a Vai§rava. Or sometimes it is said, briihmana�\nparflita�. Parflita means a highly learned person. A briihmara cannot be\nfoolish or uneducated. Therefore there are two divisions of briihmanas,\n.\n\n.\n\nnamely Vai§ravas and parflitas. Those who are simply learned are par-flits�\nbut not yet devotees of the Lord, or Vai§ravas. Lord Kr�!la is not\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0226": "The Brahma!la Sudama Benedicted by Lord Kr�!la\n\n189\n\nespecially pleased with them. Simply the qualification of being a learned\nbriihmm;w is not sufficient to attract the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\n\nA briihmm;w must not only be well qualified according to the requirements\n\nstated in scriptures such as Srimad Bhagavad-gitii and Srimad-Bhagavatam,\n\nbut at the same time he must be a devotee of Lord Kr�J).a. The vivid\n\nexample is Sudama Vipra. He was a qualified briihmara, unattached to all\nsorts of material sense enjoyment, and at the same time a great devotee of\nLord Kr�J).a. Lord Kr�J).a, the enjoyer of all sacrifices and penances, is very\n\nfond of a briihmara like Sudama Vipra, and we have seen by the actual\nbehavior of Lord Kr�'!a how much He adores such a briihmara. Therefore,\n\nthe ideal stage o f human perfection is to become a briihmara-vai§rava like\nSudama Vipra.\nSudama Vipra realized that although Lord Kr�'!a is unconquerable, He\nnevertheless agrees to be conquered by His devotees. He realized how kind\nLord Kr��a was to him, and he was always in trance, constantly thinking\nof Kr��a; By such constant association with Lord Kr��a, whatever darkness\nof material contamination was remaining within his heart was completely\n\ncleared away, and very shortly he was transferred to the spiritual kingdom,\n\nwhich is the goal of all saintly persons in the perfectional stage of life.\nSukadeva Gosvami has stated that all persons who hear this history of\nSudama Vipra and Lord Kr��a will know how affectionate Lord Kr��a is\n\nto the briihmara devotees like Sudama. Therefore anyone who hears this\nhistory gradually becomes as qualified as Sudama Vipra, and he is thus\ntransferred to the spiritual kingdom of Lord Kr��a.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Twentysixth Chapter, of Kr��a, \"The Briihmara Sudiimii Benedicted by Lord\n\nK[§[lU.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0227": "27 I Lord Krsna and Balarama\n•\n\n•\n\n•\n\nMeet the Inhabitants of Vrndavana\n•\n\nOnce upon a time while Lord Kr§�a and Balarama were living peacefully\nin Their great city of Dvaraka, there was the rare occasion of a full solar\neclipse, such as takes place at the end of every kalpa, or day of Brahma.\nAt the end of every kalpa the sun is covered by a great cloud, and\nincessant rain covers the lower planei:ary systems up to Svargaloka. By\nastronomical calculation, people were informed about this great eclipse\nprior to its taking place, and therefore everyone, both men and women,\ndecided to assemble at the holy place in Kuruk§etra known as Samantapaficaka.\nThe\n\nSamanta-paficaka\n\npilgrimage\n\nsite\n\nis\n\ncelebrated because\n\nLord\n\nParasurama performed great sacrifices there after having killed all the\n\nk§atriyas in the world twenty-one times. Lord Parasurama killed all the\nk§atriyas, and their accumulated blood flowed like a stream. Lord\nParasurama dug five big lakes at Samanta-paficaka, and filled them with\nthis blood. Lord Parasurama is Vi§ru-tattva. As stated in the lsopani§ad,\n\nVi§[W-tattva cannot be contaminated by any sinful activity. Yet although\nLord Parasurama is fully powerful and uncontaminated, in order to exhibit\nideal character, He performed great sacrifices at Samanta-paficaka to atone\nfor His so-called sinful killing of the k§atriyas. By His example, Lord\nParasurama established that the killing art, although sometimes necessary,\nis not good. Lord Parasurama considered Himself culpable for the sinful\nkilling of the k§atriyas; therefore, how much more are we culpable for\nsuch abominable unsanctioned acts. Thus, killing of living entities is\nprohibited from time immemorial all over the world.\nTaking advantage of the occasion of the solar eclipse, all important\npersons visited the holy place of pilgrimage. Some of the important\npersonalities are mentioned as follows. Among the elderly persons there\nwere Akrilra, Vasudeva and Ugrasena; among the younger generation there\n\n190\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0228": "Lord Kr��a and Balarama Meet the Inhabitants of Vrndavana\n\n191\n\nwere Gada, Pradyumna, Samba, and many other members of the Yadu\n\ndynasty who had come there with a view to atone for sinful activities\n\naccrued in the course of discharging their respective duties. Because\n\nalmost all the members of the Yadu dynasty went to Kuruk§etra, some\nimportant personalities, like Aniruddha, the son of Pradyumna, and\nKrtavarma,\n\nthe commander-in-chief of the Y adu dynasty, along with\n\nSucandra, Suka and Sara�a remained in Dvaraka to protect the city.\n\nAll the members of the Yadu dynasty were naturally very beautiful,\n\nand yet on this occasion, when they appeared duly decorated with gold\nnecklaces and flower garlands, dressed in valuable clothing and properly\n\narmed with their respective weapons, their natural beauty and personalities\n\nwere a hundred times enhanced. The members of the Yadu dynasty came\nto Kuruk§etra in their gorgeously decorated chariots resembling the air­\n\nplanes of the demigods, pulled by big horses that moved like the waves of\n\nthe ocean, and some of them rode on sturdy, stalwart elephants that\n\nmoved like the clouds in the sky. Their wives were carried on beautiful\n\npalanquins by beautiful men whose features resembled those of the\nVidyadharas. The entire assembly looked as beautiful as an assembly of\n\nthe demigods of heaven.\n\nAfter arriving in Kuruk§etra, the members of the Yadu dynasty took\n\ntheir baths ceremoniously, with self-control, as enjoined in the siistras, and\n\nthey observed fasting for the whole period of the eclipse in order to\nnullify the reactions of their sinful activities. Since it is a Vedic custom to\ngive in charity as much as possible during the hours of the eclipse, the\n\nmembers of the Yadu dynasty distributed many hundreds of cows in\n\ncharity to the briihmar-as. All those cows were fully decorated with nice\ndress and ornaments. The special feature of these cows was that they had\n\ngolden ankle bells and flower garlands on their necks.\n\nAll the members of the Yadu dynasty again took their baths in the lakes\n\ncreated by Lord Parasurama. Mter this they sumptuously fed the briihma­\n\nr-as with first-class f'ooked food, all prepared in butter. According to ·the\n\nVedic system, there are two classes of food. One is called raw food, and\n\nthe other is called cooked food. Raw food does not include raw vegetables\n\nand raw grains, but food boiled in water; whereas cooked food is made in\n\nghee. Capatis, dahl, rice and ordinary vegetables are called raw foods, as\nare fruits and salads. But puris, kacuri, sangosas, sweet balls, etc., are called\n\ncooked foods. All the briihmar-as invited on that occasion by the members\n\nof the Y adu dynasty were fed sumptuously with cooked food.\n\nThe ceremonial functions performed by the members of the Yadu\n\ndynasty externally resembled the ritualistic performances performed by\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0229": "192\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nthe karmis. When a karmi performs some ritualistic ceremony, his ambition\nis sense gratification-good position, good wife, good house, good children\nor good wealth; but the ambition of the members of the Yadu dynasty\nwas different. Their ambition was to offer perpetual faith and devotion to\nKr§�a. All the members of the Yadu dynasty were great devotees. As\nsuch, after many births of accumulated pious activities, they were given\nthe chance to associate with Lord Kr§�a. In going to take their baths in the\nplace of pilgrimage at Kuruk§etra or observing the regulative principles\nduring the solar eclipse or feeding the briihmarws-in all their activitiesthey simply thought of devotion to Kr§�a. Their ideal worshipable Lord\nwas Kr§�a, and no one else.\nAfter feeding the briihmarws, it is the custom for the host, with their\npermission, to accept prasiidam. Thus, with the permission of the briihma!1-as, all the members of the Yadu dynasty took lunch. Then they selected\nresting places underneath big, shadowy trees, and when they had taken\nsufficient rest, they prepared to receive visitors, among whom there were\nrelatives and friends, as well as many subordinate kings and rule_rs. There\nwere the rulers of the Matsya Province, Usinara Province, Kosala Province,\nVidarbha Province, Kuru Province, S�fijaya Province, Kamboja Province,\nKekaya Province and many other countries and provinces. Some of the\nrulers belonged to opposing parties, and some were friends. But above all,\nthe visitors from V�ndavana were most prominent. The residents of\nV�ndavana, headed by Nanda Maharaja, had been living in great anxiety\nbecause of separation from Kr��a and Balarama. Taking advantage of the\nsolar eclipse, they.all came to see their life and soul, K�§�a and Balarama.\nThe inhabitants of V�ndavana were well-wishers and intimate friends of\nthe Yadu dynasty. This meeting of the two parties after long separation\nwas a very touching incident. Both the Yad us and the residents of V �ndavana felt such great pleasure in meeting and talking together that it was a\nunique scene. Meeting after long separation, they were all jubilant; their\nhearts were throbbing, and their faces appeared like freshly bloomed lotus\nflowers. There were drops of tears falling from their eyes, the hair on their\nbodies stood on end, and because of their extreme ecstasy, they were\ntemporarily speechless. In otJler words, they began to dive in the ocean of\nhappiness.\nWhile the men were meeting in that way, the women were also meeting\none another in the same manner. They were embracing each other in great\nfriendship, smiling very mildly, and looking at one another with much\naffection. When they were embracing each other in their arms, the saffron\nand kunkuma spread on their breasts was exchanged from one person to\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0230": "Lord Kr��a and Balarama Meet the Inhabitants of Vrndavana\n\n193\n\nanother, and they all felt heavenly ecstasy. Due to such heart-to-heart\n\nembracing, torrents\n\nof tears glided down their cheeks. The juniors\n\nwere offering obeisances to the elders, and the elders were offering\ntheir blessings to the juniors. They were thus welcoming one anoth�r\nand asking after each other's welfare. Ultimately, however, all their\ntalk was only of Kr§�a. All the neighbors and relatives were connected\n\nwith Lord Kr§�a's pastimes in this world, and as such Kr§�a was the\ncenter\n\nof\n\nall\n\ntheir\n\nactivities.\n\nWhatever\n\nactivities they\n\nperformed­\n\nsocial, political, religious, or conventional-were transcendental.\n\nThe real elevation of human life rests on knowledge and renunciation.\n\nAs stated in the Srimad-Bhiigavatam, in the First Canto, devotional service\nrendered to Kr§�a automatically produces perfect knowledge and renunciation. The family members of the Y adu dynasty and the cowherd\n\nmen\n\nof Vrndavana had their minds fixed on Kf§J).a. That is the symptom of\n\nall knowledge, and because their minds were always engaged in Kr§�a,\n\nthey were automatically freed from all material activities. This stage of\n\nlife is called yukta-vairiigya as enunciated by Srila Riipa Gosvami. Know­\n\nledge and renunciation, therefore, do not mean dry speculation and re­\n\nnunciation of activities. Rather, one must start speaking and acting only\n\nin relationship with Kf§J).a.\n\nIn this meeting at Kuruk§etra, Kuntidevi and Vasudeva, who were\n\nsister and brother, met after a long period of separation, along with their\n\nrespective sons and .daughters-in-law, wives, children and other family\n\nmembers. By talking among themselves, they soon forgot all their past\n\nmiseries. Kunfidevi especially addressed her brother Vasudeva as follows:\n\n\"My dear brother, I am very unfortunate, because not one of my desires\n\nhas ever been fulfilled; otherwise how could it happen that although I\n\nhave such a saintly brother as yol], perfect in all respects, you did not\n\ninquire from me as to how I was passing my days in a distressed condition\n\nof life.\" It appears that Kunfidevi was remembering the miserable days\n\nwhen she had been banished along with her sons through the mischevious\nplans of Dhrtara§tra and Duryodhana. She continued; \"My dear brother,\n\nI can understand that when providence goes against someone, even one's\n\nnearest relatives also forget him. In such a condition, even one's father,\n\none's mother or one's own children will forget him. Therefore, my dear\n\nbrother, I do not accuse you.\"\n\nVasudeva replied to his sister: \"My dear sister, do not be sorry, and do\n\nnot blame me in that way. We should always remember that we all are only\ntoys in the hands of providence. Everyone is under the control of the\n\nSupreme Personality ofGodhead. It is under His control only that all kinds\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0231": "194\n\nKf��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nof fruitive actions and the resultant reactions take place. My dear sister,\n\nyou know that we were very much harrassed by King Kamsa, and by his\npersecutions we were scattered here and there. We were always full of\n\nanxieties. Only in the last few days have we returned to our own places,\nby the grace of God.\"\n\nAfter this conversation, Vasudeva and Ugrasena received the kings who\n\ncame to see them, and they sufficiently welcomed them all. Seeing Lord\n\nKf§!la present on the spot, all the visitors felt transcendental pleasure and\n\nbecame very peaceful. Some of the prominent visitors were as follows:\n\nBhi§madeva, Dro!lacarya, Dhrtarli§tra, Duryodhana, and Gandhari along\n\nwith her sons; King Yudhi§!hira along with his wife, and the Pa!!9-avas\n\nalong with Kunti; Srnjaya, Vidura, Krpacarya, Kuntibhoja, Virata, King\nNagnajit, Purujit, Drupada, Salya, Dhr§taketu, the King of Kasi, Damagho§a,\n\nVisalak§a, the King of Mithila, the King of Madras (formerly known as\n\nMadra), the King of Kekaya, Yudhamanyu, Susarma, Bahlika along with\n\nhis sons, and many other rulers who were subordinate to King Yudhi§!hira.\n\nWhen they saw Lord Kr§�a with His thousands of queens, they became\n\nfully satisfied at the sight of such beauty and transcendental opulence. All\nwho were there personally visited Lord Balarama and Kr§�a, and being\n\nproperly welcomed by the Lord they began to glorify the members of the\nYadu dynasty, especially Kr§!la and Balarama. Because he was the King of\n\nthe Bhojas, Ugrasena was considered the chief Yadu, and therefore the\n\nvisitors specifically addressed him: \"Your majesty Ugrasena, King of the\n\nBhojas, factually the Yadus are the only persons within this world who\nare perfect in all respects. All glories unto you! All glories unto you! The\n\nspecific condition of your perfection is that you are always seeing Lord\nKf§!la, who is sought after by many mystic yogis undergoing severe\n\nausterities and penances for great numbers of years. All of you are in\ndirect touch with Lord Kf§!la at every moment.\n\n\"All the Vedic hymns are glorifying the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\n\nKf§!la. The Ganges water is considered sanctified because of its being the\n\nwater used to wash the lotus feet of Lord Kr§!la· The Vedic literatures are\n\nnothing but the injunctions of Lord Kr§�a. The purpose of the study of\n\nall the\n\nVedas is to know Kr§!la; therefore, the words of Kr§!la and the\n\nmessage of His pastimes are always purifying. By the influence of time\n\nand circumstances, all the opulences of this world had become almost\n\ncompletely wiped out, but since Kr§!la has appeared on this planet, all\nauspicious features have again appeared due to the touch of His lotus feet.\n\nBecause of His presence, all our ambitions and desires are gradually being\n\nfulfilled. Your majesty, King of the Bhoj as, you are related with the Yadu\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0232": "Lord Kf�l)a and Balarama Meet the Inhabitants of Vrndavana\n\n195\n\ndynasty by matrimonial relationship, and by blood relationship also. As\na result, you are constantly in touch with Lord Kf�l)a, and you have no\ndifficulty in seeing Him at any time. Lord Kr�-pa moves with you, talks\nwith you, sits with you, rests with you, and dines with you. The Yadus\nappear to be always engaged in worldly affairs which are considered to\nlead to the royal road to hell, but due to the presence of Lord Kr�-pa, the\noriginal Personality of Godhead in the Vi�D-U catagory, who is omniscient,\nomnipresent and omnipotent, all of you are factually relieved from all\nmaterial contamination, and are situated in the transcendental position of\nliberation and Brahman existence.\"\nWhen they had heard that Kr�pa would be present in Kuruk�etra because\nof the solar eclipse, the residents of Vrndavana, headed by Maharaj a Nanda,\nhad also decided to go there, and therefore all the members of the Yadu\ndynasty were attending. King Nanda, accompanied by his cowherd men,\nhad loaded all their necessary paraphernalia on bullock carts, and all of\nthe V rndavana residents had come to Kuruk�etra to see their beloved sons\nLord Balarama and Lord Kr�pa. When the cowherd men of Vrndavana\narrived in Kuruk�etra, all the members of the Yadu dynasty became most\npleased. As soon as they saw the residents of Vrndavana, they stood up to\nwelcome them, and it appeared that they had again regained their life. Both\nhad been very eager to meet, and when they actually came forward and met,\nthey embraced one another to their heart's satisfaction and remained\nin embrace for a considerable time.\nAs soon as Vasudeva saw Nanda Maharaj a, he j umped and ran oyer to\nhim and embraced him very affectionately. Vasudeva began to narrate\nhis past history-how he had been imprisoned by King Karhsa, how his\nbabies had been killed, and how immediately after Kr�pa's birth he had\ncarried Him to the place of Nanda Maharaj a, and how Kr�pa and Balarama\nhad been raised by Nanda Maharaj a and his queen, Yasoda, as their own\nchildren. Similarly, Lord Balarama and Kr�-pa also embraced King N anda\nand mother Yasoda and then offered Their respect unto their lotus feet\nby bowing down. Because of Their filial affection for Nanda and Yasoda,\nboth Lord Kr�pa and Balarama became choked up, and for a few seconds\nThey could not speak. The most fortunate King Nanda and mother Yasoda\nplaced their sons on their laps and began to embrace Them to their full\nsatisfaction. Because of separation from Kr�pa and Balarama, both King\nNanda and Yasoda had been merged in great distress for a very long time.\nNow, after meeting Them and embracing Them, all their sufferings were\n\nmitigated.\nAfter this, Kr�D.a's mother, Devaki, and Balarama's mother, Rohi-pi,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0233": "196\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nboth embraced mother Yasoda. They said, \"Dear Queen Y asodadevi', both\nyou and Nanda Maharaja have been great friends to us, and when we remember you we are immediately overwhelmed by the thought of your\nfriendly activities. We are so indebted to you that even if we were to return\nyour benediction by giving you the opulence of the King of heaven, it\nwould not be enough to repay you for your friendly behavior. We shall\nnever forget your kindly behavior toward us. When both Kr§!la and\nBalarama were born, before they even saw Their real father and mother,\nThey were entrusted to your care, and you raised Them as your own\nchildren, fostering Them as birds take care of their offspring in the nest.\nYou have nicely fed, nourished and loved Them and have performed many\nauspicious religious ceremonies for Their benefit.\n\"Actually They are not our sons; They belong to you. Nanda Maharaja\nand yourself are the real father and mother of Kf§!la and Baladima. As long\nas They were under your care They had not even a pinch of difficulty.\nUnder your protection, They were completely out of the way o f all kinds\nof fear. This most affectionate care which you have taken for Them is\ncompletely befitting your elevated position. The most noble personalities\ndo not discriminate between their own sons and the sons of others, and\nthere cannot be any personalities more noble than Nanda Maharaja and\nyourself.\"\nAs far as the gopis of V rndavana were concerned, from the very beginning of their lives, they did not know anything beyond Kr§!la. Kr§!la and\nBalarama were their life and soul. The gopis were so attached to Kf§!la that\nthey could not even tolerate not seeing Him momentarily when their\neyelids blinked and impeded their vision. They condemned Brahma, the\ncreator of the body, because he foolishly made eyelids which blinked and\nchecked their seeing Kr§!la. Because they had been separated from Kr§!la\nfor so many years, the gopis, having come along with Nanda Maharaja and\nmother Yasoda, felt intense ecstasy in seeing Kr§!la. No one can even\nimagine how anxious the gopis were to see Kr§!la again. As soon as Krwa\nbecame visible to them, they took Him inside their hearts through their\neyes and embraced Him to their full satisfaction. Even though they were\nembracing Kf§!la only mentally, they became so ecstatic and overwhelmed\nwith joy that for the time being they completely forgot themselves. The\necstatic trance which they achieved simply by mentally embracing Kr§!la\nis impossible to achieve even for great\n\nyogis\n\nconstantly engaged in\n\nmeditation on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kr§!la could understand that the gopis were rapt in ecstasy by embracing Him in their minds,\nand therefore, since He is present in everyone's heart, He also reciprocated\nthe embracing from within.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0234": "Lord Kf�pa and Balarama Meet the Inhabitants of Vrndavana\n\n197\n\nKr�pa was sitting with mother Y asoda and His other mothers, Devaki\nand Rohipi, but when the mothers engaged in talking, He took the\nopportunity and went to a secluded place to meet the gopis. As soon as He\napproached the gopis, the Lord began to smile, and after embracing them\nand inquiring about their welfare, He began to encourage them, saying,\n\"My dear friends, you know that both Lord Balariima and Myself left\nVrndavana just to please Our relatives and family members. Thus We were\nlong- engaged in fighting with Our enemies and were obliged to forget you,\nwho were so much attached to Me in love and affection. I can understand\nthat by this action I have been ungrateful to you, but still I know you are\nfaithful to Me. May I inquire if you have been thinking of Us although We\nhad to leave you behind? My dear gopis, do you now dislike remembering\nMe, considering Me to have been ungrateful to you? Do you take My\nmisbehavior with you very seriously?\n\"After all, you should know it was not My intention to leave you; our\nseparation was ordained by providence, who after all is the supreme controller and does as he desires. He causes the intermingling of different\npersons, and again disperses them as he desires. Sometimes we see that due\nto the presence of clouds and strong wind, atomic particles of dust and\nbroken pieces of cotton are intermingled together, and after the strong\nwind subsides, all the particles of dust and cotton are again separated,\nscattered in different places. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is the creator of\n\neverything. The objects which we see are different manifestations of His\nenergy. By His supreme will we are sometimes united and sometimes\nseparated. We can therefore conclude that ultimately we are absolutely\n\ndependent on His will.\n\n\"Fortunately, you have developed loving affection for Me, which is the\nonly way to achieve the transcendental position of association with Me.\nAny living entity who develops such unalloyed devotional affection for Me\ncertainly at the end goes back to home, back to Godhead. In other words,\nunalloyed devotional service and affection for Me are the cause of supreme\nliberation.\n\"My dear gopi friends, you may know from Me that it is My energies\nonly which are acting everywhere. Take, for example, an earthen pot. It is\nnothing but a combination of earth, water, air, fire and sky. It is always of\nthe same physical composites, whether in its beginning, during its existence or after its annihilation. When it is created, the earthen pot is\nmade of earth, water, fire, air and sky; while it remains, it is the same in\ncomposition; and when it is broken and annihilated, its different ingredients\nare conserved in different parts of the material energy. Similarly, at the\ncreation of this cosmic manifestation, during its maintenance, and after\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0235": "198\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nits dissolution, everything is but a different manifestation of My energy.\nAnd because the energy is not separate from Me, it is to be concluded that\nI am existing in everything.\n\n\"In the same way, the body of a living being is nothing but a compo­\n\nsition of the five elements, and the living entity embodied in the material\ncondition is also part and parcel of Me. The living entity is imprisoned in\nthe material condition on account of his false conception of himself as the\nsupreme enjoyer. This false ego of the living entity is the cause of his\nimprisonment in material existence. As the Supreme Absolute Truth, I am\n\ntranscendental to the living entity, as well as to his material embodiment.\nThe two energies, material and spiritual, are both acting under My supreme\n\ncontrol. My dear gopis I request that instead of being so afflicted, you try\n,\n\nto accept everything with a philosophical attitude. Then you will understand that you are always with Me and that there is no cause of lamentation\nin our being separated from one another.\"\nThis important instruction of Lord Kr�l)a's to the gopis can be utilized\nby all devotees engaged in Kr�l)a consciousness. The whole philosophy is\nconsidered on the basis of inconceivable, simultaneous oneness arid difference. In Bhagavad-gitii the Lord says that He is present everywhere in\nHis impersonal feature. Everything is existing in Him, but still He is not\npersonally present everywhere. The cosmic manifestation is nothing but a\ndisplay of Kf�l)a's energy, and because the energy is not different from the\nenergetic, nothing is different from Kr�l)a. When this absolute consciousness, Kr�l)a consciousness, is absent, we are separated from Kr�l)a; but\nfortunately, if this Kf�l)a consciousness is present, then we are not separated\nfrom Kr�l)a. The process of devotional service is the revival of Krwa\nconsciousness, and if the devotee is fortunate enough to understand that\nthe material energy is not separated from Kr�l)a, then he can utilize the\nmaterial energy and its products in the service of the Lord. But in the\nabsence of Kr�l)a consciousness, the forgetful living entity, although part\nand parcel of Krwa, falsely puts himself in the position of e�joyer of the\n\nmaterial world and, being thus implicated in material entanglement, is\n\nforced by the material energy to continue his material existence. This is\n\nalso confirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii. Although a living entity is forced to\n\nact by the material energy, he falsely thinks that he is the aU-in-all and the\nsupreme en]oyer.\nIf the devotee knows perfectly that the arcii-vigraha, or Deity form of\nLord Kf�l)a in the temple, is exactly the same sac-cid-iinanda-vigraha as\nKrwa Himself, then his service to the temple Deity becomes direct service\nto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Similarly, the temple itself, the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0236": "Lord Kr�!la and Balarama Meet the Inhabitants of Vrndavana\n\n199\n\ntemple paraphernalia and the food offered to the Deity are also not\nseparate from Kr�!J.a. One has to follow the rules and regulations prescribed\n\nby the iiciiryas, and thus, under superior guidance, Kr�!la-realization is\nfully possible, even in this material existence.\n\nThe gopis, having been instructed by Kr�!la in this philosophy of simul­\n\ntaneous oneness and difference, remained always in Kr�!la consciousness\n\nand thus became liberated from all material contamination. The consciousness of the living entity who falsely presents himself as the enjoyer of the\n\nmaterial world is called jiva-kosa, which means imprisonment by the false\n\nego. Not only the gopis but anyone who follows these instructions of Kr�!la\n\nbecomes immediately freed from the jiva-kosa imprisonment. A person in\n\nfull Kr�!la consciousness is always liberated from false egoism; he utilizes\n\neverything for Kr�!la's service and is not at any time separated from Kr�!J.a.\n\nThe gopis therefore prayed to Kr�!J.a, \"Dear Kr�!J.a, from Your navel\n\nemanated the original lotus flower which is the birthsite of Brahma, the\n\ncreator. No one can estimate Your glories or Your opulence, which there­\n\nfore remain always a mystery even to the highest thoughtful men, the\n\nmasters of all yogic power. The conditioned soul fallen in the dark well of\n\nthis material existence can very easily, however, take shelter of the lotus\n\nfeet of Lord Kr�!J.a. Thus his deliverance is guaranteed.\" The gopis\n\ncontinued: \"Dear Kr�!J.a, we are always busy in our family affairs. We\ntherefore request that You remain within our hearts as the rising sun, and\n\nthat v.rill be Your greatest benediction.\"\n\nThe, gopis are always liberated souls, because they are fully in Kr�!la\n\nconsciousness. They only pretended to be entangled in household affairs in\n\nVrndavana. In spite of their long separation, the inhabitants of Vrndavana,\n\nthe gopis, were not interested in the idea of going with Kr�!la to His capital\n\ncity, Dvaraka. They wanted to remain busy in Vrndavana and thus feel the\npresence of Kr�!la in every step of their lives. They immediately invited\n\nKr�!la to come back to Vrndavana. This transcendental emotional existence\n\nof the go pis is the basic principle of Lord Caitanya 's teaching. The Ratha­\n\nyiitrii Festival observed by Lord Caitanya is the emotional process of taking\n\nKr�!la back to vrndavana. Srimati Radhara!J.I refused to go with Kr�!la to\n\nDvaraka to enjoy His company in the atmosphere of royal opulence, but\n\nwanted to enjoy His company in the original V rndavana atmosphere. Lord\nKrwa, being profoundly attached to the gopis, never goes away from\nVrndavana, and the gopis and other residents of Vrndavana remain fully\n\nsatisfied in Kr�!la consciousness.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, twenty­\n\nseventh CHapter, of Kr�!J.a, \"Lord Kr§!w and Balariima Meet the Inhabitants\nof Vrndiivana.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0237": "28 I Draupadi Meets the Queens of Kr��a\n\nThere were many visitors who came to see Kr�l).a, and among them were\nthe Pa1).9avas, headed by King YudhiHhira. After talking with the gopis and\nbestowing upon them the greatest benediction, Lord Kr�l).a came to welcome King Yudhi�thira and other relatives who had come to see Him. He\nfirst of all inquired from them whether their situation was auspicious.\nActually, there is no question of ill fortune for anyone who sees the\nlotus feet of Lord Kr�l).a, yet when Lord Kr�l).a, as a matter of etiquette,\ninquired from King Yudhi�thira about his welfare, the King became very\nhappy by such a reception and began to address the Lord thus: \"My dear\nLord Kr�l).a, great personalities and devotees in full Kr�9-a consciousness\nalways think of Your lotus feet and remain fully satisfied by drinking the\nnectar of transcendental bliss. The nectar which they constantly drink\nsometimes comes out of their mouths and is sprinkled on others as the\nnarration of Your transcendental activities. This nectar coming from the\nmouth of a devotee is so powerful that if one is fortunate enough to have\nthe opportunity to drink it, he immediately becomes freed from the\ncontinuous journey of birth and death. Our material existence is caused by\nour forgetfulness of Your personality, but fortunately, the darkness of\nforgetfulness is immediately dissipated if one is privileged to hear about\nYour glories. Therefore, my dear Lord, where is the possibility of ill\nfortune for one who is constantly engaged in hearing Your glorious\nactivities?\n\"Since we are fully surrendered unto You and have no other shelter\nthan Your lotus feet, we are always confident of our good fortune. My\ndear Lord, You are the ocean of unlimited knowledge and transcendental\nbliss. The result of the action of mental concoction is to exist in the three\ntemporary phases of material life-wakefulness, sleep and deep sleep. But\nthese conditions cannot exist in Kr�9-a consciousness. All such reactions\n200\n\nd.__\n\n___ �-�\n_\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0238": "1\nDraupadi Meets the Queens of Kf�J)a\n\n201\n\nare invalidated by practice of Kf�J)a consciousness. You are the ultimate\ndestination of all liberated persons. Out of Your independent will only,\n\nYou have descended on this earth by the use of Your own internal\n\npotency, yogamiiyii, and in order to reestablish the Vedic principles of\nlife, You have appeared just like an ordinary human being. Since You are\n\nthe Supreme Person, there cannot, therefore, be any ill luck for one who\n\nhas fully surrendered unto You.\"\n\nWhen Lord Kr�J)a was busy meeting various kinds of visitors and while\n\nthey were engaged in offering prayers to the Lord, the female members of\nthe Kuru dynasty and the Yadu dynasty took the opportunity of meeting\n\nwith one another and engaging in talk of Lord Kr�J)a's transcendental\n\npastimes. The first inquiry was made by Draupadi to the wives of Lord\nKrwa. She addressed them: \"My dear Rukmil)i, Bhadra, Jambavati, Satya,\n\nSatyabhama, Kalindi, Saibya, Lak�mal)ii, Rohil)i and all other wives of\nLord Kf�J)a, will you please let us know how Lord Kr�J)a, the Supreme\n\nPersonality of Godhead, accepted you as His wives and married you in\n\npursuance of the marriage ceremonies of ordinary human beings?\n\nTo this question, the chief of the queens, Rukmil)idevi, replied, \"My\n\ndear Draupadi, it was practically a settled fact that princes like Jarasandha\n\nand others wanted me to marry King Sisupala, and, as is usual, all the\n\nprinces present during the marriage ceremony were prepared with their\n\narmor and weapons to fight with any rival who dared to stop the marriage.\n\nBut the Supreme .Personality of Godhead kidnapped me the way a lion\n\ntakes away a lamb from the flock. This was not, however, a very wondrous\n\nact for Lord Kr�J)a, because anyone who claims to be a very great hero or\n\nking within this world is subordinate to the lotus feet of the Lord. All the\nkings touch their helmets to the lotus feet of Lord Kr�J)a. My dear\n\nDraupadi, it is my eternal desire that life after life I may be engaged in the\n\nservice of Lord Kr�J)a, who is the reservoir of all pleasure and beauty. This\n\nis my only desire and ambition in life.\"\n\nAfter this, Satyabhama began to speak. She said, \"My dear Draupadi,\n\nmy father was very much afflicted on the death of his brother, Prasena,\n\nand he falsely accused Lord Kr�J)a of killing his brother and stealing the\nSyamantaka jewel, which had actually been taken by Jambavan. Lord\n\nKr�J)a, in order to establish His pure character, fought with Jambavan\n\nand rescued the Syamantaka jewel, which was later delivered to my father.\n\nMy father was very much ashamed and sorry for accusing Lord Kr�J)a of\nhis brother's death. After getting back the Syamantaka jewel, he thought\nit wise to rectify his mistake, so although he had promised others my hand\nin marriage, he submitted the jewel and myself at the lotus feet of Kr�J)a,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0239": "Kr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n202\n\nand thus I was accepted as His maidservant and wife.\"\n\nMter this, Jambavati replied to Draupadi's question. She said, \"My dear\n\nDraupadi, when Lord Kr§!la attacked my father Jambavan, the King of\n\nthe rk§aS, my father did not know that Lord Kr§pa was his former master,\n\nLord Ramacandra, the husband of Sita. Not knowing the identity of Lord\n\nKrwa, my father remained continually engaged in fighting with Him for\n\ntwenty-seven days. After this period, when he became very tired and\nfatigued, he could understand that since no one but Lord Ramacandra\n\ncould defeat him, his opponent, Lord Kr�pa, must be the same Lord\n\nRamacandra. He thus came to his senses and not only immediately\n\nreturned the Syamantaka jewel, but in order to satisfy the Lord, he\npresented me to Him to become His wife. In this way I was married to the\n\nLord, and thus my desire to remain life after life as a servitor of Kr§pa was\n\nfulfilled.\"\n\nAfter this, Kalindi' said, \"My dear Draupadi, I was engaged in great\n\nausterities and penances in order to get Lord Kr�pa as my husband. When\nLord Kf§!la became aware of this fact, He very kindly came to m� along\n\nwith His friend Arjuna and accepted me as His wife. Lord Kr§pa then\n\ntook me away from the bank o f Yamuna, and since then I have been\nengaged in the house of Lord Kr�pa as a sweeper. And the Lord is treating\n\nme as His wife.\"\n\nAfter this, Mitravinda said, \"My dear Draupadi', there was a great\n\nassembly of princes at my svayamvara ceremony. Lord Kr�I}a was also\npresent in that meeting, and He accepted me as His maidservant by defeat­\n\ning all the princes present there. He immediately took me away to Dvaraka,\n\nexactly as a lion takes a deer from a pack of dogs. When I was thus taken\n\naway by Lord Kr�pa, my brothers wanted to fight with Him, and later on\nthey were defeated. Thus my desire to become the maidservant of Kr§pa\nlife after life was fulfilled.\"\n\nAfter this, Satya addressed Draupadi in this way: \"My dear Draupadi,\n\nmy father arranged for an assembly for my svayamvara [the personal\n\nselection of a husband] , and in order to test the strength and heroism\n\nof the prospective bridegrooms, my father stipulated that they each\n\nfight with his seven ferocious bulls, which had long, serpentine horns.\n\nMany\n\nheroic\n\nprospective bridegrooms tried to defeat the bulls, but\n\nunfortunately they were all severely struck, and they returned to their\n\nhomes as defeated invalids. When Lord Sri Kr�pa came and fought with\n\nthe bulls, they were just like playthings for Him. He captured the bulls and\nroped each one of them by their nostrils. Thus they came under His control,\n\njust like a goat's small kids come very easily under the control of children.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0240": "Draupadi Meets the Queens of Kr��a\n\n203\n\nMy father became very pleased and married me with Lord Kr��a in great\npomp, giving as my dowry many divisions of soldiers, horses, chariots and\nelephants, along with hundreds of maidservants. Thus Lord Kr��a brought\nme to His capital city, Dvaraka. On the way back, He was also assaulted\nby many princes, but Lord Kr�v.a defeated all of them, and thus I have the\nprivilege of serving His lotus feet as a maidservant.\"\nAfter this, Bhadra began to speak. She said, \"My dear Draupadi, Lord\nKr�v.a is the son of my maternal uncle. Fortunately, I became attracted to\nHis lotus feet. When my father understood these feelings of mine, he\npersonally arranged for my marriage, inviting Lord Kr��a to marry me and\ngiving Him in dowry one ak§auhir-i, or division of armed forces, along with\nmany maidservants and other royal paraphernalia. I do not know whether\nI shall be able to have the shelter of Lord Kr��a life after life, but still I\n\npray to the Lord that wherever I may take my birth I may not forget my\nrelationship with His lotus feet.\"\nThen Lak�ma�a said, \"My dear Queen, many times I have heard the\ngreat sage Narada glorifying the pastimes of Lord Kr�p.a. I became attracted\nto the lotus feet of Kr�p.a when I heard Narada say that the goddess of\nfortune, Lak�mi, was also attracted to His lotus feet. Since then I have\nalways been thinking of Him, and thus my attraction for Him has increased.\nMy dear Queen, my father was very affectionate toward me. When he\nunderstood that I was attracted to Kr��a, he devised a plan. His plan was\nlike that devised by your father; during the svayarhvara, the prospective\nbridegrooms had to pierce the eyes of a fish with their arrows. The\ndifference between the competition in your svayarhvara and mine was\nthat in your case the fish was hanging openly on the ceiling, in clear view,\nbut in my case the fish was covered with a cloth and could only be seen\nby the reflection of the cloth in a pot of water. That was the special\nfeature of my svayarhvara.\n\"The news of this device was spread all over the world, and when the\nprinces heard of it, they arrived at my father's capital city from all\ndirections, fully equipped with armor and guided by their military instructors. Each one of them desired to win me as his wife, and one after\nanother they raised the bow and arrow which was left there for\n\npiercing\n\nthe fish. Many could not even join the bowstring to the two ends of the\nbow, and without attempting to pierce the fish, they simply left the bow\nas it was and went away. Some with great difficulty drew the string from\none end to the other, and being unable to tie the other end, they were\nsuddenly knocked down by the spring-like bow. My dear Queen, you will\nbe surprised to know that at my svayariwara meeting there were many\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0241": "204\n\nKr�!�a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nfamous kings and heroes present. Heroes like J arasandha, Amba�tha,\n\nSisupala, Bhimasena, Duryodhana and Kar!la were, of course, able to\n\nstring the bow, but they could not pierce the fish, because it was\ncovered, and they could not trace it out from the reflection. The celebrated\n\nhero of the Pa��avas, Arjuna, was able to see the reflection of the fish on\n\nthe water, but although with great caution he traced out the location of\nthe fish and shot an arrow, he did not pierce the fish in the right spot.\n\nHis arrow at least touched the fish, and so he proved himself better than\n\nall other princes.\n\n\"All the princes who had tried to pierce the target were disappointed,\n\nbeing baffled in their attempts, and some candidates had even left the\n\nplace without making an attempt, but when at last Lord Kr�!la took up\n\nthe bow, He was able to tie the bowstring very easily, just as a child plays\n\nwith a toy. He placed the arrow, �nd looking only once at the reflection of\n\nthe fish in the water, He shot the arrow, and the pierced fish immediately\n\nfell down. This victory of Lord Kr��a was accomplished at noon, during\nthe moment called abhijit, which is astronomically calc�.ll ated as ausr.icious.\n\nAt that time the vibration of ']aya! ]aya!' was heard all over the world,\n\nand from the sky came sounds of drums beat by the denizens of heaven.\n\nGreat demigods were overwhelmed with joy and began to shower flowers\n\non the earth.\n\n\"At that time, I entered the arena of competition, and the ankle bells\n\non my legs were sounding very melodiously as I walked. I was nicely\ndressed with new silken garments, flowers were decorating my hair, and\n\nbecause of Lord Kr��a's victory, I was in ecstatic joy and smiling very\n\npleasingly. I was carrying in my hands a golden necklace bedecked with\n\njewels, which was glittered at intervals. My curling hair encircled my face,\n\nwhich was shining with a bright luster due to the reflection of my various\n\nrings. My eyes blinking, I first of all observed all the princes present, and\nwhen I reached my Lord I very slowly placed the golden necklace on His\n\nneck. As I have already informed you, from the very beginning my mind\nhad been attracted by Lord Kr��a, and thus I considered the garlanding\n\nof the Lord to be my great victory. As soon as I placed my garland on the\nneck of the Lord, there sounded immediately the combined vibration of\n\nmrdangas, patahas, conchshells, drums, kettledrums and other instruments,\n\ncausing a tumultuous sound, and while the music played, expert male and\nfemale dancers began to dance, and singers began to sing sweetly.\n\n\"My dear Draupadi, when I accepted Lord Kr��a as my worshipable\n\nhusband, and He also accepted me as His maidservant, there was a\ntumultuous roaring among the disappointed princes. All of them became\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0242": "Draupadi Meets the Queens of Kr�t�a\n\n205\n\nvery agitated because of their lusty desires, but without caring for them,\n\nmy husband, in His form as the four-handed Naraya�a, immediately took\n\nme on His chariot, which was drawn by four excellent horses. Expecting\n\nopposition from the princes, He armored Himself and took up His bow\n\nnamed Sani.ga, but our celebrated driver, Daruka, drove the beautiful\nchariot without a moment's delay toward the city of Dvaraka. Thus, in the\n\npresence of all the princes, I was carried away very quickly, exactly as a\n\ndeer is carried away from the flock by a lion. Some of the princes,\n\nhowever, wanted to check our progress, and thus,.equipped with proper\n\nweapons, they opposed us, just as dogs try to oppose the pro gressive march\nof a lion. At that time, due to the arrows released by the Sani.ga bow of\nLord Kr��a, some of the princes were cut on their left hands, some of\n\nthem lost their legs, and some lost their heads and their lives, and others\nfled from the battlefield.\n\n\"The Supreme Personality of Godhead then entered the most celebrated\n\ncity of the universe, Dvaraka, and as He entered the city, He appeared like\n\nthe shining sun. The whole city of Dvaraka was profusely decorated on\nthat occasion. There were so many flags and festoons and gates all over\n\nDvaraka that the sunshine could not even enter the city. I have already\n\ntold you that my father was very much affectionate to me, so when he\n\nsaw that my desire was fulfilled by getting Lord Kr��a as my husband, in\n\ngreat happiness he began to distribute to friends and relatives various kinds\nof gifts, such as valuable dresses, ornaments, bedsteads and sitting carpets.\n\nLord Kr��a is always self-sufficient, yet my father, out of his own accord,\n\noffered my husband a dowry consisting of riches, soldiers, elephants,\nchariots, horses and many rare and valuable weapons. He presented all\n\nthese to the Lord with great enthusiasm. My dear Queen, at that time I\n\ncould guess that in my previous life I must have performed some wonder­\n\nfully pious activity, and as a result I can in this life be one of the\nmaidservants in the house of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\"\n\nWhen all the principal queens of Lord Kr��a had finished their state·\n\nments, Rohi�i, as the representative of the other sixteen thousand queens,\n\nbegan to narrate the incident of their becoming wives of Kr��a.\n\n\"My dear Queen, when Bhaumasura was conquering all the world, he\n\ncollected wherever possible all the beautiful daughters of the kings and\n\nkept us arrested within his palace. When news of our imprisonment reached\n\nLord Kr��a, He fought with Bhaumasura and released us. Lord Kr�!la\n\nkilled Bhaumasura and all his soldiers, and although He had no need to\n\naccept even one wife, He nevertheless, by our request, married all sixteen\nthousand of us. My dear Queen, our only qualification was that we were\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0243": "206\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nalways thinking of the lotus feet of Lord Kr��a, which is the way to\nrelease oneself from the bondage of repeated birth and death. My dear\nQueen Draupadi, please take it from us that we are not after any opulence\nsuch as kingdom, empire, or a position of heavenly enjoyment. We do not\nwant to enjoy such material opulences, nor do we desire to achieve the\nyogic perfections, nor the exhalted post of Lord Brahma. Nor do we want\nany of the different kinds of liberation salokya, sar�ti, siimipya or sayujya.\n-\n\nWe are not at all attracted by any of these opulences. Our only ambition\nis to bear on our heads life after life the dust particles attached to the\nlotus feet of Lord Krwa. The goddess of fortune also desired to keep\nthat dust on her breast along with the fragrant saffron. We simply desire\nthis dust, which accumulates underneath the lotus feet of Kr�!la as He\ntravels on the land of V rndavana as a cowherd boy. The gopis especially,\nand also the cowherd men and the aborigine tribeswomen, always desire\nto become the grass and straw on the street of V rndavana, to be trampled\non by the lotus feet of Kr�!la. My dear Queen, we wish to remain as such\nlife after life, without any other desire.\"\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Twentyeighth Chapter, of Kr�!la, \"Draupadi Meets the Queens of K[§!W.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0244": "29 I Sacrificial Ceremonies\nPerformed by Vasudeva\nAmong the women present at Kuruk�etra during the solar eclipse were\n\nKunti, Gandhari, Draupadi, Subhadra and the queens of many other kings,\n\nas well as the gopis from Vrndavana. When the different queens of Lord\n\nKr��a were submitting their statements as to how they were married and\n\naccepted by Lord Kr��a as His wives, all the female members of the Kuru\ndynasty were struck with wonder. They were filled with admiration at\nhow all the queens of Kr��a were attached to Him with love and affection.\n\nWhen they heard about the queens' intensity of love and affection for\nKrwa, they could not check their eyes from filling up with tears.\n\nWhile the women were engaged in conversations among themselves and\n\nthe men were similarly engaged in conversation, there arrived almost all\n\nthe important sages and ascetics from all directions, who had come for the\npurpose of seeing Lord Kr��a and Balarama. Chief among the sages were\n\nKr��a-dvaipayana Vyasa, the great sage Narada, Cyavana, Devala, Asita,\nVisvamitra, Satananda, Bharadvaja, Gautarrta, and Lord Parasurama along\n\nwith his disciples;\n\nVasi�tha, Galava, Bhrgu, Pulastya, Kasyapa, Atri,\n\nMarka��eya, Brhaspati, Dvita, Trita, Ekata; the four Kumara sons of\n\nBrahma, Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanatkumara; Angira and\n\nAgastya, Yajfiavalkya and Vamadeva.\n\nAs soon as the sages and ascetics arrived, all the kings, including\n\nMaharaja Yudhi�!hira and the Pa��avas and Lord Kr��a and Balarama,\n\nimmediately got up from their seats and offered their respects by bowing\n\ndown to the universally respected sages. After this, the sages were properly\n\nwelcomed by being offered seats and water for washing their feet. Palatable\nfruits, garlands of flowers, incense, and sandalwood pulp were presented,\n\nand all the kings, led by Kr��a and Balarama, worshiped the sages according\nto the Vedic rules and regulations. When all the sages were comfortably\n\nseated, Lord Kr��a, who descended for the protection of religion, began\n207\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0245": "208\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nto address them on behalf of all the kings. When Kr��a began to speak, all\nbecame silent, being eager to hear and understand His welcoming words to\nthe sages.\nLord Kr��a spoke thus: \"All glories to the assembled sages and ascetics!\nToday we are all feeling that our lives have become successful. Today we\nhave achieved the desired goal of life, because we are now seeing face to\nface all the exalted liberated sages and ascetics whom even the great demigods in the heavens desire to see. Persons who are neophytes in devotional\nservice and who simply offer their respectful obeisances to the Deity in\nthe temple but cannot realize that the Lord is situated in everyone's\nheart, and those who simply worship different demigods for fulfillment\nof their own lusty desires, are unable to understand the importance of\nthese sages. They cannot take advantage of receiving these sages by\nseeing them with their eyes, by touching their lotus feet, by inquiring\nabout their welfare or by diligently worshiping them.\"\nNeophyte devotees or religionists cannot understand the importance of\ngreat mahatmas. They go to the temple as a matter of formality and pay\ntheir respectful obeisances unto the Deity. When one ·is promoted to the\nnext\n\nplatform\n\nof trance consciousness, one can understand the im­\n\nportance of mahatmas and devotees, and in that stage the devotee\ntries to please them. Therefore, Lord Kr��a said that the neophyte cannot\nunderstand the importance of great sages, devotees or ascetics.\nKr��a continued, \"One cannot purify himself by traveling to holy\nplaces of pilgrimage and taking bath there or by seeing the Deities in the\ntemples. But if one happens to _meet a great devotee, a mahatma who is\nrepresentative of the Personality of Godhead, one becomes immediately\npurified. In order to become purified, there is the injunction to worship\nthe fire, the sun, the moon, the earth, the water, the air, the sky and the\nmind. By worshiping all the elements and their predominating deities, one\ncan become free from the influence of envy, but all the sins of an envious\nperson can be nullified immediately simply by serving a great soul. My\ndear revered sages and respectable kings, you can take it from Me that a\nperson who accepts this material body made of three elements-mucus,\nbile and air-as his own self, who considers his family and relatives as his\nown, and who accepts material things as worshipable, or who visits holy\nplaces of pilgrimage just to take a bath there, but never associates with\ngreat personalities, sages and mahatmas-such a person, even in the form of\na human being, is nothing but an animal, like an ass.\"\nWhen the supreme authority, Lord Kr��a, was thus speaking with great\ngravity, all the sages and ascetics remained in dead silence. They became\n\n\\\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0246": "Sacrificial Ceremonies Performed by Vasudeva\n\n209\n\namazed upon hearing Him speaking the absolute philosophy of life in such\na concise way. Unless one is very much advanced in knowledge, one thinks\nhis body to be his self, his family members to be his kith and kin, and the\nland of his birth to be worshipable. From this concept of life, the modern\nideology of nationalism has sprung up. Lord Krwa condemned such ideas,\nand He also condemned persons who take the trouble to go to holy places\nof pilgrimage just to take a bath and come back without taking the opportunity to associate with the great devotees and mahiitmiis living there.\nSuch persons are compared to the most foolish animal, the ass. All those\nwho heard considered the speech of Lord Kr��a for some time, and they\nconcluded that Lord Kr��a was actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead, playing the role of an ordinary human being who is forced to take\na certain type of body as a result of the reactions of his past deeds. He\nwas assuming this pastime as an ordinary human simply to teach the people\nin general how they should live for perfection of the human mission.\nHaving concluded that Kr��a was the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\nthe sages began to address Him thus: \"Dear Lord, we., the leaders of\nhuman society, are supposed to possess the proper philosophy of life,.and\nyet we are becoming bewildered by the spell of Your external energy. We\nare surprised to see Your behavior, which is just like that of an ordinary\nhuman being and which conceals Your real identity as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and we therefore consider Your pastimes to be\nall-wonderful.\n\"Our dear Lord, by Your own energy You are creating, maintaining and\nannhilating the whole cosmic manifestation of different names and forms,\nin the same way as the earth creates many forms of stone, trees and other\nvarieties of names and forms and yet remains the same. Although You are\ncreating varieties of manifestation through Your energy, You are unaffected\nby all those actions. Our dear Lord, we remain simply stunned by seeing\nYour wonderful actions. Although You are transcendental to this entire\nmaterial creation and are the Supreme Lord and the Supersoul of all living\nentities, You nevertheless appear on this earth by Your internal potency\nto protect Your devotees and destroy the miscreants. By such appearance\nYou reestablish the principles of eternal religion, which the human society\nforgets by long association with the material energy. Our dear Lord, You\nare the creator of the social orders and spiritual statuses of the human\nsociety according to quality and work, and when these orders are misguided\nby unscrupulous persons, You appear and set them right.\n\"Dear Lord, the Vedic knowledge is the representation of Your pure\nheart. Austerities, study of the Vedas, and meditative trances lead to\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0247": "210\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ndifferent realizations of Your Self in Your manifested and nonmanifested\naspects. The entire phenomenal world is a manifestation of Your impersonal energy, but You Yourself, as the original Personality of Godhead,\nare nonmanifested there. You are the Supreme Soul, the Supreme Brahman.\nPersons who are situated in brahminical culture, therefore, can understand\nthe truth about Your transcendental form. Thus You always hold the\n\nbriihmar-as in respect, and thus You are considered to be the topmost\nof all followers of brahminical culture. You are therefore known as\nbrahma1Jya-deva. Our dear Lord, You are the last word in good fortune and\nthe last resort of all saintly persons; therefore we all consider that we have\nachieved the perfection of our life, education, austerity and acquisition of\ntranscendental knowledge by meeting You. Factually, You are th_e ultimate\ngoal of all transcendental achievements.\n\"Our dear Lord, there is no end to Your unlimited knowledge. Your\nform is transcendental, eternally existing in full bliss and knowledge. You\nare the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Soul. Being covered by the spell of Your internal potency, yogamiiyii,\nYou are now temporarily concealing Your unlimited potencies, but still\nwe can understand Your exalted position, and therefore all of us offer You\nour respectful obeisances. Dear Lord, You are enjoying Your pastimes in\nthe role of a human being, concealing Your real character of transcendental\nopulence; therefore, all the kings who are present here, even the members\nof the Yadu dynasty who are constantly mingling with You, eating with\nYou, and sitting with You, cannot understand that You are the original\ncause of all causes, the soul of everyone, the original cause of all creation.\n\"When a person dreams at night, hallucinatory figures created by the\ndream are accepted as real, and the imaginary dream body is accepted as\none's real body. For the time being one forgets that besides the body\ncreated in hallucination, -there is another, real body in his awakened state.\nSimilarly, in the awakened state also, the bewildered conditioned soul\nconsiders sense enjoyment to be real happiness.\n\"By the process of enjoyment of the senses of the material body, the\nspirit soul is covered, and his consciousness becomes materially contaminated. It is due to material consciousness that one cannot understand the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead, Krwa. All great mystic yogis endeavor\nto revive their Kr��a consciousness by mature practice of the yoga system\nand thus understand Your lotus feet and meditate upon Your transcendental form. In this way the accumulated result of sinful activities is\ncounteracted. It is said that the water of the Ganges can vanquish volumes\nof a person's sinful actions, but the Ganges water is glorious only due to\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0248": "Sacrificial Ceremonies Performed by Vasudeva\n\n211\n\nYour lotus feet. The Ganges water is flowing as perspiration from the lotus\nfeet of Your Lordship. And we are all so fortunate that today we have\nbeen able to directly see Your lotus feet. Dear Lord, we are all surrendered\nsouls, devotees of Your Lordship; therefore, please be kind and bestow\nYour causeless mercy upon us. We know well that persons who have\nbecome liberated by constant engagement in Your devotional service are\nno longer contaminated by the material modes of nature; thus they have\nbecome eligible to be promoted to the kingdom of God in the spiritual\nworld.\"\nAfter first offering prayers to Lord Krwa, the assembled sages wanted\nto take permission from King Dhftara�tra and King Yudhi�thira and then\ndepart for their respective iisramas. At that time, however, Vasudeva,\nthe father of Lord Kr��a and the most celebrated of all pious men,\napproached the sages and with great humility offered his respects by falling\ndown at their feet. Vasudeva said, \"My dear great sages, you are more\nrespected than the demigods. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances\nunto you. I wish that you will accept my one request, if you so desire. I\nshall consider it a great blessing if you kindly explain the supreme fruitive\nactivity by which one can counteract the reactions of all other activities.\"\nThe great sage Narada was the leader of all the sages present there.\nTherefore he began to speak. \"My dear sages,\" he said, \"it is not very\ndifficult to understand that because of his great goodness and simplicity,\nVasudeva, who has .become the father of the Personality of Godhead by\naccepting Kr��a as his son, is inclined to ask us about his welfare. It is said\nthat familiarity breeds contempt. As such, Vasudeva, having Kr��a as his\nson, does not regard Kr��a with awe and veneration. Sometimes it is seen\nthat persons who are living on the bank of the Ganges do not consider the\nGanges to be very important, and they go far away in order to take their\nbaths at a place of pilgrimage. Being that Lord Kr��a, whose knowledge is\nnever second in any circumstances, is personally present, there is no need\nof Vasudeva's asking us for instruction.\n\"Lord Kr��a is not affected by the process of creation, maintenance and\nannihilation; His knowledge is never influenced by any agency beyond\nHimself. He is not agitated by the interaction of the material qualities,\nwhich changes things in the modes of time. His transcendental form is full\nof knowledge which never becomes agitated by ignorance, pride, attachment, envy or sense enjoyment. His knowledge is never subjected to the\nlaws of karma regarding pious or impious activities; nor is it influenced\nby the three modes of material energy. No one is greater than or equal to\nHim, because He is the supreme authority, the Personality of Godhead.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0249": "212\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n\"The ordinary conditioned human being may think the conditioned\nsoul, who is covered by his materialistic senses, mind and intelligence, to\nbe equal to Kr§�a, but Lord Kr��a is just like the sun, which, although it\nsometimes may appear to be so, is never covered by the cloud, snow or fog\nor by other planets. When the eyes of less intelligent men are covered by\nsuch influences, they think the sun to be invisible. Similarly, persons\ninfluenced by the senses and addicted to material enjoyment cannot have\na clear vision of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\"\nThe sages present then began to address Vasudeva in the presence of\nLord Kr§�a, Balarama and many other kings, and, as requested by him,\nthey gave their instructions: \"To counteract the reaction of karma, or\ndesires impelling one to fruitive activities, one must execute the prescribed\nsacrifices which are meant for worshiping Lord Vi§�U with faith and\ndevotion. Lord Vi§�U is the beneficiary of the results of all sacrificial\nperformances.\n\nGreat personalities and sages who are sufficiently ex­\n\nperienced to possess vision of the three phases of the time element,\nnamely past, present and future, and tl;wse who are able to see everything\nclearly through the eyes of revealed scriptures, have unanimously recommended that to purify the dust of material contamination accumulated\nin the heart and to clear the path of liberation and thereby achieve transcendental bliss, one must please Lord Vi§�U. For everyone in the different\nsocial orders (briihmarw,\n\nk§atriya and vaisya) who are living as house­\n\nholders, this worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Vi§�U,\nwho is known as Puru�ottama, the original person, is recommended as the\nonly auspicious path.\n\"All conditioned souls within this material world have deep-rooted\ndesires to lord it over the resources of material nature. Everyone wants to\naccumulate riches, everyone wants to enjoy life to the greatest extent,\neveryone wants a wife, home and children, and everyone wants to become\nhappy in this world and be elevated to the heavenly planets in the next\nlife. But these desires are the causes of one's material·bondage. Therefore,\nto get liberation from this bondage, one has to sacrifice his honestly\nearned riches for the satisfaction of Lord Vi��u.\n\"The only process to counteract all sorts of material desire is to\nengage oneself i� the devotional service of Lord Vi§�U. In this way a\n\nself-controlled person, even while remaining in householder life, should\n\ngive up the three kinds of material desires, namely desire for the acquisition\nof material opulences, the enjoyment of wife and children, and elevation\nto higher planets. Eventually he may give up householder life and accept\nthe renounced order of life, engaging himself completely in the devotional\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0250": "Sacrificial Ceremonies Performed by Vasudeva\n\n213\n\nservice of the Lord. Everyone, even if born in a higher status of life as\n\nbriihmarta, k§atriya, or vaisya, is certainly indebted to the demigods, to\nthe sages, to the forefathers, to living entities and so on, and in order to\nliquidate all these debts, one has to perform sacrifices, study the Vedic\nliterature, and generate children in religious householder life. If somehow\none accepts the renounced order of life without fulfilling this debt,\ncertainly he falls down from his position. Today you have already\nliquidated your debts to your forefathers and the sages. Now, by performing sacrifices, you can free yourself from indebtedness to the demigods\nand thus take complete shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\nMy dear Vasudeva, certainly you have already performed many pious\nactivities in your previous lives. Otherwise, how could you be the father of\nKr��a and Balarama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead?\"\nSaintly Vasudeva, after hearing all the sages, offered his respectful\nobeisances unto their lotus feet. In this way he pleased the sages, and then\nhe elected for them to perform the yajfias. When the sages were elected\nas priests of the sacrifices, they also in their turn induced Vasudeva to\ncollect the required paraphernalia for executing the yajfias in that place\nof pilgrimage. Thus Vasudeva was persuaded to start to perform the yajfias,\nand all the members of the Yadu dynasty took their baths, dressed themselves very nicely, and decorated themselves beautifully and garlanded\nthemselves with lotus flowers. Vasudeva's wives, dressed with nice garments\nand ornaments and .golden necklaces, approached the arena of sacrifice\ncarrying in their hands the required articles to offer in the sacrifice.\nWhen\n\neverything was complete, there was heard the vibration of\n\nmrdangas, conchshells, kettledrums and other musical instruments. Professional dancers, both male and female, began to dance. The siitas and\n.\nmiigadhas, who were professional singers, began to offer prayers by singing.\nThe Gandharvas and their wives, whose voices were very sweet, began to\nsing many auspicious songs. Vasudeva anointed his eyes with collyrium,\nsmeared butter over his body, and then, along with his eighteen wives,\nheaded by Devaki, sat before the priests to be purified by the abhi§eka\nceremony. All such ceremonies were observed strictly according to the\nprinciples of scriptures, as was done formerly in the case of the moon with\nthe stars. Vasudeva, because he was being initiated for the sacrifice, was\ndressed in deerskin, but all his wives were dressed with very nice saris,\nbangles,\n\nnecklaces,\n\nankle bells, earrings and many other ornaments.\n\nVasudeva looked very beautiful surrounded by his wives, exactly like the\nKing of heaven when he performs such sacrifices.\nAt that time, when Lord Kr��a and Lord Balarama, along with Their\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0251": "214\n\nKr��a, the Supre me Personality of Godhead\n\nwives, children and relatives, sat dow:n in that great sacrificial arena, it\n\nappeared that the Supreme Personality of Godhead was present along with\nall His part and parcel living entities and multi-energies. We have heard\n\nfrom the siistras that Lord Kr��a has multi-energies and parts and parcels,\n\nbut now in that sacrificial arena all could actually experience how the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead eternally exists along with His different\nenergies. At that time, Lord Kr��a appeared as Lord Nadiya�a, and Lord\nBalarama appeared as Sankar§a�a, the reservoir of all living entities.\nVasudeva satisfied Lord Vi§�U by performing different kinds of sacrifices,\n\nsuch as jyoti§toma, dar§a and pilrr-amiisa. Some of these yajnas are called\n\npriikrta, and some of them are known as sauryasatra or vaikrta. Thereafter,\n\nthe other sacrifices, known as agnihotra, were also performed, and the\nprescribed articles were offered in the proper way. In this way Lord Vi§�U\nbecame pleased. The ultimate purpose of offering oblations in sacrifice is\nto please Lord Viwu. But in this age of Kali it is very difficult to collect\nthe different articles required for offering sacrifices. People have neither\n\nthe means to collect the required paraphernalia nor the necessary knowledge\nor tendency to offer such sacrifices. Therefore, in this age of Kah, when\n\npeople are mostly unfortunate, full of anxieties and disturbed by various\nkinds of calamities, the only sacrifice recommended is the performance of\n\nsankirtana-yajna. Worshiping Lord Caitanya by this sankirtana-yajna is the\nonly recommended process in this age.\n\nAfter the performance of the different sacrifices, Vasudeva offered\n\nample riches, clothing, ornaments, cows, land and maidservants to the\n\npriests. Thereafter, all the wives of Vasudeva took their avabhrtha baths\nand performed the part of the sacrificial duties known as patnisamyiija.\n\nAfter finishing the offering with all the required paraphernalia, they all\n\ntook their baths together in the lakes constructed by Parasurama, which\n\nare known as the Rama-hra da. After Vasudeva and his wives took their\n\nbaths, all the garments and ornaments which they wore were distributed\nto the subordinate persons who were engaged in singing, dancing and\n\nsimilar activities. We may note that the performance of sacrifice ne­\n\ncessitates the profuse distribution of riches. Charity is offered to the\npriests and the briihma!las in the beginning, and used garments and\nornaments are offered in charity to the subordinate assistants after the\nperformance of the sacrifice.\nAfter offering the used articles to the singers and reciters, Vasudeva and\nhis wives, dressed with new ornaments and dresses, fed everyone very\nsumptuously, beginning from the briihmar-as down to the dogs. After this,\nall the friynds, family members, wives and children of Vasudeva, along\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0252": "Sacrificial Ceremonies Performed by Vasudeva\n\n215\n\nwith all the kings and members of the Vidarbha, Kosala, Kuru, Kasi,\nKekaya\n\nand\n\nSrnjaya dynasties,\n\nassembled together. The priests, the\n\ndemigods, the people in general, the forefathers, the ghosts and the Ciira­\n\nfl.US were all sufficiently remunerated by being offered ample gifts and\n\nrespectful honor. Then all the persons assembled there took permission from\n\nLord Kr§f}a, the husband of the goddess of fortune, and while glorifying\n\nthe perfection of the sacrifice made by Vasudeva, they departed to their\n'\nrespective homes.\nAt that time, when King Dhrtara§tra, Vidura, Yudhi§thira, Bhima,\n\nArjuna, Bhi§madeva, Dropacarya, Kunti, Nakula, Sahadeva, Narada, Lord\nVyasadeva and many other relatives and kinsmen were about to part,\n\nthey felt separation and therefore embraced each and every member of the\nYadu dynasty with great feeling. Many others who were assembled in that\n\nsacrificial arena also departed. After this, Lord Kr§I}a and Lord Balarama,\n\nalong with King Ugrasena, satisfied the inhabitants of Vrndavana, headed\n\nby Maharaja Nanda and the cowherd men, by profusely offering all kinds\n\nof gifts in order to worship them and please them. Out of their great\n\nfeelings of friendship, the inhabitants of vrndavana remained there for a\nconsiderable time along with the members of the Yadu dynasty.\n\nAfter performing this sacrifice, Vasudeva felt so satisfied that there\n\nwas no limit to his happiness. All the members of his family were with\n\nhim, and in their presence he caught hold of the hands of N anda\nMaharaja and addressed him thus: \"My dear brother, the Supreme Person­\n\nality of Godhead has created a great tie of bondage which is known as the\n\nbondage of love and affection. I think it is a very difficult job for even the\ngreat sages and saintly persons to cut such a tie of love. My dear bro­\n\nther, you have exhibited feelings of love for me, which I was not able\nto return. I think, therefore, that I am ungrateful. You have behaved\n\nexactly as is characteristic of saintly persons, but I shall never be able to\n\nrepay you. I have no means to repay you for your friendly dealings.\n\nNevertheless I am confident that our tie of love will never break. Our\n\nrelationship of friendship must ever continue, in spite of my inability to\nrepay you·. I hope you will excuse me for this inability.\n\n\"My dear brother, in the beginning, due to my being imprisoned, I\n\ncould never serve you as a friend, and although at the present moment I\nam very opulent, because of my material prosperity I have become blind.\n\nI therefore cannot satisfy you properly even at this time. My dear brother,\n\nyou are so nice and gentle that you offer all respect to others, but you\n\ndon't care for any respect for yourself. A person seeking for auspicious\n\nprogress in life must not possess too much material opulence with which\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0253": "216\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nto become blind and puffed up, but he should take care of his friends and\nrelatives.\"\nWhen Vasudeva was speaking to Nanda Maharaja in this way, he was\ninfluenced by a great feeling for the friendship of Nanda Maharaja and the\nbeneficial activities executed by King Nanda on his behalf. As such, his\neyes filled with tears, and he began to cry. Desiring to please his friend\nVasudeva and being affectionately bound with love for Lord Kr��a and\nBalarama, Nanda Maharaja passed three months in their association. At\nthe end of this time, all the members of Y adu dynasty tried to please the\ninhabitants of V�ndavana to their hearts' content. The members of the\nYadu dynasty tried to satisfy Nanda Maharaja and his associates by\noffering them clothing, ornaments, and many other valuable articles, and\nthey all became fully satisfied. Vasudeva, Ugrasena, Lord KHI}a, Lord\nBalarama, Uddhava and all other members of the Y adu dynasty presented\ntheir individual gifts to Nanda Maharaja and his associates. After Nanda\nMaharaja received these farewell presentations, he, along �ith his associates,\nstarted for Vrajabhiimi, Vrndavana. The minds of the inhabitants of\nVrndavana remained, however, with Kr��a and Balarama, and therefore all\nof them started for Vrndavana without their minds.\nWhen the members of the Vr�l}i family saw all their friends and visitors\ndeparting, they observed that the rainy season was approaching, and thus\nthey decided to return to Dvaraka. They were fully satisfied, for they\nregarded Kr��a as everything. When they returned to Dvaraka, they began\nwith great satisfaction to describe the sacrifice performed by Vasudeva,\ntheir meeting with various friends and well-wishers, and various other\nincidences which occurred during their travels in the places of pilgrimage.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, TwentyNinth Chapter, of Kr��a \"Sacrificial Ceremonies Performed by Vasudeva.\"\n,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0254": "30 I Spiritual Instruction for Vasudeva\nand Return of the Six Dead Sons\nof Devaki by Lord Kr��a\nIt is a Vedic custom that the junior members of the family should\n\noffer respects to the elderly persons every morning. The children or the\n\ndisciples especially should offer their respects to the parents or the\nspiritual master in the morning. In pursuance of this Vedic principle, Lord\n\nKr�!la and Balarama used to offer Their obeisances to Their father, Vasu­\n\ndeva, along with his wives. One day, after having returned from the\n\nsacrificial performances at Kuruk�etra, when Lord Kr�!la and Balarama\n\nwent to offer Their respect to Vasudeva, Vasudeva took the opportunity\nof appreciating the exalted position of his two sons. Vasudeva had the\n\nopportunity to understand the position of Kr�!la and Balarama from the\n\ngreat sages who had. assembled in the arena of the sacrifice. He not only\n\nheard from the sages, but on many occasions he actually experienced that\n\nKr�!la and Balarama were not ordinary human beings, but were very\n\nextraordinary. Thus he believed the words of the sages that his sons Kr�!la\nand Balarama were the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\n\nWith firm faith in his sons, he addressed them thus: \"My dear Kr�!la,\n\nYou are the sac-cid-iinanda-vigraha Supreme Personality of Godhead, and\n\nmy dear Balarama, You are Sankar�a!la, the master of all mystic powers. I\n\nhave now understood that You are eternal. Both of You are transcendental\n\nto this material manifestation and to its cause, the Supreme Person Maha­\n\nVi�!lu. You -are the original controller of all. You are the rest of this cosmic\nmanifestation. You are its creator, and You are also its creative ingredients.\n\nYou are the master of this cosmic manifestation, and actually this manifes­\n\ntation is created for Your pastimes only.\n\n\"The different material phases from the beginning to the end of the\n\ncosmos manifest under different time formulas are also Yourself, because\n\nYou are both the cause and effect of this manifestation. The two features\n\nof this material world, the predominator and the predominated, are also\n217\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0255": "218\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nYou, and You are the supreme transcendental controller who stands above\nthem. Therefore, You are beyond the perception of our senses. You are\nthe supreme soul, unborn and unchanging. You are not affected by the six\nkinds of transformations which occur in the material body. The wonderful\nvarieties of this material world are also created by You, and You have\nentered as the Supersoul into each living entity and even into the atom.\nYou are the maintainer of everything.\n\"The vital force which is acting as the life principle in everything and\nthe creative force derived from it are not acting independently, but are\ndependent upon You, the Supreme Person behind these forces. Without\nYour will, they cannot work. Material energy has no cognizance. It cannot\nact independently without being agitated by You. Because the material\nnature is dependent upon You, the living entities can only attempt to act;\nBut without Your sanction and will they cannot perform anything or\nachieve the result they desire.\n\"The original energy is only an emanation from You. My dear Lord, the\nshining of the moon, the heat of the fire, the rays of the sun, the glittering\nof the stars, and the electric lightning which is manifested as very powerful,\nas well as the gravity of the mountains, the energy of the earth and the\nquality of its flavor-all are different manifestations of You. The pure\ntaste of water and the vital force which maintains all life are also features\nof Your Lordship. The water and its taste are also Yourself.\n\"My dear Lord, although the forces of the senses, the mental power of\nthinking, willing and feeling, and the strength, movement and growth of\nthe body appear to be performed by different movements of the airs within\nthe body, they are all ultimately manifestations of Your energy. The vast\nexpanse of outer space rests in Yourself. The vibration of the sky, its\nthunder, the supreme sound omkiira and the arrangement of different\nwords to distinguish one thing from the other are symbolic representations\nof Yourself. Everything is Yourself. The senses, the controllers of the senses,\nthe demigods, and the acquisition of knowledge which is the purpose of the\nsenses, as well as the subject matter of knowledge-all are Yourself. The\nresolution of intelligence and the sharp memory of the living entity are also\nYourself. You are the egotistic principle in ignorance which is the cause of\nthis material world, the egotistic principle of passion which is the cause of\nthe senses, and the egotistic principle of goodness which is the origin or the\ndifferent controlling deities of this material world. The illusory energy, or\nmiiyii, which is the cause of the conditioned soul's perpetual transmigration\n\nfrom one form to another, is Yourself.\n\"My dear Supreme Personality of Godhead, You are the original cause\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0256": "Return of the Six Dead Sons of Devaki by Lord Kr��a\n\n219\n\nof all causes� exactly as the earth is the original cause of different kinds of\ntrees� plants and similar varieties of manifestation. As the earth is represented in everything� so You are present throughout this material manifestation\nas Supersoul. You are the supreme cause of all causes� the eternal principle. Everything is� in fact� a manifestation of Your one energy. The\nthree qualities of material nature sattv a, rajas and tamas-and the result\n-\n\nof their interaction� are linked up with You by Your agency of yogamiiyii.\nThey are supposed to be independent� but actually the total material\nenergy is resting upon You� the Supersoul. Since You are the supreme\ncause of everything� the interactions of material mani.festation-birth�\nexistence�\n\ngrowth�\n\ntransformation� deterioration and annihilation-are\n\nall absent in Yourself. Your supreme energy� yogamiiyii, is acting in\nvariegated manifestations� but because yogamiiyii is Your energy� You are\ntherefore present in everything.\"\nIn the Bhagavad-gitii, this fact is very nicely explained in the Ninth Chapter�. wherein the Lord says� \"In My impersonal form I am spread all over the\nmaterial energy; everything is resting in Me� but I am not there.\" This\nvery statement is also given by Vasudeva. To say He is not present everywhere means that He is aloof from everything� although His energy is\nacting everywhere. This can be understood by a crude example: In a big\nestablishment� the energy� or the organization of the supreme boss� is\nworking in every nook and corner of the business� but that does not mean\nthat the original proprietor is present there� although in every department\nand every atmosphere the presence of the proprietor is felt by the worker.\nThe\n\nphysical\n\npresence\n\nof\n\nthe\n\nproprietor\n\nin\n\nevery\n\ndepartment\n\nis\n\nformality only. Actually his energy is working everywhere. Similarly� the\nomnipresence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is felt in the\naction of His energies. Therefore the philosophy of inconceivable simultaneous oneness with and difference from the Supreme Lord is confirmed\neverywhere. The Lord is one� but His energies are diverse.\nVasudeva said� \"This material world is like a great flowing river� and its\nwaves are the three material modes of nature-goodness� passion and ignorance. This material body� as well as the senses� the faculties of thinking�\nfeeling and willing and the stages of distress� happiness� attachment and\nlust-all are different products of these three qualities of nature. The foolish person who cannot realize Your transcendental identity above all this\nmaterial reaction continues to remain in the entanglement of fruitive\nactivity and is subjected to the continuous process of birth and death\nwithout a chance of being freed.\nThis is also confirmed in a different way by the Lord in the Fourth\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0257": "220\n\nKf�l)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nChapter of Bhagavad-gitii. There it is said that anyone who knows the\nappearance and activities of the Supreme Lord Kf�l)a becomes freed from\nthe clutches of material nature and goes back home, back to Godhead.\nTherefore Kr�l)a 's transcendental name, form, activities and qualities are\nnot products of this material nature.\n\"My dear Lord,\" Vasudeva continued, \"despite all these defects of the\nconditioned soul, if someone somehow or other comes in contact with\ndevotional service, he achieves this civilized human form of body with\ndeveloped consciousness and thereby becomes capable of executing further\nprogress in devotional service. And yet, illusioned by the external energy,\npeople generally do not utilize this advantage of the human form of life.\nThus they miss the chance of eternal freedom and unnecessarily spoil\nthe progress they have made after thousands of births.\n\"In the bodily concept of life, one is attached to the offspring of the\nbody, due to false egotism, and everyone in conditioned life is entrapped\nby false relationships and false affection. The whole world is moving under\nthis false impression of material bondage. I know that neither of You are\nmy sons; You are the original chief and progenitor, the Personalities of\nGodhead, known as Pradhana and Puru�a. But You have appeared on the\nsurface of this globe in order to minimize the burden of the world by\nkilling the k§atr i ya kings who are unnecessarily increasing their military\nstrength. You have already informed me about this in the past. My dear\nLord, You are the shelter of the surrendered soul, the supreme well-wisher\nof the meek and humble. I am therefore taking shelter of Your lotus feet,\nwhich alone can give one liberation from the entanglement of material\nexistence.\n\"For a long time I have simply considered this body to be myself, and\nalthough You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I consider You\nto be my son. My dear Lord, at the very moment when You first appeared\nin Kamsa's prison house, I was informed that You were the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that You had descended for the protection of the\nprinciples of religion as well as the destruction of the unfaithful. Although\nunborn, You descend in every millennium to execute Your mission. My\ndear Lord, as in the sky there are many forms appearing and disappearing,\nso You also appear and disappear in many eternal forms. Who, th�refore,\ncan understand Your pastimes or the mystery of Your appearance and\ndisappearance?\n\nOur only business should be to glorify Your supreme\n\ngreatness.\"\nWhen Vasudeva was addressing his divine sons in that way, Lord Kr�l)a\nand Balarama were smiling. Because They are very affectionate to Their\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0258": "Return of the Six Dead Sons of Devaki by Lord .Kf��a\n\n221\n\ndevotees, They accepted all the appreciation of Vasudeva with a kindly\nsmiling attitude. Kr�tta then began to confirm all Vasudeva's statements as\nfollows: \"My dear father, whatever you may say, We are, after all, your\nsons. What you have said about us is certainly a highly philosophical\nunderstanding of spiritual knowledge. I accept it in total without exception.\"\nVasudeva was in the complete perfection of life in considering Lord\nKf§tta and Balarama to be his .sons, but because the sages assembled in the\nplace of pilgrimage at Kuruk§etra had spoken about the Lord as the supreme cause of everything, Vasudeva simply repeated it out of his love\nfor Kr§tta and Balarama. Lord Kr§tta did not wish to detract from His\nrelationship with Vasudeva as father and son; therefore in the very\nbeginning of His reply He accepted the fact that He is the eternal son of\nVasudeva and that Vasudeva is the eternal father of Krsna. After this,\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\nLord Kr§tta informed His father of the spiritual identity of all living entities.\nHe continued, \"My dear father, everyone, including Myself and My brother\nBalarama, as well as all the inhabitants of the city of Dvaraka and the\nwhole cosmic manifestation, is exactly as you have already explained, but\nall of us are also qualitatively one.\"\nLord Kr§tta intended for Vasudeva to see everything in the vision of a\nmahiibhiigavata, a first-class devotee. A first-class devotee sees that all\n\nliving entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and that the Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart. In fact, every living entity has\nspiritual identity, but in contact with material existence he becomes\ninfluenced by the material modes of nature. He becomes covered by the\nconcept of bodily life, forgetting that his spirit soul is of the same quality\nas the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One mistakenly considers one\nindividual to be different from another simply because of their material\nbodily coverings. Because of differences between bodies, the spirit soul\nappears before us differently.\nLord Kr§tta then gave a nice example in terms of the five material\nelements. The total material elements, namely, the sky, the air, the fire,\nthe water and the earth, are present in everything in the material world,\nwhether in an earthen pot or in a mountain or in the trees or in an earring.\nThese five elements are present in everything, in different proportions\n\nand quantities. A mountain is a gigantic form of the combination of these\n\nfive elements, and a small earthen pot is of the same elements, but in a\nsmaller quantity. Therefore all material items, although in different shapes\nor different quantities, are of the same ingredients. Similarly, the living\n\nentities-beginning from Lord Kr§tta and including the Vi§'[lU-tattva and\n\n·\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0259": "222\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nmillions of Vi§�U forms, and then the living entities in different forms,\nbeginning from Lord Brahma down to the small ant-are all of the same\nquality in spirit. Some are great in quantity, and some are small, but\nqualitatively they are of the same nature. It is therefore confirmed in the\n\nUpani§ads that Kf§l).a, or the Supreme Lord, is the chief among all living\n\nentities, and He maintains them and supplies them with all necessities of\nlife. Anyone who knows this philosophy is in perfect knowledge. The\nVedic version tat tvam asi, \"Thou art the same,\" does not mean that\neveryone is God, but everyone is qualitatively of the same nature as that of\nGod.\nAfter hearing Kf§l).a speak the entire philosophy of spiritual life in an\nabbreviated summation, Vasudeva was exceedingly pleased with his son.\nBeing\n\nthus\n\nelated,\n\nhe\n\ncould\n\nnot\n\nspeak, but remained silent.\n\nIn\n\nthe meantime, Devaki, the mother of Lord Kr�l).a, sat by the side of her\nhusband. Previously she had heard that both Kr§!la and Balarama were so\nkind upon Their teacher that They had brought back the teacher's dead\nsons fro-m the clutches of the superintendent of death, Yamaraja. Since she\nhad heard this incident, she had been also thinking of her own sons who\nwere killed by Kamsa, and while remembering them she became overwhelmed with grief.\nIn compassion .for her dead sons, Devaki began to appeal to Lord Krwa\nand Balarama thus: \"My dear Balarama, Your very name suggests that You\ngive all pleasure and all strength to everyone. Your unlimited potency is\nbeyond the reach of our minds and words, and my dear Kf§l).a, You are\nthe master of all mystic yogis. I also know that You are the master of the\nPrajapatis like Brahma and his assistants, and You are the original Personality of Godhead, Naraya�a. I also know for certain that You have\ndescended to annihilate all kinds of miscreants who have been misled in\nthe course of time. They have lost control of their minds and senses,\nfallen from the quality of goodness, and have deliberately neglected the\ndirection of the revealed scriptures by living a life of extravagancy and\nimpudency. You have descended on the earth to minimize the burden of\nthe world by killing such miscreant rulers. My dear Kf§l).a, I know that\nMaha-Vi§I).U, who is lying in the causal ocean of the cosmic manifestation\nand who is the source of this whole creation, is simply an expansion of\nYour plenary portion. Creation, maintenance and annihilation of this\ncosmic manifestation are being effected only by Your plenary portion. I\nam, therefore, taking shelter of You without any reservation. I have heard\nthat when You wanted to reward Your teacher, Sandipani Muni, and he\nasked You to bring back his dead son, You and Balarama immediately\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0260": "Return of the Six Dead Sons of Devaki by Lord Kr��a\n\n223\n\nbrought him from the custody of Yamaraja, although he had been dead\nfor a·very long time. By this act I understand You to be the supreme master\n\nof all mystic yogis. I am, therefore, asking You to fulfill my desire in the\n\nsame way. In other words, I am asking You to bring back all my sons who\n\nwere killed by Kamsa; upon Your bringing them back, my heart will be\ncontent, and it will be a great pleasure for me just to see them once.\"\n\nAfter hearing Their mother speak in this way, Lord Balarama and Kr�p.a\n\nimmediately called for the assistance of yogamiiyii and started for the lower\npJanetary\n\nsystem\n\nknown as Sutala. Formerly, in His incarnation of\n\nVamana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead was satisfied by the king of\n\nthe demons, Bali Maharaja, who donated to Him everything he had. Bali\nMaharaja was theri given the whole of Sutala for his residence and kingdom. Now when this great devotee, Bali Maharaja, saw that Lord Balarama\n\nand Kr�p.a had come to his planet, he immediately merged in the ocean\n\nof happiness. As soon as he saw Lord Kr�p.a and Balarama in his presence,\n\nhe and all his family members stood up from their seats and bowed down\nat the lotus feet of the Lord. Bali Maharaja offered Lord Kr�p.a. and\nBalarama the best seat he had in his possession, and when both Lords\n\nwere seated comfortably, he began to wash Their lotus feet. He then\n\nsprinkled the water on his head and on the heads of his family members.\nThe water used to wash the lotus feet of Kr�p.a and Balarama can purify\n\neven the greatest demigods, such as Lord Brahma.\n\nAfter this, Bali_ Maharaja brought valuable garments, ornaments, sandal­\n\nwood pulp, betel nuts, lamps and various nectarean foodstuffs, and along\n\nwith his family members he worshiped the Lord according to the regulative\n\nprinciples and offered his riches and body unto the lotus feet of the Lord.\nKing Bali was feeling such transcendental pleasure that he repeatedly\n\ngrabbed the lotus feet of the Lord and kept them on his chest; and\n\nsometimes he put them on the top of the head, and in this way he _was\nfeeling transcendental bliss. Tears of love and affection began to flow\ndown from his eyes, and all his hairs stood on end. He began to offer\nprayers to the Lords in a voice which choked up intermittently.\n\n\"My Lord Balarama, You are the original Anantadeva. You are so great\n\nthat Anantadeva Se�a and other transcendental forms have originally\n\nemanated from You and Lord Kr��a. You are the original Personality of\n\nGodhead, and Your eternal form is all-blissful and full of complete\n\nknowledge. You are the creator of the whole world. You are the original\ninitiator and propounder of the systems of jiiiina-yoga and bhakti-yoga.\nYou are the Supreme Brahman, the original Personality of Godhead, I\n\ntherefore with all respect offer my obeisances unto both of You. My\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0261": "224\n\n.Kf�J)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ndear Lords, it is very difficult for the living entities to get to see You, yet\nwhen You are merciful upon Your devotees it becomes easy for them to\nsee You. As such, only out of Your causeless mercy have You agreed to\ncome here and be visible to us, who are generally influenced by the\nqualities of ignorance and passion.\n\"My dear Lord, we belong to the daitya or demon category. The\ndemons or demonic persons-the Gandharvas, the Sid � has, the Vidyadharas,\nthe Cara!J.as, the Yak�as, the Rak�asas, the Pisacas, the ghosts and the\nhobgoblins-are incapable, by nature, of worshiping You or becoming\nYour devotees. Instead of becoming Your devotees, they simply become\nimpediments on the path of devotion. But, opposed to them, You are\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead, representing all the Vedas and\nsituated in the mode of uncontaminated goodness.\n\nYour position is\n\nalways transcendental. For this reason, some of us, although born of the\nmodes of passion and ignorance, have taken shelter of Your lotus feet and\nbecome devotees. Some of us are actually pure devotees, and some of us\nhave taken shelter of Your lotus feet, desiring to gain something from\ndevotion.\n\"By Your causeless mercy only we demons are in direct contact with\nYour personality. This contact is not possible even for the great demigods.\nNo one knows how You act through Your yogamiiyii potency. Even demigods cannot calculate the expanse of the activities of Your internal potency,\nso how is it possible for us to know it? I therefore place my humble\nprayers before You: please be kind to me, who am fully surrendered unto\nYou, and favor me with Your causeless mercy so that I may simply\nremember Your lotus feet birth after birth. My only ambition is that I\nmay live alone j ust like the paramaharhsas who, traveling alone here and\nthere in great peace of mind, depend simply upon Your lotus feet. I also\ndesire that if I have to associate with anyone, they may be only Your pure\ndevotees and no one else, because Your pure devotees are always wellwishers of all living entities.\n\n.\n\"My dear Lord, You are the supreme master and director of the whole\n\nworld. Please, therefore, engage me in Ypur service and let me thus become\nfreed from all material contaminations. You can purify me in that way\nbecause if someone engages himself in the loving service of Your Lordship,\nhe immediately becomes free from all kinds of regulative principles enj oined\nin the Vedas.\"\nThe word paramaharhsa mentioned here means the supreme swan. It is\nsaid that the swan can draw milk out from a reservoir of wa�er; it can take\nonly the milk portion and rej ect the watery portion. Similarly, a person\nwho can draw out the spiritual portion from this material world and who\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0262": "Return of the Six Dead Sons of Devaki by Lord Kr��a\n\n225\n\ncan live alone, depending only on the Supreme Spirit, not on the material\nworld, is called paramahamsa. When one achieves the paramahamsa plat­\n\nform, he is no longer under the regulative principles of the Vedic injunctions.\n\nA paramahamsa accepts only the association of pure devotees and rejects\n\nothers who are too materially addicted. In other words, those who are\n\nmaterially addicted cannot understand the value of the paramahamsa, but\n\nthose who are fortunately advanced in spiritual sense take shelter of the\n\nparamahamsa and thus successfully complete the mission of human life.\n\nAfter Lord Krwa heard the prayers of Bali Maharaja, He spoke as fol­\n\nlows: \"My dear King of the demons, in the millennium of the Svayambhuva\n\nManu, the Prajapati known as Marici begot six sons, all demigods, in the\nwomb of his wife, Dr�a. Once upon a time, Lord Brahma became captivated\n\nby the beauty of his daughter and was following her, impelled by sex\n\ndesire. At that time, these six demigods looked at the action of Lord\n\nBrahma with abhorrence. This criticism of Brahma's action by the demi­\n\ngods constituted a great offense on their part, and for this reason they\n\nwere condemned to take birth as the sons of the demon Hira�yakasipu.\n\nThese sons of Hira�yakasipu were thereafter put in the womb of mother\n\nDevaki, and as soon as they took their birth, Kamsa killed them one after\n\nanother. My dear King of the demons, again, mother Devaki is very\n\nanxious to see these six dead sons again, and she is very much aggrieved on\n\naccount of their early death at the hand of Kamsa. I know that all of them\n\nare living with you. I have decided to take them with Me in order to\n\npacify My mother Devaki. After seeing My mother, all these six conditioned\n\nsouls will be liberated, and thus in great pleasure they will be transferred\n\nto- their original planet. The names of these six conditioned souls are as\nfollows: Smara, Udgitha, Pari�variga, Patariga, K�udrabhrt and Ghgti They\n\nwill be again reinstated in their former position as demigods.\"\n\nAfter thus informing the King of the demons, Kr��a stopped speaking,\n\nand Bali Maharaja understood the Lord's purpose. He worshiped Him\n\nsufficiently, and thereafter Lord Kr��a and Lord Balarama took away the\nsix conditioned souls and returned to the city of Dvaraka, where He\n\npresented them as little babies before His mother, Devaki. Mother Devaki\n\nbecame overwhelmed with joy and was so ecstatic in motherly feeling\n\nthat immediately milk began to flow from her breasts, and she fed the\n\nbabies with great satisfaction. She began to take them on her lap again and\n\nagain, smelling their heads and thinking, \"He has gotten my lost children\nback!\" For the time being she became overpowered by the energy of\n\nVi��u, and in great motherly affection she began to enjoy the company of\n\nher lost children.\n\nThe milk from the breast of Devaki was transcendental nectar because\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0263": "226\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nthe same milk had been sucked by Lord Kr��a. As such, the babies who\nsucked the breast of Devakfji, which had touched the body of Lord Krwa,\n\nimmediately became self-realized persons. The babies therefore began to\n\noffer their obeisances unto Lord Kr��a, Balarama, their father Vasudeva,\n\nand mother Devaki. After this, they were immediately transferred to their\nrespective heavenly planets.\n\nAfter they departed, Devaki became stunned with wonder that her dead\n\nchildren had come back and had again been transferred to their respective\nplanets.\n\nShe could adjust the events only by thinking of Lord Kr��a's\n\npastimes, in which, because Lord Kr��a's potencies are all inconceivable,\n\nanything wonderful can be performed. Without accepting the inconceivable,\n\nunlimited potencies of the Lord, one cannot understand that Lord Kr�!la\nis the Supreme Soul. By His unlimited potencies, He performs unlimited\n\npastimes also, and no one can describe them in full nor can anyone know\n\nthem all. Siita Gosvami, speaking Srimad-Bhiigavatam before the sages of\n\nNaimi�ara!lya, headed by Saunaka ��i, gave his verdict in this connection\n\nas follows.\n\n\"Great sages, please understand that the transcendental pastimes of\n\nLord Kr��a are all eternal. They are not ordinary narrations of historical\n\nincidences. Such narrations are identical with the Supreme Personality of\n\nGodhead Himself. Anyone, therefore, who hears such narrations of the\nLord's pastimes becomes immediately freed from the contamination of\n\nmaterial existence. And those who are pure devotees enjoy these narrations\nas nectar entering into their ears.\" Such narrations were described by\n\nSukadeva Gosvami, the exalted son of Vyasadeva, and anyone who hears\n\nthem, as well as anyone who describes them for the hearing of others,\n\nbecomes Kr��a conscious. And it is only the Kr�!la conscious persons who\nbecome eligible for going back home, back to Godhead.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Thirtieth\nChapter, of Kr�!la, \"Spiritual Instruction for Vasudeva and Return of the\nSix Dead Sons of Devaki by Lord Krrra.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0264": "31 I The Kidnapping of Subhadra and Lord\nKr�!ia's Visiting Srutadeva and Bahulasva\nAfter hearing this incident, King Parik�it became more inquisitive to\n\nhear about Kr��a and His pastimes, and thus he inquired from Sukadeva\nGosvami how his grandmother Subhadra was kidnapped by his grandfather\n\nArjuna at the instigation of Lord Kr��a. King Parilqit was very much eager\n\nto learn about his grandfather's kidnapping and marriage of his gJ;andmother.\n\nThus Sukadeva Gosvami began to narrate the story as follows: HOnce\n\nupon a time, your grandfather Arjuna, the great hero, was visiting several\n\nholy places of pilgrimage, and while he was thus traveling all over he\n\nhappened to come to the Prabhasak�etra. In the Prabhasak�etra he heard\nthe news that Lord Balarama was negotiating the marriage of Subhadra,\nthe daughter of Arjuna 's maternal uncle, Vasudeva. Although her father,\n\nVasudeva, and her brother, Kr��a, were not in agreement with Him, Bala­\n\nrama was in favor of marrying Subhadra to Duryodhana. Arjuna, however,\n\ndesired to gain the hand of Subhadra.\"\n\nAs he thought of Subhadra and her beauty, Arjuna became more and\n\nmore captivated with the idea of marrying her, and with a plan in �ind\nhe dressed himself like a Vai��ava sannyiisi, carrying a tridaruJa in his hand.\n\nThe Mayavadi sannyiisis take one dar;uja, or one rod, whereas the Vai��ava\n\nsannyiisis take three dart�a, or three rods. The three rods, or trida'{l�a, indicate that a Vai��ava sannyiisi vows to render service to the Supreme\n\nPersonality of Godhead by his body, mind and words. The system of\n\ntridart�a-sannyiisa has been in existence for a long time, and the Vai��ava\nsannyiisis are called tridart�is, or sometimes trida[l�i-sviimis or trida'{l�igosviitnis.\nSannyiisis are generally meant to travel all over the country for preaching\nwork, but during the four months of the rainy season in India, from\n\n. September through December, they do not travel, but take shelter in one\n227\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0265": "228\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nplace and remain there without moving. This non-movement of the\n\nsannyiisi is called Ciiturmiisya-vrata. When a sannyiisi stays in a place for\nfour months, the local inhabitants of that place take advantage of his\npresence to become spiritually advanced. Arjuna, in the dress of a tridaru}i­\n\nsannyiisi, remained in the city of Dvaraka for four months, devising a plan\nwhereby he could get Subhadra as his wife. The inhabitants of Dv�raka as\nwell as Lord Balarama could not recognize the sannyiisi to be Arjuna;\ntherefore all of them offered their respect and obeisances to the sannyiisi\nwithout knowing the actual situation.\nOne day Lord Balarama invited this particular sannyiisi to lunch at His\nhome. Balaramaji very respectfully offered him all kinds of palatable\ndishes, and the so-called sannyiisi was eating sumptuously. While eating\nat the home of Balaramaji, Arjuna was simply looking over beautiful\nSubhadra, who was very enchanting even to the great heroes and kings.\nOut of love for her, Arjuna's eyes brightened, and he began to see her with\nglittering eyes. Arjuna decided that somehow or other he would achieve\nSubhadra as his wife, and his mind became agitated on account of this\nstrong desire.\nArjuna, the grandfather of Maharaja Parik�it, was himself extraordinarily\nbeautiful, and his bodily structure was very much attractive to Subhadra.\nSubhadra also decided within her mind that she would accept only Arjuna\nas her husband. As a simple girl, she was smiling with great pleasure,\nlooking at Arjuna. Thus Arjuna also became more and more attracted by\nher. In this way, Subhadra dedicated herself to Arjuna, and he resolved to\nmarry her by any means. He then became absorbed twenty-four hours a\nday in the thought of how he could get Subhadra as his wife. He was\nafflicted with the thought of getting Subhadra, and had not a moment's\npeace of mind.\nOnce upon a time, Subhadra, seated on a chariot, came out of the\npalace fort to see the gods in the temple. Arjuna took this opportunity,\nand with the permission of Vasudeva and Devaki, he kidnapped her. After\ngetting on Subhadra's chariot, he prepared himself for a fight. Taking up\nhis bow and holding off with his arrows the soldiers ordered to check him,\nArjuna took Subhadra away. While Subhadra was being thus kidnapped by\nArjuna, her relatives and family members began to cry, but still he took\nher, just as a lion takes his share and departs. When it was disclosed to\nLord Balarama that the so-called sannyiisi was Arjuna and that he had\nplanned such a device simply to take away Subhadra and that he had actually taken her, He became very angry. Just as the waves of the ocean become agitated on a full moon day, Lord Balarama became greatly disturbed.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0266": "The Kidnapping of Subhadra\n\n229\n\nLord Kr��a was in favor of Arjuna; therefore, along with other members\nof the family, He tried to pacify Balarama by falling at His feet and begging Him to pardon Arjuna. Lord Balarama was then convinced that\nSubhadra was attached to Arjuna, and He became pleased to know that\nshe wanted Arjuna as her husband. The matter was settled, and in order\nto please the newly married couple, Lord Balarama arranged to send a\ndowry, consisting of an abundance of riches, elephants, chariots, horses,\nservants and maidservants.\nMaharaja Parilqit was very anxious to hear more about Kr��a, and so,\nafter finishing the narration of Arjuna 's kidnapping Subhadra, Sukadeva\nGosvami began to narrate another story, as follows.\nThere was a householder briihmarza in the city of Mithila, the capital of\nthe kingdom of Videha. This briihmarza, whose name was Srutadeva, was a\ngreat devotee of Lord Kr��a. Due to his being fully Kr�!la conscious and\nalways engaged in the service of the Lord, he was completely peaceful in\nmind and detached from all material attraction. He was very learned and\nhad no other desire than to be fully situated in Kr��a consciousness. Although in the order of householder life, he never took great pains to earn\nanything for his livelihood; he was satisfied with whatever he could achieve\nwithout much endeavor, and somehow or other he lived in that way. Every\nday he would get necessities for life in just the quantity required, and not\nmore. That was his destiny. The briihmarza had no desire to get more than\nwhat he needed, and thus he was peacefully executing the regulative\nprinciples of a bri!hmarza's life, as enjoined in the revealed scriptures.\nFortunately, the King of Mithila was as good a devotee as the b riihmarza.\nThe name of this famous King was Bahulasva. He was very well established\nin his reputation as a good king, and he was not at all ambitious to extend\nhis kingdom for the sake of sense gratification. As such, both the briihmarza\nand King Bahulasva remained pure devotees of Lord Krwa in Mithila.\nSince Lord Kr�!la was very merciful upon these two devotees, King\nBahulasva and the briihmarza, Srutadeva, He one day asked His driver,\nDaruka, to take His chariot into the capital city of Mithila. Lord Kr�!la\nwas accompanied by the great sages Narada, Vamadeva, Atri, Vyasadeva,\nParasurama, Asita, Aru�i, Brhaspati, Ka!!va, Maitreya, Cyavana and others.\nLord Kr�!la and the sages were passing through many villages and towns,\nand everywhere the citizens would receive them with great respect and\noffer them articles in worship. When the citizens came to see the Lord and\nall of them assembled together in one place, it seemed that the sun was\npresent along with his various satellite planets. In that journey, Lord\nKr�!la and the sages passed through the kingdoms of Anarta, Dhanva,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0267": "230\n\nKr�!J.a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nKurujangala, Kanka, Matsya, Paficala, Kunti, Madhu, Kekaya, Kosala and\n\nAqta, and thus all the citizens of these places, both men and women,\n\ncould see Lord Krwa eye to eye. In this way they enjoyed celestial\n\nhappiness, with open hearts full of love and affection for the Lord, and\n\nwhen they saw the face of the Lord, it seemed to them that they were\n\ndrinking nectar through their eyes. When they saw Kr�!la, all the ignorant\nmisconceptions of their lives dissipated. When the Lord passed through the\n\nvarious countries and the people came to visit Him, simply by glancing\n\nover them the Lord would bestow all good fortune upon them and liberate\n\nthem from all kinds of ignorance. In some places, the demigods also\n\nwould join with the human beings, and their glorification of the Lord\n\nwould cleanse all directions of all inauspicious things. In this way, Lord\nKrwa slowly and gradually reached the kingdom of Videha.\nWhen the news of the Lord's arrival was received by the citizens, they\n\nall felt unlimited happiness and came to welcome Him, taking gifts in\n\ntheir hands to offer. As soon as they saw Lord Kr�!la, their hearts imme­\n\ndiately blossomed in transcendental bliss, just as a lotus flower blooms on\n\nthe rising of the sun. Previously they had simply heard the names of the\ngreat sages, but had never seen them. Now, by the mercy of Lord Kr�!la,\n\nthey had the opportunity of seeing both the great sages and the Lord\nHimself.\n\nKing Bahulasva, as well as the briihmm;ta, Srutadeva, knowing well that\n\nthe Lord had come there just to grace them with favor, immediately fell at\nthe Lord's lotus feet and offered their respects. With folded hands, the\n\nKing and the briihmarw each simultaneously invited Lord Kr�!la and all\n\nthe sages to his home. In order to please both of them, Lord Krwa ex­\n\npanded Himself into two and went to the houses of each one of them; yet\nneither the King nor the briihmarw could understand that the Lord had\n\ngone to the house of the other. Both thought that the Lord had gone only\n\nto his own house. That He and His companions were present in both\n\nhouses, although both the briihmarw and the King thought He was present\n\nin his house only, is another opulence of the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead. This opulence is described in the revealed scriptures as vaibhava­\n\nprakiisa. Similarly, when Lord Kr�!la married sixteen thousand wives, He\n\nalso expanded Himself into sixteen thousand forms, each one of them as\n\npowerful as He Himself. Similarly, in Vrndavana, when Brahma stole away\nKr�!la's cows, calves and cowherd boys, Kr�!la expanded Himself into\n\nmany new cows, calves and cowherd boys.\n\nBahulasva, the King of Videha, was very intelligent and was a perfect\n\ngentleman. He was astonished that so many great sages, along with the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0268": "The Kidnapping of Subhadra\n\n231\n\nSupreme Personality of Godhead, were personally present in his home. He\nknew perfectly well that the conditioned soul, especially when engaged in\nworldly affairs, cannot be a hundred percent pure, whereas the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead and His pure devotees are always transcendental\nto worldly contamination. Therefore, when he found that the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead Kr�:tJ.a and all the great sages were at his home, he\nwas astonished, and he began to thank Lord Kr�:tla for His causeless mercy.\nFeeling very much obliged and wanting to receive his guests to the best\nof his capacity, he called for nice chairs and cushions, and Lord Kr�:tJ.a,\nalong with all the sages, sat down very comfortably. At that time, King\nBahulasva's mind was very restless, not because of any problems, but\nbecause of great ecstasy of love and devotion. His heart was filled with\nlove and affection for the Lord and His associates, and his eyes were filled\nwith tears of ecstasy. He arranged to wash the feet of his divine guests, and\nafter washing them he and his family members sprinkled the water on their\nown heads. After this, he offered to the guests nice flower garlands,\nsandalwood pulp, incense, new garments, ornaments, ·lamps, cows and\nbulls. In a manner just befitting his royal position, he worshiped each one\nof them in this way. When all had been fed sumptuously and were sitting\nvery comfortably, Bahulasva came before Lord Kr�:tJ.a and caught His lotus\nfeet. He placed them on his lap and, while massaging the feet with his\nhands, began to speak about the glories of the Lord in a sweet voice.\n\"My dear Lord, You are the Supersoul of all living entities and as\nwitness within the heart are cognizent of everyone's activities. As such,\nbeing duty-bound, we always think of Your lotus feet so that we can\nremain in a secure position without deviating from Your eternal service.\nAs a result of our continuous remembrance of Your lotus feet, You have\nkindly visited my place personally to favor me with Your causeless mercy.\nWe have heard, my dear Lord, that by Your various statements You\nconfirm Your pure devotee£ to be more dear to You than Lord Balarama\nor Your constant servitor the goddess of fortune. Your devotees are dearer\nto You than Your first son, Lord Brahma, and I am sure that You have so\nkindly visited my place in order to prove Your divine statement. I cannot\nimagine how people can be godless and demoniac even after knowing of\nYour causeless mercy and affection for Your devotees who are constantly\nengaged in Kr�:tla consciousness. How can they forget Your lotus feet?\n\"My dear Lord, it is known to us that You are so kind and liberal that\nwhen a person leaves everything just to engage in Kr�:tJ.a consciousness,\nYou sometimes give Yourself in exchange for that unalloyed service. You\nhave appeared in the Y adu dynasty to fulfill Your mission of reclaiming\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0269": "232\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nall conditioned souls rotting in the sinful activities of material existence,\n\nand this appearance is already famous all over the world. My dear Lord,\n\nYou are the ocean of unlimited mercy, love and affection. Your transcen­\n\ndental form is full of bliss, knowledge and eternity. You can attract\neveryone's heart by Your beautiful form as Syamasundara, Kr§!J-a. Your\n\nknowledge is unlimited, and to teach all people how to execute devotional\n\nservice You have sent Your incarnation Nara-Naraya!J-a, who is engaged in\n\nsevere austerities and penances at Badarinaraya!J-a. Kindly, therefore,\n\naccept my humble obeisances at Your lotus feet. My dear Lord, I beg to\nrequest You· and Your companions, the great sages and briihmarws, to\nremain at my place so that this family of the famous King Nimi may be\n\nsanctified by the dust of Your lotus feet at least for a few days.\" Lord\n\nKf§!la could not refuse the request of His devotee, and thus He remained\nthere for a few days along with the sages in order to sanctify the city of\nMithila and all its citizens.\nMeanwhile, the briihmarw, simultaneously receiving Lord Kr§!J-a and His\n\nassociates at his home, became transcendentally overwhelmeq with joy.\nAfter offering his guests nice sitting places, the briihmarw began to dance,\n\nthrowing his wrap around his body. Srutadeva, being not at all rich,\noffered only mattresses, wooden planks, straw carpets, etc., to his distin­\n\nguished guests, Lord Kr§!la and the sages, but he welcomed them to his\n\nbest capacity. He began to speak very highly of the Lord and the sages,\n\nand he and his wife washed the feet of each one of them. After this, he\ntook the water and sprinkled it over all the members of his family, and\nalthough it appeared that the briihmarw was very poor, he was at that time\nmost fortunate. While Srutadeva was welcoming Lord Kr§!la and His asso­\n\nciates, he simply forgot himself in transcendental joy. After welcoming the\nLord and His companions, according to his capacity he brought fruits,\n\nincense, scented water, scented clay, tulasi leaves, kusa straw and lotus\nflowers. They were not very costly items and could be secured very easily,\n\nbut because they were offered with devotional love, Lord Kf§!J-a and His\nassociates accepted them very gladly. The briihmm:w's wife cooked very\n\nsimple foods like rice and dahl, and Lord Krwa and His followers were\n\nvery pleased to accept them because they were offered in devotional love.\nWhen Lord Kf§!la and His associates were fed in this way, the briihmarw\n\nSrutadeva was thinking thus: \"I am fallen into the deep, dark well of\n\nhouseholder life and am the most unfortunate person. How has it become\n\npossible that Lord :Kr§!J-a, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and\n\nHis associates, the great sages, whose very presence makes a place as\n\nsanctified as a pilgrimage site, have agreed to come to my place?\" While\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0270": "-\n\nThe Kidnapping of Subhadra\n\n233\n\nthe briihmara was thinking in this way, the guests finishe,d their lunch and\n\nsat back very comfortably. At that time, the briihmara, Srutadeva, and his\n\nwife, children and other relatives, appeared there to render service to the\n\ndistinguished guests. While touching the lotus feet of Lord Kr�!J.a, the\n\nbriihmara began to speak.\n\n\"My dear Lord,\" he said, \"You are the Supreme Person, Puru�ottama,\n\nsituated transcendentally to the manifested and unmanifested material\n\ncreation. The activities of this material world and of the conditioned souls\n\nhave nothing to do with Your position. We can appreciate that it is not\n\nthat only today You have given me Your audience. You are associating\n\nwith all the living entities as Paramatma since the beginning of creation.\"\n\nThis statement of the briihmara is very instructive. It is a fact that the\n\nSupreme Lord Personality of Godhead in His Paramatma feature entered\n\nthe creation of this material world as Maha-Viwu, Garbhodakasayi Vi�!J.U\n\nand K�irodakasayi Vi�!J.u, and in a very friendly attitude the Lord is sitting\n\nalong with the conditioned soul in the body. Therefore, every living entity\n\nhas the Lord with him from the very beginning, but due to his mistaken\nconsciousness of life, the living entity cannot understand this. When his\n\nconsciousness is, however, changed into Kr�!la consciousness, he can\n\nimmediately understand how Kr�!la is trying to assist the conditioned\n\nsouls to get out of the material entanglement.\n\nSrutadeva continued, \"My dear Lord, You have entered this material\n\nworld as if in a sleeping condition. A conditioned soul, while sleeping,\n\ncreates false or temporary worlds; he becomes busy in many illusory\nactivities-sometimes becoming a king, sometimes being murdered or\n\nsometimes going to an unknown city-and all these are simply temporary\n\naffairs. Similarly, Your Lordship, apparently also in a sleeping condition,\nenters this material world to create a temporary manifestation, not for\n\nYour personal necessities, but for the conditioned soul who wants to imi­\n\ntate Your Lordship as enjoyer. The conditioned soul's enjoyment in the ma­\n\nterial world is temporary and illusory. And yet the conditioned soul is by\nhimself unable to create such a temporary situation for his illusory enjoy­\n\nment. In order to fulfill his desires, although they are temporary and\n\nillusory, You enter in this temporary manifestation to help him. Thus,\n\nfrom the beginning of the conditioned soul's entering into the material\nworld, You are his constant companion. When, therefore, the conditioned\n\nsoul comes in contact with a pure devotee and takes to devotional service,\nbeginning from the process of hearing Your transcendental pastimes,\n\nglorifying Your transcendental activities, worshiping Your eternal form\n\nin the temple, offering prayers to You and engaging in discussion to\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0271": "'\"·\n\n234\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nunderstand Your transcendental position, he then gradually becomes\nfreed from the contamination of material existence. His heart becomes\ncleansed of all material dust, and thus gradually You become visible in the\nheart of the devotee. Although You are constantly with the conditioned\nsoul, only when he becomes purified by devotional service do You become\nrevealed· to him. Others, who are bewildered by fruitive activities, either\nby Vedic injunction or customary dealings, and who do not take to\ndevotional service, become captivated by the external happiness of the\nbodily concept of life. You are not revealed to such persons. Rather, You\nremain far, far away from them. But for one who, being engaged in Your\ndevotional service, has purified his heart by constant chanting of Your\nholy name, You become very easily understood as his eternal constant\ncompamon.\n\"It is said that Your Lordship, sitting in the heart of a devotee, gives\nhim direction by which he can very quickly come back to home, back to\nYou. This direct dictation by You reveals Your existence within t�e heart\nof the devotee. Only a devotee can immediately appreciate Your existence\nwithin his heart, whereas for a person who has only a bodily concept of\nlife and is engaged in sense gratification You always remain covered by\nthe curtain of yogamiiyii. Such a person cannot realize that You are very\nnear, sitting within his heart. For a nondevotee, You are appreciated only\nas ultimate death. The difference is like the difference between a eat's\ncarrying its kittens in its mouth and a eat's carrying a rat in its mouth. In\nthe mouth of the cat, the rat feels its death, whereas the kittens in the\nmouth of the cat feel motherly affection. Similarly, You are present to\neveryone, but the nondevotee feels You as ultimate cruel death, whereas\nfor a devotee You are the supreme instructor and philosopher. The\natheist, therefore, understands the presence of God as death, but the\ndevotee understands the presence of God always within his heart, takes\ndictation from You, and lives transcendentally, not being affected by the\ncontamination of the material world.\n\"You are the supreme controller and superintendent of the material\nnature's activities. The atheistic class of men simply observe the activities\nof material nature, but cannot find You as the original background. A\ndevotee, however, can immediately see Your hand in every movement of\nmaterial nature. The curtain of yogamiiyii cannot cover the eyes of the\ndevotee of Your Lordship, but it can cover the eyes of the nondevotee.\nThe nondevotee is unable to see You eye to eye, just as a person whose\neyes are interrupted by the covering of a cloud cannot see the sun, although\npersons who are flying above the cloud can see the sunshine brilliantly, as\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0272": "The Kidnapping of Suhhadra\n\n235\n\nit is. My dear Lord, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. My dear\n\nself-effulgent Lord, I amYour eternal servitor. Therefore, kindly order me\n-what can I do forYou? The conditioned soul feels the pangs of material\n\ncontamination as threefold miseries as long as You are not visible to him.\n\nAnd as soon asYou are visible by development of Kr§pa consciousness, all\n\nmiseries of material existence simultaneously become vanquished.\"\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead Kr§pa is naturally very much\n\naffectionately inclined to His devotees. When He heard Srutadeva 's prayers\n\nof pure devotion, He was very much pleased and immediately caught his\n\nhands and began to address Him thus: \"My dear Srutadeva, all these great\nsages and saintly persons have been very kind to you by personally coming\nhere to see you. You should consider this opportunity to be a great fortune\nfor you. They are so kind that they are traveling with Me, and wherever\nthey go they immediately make the whole atmosphere as pure as transcendence simply by the touch of the dust of their feet. People are accustomed\nto go to the temples of God. They also visit holy places of pilgrimage, and\nafter prolonged association with such activities, for many days by touch\nand by worship, gradually they become purified. But the influence of great\nsages and saintly persons is so great that by seeing them one immediately\nbecomes completely purified.\n\"Moreover, the very purifying potency of pilgrimages or worship of\ndifferent demigods is also achieved by the grace of saintly persons. A\n\npilgrimage site becomes a holy place because of the presence of the\nsaintly persons there. My dear Srutadeva, when a person is born as a\n\nbriihmarw, he immediately becomes the best of all human beings. And if\n\nsuch a brahmapa, remaining self-satisfied, practices austerities, studies the\n\nVedas and engages in My devotional service, as is the duty of the briihmap.a\n\n-or in other words, if a briihmap.a becomes a Vai§pava-how wonderful\n\nis his greatness! My feature of four-handed Narayapa is not so pleasing or\n\ndear to Me as is a briihmana Vaisnava. Briihmana means 'one well con.\n\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\nversant with Vedic knowledge'; a briihmap.a is the insignia of perfect\n\nknowledge, and I am the full-fledged manifestation of all gods. The less\nintelligent class of men do not understand Me as the highest knowledge,\nnor do they understand the influence of the briihmap.a Vai§pava. They are\n\ninfluenced by the three modes of material nature and thus dare to\n\ncriticize Me and My pure devotees. A briihmar;ta Vai§pava, or a devotee\nalready on the brahminical platform, can realize Me within his heart, and\ntherefore he definitely concludes that the whole cosmic manifestation and\n\nits different features are effects of different energies of the Lord. Thus he\nhas a clear conception of the whole material nature and the total material\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0273": "236\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nenergy, and in every action such a devotee sees Me only, and nothing else.\n\"My dear Srutadeva, you may therefore accept all these great saintly\n\npersons, briihmarws and sages as My bona fide representatives. By wor­\n\nshiping them faithfully, you will be worshiping Me more diligently. I consider worship of My devotees to be better than direct worship of Me. If\n\nsomeone attempts to worship Me directly without worshiping My devotees,\n\nI do not accept such worship, even though it may be presented with great\nopulence.\"\n\nIn this way both the briihmar;w, Srutadeva, and the King of Mithila,\n\nunder the direction of the Lord, worshiped both Kr�!la and His followers,\nthe great sages and saintly briihmaras, on an equal level of spiritual im­\n\nportance. Both briihmara and King ultimately achieved the supreme goal\nof being transferred to the spiritual worl�. The devotee does not know\n\nanyone except Lord Kr�!J.a, and Kr�!la is most affectionate to His devotee.\n\nLord Krsna remained in Mithila both at the house of the briihmana\n\nSrutade;�. and at the palace of King Bahulasva. And after favoring th�m\n\nlavishly by His transcendental instructions, He went back to His capital\ncity, Dvaraka.\n\nThe instruction we receive from this incident is that King Bahulasva\n\nand Srutadeva the briihmara were accepted by the Lord on the same level\n\nbecause both were pure devotees. This is the real qualification for being\nrecognized by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because it has become\n\nthe fashion of this age to become falsely proud of having taken birth in the\nfamily of a k§atriya or of a briihmara, we see persons without any qualifi­\n\ncation other than birth claiming to be briihmara or k§atriya or vaisya. But\n\nas it is stated in the scriptures, kalau sildra-sambhava: \"In this age of\n\nKali, everyone is a sudra.\" This is because there is no performance of the\n\npurificatory processes known as sarhskiiras, which begin from the time of\n\nthe mother's pregnancy and continue up to the point of the individual's\ndeath. No one can be classified as a member of a particular caste, especially\nof a higher caste\n\n-\n\nbriihmara k§atriya or vaisya-simply by birthright. If one\n,\n\nis not purified by the process of the seed -giving ceremony, or Garb hiidhiinasarhskiira, he is immediately classified amongst the sildras, because only\n\nthe sudras do not undergo this purificatory process. Sex life without the\n\npurificatory process of Kr�!la consciousness is merely the seed-giving process\n\nof the sudras or the animals. But Krwa consciousness is the highest per­\n\nfection, by which everyone can come to the platform of a Vai�!J.ava. This\n\nincludes having all the qualifications of a briihmara. The Vai�!J.avas are\n\ntrained to become freed from the four kinds of sinful activities-illicit sex,\n\nindulgence in intoxicants, gambling, and eating animal foodstuffs. No one\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0274": "The Kidnapping of Subhadri\n\n237\n\ncan he on the hrahminical platform without having these preliminary\n\nqualifications, and without becoming a qualified brahmap.a, one cannot\n\nbecome a pure devotee.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, ThirtyFirst Chapter, of Kr�!J.a, \"The Kidnapping of Subhadrtitflnd Lord Kr�p.a's\n\n,\n\nVisiting Srutadeva and Bahultisva.\"\n\n·\n\n\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0275": "32 I Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\nS ukadeva Gosvami about a very important\ntopic in understanding transcendental subj ect matter. His question was,\n\"Since Vedic knowledge generally deals with the subj ect matter of the\nthree qualities of the material world, how then can it approach the subj ect\nKing Parik�it inquired from\n\nmatter of transcendence, which is beyond the approach of the three\nmaterial modes? Since the mind is material and the vibration of words is a\n\nmaterial sound, how can the Vedic knowledge, expressing by material\nsound the thoughts of the mind, approach transcendence? Description of\n\nj\n\na sub ect matter necessitates describing its source of emanation, its qualities and its activities. Such description can be possible only by thinking\nwith the material mind and by vibrating material words. Although Brahman, or the Absolute Truth, has no material qualities, our power of\nspeaking does not go beyond the material qualities. How then can Brahman, the Absolute Truth, be described by your words? I do not see how it\nis possible to understand transcendence from such expressions of material\n·\n\nsound.\"\nThe purpose of King Parik�it's inquiring was to ascertain from\nGosvami whether the\n\nS ukadeva\n\nVedas ultimately describe the Absolute Truth as\n\nimpersonal or as personal. Understanding of the Absolute Truth progresses\nin three features-impersonal Brahman, Paramatma localized in everyone's\nheart and, at last, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kr��a.\n\nVedas deal with three departments of activities. One is called\nkarma-kiirz!la, or activities under Vedic inj unction which gradually purify\none to understand his real position; the next is jiiiina-kar4a, the process of\nThe\n\nunderstanding the Absolute Truth by speculative methods; and the third is\n\nupiisanii-kiirzl)a, or worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and\nsometimes of the demigods also. The worship of the demigods recommended in the Vedas is ordered with the understanding of the demigods'\n238\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0276": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n239\n\nrelationship to the Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Personality of\n\nGodhead has many parts and parcels; some are called sviimsas, or His\n\npersonal expansions, and some are called vibhinniimsas, the living entities.\n\nAll such expansions, both sviimsas and vibhinniimsas, are emanations from\nthe original Personality of Godhead. Sviimsa expansions are called Vi§{lU­\n\ntattva, whereas the vibhinniimsa expansions are called jiva-tattva. The dif­\n\nferent demigods are jiva-tattva. The conditioned souls are generally put\ninto the activities of the material world for sense gratification; therefore,\nas stated in the Bhagavad-gitii, to regulate those who are very much addict­\n\ned to different kinds of sense gratification the worship of demigods is\n\nsometimes recommended. For example, for persons who are very much\naddicted to meat-eating, the Vedic injunction recommends that after\n\nworshiping the form of the goddess Kali and sacrificing a goat (not any\n\nother animal) under karma-kiirt)a regulation, the worshipers may be\n\nallowed to eat meat. The idea is not to encourage one to eat meat, but to\nallow one who is persistent to eat meat under certain restricted conditions.\n\nTherefore, worship of the demigods is not worship of the Absolute Truth,\n\nbut by worshiping the demigods one gradually comes to accept the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead in an indirect way. This indirect accept­\n\nance is described in the Bhagavad-gitii as avidhi. Avidhi means not bona\nfide. Since demigod worship is not bona fide, the impersonalists stress\n\nconcentration on the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth. King\nParik�it's question .was, which is the ultimate target of Vedic knowledge:­\n\nthis concentration on the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth or\n\nconcentration on the personal feature? After all, both the impersonal and\npersonal features of the Supreme Lord are beyond our material concep­\n\ntion. The impersonal feature of the Absolute, the Brahman effulgence, is\n\nbut the rays of the personal body of Kr�!la. These rays of the personal\n\nbody of Kr�!la are cast all over the creation of the Lord, and the portion\n\nof the effulgence which is covered by the material cloud is called the\ncreated cosmos of the three material qualities-sattva, rajas and tamas:\n\nHow can persons who are within this clouded portion called the material\n\nworld conceive of the Absolute Truth by the speculative method?\n\nIn answering King Parik�it's question, Sukadeva Gosvami replied that\n\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead has created the mind, senses and\n\nliving force for the purpose of sense gratification in transmigration from\n\none kind of body to another, as well as for the purpose of allowing\nliberation from the material conditions. In other words, the senses, mind\n\nand living force can be utilized for sense gratification and transmigration\nfrom one body to another or for the matter of liberation. The Vedic\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0277": "240\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ninjunctions are there just to give the conditioned souls the chance for\n\nsense gratification under regulative principles, and thereby also give them\n\nthe chance for promotion to the higher conditions of life; ultimately, if\nthe consciousness is purified, one comes to his original position and goes\nback home, back to Godhead.\n\nThe living force is intelligent. One therefore has to utilize his intelli­\n\ngence over the mind and the senses. When the mind and senses are purified\n\nby the proper use of intelligence, then the conditioned soul is liberated;\n\notherwise, if the intelligence is not properly utilized in controlling the\n\nsenses and mind, the conditioned soul continues to transmigrate from one\n\nkind of body to another simply for sense gratification. Another point\n\nclearly stated in the answer of Sukadeva Gosvami is that the Lord created\n\nthe mind, senses and intelligence of the individual living force. It is not\n\nstated that the living entities themselves were ever created. Just as the\nshining particles of the sun's rays are always existing along with the sun,\n\nthe living entities exist eternally as parts and parcels of the Supreme\n\nPersonality of Godhead. The conditioned souls, althougJ:l eternally existing\n\nas part of the Supreme Lord, are sometimes put within the cloud of the\n\nmaterial concept of life, in the darkness of ignorance. The whole Vedic\n\nprocess is to alleviate that darkened condition. Ultimately, when the senses\n\nand mind of the conditioned being become fully purified, he then comes\nto the original position, called Kr§�a consciousness, and that is liberation.\nIn the\n\nVediinta-siltra, the first siltra, or code, questions about the\n\nAbsolute Truth A thiito brahma-jijiiiisii: What is the nature of the Absolute\n.\n\nTruth? The next siltra answers that the nature of the Absolute Truth is\n\nthat He is the origin of everything. Whatever we experience, even in this\n\nmaterial condition of life, is hut an emanation from Him. The Absolute\n\nTruth created the mind and senses and intelligence. This means that the\n\nAbsolute Truth is not without mind, intelligence and senses. In other\n\nwords, He is not impersonal. The very word \"created\" means that He has\ntranscendental intelligence. For example, when the father begets a child,\n\nthe child has senses because the father also has senses. The child is born\n\nwith hands and legs because the father also has hands and legs. Sometimes\n\nit is said, therefore, that man is made after the image of God. The Absolute\nTruth is therefore the Supreme Personality, with transcendental mind,\n\nsenses and intelligence. When one's mind, intelligence and senses are puri­\n\nfied of material contamination, one can understand the original feature of\nthe Absolute Truth as a person.\n\nThe Vedic process is to gradually promote the conditioned soul from\n\nthe mode of ignorance to the mode of passion and from the mode of\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0278": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n241\n\npassion to the mode of goodness. In the mode of goodness there is sufficient light for understanding things as they are. For example, from earth\na tree grows, and from the wood of the tree, fire is ignited. In that igniting\nprocess we first of all find the smoke, and the next stage is heat, and then\nfire. When there is actually fire, we can utilize it for various purposes;\ntherefore, fire is the ultimate goal. Similarly, in the gross material stage of\nlife the quality of ignorance is very much prominent. Dissipation of this\nignorance takes place in the gradual progress of civilization from the\nbarbarian stage to civilized life, and when one comes to the form of\ncivilized life, he is said to he in the mode of passion. In the barbarian stage,\nor in the mode of ignorance, the senses are gratified in a very crude\nway, whereas in the mode of passion or in the civilized stage of life,\nthe senses are gratified in a polished manner. But when one is promoted to the mode of goodness, one can understand that the senses and\nthe mind are only engaged in material activities due to being covered by\nperverted consciousness. When this perverted consciousness is gradually\ntransformed into Kr§pa consciousness, then the path of liberation is\nopened. So it is not that one is unable to approach the Absolute Truth by\nthe senses and the mind. The conclusion is, rather, that the senses, mind\nand intelligence in the gross stage of contamination cannot appreciate the\nnature of the Absolute Truth, but, when purified, the senses, mind and\nintelligence can understand what the Absolute Truth is. This purifying\nprocess is called devotional service, or Kr§pa consciousness.\nIn the Bhagavad-gita it is clearly stated that the purpose of Vedic knowledge is to understand Kr§pa, and Kr§pa is understood by devotional\nservice, beginning with the process of surrender. As stated in the Bhagavadgita, one has to think of Kr§pa always. One has to render loving service to\n\nKr§pa always, and one has to always worship and bow down before Kr§pa.\nBy this process only can one enter into the kingdom of God without any\ndoubt.\nWhen one is enlightened in the mode of goodness by the process of\ndevotional service, he is freed from the modes of ignorance and passion.\nThe word atmane indicates the stage of brahminical qualification in which\none is allowed to study the Vedic literatures known as the Upani§ads. The\nUpani§ads describe in different ways the transcendental qualities of the\n\nSupreme Lord. The Absolute Truth, the Supreme Lord, is called nirgup.a.\nThat does not mean that He has no qualities. It is only because He has\nqualities that the conditioned living entities can have qualities. The purpose of studying the Upani§ads is to understand the transcendental quality\nof the Absolute Truth, as opposed to the material qualities of ignorance,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0279": "242\n\nKf�na, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\npassion and goodness. That is the way of Vedic understanding. Great sages\nlike the four Kumaras, headed by Sanaka, followed these principles of\nVedic knowledge and came gradually from impersonal understanding to\n\nthe platform of personal worship of the Supreme Lord. It is therefore recommended that we must follow the great personalities. Sukadeva Go­\n\nsvami is also one of the great personalities, and his answer to the inquiry\nof Maharaja Parik�it is authorized. One who follows in the footsteps of such\n\ngreat personalities surely walks very easily on the path of liberation and\n\nultimately goes back to home, back to Godhead. That is the way of perfecting this human form of life.\n\n·\n\nSukadeva Gosvami continued to speak to Parilqit Maharaja. \"My dear\n\nKing,\" he said, \"I will narrate in this regard a nice story. This story is im­\n\nportant because it is in connection with Naraya�a, the Supreme Person­\n\nality of Godhead. This narration is a conversation between Naraya�a ��i\nand the great sage Narada. Naraya�a J.t�i still resides in Badarikasrama in\n\nthe Himalayan hills and is accepted as an incarnation of Naraya�a. Once\nwhen Narada, the great devotee and ascetic. amongst the demigods, was\n\ntraveling in different planets, he desired to personally meet the ascetic\nNaraya�a in Badarikasrama and offer him his respects. This great sage in­\n\ncarnation of Godhead, Naraya�a ��i, has been undergoing great penances\n\nand austerities from the very beginning of the creation in order to teach\n\nthe inhabitants of Bharatavar�a how to attain the highest perfectional\nstage of going back to Godhead. His austerities and penances are exemplary practices for the human being.\"\n\nBadarikasrama is situated in the northernmost part of the Himalayan\n\nMountains and is always covered with snow. Religious Indians still go to\n\nvisit this place during the summer season, when the snowfall is not very\n\nsevere. Once, the incarnation of God Naraya�a ��i was sitting amongst\n\nmany devotees in the village known as Kalapagrama. Of course, these were\n\nnot ordinary sages who were sitting with him, and the great sage Narada\nalso appeared there. After offering his respects to Naraya�a J.t�i, Narada\n\nasked him exactly the same question asked by King Parik�it of Sukadeva\n\nGosvami. When Narada asked his question of Naraya�a ��i, the ��i also\n\nanswered by following in the footsteps of his predecessors. He narrated a\n\nstory of how the same question had been discussed on the planet known\n\nas J analoka. J analoka is above the Svargaloka planets, such as the moon,\nVenus, etc. In this planet, great sages and saintly persons live, and they\n\nwere also discussing the same point regarding the understanding of Brahman and His real identity.\n\nThe great sage Naraya�a began to speak. \"My dear Narada,\" he said, \"I\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0280": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n243\n\nwill tell you a story which took place long, long ago. There was a great\n\nmeeting of the denizens of the heavenly planets. and almost all the\n\nimportant brahmaciins, such as the four Kumaras-Sanat, Sanandana,\n\nSanaka and Sanatana Kumara-attended. Their discussion was on the\n\nsubject matter of understanding the Absolute Truth, Brahman. You were\n\nnot present at that meeting because you went to see My expansion Ani­\n\nruddha, who lives on the island of Svetadvipa. In this meeting, all the\ngreat sages and brahmaciins very elaborately discussed the point about\n\nwhich you have asked me, and it was very interesting. The discussion was\nso delicate that even the Vedas were unable to answer the intricate ques­\n\ntions raised.\n\nNarayana ��i told Naradaji that the same question which Naradaji had\n\nraised had been discussed in that meeting in J analoka. This is the way of\nunderstanding through the paramparii, or disciplic succession. Maharaja\n\nParik�it was sent to Sukadeva Gosvami; Sukadeva Gosvami referred the\n\nmatter to Narada, who had in the same way questioned Narayana ��i, who\n\nhad put the matter to still higher authorities in the planet of Janaloka,\n\nwhere it was discussed among the great Kumaras-Sanat, Sanatana, Sanaka\n\nKumara and Sanandana. These four brahmaciiris are recognized scholars\n\nin the Vedas and siistras. Their unlimited volumes of knowledge, backed\n\nby austerities and penances, are exhibited by their sublime, ideal character.\nThey are very amiable and gentle in behavior, and for them there is no\n\ndistinction between friends, well-wishers and enemies. Being transcenden­\n\ntally situated, such personalities as the Kumaras are above all material\n\nconsiderations and are always neutral in respect to material dualities. In\n\nthe discussions held among the four brothers, one of them, namely\n\nSanandana, was selected to speak, and the other brothers became the\n\naudience to hear him.\n\nSanandana said, \"After the dissolution of the whole cosmic manifesta­\n\ntion, the entire energy and the whole creation in its nucleus form enters\n\ninto the body of Garbhodakasayi Vi�pu. The Lord at that time remains\n\nasleep for a long, long time, and where there is again necessity of creation,\n\nthe Vedas personified assemble around the Lord and begin to glorify Him,\n\ndescribing His wonderful transcendental pastimes. It is exactly like a king:\n\nwhen he is asleep in the morning, the appointed reciters come around his\n\nbedroom and begin to sing of his chivalrous activities, and while hearing\n\nof his glorious activities, the king gradually awakens.\n\n\"The Vedic reciters or the personified Vedas sing thus: '0 unconquer­\n\nable, You are the Supreme Personality. No one is equal to You or greater\n\nthan You. No one can be more glorious in His activities. All glories unto\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0281": "244\n\nKf�l).a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nYou! All glories unto You! By Your own transcendental nature You fully\npossess all six opulences. As such, You are able to deliver all conditioned\nsouls from the clutches of miiyii. 0 Lord, we fervently pray that You\nkindly do so. All the living entities, being Your parts and parcels, are\nnaturally joyful, eternal and full of knowledge, but due to their own\nfaults they try to imitate You by trying to become the supreme enjoyer;\nthus they disobey Your supremacy and become offenders. And because\nof their offenses, Your material energy has taken charge of them; thus,\ntheir transcendental qualities of joyfulness, bliss and wisdom have been\ncovered by the clouds of the three material qualities. This cosmic manifestation, made of the three material qualities, is just like a prison house\nfor the conditioned souls. The conditioned souls are struggling very hard\nto escape from the material bondage, and according to their different\nconditions of life they have been given different types of engagement. But\nall engagements are based on Your knowledge. Pious activities can be\nexecuted only when inspired by Your mercy. Therefore, without taking\nshelter at Your lotus feet one cannot surpass the influence of material\nenergy. Actually, we, as personified Vedic knowledge, are always engaged\nin Your service to help the conditioned soul understand You.\"'\nThis prayer of the Vedas personified illustrates that the Vedas are meant\nfor helping the conditioned souls to understand Kf§!la. All the srutis or\npersonified Vedas offered glories to the Lord again and again, singing,\n\n\"]aya! ]aya!\" This indicates that the Lord is praised for His glories. Of all\nHis glories the most important is His causeless mercy upon the conditioned\nsouls in reclaiming them from the clutches of mayii.\nThere are unlimited numbers of living entities in different varieties of\nbodies, some moving and some standing in one place, and the conditioned life of these living entities is due only to their forgetfulness of their\neternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When the\nliving entity wants to lord it over the material energy by imitating the position of Kr�l).a, he is immediately captured by the material energy and,\naccording to his desire, is offered a variety of 8,400,000 different kinds of\nbodies. Although undergoing the threefold miseries of material existence,\nthe illusioned living entity falsely thinks himself the master of all he surveys. Under the spell of the material energy, which represents the threefold material qualities, the living entity is so entangled that it is not at all\npossible for him to become free unless he is graced by the Supreme Lord.\nThe living entity cannot conquer the influence of the material modes of\nnature by his own endeavor, but because material nature is working under\nthe control of the Supreme Lord, the Lord is beyond its jurisdiction.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0282": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n245\n\nExcept for Him, all living entities, beginning from Brahma down to an\nant, are conquered by the contact of material_ nature.\nBecause He possesses in full the six opulences of wealth, strength, fame,\nbeauty, knowledge and renunciation, the Lord alone is beyond the spell of\nmaterial nature. Unless the living entity is situated in Kf§!la consciousness,\nhe cannot approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, yet the Lord,\nby His omnipotency, can dictate from within as the Supersoul. In the\nBhagavad-gitii, the Lord advises, \"Whatever you do, do for Me; whatever\n\nyou eat, first of all offer to Me; whatever charity you want to give, first\ngive to Me; and whatever austerities and penances you want to perform,\nperform for Me.\" In this way the karmis are directed to gradually develop\nKr wa consciousness. Similarly, Kr�!la directs the philosophers to approach\nHim gradually by discriminating between Brahman and miiyii. At last\nwhen one is mature in knowledge, he surrenders unto Kr�!J.a. As Kr�!la\nsays in Bhagavad-gitii, \"After many, many births, the wise philosopher\nsurrenders unto Me.\" The yogis are also directed to concentrate their\nmeditation upon Krwa within the heart, and by such continued process of\nKr�!la consciousness the yogi can become free from the clutches of material\nenergy. But, as is stated in Bhagavad-gitii, because the devotees are engaged in devotional service with love and affection from the very beginning,\nthe Lord directs them so that they can approach Him without difficulty or\ndeviation. Only by the grace of the Lord can the living entity understand\nthe exact position of Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan.\nThe statements of the personified Vedas give clear evidence that the\nVedic literature is presented only for understanding Kr�!J.a. It is confirmed\nin the Bhagavad-gitii that through all the Vedas it is Kr�!la alone who has to\nbe understood. Kr§!la is always enjoying, either in the material world or in\nthe spiritual world; because He is the supreme enjoyer, for Him there is no\ndistinction between the material world and spiritual worlds. The material\nworld is an impediment for the ordinary living entities because they are\nunder its control, but Kr�!J.a, being the controller of the material world,\nhas nothing to do with the impediments it offers. Therefore, in different\nparts of the Upani§ads, the Vedas declare: \"Brahman is eternal, full of all\nknowledge and all bliss, but the one Supreme Personality of Godhead is\nexisting in the heart of every living entity.\" Because of His all-pervasiveness,\nHe is able to enter not only into the hearts of the living entities, but even\ninto the atoms also. As the Supersoul, He is the controller of all activities\nof the living entities. He is living within all of them and witnessing their\nactions, allowing them to act according to their desires, and also giving\nthem the results of their different activities. He is the living force of all\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0283": "246\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nthings, but still He is transcendental to the material qualities. He is omni­\n\npotent; He is expert in manufacturing everything, and on account of His\n\nsuperior, natural knowledge, He can bring everyone under His control. As\nsuch, He is everyone's master. He is sometimes manifest on the surface of\n\nthe globe, but He is simultaneously within all matter. Desiring to expand\nHimself in multi-forms, He glanced over the material energy, and thus innu­\n\nmerable living entities became manifest. Everything is created by His\n\nsuperior energy, and everything in His creation appears to be perfectly\n\ndone without deficiency.\n\nThose who aspire for liberation from this material world must therefore\n\nworship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate cause of all\ncauses. He is just like the total mass of earth, from which varieties of\nearthly pots are manufactured: the pots are made of earthly clay, they\nrest on the earth, and after being destroyed, their elements ultimately\nmerge back into earth. Although the Personality of Godhead is the\noriginal cause of all varieties of manifestation, the impersonalists especially\n\nstress the Vedic statement, sarvam khalv idam brahma: \"Everything is\nBrahman.\" The impersonalists do not take into account the varieties of\n\nmanifestation emanating from the supreme cause of Brahman. They simply\ntake into consideration that everything emanates from Brahman and after\n\ndestruction merges into Brahman and that the intermediate stage of\nmanifestation is also Brahman. Although the Mayavadis believe that prior\n\nto its manifestation the cosmos was in Brahman, after creation it remains\n\nin Brahman and after destruction it merges into Brahman, they do not\n\nknow what Brahman is. This fact is clearly described in the Brahma­\n\nsamhitii:\n\nThe living entities, space, time, and the material elements\n\nlike fire, earth, sky, water and mind, constitute the total cosmic manifesta­\n\ntion, known as bhilr bhuva� sva�, which is manifested by Govinda. It\n\nflourishes on the strength of Govinda and after annihilation enters into and\n\nis conserved in Govinda. Lord Brahma therefore says, \"I worship Lord\nGovinda, the original personality, the cause of all causes.\"\n\nThe word Brahman indicates the greatest of all and the maintainer of\n\neverything. The impersonalists are attracted by the greatness of the sky,\n\nbut because of their poor fund of knowledge they are not attracted by the\n\ngreatness of Kr�pa. In our practical life, however, we are attracted by· the\n\ngreatness of a person and not by the greatness of a big mountain. Actually\nthe term Brahman can be applie� to Kr�pa only; therefore in the Bhagavad­\n\ngitii Arjuna admitted that Lord Kr�pa is the Parambrahman, or the supreme rest of everything.\n\nKr�pa is the Supreme Brahman because of His unlimited knowledge,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0284": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n247\n\nunlimited potencies, unlimited strength, unlimited influence, unlimited\nbeauty and unlimited renunciation. Therefore the word Brahman can be\napplied to Krwa only. Arjuna affirms that because the impersonal Brahman is the effulgence emanating as rays of Kr�tta's transcendental body,\nKr�tta is the Parambrahman. Everything is resting on Brahman, but\nBrahman itself is resting on Kr�tta. Therefore Krwa is the ultimate\nBrahman or Parambrahman. The material elements are accepted as inferior\nenergies of Kr�tta because by their interaction the cosmic manifestation\ntakes place, rests on Kr�tta, and after dissolution again enters into the body\nof Kr�tta as His subtle energy. Kr�tta is therefore the cause of both manifestation and dissolution.\n\nSaroarh khalv idarh brahma means everything is Krwa, and that is the\nvision of the mahiibhiigavatas. They see everything in relation to Kr�tta.\nThe impersonalists argue that Kr�tta has transformed Himself into many\nand that therefore everything is Kr�tta and worship of everything is worship of Him. This false argument is answered by Krwa in the Bhagavad­\n\ngitii: although everything is a transformation ofthe energy of Kr�tta, He is\nnot present everywhere. He is simultaneously present and not present. By\nHis energy He is present everywhere, but as the energetic He is not present\neverywhere. This simultaneous presence and non-presence is inconceivable\nto our present senses. But a clear explanation is given in the beginning of\nthe lsopani§ad, in which it is stated that the Supreme Lord is so complete\nthat although unlimited energies and their transformations are emanating\nfrom Kr�tta, Kr�tta's· personality is not in the least bit transformed. Therefore, since Kr�tta is the cause of all causes, intelligent persons should take\nshelter of His lotus feet.\nKr�tta advises everyone just to surrender unto Him alone, and that is the\nway of Vedic instruction. Since Kr�tta is the cause of all causes, He is\nworshiped by all kinds of sages and saints by observance of the regulative\nprinciples. When there is a necessity for meditation, great personalities\nmeditate on the transcendental form of Kr�tta within the heart. In this\nway the minds of great personalities are always engaged in KHtta. With\n·\nminds engaged in Kr�tta, naturally the captivated devotees simply talk of\nKr�tt a.\n\nTalking of Kr�tta or singing of Kr�tta is called kirtana. Lord Caitanya\n\nalso recommends kirtaniya� sadii har*, which means always thinking and\ntalking of Kr�tta and nothing else. That is called Kr�tta consciousness.\n\nKr�tta consciousness is so sublime that anyone who takes to this process is\n\nelevated to the highest perfection of life-far, far beyond the concept of\nliberation. In the Bhagavad-gitii, therefore, Kr�tta advises everyone to\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0285": "248\n\nKr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nalways think of Him, render devotional service to Him, worship Him and\noffer obeisances to Him. In this way a devotee becomes fully Kr�!la-ized\n\nand, being always situated in Kr�!la consciousness, ultimately goes back to\nKrsna.\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\nAlthough the Vedas have recommended worship of different demigods\n\nas different parts and parcels of Kr�!la, it is to be understood that such\ninstructions are meant for the less intelligent class of men, who are still\n\nattracted by material sense enjoyment. But the person who actually wants\n\nperfect fulfillment of the mission of human life should simply worship\nLord Kr�!la, and that will simplify the matter and completely guarantee\n\nthe success of his human life. Although the sky, the water and the land are\nall part and parcel of the material world, when one stands on the solid\n\nland his position is more secure than when he stands in the sky or the\nwater. An intelligent person, therefore, does not stand under the protec­\n\ntion of different demigods, although they are part and parcel of Kr�!la.\n\nRather, he stands on the solid ground of Kr�!la consciousness. That makes\n\nhis position sound and secure.\n\nImpersonalists sometimes give the example that if one stands on a stone\n\nor a piece of wood, one certainly stands on the surface of the land, be­\n\ncause the stone and wood are both resting on the surface of the earth. But\n\nit may be replied that if one stands directly on the surface of the earth, he\n\nis more secure than on the wood or stone which are resting on the earth.\n\nIn other words, taking shelter of Paramatma or taking shelter of imper­\n\nsonal Brahman is not as secure a course as taking direct shelter of Kr�!la in\nKr�!la consciousness. The position of the jiiiinis and yogis is therefore not\nas secure as the position of the devotees of Kr�!la. Lord Kr�!la has there­\n\nfore advised in theBhagavad-gitii that only a person who has lost his senses\n\ntakes to the worship of demigods. And regarding persons who are attached\nto the impersonal Brahman, the Srimad-Bhiigavatam says, \"My dear Lord,\n\nthose who are thinking of themselves as liberated by mental speculation\n\nare not yet purified of the contamination of material nature because of\n\ntheir inability to find the shelter of Your lotus feet. Although they rise\nto the transcendental situation of existence in impersonal Brahman, they\n\ncertainly fall from that exalted position because they have neglected to\n\ndesire Your lotus feet.\" Lord Kr�!la therefore advises that the worshipers\n\nof the demigods are not very intelligent persons because they derive only\n\ntemporary, exhaustible results. Their endeavors are those of less intelligent\nmen. But the Lord assures that His devotee has no fear of falling.\n\nThe personified Vedas continued to pray: \"Dear Lord, considering all\n\npoints of view, if one has to worship someone superior to him, then just\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0286": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n249\n\nout of good behavior one should stick to the worship of Your lotus feet\nbecause You are the ultimate controller of creation, maintenance and\ndissolution. You are the controller of the three worlds, Bhiir, Bhuvar and\nSvar, You are the controller of the fourteen upper and lower worlds, and\nYou are the controller of the three material qualities. Demigods and persons\nadvanced in spiritual knowledge are always engaged in hearing and chanting\nabout Your transcendental pastimes because this has the specific potency\nof nullifying the accumulated results of sinful life. Intelligent persons\nfactually take a dip in the ocean of Your nectarean activities and very\npatiently hear of them. Thus they immediately become freed from the\ncontamination of the material qualities; they do not have to undergo severe\npenances and austerities for advancement of spiritual life. This chanting\nand hearing of Your transcendental pastimes is the easiest process for selfrealization_ Simply by submissive aural reception of the transcendental\nmessage, one's heart becomes cleansed of all dirty things. Thus Kr��a\nconsciousness becomes fixed in the heart of a devotee.\n\"The great authority Bhi�madeva has also given the opinion that this\nprocess of chanting and hearing about the Supreme Personality of Godhead\nis the essence of all Vedic rituaiistic performances. Dear Lord, the devotee\nwho wants to elevate himself simply by this process of devotional activities,\nespecially by hearing and chanting, very soon comes out of the clutches of\nthe dualities of material existence. By this simple process of penance and\nausterity the Supersoul within the devotee's heart becomes very pleased\nand gives the devotee directions so that he may go back to home, back to\nGodhead. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gitii that one who engages all his\n\nactivities and senses in the devotional service of the Lord becomes com­\n\npletely pacified because the Supersoul is satisfied with him; thus the\ndevotee becomes transcendental to all kinds of dualities, such as heat and\ncold, honor and dishonor. Being freed from all dualities, he feels transcendental bliss, and he no longer suffers cares and anxieties due to material\nexistence_ Bhagavad-gitii confirms that the devotee who is always absorbed\nin Kr��a consciousness has no anxieties for his maintenance or protection.\n\nBeing constantly absorbed in Kr��a consciousness, he ultimately achieves\nthe highest perfection. While in the material existence, he lives very\npeacefully and blissfully without any cares and anxieties, and after quitting\nthis body he goes back to home, back to Godhead. The Lord confirms in\nthe Bhagavad-gitii, 'My supreme abode is a transcendental place where\n\ngoing no one returns to this material world. Anyone who attains the\n\nsupreme perfection, being engaged in My personal devotional service in\nthe eternal abode, reaches the highest perfection of human life and doesn't\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0287": "250\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nhave to come back again to the miserable material world.'\n\"My dear Lord, it is imperative that the living entities be engaged in\nKr�tta consciousness, always rendering devotional service by prescribed\nmethods such as hearing and chanting and executing Your orders. If a\nperson is not engaged in Kr�tta consciousness and devotional service, it is\n,\nuseless for him to exhibit the symptoms of life. Generally it is accepted\nthat if a person is breathing he is alive. But a person without Kr�tta\nconsciousness may be compared to a bellows in a blacksmith's shop. The\nbig bellows is a bag of skin which exhales and inhales air, and a human\nbeing who is simply living within the bag of skin and bones without taking\nto Kr�tta consciousness and loving devotional service is no better than the\nbellows. Similarly, a nondevotee's long duration of life is compared to the\nlong existence of a tree, his voracious eating capacity is compared to the\n. eating of dogs and hogs, and his enjoyment in sex life is compared to that\nof hogs and goats.\n\"The cosmic manifestation has been possible because of the entrance of\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead as Maha-Vi�ttu within this material\nworld. The total material energy becomes agitated by ·the glance o'f MahaVi�tJ-u, and only then does the interaction of the three material qualities\nbegin. Therefore it should be concluded that whatever material facilities\nwe are trying to enjoy are available only due to the mercy of the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead.\n·\n\n\"Within the body there are five different departments of existence,\n\nknown as annamaya, priir-amaya, manomaya, vijiiiinamaya, and at last\niinandamaya. In the beginning of life, every living entity is food conscious.\n\nA child or an animal is satisfied only by getting nice food. This stage of\nconsciousness, in which the goal is to eat sumptuously, is called annamaya.\nAnna means food. After this one lives in the consciousness of being alive.\n\nIf one can continue his life without being attacked or destroyed, one\nthinks himself happy. This stage is called priir-amaya, or consciousness of\none's existence. After this stage, when one is situated on the mental\nplatform, that consciousness is called manomaya. The material civilization\nis primarily situated in these three stages, annamaya, priir-amaya and\nmanomaya. The first concern of civilized persons is economic develop­\n\nment, the next concern is defense against being annihilated, and the next\nconsciousness is mental speculation, the philosophical approach to the\nvalues of life.\n\"If by the evolutionary process of philosophical life one happens to\nreach to the platform of intellectual life and understands that he is not\nthis material body, but is a spirit soul, then by evolution of spiritual life he\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0288": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n251\n\ncomes to the understanding of the Supreme Lord or the Supreme Soul.\nWhen one develops his relationship with Him and executes devotional\nservice, that stage of life is called Kr��a consciousness, the iinandamaya\n\nstage. Anandamaya is the blissful life of knowledge and eternity. As it is\nsaid in the Vediinta-siltra, iinandamayo 'bhyiisiit. The Supreme Brahman\nand the subordinate Brahman, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead and\nthe living entities, are both joyful by nature. As long as the living entities\nare situated in the lower four stages of life, annamaya, priiramaya, mana­\n\nmaya and vijniinamaya, they are considered to be in the material condition\nof life, but as soon as one reaches the stage of iinandamaya he becomes a\nliberated soul. This iinandamaya stage is explained in the Bhagavad-gitii as\nthe brahma-bhilta stage. There it is said that in the brahrna-bhilta stage of\nlife there is no anxiety and no hankering. This stage begins when one\nbecomes equally disposed toward all living entities, and it then expands to\nthe stage of Kr��a consciousness in which one always hankers to render\nservice unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This hankering for\nadvancement in devotional service is not the same as hankering for sense\ngratification in material existence. In other words, hankering remains in\nspiritual life, but it becomes purified. When our senses are purified, they\nbecome freed from all material stages, namely annamaya, priirwmaya,\n\nmanomaya and vijniinamaya, and they become situated in the highest\nstage\n\n-\n\niinandamaya\n\n,\n\nor blissful life in Kr��a consciousness. The Mayavadi\n\nphilosophers consider iinandamaya to be the state of being merged in the\nSupreme. To them, iinandamaya means that the Supersoul and the indi­\n\nvidual soul become one. But the real fact is that oneness does not mean\nmerging into the Supreme and losing one's own individual existence.\nMerging in the spiritual existence is the living entity's realization of\nqualitative oneness with the Supreme Lord in His eternity and knowledge\naspects.\n\nBut the actual iinandamaya (blissful) stage is obtained when\n\none is engaged in devotional service. That is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii.\n\nMad-bhaktirh labhate pariim: the brahma-bhilta iinandamaya stage is\ncomplete only when there is the exchange of love between the Supreme\nand the subordinate living entities. Unless one comes to this iinandamaya\nstage of life, his breathing is like the breathing of a bellows in a blacksmith's\nshop, his duration of life is like that of a tree, and he is no better than the\nlower animals like the camels, hogs and dogs.\nUndoubtedly the eternal living entity cannot be annihilated at any\npoint. But the lower species of life exist in a miserable condition, whereas\none who is engaged in devotional service of the Supreme Lord is situated\nin the pleasurable or iinandamaya status of life. The different stages\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0289": "252\n\nK.f�l)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ndescribed above are all in relationship with the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead. Although in all circumstances there exist both the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead and the living entities, the difference is that the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead always exists in the iinandamaya stage,\nwhereas the subordinate living entities, because of their minute position as\nfragmental portions of the Supreme Lord, are prone to fall to the other\nstages of life. Although in all the stages both the Supreme Lord and the\nliving entities exist, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always transcendental to our concept of life, whether we are in bondage or in\nliberation. The whole cosmic manifestation becomes possible by the grace\nof the Supreme Lord, it exists by the grace of the Supreme Lord, and\nwhen it is annihilated, it merges into the existence of the Supreme Lord.\nAs such, the Supreme Lord is the supreme existence, the cause of all\ncauses. Therefore the conclusion is that without development of Kr�:pa\nconsciousness, one's life is simply a waste of time.\n\nThose who are very materialistic and cannot understand the situation\n\nof the spiritual world cannot understand the abode. of Kr�:pa. For such\npersons, great sages have recommended the yogic process whereby one\ngradually rises from meditation on the adbomen, which is called miiliidhiira\nor marzipiiraka meditation. Miiliidhiira and marzipiiraka are technical terms\nwhich refer to the intestines within the abdomen. Grossly materialistic\npersons think that economic development is of foremost importance\nbecause they are under the impression that a living entity exists only by\neating. Such grossly materialistic persons forget that although we may eat\nas much as we like, if the food is not digested it produces the troubles of\nindigestion and acidity. Therefore, in itself, eating is not the cause of the\nvital energy of life. For digestion of eatables we have to take shelter of\nanother, superior energy, which is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gitii as\nvaisviinara. Lord Kr�:pa says in the Bhagavad-gitii that He helps the digestion\nin the form of vaisviinara. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is allpervasive; therefore, His presence as vaisviinara is not extraordinary.\nKrwa is actually present everywhere. The V ai�:pava, therefore, marks\nhis body with temples of Vi�:pu: he first marks a tilaka temple on the\nabdomen, then on the chest, then between the collarbones, then on the\nforehead, and gradually he marks the top of the head, the brahma-randhra.\nThe thirteen temples of tilaka marked on the body of a Vai�:pava are known\nas follows: On the forehead is the temple of Lord Kesava, on the belly is\nthe temple of Lord Naraya:pa, on the chest is the temple of Lord Madhava,\nand on the throat, between the two collarbones, is the temple of Lord\nGovinda. On the right side of the waist is the temple of Lord Viwu, on\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0290": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n253\n\nthe right arm is the temple of Lord Madhusiidana, and on the right side\nof the collarbone is the temple of Lord Trivikrama. Similarly, on the left\n\nside of the waist is the temple of Lord Vamanadeva, on the left arm\n\nis the temple of Sridhara, on the left side of the collarbone is the\n\ntemple of Hr�ike8a, on the upper back the temple is called Padmanabha,\n\nand on the lower back the temple is called Damodara. On the top of the\n\nhead the temple is called Vasudeva. This is the process of meditation on\nthe Lord's situation in the different parts of the body, but for those who\n\nare not Vai��avas, great sages recommend meditation on the bodily con­\n\ncept of life-meditation on the intestines, on the heart, on the throat, on\n\nthe eyebrows, on the forehead and then on the top of the head. Some of\n\nthe sages in the disciplic succession from the great saint Aru�a meditate on\n\nthe heart because the Supersoul is also staying within the heart along with\nthe living entity. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gitii, Fifteenth Chapter,\nwherein the Lord states, \"I am situated in everyone's heart.\"\n\nFor the Vai��ava, the protection of the body for the service of the Lord\n\nis a part of devotional service, but those who are gross materialists accept\nthe body as the self. They worship the body by the yogic process of medi­\n\ntation on the different bodily parts, such as mapipilraka, dahara and\n\nhrdaya, gradually rising to the brahma-randhra on the top of the head.\nThe first-class yogi who has attained perfection in the practice of the yoga\n\nsystem ultimately passes through the brahma-randhra to any one of the\n\nplanets in either the material or spiritual worlds. How a yogi can transfer\n\nhimself to another· planet is very vividly described in the Second Canto of\n\nS rimad-Bhiigavatam.\n\nIn this regard, Sukadeva Gosvami has recomrpended that the beginners\n\nworship the virata puru§a, the gigantic universal form of the Lord. One\nwho cannot believe that the Lord can be worshiped with equal success in\n\nthe Deity or area form, or who cannot concentrate on this form, is advised\n\nto worship the universal form of the Lord. The lower part of the universe\n\nis considered the feet and legs of the Lord's universal form, the middle\npart of the universe is considered the navel or abdomen of the Lord, the\n\nupper planetary systems such as Janaloka and Maharloka are the heart of\n\nthe Lord, and the topmost planetary system, Brahmaloka, is considered\n\nthe top of the Lord's head. There are different processes recommended\n\nby great sages, according to the position of the worshiper, but the ultimate\n\naim of all meditational and yogic processes is to go back home, back to\nGodhead.\n\nAs\n\nstated\n\nin\n\nBhagavad-gitii,\n\nanyone\n\nwho\n\nreaches\n\nthe\n\nhighest planet, the abode of Kr��a, or even the Vaiku�tha planets, never\nhas to come down again to this miserable material condition of life.\n\nThe Vedic recommendation, therefore, is that one make the lotus feet\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0291": "254\n\n.Kr�tJ.a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nof Viwu the target of all one's efforts. Tad virrwlz. paramam padam, Vi�puloka or the Vi�pu planets, are situated above all the material planets. These\nVaikutJ.tha planets are known as saniitana-dhiima, and they are eternal.\nThey are never annihilated, not even by the annihilation of this material\nworld. The conclusion is that if a human being does not fulfill the mission\nof his life by worshiping the Supreme Lord and does not go back to Godhead, then it is to be understood that he has been frustrated in fulfilling\nthe main purpoes of human life.\n\nThe next prayer of the personified Vedas to the Lord concerns His\n\nentering into different species of life. It is stated in Bhagavad-giHi, Fourteenth Chapter, that in every species and form of life the spiritual part\nand parcel of the Supreme Lord is present. The Lord Himself claims in the\nGitii that He is the seed-giving father of all forms and species, and therefore they must all be considered sons of the Lord. The entrance of the\nSupreme Lord into everyone's heart as Paramatma sometimes bewilders\nthe impersonalists, who think in terms of the equality of the living entities\nwith the Supreme Lord. They think that because the Supreme Lord enters\ninto different bodies along with the individual soul, there is no distinction\nbetween the Lord and the individual entities. Their challenge is, \"Why\nshould individual souls worship the Paramatma or Supersoul?\" According\nto them, both the Supersoul and the individual soul are on the same level;\nthey are one, without any difference between them. There is a difference,\nhowever, between the Supersoul and in the individual soul, and this is\nexplained in Bhagavad-gitii, Fifteenth Chapter, wherein the Lord says that\nalthough He is situated with the living entity in the same body, He\nis superior. He is dictating to or giving intelligence to the individual soul\nfrom within. It is clearly stated in the Gitii that the Lord gives intelligence\nto the individual soul and that both memory and forgetfulness are due to\nthe influence of the Supersoul. No one can act independently of the sanction of the Supersoul. Therefore, the individual soul acts according to his\npast karma, reminded by the Lord. The nature of the individual soul is\nforgetfulness, but the presence of the Lord within the heart reminds him\nof what he wanted to do in his past life. The intelligence of the individual\nsoul is exhibited like fire in wood. Although fire is always fire, it is\nexhibited in a size proportionate to the size of the wood. Similarly,\nalthough the individual soul is qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord,\nhe exhibits himself according to the limitations of his present body.\nThe Supreme Lord or the Supersoul is said to be eka-rasa. Eka means\none, and rasa means mellow. The transcendental position of the Supreme\nLord is that of eternity, bliss and full knowledge. His position of eka-rasa\n\nI.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0292": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n255\n\ndoes not change in the slightest when He becomes a witness and advisor to\nthe individual soul in each individual body.\nThe individual soul, beginning from Lord Brahma down to the ant,\nexhibits his spiritual potency according to his present body. The demigods\nare in the same category with the individual souls in the bodies of the\nhuman beings or in the bodies of lower animals. Intelligent persons, therefore, do not worship different demigods, who are simply infinitesimal\nrepresentatives of Kr�!la manifesting in conditioned bodies. The individual\nsoul can exhibit his power and potencies only in proportion to the shape\nand constitution of the body. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, can exhibit His full potencies in any shape or form without any\nchange. The Mayavadi philosophers' thesis that God and the individual\nsoul are one and the same cannot be accepted because the individual soul\nhas to develop his power and potencies according to the development of\ndifferent types of bodies. The individual soul in the body of a baby\ncannot show the full power and potency of a grown man, but the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead Kr�!la, even when lying on the lap of His mother\nas a baby, could exhibit His full potency and power by killing Putana and\nother demons who tried to attack Him. Therefore the spiritual potency of\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead is said to be eka-rasa, or without\nchange. Therefore the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the only worshipable object, and this is perfectly known to persons who are uncontaminated by the force of material nature. In other words, only the liberated souls can worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Less intelligent Mayavadis take to the worship of demigods, thinking that the demigods and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are on the same level.\nThe personified Vedas continued to offer their obeisances. \"Dear Lord,\"\nthey prayed, \"after many, many births, those who have actually become\nwise take to the worship of Your lotus feet in complete knowledge.\" This\nis also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii, wherein the Lord says that after\nmany, many births, a great soul or mahatma surrenders unto the Lord,\nknowing well that Vasudeva, Krwa, is the cause of all causes. The Vedas\ncontinued: \"As has already been explained, since our mind, intelligence\nand senses have been given to us by God, when these instruments are\nactually purified there is no alternative than to engage them all in the\ndevotional service of the Lord. A living entity's entrapment in different\nspecies of life is due to the misapplication of his mind, intelligence and\nsenses in material activities. Various kinds of bodies are awarded as the\nresult of a living entity's actions, and they are created by the material\nnature according to the living entity's desire. Because a living entity\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0293": "256\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ndesires and deserves a particular kind of body, it is given to him by the\n\nmaterial nature under the order of the Supreme Lord.\n\nIn the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Third Canto, it is explained that under the\n\ncontrol of superior authority a living entity is put within the semina of a\n\nmale and injected into the womb of a particular female in order to develop\n\na particular type of body. A living entity utilizes his senses, intelligence,\n\nmind, etc., in a specific way of his own choosing and thus develops a\nparticular type of body within whit;:h he becomes encaged. In this way the\nliving entity becomes situated in different species of life, either in a demi­\n\ngod, human or animal body, according to different situations and circum­\n\nstances.\n\nIt is explained in the Vedic literatures that the living entities entrapped\n\nin different species of life are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. The\nM�y.vadi philosophers mistake the living entity for the Paramatma, who is\n\nactually sitting with the living entity as a friend. Because the Paramatma,\n\nthe localized aspect of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the\nindividual living entity are both within the body,\n\n;:t\n\nmisunderstanding\n\nsometimes takes place that there is no difference between the two. But\nthere is a definite difference between the individual soul and the Super­\n\nsoul, and it is explained in the Variiha Puriirw as follows. The Supreme\nLord has two kinds of parts and parcels: the living entity is called vibhin­\n\nniirhsa, and the Paramatma or the plenary expansion of the Supreme Lord\n\nis called sviirhsa. The sviirhsa plenary expansion of the Supreme Personality\n\nis as powerful as the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. There is not\n\neven the slightest difference between the potency of the Supreme Person\n\nand that of His plenary expansion as Paramatma, but the vibhinniirhsa\n\nparts and parcels possess only a minute portion of the potencies of the\nLord. The Niiriiyarw-Paficariitra states that the living entities who are the\n\nmarginal potency of the Supreme Lord are undoubtedly of the same\n\nquality of spiritual existence as the Lord Himself, but they are prone\n\nto be tinged with the material qualities. Because he is prone to be\n\nsubjected to the influence of material qualities, the minute living entity is\n\ncalled jiva. Sometimes the Supreme Personality of Godhead is also known\n\nas Siva, the all-auspicious. So the difference between Siva and jiva is that\n\nthe all-auspicious Personality of Godhead is never affected by the material\n\nqualities, whereas the minute portions of the Supreme Personality of God­\n\nhead are prone to be affected by the qualities of material nature.\n\nThe Supersoul within the body of a particular living entity, although a\n\nplenary portion of the Lord, is worshipable by the individual living entity.\n\nGreat sages have therefore concluded that the process of meditation is\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0294": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n257\n\ndesigned so that the individual living entity may concentrate his attention\n\non the lotus feet of the Supersoul form (Vi��u). That is the real form of\n\nsamiidhi. The living entity cannot become liberated from material entan­\n\nglement by his own effort. He must therefore take to the devotional\n\nservice of the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, or the Supersoul within\n\nhimself. Sridhara Svami, the great commentator on Srimad-Bhiigavatam,\n\nhas composed a nice verse in this regard, the purport of which is as\nfollows: \"My dear Lord, I am eternally Your part and parcel, but I have\n\nbeen entrapped by the material potencies, which are also an emanation\n\nfrom You. As the cause of all causes, You have entered my body as the\nSupersoul, and I have the prerogative to enjoy the supreme blissful life of\n\nknowledge along with You. Therefore, my dear Lord, please order me to\n\nrender You loving service so that I can again be brought to my original\n\nposition of transcendental bliss.\"\n\nGreat personalities understand that a living entity entangled in this\n\nmaterial world cannot become freed by his own efforts. With firm faith\n\nand devotion, such great personalities engage themselves in rendering tran­\n\nscendental loving service to the Lord. That is the verdict of the personified\n\nVedas.\n\nThe personified Vedas continued: \"Dear Lord, it is very difficult to\n\nachieve perfect knowledge of the Absolute Truth. Your Lordship is so kind'\n\nto the fallen souls that You appear in different incarnations and execute\n\ndifferent activities._ You appear even as a historical personality of this\n\nmaterial world, and Your pastimes are very nicely described in the\nVedic literatures. Such pastimes are as attractive as the ocean of tran­\n\nscendental bliss. People in general have a natural inclination to read narra­\n\ntions in which ordinary jivas are glorified, but when they become attracted\nby the Vedic literatures which delineate Your eternal pastimes, they\n\nactually dip into the ocean of transcendental bliss. As a fatigued man\n\nfeels refreshed by dipping into a reservoir of water, so the conditioned\nsoul who is very much disgusted with material activities becomes refreshed\n\nand forgets all the fatigue of material activities simply by dipping into the\ntranscendental ocean of Your pastimes. And eventually he merges in the\n\nocean of transcendental bliss. The most intelligent devotees, therefore, do\nnot take to any means of self-realization except devotional service and\n\nconstant engagement in the nine different processes of devotional life,\n\nespecially hearing and chanting. When hearing and chanting about Your\ntranscendental pastimes, Your devotees do not care even for the transcen­\n\ndental bliss derived from liberation or from merging into the existence of\nthe Supreme. Such devotees are not interested even in so-called liberation,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0295": "258\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nand certainly they have no interest in material activities for elevation to\n\nthe heavenly planets for sense gratification. Pure devotees seek only the\nassociation of paramaharhsas, or great liberated devotees, so that they can\n\ncontinually hear and chant about Your glories. For this purpose the pure\n\ndevotees are prepared to sacrifice all comforts of life, even giving up the\nmaterial comforts of family life and so-called society, friendship and love.\n\nThose who have tasted the nectar of devotion by relishing the transcen­\n\ndental vibration of chanting Your glories, Hare Kr§�a, Hare Kr§�a, Kr§�a\nKrsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, do not\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\ncare for any other spiritual bliss or for material comforts, which appear to\n\nthe pure devotee to be less important than the straw in the street.\"\n\nThe personified Vedas continued: \"Dear Lord, when a person is able to\n\npurify his mind, senses and intelligence by engaging himself in devotional\nservice in full Krsna consciousness, his mind becomes his friend. Otherwise,\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\nhis mind is always his enemy. When the mind is engaged in devotional\n\nservice of the Lord, it becomes the intimate friend of the living entity\n\nbecause the mind can then think of the Supreme Lord always. Your\n\nLordship is eternally dear to the living entity, �o when ·the mind is engaged\n\nin thought of You, one immediately feels the great satisfaction for which\n\nhe has been hankering life after life. When one's mind is thus fixed on the\n\nlotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one does not take to\n\nany kind of inferior worship or inferior process of self-realization. By\nattempting to worship a demigod or by taking to any other process of\nself-realization, the living entity becomes a victim of the cycle of birth and\n\ndeath, and no one can estimate how much the living entity becomes\ndegraded by entering the abominable species of life such as the cats and\n\ndogs.\"\n\nSri Narottama dasa Thakur has sung that persons who do not take to\n\ndevotional service of the Lord but are attracted to the process of philo­\n\nsophical speculation and fruitive activities drink the poisonous results of\nsuch actions. Such persons are forced to take birth in different species of\nlife and are forced to adopt obnoxious practices like meat-eating and\nintoxication. Materialistic persons generally worship the transient material\n\nbody and forget the welfare of the spirit soul within the body. Some take\n\nshelter of materialistic science to improve bodily comforts, and some take\nto the worship of demigods in order to be promoted to the heavenly\nplanets. Their goal in life is to make the material body comfortable while\n\nforgetting the interest of the spirit soul. Such persons are described in the\n\nVedic literature as suicidal because attachment for the material body and\n\nits comforts forces the living entity to wander through the process of birth\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0296": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n259\n\nand death perpetually and suffer the material pangs as a matter of course.\nThe human form of life is a chance for one to understand his position, and\n\nthe most intelligent person takes to devotional service just to engage his\n\nmind, senses and body in the service of the Lord without deviation.\nThe personified Vedas continued: \"Dear Lord, there are many mystic\n\nyogis who are very learned and deliberate in achieving the highest per­\n\nfection of life. They engage themselves in the yogic process of controlling\n\nthe life-air within the body. Concentrating the mind upon the form of\n\nVi��u and controlling the senses very rigidly, they practice the yoga\n\nsystem, but even after much laborious austerity, penance, and regulation,\n\nthey achieve the same destination as persons who are inimical toward You.\nIn other words, both the yogis and great, wise philosophical speculators\nultimately attain the impersonal Brahman effulgence, which. is also auto­\n\nmatically attained by the demons who are regular. enemies of the Lord.\nDemons like Kamsa, Sisupala and Dantavakra also attain the Brahman\n\neffulgence because they constantly meditate upon the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead. Women such as the gopis were attached to Kr��a and capti­\n\nvated by His beauty, and their mental concentration on Krwa was\nprovoked by lust. They wanted to be embraced by the arms of Kr��a,\n\nwhich resemble the beautiful round shape of a snake. Similarly, there are\n\nthe Vedic hymns, and we also simply concentrate our minds on the lotus\n\nfeet of Your Lordship. Women like the gopis concentrate upon You\n\ndictated by lust, and we concentrate upon Your lotus feet to go back\n\nhome, back to Godhead. Your enemies also concentrate upon You, think­\n\ning always how to kill You, and the yogis undertake great penances and\n\nausterities just to attain Your impersonal effulgence. All these different\n\npersons, although concentrating their minds in different ways, achieve\nspiritual perfection according to their different perspectives because You\nare equal to all Your devotees.\"\n\n.\nSridhara Svami has composed a nice verse in this regard: \"My dear Lord,\n\nto be engaged always in thinking of Your lotus feet is very difficult. It is\npossible by great devotees who have already achieved love for You and\n\nwho are engaged in transcendental loving service. My dear Lord, I wish\n\nthat my mind also may be engaged somehow or other on Your lotus feet,\n\nat least for some time.\"\n\nThe attainment of spiritual perfection by different spiritualists is ex­\n\nplained in the Bhagavad-gitii, wherein the Lord says that He grants the\nperfection the devotee desires in proportion to the devotee's surrender\n\nunto Him. The impersonalists, yogis and the enemies of the Lord enter\ninto the Lord's transcendental effulgence, but the personalists who are\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0297": "260\n\nKf��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nfollowing in the footsteps of the inhabitants of v rndavana or strictly following the path of devotional service are elevated to the personal abode of\nKf§�a, Goloka Vrndavana, or to the Vaiku�tha planets. Both the impersonalists and the personalists enter into the spiritual realm or the spiritual\nsky, but the impersonalists are given their place in the impersonal Brahman\neffulgence, whereas the personalists are given a position in the V aiku�tha\nplanets or in the V rndavana planet, according to their desire to serve the\nLord in different mellows.\nThe personified\n\nVedas stated that persons who are born after the\n\ncreation of this material world cannot understand the existence of the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead by manipulating their material knowledge. Just as a person born in a particular family cannot understand the\nposition of his great-grandfather who lived before the birth of the recent\ngeneration, we are unable to understand the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, Naraya�a or Kr§�a, who exists eternally in the spiritual world.\nIn the Eighth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gitii it is clearly said that the\nSupreme Person, who lives eternally in the spiritual kingdom of God\n\n(saniitana-dhiima), can be approached only by devotional service.\nAs for the material creation, Brahma is the first created person. Before\nBrahma there was no living creature within this material world; it was void\nand dark until Brahma was born on the lotus flower sprouted from the\nabdomen of Garbhodakasayi Vi§�U. Garbhodakasayi Viwu is an expansion\nof Kara�odakasayi Vi§�u, Kara�odakasayi Vi§�U is an expansion of Sankar§a�a, and Sankar§a�a is an expansion of Balarama. Balarama is an\nimmediate expansion of Lord Kr§�a. After the creation of Brahma, .the\ntwo kinds of demigods were born: demigods like the four brothers Sanaka,\nSanatana, Sananda and Sanat-kumara, who are representatives of renunciation of the world, and demigods like Marici and their descendants who\nare meant to enjoy this material world. From these two kinds of demigods\nwere gradually manifested all other living entities, including the human\nbeings. Thus any living creature within this material world, including\nBrahma, all the demigods and all the\n\nriik§asas, are to be considered\n\nmodern. This means that they were all recently born. Therefore, just as a\nperson recently born in a family cannot understand the situation of his\ndistant forefather, so anyone within this material world cannot understand\nthe position of the Supreme Lord in the spiritual world because the\nmaterial world has only recently been created. Although they have a long\nduration of existence, all the manifestations of the material world, namely,\nthe time elements, the living entities, the Vedas, and the gross and subtle\nelements, are all created at some point. Anything manufactured within\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0298": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\nthis\n\n261\n\ncreated situation or accepted as a means to understanding the\n\noriginal source of creation is to be considered modern.\n\nTherefore by the process of self-realization or God realization through\n\nfruitive activities, philosophical speculation or mystic yoga, one cannot\nactually approach the supreme source of everything. When the creation is\ncompletely terminated, when there is no existence of the Vedas, no exist­\n\nence of material time, no existence of the gross and subtle material ele­\n\nments, and when all the living entities are in the nonmanifested stage resting\n\nwithin Naraya!la, then all these manufactured processes become null and\n\nvoid and cannot act. Devotional service, however, is eternally going on in the\n\neternal spiritual world. Therefore the only factual process of self-realization\nor God realization is devotional service, and if one takes to this process he\n\ntakes to the real process of God realization. Srila Sridhara Svami has\n\ntherefore composed a verse in this regard which conveys the idea that the\n\nsupreme source of everything, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is so\n\ngreat and unlimited that it is not possible for the living entity to understand\n\nHim by any material acquisition. Everyone should therefore pray to the\nLord to be engaged in His devotional service eternally, so that by the grace\n\nof the Lord one can understand the supreme source of creation. The\n\nsupreme source of creation, the Supreme Lord, reveals Himself only to\n\nthe devotees. In the Fourth Chapter of Bhagavad-gitii the Lord says to\n\nArjuna, \"My dear Arjuna, because you are My devotee and because you are\nMy intimate friend I shall therefore reveal to you the process of under­\n\nstanding Me.\" In other words, the supreme source of creation, the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, cannot be understood by our own endeavor.\n\nWe have to please Him with devotional service, and then He will reveal\nHimself to us. Then we can understand Him to some extent.\n\nThere are different kinds of philosophers who have tried to understand\n\nthe supreme source by their mental speculation. There are generally six\n\nkinds of mental speculators, and they are called §afl-darsana. All these\n\nphilosophers are impersonalists and are known as Mayavadis. Every one\n\nof them has tried to establish his own opinion, although they all have\nlater compromised and stated that all opinions lead to the same goal and\n\nthat every opinion is therefore valid. According to the prayers of the\n\npersonified Vedas, however, none of them are valid because their process\n\nof knowledge is created within the temporary material world. They have all\n\nmissed the real point: the Supreme Personality of Godhead or the Absolute\n\nTruth can be understood only by devotional service.\n\nOne class of philosophers, known as Mimamsakas, represented by sages\n\nsuch as Jaimini, have concluded that everyone should be engaged in pious\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0299": "262\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nactivities or prescribed duties and that such activities will lead one to the\nhighest perfection. But this is contradicted in the Ninth Chapter of\n\nBhagavad-gitii, where Lord Kr��a says that by pious activities one may be\nelevated to the heavenly planets, but as soon as one's accumulation of\npious activities is used up, one has to leave the enjoyment of a higher\nstandard of material prosperity in the heavenly planets and immediately\ncome down again to these lower planets, where the duration of life is very\nshort and where the standard of material happiness is of a lower grade. The\nexact words used in the Gitii are k§ire purye martya-lokam visanti. There­\n\nfore the conclusion of the Mimamsaka philosophers, that pious activities\nwill lead one to the Absolute Truth, is not valid. Although a pure devotee\nis by nature inclined to pious activities, no one can attain the favor of the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead by pious activities alone. Pious activities\nmay purify one of the contamination caused by ignorance and passion,\nbut this is automatically attained by a devotee who is constantly engaged\nin hearing the transcendental message of Godhead in the form of the\n\nBhagavad-gitii, Srimad-Bhiigavatam or similar scriptures. From the Bhagavad­\n\ngitii we understand that even a person who is not up to the. standard\nof pious activities but who is absolutely engaged in devotional service is to\nbe considered well situated on the path of spiritual perfection. It is also said\nin the Bhagavad-gitii that a person who is engaged in devotional service\nwith love and faith is guided from within by the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead. The Lord Himself as Paramatma, or the spiritual master sitting\nwithin one's heart, gives the devotee exact direction by which he can\ngradually\n\ngo back to\n\nGodhead.\n\nThe\n\nconclusion of the Mimamsaka\n\nphilosophers is not actually the truth which can lead one to real understanding.\nSimilarly, there are Sankhya philosophers, metaphysicians or material\nscientists who study this cosmic manifestation by their invented scientific\nmethod and who do not recognize the supreme authority of God as the\ncreator of the cosmic manifestation. Rather, they wrongly conclude that\nthe reaction of material elements is the original cause of creation. The\n\nBhagavad-gitii, however, does not accept this theory. It is clearly said\ntherein that behind the cosmic activities is the direction of the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead. This fact is corroborated by the Vedic injunction\n\nasad vii idam agra iisit, which means that the origin of the creation existed\n\nbefore the cosmic manifestation. Therefore, the material elements cannot\nbe the cause of material creation. Although the material elements are\naccepted as material causes� the ultimate cause is the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead Himself. The Bhagavad-gitii says, therefore, that material nature\nworks under the direction of Kr��a.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0300": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n263\n\nThe conclusion of the atheistic Sankhya philosophy is that because the\neffects of the. material worlds are temporary or illusory, the cause is\ntherefore also illusory. The Sankhya philosophers are in favor of voidism,\n\nbut the actual fact is that the original cause is the Supreme Personality\n\nof Godhead and this cosmic manifestation is the temporary manifestation\n\nof His material energy. When this temporary manifestation is annihilated,\n\nits cause, the eternal existence of the spiritual world, continues as it is,\n\nand therefore the spiritual world is called saniitana-dhiima, the eternal\n\nabode. The conclusion of the Sankhya philosopher is therefore not valid.\n\nThen there are the philosophers headed by Gautama and Ka�ada.\nThey have very minutely studied the cause and effect of the material\nelements and have ultimately come to the conclusion that atomic combination is the original cause of creation. Present material scientists also follow\nin the footsteps of Gautama and Ka�ada, who propounded this theory\nof paramiinuviida. This theory, however, cannot be supported because the\n\noriginal cause of everything is not inert atoms. This is confirmed in\n\nBhagavad-gitii and Srimad-Bhiigavatam as well as in the Vedas, wherein\nit is stated eko niiriiyarw iisit, only Naraya�a existed before the creation.\n\nThe Srimad-Bhiigavatam and Vediinta-siitra also say that the original cause\n\nis sentient and both indirectly and directly cognizant of everything within\n\nthis creation. In the Bhagavad-gitii Kr��a says, aham sarvasya prabhava[i:\n\"I am the original cause of everything,\" and matta� sarvam pravartate:\n\n\"From Me everythi�g comes into existence.�' Therefore, atoms may form\n\nthe basic combinatiQns of material existence, but these atoms are generated\nfrom the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus the philosophy of\nGautama and Ka�ada cannot be supported.\nSimilarly, impersonalists headed by A�tavakra and later on by Sankar­\n\nacarya accept the impersonal Brahman effulgence as the cause of every­\n\nthing. According to their theory, the material manifestation is temporary\nand unreal, whereas the impersonal Brahman effulgence is reality. But this\n\ntheory cannot be supported either, because the Lord Himself says in the\nBhagavad-gitii that this Brahman effulgence is resting on His personality.\n\nIt is also confirmed in the Brahma-samhitii that the Brahman effulgence\n\nis the personal bodily rays of Kr��a. As such, impersonal Brahman cannot\n\nbe the original cause of the cosmic manifestation. The original cause is the\nall-perfect sentient Personality of Godhead, Govinda.\n\n�\n\nThe most dangerous theory of the impersonalists is that when God comes\n\nas an incarnation He accepts a material body created by the three modes of\nmaterial nature. This Mayavadi theory has been condemned by Lord\n\nCaitanya as most offensive.\n\nHe has said that anyone who accepts\n\nthe transcendental body of the Personality of Godhead to be made of\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0301": "264\n\nKf�l)a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nthis material nature commits the greatest offense at the lotus feet of Vi�!lu.\nSimilarly, the Bhagavad-gitii also states that only the fools and rascals\nderide the Personality of Godhead when He descends in a human form.\nLord Kr�!la, Lord Rama and Lord Caitanya actually move within human\nsociety as human beings.\nThe personified Vedas condemn the impersonal conception as a gross\nmisrepresentation. I n the Brahma-sarhhitii, the body of the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead is described as iinanda-cin-maya-rasa. The Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead possesses a spiritual body, not a material body.\nHe can enj oy anything through any part of His body, and therefore He is\nomnipotent. The limbs of a material body can perform only a particular\nfunction, j ust as hands can hold, but they cannot see or hear. Because the\nbody of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is made of iinanda-cin-maya­\n\nrasa or sac-cid-iinanda-vigraha, He can enj oy anything and do everything\nwith any of His limbs. Acceptance of the spiritual body of the Lord as\nmaterial is dictated by the tendency to make the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead equal to the conditioned soul. The conditioned soul has a material\n.\nbody. Therefore, if God also has a material body, th�n the impersonalistic\ntheory that the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living entities are\none and the same can be very easily propagandized.\n\n·\n\nFactually, when the Supreme Personality of Godhead comes He exhibits\ndifferent pastimes, and yet there is no difference between His childish body\nwhen He is lying on the lap of His mother Y asoda and His so-called grown\nup body fighting with the demons. In His childhood bt>dy also, He fought\nwith demons such as Piitana, Tr!lavarta; Aghasura, etc., with strength\nequal to that with which He fought in His youth against demons like\n\nDantavakra, S isupala and others. In material life, as soon as a conditioned\nsoul changes his body, he forgets everything of his past body, but from the\n\nBhagavad�gitii we understand that Kr�!la, because He has a sac-cid-iinanda\nbody, did not forget instructing the sun-god about the Bhagavad-gitii\nmillions of years ago. The Lord is therefore known as Puru�ottama\nbecause He is transcendental to both material and spiritual existence. That\nHe is the cause of all causes means that He is the cause of the spiritual\nworld and of the material world as well. The. Supreme Personality of\nGodhead is omnipotent and omniscient. Therefore, because a material\nbody can be neither omnipotent nor omniscient, the Lord's body surely is\nnot material. The Mayavadi theory that the Personality of Godhead comes\nwithin this material world with a material body cannot be supported by\nany means.\nIt can be concluded that all the theories of the material philosophers\nare generated from the temporary illusory existence, like the conclusions\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0302": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n265\n\nin a dream. Such conclusions certainly cannot lead us to the Absolute\n\nTruth. The Absolute Truth can only be realized through devotional service.\n\nAs the Lord says in the Bhagavad-gitii, bhaktyii miim abhijiiniiti, \"Only by\n\ndevotional service can one understand Me.\" Srila Sridhara Svami has\ncomposed a nice verse in this regard, which states: \"My dear Lord, let\n\nothers be engaged in false argument and dry speculation, theorizing upon\n\ntheir great philosophical theses. Let them loiter in the darkness of ignorance\n\nand illusion, falsely enjoying as if very learned scholars, although they are\n\nwithout knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As far as\n\nI am concerned, I wish to be liberated simply by chanting the holy names\nof the all-beautiful Supreme Personality of Godhead-Madhava. Vamana.\n\nTrinayana, Sankar�apa, Sripati and Govinda. Simply by chanting His\n\ntranscendental names, let me become free from the contamination of this\nmaterial existence.\"\n\nIn this way the personified Vedas said, \"My dear Lord, when a living\n\nentity, by Your grace only, comes to the right conclusion about Your\nexalted transcendental position, at that time he no longer bothers with the\n\ndifferent theories manufactured by the mental speculators or so-called\nphilosophers. This is a reference to the speculative theories of Gautama,\nKa!lada, Patafijali and Kapila (Nirisvara). There are actually two Kapilas:\n\none Kapila, the son of Kardama Muni, is an incarnation of God, and the\n\nother is an atheist of the modern age. The atheistic Kapila is often\n\nmisrepresented to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead who appeared\n\nas the son of Kardama Muni during the time of Svayambhuva Manu.\nLord Kapila, the incarnation of Godhead, appeared long long ago; the\n\nmodern age is the age of Vaivasvata Manu, whereas He appeared during\n\nthe time of Svayambhuva Manu.\n\nAccording to Mayavadi philosophy, this manifested world or the material\n\nworld is mithyii or miiyii, false. Their preaching principle is brahma-satya\n\njagat-mithyii. According to them, only the Brahman effulgence is true,\n\nand the cosmic manifestation is illusory or false. But according to Vai�!lava\n\nphilosophy, this cosmic manifestation is caused by the Supreme Personality\n\nof Godhead. In the Bhagavad-gitii the Lord says that He enters within this\nmaterial world by one of His plenary portions, and thus the creation takes\nplace. From the Vedas also, we can understand that this asat or temporary\n\ncosmic manifestation is also an emanation from the Supreme sat or fact.\n\nFrom the Vediinta-siitra also it is understood that everything has emanated\n\nfrom the Supreme Brahman. As such the Vai�pavas do not take this cosmic\n\nmanifestation to be false. The Vai�!lava philosopher sees everything in this\nmaterial world in relationship with the Supreme Lord.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0303": "266\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nThis conception of the material world is very nicely explained by\nSrila Riipa Gosvami, who said that renunciation of this material world as\n\nillusory or false without knowledge that the material world is also the\nmanifestation of the Supreme Lord is of no practical value. The V ai�!lavas,\n\nhowever, are free of attachment to this world because generally the material\n\nworld is accepted as an object of sense gratification. The V ai�!lavas are not\nin favor of sense gratification; therefore, they are not attached to material\n\nactivities. The Vai�!J.ava accepts this material world according to the\nregulative principles of the Vedic injunctions. Since the Supreme Person­\n\nality of Godhead is the original cause of everything, the Vai�pava sees\n\neverything in relationship with Kr�!la, even in this material world. By such\nadvanced knowledge, everything becomes spiritualized. In other words,\neverything in the material world is already spiritual, but due to our lack\n\nof knowledge we see things as material.\n\nThe personified Vedas presented the example that those who are seek­\n\ning after gold do not reject gold earrings, gold bangles or anything else\nmade of gold simply because they are shaped differently from the o\"riginal\n\n-�old. All living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and are\nqualitatively one, but they are now differently shaped in 8,400,000 species\n\nof life, just like many different ornaments which have been manufactured\n\nfrom the same source of gold. As one who is interested in gold accepts all\n\nthe differently shaped gold ornaments, so a Vai�!lava, knowing well that\n\nall living entities are of the same quality as the Supreme Personality of\n\nGodhead, accepts all living entities as eternal servants of God. As a\n\nVai�!lava, then, one has ample opportunity to serve the Supreme Person­\n\nality of Godhead simply by reclaiming these conditioned, misled living\n\nentities, training them in Kr�!la consciousness and leading them back to\n\nhome, back to Godhead. The fact is that the minds of the living entities\nare now agitated by the three material qualities, and the living entities are\n\ntherefore transmigrating, as if in dreams, from one body to another. When\n\ntheir consciousness is changed into Kr�!la consciousness, however, they\nimmediately fix Kr�!la within their hearts, and thus their path for liberation\nbecomes clear.\nIn all the\n\nVedas the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living\n\nentities are stated to be of the same quality-caitanya, or spiritual. This\n\nis also confirmed in the Padma Purif!w, wherein it is said that there are\n\ntwo kinds of spiritual entities; one is called the jiva, and the other is called\nthe Supreme Lord. Beginning from Lord Brahma down to the ant, all\n\nliving entities are jivas, whereas the Lord is the Supreme four-handed Vi�pu\n\nor Janaradana. The worH iitmii can be applied only to the Supreme Person-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0304": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n267\n\nality of Godhead, but because the living entities are His parts and parcels,\n\nsometimes the word iitmii is applied to them also. The living entities are\n\ntherefore called jiviitmii, and the Supreme Lord is called Paramiitmii. Both\n\nthe Paramiitmii and jiviitmii are within this material world, and therefore\n\nthis material has a purpose other than sense gratification. The conception\n\nof a life of sense gratification is illusion, but the conception of service by\n\nthe jiviitmii to the Paramiitmii, even in this material world, is not at all\nillusory. A Kf�l)a conscious person is fully aware of this fact, and thus he\ndoes not take this material world to be false, but acts in the reality of tran­\n\nscendental service. The devotee therefore sees everything in this material\n\nworld as an opportunity to serve the Lord. He does not reject anything as\n\nmaterial, but dovetails everything in the service of the Lord. Thus a devotee\nis always in the transcendental position, and everything that he uses\n\nbecomes spiritually purified by being used in the service of the Lord.\n\nSridhara Svami has composed a nice verse in this regard: \"I worship the\n\nSupreme Personality of Godhead who is always manifested as reality even\n\nwithin this material world, which is considered by some to be false.\" The\nconception of the falsity of this material world is due to lack of knowledge,\n\nbut a person advanced in Krwa consciousness sees the Supreme Person­\n\nality of Godhead in everything. This is actually realization of the Vedic\n\naphorism, sarvarh khalv idarh brahma: \"Everything is Brahman.\"\n\nThe personified Vedas continued: \"Dear Lord, less intelligent men take\n\nto other ways of self-realization, but actually there is no chance to become\npurified from material contamination or to stop the repeated cycle of\n\nbirth and death unless one is a thoroughly pure devotee. Our dear Lord,\n\neverything is resting on Your different potencies; and everyone is supported\nby You, as is stated in the Vedas ( eko bahilniirh yo vidadhiiti kiimiin).\n\nTherefore Your Lordship is the supporter and maintainer of all living\n\nentities-demigods, human beings and animals. Everyone is supported\n\nby You, and You are also situated in everyone's heart. In other words, You\nare the root of the whole creation. Therefore those who are engaged in\n\nYour devotional service without deviation always worship You. Such\n\ndevotees actually pour water on the root of the universal tree. By devo­\n\ntional service, therefore, one satisfies not only the Personality of Godhead\n\nbut also all others, because everyone is maintained and supported by Him.\nBecause he understands the all-pervasive feature of the Supreme Person­\n\nality of Godhead, a devotee is the most practical philanthropist and altruist. Such pure devotees, thoroughly engaged in Kr�l)a consciousness,\n\nvery easily overcome the cycle of birth and death, and they as much as\n\njump over the head of death.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0305": "268\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nA devotee is never afraid of death or of changing his body; his con­\n\nsciousness is transformed into Kr§!la consciousness, and even if he does\nnot go back to Godhead, even if he transmigrates to another material body,\n\nhe has nothing to fear. A vivid example is Bharata Maharaja. Although in\n\nhis next life he became a deer, in the life after that he became completely\nfree from all material contamination and was elevated to the kingdom of\n\nGod. The Bhagavad-gitii affirms, therefore, that a devotee is never van­\n\nquished. A devotee's path to the spiritual kingdom, back home, back to\nGodhead, is guaranteed. Even though a devotee slips in one birth, the con­\n\ntinuation of his Kr§!la consciousness elevates him further and further until\n\nhe goes back to Godhead. Not only does a pure devotee purify his own\n\npersonal existence, but whoever becomes his disciple also ultimately becomes purified and able to enter the kingdom of God without difficulty.\n\nNot only can a pure devotee easily surpass death, but by his grace his\n\nfollowers also can do so without difficulty. The power of devotional\n\nservice is so great that a pure devotee can electrify another person by his\ntranscendental instruction on crossing over the ocean of nescience.\n\nThe instructions of a pure devotee to his disciple are also very simple.\n\nNo one feels any difficulty in following in the footsteps of a pure devotee.\n\nAnyone who follows in disciplic succession from recognized devotees of\n\nthe Lord, such as Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, the Kumaras, Manu, Kapila,\n\nKing Prahlada, King Janaka, Sukadeva Gosvami, Yamaraja, etc., very\n\neasily finds the door of liberation open. On the other hand, those who are\n\nnot devotees but are engaged in uncertain processes of self-realization, such\n\nas jiiiina, yoga and karma, are understood to be still contaminated. Such\ncontaminated persons, although apparently advanced in self-realization,\ncannot even liberate themselves, not to speak of others who follow them.\n\nSuch nondevotees are compared to chained animals, for they are not able\n\nto go beyond the jurisdiction of the formalities of a certain type of faith.\n\nIn the Bhagavad-gitii they are condemned as veda-viidah. They cannot\n\nunderstand that the Vedas deal with activities of the material modes of\n\nnature-goodness, passion and ignorance.\n\nLord Kr§!la advised Arjuna that one has to go beyond the jurisdiction\n\nof the duties prescribed in the Vedas and take to Kr§!la consciousness,\n\ndevotional service. It is said in the Bhagavad-gitii, nistraiguryo bhaviirjuna,\n\n\"My dear Arjuna, just try to become transcendental to the Vedic rituals.\"\n\nThis transcendental position beyond the Vedic ritualistic performances is\n\ndevotional service. In the Bhagavad-gitii the Lord clearly says that persons\n\nwho are engaged in His devotional service without adulteration are situated\nin Brahman. Actual Brahman realization means Kr§!la consciousness and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0306": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n269\n\nengagement in devotional service. The devotees are therefore real brahma­\n\nciiris because their activities are always in Kr��a consciousness, devotional\n\nserVIce.\n\nThe Krwa consciousness movement is therefore a supreme call to all\n\nkinds of religionists asking them with great authority to join this move­\n\nment by which one can learn how to love God and thus surpass all formu­\n\nlas and formalities of scriptural injunction. A person who cannot overcome\n\nthe jurisdiction of stereotyped religious principles is compared to an\nanimal chained up by his master. The purpose of all religion is to under­\n\nstand God and develop one's dormant love of Godhead. If one simply\n\nsticks to the religious formulas and formalities and does not become\n\nelevated to the position of love of God, he is considered to be a chained\nanimal. In other words, if one is not in Kr��a consciousness, he is not\n\neligibl\n\nfor liberation from the contamination of material existence.\n\nSrila Sridhara Svami has composed a nice verse which says, \"Let others\n\nengage in severe austerities, let others fall to the land from the tops of hills\n\nand give up their lives, let others travel to many holy places of pilgrimage\n\nfor salvation, or let them be engaged in deep study of philosophy and\nVedic literatures; let the mystic yogis engage in their meditational service,\n\nand let the different sects engage in unnecessary arguing as to which is the\n\nbest. But it is a fact that unless one is Kr��a conscious, unless one is\n\nengaged in devotional service, and unless one has the mercy of the Supreme\n\nPersonality of Godhead, he cannot cross over this material ocean.\" An\n\nintelligent person,\" therefore, gives up all stereotyped ideas and joins the\nKr��a consciousness movement for factual liberation.\n\nThe personified Vedas continued their prayers. \"Our dear Lord, Your\n\nimpersonal feature is explained in the Vedas: You have no hands, but You\n\ncan accept all sacrifices which are offered to You; You have no legs, but\nYou can walk more swiftly than anyone. Although You have no eyes, You\n\ncan see whatever happens in the past, present and future. Although You\nhave no ears, You can hear everything that is said. Although You have no\n\nmind, You know everyone and everyone's activities, past, present and\n\nfuture, and yet no one knows who You are. You know everyone, but no\none knows You; therefore, You are the oldest and supreme personality.\"\n\nSimilarly, in another part of the Vedas it is said, \"You have nothing to\n\ndo. You are so perfect in Your knowledge and potency that everything\n\nbecomes manifest simply by Your will. There is no one equal to or greater\n\nthan You, and everyone is acting as Your eternal servant.\" Thus the\n\nVedic statements describe that the Absolute has no legs, no hands, no\n\neyes, no ears and no mind, and yet He can act through His potencies and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0307": "270\n\n.Kf�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nfulfill the needs of all living entities. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, His\nhands and legs are everywhere; He is all-pervasive. The hands, legs, ears\nand eyes of all living entities are acting and moving by the direction of the\nSupersoul sitting within the living entity's heart. Unless the Supersoul is\npresent, it is not possible for the hands and legs to be active. The Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead is so great, independent and perfect, however, that\neven without having any eyes, legs and ears, He is not dependent on others\nfor His activities. On the contrary, others are dependent on Him for the\nactivities of their different sense organs. Unless the living entity is inspired\nand directed by the Supersoul, he cannot act.\nThe fact is that ultimately the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person.\nBut because He is acting through His different potencies which are impossible for the gross materialists to see, the ·materialists accept Him as\nimpersonal. For example, one can observe the personal artistic work in a\npainting of a flower, and one can understand that the color adjustment,\nthe shape, etc., have demanded the minute attention of the artist. The\nartist's work is clearly exhibited in a painting of different blooming\nflowers. But the gross materialist, without seeing the hand of God in such\nartistic manifestations as the actual flowers blooming in nature, concludes\nthat the Absolute Truth is impersonal. Actually, the Absolute is personal,\nbut He is independent. He does not require to personally take a brush and\ncolors to paint the flowers, but His potencies are acting so wonderfully\nthat it appears as if flowers have come into being without the aid of an.\nartist. The impersonal view of the Absolute Truth is accepted by less\nintelligent men because unless one is engaged in the service of the Lord,\nhe cannot understand how the Supreme is acting-he cannot even know\nHis name. Everything about His activities and personal features is revealed\nto the devotee only through his loving service attitude.\nIn the Bhagavad-gita it is clearly said, bhokturarh yajiia tapasiim: the\nLord is the enjoyer of all kinds of sacrifices and of the results of all\nausterities. Then again the Lord says, sarva-loka-mahesvaram: \"I am the\nproprietor of all planets.\" So that is the position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although He is present in Vrndavana and enjoys\ntranscendental pleasure in the company of His eternal associates, the gopis\nand the cowherd boys, His potencies are acting under His direction all over\nthe creation. They do not disturb His eternal pastimes.\nThrough devotional service only can one understand how the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, by His inconceivable potencies, simultaneously\nacts impersonally and as a person, He is acting just like the supreme\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0308": "·Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n271\n\nemperor, and many thousands of kings and chiefs are working under Him.\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead is the supreme independent control­\n\nling person, and all the demigods-including Lord Brahma, Lord Siva,\n\nIndra the king of heaven, the king of the moon planet, and the king of the\nsun planet-are working under His direction. It is confirmed in the Vedas\n\nthat the sun is shining, the air is blowing, and fire is distributing heat out\n\nof fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The material nature is\n\nproducing all kinds of movable and immovable objects within the material\n\nworld, but none of them can independently act or create without the\n\ndirection of the Supreme Lord. All of them are acting as tributaries, just\n\nlike subordinate kings who offer their annual taxes to the emperor.\n\nThe Vedic injunction states that every living entity lives by eating the\n\nremnants of foodstuffs offered to the Personality of Godhead. In great\n\nsacrifices the injunction is that Naraya�a should be present as the supreme\n\npredominating Deity of the sacrifice, and after the sacrifice is performed,\n\nthe remnants of foodstuffs are distributed amongst the demigods. This is\n\ncalled yajfia-bhiiga. Every demigod has an allotment of yajfia-bhiiga which\n\nhe accepts as prasiidam. The conclusion is that the demigods are not\nindependently powerful; they are posted as different executives under the\n\norder of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and they are eating\n\nprasiidam or the remnants of sacrifices. They are executing the order of\nthe Supreme Lord exactly according to His plan. The Supreme Personality\n\nof Godhead is in the background, and His orders are carried out by others.\nIt only appears that He is impersonal. In our grossly materialistic way, we\n\ncannot conceive how the Supreme Person is above the impersonal activities\nof material nature. Therefore the Lord explains in the Bhagavad-gitii that\n\nthere is nothing superior to Himself and that the impersonal Brahman is\nsubordinately situated as a manifestation of His personal rays. Sripada Srila\n\nSr'idhara Svam'i has therefore composed a nice verse in this regard: \"Let\n\nme offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of God­\n\nhead, who has no material senses but through whose direction and will all\n\nthe material senses are working. He is the supreme potency of alfmaterial\n\nsenses or sense organs. He is omnipotent, and He is the supreme performer\n\nof everything. Therefore He is worshipable by everyone. Unto that Supreme\nPerson do I offer my respectful obeisances.\"\n\nKr§�a Himself declares in the Bhagavad-gitii that He is Puru§ottama,\n\nwhich means the Supreme Personality. Puru�a means person, and uttama\n\nmeans supreme or transcendental. Also in Bhagavad-gitii the Lord declares\n\nthat because He is transcendental to all sentient and insentient beings, He\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0309": "272\n\nKf��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nis therefore known as the puru§ottama. In another place the �ord says\nthat as the air is situated in the all-pervading sky, so everyone is situated\nin Him, and everyone is acting under His direction.\nThe\n\nVedas personified continued. \"Our dear Lord,\" they prayed, \"You\n\nare equal to all, with no partiality toward a particular type of living entity.\nAs Your parts and parcels, all living entities enjoy or suffer in different\nconditions of life. They are just like the sparks of a fire. Just as sparks\ndance on a blazing fire, so all living entities are dancing on Your support.\nYou are providing them with everything they desire, and yet You are not\nresponsible for their position of enjoyment or suffering. There are different\ntypes of living entities-demigods, human beings, animals, trees, birds,\nbeasts, germs, worms, insects and aquatics-and all are enjoying or suffering in life by resting on You. The living entities are of two kinds: one\nclass is called ever-liberated, nitya-mukta, and the other class is called\nnitya-baddha. The nitya-mukta living entities are in the spiritual kingdom,\nand the nitya-baddha are in the material world.\n\"In the spiritual world both the Lord and the living entities are manifest in their original status, like live sparks in a blazing fire. But in the\nmaterial world, although the Lord is all-pervasive in His impersonal feature,\nthe living entities have forgotten their Kr�tJ.a consciousness, just as sparks\nsometimes fall from a blazing fire and lose their original brilliant condition.\nSome sparks fall onto dry grass and thus ignite another big fire. This is a\nreference to the pure devotees who take compassion on the poor and\ninnocent living entities. The pure devotee enlightens Kr�tJ.a consciousness\nin the hearts of the conditioned souls, and thus the blazing fire of the\nspiritual world becomes manifest even within this material world. Some\nsparks fall onto water; they immediately lose their original brilliance and\nbecome almost extinct. This is comparable to the living entities who take\ntheir birth in the midst of gross materialists, in which case their original\nKr�tla consciousness becomes almost extinct. Some sparks fall to the\nground and remain midway between the blazing and extinct conditions.\nThus some living entities are without Kr�tJ.a consciousness, some are\nbetween having and not having Kr�tla consciousness, and some are actually\nsituated in Kr�tla consciousness. The demigods in the higher planets,\nbeginning from Lord Brahma, lndra, Candra, the sun-god, the moon-god,\nand various other demigods, are all Kr�tla conscious. Human society is\nbetween the demigods and the animals, and thus some are more or less\nKr�tla conscious, and some are completely forgetful of Kr�tJ.a consciousness. The third-grade living entities, namely the animals, beasts, plants,\ntrees and aquatics, have completely forgotten Kr�tla consciousness. This\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0310": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\nexample stated in the\n\n273\n\nVedas of the sparks of a blazing fire is very\n\nappropriate for understanding the condition of different types of living\nentities. But above all other living entities is the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, Kr§!la or Puru§ottama, who is always liberated from all material\nconditions.\n\"The question may he raised as to why the living entities have fallen by\nchance into different conditions of life. To answer this question, we first\nhave to understand that there cannot be any influence of chance for the\nliving entities; chance is for nonliving entities. According to the Vedic\nliteratures, living entities have knowledge, and thus they are called cui­\n\ntanya, which means in knowledge. Their situation in different conditions\nof life, therefore, is not accidental. It is by their choice because they have\nknowledge. In the Bhagavad-gitii the Lord says, 'Give up everything and\njust surrender unto Me.' This process of realizing the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead is open for everyone, but still it is the choice of the particular\nliving entity whether to accept or reject this proposal. In the last portion\nof the Bhagavad-gitii, Lord Kr§!la very plainly said to Arjuna, 'My dear\nArjuna, now I have spoken everything to You. Everything now depends\non whether you choose to accept it.' Similarly, the living entities who have\ncome down to this material world have made their own choice to enjoy this\nmaterial world. It is not that Krwa sent them into this material world.\nThe material world is created for the enjoyment of living entities who\nwanted to give up the eternal service of the Lord to become the supreme\nenjoyer themselves. According to Vai§!lava philosophy, when a living\n·\n\nentity desires to gratify his senses and forgets the service of the Lord, he is\ngiven a place in the material world to act freely according to his desire, and\ntherefore he creates a condition of life in which he either enjoys or suffers.\nWe should know definitely that both the Lord and the living entities are\neternally cognizant. There is no birth and death for either the Lord or the\nliving entities. When creation takes place, it does not mean that the living\nentities are created. The Lord creates this material world to give the\nconditioned souls a chance to elevate themselves to the higher platform of\nKf§!la consciousness. If the conditioned soul does not take advantage of\n\nthis opportunity, then after the dissolution of this material world, he\nenters into the body of Nadiya!la and remains there in deep sleep until\nthe time of another creation.\n\"In this connection the example of the rainy season is very appropriate.\nSeasonal rainfall may he taken as the agent for creation because after the\nrainfall the wet fields are favorable for growing different types of vegetation. Similarly, as se�on as there is creation by the Lord's glancing over the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0311": "274\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nmaterial nature, immediately the living entities spring up in their different\nliving conditions, just as different types of vegetation grow after a rainfall.\nThe rainfall is one, but the creation of the different vegetables is varied.\nThe rain falls equally on the whole field, but the different vegetables\nsprout up in different shapes and different forms according to the seeds\nplanted. Similarly, the seeds of our desires are varied. Every living entity\nhas a different type of desire, and that desire is the seed which causes his\ngrowth in a certain type of body. This is explained by Riipa Gosvami by\nthe word papa-bija. Papa means sinful. All our material desires are to be\ntaken as papa-bija, or the seeds of sinful desires. Bhagavad-gita explains\nthat our sinful desire is that we do not surrender unto the Supreme Lord.\nThe Lord therefore says in Bhagavad-gita, 'I shall give you protection\nfrom the resultant actions of sinful desires.' These sinful desires are\nmanifested in different types of bodies; therefore, no one can accuse the\nSupreme Lord of partiality in His giving one type of body to a certain\ntype of living entity and another type of body to another living entity. All\nthe bodies of the 8,400,000 species come according to the mental condition of the individual living entities. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Puru�ottama, only gives them a chance to act according to their\ndesires. Therefore, the living entities are acting, taking advantage of the\nfacility given by the Lord.\n\"At the same time, they are born from the transcendental body of the\nLord. This relationship between the Lord and the living entities is explained in the Vedic literatures, wherein it is said that the Supreme Lord .\nmaintains all His children, giving them whatever they want. Similarly, in\nthe Bhagavad-gita, the Lord says, 'I am the seed-giving father of all living\nentities.' It is very simple to understand that the father gives birth to the\nchildren, but the children act according to their own desires. Therefore\nthe father is never responsible for the different futures of his children.\nEach child can take advantage of the father's property and instruction, but\neven though the inheritance and instruction may be the same for all the\nchildren, out of their different desires, each child creates a different life\nand thereby suffers or en.Joys.\n\"Similarly, the Bhagavad-gita's instructions are equal for everyone;\neveryone should surrender unto the Supreme Lord, and He will take\ncharge of them and protect them from sinful reactions. The facilities of\nliving in the creation of the Lord are equally offered to all living entities.\nWhatever there is, either on the land, on water or in the sky, is equally\ngiven to all living entities. Since they are all sons of the Supreme\nLord, everyone can enjoy the material facilities given by the Lord, but\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0312": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n275\n\nunfortunate living entities create unfavorable conditions of life by fighting\namong themselves. The responsibility for this fighting and creating favorable and unfavorable situations of life lies with the living entities, not\nwith the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, if the living entities\ntake advantage of the Lord's instructions as given in the Bhagavad-gitii and\ndevelop Kr�!la consciousness, then their lives become sublime, and they\ncan go back to Godhead.\n\n.\n\"One may argue that because this material world is created by the Lord,\n\nHe is therefore responsible for its condition. Certainly He is indirectly\nresponsible for the creation and maintenance of this material world, but\nHe is never responsible for the different conditions of the living entities.\nThe Lord's creation of this material world is compared to the cloud's\ncreation of vegetation. In the rainy season the cloud creates different\nvarieties of vegetables. The cloud pours water on the surface of the earth,\nhut it never touches the earth directly. Similarly, the Lord creates this\nmaterial world simply by glancing over the material energy. This is\nconfirmed in the Vedas: He threw His glance over the material nature, and\nthus there was creation. In the Bhagavad-gitii it is also confirmed that\nsimply by His transcendental glance over the material nature, He creates\ndifferent varieties of entities, both movable and immovable, living and\ndead.\n\"The creation of the material world can therefore be taken as one of\nthe pastimes of the Lord; it is called one of the pastimes of the Lord\nbecause He creates this material world whenever He desires. This desire of\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead is also extreme mercy on His part\nbecause it gives another chance to the conditioned souls to develop their\noriginal consciousness and thus go back to Godhead. Therefore no one can\nblame the Supreme Lord for creating this material world.\n\"From the subject matter under discussion, we can gain a clear understanding of the difference between the impersonalists and the personalists.\nThe impersonal conception recommends merging in the existence of the\nSupreme, and the voidist philosophy recommends making all material\nvarieties void. Both these philosophies are known as Mayavada. Certainly\nthe cosmic manifestation comes to a close and becomes void when the\nliving entities merge into the body of Naraya!la to rest until another\ncreation, and this may be called an impersonal condition, but these\nconditions are never eternal. The cessation of the variegatedness of the\nmaterial world and the merging of the living entities into the body of the\nSupreme are not permanent because the creation will take place again. and\nthe living entities who merge into the body of the Supreme without\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0313": "276\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nhaving developed their Kr��a consciousness will again appear in this\nmaterial world when there is another creation. The Bhagavad-gitii confirms\nthe fact that this material world is created and annihilated. This is going\non perpetually, and conditioned souls who are without Kr��a consciousness come back again and again whenever the material creation is manifest.\nIf such conditioned souls take advantage of this opportunity and develop\nKr��a consciousness under the direct instruction of the Lord, then they\nare transferred to the spiritual world and do not have to come back again\nto the material creation. It is said, therefore, that the voidists and the\nimpersonalists are not very intelligent because they do not take shelter\nunder the lotus feet of the Lord. Because they are less intelligent, these\nvoidists and impersonalists take to different types of austerities, either to\nattain the stage of nirviirw, which means finishing the material conditions\nof life, or to attain oneness by merging into the body of the Lord. All of\nthem again fall down because they neglect the lotus feet of the Lord.\"\nIn the Caitanya-caritiimrta, the author, Kr��adasa Kaviraja Gosvami,\nafter studying all the Vedic literature and hearing from all authorities, has\ngiven his opinion that Kr��a is the only supreme master and that all living\nentities are His eternal servants. His statement is confirmed in the prayers\nby the personified Vedas. The conclusion is, therefore, that everyone is\nunder the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, everyone is\nserving under the supreme direction of the Lord, and everyone is afraid of\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is out of fear of Him that activities\nare being rightly executed. Everyone's position is to be subordinate to the\nSupreme Lord, yet the Lord has no partiality in His view of the living\nentities. He is just like the unlimited sky; as the sparks of a fire dance in\nthe fire, similarly, all living entities are like birds flying in the unlimited sky.\nSome of them are flying very high, some are flying at a lesser altitude, and\nsome are flying at a still lesser altitude. The different birds are flying in\ndifferent positions according to their respective abilities to fly, but the\nsky has nothing to do with this ability. In the Bhagavad-gitii also, the Lord\nconfirms that He awards different positions to different living entities\naccbrding to their proportionate surrender. This proportionate reward by\nthe Personality of Godhead to the living entities is not partiality. Therefore, in spite of the living entities' being situated in different positions, in\ndifferent spheres, and in different species of life, all of them are always\nunder the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and yet He is\nnever responsible for their different living conditions. It is foolish and\nartificial, therefore, to think oneself equal to the Supreme Lord, and it is\nstill more foolish to think that one has not seen God. Everyone is seeing\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0314": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n277\n\nGod in His different aspects; the only difference is that the theist sees God\nas the Supreme Personality, the most beloved, Kr§:tta , and the atheist sees\nthe Absolute Truth as ultimate death.\nThe personified\n\nVedas continued to pray. \"Our dear Lord, from all\n\nVedic information it is understood that You are the supreme controller,\nand all living entities are controlled. Both the Lord and the living entities\nare called nitya, eternal, and so are qualitatively one, yet the singular\n\nnitya, or the Supreme Lord, is the controller, whereas the plural nityas\nare controlled. The individual controlled living entity resides within the\nbody, and the supreme controller, as Supersoul, is also present there, but\nthe Supersoul is controlling the individual soul. That is the verdict of the\n\nVedas. If the individual soul were not controlled by the Supersoul, then\nhow could one explain the Vedic version that a living entity transmigrates\nfrom one body to another, enjoying and suffering the effects of his past\ndeeds? Sometimes he is promoted to a higher standard of life, and sometimes he is degraded to a lower standard of life. Thus the conditioned souls\nare not only under the control of the Supreme Lord, but they are also\nconditioned by the control of the material nature. This relationship of the\nliving entities to the Supreme Lord as the controlled and the controller\ndefinitely proves that although the Supersoul is all-pervasive, the individual\nliving entities are never all-pervasive. If the individual souls were allpervasive, there would be no question of their being controlled. The theory\nthat the Supersoul and the individual soul are equal is therefore a polluted\nconclusion, and no sensible person accepts it; rather, one should try to\nunderstand the distinctions between the supreme eternal and the subordinate eternals.\"\nThe personified Vedas therefore concluded, \"0 Lord, both You and\nthe limited dhruvas,\n\nthe living entities, are eternal. The form of the\n\nunlimited eternal is sometimes calculated as the universal form, and in the\nVedic literatures like the Upani§ads, the form of the limited eternal is\nvividly described. It is said therein that the original spiritual form of the\nliving entity is one ten-thousandth the size of the tip of a hair. It is stated\nthat the spirit is greater than the greatest and smaller than the smallest.\nThe individual living entities, who are eternally part and parcel of God,\nare smaller than the smallest. With our material senses, we can perceive\nneither the Supreme, who is greater than the greatest, nor the individual\nsoul, who is smaller than the smallest. We have to understand both the\ngreatest and the smallest from the authoritative sources of Vedic literature.\nVedic literature states that the Supersoul is sitting within the body of a\nliving entity and is as big as a thumb. Therefore the argument may be put\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0315": "278\n\nKr�!J.a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nforward, how can something the size of a thumb be accommodated within\nthe heart of an ant? The answer is that this thumb measurement of the\nSupersoul is imagined in proportion to the body of the living entity. In all\ncircumstances, therefore, the Supersoul and the individual living entity\ncannot be taken as one, although both of them enter within the material\nbody of a living entity. The Supersoul living within the heart is for\ndirecting or controlling the individual living entity. Although both are\ndhruva, or eternal, the living entity is always under the direction of the\nSupreme.\n\"It may be argued that because the living entities are born of the material\nnature, they are all equal and independent. In the Vedic literature, however,\nit is said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead impregnates the material\nnature with the living entities, and then they come out. Therefore, the\nappearance of the individual living entities is not factually due to material\nnature alone, just as a child produced by a woman is not her independent\nproduction. A woman is first impregnated by a man, and then a child is\nproduced. As such, the child produced by the woman i� part and parcel of\nthe man. Similarly, the living entities are apparently produced by the\nmaterial nature, but not independently. It is due to the impregnation of\nmaterial nature by the supreme father that the living entities are present.\nTherefore the argument that the individual living entities are not part and\nparcel of the Supreme cannot stand. For example, the different parts and\nparcels of the body cannot be taken as equal to the whole; rather, the\nwhole body is the controller of the different limbs. Similarly, the parts\nand parcels of the supreme whole are always dependent and are always\ncontrolled by the source of the parts and parcels. It is confirmed in the\nBhagavad-gitii that the living entities are part and parcel of Kr�!J.a:\nmamaiviimso. No sane man, therefore, will accept the theory that the\nSupersoul and the individual soul are of the same category. They are\nequal in quality, but quantitatively the Supersoul is always the Supreme,\nand the individual soul is always subordinate to the Supersoul. That is the\nconclusion of the Vedas. \"\nTwo significant words used in this connection are yanmaya and cinmaya.\nIn Sanskrit grammar, the word mayat is used in the sense of transformation,\nand also in the sense of sufficiency. The Mayavadi philosophers interpret\nthat yanmaya or cinmaya indicates that the living entity is always equal to\nthe Supreme. But one has to consider whether this affix, mayat, is used for\nsufficiency or for transformation. The living entity never possesses anything\nexactly in the same proportion as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\nTherefore, this mayat affix cannot be used to mean that the individual\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0316": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n279\n\nliving entity is self-sufficient. The individual living entity never has sufficient knowledge; otherwise, how could he have come under the control\nof maya, or the material energy? The word sufficient can be accepted,\ntherefore, only in proportion to the magnitude of the living entity. The\nspiritual oneness of the Supreme Lord and the living entities is never to be\naccepted as homogeneity. Each and every living entity is individual. If\nhomogenous oneness is accepted, then by the liberation of one individual\nsoul, all other individual souls would have been liberated immediately.\nBut the fact is that every individual soul is differently enjoying and\nsuffering in the material world.\nThe word mayat is also used in the sense of transformation, or sometimes\nit is used to mean by-product. The impersonalist theory is that Brahman\nHimself has accepted different types of bodies and that this is His lilii or\npastime. There are, however, many hundreds and thousands of species of\n\nlife in different standards of living conditions, such as human beings,\ndemigods, animals, birds and beasts, and if all of them were expansions of\nthe Supreme Absolute Truth, then there would be no question of liberation\nbecause Brahman is already liberated. Another interpretation put forward\nby the Mayavadis is that in every millennium different types of bodies are\nmanifested, and when the millennium is closed, all the different bodies or\nexpansions of Brahman automatically become one, ending all different\nmanifestations. Then in the next millennium, according to this theory,\nBrahman again expands in different bodily forms. If we accept this theory,\nthen Brahman becomes subject to change. But this cannot be accepted.\nFrom Vediinta-siltra we understand that Brahman is by nature joyful. He\ncannot, therefore, change Himself into a body which is subject to painful\nconditions. Actually, the living entities who are part and parcel of Brahman\nare infinitesimal particles prone to be covered by the illusory energy. As\nexplained before, the particles of Brahman are like sparks blissfully dancing\nwithin a fire, but there is a chance of their falling from the fire to smoke,\nalthough smoke is another condition of fire. This material world is just\nlike smoke, and the spiritual world is just like a blazing fire. The innumerable\nliving entities are prone to fall down to the material world from the\nspiritual world when influenced by illusory energy, and it is also possible\nfor the living entity to become liberated again when by cultivation of real\nknowledge he becomes completely freed from the contamination of the\nmaterial world.\nThe theory of th,e asuras is that the living entities are born of material\nnature, or prakrti, in touch with the puru§a. This theory also cannot be\naccepted because both the material nature and the Supreme Personality\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0317": "280\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nof Godhead are eternally existing. Neither the material nature nor the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead can be born. The Supreme Lord is known\nas aja, or unborn. Similarly, the material nature is also called ajii. Both\nthese terms, aja and ajii, mean unborn. Because both the material nature\nand the Supreme Lord are unborn, it is not possible that they can beget\nthe living entities. As water in contact with air sometimes presents\ninnumerable bubbles, so a combination of material nature and the Supreme\nPerson causes the appearence of the living entities within this material\nworld. As bubbles in the water appear in different shapes, similarly the\nliving entities also appear in the material world in different shapes and\nconditions, influenced by the modes of material nature. As such, it is not\nimproper to conclude that the living entities appearing within this material\nworld in different shapes, such as human beings, demigods, animals, birds,\nbeasts, etc., all get their respective bodies due to different desires. No one\ncan say when such desires were awakened in them, and therefore it is said,\n\naniidi-karma: the cause of such material existence is untraceable. No one\nknows when material life began, but it is a fact that it does have a point of\nbeginning because originally every living entity is a spiritual spark. As\nsparks falling onto the ground from a fire have a beginning, similarly the living entities coming to this material world have a beginning, but no one can\nsay when. Even during the time of dissolution, these living entities remain\nmerged in the spiritual existence of the Lord, as if in deep sleep, but their\noriginal desires to lord it over the material nature do not subside. Again,\nwhen there is cosmic manifestation, they come out to fulfill the same\ndesires, and therefore they appear in different species of life.\nThis merging into the Supreme at the time of dissolution is compared\nto honey. In the honeycomb, the taste of different flowers and fruits are\nconserved. When one drinks honey, one cannot distinguish what sort of\nhoney has been collected from what sort of flower, but the palatable taste\nof the honey presupposes that the honey is not homogenous, but is a\ncombination of different tastes. Another example is that although different\nrivers ultimately mix with the water of the sea, that does not mean that\nthe individual identities of the rivers are thereby lost. Although the water\nof the Ganges and the Yamuna mixes with the water of the sea, the River\nGanges and River Yamuna still continue to exist independently. The\nmerging of different living entities into Brahman at the time of dissolution\ninvolves the dissolution of different types of bodies, but the living entities,\nalong with their different tastes, remain individually submerged in Brahman\nuntil another manifestation of the material world. As the salty taste of sea\nwater and the sweet taste of Ganges water are different, and this difference\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0318": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n281\n\ncontinually exists, so the difference between the Supreme Lord and the\nliving entities continually exists, even though it appears that at the time of\ndissolution they merge. The conclusion is, therefore, that even when the\nliving entities become free from all contamination of material conditions,\nthey merge into the spiritual kingdom, but still their individual tastes in\nrelationship with the Supreme Lord continue to exist.\nThe personified Vedas continued: \"Our dear Lord, it is our conclusion\nthat all living entities are attracted by Your material energy, and only due\nto their mistakenly identifying themselves as products of the material\nnature are they transmigrating from one kind of body to another in\nforgetfulness of their eternal relationship with You. Because of ignorance,\nthese living entities are misidentifying themselves in different species of\nlife, and especially when they are elevated to the human form of life, they\nidentify with a particular class of men, or a particular nation or race or socalled religion, forgetting their real identity as eternal servants of Your\nLordship. Due to this faulty conception of life, they are undergoing\nrepeated birth and death. Out of many millions of them, if one becomes\nintelligent enough, by association with pure devotees, he comes to the\nunderstanding of Kr§�a consciousness and comes out of the jurisdiction of\nthe material misconception.\"\nIn the Caitanya-caritamrta it is confirmed by Lord Caitanya that the\nliving entities are wandering within this universe in different species of life,\nbut if one of them becomes intelligent enough, by the mercy of the spiritual master and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kr§�a, then he\nbegins his devotional life in Kr§�a consciousness. It is said, harim vinii\nna mrtim taranti: without the help of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\none cannot get out of the clutches of repeated birth and death. In other\nwords, only the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, can relieve\nthe conditioned souls from the cycle of repeated birth and death.\nThe personified Vedas continued: \"The influence of time-past, present\nand future-and the material miseries, such as excessive heat, excessive\ncold, birth, death, old age, disease, are all simply the movement of Your\neyebrows. Everything is working under Your direction. It is said in the\nBhagavad-gitii that all material activity is going on under the direction of\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kr§�a. All the conditions of material\nexistence are opposing elements for persons who are not surrendered unto\nYou. But for those who are surrendered souls and are in full Kr§�a\nconsciousness, these things cannot be a source of fearfulness. When Lord .\nNrsimhadeva appeared, Prahlada Maharaja was never afraid of Him, whereas his atheist father was immediately faced with death personified and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0319": "282\n\n.Kf�pa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nwas killed. Therefore, although Lord Nrsimhadeva appears as death for\nan atheist like Hira�yakasipu, He is always kind and is the reservoir\n\nof all pleasure to the devotees like Prahlada. A pure devotee is not,\n\ntherefore, afraid of birth, death, old age and disease.\n\nSripada Sridhara Svami has composed a nice verse, the purport of which\n\nis as follows: \"My dear Lord, I am a living entity perpetually disturbed by\n\nthe conditions of material existence. I have been cracked into different\n\npieces by the smashing wheel of material existence, and because of my\nvarious sinful activities while existing in this material world, I am burning\n\nin the blazing fire of material reaction. Somehow or other, my dear Lord,\n\nI have come to take shelter under Your lotus feet. Please accept me and\n\ngive me protection.\" Srila Narottama dasa Thakur also prays like this: \"My\n\ndear Lord, 0 son of Nanda Maharaja, associated with the daughter of\n\nVr�abhanu, I have come to take shelter under Your lotus feet after\n\nsuffering greatly in the material condition of life, and I am praying that\n\nYou please be merciful upon me. Please do not kick me away; I have no\n\nother shelter but You.\"\n\nThe conclusion is that any process of self-realization or God realization\n\nother than\n\nbhakti-yoga,\n\nor devotional service, is extremely difficult.\n\nTaking shelter of devotional service to the Lord in full Kr��a consciousness\nis therefore the only way to become free from the contamination of ma­\n\nterial conditional life, especially in this age. Those who are not in Kr§!la\nconsciousness are simply wasting their time, and they have no tangible\n\nproof of spiritual life.\n\nIt is said by Lord Ramacandra, \"I always give confidence and security\n\nto anyone who surrenders unto Me and decides definitely that He is My\n\neternal servant because that is My natural inclination.\" Similarly, Lord\nKrwa says in the Bhagavad-gitii, \"The influence of the material nature is\n\ninsurmountable, but anyone who surrenders unto Me can verily overcome\n\nthe influence of material nature.\" The devotees are not at all interested in\narguing with the nondevotees to nullify their theories. Rather than wasting\ntheir time, they always engage themselves in the transcendental loving\n\nservice of the Lord in full Kr§�a consciousness.\nThe personified\n\nVedas\n\ncontinued:\n\n\"Our dear Lord, although great\n\nmystic yogis may have full control over the elephant of the mind and the\n\nhurricane of the senses, unless they take shelter of a bona fide spiritual\n\nmaster, they fall victims to the material influence and never become\n\nsuccessful in their attempts at self-realization. Such unguided persons are\n\ncompared to merchants going to sea on a ship without a captain. By his\npersonal attempts, therefore, no one can get free from the clutches of\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0320": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n283\n\nmaterial nature. One has to accept a bona fide spiritual master and work\naccording to his direction. Then it is possible to cross over the nescience\nof material conditions. Sripada Sridhara Svami has composed a nice verse in\nthis connection, in which he says, \"0 all-merciful spiritual master, repre­\n\nsentative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, when will my mind be\ncompletely surrendered unto your lotus feet? At that time, only by your\n\nmercy, I shall be able to get relief from all obstacles to spiritual life, and I\nshall be situated in blissful life.\"\n\nActually, ecstatic samiidhi or absorption in the Supreme Personality of\n\nGodhead can be achieved by constant engagement in His service, and this\n\nconstant engagement in devotional service can be performed only when\n\none is working under the direction of a bona fide spiritual master. The\n\nVedas therefore instruct that in order to know the science of devotional\n\nservice, one has to submit himself unto the bona fide spiritual master. The\n\nbona fide spiritual master is he who knows the science of devotional\n\nservice in disciplic succession. This disciplic succession is called srotriyam.\n\nThe prime symptom of one who has become a spiritual master in disciplic\nsuccession is that he is one hundred percent fixed in bhakti-yoga. Some­\n\ntimes people neglect to accept a spiritual master, and instead they endeavor for self-realization by mystic yoga practice, but there are many\n\ninstances of failure, even by great yogis like Visvamitra. Arjuna said in the\n\nBhagavad-gitii that controlling the mind is as impractical as stopping the\n\nblowing of a hurricane. Sometimes the mind is compared to a maddened\n\nelephant. Without following the direction of a spiritual master one cannot\n\ncontrol the mind and the senses. In other words, if one practices yoga\nmysticism and does not accept a bona fide spiritual master, he will surely\nfail. He will simply waste his valuable time. The Vedic injunction is that\nno one can have full knowledge without being under the guidance of an\n\niiciirya. Aciiryaviin pum§O veda: one who has accepted an iiciirya knows\n\nwhat is what. The Absolute Truth cannot be understood by arguments.\nOne who has attained the perfect brahminical stage naturally becomes\n\nrenounced; he does not strive for material gain because by spiritual know­\n\nledge he has come to the conclusion that in this world there is no insufficiency. Everything is sufficiently provided by the Supreme Personality\nof Godhead. A real briihmana, therefore, does not endeavor for material\n\nperfection; rather, he approaches a bona fide spiritual master to accept\n\norders from him. A spiritual master's qualification is that he is brahmani­\n\n§{ham, which means that he has given up all other activities and has\n\ndedicated his life to working only for the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\nKr§�a. When a bona fide student approaches a bona fide spiritual master,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0321": "284\n\nKf�l}-a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nhe submissively prays to the spiritual master, \"My dear Lord, kindly\naccept me as your student and train me in such a way that I will be able\nto give up all other kinds of processes for self-realization and simply\nengage in Kr�tla consciousness, devotional service.\"\nThe devotee engaged by the direction of the spiritual master in the\ntranscendental loving service of the Lord contemplates as follows: \"My\ndear Lord, You are the reservoir of pleasure. Since You are present, what\nis the use of the transient pleasure derived from society, friendship and\nlove? Persons who are unaware of the supreme reservoir of pleasure\nfalsely engage in deriving pleasure from sense gratification, but this is\ntransient and illusory.\" In this connection, Vidyapati, a great Vai�tlava\ndevotee and poet, says, \"My dear Lord, undoubtedly there is some pleasure in the midst of society, friendship and love, although it is materially\nconceived, but such pleasure cannot satisfy my heart, which is like a\ndesert.\" In a desert there is need of an ocean of water. But if only a drop\nof water is poured on the desert, what is the value of such water? Similarly,\nour material hearts are full of multi-desires, which eannot be fulfilled\nwithin the material society of friendship and love. When our hearts begin\nto derive pleasure from the supreme reservoir of pleasure, then we can be\nsatisfied. That transcendental satisfaction is only possible in devotional\nservice, in full Kr�tla consciousness.\nThe personified Vedas continued: \"Our dear Lord, You are sac-cidiinanda-vigraha, the ever-blissful form of knowledge, and because the living\nentities are parts and parcels of Your personality, their natural state of existence is to be fully conscious of You. In this material world, anyone who\nhas developed such Kr�tla consciousness is no longer interested in the\nmaterialistic way of life. A Kr�tla conscious being becomes disinterested in\nfamily life or opulent living conditions, and he requires only a little concession for his bodily needs. In other words, he is no longer interested in\nsense gratification. The perfection of human life is based on knowledge and\nrenunciation, but it is very difficult to attempt to reach the stage of knowledge and renunciation while in family life. Kr��a conscious persons therefore take shelter of the association of devotees or sanctified places of\npilgrimage. Such persons are aware of the relationship between the Supersoul and the individual living entities, and they are never in the bodily\nconcept of life. Because they always carry You in full consciousness\nwithin their hearts, they are so purified that any place they go becomes\na holy place of pilgrimage, and the water which washes their feet is able\nto deliver many sinful persons hovering within this material world.\"\nWhen Prahlada Maharaja was asked by his atheistic father to describe\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0322": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n285\n\nsomething very good which he had learned, he replied to his father that\nfor a materialistic person who is always full of anxieties due to being\nengaged in temporary and relative truths, the best course is to give up the\nbli�d well of family life and go to the forest to take shelter of the Supreme\nLord. Those who are actually pure devotees are celebrated as mahiitmiis,\nor great sages, personalities pe�fect in knowledge. They always think of the\nSupreme Lord and His lotus feet, and thus they become automatically\nliberated. Devotees who are always situated in that position become\nelectrified by the inconceivable potencies of the Lord, and thus they themselves become the source of liberation for their followers and devotees.\nA Kr§-!la conscious person is fully electrified spiritually, and therefore\nanyone who touches or takes shelter of such a pure devotee becomes\nsimilarly electrified with spiritual potencies. Such devotees are never\npuffed up with material opulences. Generally, the material opulences are\ngood parentage, education, beauty and riches, but although a devotee of\nthe Lord may possess all four of these material opulences, he is never\ncarried away by the pride of possessing such distinctions. Great devotees\nof the Lord travel all over the world from one place of pilgrimage to\nanother, and on their way they meet many conditioned souls and deliver\nthem by their association and distribution of transcendental knowledge.\nThey reside in places like Vrndavana, Mathura, Dvaraka, Jagannatha Puri\nand Navadvipa because only devotees assemble in such places. In this way\nthey take advantage of saintly association, and by such association the\ndevotees advance more and more in Kr§-!la consciousness. Such advancement is not possible in ordinary household life which is devoid of Kr§-!la\nconsciOusness.\nThe personified Vedas continue: \"Our dear Lord, there are two classes\nof transcendentalists, the impersonalists and the personalists. The opinion\nof the impersonalists is that this material manifestation is false and that\nonly the Absolute Truth is factual. The view of the personalist, however,\nis that the material world, although very temporary, is nevertheless not\nfalse, but is factual. Such transcendentalists have different arguments to\nestablish the validity of their philosophies. Factually, the material world\nis simultaneously both truth and untruth. It is truth because everything is\nan expansion of the Supreme Absolute Truth, and it is untruth because the\nexistence of the material world is temporary; it is created, and it is\nannihilated. Because of its different conditions of existence, the cosmic\nmanifestation has no fixed position. Those who advocate acceptance of\nthis material world as false are generally known by the maxim brahma\n\nsatya jagan mithyii. They put forward the argument that everything in the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0323": "286\n\nKr�na, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nmaterial world is prepared from matter. For example, there are many\nthings made of clay, such as earthen pots, dishes and bails. After their\nannihilation, these things may become transformed into many other\nmaterial objects, but in all cases, their existence as clay continues. An\nearthen water jug, after being broken, may be transformed into a bowl\nor dish, but either as a dish, bowl or water jug, the earth itself continues\nto exist. Therefore, the forms of a water jug, bowl or dish are false, but\ntheir existence as earth is real. This is the impersonalists' version. This cosmic manifestation is certainly produced from the Absolute Truth, but\nbecause its existence is temporary, it is therefore false; the impersonalists'\nunderstanding is that the Absolute Truth, which is always present, is the\nonly truth. In the opinion of other transcendentalists, however, this\nmaterial world, being produced of the Absolute Truth, is also truth. The\nimpersonalists' counter-argument is that the material world is not factual\nbecause sometimes it is found that matter is produced from spirit soul, and\nsometimes spirit soul is produced from matter. Such philosophers push forward the argument that although cow dung is dead matter, sometimes it is\nfound tnat scorpions come out of cow dung. Similarly, dead matter like\nnails and hair comes out of the living body. Therefore, things produced of\nof a certain thing are not always the same. On the strength of this\nargument, Mayavadi philosophers establish that although this cosmic\nmanifestation is certainly an emanation from the Absolute Truth, the\ncosmic manifestation does not necessarily have truth in it. According to\nthis view, the Absolute Truth, Brahman, should therefore be accepted as\ntruth, whereas the cosmic manifestation, although a product of the Absolute Truth, cannot be taken as truth.\nThe view of the Mayavadi philosopher, however, is stated in the\n\nBhagavad-gitii to be the view of the asuras, or demons. The Lord says in\nBhagavad-gitii, asatyam aprati§{ham te jagad iihur anisvaram. The asuras'\nview of this cosmic manifesattion is that the whole creation is false. The\n\nasuras think that the mere interaction of matter is the source of the\ncreation, and there is no controller or God. But actually that is not the\nfact. From the Seventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gitii, we understand that\nthe five gross elements-earth, water, air, fire and sky-plus the subtle\nelements-mind, intelligence and false ego-are the eight separated energies\nof the Supreme Lord. Beyond this inferior material energy, there is a\nspiritual energy, which is known as the living entities. The living entities\nare also accepted as the superior energy of the Lord. The whole cosmic\nmanifestation is a combination of the inferior and superior energies, and\nthe source of the energies is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The\nSupreme Personality of Godhead has many different types of energies.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0324": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\nThat is confirmed in the Vedas: pariisya saktir vividhaiva srilyate\n\n287\nthe\n\ntranscendental energies of the Lord are variegated, and because such\nvarieties have emanated from the Supreme Lord, they cannot be false. The\nLord is ever-existing, and the energies are ever-existing. Some of the energy\nis temporary-sometimes manifested and sometimes unmanifested-but that\n\ndoes not mean that it is false. The example may be given that when a person\nis angry he does things which are different from his normal condition of\n\nlife, but that the mood of anger only appears and disappears does not mean\nthat the energy of anger is false. As such, the argument of the Mayavadi\n\nphilosophers that this world is false is not accepted by the V ai�ttava\n\nphilosophers. It is confirmed by the Lord Himself that the view that\n\nthere is no supreme cause of this material manifestation, that there is no\nGod, and that everything is only the creation of the interaction of matter\n\nis a view of the asuras.\n\nThe Mayavadi philosopher sometimes puts forward the argument of the\n\nsnake and the rope. In the dark of evening, a curled up rope is sometimes,\n\ndue to ignorance, taken for a snake. But mistaking the rope as a snake does\n\nnot mean that the rope or the snake is false, and therefore this example,\nused by the Mayavadis to illustrate the falsity of this material world, is not\n\nvalid. When a thing is taken as fact but actually has no existence at all, it\n\nis called false. But if something is mistaken for something else, that does\n\nnot mean that it is false. The V aiwava philosophers use a very appropriate\nexample comparing· this material world to an earthen pot. When we see an\n\nearthen pot, it does not at once disappear and turn into something else.\n\nIt may be temporary, but the earthen pot is taken into use for bringing\n\nwater, and we continue to see it as an earthen pot. Therefore, although\n\nthe earthen pot is temporary and is different from the original earth, still\n\nwe cannot say that it is false. We should therefore conclude that the\nentire earth and the earthen pot are both truths because one is the\n\nproduct of the other. We understand from Bhagavad-gitii that after the\ndissolution of this cosmic manifestation, the energy enters into the\n\nSupreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is\n\never-existing with His varied energies. Because the material creation is an\n\nemanation from Him, we cannot say that this cosmic manifestation is a\n\nproduct of something void. ���Ja is not void. Whenever we speak of\nK���Ja,\n\nHe is present\n\nwith\n\nHis form, quality, name, entourage and\n\nparaphernalia. Therefore, K��tta is not impersonal. The original cause of\neverything is neither void nor impersonal, but is the Supreme Person.\n\nDemons may say that this material creation is anisvara, without a controller\n\nor God, but such arguments ultimately cannot stand.\n\nThe example given by the Mayavadi philosophers that inanimate matter\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0325": "288\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nlike nails and hair comes out from the living body is not a very sound\nargument. Nails and hair are undoubtedly inanimate, but they come not\n\nfrom the animate living being, but from the inanimate material body.\n\nSimilarly, the argument that the scorpion comes from cow dung, meaning\n\nthat a living entity comes from matter, is also not sound. The scorpion\nwhich comes out of the cow dung is certainly a living entity, but the\nliving entity does not come out of the cow dung. Only the living entity's\nmaterial body, or the body of the scorpion, comes out of the cow dung.\n\nThe sparks of the living entity, as we understand from Bhagavad-gitii, are\nimpregnated within material nature, and then they come out. The body of\n\nthe living entity in different forms is supplied by material nature, but the\nliving entity himself is begotten by the Supreme Lord. The father and the\n\nmother give the body which is necessary for the living entity under certain\nconditions. The living entity transmigrates from one body to another\naccording to his different desires. The desires in the subtle form of\nintelligence, mind and false ego accompany the living entity from body to\n\nbody, and by superior arrangement a living entity is pu_t into the womb of\na certain type of material body, and then he develops a similar body.\n\nTherefore, the spirit souris not produced from matter, but it takes on a\n\nparticular type of body under superior arrangement. To our present\n\nexperience, this material world is a combination of matter and spirit. The\n\nspirit is moving the matter. The spirit soul (the living entity) and matter\nare different energies· of the Supreme Lord. Since both the energies are\n\nproducts of the supreme eternal or the supreme truth, they are therefore\n\nfactual; they are not false. Because the living entity is part and parcel of\nthe Supreme, he is existing eternally. Therefore, there cannot be any\n\nquestion of birth or death. So-called birth and death occur because of the\n\nmaterial body. The Vedic version sarvarh khalv idarh brahma means that\n\nsince both the energies have emanated from the Supreme Brahman, everything that we experience is not different from Brahman.\n\nThere are many arguments about the existence of this material world,\n\nbut the Vai�ttava philosophical conclusion is the best. The example of the\n\nearthen pot is very suitable: the form of the earthen pot may be tempo­\n\nrary, but it has a specific purpose. The purpose of the earthen pot is to\n\ncarry water from one place to another. Similarly, this material body,\n\nalthough temporary, has a special use. The living entity is given a chance\nfrom the beginning of the creation to evolve different kinds of material\nbodies according to the reserve desires he has accumulated from time\nimmemorial. The human form of body is a special chance in which the\ndeveloped form of consciousness can be utilized.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0326": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n289\n\nSometimes the Mayavadi philosophers push forward the argument that\nif this material world is truth, then why are householders advised to give\nup their connection with this material world and take sannytisa? But the\nVai§�ava philosopher's view of sannytisa is not that because th� world is\nfalse, one must therefore give up material activities. The purpose of\nVai§�ava sannytisa is to utilize things as they are intended. S rila Riipa\nGosvami has given two formulas for our dealing with this material world.\nWhen a Vai§�ava renounces this materialistic way of life and takes to\n\nsannyiisa, it is not on the conception of the falsity of the material world,\nbut to devote himself fully to engaging everything in the service of the\nLord. Srila Riipa Gosvami therefore gives this formula: one should be\nunattached to the material world because material attachment is meaningless. The entire material world, the entire cosmic manifestation, belongs to\nGod, Kr§I].a. Therefore, everything should be utilized for Kr§I].a, and the\ndevotee should remain unattached to material things. This is the purpose\nof Vai§�ava sannytisa. A materialist sticks to the world for sense gratification, but a Vai§�ava sannytisi, although not accepting anything for his\npersonal sense gratification, knows the art of utilizing everything for the\nservice of the Lord. Srila Riipa Gosvami has therefore criticized the\nMayavadi sannytisis because they do not know that everything has a\nutilization for the service of the Lord. On the contrary, they take the\nworld to be false and thus falsely think of being liberated from the\ncontamination of the material world. Since everything is an expansion of\nthe energy of the Supreme Lord, the expansions are as real as the Supreme\nLord is.\nThat the cosmic world is only temporarily manifested does not mean\nthat it is false or that the source of its manifestation is false. Since the\nsource of its manifestation is truth, the manifestation is also truth, but\none must know how to utilize it. The same example can be cited: the\ntemporary earthen pot is produced from the whole earth, but when it is\nutilized for a proper purpose, the earthen pot is not false. The Vai§�ava\nphilosophers know how to utilize the temporary construction of this\nmaterial world, just as a sane man knows how to utilize the temporary\nconstruction of the earthen pot. When the earthen pot is utilized for a\nwrong purpose, that is false. Similarly, this human form of body, or this\nmaterial world, when utilized for false sense gratification, is false. But if\nthis human form of body and the material creation are utilized for the\nservice of the Supreme Lord, their activities are never false. It is therefore\nconfirmed in the Bhagavad-gita that a little service attitude in utilizing\nthis body and the material world for the service of the Lord can deliver a\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0327": "290\n\nKf��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nperson from the gravest danger of life. When they are properly utilized,\n\nneither the superior nor inferior energies emanating from the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead are_false. As far as fruitive activities are concerned,\n\nthey are mainly based on the platform of sense gratification. Therefore an\n\nadvanced K�§I}-a conscious person does not take to them. The result of\nfruitive activities can elevate one to the higher planetary system, but as it\n\nis said in the Bhagavad-gitii, foolish persons, after exhausting the results of\ntheir pious activities in the heavenly kingdom, come back again to this\nlower planetary system and then again try to go to the higher planetary\n\nsystem. Their only profit is to take the trouble of going and coming back,\n\njust as at present many material scientists are spoiling their time by trying\n\nto go to the moon planet and again come back. Those who are engaged in\nsuch activities are described by the Vedas personified as andha-paramparii,\n\nor blind followers of the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies. Although such\n\nceremonies are certainly mentioned in the Vedas, they are not meant for\nthe intelligent class of men. Men who are too much attached to material\n\nenjoyment are captivated by the prospect of being elevated to the higher\n\nplanetary systems, and so they take to such ritualistic activities. But a\n\nperson who is intelligent, or who has taken shelter of a bona fide spiritual\nmaster to see things as they are, does not take to fruitive activities, but\n\nengages himself in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.\n\nPersons who are not devotees take to the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies\n\nfor materialistic reasons, and then they are bewildered. A vivid example\n\ncan be given: an intelligent person possessing millions of dollars in currency\n\nnotes does not hold the money without using it, even though he knows\nperfectly well that the currency notes in themselves are nothing but paper.\n\nWhen one has one million dollars in currency notes, he is actually holding\nonly a huge bunch of papers, but if he utilizes it for a purpose, then he\n\nbenefits. Similarly, although this material world may be false, just like the\npaper, it has its proper beneficial utilization. Because the currency notes,\n\nalthough paper, are issued by the government, they therefore have full\n\nvalue. Similarly, this material world may be false or temporary, but\n\nbecause it is an emanation from the Supreme Lord, it has its full value.\n\nThe Vai§�ava philosopher acknowledges the full value of this material\n\nworld and knows how to properly utilize it, whereas the Mayavadi philoso­\n\npher, mistaking the currency note for false paper, gives it up and cannot\n\nutilize the money. Srila Riipa Gosvami therefore declares that if one\n\nrejects this material world as false, not considering the importance of this\n\nmaterial world as a means to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\n\nsuch renunciation has very little value. A person who knows the intrinsic\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0328": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n291\n\nvalue of this material world for the service of the Lord, who is not attached\nto the material world, and who renounces the material world by not\naccepting it for sense gratification is situated in real renunciation. This\nmaterial world is an expansion of the material energy of the Lord. Therefore it is real. It is not false, as it is sometimes concluded from the example\nof the snake and the rope.\nThe personified Vedas continued: \"The cosmic manifestation, because\nof\n\nthe\n\nflickering\n\nnature\n\nof\n\nits\n\nimpermanent\n\nexistence,\n\nappears\n\nto less intelligent men to he false.\" The Mayavadi philosophers take\nadvantage of the flickering nature of this cosmic manifestation to prove\ntheir thesis that this world is false. According to the Vedic version, before\nthe creation this world had no existence, and after dissolution the world\nwill no longer by manifested. Voidists also take advantage of this Vedic\nversion and conclude that the cause of this material world is void. But\nVedic injunction does not say that it is void. The Vedic injunction defines\n\nthe source of creation and dissolution as yato vii imani bhiitiini jayante,\n\n\"He from whom this cosmic manifestation has emanated and in whom,\nafter annihilation, everything will merge.\" The same is explained in the\n\nVediinta-siitra and in the first verse of the First Chapter of Srimad­\n\nBhagavatam by the word janmadyasya, He from whom all things emanate.\nAll these Vedic injunctions indicate that the cosmic manifestation is due\nto the Supreme Absolute Personality of Godhead, and when it is dissolved\n\nit merges into Him. The same is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii: this\n\ncosmic manifestation is coming into existence and again dissolving, and\nafter dissolution it merges into the existence of the Supreme Lord. This\n\nstatement definitely confirms that the particular energy known as bahi­\n\nranga-maya, or the external energy, although of flickering nature, is the\nenergy of the Supreme Lord, and as such it cannot he false. It simply\nappears to be false. The Mayavadi philosophers conclude that because the\nmaterial nature has no existence in the beginning and is nonexistent after\ndissolution, it is therefore false. But by the example of the earthen pots\nand dishes the Vedic version is presented: although the existence of the\nparticular by-products of the Absolute Truth are temporary, the energy\nof the Supreme Lord is permanent. The earthen pot or water jug may be\nbroken or transformed into another shape, such as that of a dish or\nor bowl, but the ingredient, or the material basis, namely the earth,\ncontinues to be the same. The basic principle of this cosmic manifestation\nis always the same, Brahman, or the Absolute Truth; therefore, the\nMayavadi philosophers' theory that it is false is certainly only mental\nconcoction.\n\nThat\n\nthe cosmic manifestation is flickering and tempo-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0329": "292\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nrary dose not mean that it is false. The definition of falsity is that\nwhich never had any existence but is existing only in name. For instance,\nthe eggs of a horse or the flower of the sky or the horn of a rabbit are\nphenomena which exist only in name. There is no horse's eggs, there is no\nrabbit's horn, nor are there flowers growing in the sky. There are many\nthings which exist in name or imagination but actually have no factual\nmanifestation. Such things can be called false. But the V ai��ava cannot\ntake this material world to be false simply because its temporary nature is\nmanifesting and again dissolving.\nThe personified Vedas continued to say that the Supersoul and the\nindividual soul, or Paramatma and jivii tmii , cannot be equal in any\ncircumstance, although both of them are sitting within the same body,\nlike two birds sitting in the same tree. As declared in the Vedas, these two\nbirds, although sitting as friends, are not equal. One is simply a witness.\nThis bird is Paramatma, or the Supersoul. And the other bird is eating the\nfruit of the tree. That is jiviitmii. When there is cosmic manifestation, the\n\njiviitmii, or the individual soul, appears in the creation in different forms,\naccording to his previous fruitive activities, and due to his long forgetfulness\nof real existence, he identifies himself with a particular form awarded to\nhim by the laws of material nature. After assuming a material form, he\nbecomes subjected to the three material modes of nature and acts accordingly to continue his existence in the material world. While enwrapped in\nsuch ignorance, his natural opulences, although existing in minute quantity,\nare almost extinct. The opulences of the Supersoul, or the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, however, are not diminished, although He appears\nwithin this material world. He maintains all opulences and perfections in\nfull and yet keeps Himself apart from all the tribulations of this material\nworld. The conditioned soul becomes entrapped in the material world,\nwhereas the Supersoul, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, leaves it\nwithout affection, just as a snake sheds his skin. The distinction between\nthe Supersoul and the conditioned individual soul is that the Supersoul,\nor the Supreme Personality of Godhead, maintains His natural opulences,\nknown as §a�-aisvarya, a§ta-siddhi and a§ta-gupa.\nBecause of their poor fund .of knowledge, the Mayavadi philosophers\nforget the fact that Kr��a is always full of six opulences, eight transcendental\nqualities and eight kinds of perfection. The six opulences are that no one is\ngreater than Kf�p.a in wealth, in strength, in beauty, in fame, in knowledge\nand in renunciation. The first of Kr�p.a 's six transcendental qualities is that\nHe is always untouched by the contamination of material existence. This\nis also mentioned in the Isopani§ad: apiipa-viddham: just as the sun is\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0330": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n293\n\nnever polluted by any contamination, the Supreme Lord is never polluted\nby any sinful activities. Similarly, although Kr�J)a's actions might sometimes\nseem to he impious, He is never polluted by such actions. The second\ntranscendental quality is that Kr�J)a never dies. In the Bhagavad-gitii., Fourth\nChapter, He informs Arjuna that both He and Arjuna had many appearances\nin this material world, hut He alone remembers all such activities-past,\npresent and future. This means that He never dies. Forgetfulness is due to\ndeath. As we die, we change our bodies. That is forgetfulness. Kr�p.a,\nhowever, is never forgetful. He can remember everything that has happened\nin the past. Otherwise, how could He remember that He first taught the\nBhagavad-gitii. yoga system to the sun-god, Vivasvan? Therefore, He never\ndies. Nor does He ever become an old man. Although Kr�J)a was a greatgrandfather when He appeared on the Battlefield of Kuruk�etra, He did not\nappear as an old man. Kf�J)a cannot he polluted by any sinful activities,\nKf�J)a never dies, Kf�J)a never becomes old, Kr�p.a never becomes subjected\nto any lamentation, Kf�J)a is never hungry, and He is never thirsty. Whatever He desires is perfectly lawful, and whatever He decides cannot he\nchanged by anyone. These are the transcendental qualities of Kr�p.a.\nBesides that, Kr�q.a is known as Y ogesvara. He has all the opulences or\nfa<;ilities of mystic powers, such as a!Lima-siddhi, the power to become\nsmaller than the smallest. It is stated in the Brahma-samhitii that Krwa has\nentered even within the atom, a!Lt)iintarastha-paramii.rtu-cayiintarastham.\nSimilarly, Kr�p.a, as Garhhodakasayi Vi�p.u, is within the gigantic universe,\nand He is lying in the Causal Ocean as Maha-Vi�J)U in a body so gigantic\nthat when He exhales, millions and trillions of universes emanate from His\nbody. This is called mahima-siddhi. Kr§p.a also has the perfection of\nlaghimii: He can become the lightest. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gitii that\nit is because Kr§p.a enters within this universe and within the atoms that\nall the planets are floating in the air. That is the explan_ation of weightlessness. Kr�p.a also has the perfection of priipti: He can get whatever He\nlikes.\n\nSimilarly, He has the facility of isitii., controlling power. He is\n\ncalled the supreme controller, Paramesvara. In addition, Kr�p.a can bring\nanyone under His influence. This is called vasitii..\nKr�p.a is endowed with all opulences, transcendental qualities and mystic\npowers. No ordinary living being can he compared to Him. Therefore, the\nMayavadis' theory that the Supersoul and the individual soul are equal is\nonly a misconception. The conclusion is, therefore, that Krwa is worshipable and that all other living entities are simply His servants. This understanding is called self-realization. Any other realization of one's self beyond\nthis relationship of eternal servitorship of Kr�p.a is impelled by mii.yii.. It is\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0331": "294\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nsaid that the last snare of maya is to dictate to the living entity to try to\n\nbecome equal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Mayavadi\n\nphilosopher claims to be equal to God, but he cannot reply to the question\n\nof why he has fallen into material entanglement. If He is the Supreme God,\nthen how is it that he has been overtaken by impious activities and thereby\nsubjected to the tribulations of the law of karma? When the Mayavadis are\n\nasked about this, they cannot properly answer. The speculation that one is\n\nequal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is another symptom of\n\nsinful life. One cannot take to Kr��a consciousness unless he is completely\nfreed from all sinful activities. The very fact that the Mayavadi claims to\n\nbecome one with the Supreme Lord means that he is not yet freed from\n\nthe reactions of sinful activities. Srimad-Bhagavatam says that such persons\nare avisuddha-buddhaya, which means that they falsely think themselves\n\nliberated, although at the same time they think themselves equal with the\n\nAbsolute Truth. Their intelligence is not purified.\n\nThe personified Vedas said that if the yogis and the jnanis do not free\n\nthemselves from sinful desires, then their particular process ·of selfrealization will never be successful. \"My dear Lord,\" the personified Vedas\n\ncontinued, \"if saintly persons do not take care to eradicate completely the\nroots of sinful desires, they cannot experience the Supersoul, although He\n\nis sitting side by side with the individual soul. Samadhi, or meditation,\n\nmeans that one has to find the Supersoul within himself. One who is not\nfree from sinful reactions cannot see the Supersoul. If a person has a\n\njeweled locket in his necklace but forgets the jewel, it is almost as though\n\nhe does not. possess it. Similarly, if an individual soul meditates bd does\nnot actually perceive the presence of the Supersoul within himself, he has\nnot realized the Supersoul. Persons who have taken to the path of self­\n\nrealization must therefore be very careful to be uncontaminated by the\ninfluence of maya. Srila Riipa Gosvami says that a devotee should be\n\ncompletely free from all sorts of material desires. A devotee should not\n\nbe affected by the resultant actions of karma and jnana. One simply has to\n\nunderstand Kr��a and carry out His desires. That is the pure devotional\n\nstage. Mystic yogis who still have contaminated desires for sense gratification never become successful in their attempt, nor can they realize the\nSupersoul within the individual self. As such, the so-called yogis and jnanis\n\nwho are simply wasting their time in different types of sense gratification,\neither by mental speculation or by exhibition of limited mystic powers, will\n\nnever become liberated from conditional life and will continue to go\n\nthrough repeated births and deaths. For such persons, both this life and\n\nthe next life becomes sources of tribulation. Such sinful persons are al-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0332": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n295\n\nready suffering tribulation in this life, and because they are not perfect in\n\nself-realization, they will be plagued with further tribulation in the next\n\nlife. Despite all endeavors to attain perfection, such yogis, contaminated\n\nby desires for sense gratification, will continue to suffer in this life and in\n\nthe next.\nSrila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur remarks in this connection that if\n\nsannyiisis and persons in the renounced order of life who have left their\n\nhomes for self-realization do not engage themselves in the devotional\n\nservice of the Lord but become attracted by philanthropic work, such as\nopening educational institutions, hospitals, or even monastaries, churches\n\nor temples of demigods, they find only trouble from such engagements,\n\nnot only in this life but in the next. Sannyiisis who do not take advantage\n\nof this life to realize Kr��a simply waste their time and energy in activities\noutside the jurisdiction of the renounced order of life. A devotee's attempt\n\nto engage his energies in such activities as constructing a Vi��u temple is,\nhowever, never wasted. Such engagements are called Knrarthe akhila­\n\nce§tii, variegated activities performed to please Kr��a. A philanthropist's\n\nopening a school building and a devotee's constructing a temple are not on\n\nthe same level. Although a philanthropist's opening an educational insti­\n\ntution may be pious activity, it comes under the laws of karma, whereas\nconstructing a temple for Vi��u is devotional service.\n\nDevotional service is never within the jurisdiction of the law of karma.\n\nIt is stated in the Bhagavad-gitii that devotees transcend the reaction of the\n\nthree modes of material nature and stand on the platform of Brahman\n\nrealization: brahma-bhiiyiiya kalpate. The Bhagavad-gitii says, sa gurz,iin\n\nsamatityaitiin brahma-bhiiyiiya: kalpate: devotees of the Personality of\n\nGodhead transcend all the reactions of the three modes of material nature\n\nand are situated on the transcendental Brahman platform. The devotees\nare liberated both in this life and in the next life. Any work done in this\n\nmaterial world for Yajfia or Vi��u or Kr��a is considered to be liberated\n\nwork, but without connection with Acyuta, the infallible Supreme Person­\n\nality of Godhead, there is no possibility of stopping the resultant actions\nof the law of karma. The life of Kr��a consciousness is the life of libera­\n\ntion. The conclusion is that a devotee, by the grace of the Lord, is\nliberated, both in this life and the next, whereas karmis, jiiiinis and yogis\nare never liberated, either in this life or in the next.\n\nThe personified Vedas continued: \"Dear Lord, anyone who, by Your\n\ngrace, has understood the glories of Your lotus feet is callous to material\n\nhappiness and distress. The material pangs are inevitable as long as we are\n\nexisting within the material world, but a devotee does not divert his atten-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0333": "296\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ntion to such actions and reactions, which are the result of pious and im­\n\npious activities. Nor is a devotee very much disturbed or pleased by\n\npraise or condemnation by the people in general. A devotee is sometimes\ngreatly praised by the people in general because of his transcendental\n\nactivities, and sometimes he is criticized, even though there is no reason\nfor adverse criticism. The pure devotee is always callous to praise or\n\ncondemnation by the ordinary people. Actually, the devotee's activities\n\nare on the transcendental plane. He is not interested in the praise or\ncondemnation of people engaged in material activities. If the devotee can\n\nthus maintain his transcendental position, then his liberation in this life\nand in the next life is guaranteed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\n\nA devotee's transcendental position within this material world is maintained\n\nin the association of pure devotees, simply by hearing the glorious activities\nenacted by the Lord in different ages and in different incarnations.\"\n\nThe Kr��a consciousness movement is based on this principle. Srila\n\nNarottama dasa Thakur has sung, \"My dear Lord, let me be engaged in\nYour transcendental loving service, as indicated by the previou.s iiciiryas,\n\nand let me live in the association of pure devotees. That is my desire, life\n\nafter life.\" In other words, a devotee does not much care whether or not\n\nhe is liberated, but he is anxious only for devotional service. Devotional\n\nservice means that one does not do anything independently of the sanction\n\nof the iiciiryas. The action� of the Kr��a consciousness movement are\n\ndirected by the previous iiciiryas, headed by Srila Rupa Gosvami; in the\n\nassociation of devotees following these principles, a devotee is able to\nperfectly maintain his transcendental position.\n\nIn the Bhagavad-gitii, the Lord says that a devotee who knows Him\n\nperfectly is very dear to Him. Four kinds of pious men take to devotional\n\nservice. If a man is pious, then in his distressed condition he approaches\n\nthe Lord for mitigation of his distress. If a pious man is in need of material\n\nhelp, he also prays to the Lord for such help. If a pious man is actually\n\ninquisitive about the science of God, he also approaches the Supreme\n\nPersonality of Godhead, Kr��a. Similarly, a pious man who is simply\n\nanxious to know the science of Kr§�a also approaches the Supreme Lord.\n\nOut of these four classes of men, the last is praised by Kr§�a Himself in\n\nthe Bhagavad-gitii. A person who tries to understand Kr§�a with full\nknowledge and devotion by following in the footsteps of previous iiciiryas\n\nconversant with the scientific knowledge of the Supreme Lord is praise­\n\nworthy. Such a devotee can understand that all conditions of life, favorable\n\nand unfavorable, are created by the supreme will of the Lord. And when\n\nhe has fully surrendered unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, he does\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0334": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n297\n\nnot care whether his condition of life is favorable or unfavorable. A devotee\ntakes even an unfavorable condition to be the special favor of the Personality of Godhead. Actually, there are no unfavorable conditions for a\ndevotee. He sees everything coming by the will of the Lord as favorable,\nand in any condition of life he is simply enthusiastic to discharge his\ndevotional service. This devotional attitude is explained in the Bhagavad­\n\ngita: a devotee is never distressed in reverse conditions of life, nor is he\noverjoyed in favorable conditions. In the higher stages of devotional\nservice, a devotee is not even concerned with the list of do's and do not's.\nSuch a position can be maintained only by following in the footsteps of\nthe iicaryas. Because a pure devotee follows in the footsteps of the iiciiryas,\nany action he performs to discharge devotional service is to be understood\nto be on the transcendental platform. Lord Kr�l).a therefore instructs us\nthat an iiciirya is above criticism. A neophyte devotee should not consider\nhimself to be on the same plane as the iiciirya. It should be accepted that\nthe iicaryas are on the same platform as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as such, neither Kr�l).a nor His representative iiciirya should be\nsubject to any adverse criticism by the neophyte devotees.\nThe personified\n\nVedas thus worshiped the Supreme Personality of\n\nGodhead in different ways. Offering worship to the Supreme Lord by\npraying means remembering His transcendental qualities, pastimes and\nactivities. But the Lord's pastimes and qualities are unlimited. It is not\npossible for us to r�member all the qualities of the Lord. Therefore, the\npersonified\n\nVedas worshiped to the best of their ability, and at the end\n\nthey spoke as follows.\n\"Our dear Lord, although Lord Brahma, the predominating deity of the\nhighest planet, Brahmaloka, and King lndra, the predominating demigod\nof the heavenly planet, as well as the predominating deities of the sun\nplanet, the moon planet, etc., are all very confidential directors of this\nmaterial world, they have very little knowledge about You. And what to\nspeak of ordinary human beings and mental speculators? It is not possible\nfor anyone to enumerate the unlimited transcendental qualities of Your\nLordship. No one, including the mental speculators and the demigods in\nhigher planetary systems, is actually able to estimate the length and\nbreadth of Your form and characteristics. We think that even Your\nLordship does not have complete knowledge of Your transcendental\nqualities. The reason is that You are unlimited. Although it is not befitting\nin Your case to say that You do not know Yourself, it is nevertheless\npractical to understand that because You have unlimited qualities and\nenergies and because Your knowledge is also unlimited, there is unlimited\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0335": "298\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ncompetition between Your knowledge and Your expansion of energies.\"\nThe idea is that because God and His knowledge are both unlimited, as\nsoon as God is cognizant of some of His energies, He perceives that He has\nstill more energies. In this way, both His energies and His knowledge\nincrease. Because both of them are unlimited, there is no end to the\nenergies and no end to the knowledge with which to understand the\nenergies. God is undoubtedly omniscient, but the personified Vedas say\nthat even God Himself does not know the full extent of His energies. This\ndoes not mean that God is not omniscient. When an actual fact is unknown\nto a certain person, this is called ignorance or lack of knowledge. This is\nnot applicable to God, however, because He knows Himself perfectly, but\nstill His energies and activities increase. Therefore He also increases His\nknowledge to understand it. Both are increasing unlimitedly, and there is\nno end to it. In that sense it can be said that even God Himself does not\nknow the limit of His energies and qualities.\nHow God is unlimited in His expansion of energies and activities can be\nroughly calculated by any sane and sober living entity. It is said in the Vedic\nliterature that innumerable universes issue forth wheri Maha-Vi�ttu exhales\nin His yoga-nidrii, and innumerable universes enter His body when He again\ninhales. We have to imagine that these universes, which, according to our\nlimited knowledge, are expanded unlimitedly, are so great that the gross\ningredients, the five elements of the cosmic manifestation, namely earth,\nwater, fire, air and sky, are not only within the universe, but are covering\nthe universe in seven layers, each layer ten times bigger than the previous\none. In this way, each and every universe is very securely packed, and there\nare numberless universes. All these universes are floating within the\ninnumerable pores of the transcendental body of Maha-Vi§tJ.U- It is stated\nthat just as the atoms and particles of dust are floating within the air along\nwith the birds and their number cannot be calculated, so innumerable\nuniverses are floating within the, pores of the transcendental body of the\nLord. For this reason, the Vedas say that God is beyond the capacity of\nour knowledge. Abiinmanasagocara: to understand the length and breadth\nof God is beyond the jurisdiction of our mental speculation. Therefore, a\nperson who is actually learned and sane does not claim to be God, but tries\nto understand God, making distinctions between spirit and matter. By\nsuch careful discrimination, one can clearly understand that the Supreme\nSoul is transcendental to both the superior and inferior energies, although\nHe has a direct connection with both. In the Bhagavad-gitii, Lord Kr�tta\nexplains that although everything is resting on His energy, He is different\nor separate from the energy.\nNature and the living entities are sometimes designated as prakrti and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0336": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n299\n\npuru§a respectively. The whole cosmic manifestation is an amalgamation\n\nof the prakrti and puru§a. Nature is the ingredient cause, and the living\nentities are the effective cause. These two causes combine together, and\nthe effect is this cosmic manifestation. W hen one is fortunate enough to\n\ncome to the right conclusion about this cosmic manifestation and every­\n\nthing which is going on within it, he knows it to be caused directly and\nindirectly by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. It is concluded\nin the Brahma-sarhhita, therefore, iSvara� parama� k[§[ta� sac-cid-unanda­\n\nvigraha� anadir adir govinda� sarva-kurarw-kurar-am.\n\nAfter much deliberation and consideration, when one has attained the\nthe perfection of knowledge, he comes to the conclusion that Kr�!la, or\n\nGod, is the original cause of all causes. Instead of speculating about the\n\nmeasurement of God-whether He is so long or so wide-or philosophizing,\none should come to the conclusion of Brahma-sarhhitu: sarva-kurarza­\n\nkurarzam: \"Kr�!la, or God, is the cause of all causes.\" That is the perfection\n\nof knowledge.\nThus the Veda-stuti, or the prayers offered by the personified Vedas to\nthe Garbhodakasayi Vi�!lu, were first narrated in disciplic succession by\nSanandana to his brothers, all of whom were born of Brahma. In the\n\nbeginning the four Kumaras were the first-born of Brahma; therefore they\n\nare known as pfirva-juta. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita that the param­\n\npara system, or the disciplic succession, begins with Krwa Himself.\n\nSimilarly, here, in the prayers of the personified Vedas, it is to be under­\n\nstood that the parampara system begins with the Personality of Godhead\n\nNaraya!la ��i. We should remember that this Veda-stuti is being narrated\n\nby Kumara Sanandana, and the narration is being repeated by Naraya!la\n��i in\n\nBodi Asrama. Naraya!la ��i is the incarnation of Kr�!la for\n\nshowing us the path of self-realization by undergoing severe austerities.\nIn this age Lord Caitanya demonstrated the path of pure devotional service\n\nby putting Himself in the role of a pure devotee. Similarly, in the past\nLord Naraya!la ��i was an incarnation of Kr�!la who performed severe\n\nausterities in the Himalayan ranges. Sri Narada Muni was hearing from\nHim. So in the statement given by Naraya!la ��i to Narada Muni, as it was\nnarrated by Kumara Sanandana in the form of Veda-stuti, it is understood\n\nthat God is the one supreme and that all others are His servants.\n\nIn the Caitanya-caritumrta it is stated, ekalii isvara kr§rza: \"Kr�!la is the\n\nonly Supreme God.\" Ara sava bhrtya: \"All others are His servants.\" Yiire\nyaiche niiciiya, se taiche kare nrtya: \"The Supreme Lord, as He desires, is\n\nengaging all the living entities in different activities, and thus they are exhibiting their different talents and tendencies.\" This Veda-stuti is thus the original instruction regarding the relationship existing between the living entity\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0337": "300\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ntheir different talents and tendencies.\" This Veda-stuti is thus the original\n\ninstruction regarding the relationship existing between the living entity\nand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The highest platform of realiza­\n\ntion for the living entity is the attainment of this devotional life. One\ncannot be engaged in devotional life or Kr�tta consciousness unless he is\n\nfully free from material contamination. Narayatta ��i informed Narada\n\nMuni that the essence of all Vedas and Vedic literatures (namely, the four\nVedas, the Upani§ads, the Purarws) teaches the rendering of transcendental\n\nloving service to the Lord. In this connection Narayatta ��i has used one\n\nparticular word -rasa. In devotional service this rasa is the via media or the\n\nbasic principle for exchanging a relationship between the Lord and the\n\nliving entity. A rasa is also described in the Vedas as iSavasya: \"The\n\nSupreme Lord is the reservoir of all pleasure.\" All the Vedic literatures, the\n\nPurii\"[WS, the Vedas, the Upani§ads, the Vedanta-siitras, etc., are teaching\nthe living entities how to attain the stage of rasa. The B hagav ata m also\n\nsays that the statements in the Mah iipur iira (Srim ad-B hiigavatam) contain\n\nthe essence of rasas in all Vedic literatures. Nigama-kalpa-taror galitarh\n\nphalarh. The B hiigav ata m is the essence of the ripen fruit in the tree of the\nVedic literature.\n\nWe understand that with the breathing of the Supreme Personality of\n\nGodhead there issued forth the four Vedas, namely the J.{g-veda, the\nSiima-veda,\n\nYajur-veda, and the A tharva-veda, and the histories like the\n\nMahiibhiirata and all the Puriirws, which are also considered to be the\nhistory of the world. The Vedic histories like the Puriiras and Mahii­\n\nbhiirata are called the fifth Veda.\n\nThe verses of Veda-stuti are to be considered the essence of all Vedic\n\nknowledge. The four Kumaras and all other authorized sages know per­\n\nfectly that devotional service in Kr�tta consciousness is the essence of all\nVedic literatures, and they are preaching this in different planets, traveling\n\nin outer space. It is stated herein that such sages, including Narada Muni,\nhardly ever travel on land; they are perpetually traveling in space.\n\nSages like Narada and the Kumaras travel throughout the universe in\n\norder to educate the conditioned souls and show them that their business\nin the world is not that of sense gratification, but of reinstating themselves\n\nagain in their original position of devotional service to the Supreme Person­\n\nality of Godhead. It is stated in several places that the living entities are\n\nlike sparks of the fire, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is like the\nfire itself. Somehow or other when the sparks fall out of the fire they lose\n\ntheir natural illumination; thus it is ascertained that the living entities\n\ncome into this material world exactly as sparks fall from a great fire. The\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0338": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n301\n\nreason for this fall, as stated by the Gosvamis, is sense gratification. The\nliving entity wants to imitate Kr��a and tries to lord it over material nature;\nthus he forgets his original position, and his illuminating power, his\nspiritual identity, is extinguished. However, if a living entity takes to Kr��a\nconsciousness, he is reinstated in his original position. Sages and saints like\nNarada and the Kumaras are traveling all over the universe educating\npeople and encouraging their disciples to preach this process of devotional\nservice so that all the conditioned souls may be able to revive their original\nconsciousness, or Kr��a consciousness, and thus gain relief from the\n·\n\nmiserable conditions of material life.\nSri Narada Muni is nai§tika-brahmaciiri.\n\nThere are four types of\nbrahmaciiri, and the first is called siivitra, which refers to a brahmaciiri\nwho, after initiation and the sacred thread ceremony, must observe at\nleast three days celibacy. The next is called priijiipatya, which refers to a\nbrahmaciiri who strictly observes celibacy for at least one year after\n\ninitiation. The next is called briihma-brahmaciiri, which refers to a\nbrahmaciiri who observes celibacy from the time of initiation up to the\ntime of the completion of his study of Vedic literature. The next stage is\ncalled nai§tika, which refers to a brahmaciiri who is celibate throughout his\nwhole life. Out of these, the first three are upakurviina, which means that\nthe brahmaciiri can marry later on after the brahmaciiri period is over. The\n\nnai§tika-brahmaciiri is completely reluctant to have any sex life; therefore\nthe Kumaras and Narada are known as nai§tika-brahmaciiris. The brahma­\n\nciiri system of life is especially advantageous in that it increases the power\nof memory and determination. It is specifically mentioned in this connection that because Narada was nai§tika-brahmaciiri he could remember\nwhatever he heard from his spiritual master and would never forget it. One\nwho can remember everything perpetually is called sruta-dhara. A srutadhara brahmaciiri can repeat all that he has heard verbatim without notes\nand without reference to books. The great sage Narada has this qualification, and therefore, taking instruction from Nar:Iyap.a ��i, he is engaged in\npropagating the philosophy of devotional service all over the world.\nBecause such great sages can remember everything, they are very much\nthoughtful, self-realized and completely fixed in the service of the Lord.\nThus\n\nthe great sage Narada, after hearing from his spiritual master\n\nNaraya�a ��i, became completely realized. He became established in the\ntruth, and he became so happy that he offered the following prayers to\nNaraya�a ��i.\n\nA nai§thika- brahmaciiri is also called vira-vrata. Narada Muni addressed\n\nNaraya�a ��i as an incarnation of Kr��a, and he specifically addressed him\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0339": "302\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nas the supreme well-wisher of the conditioned souls. It is stated in the\n\nBhagavad-gitii that Lord Kr��a descends in every millennium just to give\n\nprotection to His devotees and to annihilate the nondevotees. Naraya�a\n\n:{t�i, also being an incarnation of Kr��a, is also addressed as the well-wisher\n\nof the conditioned souls. As is stated in the Bhagavad-gitii, everyone\n\nshould know that there is no well-wisher like Kr��a. Everyone should\n\nunderstand that Lord Kr��a is the well-wisher of everyone and should\n\ntake shelter unto\n\nKr��a.\n\nIn this way\n\none can become completely\n\nconfident and satisfied knowing that he has someone who is able to give\n\nhim all protection. Kr��a Himself, His incarnations and His plenary\n\nexpansions are all supreme well-wishers of the conditioned souls, but\n\nKr��a is the well-wisher even for the demons, for He gave salvation to all\n\ndemons who came to kill Him at Vrndavana; therefore Kr��a's welfare\n\nactivities are absolute, for even though He annihilates a demon or gives\n\nprotection to a devotee, His activities are one and the same. It is said that\nthe demon Piitana was elevated to the same position as Kr��a 's mother.\n\nWhen KH�a kills a demon it should be known that the demon is supremely\n\nbenefitted by this; however, a pure devotee is always protected by the\nLord.\n\nNarada Muni, after offering respects,to his spiritual master, went to the\n\niisrama of Vyasadeva and narrated the entire story to his disciple. Thus\nNarada Muni, being properly received by Vyasadeva in his iisrama and\n\nseated very comfortably, began to narrate what he had heard from\nNaraya�a :{t�i. In this way Sukadeva Gosvami informed Maharaja Parik�it\n\nof the answers to his questions regarding the essence of Vedic knowledge\n\nand regarding what is considered to be the ultimate goal in the Vedas. The\nsupreme goal in life is to seek the transcendental blessings of the Supreme\n\nPersonality of Godhead and thus become engaged in the loving service of\n\nthe Lord. One should follow in the footsteps of Sukadeva Gosvami and all\n\nthe Vai��avas in the disciplic succession and should pay respectful obei­\n\nsances unto Lord Kr��a the Supreme Personality of Godhead Hari. The\n\nfour sects of Vai��ava disciplic succession, namely the Madhva-sampra­\n\ndaya, the Ramanuja-sampradaya, the Vi��usvami-sampradaya, and the\nNimbarka-sampradaya, in pursuance of all Vedic conclusions, agree that\n\none should surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\n\nThe Vedic literatures are divided into two parts: the srutis and the\n\nsmrtis. The srutis are the four\n\nVedas: .f{k, Siima, Atharva and Yajus, and\n\nthe Upan�ads , and the smrtis are the Purarws like Mahiibhiirata, which\nincludes Bhagavad-gitii. The conclusion of all these is that one should\n\nknow Sri Kr��a as the Supreme Personality ,of Godhead. He is the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0340": "Prayers by the Personified Vedas\n\n303\n\nParampuru�a, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead under whose super­\n\nintendence material nature works, being created, maintained and de­\n\nstroyed. After the creation, the Supreme Lord incarnates into three,\n\nBrahma, Viwu and Lord Siva. All of these take charge of the three\n\nqualities of material nature, but the ultimate direction is in the hand of\n\nLord Vi�!J.U. The complete activities of material nature under the three\n\nmodes are being conducted under the direction of the Supreme Personality\n\nof Godhead, Kr�!J.a. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii, nyadarsana,\n\nand in the Vedas: sa a ik�ata.\n\nThe atheistic Sankhyaite philosophers offer their arguments that this\n\nmaterial cosmic manifestation is due to prakrti and puru§a. They argue\n\nthat nature and material energy constitute the material cause and the\n\neffective cause. But Kr�!la is the cause of all causes. He is the cause of all\n\nmaterial and effective causes. Prakrti and puru§a are not the ultimate\n\ncause. Superficially it appears that a child is born due to the combination\n\nof the father and mother, but the ultimate cause of both the father and the\n\nmother is Kr�!J.a. He is therefore the original cause, or the cause of all\n\ncauses, as is confirmed in the Brahma-sarhhitii.\n\nIn the material nature, both the Supreme Lord and the living entities\n\nenter. The Supreme Lord Kr�!J.a, by one of His plenary expansions,\n\nmanifests as the K�irodakasayi Vi�!J.U and the Maha-Vi�!J.U, the gigantic\n\nVi�!J.U form lying in the Causal Ocean. Then from that gigantic form of\n\nthe Maha-Vi�!lu, the Garbhodakasayi Vi�!J.U\n\nexpands in every universe.\n\nFrom Him, Brahma, Vi�!lu and Siva expand. Vi�!J.U enters into the hearts\n\nof all living entities, as well as into all material elements, including the\natom. The Brahma-sarhhitii says: arfliintarastha-paramiiru-cayiintarastham.\nHe is within this universe and also within every atom.\n\nThe living entity has a small material body. taken from various species\n\nand forms, and similarly the whole universe is but the material body of\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead. This body is described in the siistras\n\nas viriita riipa. As the individual living entity maintains his particular body,\n\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead maintains the whole cosmic creation\nand everything within it. As soon as the individual living entity leaves the\n\nmaterial body, the body is immediately annihilated, and similarly as soon\nas Lord Vi�!J.U leaves the cosmic manifestation, everything is annihilated.\n\nOnly when the individual living entity surrenders unto�the Supreme\n\nPersonality of Godhead is his liberation from material existence assured.\n\nThis is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii: miim eva ye prapadyante miiyiim\n\netiirh taranti te. Surrendering unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead is\n\ntherefore the cause of liberation and nothing else. How the living entity\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0341": "Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n304\n\nbecomes liberated from the modes of material nature after surrendering\nunto the Supreme Personality of Godhead is illustrated by a sleeping man\n\nwithin a room. When a man is sleeping, everyone sees that he is present\n\nwithin the room, but actually the man himself is not within that body, for\n\nwhile sleeping a man forgets his bodily existence, although others may see\nthat his body is present. Similarly, a liberated person engaged in devotional\n\nservice of the Lord may be seen by others to be engaged in the household\n\nduties of the material world, but since his consciousness is fixed in Kr�.t;ta\n\nhe does not live within this world. His engagements are different, exactly\n\nas the sleeping man's engagements are different from his bodily engage­\n\nments. It is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii that a devotee engaged full\n\ntime in the transcendental loving service of the Lord has already surpassed\n\nthe influence of the three modes of material nature. He is already situated\n\non the Brahman platform of spiritual realization, although he appears to\n\nbe living with the body or within the material world.\n\nSrlla Riipa Gosvami stated in this connection in his Bhakti-rasiimrta­\n\nsindhu that the person whose only desire is to serve the Supreme Person­\n\nality of Godhead may be situated in any condition in the material\n\nworld, but he is to be understood as jivanmukta, that is to say he is to be\nconsidered liberated while living within the body or the material world.\nThe\n\nconclusion,\n\ntherefore,\n\nis that a person fully engaged in Kr�.t;ta\n\nconsciousness is a liberated person. Such a person has actually nothing to\n\ndo with the material world. Those who are not in Kr�.t;ta consciousness\nare called karmis and jfiiinis, and they hover on the bodily and mental\n\nplatform and thus are not liberated. This situation is called kaivalyanirasta-yoni. A person situated on the transcendental platform becomes\nfreed from the repetition of birth and death. This is also confirmed in\n\nBhagavad-gitii, Fourth Chapter. Simply by knowing the transcendental\n\nnature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead K��.t;ta, one becomes free\n\nfrom the chains of the repetition of birth and death, and after quitting\n\nhis present body he goes back home, back to Godhead. This is the\nconclusion of all the Vedas. Thus one should surrender unto the lotus feet\n\nof Lord Kr�.t;ta after understanding the prayers offered by the personified\n\nVedas.\nThus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Second Volume, ThirtySecond Chapter of Kr�va, \"Prayers by the Personified Vedas.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0342": "33 I Deliverance of Lord Siva\n\nAs a great devotee of Kr�!la, King Parik�it was already liberated, but for\n\nclarification he was asking various questions of Sukadeva Gosvami In the\nprevious chapter, King Pan\"K�it's question was, \"What is the ultimate goal\n\nof the\n\nVedas?\" And Sukadeva Gosvami explained the matter, giving\n\nauthoritative descriptions from the disciplic succession, beginning with\nSanandana down to Naraya!la ��i, Narada, Vyasadeva, and then he himself.\n\nThe conclusion was that devotional service, or bhakti, is the ultimate goal\n\nof the Vedas. A neophyte devotee may question, \"If the ultimate goal of\n\nlife, or the conclusion of the Vedas, is to elevate oneself to the platform\n\nof devotional service, then why is it observed that a devotee of Lord Viwu\n\nis generally not very prosperous materially, whereas a devotee of Lord Siva\n\nis found to be very opulent?\" In order to clarify this matter, Parik�it\n\nMaharaja asked Sukadeva Gosvami: \"My dear Sukadeva Gosvami, it is\ngenerally found that those who engage in the worship of Lord Siva,\n\nwhether in human, demoniac, or demigod society, become very opulent\n\nmaterially, although Lord Siva himself lives just like a poverty-stricken\nperson.\n\nOn the other hand, the devotees of Lord Vi�!lu, who is the\n\ncontroller of the goddess of fortune, do not appear to be very prosperous,\n\nand sometimes they are even found to be living without any material opu­\n\nlence at all. Lord Siva lives underneath a tree or in the snow of the\nHimalayan Mountains. He does not even construct a house for himself, but\n\nstill the worshipers of Lord Siva are very rich. Kr�!la, or Lord Vi�pu,\n\nhowever, lives very opulently, whether in Vaikuptha or in this material\nworld, but His devotees appear to be poverty-stricken. Why is this so?\"\n\nMaharaja Parik�it's question is very intelligent. The two classes· of\n\ndevotees, namely the devotees of Lord Siva and the devotees of Lord\n\nVi�!lu, are always in disagreement. Even today in India these two classes\n\nof devotees still criticize each other, and especially in South India, the\n\n305\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0343": "306\n\nKr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nfollowers of Ramanujacarya and the followers of Saitkaracarya hold\n\noccasional meetings for understanding the Vedic conclusion. Generally, the\nfollowers of Ramanujacarya come out victorious in such meetings. So\nParik�it Maharaja wanted to clarify the situation by asking this question\n\nof Sukadeva Gosvami. That Lord Siva lives as a poor man although his\n\ndevotees appear to be very opulent, whereas Lord Kr�!la or Lord Viwu is\nalways opulent, and yet His devotees appear to be poverty-stricken, is a\nsituation which appears contradictory and puzzling to a discriminating\nperson.\n\nSukadeva Gosvami began to reply to King Parik�it's inquiry about the\n\napparent contradictions regarding the worship of Lord Siva and that of\n\nLord Vi�!J.U. Lord Siva is the master of the material energy. The material\n\nenergy is represented by goddess Durga, and Lord Siva happens to be her\n\nhusband. Since goddess Durga is completely under the subjugation of Lord\nSiva, it is to be understood that Lord Siva is the master of this material\n\nenergy. The material energy is manifested in three qualities, namely good­\n\nness, passion and ignorance, and therefore Lord Siva is the master .of these\n\nthree qualities. Although he is in association with these qualities for the\nbenefit of the conditioned soul, Lord Siva is the director and is not affect­\n\ned. Although the conditioned soul is affected by the three qualities, Lord\nSiva, because he is the master of these qualities, is not affected by them.\n\nFrom the statements of Sukadeva Gosvami we can understand that the\n\neffects of worshiping different demigods are not, as some less intelligent\npersons suppose, the same as the effects of worshiping Lord Vi�!J.U. He\nclearly states that by worshiping Lord Siva one achieves one reward,\n\nwhereas by worshiping Lord Vi�!J.U one achieves a different reward. This is\n\nalso confirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii: those who worship the different\n\ndemigods achieve the desired results which the respective demigods can\nreward.\n\nSimilarly, those who worship the material energy receive the\n\nsuitable reward for such activities, and those who worship the pitas receive\n\nsimilar results. But those who are engaged in devotional service or worship\n\nof the Supreme Lord, Vi�!J.U or Kr�!J.a, go to the Vaiku!J.tha planets or\nKr�!J.aloka. One cannot approach the transcendental region or paravyoma,\n\nthe spiritual sky, by worshiping Lord Siva or Brahma or any other\ndemigod.\n\nSince this material world is a product of the three qualities of material\n\nnature, all varieties of manifestations come from those three qualities.\n\nWith the aid of materialistic science, modern civilization has created many\n\nmachines and comforts of life, and yet they are only varieties of the\n\ninteractions of the three material qualities. Although the devotees of Lord\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0344": "Deliverance of Lord Siva\n\n307\n\nSiva are able to obtain many material acquisitions, we should know that\n\nthey are simply collecting products manufactured by the three qualities.\n\nThe three qualities are again subdivided into sixteen, namely the ten senses\n(five working senses and the five knowledge-acquiring senses), the mind,\n\nand the five elements (earth, water, air, fire and sky). These sixteen items\nare further extensions of the three qualities. Material happiness or opu­\n\nlence means gratification of the senses, specifically the genitals, the tongue\nand the mind. By exercising our minds we create many pleasurable things\n\njust for enjoyment by the genitals and the tongue. The opulence of a\nperson within this material world is estimated in terms of his exercise of\n\nthe genitals and the tongue, or in other words, how well he is able to\n\nutilize his sexual capacities and how well he is able to satisfy his fastidious\n\ntaste by eating palatable dishes. Material advancement of civilization\n\nnecessitates creating objects of enjoyment by mental concoction just to\n\nbecome happy on the basis of these two principles: pleasures for the\n\ngenitals and pleasures for the tongue. Herein lies the answer to King\n\nParik�it's question to Sukadev:a Gosvami as to why the worshipers of Lord\nSiva ·are so opulent.\n\nThe devotees of Lord Siva are only opulent in terms of the material\n\nqualities. Factually, such so-called advancement of civilization is the cause\n\nof entanglement in material existence. It is actually not advancement, but\n\ndegradation. The conclusion is that because Lord Siva is the master of the\nthree qualities, his .devotees are given things manufactured by the inter­\n\naction of these qualities for satisfaction of the senses. In the Bhagavad-gitii,\n\nhowever, we get instruction from Lord Kr��a that one has to transcend the\n\nqualitative existence. Nistraiguryo bhaviirjuna: the mission of human life\nis to become transcendental to the three qualities. Unless one is nistraigurya,\n\nhe cannot get free from material entanglement. In other words, favors\n\nreceived from Lord Siva are not actually beneficial to the conditioned\n\nsouls, although apparently such facilities seem to be opulent.\n\nSukadeva Gosvami continued: \"The Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nHari is transcendental to the three qualities of material nature.\" It is\n\nstated in the Bhagavad-gitii that anyone who surrenders unto Him surpasses\n\nthe control of the three qualities of material nature. Therefore, since\n\nHari's devotees are transcendental to the control of the three material\n\nqualities, certainly He Himself is transcendental. It is stated, therefore, in\n\nthe Sri11Uld-Bhiigavatam that Hari, or Kr��a, is the original Supreme\nPersonality. There are two kinds of prakrtis, or potencies, namely the\n\ninternal potency and the external potency, and Kr��a is the overlord of\nboth these prakrtis or potencies. He is sarva-drk, or the overseer of all the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0345": "I\nI\n\n308\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nactions of the internal and external potencies, and He is also described as\n\nupadra§ta, the supreme advi�or. Because He is the supreme advisor, He is\n\nabove all the demigods, who merely follow the directions of the supreme\n\nadvisor. As such, if one directly follows the instructions of the Supreme\n\nLord, as inculcated in the Bhagavad-gitii and the Srimad-Bhiigavatam, then\n\ngradually one becomes nirgupa, or above the interaction of the material\n\nqualities. To be nirgupa means to be bereft of material opulences because,\n\nas we have explained, material opulence means an increase of the actions\n\nand reactions of the three material qualities. By worshiping the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, instead of being puffed up with material opu­\n\nlences one becomes enriched with spiritual advancement of knowledge in\nKr�!la consciousness. To become nirgupa means to achieve eternal peace,\n\nfearlessness, religiousness, knowledge and renunciation. All these are\n\nsymptoms of becoming free from the contamination of the material\nqualities.\n\n.\n\nSukadeva Gosvami, in answering PanK.�it Maharaja's question, went on\n\nto cite an historical instance regarding Parilqit Mahjiraja's grandfather,\n\nKing Yudhi�thira. He said that after finishing the asvamedha sacrifice in\n\nthe great sacrificial arena, King Yudhi�thira, in the presence of great\n\nauthorities, enquired on that very same point: how is it that the devotees\nof Lord Siva become materially opulent, whereas the devotees of Lord\n\nVi��u do not? Sukadeva Gosvami specifically referred to King Yudhi�thira\n\nas \"your grandfather\" so that Maharaja Parik�it would be encouraged to\n\nthink that he was related to Kr��a and that his grandfathers were intimately\nconnected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\n\nAlthough Kr�!la is always very satisfied by nature, when this question\n\nwas asked by Maharaja Yudhi�thira He became even more satisfied because\n\nthese questions and their answers would bear a great meaning for the\n\nentire Kr�!la conscious society. Whenever Lord Kr�l)a speaks about some­\n\n/\n\nthing to a specific devotee, it is not only meant for hat devotee, but for\n\nthe entire human society. Instructions by the Supreme Personality of Godhead are important even to the demigods, headed by Lord Brahma, Lord\n\nSiva and others, and anyone who does not take advantage of the instructions\nof the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who descends within this world\n\nfor the benefit of all living entities, is certainly very unfortunate.\n\nLord Kr�!la answered the question of Maharaja Yudhi�thira as follows:\n\n\"If I esp€cially favor a devotee and especially wish to care for him, the\n\nfirst thing I do is take away his riches.\" When the devotee becomes a\npenniless pauper or is put into a comparatively poverty-stricken position,\n\nhis relatives and family members no longer take interest in him, and in\n\nmost cases they give up their connection with him. The devotee then\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0346": "1\nDeliverance of Lord Siva\n\n309\n\nbecomes doubly unhappy. First of all he becomes unhappy because his\n\nriches have been taken away by Kr�!J.a, and he is made even more unhappy\nwhen his relatives desert him because of his poverty-stricken position. We\n\nshould note, however, that when a devotee falls into a miserable condition\n\nin this way, it is not due to past impious activities, known as karma-phala;\n\nthe poverty-stricken position of the devotee is a creation of the Personality\nof Godhead. Similarly, when a devotee becomes materially opulent, that\n\nis also not due to his pious activities. In either case, whether the devotee\n\nbecomes poorer or richer, the arrangement is made by the Supreme\n\nPersonality of Godhead. This arrangement is especially made by Kr�rta for\nHis devotee just to make him completely dependent upon Him and to free\n\nhim from all material obligations. He can then concentrate his energies,\n\nmind and body-everything-for the service of the Lord, and that is pure\n\ndevotional service. In the Niirada-paiicariitra it is therefore explained,\n\nsaroopiidhi-vinirmuktam, which means \"being freed from all designations.\"\n\nWorks performed for family, society, community, nation, or humanity are\nall designated: \"I belong to this society,\" \"I belong to this community,\"\n\n\"I belong to this nation,\" \"I belong to this species of life.\" Such identities\n\nare all merely designations. When, by the grace of the Lord, a devotee\n\nbecomes freed from all designation, his devotional service is actually\n\nnai§karma. ]iiiinis are very much attracted by the position of nai§karma, in\n\nwhich one's actions no longer have material effect. When the devotee's\nactions are freed from effects, they are no longer in the category of karma­\n\nphalam, or fruitive activities. As explained before by the personified Vedas,\n\nthe unhappiness and distress of a devotee are produced by the Personality\nof Godhead for the devotee, and the devotee therefore does not care\n\nwhether he is in happiness or in distress. He goes on with his duties in\nexecuting devotional service. Although his behavior seems to be subject to\n\nthe action and reaction of fruitive activities, he is actually freed from the\n\nresults of action.\n\nIt may be questioned why a devotee is put into such tribulation by the\n\nPersonality of Godhead. The answer is that this kind of arrangement by\n\nthe Lord is just like the father's sometimes becoming unkind to his sons.\n\nBecause the devotee is a surrendered soul and is taken charge of by the\n\nSupreme Lord, whenever the Lord puts him into any condition of life­\n\neither in distress or happiness-it is to be understood that behind this\n\narrangement there is a large plan designed by the Personality of Godhead.\nFor example, Lord Kr�rta put the Part9avas into a distressed condition so\n\nacute that even Grandfather Bhi�ma could not comprehend how such\n\ndistress could occur. He lamented that although the whole Part9ava family\nwas headed by King Yudhi�thira, the most pious king, and protected by\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0347": "310\n\nKr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nthe two great warriors Bhima and Arjuna, and although, above all, the\n\nPa!i9avas were all intimate friends and relatives ot Lord Kr�!la, they still\n\nhad to undergo such tribulations. Later on, however, it was proved that\n\nthis was planned by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kr�!la as part of\nHis great mission to annihilate the miscreants and protect the devotees.\n\nAnother question may be raised: Since a devotee is put into different\n\nkinds of happy and distressful conditions by the arrangement of the\n\nPersonality of Godhead, and a common man is put into such conditions as\n\na result of his past deeds, then what is the difference? How is the devotee\nany better than the ordinary karmi? The answer is that the karmis and the\n\ndevotees are not on the same level. In whatever condition of life the karmi\nmay be, he continues in the cycle of birth and death because the seed of\n\nkarma, or fruitive activity, is there, and it fructifies whenever there is\n\nopportunity. By the law of karma a common man is perpetually entangled\nin repeated birth and death, whereas a devotee's distress and happiness,\n\nnot being under the laws of karma, are part of a temporary arrangement\nby the Supreme Lord which does not entangle the devotee. Such an\narrangement is made by the Lord only to serve a temporary purpose. If a\n\nkarmi performs auspicious acts, he is elevated to the heavenly planets, and\nif he acts impiously, he is put into a hellish condition of life. But whether\n\na devotee acts in a so-called pious or in an impious manner, he is neither\n\nelevated nor degraded, but is transferred to the spiritual kingdom. Therefore a devotee's happiness and distress and a karmi's happiness and distress\nare not on the same level. This fact is corroborated by a speech by\n\nYamaraja to his servants in connection with the liberation of Ajamila.\n\nYamaraja advised· his followers that persons who have never uttered the\n\nholy name of the Lord nor remembered the form, quality and pastimes of\n\nthe Lord should be approached by his watchguards. Yamaraja also advised\n\nhis servants never to approach the devotees. On the contrary, he instructed\n\nhis messengers that if they meet a devotee they should offer their respect­\n\nful obeisances. So there is no question of a devotee's being promoted or\ndegraded within this material world. As there is a gulf of difference\nbetween the punishment awarded by the mother and the punishment\nawarded by an enemy, so a devotee's distressed condition is not the same\nas the distressed condition of a common karmi.\n\nHere another question may be raised. If God is all-powerful, why should\n\nHe try to reform His devotee by putting him into distress? The answer is\nthat when the Supreme Personality of Godhead puts His devotee into a\ncondition of distress, it is not without purpose. Sometimes the purpose is\nthat in distress a devotee's feelings of attachment to Kr�tla are magnified.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0348": "Deliverance of Lord Siva\n\n311\n\nFor example, when Kr�!la, before leaving the capital of the Pa!l9avas for\n\nHis home, was asking for permission to leave, Kuntidevi said, \"My dear\nKr�!la, in our distressed condition You are always present with us. Now,\n\nbecause we have been elevated to a royal position, You are leaving us. I\n\nwould therefore prefer to live in distress than to lose You.\" When a devotee\nis put into a situation of distress, his devotional activities are accelerated.\n\nTherefore, to show special favor to a devotee, the Lord sometimes puts\n\nhim into distress. Besides that, it is stated that the sweetness of happiness\n\nis sweeter to those who have tasted bitterness. The Supreme Lord descends\n\nto this material world just to protect His devotees from distress. In other\n\nwords, if devotees were not in a distressed condition, the Lord would not\n\nhave come down. As for His killing the demons or the miscreants, this can\nbe easily done by His various energies, just as many asuras are killed by His\n\nexternal energy, goddess Durga. Therefore the Lord does not need to come\ndown personally to kill such demons, but when His devotee is in distress\nHe must come. Lord Nrsimhadeva appeared not to kill Hira!lyakasipu but\n\nto see Prahlada and to give him blessings. In other words, because Prahlada\n\nMaharaja was put into very great distress, the Lord appeared.\n\nWhen, after the dense, dark night, there is finally sunrise in the morning,\n\nit is very pleasant. When there is scorching heat, cold water is very pleasant.\nAnd when there is freezing winter, hot water is very pleasant. Similarly,\nwhen a devotee, after experiencing the condition of the material world,\n\nrelishes the spiritual happiness awarded by the Lord, his position becomes\nstill more pleasant and enjoyable.\n\nThe Lord continued: \"When My devotee is bereft of all material riches\n\nand is deserted by his relatives, friends and family members, because he has\n\nno one to look after him, he completely takes shelter of the lotus feet of\n\nthe Lord.\" Srila Narottamadasa Thakur has sung in this connection, \"My\ndear Lord Krwa, 0 son of Nanda Maharaja, You are now standing before\n\nme along with Srimati Radhara!li, the daughter of King Vr�abhanu. I am\n\nnow surrendering unto You. Please accept me. Please do not kick me away.\n\nI have no shelter other than You.\"\n\nWhen a devotee is thus put into so-called miserable conditions and is\n\nbereft of riches and family, he tries to revive his original position of\n\nmaterial opulence. But although he tries again and again, Krwa again and\n\nagain takes away all his resources. Thus he finally becomes disappointed in\n\nmaterial activities, and in that stage of frustration in all endeavors, he can\n\nfully surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such persons\n\nare advised by the Lord from within to associate with devotees. By\nassociating with devotees they naturally become inclined to render service\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0349": "312\n\nKr�!J.a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nto the Personality of Godhead, and they immediately get all facilities from\n\nthe Lord to advance in Kr�!la consciousness. The non-devotees, however,\n\nare very careful about preserving their material condition of life. Generally,\n\ntherefore, such nondevotees do not come to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but worship Lord Siva or other demigods for immediate material profit. In the Bhagavad-gitii it is said, therefore, kiirzk§anta[l,\n\nkarmarziirh siddhirh yajanta iha devatii[l,: the karmis, in order to achieve\nsuccess within this material world, worship the various demigods. It is also\nstated by Lord Kr�!la that those who worship the demigods are not mature\nin their intelligence. The devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\ntherefore, because of their strong attachment for Him, do not foolishly go\n\nto the demigods.\n\nLord Kr�!la said to King Yudhi�thira: \"My devotee is not deterred by\n\nany adverse conditions of life; he always remains firm and steady. There­\n\nfore I give Myself to him, and I favor him so he can achieve the highest\nsuccess in life.\" The mercy bestowed upon the tried devotee by the\nSupreme Personality is described as Brahman, which indicates that the\ngreatness of that mercy can be compared only to the all-pervasive great­\n\nness. Brahman means unlimitedly great and unlimitedly expanding. That\nmercy is also described as parama, for it has no comparison within this\n\nmaterial world, and it is also called siik§mam, very fine. The Lord's mercy\nupon the tried devotee is not only great and unlimitedly expansive, but it\n\nis of the finest quality of transcendental love between the devotee and the\nLord. Such mercy is further described as cinmiitram, completely spiritual.\n\nThe use of the word miitram indicates absolute spirituality, with no tinge\nof material qualities. That mercy is also called sat, eternal, and anantakam,\n\nunlimited. Since the devotee of the Lord is awarded such unlimited\n\nspiritual benefit, why should he worship the demigods? A devotee of Krwa\n\ndoes not worship Lord Siva or Brahma or any other subordinate demigod.\nHe completely devotes himself to the transcendental loving service of the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead.\n\nSukadeva Gosvami continued: \"The demigods, headed by Lord Brahma\n\nand Lord Siva and including Lord lndra, Candra, Varu!la and others, are\n\napt to become very quickly satisfied and very quickly angered by the good\nand ill behavior of their devotees. But this is not so with the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, Vi�!J.u,\" This means that any living entity within\n\nthis material world, including the demigods, is conducted by the three\nmodes of material nature, and therefore the qualities of ignorance and\npassion are very prominent within the material world. Those devotees who\n\ntake blessings from the demigods are also infected with the material quali-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0350": "Deliverance of Lord Siva\n\n313\n\nties, especially passion and ignorance. Lord Sri Kr�!la has therefore stated\n\nin the Bhagavad-gitii that to take blessings from the demigods is less intelli­\n\ngent because when one takes benedictions from the demigods, the results\nof such benedictions are temporary. It is easy to get material opulence by\n\nworshiping the demigods, but the result is sometimes disastrous. As such,\nthe benedictions derived from demigods are appreciated by the less intelli­\n\ngent class of men. Persons who derive benedictions from the demigods\ngradually become puffed up with material opulence and neglectful of\n\ntheir benefactors.\n\nSukadeva Gosvami addressed King Parik�it thus: \"My dear King, Lord\n\nBrahma, Lord Vi�!lu, and Lord Siva, the principal trio of the material\n\ncreation, are able to bless or to curse anyone. Of this trio, Lord Brahma\nand Lord Siva become very easily satisfied, and at the same time they\nbecome very easily angered. When they are satisfied they give benedictions\n\nwithout any consideration, and when they are angry, they curse the\ndevotee without any consideration. But Lord Vi�!lu is not like that. Lord\n\nVi�!lu is very considerate. Whenever a devotee wants something from Lord\nVi�!lu, Lord Viwu first of all considers whether such a benediction Will ul­\n\ntimately be good for the devotee. Lord Vi�!lu never bestows any benedic­\n\ntion which will ultimately prove disastrous to the devotee, He is, by His tran­\n\nscendental nature, always merciful; therefore, before giving any benedic­\n\ntion, He considers whether it will prove beneficial for the devotee. Since the\n\nSupreme Personality of Godhead is always merciful, even when it appears\n\nthat He has killed a demon, or even when He apparently becomes angry\n\ntoward a devotee, His actions are always auspicious. The Supreme Person­\n\nality of GodhParl is therefore known as aU-good. Whatever He does is good.\nAs for the benedictions given by demigods like Lord Siva, there is the\n\nfollowing historical incident cited by great sages. Once, Lord Siva, after\n\ngiving benediction to a demon named Vrkasura, the son of Sakuni, was\n\nhimself entrapped in a very dangerous position. Vrkasura was searching\nafter a benediction and was trying to decide which of the three presiding\n\ndeities to worship in order to get it. In the meantime he happened to meet\n\nthe great sage Narada and consulted with him as to whom he should\n\napproach to achieve quick results from his austerity. He inquired, \"Of the\n\nthree deities, namely Lord Brahma, Lord Vi�!lu and Lord Siva, who is\n\nmost quickly satisfied?\" Narada could understand the plan of the demon,\n\nand he advised him, \"You had better worship Lord Siva; then you will\n\nquickly get the desired result. Lord Siva is very quickly satisfied and very\nquickly dissatisfied also. So you try to satisfy Lord Siva.\" Narada also\n\ncited instances wherein demons like Rava!la and Ba!lasura were enriched\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0351": "314\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nwith great opulences simply by satisfying Lord Siva with prayers. Because\nthe great sage Narada was aware of the nature of the demon V�kasura, he\n\ndid not advise him to approach Vi�p.u or Lord Brahma. Persons such as\nV�kasura who are situated in the material mode of ignorance, cannot\n\nstick to the worship of Vi�p.u.\n\nAfter receiving instruction from Narada, the demon V�kasura went to\n\nKedaranatha. The pilgrimage site of Kedaranatha still exists near Kashmere.\n\nIt is almost always covered by snow, but for part of the year, during the\n\nmonth of July, it is possible to see the deity, and devotees go there to offer\ntheir respects. Kedaranatha is for the devotees of Lord Siva. According to\n\nthe Vedic principle, when something is offered to the deities to eat, it is\n\noffered in a fire. Therefore a fire sacrifice is necessary in all sorts of\n\nceremonies. It is specifically stated in the siistras that gods are to be\n\noffered something to eat through the fire. The demon V�kasura therefore\nwent to Kedaranatha and ignited a sacrificial fire to please Lord Siva.\n\nAfter igniting the fire in the name of Siva, he began to offer his own\n\nflesh, by cutting it from his body so as to please Lord Siva. Here is an\n\ninstance of worship in the mode of ignorance. In the Bhagavad-gitii,\n\ndifferent types of sacrifice are mentioned. Some sacrifices are in the mode\nof goodness, some are in the mode of passion, and some are in the mode\n\nof ignorance. There are different kinds of tapasya and worship because\nthere are different kinds of people within this world. But the ultimate\n\ntapasya, Kr�p.a consciousness, is the topmost yoga and the topmost sacri­\n\nfice. As confirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii, the topmost yoga is to think\n\nalways of Lord Kr�p.a within the heart, and the topmost sacrifice is to\nperform the sankirtana-yajiia.\n\nIn the Bhagavad-gitii it is stated that the worshipers of the demigods\n\nhave lost their intelligence. As will be revealed later in this chapter,\n\nVrkasura wanted to satisfy Lord Siva for a third-class materialistic objective,\n\nwhich was temporary and without real benefit. The asuras or persons\n\nwithin the mode of ignorance will accept such benedictions from the\n\ndemigods. In complete contrast to this sacrifice in the modes of ignorance,\n\nthe arcanii-viddhi process for worshiping Lord Vi�p.u or Kr�p.a is very\n\nsimple. Lord Kf�p.a says in the Bhagavad-gitii that He accepts from His\n\ndevotee even a little fruit, a flower or some water, which can be gathered\n\nby any person, poor or rich. Of course, those who are rich are not\n\nexpected to offer only a little water, a little piece of fruit or a little leaf to\nthe Lord. A rich man should offer according to his position, but if the\n\ndevotee happens to be a very poor man the Lord will accept even the\nmost meager offering. The worship of Lord Vi�p.u or Kr�p.a is very simple,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0352": "Deliverance of Lord Siva\n\n315\n\nand it can be executed by anyone in this world. But worship in the mode\n\nof ignorance, as exhibited by Vrkasura, is not only very difficult and\npainful, but it is also a useless waste of time. Therefore Bhagavad-gitii says\n\nthat the worshipers of the demigods are bereft of intelligence; their pro­\n\ncess of worship is very difficult, and at the same time the result obtained\nis flickering and temporary.\n\nAlthough Vrkasura continued his sacrifice for six days, he was never­\n\ntheless unable to personally see Lord Siva, which was his obj ective; he\n\nwanted to see him face to face and ask him for a benediction. Here is\n\nanother contrast between a demon and a devotee. A devotee is confident\n\nthat whatever he offers to the Deity in full devotional service is accepted\n\nby the Lord, but a demon wants to see his worshipable deity face to face\n\nso that he can directly take the benediction. A devotee, however, does not\n\nworship Vi��u or Lord Kr��a for any benediction. Therefore a devotee is\n\ncalled akiima, free of desire, and a nondevotee is called sarva-kiima, or\n\ndesirous of everything. On the seventh day, the demon Vrkasura decided\nthat he should cut off his head and offer it to satisfy Lord Siva. Thus he\n\ntook bath in the nearby lake, and without drying his body and hair, he\n\nprepared to cut off his head. According to the Vedic system, an animal\nwhich is to be offered as a sacrifice has to be bathed first, and while the\nanimal is wet he is sacrificed. When the demon was thus preparing to cut\noff his head, Lord Siva became very compassionate. This compassion,\n\nhowever, is a symp.tom of the quality of goodness. Lord Siva is called\n\ntrilinga. Therefore his manifestation of the nature of compassion is a sign\n\nof the quality of goodness. This compassion, however, is present in every\n\nliving entity. The compassion of Lord Siva was aroused because the demon\n\nwas offering his flesh to the sacrificial fire. This is natural compassion.\n\nEven if a common man sees someone preparing to commit suicide, it is his\n\nduty to try to save him. He does so automatically. There is no need to\n\nappeal to him. Therefore when Lord Siva appeared from the fire to check\nthe demon from suicide, it was not as a very great favor to him.\n\nThe demon was saved from committing suicide by the touch of Lord\n\nSiva; his bodily inj uries immediately healed, and his body became as it was\n\nbefore. Then Lord Siva told the demon, \"My dear Vrkasura, you do not\n\nneed to cut off your head. You can ask from me any benediction you like,\n\nand I shall fulfill your desire. I do not know why you wanted to cut off\n\nyour head to satisfy me. I become satisfied even by an offering of a little\n\nwater.\" Actually, according to the Vedic process, the Siva linga in the\n\ntemple or the form of Lord Siva in the temple is worshiped simply by\noffering Ganges water because it is said that Lord Siva is greatly satisfied\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0353": "316\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nwhen Ganges water is poured upon his head. Generally, devotees offer\n\nGanges water and the leaves of the bilva tree, which are especially meant\n\nfor offering. to Lord Siva and the goddess Durga. The fruit of this tree also\nis offered to Lord Siva. Lord Siva assured vrkasura that . he becomes\n\nsatisfied by a very simple process of worship. Why then was he so anxious\n\nto cut off his head, and why was he taking so much pain by cutting his\n\nbody to pieces and offering it in the fire? There was no need of such severe\n\npenances. Anyway, out of compassion and sympathy, Lord Siva prepared\n\nto give him any benediction he liked.\n\nWhen the demon was offered this facility by Lord Siva, he asked for a\n\nvery fearful and abominable benediction. The demon was very sinful, and\nsinful persons do not know what sort of benediction should be,asked from\n\nthe deity. Therefore he asked Lord Siva to be benedicted with such power\n\nthat as soon as he would touch anyone's head, immediately it would\n\ncrack, and the man would die. The demons are described in the Bhagavad­\n\ngitii as du§krtinas, or miscreants. Krti means very meritorious, but when\ndu§, is added, it means abominable. Instead of surrendering unto the\n\nSupreme Personality of Godhead, the du§krtinas worship different demi­\n\ngods in order to derive abominable material benefits. Sometimes such\n\ndemons as material scientists discover lethal weapons. They cannot show\n\ntheir meritorious power by discovering something which can save man\n\nfrom death, but instead they discover weapons which accelerate the pro­\n\ncess of death. Because Lord Siva is powerful enough to give any benedic­\n\ntion, the demon could have asked of him something beneficial for human\n\nsociety, but for his personal interest he asked that anyone Whose head\n\nwould be touched by his hand would at once die.\n\nLord Siva could understand the motive of the demon, and he was very\n\nsorry that he had assured him whatever benediction he liked. He would\n\nnot withdraw his promise, but he was very sorry in his heart that he was\n\nto offer him a benediction so dangerous to human society. The demons\n\nare described as du§krtinas, miscreants, because although they have brain\n\npower and merit, the merit and brain power are used for abominable\nactivities. Sometimes, for example, the materialistic demons discover a\nlethal weapon. The scientific research for such a discovery certainly re­\n\nquires a very good brain, but instead of discovering something beneficial\n\nto human society, they discover something to accelerate the death which\n\nis already assured to every man. Similarly, Vrkasura, instead of asking\n\nLord Siva for something beneficial to human society, asked for some­\n\nthing very dangerous to human society. Therefore Lord Siva felt sorry\nwithin himself. Devotees of the Personality of Godhead, however, never\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0354": "Deliverance of Lord Siva\n\n317\n\nask any benediction from Lord Vi�pu or Kr�pa, and even if they ask some­\n\nthing from the Lord, it is not at all dangerous for human society. That is\n\nthe difference between the demons and the devotees, or the worshipers of\nLord Siva and the worshipers of Lord Vi�pu.\n\nWhile Sukadeva Gosvami was narrating the history of v rkasura, he\n\naddressed Maharaja Parlk�it as Bhiirata, referring to King Parlk�it's birth\n\nin a family of devotees. Maharaja Parlk�it was saved by Lord Kr�pa while\n\nhe was in his mother's womb. Similarly, he could have asked Lord Kr�pa\n\nto save him from the curse of the briihmarw, but he did not do so. The\n\ndemon, however, wanted to become immortal by killing everyone with\n\nthe touch of his hand. Lord Siva could understand this, but because he\n\nhad promised, he gave him the benediction.\n\nThe demon, however, being very sinful, immediately decided that he\n\nwould use the benediction to kill Lord Siva and take away Gauri (Parvati)\nfor his personal enjoyment. He immediately decided to place his hand\n\non the head of Lord Siva. Thus Lord Siva was put into an awkward\nposition because he was endangered by his own benediction to a demon.\n\nThis is also another instance of a materialistic devotee's misusing the power\n\nderived from the demigods.\n\nWithout further deliberation, the demon Vrkasura immediately ap­\n\nproached Lord Siva to place his hand on Lord Siva's head. Lord Siva was\n\nso afraid of him that his body trembled, and he began to flee from the\n\nland to the sky and from the sky to other planets until he reached the\n\nlimits of the universe, above the higher planetary systems. Lord Siva fled\n\nfrom one place to another, but the demon Vrkasura continued to chase\n\nhim. The predominating deities of other planets, such as Brahma, Indra\nand Candra, could not find any way to save Lord Siva from the impending\ndanger. Wherever Lord Siva went, they remained silent.\n\nAt last Lord Siva approached Lord Vi�pu, who is situated within this\n\nuniverse in the planet known as Svetadvipa.\n\nSvetadvipa is the local\n\nV aikuptha planet beyond the jurisdiction of the influence of external\n\nenergy. Lord Vi�pu in His all-pervasive feature remains everywhere, but\nwherever\n\nHe remains personally is the Vaikuptha atmosphere. In the\n\nBhagavad-gitii it is stated that the Lord remains within the heart of all\n\nliving entities. As such, the Lord remains within the heart of many low­\n\nborn living entities, but that does not mean that He is low-born. Wherever\n\nHe remains is transformed into V aikuptha. So the planet within this\n\nuniverse known as Svetadvipa is also Vaikupthaloka. It is said in the\n\nsiistras that residential quarters within the forest are in the mode of\n\ngoodness, residential quarters in big cities, towns and villages are in the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0355": "318\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nmode of passion, and residential quarters in an atmosphere wherein\n\nindulgence in the four sinful activities of illicit sex, intoxication, meat­\n\neating and gambling predominate are in the mode of ignorance. But\nresidential quarters in a temple of Vi�:pu, the Supreme Lord, are in\nVaiku:ptha. It doesn't matter where the temple is situated, but the temple\n\nitself, wherever it may be, is V aiku:ptha. Similarly, the Svetadvipa planet,\nalthough within the material jurisdiction, is V aiku:ptha.\n\nLord Siva finally entered Svetadvipa V aiku:ptha. In Svetadvipa there\n\nare great saintly persons who are completely freed from the envious\n\nnature of the material world and are beyond the jurisdiction of the four\nprinciples of material activities, namely, religiousness, economic develop­\n\nment, sense gratification and liberation. Anyone who enters into that\nVaiku:ptha planet never comes back again to this material world. Lord\n\nNaraya:pa is celebrated as a lover of His devotees, and as soon as He\n\nunderstood that Lord Siva was in great danger, He appeared as a brahma­\n\nciiri and personally approached Lord Siva to receive him from a distant\nplace. The Lord appeared as a perfect brahmaciiri, with a belt around His\n\nwaist, sacred thread, deerskin, a brahmaciiri stick and raudra beads. (Raudra\n\nbeads are different from tulasi beads. Raudra beads are used by the devo­\n\ntees of Lord Siva.) Dressed as a brahmaciiri, Lord Naraya:pa stood before\n\nLord Siva. The shining effulgence emanating from His body attracted not\n\nonly Lord Siva but also the demon Vrkasura.\n\nLord Naraya:pa offered his respects and obeisances unto Vrkasura, just\n\nto attract his sympathy and attention. Thus checking the demon, the Lord\naddressed him as follows: \"My dear son of Sakuni, you appear to be very\n\ntired, as if coming from a very distant place. What is your purpose? Why\n\nhave you come so far? I see that you are very tired and fatigued, so I\n\nrequest you to take a little rest. You should not unnecessarily tire your\nbody. Everyone greatly values his body because with this body only can\none fulfill all the desires of one's mind. We should not, therefore, un­\n\nnecessarily give trouble to this body.\"\n\nThe brahmaciiri addressed Vrkasura as the son of Sakuni just to convince\n\nhim that He was known to his father' Sakuni. v rkasura then took the\n\nbrahmaciiri to be someone known to his family, and therefore the brahma­\n\nciiri's sympathetic words appealed to him. Before the demon could argue\n\nthat he had no time to take rest, the Lord began to inform him about the\nimportance of the body, and the demon was convinced. Any man,\n\nespecially a demon, takes his body to be very important. Thus Vrkasura\nbecame convinced about the importance of his body.\n\nThen, just to pacify the demon, the brahmaciiri told him, \"My dear lord,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0356": "Deliverance of Lord Siva\n\n319\n\nif you think that you can disclose the mission for which you have taken\n\nthe trouble to come here, maybe I shall be able to help you so that your\npurpose will be easily served.\" Indirectly, the Lord informed him that\n\nbecause the Lord is the Supreme Brahman, certainly He would be able to\nadjust the awkward situation created by Lord Siva.\n\nThe demon was greatly pacified by the sweet words of Lord Narayapa\n\nin the form of a brahmaciiri, and at last he disclosed all that had happened\n\nin regard to the benediction offered by Lord Siva. The Lord replied to the\ndemon as follows: \"I myself cannot believe that Lord Siva has in truth\ngiven you such a benediction. As far as I know, Lord Siva is not in a sane\nmental condition. He had a quarrel With his father-in-law Dak�a, and he\nhas been cursed to become a pisiica (ghost). Thus he has become the\n\nleader of the ghosts and hobgoblins. Therefore I cannot put any faith in\n\nhis words. But if you have faith still in the words of Lord Siva, my dear\nking of the demons, then why don't you make an experiment by putting\n\nyour hand on your head? If the benediction proves false, then you can\n\nimmediately kill this liar, Lord Siva, so that in the future he will not dare\nto give out false benedictions.\"\n\nIn this way, by Lord Narayapa's sweet words and by the expansion of\n\nHis superior illusion, the demon became bewildered, and he actually forgot\n\nthe power of Lord Siva and his benediction. He was thus very easily persuaded to put his hand on his own head. As soon as the demon did that,\n\nhis head cracked, as if struck by thunder, and he immediately died. The\n\ndemigods from heaven began to shower flowers on Lord Narayapa, praising\n\nHim with all glories and all thanksgiving, and they offered their obeisances\n\nto the Lord. On the death of Vrkasura, all the denizens in the higher\nplanetary systems, namely, the demigods, the pitiis, the Gandharvas and\n\nthe inhabitants of J analoka, began to shower flowers on the Personality of\nGodhead.\n\nThus Lord Vi§pu in the form of a brahmaciiri released Lord Siva from\n\nthe impending danger and saved the whole situation. Lord Narayapa then\ninformed Lord Siva that this demon, V rkasura, was killed as the result of\n\nhis sinful activities. He was especially sinful and offensive because he\n\nwanted to experiment on his own master, Lord Siva. Lord Narayapa then\n\ntold Lord Siva, \"My dear lord, a person who commits an offense to great\nsouls cannot continue to exist. He becomes vanquished by his own sinful\n\nactivities, and this is certainly true of this demon, who has committed such\nan offensive act against you.\"\n\nThus, by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Narayapa,\n\nwho is transcendental to all material qualities, Lord Siva was saved from\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0357": "320\n\nKr�!13' the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nbeing killed by a demon. Anyone who hears this history with faith and\ndevotion certainly becomes liberated from material entanglement as well\nas from the clutches of his enemies.\n\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Thirty­\n\nthird Chapter, of Kr�pa, \"Deliverance of Lord Siva.\"\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0358": "34 I The Superexcellent Power of Kr��a\n\nLong, long ago, there was an assembly of great sages on the bank of the\n\nRiver\n\nSarasvati,\n\nand they\n\nperformed a\n\ngreat sacrifice of the name\n\nSatrayajiia. In such assemblies, the great sages present usually discuss Vedic\nsubject matters and philosophical topics, and in this particular meeting the\n\nfollowing question was raised: The three predominating deities of this\nmaterial world, namely, Lord Brahma, Lord Vi��u and Lord Siva, are\n\ndirecting all the affairs of the this cosmos, but who among them is the\n\nSupreme? After much discussion on this question, the great sage named\n\nBhfgu, who is the son of Lord Brahma, was deputed to test all three\n\npredominating deities and report to the assembly as to who is the greatest.\n\nBeing thus deputed, the great sage Bhrgumuni first of all went to his\n\nfather's residence in Brahmaloka. The three deities are the controllers of\n\nthe three material qualities, namely the qualities of goodness, passion and\n\nignorance. The plan decided upon by the sages was for Bhrgu to test which\nof the predominating deities possesses the quality of goodness in full.\n\nTherefore, when Bhfgumuni reached his father, Lord Brahma, because he\n\nwanted to test whether he had the quality of goodness, he purposely did\n\nnot offer his respects to his father either by offering obeisances or by\n\noffering prayers. It is the duty of a son or a disciple to offer respects and\nrecite suitable prayers when he approaches his father or spiritual master.\n\nBut Bhfgumuni purposefully failed to offer respects, just to see Lord\n\nBrahma's reaction to this negligence. Lord Brahma was very angry at his\n\nson's impudency, and he showed signs which definitely proved this to be\n\nso. He was even prepared to condemn Bhrgu by cursing him, but because\nBhfgu was his son, Lord Brahma controlled his anger with his great intelli­\n\ngence. This means that although the quality of passion was prominent in\nLord Brahma, he had the power to control it. Lord Brahma's anger and his\n\ncontrolling his anger are likened to fire and water. Water is produced from\n321\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0359": "322\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nfire, but at the same time, fire can be extinguished with water. Similarly,\n\nalthough Lord Brahma was very angry due to his quality of passion, he\n\ncould still control his passion because Bhrgumuni was his son.\n\nAfter testing Lord Brahma, Bhfgumuni went directly to the planet\n\nKailasa, where Lord Siva resides. Bhrgumuni happened to be Lord Siva's\n\nbrother. Therefore, as soon as Bhrgumuni approached, Lord Siva became\n\nvery glad and personally rose to embrace him. But when Lord Siva\napproached, Bhfgumuni refused to embrace him. \"My dear brother,\" he\n\nsaid, \"you are always very impure. Because you smear your body with\n\nashes, you are therefore not very clean. Please do not touch me.\" When\nBhrgumuni refused to embrace his brother, saying that Lord Siva was very\n\nimpure, the latter became very angry with him. It is said that an offense\ncan be committed either with the body, with the mind or by speech.\n\nBhfgumuni's first offense, committed towards Lord Brahma, was an\n\noffense with the mind. His second offense, committed towards Lord\nSiva by insulting him, criticizing him for unclean habits, was an offense\n\nby speech. Because the quality of ignorance is prominent in Lord Siva,\n\nwhen he heard Bhfgu's insult, his eyes immediately became red with\n\nanger. With uncontrollable rage, he took up his trident and prepared to\n\nkill Bhfgumuni. At that time, Lord Siva's wife, Parvati, was present.\nHer personality is a mixture of the three qualities, and therefore she is\n\ncalled Trigu�amayi. In this case, she saved the situation by evoking Lord\n\nSiva's quality of goodness. She fell down at the feet of her husband, and\n\nwith her sweet words she talked him out of killing Bhrgumuni.\n\nAfter being saved from the anger of Lord Siva, Bhfgumuni went\n\ndirectly to the planet Svetadvipa, where Lord Vi��u was lying on a bed of\n\nflowers, accompanied by His wife, the goddess of fortune, who was\n\nengaged in massaging His lotus feet. There Bhfgumuni purposely committed\n\nthe greatest sin by offending Lord Vi��u by his bodily activities. The first\noffense committed by Bhfgumuni was mental, the second offense was\nvocal, and the third offense was corporal. These different offenses are\n\nprogressively greater in degree. An offense committed within the mind is\na positive offense, the same offense, committed verbally is comparitively\nmore grave, and when committed by bodily action it is superlative in\n\noffensiveness. So Bhfgumuni committed the greatest offense by touching\n\nthe chest of the Lord with his foot in the presence of the goddess of\nfortune. Of course, Lord Vi��u is all-merciful. He did not become angry\n\nat the activities of Bhfgumuni because Bhrgumuni was a great briihmap.a.\n\nA briihmap.a is to be excused even if he sometimes commits an offense,\nand Lord Vi�v.u set the example. Yet it is said that from the time of this\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0360": "The Superexcellent Power of KH!ia\n\n323\n\nincident, the goddess of fortune, Lak�mi, has not been very favorably\ndisposed towards the briihmarws, and therefore because the goddess of\nfortune witholds her benedictions from them, the briihmartas are generally\nvery poor. Bhfgumuni's touching the chest of Lord Vi�pu with his foot\nwas certainly a great offense, but Lord Vi�pu is so great that He did not\ncare. The so-called briihmartas of the Kali-yuga are sometimes very proud\nthat they can touch the chest of Lord V�pu with their feet. But when\nBhfgumuni touched the chest of Lord V�pu with his feet, it was different\nbecause although it was the greatest offense, Lord Vi�pu, being greatly\nmagnanimous, did not take it very seriously.\nInstead of being angry or cursing Bhrgumuni, Lord Vi�pu immediately\ngot up from His bed along with His wife, the goddess of fortune, and\noffered respectful obeisances to the briihmarta. He addressed Bhrgumuni\nas follows: \"My dear briihmafLa, it is a great blessing for Me that you have\ncome here. Please, therefore, sit down on this cushion for a few minutes.\nMy dear briihmarta, I am very sorry that when you first entered I could\nnot receive you properly. It was a great offense on My part, and I beg you\nto pardon Me. You are so pure and great that the water which washes your\nfeet can purify even the places of pilgrimage. Therefore, I request you to\npurify the Vaikuptha planet where I live with My associates. My dear\nfather, 0 great sage, I know that your feet are very soft, like a lotus flower,\nand that My chest is as hard as a thunderbolt. I am therefore afraid that\nyou may have felt some pain by touching My chest with your feet. Let Me\ntherefore touch your feet to relieve the pain you have suffered.\" Lord\nVi�pu then began to massage the feet of Bhfgumuni.\nThe Lord continued to address Bhrgumuni. \"My dear lord,\" He said,\n\"My chest has now become sanctified because of the touch of your feet,\nand I am now assured that the goddess of fortune, Lak�mi, will be very\nglad to live there perpetually.\" Another name for Lak�mi is Caficala. She\ndoes not stay in one place for a long time. Therefore, we see that a rich\nman's family sometimes becomes poor after a few generations, and sometimes we see that a poor man's family becomes very rich. Lak�mi, the\ngoddess of fortune, is Caficala in this material world, whereas in the\nVaikuptha planets she eternally lives at the lotus feet of the Lord. Because\nLak�mi is famous as Caficala, Lord Narayapa indicated that she might not\nhave been living perpetually by His chest, but because His chest had been\ntouched by the feet of Bhrgumuni, it was now sanctified, and there was no\nchance that the goddess of fortune would leave. Bhrgumuni, however,\ncould understand his position and that of the Lord, and he was struck with\nwonder at the behavior of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0361": "324\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nof his gratitude, his voice choked up, and he was not able to reply to the\n\nwords of the Lord. Tears glided from his eyes, and he could not say anything. He simply stood silently before the Lord.\n\nAfter testing Lord Brahma, Lord Siva and Lord Vi�tJ.u, Bhrgumuni re­\n\nturned to the assembly of great sages on the bank of the River Sarasvati\nand described his experience. After hearing him with great attention, the\n\nsages concluded that of all the predominating deities, certainly Vi�tJ.U is\n\nsituated in the mode of goodness in the highest degree. In the Srimad­\n\nBhagavatam, these great sages are described as brahma-vadinam. Brahma­\n\nvadinam means those who talk about the Absolute Truth but have not\nyet come to a conclusion. Generally brahma-vadi refers to the imper­\n\nsonalists or to those who are students of the Vedas. It is to be understood,\n\ntherefore, that all the gathered sages were serious students of Vedic litera­\n\nture, but had not come to definite conclusions as to who is the Supreme\n\nAbsolute Personality of Godhead.\n\nAfter hearing of Bhfgumuni's experience in meeting all three predomi­\n\nnating deities, Lord Siva, Lord Brahma, and Lord Vi�tJ.U, the sages con­\n\ncluded that Lord Vi�tm is the Supreme Truth, the Personality of Godhead.\n\nIt is said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam that after hearing the details from\n\nBhfgumuni, the sages were astonished because although Lord Brahma and\n\nLord Siva were immediately agitated, Lord Vi�tJ.U, in spite of being kicked\n\nby Bhfgumuni, was not agitated in the least. The example is given that\n\nsmall lamps may become agitated by a little breeze, but the greatest lamp\nor the greatest illuminating source, the sun, is never moved, even by the\ngreatest hurricane. One's greatness has to be estimated by one's ability to\n\ntolerate provoking situations. The sages gathered on the bank of the River\nSarasvati concluded that if anyone wants actual peace and freedom from\n\nall fearfulness, he should take shelter of the lotus feet of Visnu. If Lord\nBrahma and Lord Siva lost their peaceful attitude upon a slight provoca­\n\ntion, how could they maintain the peace and tranquility of their devotees?\n\nAs for Lord Vi�tJ.U, however; it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita that anyone\n\nwho accepts Lord Vi�tJ.U or Kr�!la as the supreme friend attains the highest\nperfection of peaceful life.\n\nThe sages thus concluded that by following the principles of vai§r-ava­\n\ndharma, one becomes actually perfect. But if one follows all the religious\nprinciples of a particular sect and does not become advanced in under­\n\nstanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vi�tJ.U, all such labor of\nlove is fruitless. To execute religious principles means to come to the\n\nplatform of perfect knowledge. If one comes to the platform of perfect\n\nknowledge, then he will be disinterested in material affairs. Perfect know-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0362": "The Superexcellent Power of KH!J.a\n\n325\n\nledge means to know one's own self and to know the Supreme Self. The\nSupreme Self and the individual self, although one in quality, are different\n\nin quantity. This analytical understanding of knowledge is perfect. Simply\nto understand, \"I am not matter; I am spirit,\" is not perfect knowledge. The\n\nreal religious principle is devotional service, or bhakti. This is confirmed in\n\nthe Bhagavad-gitii. Lord Kr�!la says, \"Give up all other religious principles\nand simply surrender unto Me.\" Therefore, the term dharma applies only\n\nto the vai§\"[tava-dharma or bhagavad-dharma, following which all other good\nqualities and advancements in life are automatically achieved.\nThe highest perfectional knowledge is to know the Supreme Lord. He\n\ncannot be understood by any process of religion other than devotional\n\nservice; therefore, the immediate result of perfect knowledge is achieved\n\nby executing devotional service. After attainment of knowledge, one\nbecomes disinterested in the material world. This is not because of dry\nphilosophical speculation. The devotees become disinterested in the mate­\n\nrial world, not simply because of theoretical understanding, but practical\n\nexperience. When a devotee realizes the effect of association with the\nSupreme Lord, he naturally hates the association of so-called society,\n\nfriendship and love. This detachment is not dry, but is due to achieving a\n\nhigher status of life by relishing transcendental mellows. It is further stated\n\nin the Srimad-Bhiigavatam that after attainment of such knowledge and\n\ndetachment from material sense gratification, one's advancement in the\n\neight opulences attained by mystic yoga practice, namely the ar.imii,\n\nlaghimii and priipti siddhis, etc., are also achieved without separate effort.\nThe perfect example is Maharaja Ambari�a. He was not a mystic yogi but\n\nwas a great devotee, yet in a disagreement with Maharaja Ambari�a, the\ngreat mystic Durvasa was defeated in the presence of his devotional atti­\n\ntude. In other words, a devotee does not need to practice the mystic yoga\n\nsystem to achieve power. The power is behind him by the grace of the\nLord, just as when a small child is surrendered to a powerful father, all the\n\npowers of the father are behind him.\n\nWhen a person becomes famous as a devotee of the Lord, his reputa­\n\ntion is never to be extinguished. Lord Caitanya, when discoursing with\nRamananda Raya, questioned, \"What is the greatest fame?\" Ramananda\nRaya replied that to be known as a pure devotee of Lord Kr�p.a is the\n\nperfect fame. The conclusion, therefore, is that Viwu-dharma, or the\nreligion of devotional service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is\n\nmeant for persons who are thoughtful. By proper utilization of thoughtful­\n\nness, one comes to the stage of thinking of the Supreme Personality of\n\nGodhead. By thinking of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0363": "Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n326\n\nbecomes free from the contamination of the faulty association of the\nmaterial world, and thus one becomes peaceful. The world is in a disturbed\ncondition because of a scarcity of such peaceful devotees in human society.\nUnless one is a devotee, one cannot be equal to all living entities. A\ndevotee is equally disposed towards the animals, the human beings and all\nliving entities because he sees every living entity as a part and parcel of the\n\nSupreme Lord. In the lsopani§ad it is clearly stated that one who has come\n\nto the stage of seeing all living beings equally does not hate anyone or\nfavor anyone. The devotee does not hanker to possess more than he\nrequires.\n\nDevotees are therefore akiiicana; in any condition of life a\n\ndevotee is satisfied. It is said that a devotee is evenminded whether he is in\nhell or in heaven. A devotee is callous to all subjects other than his engagement in devotional service. This mode of life is the highest perfectional\nstage, from which one can be elevated to the spiritual world, back home,\nback to Godhead. The devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead\nare especially attracted by the highest material quality, goodness, and the\nqualified briihmafla is the symbolic representation of this goodness. There­\n\nfore, a devotee is attached to the brahminical stage of life. He is not very\nmuch interested in passion or ignorance, although these qualities also\nemanate from the Supreme Lord, Vi�pu. In the Srimad-Bhiigavatam the\ndevotees are described as nipufla-buddhaya[t, which means that they are\nthe most intelligent class of men. Uninfluenced by attachment or hatred,\nthe devotee lives very peacefully and is not agitated by the influence of\npassion and ignorance.\nIt may be questioned here why a devotee should be attached to the quality of goodness in the material world if he is transcendental to all material\nqualities. The answer is that there are different kinds of people existing in\nthe modes of material nature. Those who are in the mode of ignorance are\ncalled riik§asas, those in the mode of passion are called asuras, and those in\nthe mode of goodness are called suras, or demigods. Under the direction of\nthe Supreme Lord, these three classes of men are created by material\nnature, but those who are in the mode of goodness have a greater chance\nto be elevated to the spiritual world, back home, back to Godhead.\nThus all the sages who assembled on the bank of the River Sarasvati to\ntry to determine who is the supreme predominating Deity became freed\nfrom all doubts about Vi�pu worship. All of them thereafter engaged in\ndevotional service, and thus they achieved the desired result and went back\nto Godhead.\nThose who are actually anxious to become liberated from material\nentanglement would do better to accept at once the conclusion given by\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0364": "The Superexcellent Power of Kr��a\n\n327\n\nSri Sukadeva Gosvami in the beginning of the Srimad-Bhiigavatam. It is\n\nsaid there that hearing the Srimad-Bhiigavatam is extremely conducive to\n\nliberation because it is spoken by Sukadeva Gosvami. The same fact is\nagain confirmed by Siita Gosvami: if anyone who is ,travelling aimlessly\n\nwithin this material world cares to hear the nectarean words spoken by\n\nSukadeva Gosvami, certainly he will come to the right conclusion; simply\n\nby discharging devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nhe will be able to stop the fatigue of migrating.from one material body to\n\nanother perpetually. In other words, by proper hearing one will become\nfixed in loving devotional service to Viwu. He will certainly be able to get\n\nrelief from this material journey of life, and the process is very simple. One\nhas to give aural reception to the sweet words spoken by Sukadeva Gosvami\n\nin the form of Srimad-Bhiigavatam.\n\nAnother conclusion is that we should never consider the demigods, even\n\nLord Siva and Lord Brahma, to be on an equal level with Lord Vi�p.u. If\n\nwe do this, then according to Padma Puriip,a, we immediately become\n\natheists. In the Vedic literature known as Harivarhsa it is also stated that\nonly the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vi��u, is to be worshiped. The\nHare Kr��a mahiimantra, or any such Vi�p.u mantra, is always to be\n\nchanted. In the Second Canto of Srimad-Bhiigavatam, Lord Brahma says,\n\n\"Both Lord Siva and myself are engaged by the Supreme Personality of\n\nGodhead to act in different capacities under His direction.\" In the\n\nCaitanya-caritiimrta it is also stated that the only master is Kr�p.a, and\n\neveryone in all categories of life are servants of Kr�p.a only.\n\nIn the Bhagavad-gitii it is confirmed by the Lord that there is no truth\n\nsuperior to Kf�p.a. Sukadeva Gosvami also, in order to draw attention to\n\nthe fact that among all Vi§!m-tattva forms, Lord Kf�p.a is one hundred\n\npercent the Supreme Personality of Godhead, narrated the story of an\n\nincident which took place when Lord Kr�p.a was present.\n\nOnce upon a time, a briihmap,a's wife gave birth to a child. Unfortunately,\n\nhowever, just after being born and touching the ground, the child imme­\n\ndiately died. The briihmarta father took the dead child and went directly\n\nto Dvaraka to the palace of the king. The briihmap,a was very upset because\n\nof the untimely death of the child in the presence of his young father and\nmother. Thus his mind became very disturbed. Formerly, when there were\n\nresponsible kings, up to the time of Dvapara-yuga, when Lord Krwa was\n\npresent, the king was liable to be blamed for the untimely death of a\n\nchild in the presence of his parents. Similarly, such responsibility was\n\nthere during the time of Lord Ramacandra. As we have explained in the\nFirst Canto of Srimad-Bhiigavatam, the king was so responsible for the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0365": "328\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ncomforts of the citizens that he was to see that there was not even\nexcessive heat or cold. Although there was no fault on the part of the king,\nthe briihmarta whose child had died immediately went to the palace door\nand began to accuse the king as follows.\n\"The present King, Ugrasena, is envious of the briihmartas!\" The exact\nword used in this connection is briihma-dvi§a�. One who is envious of the\n\nVedas or one who is envious of a qualified briihmarta or the briihmarta\ncaste is called brahma-dvit. So the King was accused of being brahma-dvit.\nHe was also accused of being satha-dhi, falsely intelligent. The executive\nhead of a state must be very intelligent to see to the comforts of the citizens, but, according to the briihmarta the king was not at all intelligent,\nalthough he was occupying the royal throne. Therefore he also called him\n\nlubdha, which means greedy. In other words, a king or an executive head of\nstate should not occupy the exalted post of presidency or kingship if he is\ngreedy and self-interested. But it is natural that an executive head becomes\nself-interested when he is attached to material enjoyment. Therefore,\nanother word used here is vi§ayiitmana�.\nThe briihmarta also accused the king of being k§atra-bandhu, which\nrefers to a person born in the family of k§atriyas or the royal order who is\nwithout the qualifications of a royal personality. A king should protect\nbrahminical culture and should be very alert to the welfare of his citizens;\nhe should not be greedy due to attachment to material enjoyment. If a\nperson with no qualifications represents himself as a k§atriya of the royal\norder, he is not called a k§atriya, but a k§atra-bandhu. Similarly, if a person\nis born of a briihmarta father but has no brahminical qualification, he is\ncalled brahma-bandhu, or dvija-bandhu. This means that a briihmarta or a\n\nk§atriya is not accepted simply by birth. One has to qualify himself for\nthe particular position; only then is he accepted as a briihmarta or a k§atriya.\nThus the briihmarta accused the King that his newly born baby was dead\ndue to the disqualifications of the king. The briihmarta took it most\nunnaturally, and therefore he held the king to be responsible. We also find\nin Vedic history that if a k§atriya king were irresponsible, sometimes a\nconsulting board of briihmartas maintained by the monarchy would dethrone him. Considering all these points, it appears that the post of\nmonarch in the Vedic civilization is a very responsible one.\nThe briihmarta therefore said, \"No one should offer respects or worship\nto a king whose only business is envy. Such a king spends his time either\nhunting and killing animals in the forest or killing citizens for criminal acts\nHe has no self-control and possesses bad character. If such a king is worshiped or honored by the citizens, the citizens will never be happy. They\nwill always remain poor, full of anxieties and aggrievement, and always\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0366": "The Superexcellent Power of Kr��a\n\n329\n\nunhappy.\" Although in modern politics the post of monarch is abolished,\nthe president is not held responsible for the comforts of the citizens. In\nthis age of Kali, the executive head of a state somehow or other gets\nvotes and is elected to an exalted post, but the condition of the citizens\ncontinues to be full of anxiety, distress, unhappiness, and dissatisfaction.\nThe briihma!!-a's second child was also born dead, and the third also. He\nhad nine children, and each of them was born dead, and each time he\ncame to the gate of the palace to accuse the King. When the briihmarw came\nto accuse the King of Dvaraka for the ninth time, Arjuna happened to be\npresent with Kr§�a. On hearing that a briihmaf!-a was accusing the King of\nnot properly protecting him, Arjuna became inquisitive and approached\nthe briihmaf!-a. He said, \"My dear briihmaf!-a, why do you say that there\nare no proper k§atriyas to protect the citizens of your country? Is there\nnot even someone who can pretend to be a k§atriya, who can carry a bow\nand arrow at least to make a show of protection? Do you think that all\nthe royal personalities in this country simply engage in performing sacrifices\nwith the briihmaf!-aS but have no chivalrous power?\" Thus Arjuna indicated\nthat\n\nk§atriyas\n\nshould not sit back comfortably and engage only in\n\nperforming Vedic rituals. Rather, they must be very chivalrous in protecting the citizens. Briihmaf!-as, being engaged in spiritual activities, are not\nexpected to do anything which requires physical endeavor. Therefore,\nthey need to be· protected . by the k§atriyas so that they will not be\ndisturbed in the execution of their higher occupational duties.\n\"If the briihmaf!-aS feel unwanted separation from their wives and\nchildren,\" Arjuna continued, \"and the k§atriya kings do not take care of\nthem, then such k§atriyas are to be considered no more than stage\nplayers. In dramatical performances in the theater, an actor may play\nthe part of a king, but no one expects any benefits from such a makebelieve king. Similarly, if the king or the executive head of a state cannot\ngive protection to the head of the social structure, he is considered merely\na bluffer. Such executive heads simply live for their own livelihood while\noccupying exalted posts as chiefs .of state. My lord, I promise that I shall\ngive protection to your children, and if I am unable to do so, then I shall\nenter into blazing fire so that the sinful contamination which has infected\nme will be counteracted.\"\nUpon hearing Arjuna speak in this way, the briihmarw replied, \"My dear\nArjuna, Lord Balarama is present, but He could not give protection to my\nchildren. Lord Kr§!la is also present, but He also could not give them\nprotection. There are also many other heroes, such as Pradyumna and\nAniruddha, carrying bows and arrows, but they could not protect my\nchildren.\" The briihmarz.a directly hinted that Arjuna could not do that\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0367": "Kr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n330\n\nwhich was impossible for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He felt\nthat Arjuna was promising something beyond his power. The briihma!la.\nsaid, \"I consider your promise to be like that of an inexperienced child. I\ncannot put my faith in your promise.\"\n\nArjuna then understood that the briihma!la had lost all faith in the\nk§atriya kings. Therefore, to encourage him, Arjuna spoke as if criticizing\n\neven his friend, Lord Kr�!J.a. While Lord Kr�!la and others were listening, he\nspecifically attacked Kr�!la by saying, \"My dear briihmar-a, I am neither\nSankar�a!la nor\n\nKr�!la nor one\n\nof\n\nKr�!la's sons like Pradyumna or\n\nAniruddha. My name is Arjuna, and I carry the bow known as Gapflva.\n\nYou cannot insult me because I have satisfied even Lord Siva by my\n\nprowess when we were both hunting in the forest. I had a fight with Lord\n\nSiva, who appeared before me as a hunter, and when I satisfied him by my\n\nprowess, he gave me the weapon known as pasupatiistra. Do not doubt my\n\nchivalry. I shall bring back your sons even if I have to fight with death\n\npersonified.\" When the briihmar-a was assured by Arjuna in such exalted\n\nwords, he somehow or other was convinced, and thus he returned home.\n\nWhen the briihma!la's wife was to give birth to another child, the\n\nbriihmar-a began to chant, \"My dear Arjuna, please come now and save my\n\nchild.\"\n\nAfter\n\nhearing\n\nhim, Arjuna immediately prepared himself by\n\ntouching sanctified water and uttering holy mantras to protect his bows\nand arrows from danger. He specifically took the arrow which was presented to him by Lord Siva, and while going out, he began to remember\nLord Siva and his great favor. In this way, he appeared in front of the\nmaternity home, equipped with his bow, known as Ga!J.f!va, and with\nvarious other weapons.\n\nIt appears that Arjuna did not leave Dvaraka because he had to fulfill\n\nhis promise to the briihmar-a. He was called at night when the briihma!la's\nwife was to give birth to the child. While going to the maternity home to\nattend to the delivery case of the briihmar-a's wife, Arjuna remembered\nLord Siva, and not his friend Kr�!la; he thought that since Kr�!la could not\n\ngive protection to the briihmar-a, it was better to take shelter of Lord\nSiva. This is another instance of how a person takes shelter of the demigods.\n\nThis is explained in the Bhagavad-gitii: kiimais tais tair hrta-jniinii�: a\n\nperson who loses his intelligence because of greediness and lust forgets\nthe Supreme Personality of Godhead and takes shelter of the demigods.\nOf course, Arjuna was not an ordinary living entity, but because of his\n\nfriendly dealings with Kr�!J.a, he thought that Kr�!la was unable to give\n\nprotection to the briihmar-a and that he would do better to remember Lord\n\nSiva. Later on it was proved that Arjuna's taking shelter of Lord Siva\n\n(-\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0368": "The Superexcellent Power of Kr�tta\n\n331\n\ninstead of Kr�tta was not at all successful. Arjuna, however, did his best by\n\nchanting different mantras, and he took up his bow to guard the maternity\nhome from all directions.\n\nThe briihmarw's wife delivered a male child, and as usual the child began\n\nto cry. But suddenly, within a few minutes, both the child and Arjuna's\narrows disappeared in the sky. It appeared that the briihmacw's house was\n\nnear Kr�tta 's residence and that Lord Kr�tta was enjoying everything that\nwas taking place apparently in defiance of His authority. It was He who\nplayed the trick of taking away the briihmana's baby as well as the arrows,\n\nincluding the one given by Lord Siva, of which Arjuna was so proud. Tad\n\nbhavati alpamedhasiim: less intelligent men take shelter of the demigods\n\ndue to bewilderment and are satisfied with the benefits they award.\n\nIn the presence of Lord Kr�tta and others, the briihma!la began to accuse\n\nArjuna: \"Everyone see my foolishness! I put my faith in the words of\n\nArjuna, who is impotent and who is expert only in false promises. How\nfoolish I was to believe Arjuna. He promised to protect my child when\n\neven Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Lord Balarama and Lord Kr�tta failed. If\n\nsuch great personalities could not protect my child, then who can do so? I\n\ntherefore condemn Arjuna for his false promise, and I also condemn his\n\ncelebrated bow Gatt9lva and his impudency in declaring himself greater\n\nthan Lord Balarama, Lord Kr�!J.a, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. No one can\n\nsave my child, for he has already been transferred to another planet. Due\n\nto sheer foolishness only, Arjuna thought that he could bring back my\n\nchild from another planet.\"\n\nThus condemned by the briihma'(la, Arjuna empowered himself with a\n\nmystic yoga perfection so that he could travel to any planet to find the\n\nbriihma'{la's baby. It seems that Arjuna had mastered the mystic yogic\n\npower by which yogis can travel to any planet they desire. He first of all\n\nwnet to the planet known as Yamaloka, where the superintendent of\n\ndeath, Yamaraja, lives. There he searched for the briihma'{la's baby, but he\n\nwas unable to find him. He then immediately went to the planet where the\nKing of heaven, lndra, lives. When he was unable to find the baby there,\n\nhe went to the planets of the fire demigods, Nairrti, and then to the moon\nplanet. Then he went to Vayu and to Varupaloka. When he was unable to\n\nfind the baby in those planets, he went down to the Rasatala planet, the\n\nlowest of the planetary systems. After traveling to all these different\nplanets, he finally went to Brahmaloka, where even the mystic yogis\n\ncannot go. By the grace of Lord Kr§pa, Arjuna had that power, and he went\n\nabove the heavenly planets to Brahmaloka. When he was unable to find the\nbaby even after searching all possible planets, he then attempted to throw\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0369": "332\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nhimself into a fire, as he had promised the briihmar-a if unable to bring\n\nback his baby. Lord Kr��a, however, was very kind toward Arj una because\n\nArj una happened to be the most intimate friend of the Lord. Lord Kr�p.a\npersuaded Arj una not to enter the fire in disgrace. Kr��a indicated that\n\nsince Arj una was His friend, if he were to enter the fire in hopelessness,\n\nindirectly it would be a blemish on Him. Lord Kr�p.a therefore checked\n\nArj una, assuring him that He would find the baby. He told Arj una, \"Do\n\nnot foolishly commit suicide.\"\n\nAfter addressing Arj una in this way, Lord Kr�p.a called for His transcen­\n\ndental chariot. He mounted it along with Arjuna and began to proceed\n\nnorth. Lord Krwa, the all-powerful Personality of Godhead, could have\nbrought the child back without effort, but we should always remember\n\nthat He was playing the part of a human being. As a human being has to\n\nendeavor to achieve certain results, so Lord Kr�p.a, like an ordinary human\nbeing, or like His friend Arj una, left Dvaraka to bring back the briihmar-a's\n\nbaby. By appearing in human society and exhibiting His pastimes as a\nhuman being, Kr�p.a definitely showed that there was not a single person­\n\nality greater than He. \"God is great.\" That is the definition of the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead. So at least within this material world, while He\n\nwas present, Kr�p.a proved that there was no greater personality within the\numverse.\n\nSeated on His chariot with Arj una, Kr�p.a began to proceed north,\n\ncrossing over many planetary systems. These are described in the Srimad­\n\nBhiigavatam as sapta-dvipa.\n\nDvipa means island. All these planets are\n\nsometimes described in the Vedic literature as dvipas. The planet on which\n\nwe are living is called Jambiidvipa. Outer space is taken as a great ocean of\n\nair, and within that great ocean of air there are many islands, which are\nthe different planets. In each and every planet there are oceans also. In\n\nsome of the planets, the oceans are of salt water, and in some of them there\n\nare oceans of milk. In others there are oceans of liquor, and in others there\nare oceans of ghee or oil. There are different kinds of mountains also. Each\nand every planet has a different type of atmosphere.\n\nKr�p.a passed over all these planets and reached the covering of the\n\nuniverse. This covering is described in the S rimad-Bhiigavatam as great\n\ndarkness. This material world as a whole is described as dark. In the open\nspace there is sunlight, and therefore it is illuminated, but in the covering,\n\nbecause of the absence of sunlight, it is naturally dark. When Krwa ap­\n\nproached the covering layer of this universe, the four horses which were\n\ndrawing\n\nHis chariot-Saibya,\n\nSugriva,\n\nMeghapu�pa and\n\nBalahaka-all\n\nappeared to hesitate to enter the darkness. This hesitation is also a part of\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0370": "The Superexcellent Power of Kr�l)a\n\n333\n\nthe pastimes of Lord K�l)a because the horses of Kr��a are not ordinary.\n\nIt is not possible for ordinary horses to go all over the universe and then\n\nenter into its outer covering layers. As Kr��a is transcendental, similarly\nHis chariot and His horses and everything about Him are also transcen­\n\ndental, beyond the qualities of this material world. We should always\nremember that Kr��a was playing the part of an ordinary human being,\n\nand His horses also, by the will of Kr��a, played the parts of ordinary\nhorses in hesitating to enter the darkness.\n\nKr��a is known as Y ogesvara, as is stated in the last portion of Bhagavadgitii. Yogesvara Hari: all mystic powers are under His control. In our\n\nexperience, we can see many human beings who have yogic mystic power.\n\nSometimes they perform very wonderful acts, but Kr��a is understood to\n\nbe the master of all mystic power. Therefore, when He saw that His horses\nwere hesitant to proceed into the darkness, He immediately released His\n\ndisc, known as the Sudarsana cakra, which illuminated the sky a thousand\n\ntimes brighter than sunlight. The darkness of the covering of the universe\nis also a creation of Kr��a's, and the Sudarsana cakra is Kr�rta's constant\n\ncompanion. Thus the darkness was penetrated by His keeping the Sudarsana\n\ncakra in\n\nfront.\n\nSrimad-Bhiigavatam states that the Sudarsana cakra\n\npenetrated the darkness just as an arrow released from the Sarriga bow\n\nof Lord Ramacandra penetrated the army of Rava�a. Su means very nice,\nand\n\ndarsana means observation; by the grace of Lord Kr�rta's disc,\n\nSudarsana, everything can be seen very nicely, and nothing can remain in\n\ndarkness. Thus Lord Kr��a and Arjuna crossed over the great region of\n\ndarkness covering the material universes.\n\nArjuna then saw the effulgence of light known as the brahmajyoti. The\nbrahmajyoti is situated outside the covering of the material universes, and\nbecause it cannot be seen with our present eyes, this brahmajyoti is\nsometimes called avyakta. This spiritual effulgence is the ultimate destination of the impersonalists known as Vedantists. The brahmajyoti is also\ndescribed as anantapiiram, unlimited and unfathomed. When Lord Kr��a\nand Arjuna reached this region of the brahmajyoti, Arjuna could not\ntolerate the glaring effulgence, and he closed his eyes. Lord Kr�rta's and\n\nArjuna's reaching the brahmajyoti region is described in Harivarhsa. In that\n\nportion of the Vedic literature, Kr��a informed Arjuna, \"My dear Arjuna,\n\nthe glaring effulgence, the transcendental light which you are seeing, is\n\nMy bodily rays. 0 chief of the descendants of Bharata, this brahmajyoti is\nMyself.\" As the sun disc and the sunshine cannot be separated, similarly\n\nKr��a and His bodily rays, the brahmajyoti, cannot be separated. Thus\n\nKr�rta claimed that the brahmajyoti is He Himself. This is clearly stated in\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0371": "Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n334\n\nthe Harivarhsa when Kr��a says, \"aharh sa(t.\" The brahmajyoti is a combination of the minute particles known as spiritual sparks, or the living\nentities known as citkana. The Vedic word so'ham, or \"I am the brahma­\n\njyoti,\" can also be applied to the living entities, who can also claim to\n\nbelong to the brahmajyoti. In the Harivarhsa, Kr��a further explains, \"This\n\nbrahmajyoti is an expansion of My spiritual energy.\"\n\nKr�tla told Arjuna, \"The brahmajyoti is beyond the region of My ex­\n\nternal energy, known as miiyii-sakti. When one is situated within this\nmaterial world, it is not possible for him to experience this Brahman\neffulgence. Therefore, in the material world this effulgence is not mani­\n\nfested, whereas in the spiritual world, it is manifested. That is the purport\n\nof the words vyakta-avyakta. In the Bhagavad-gitii it is said avyakto­\n\n'vyaktiit saniitana(t: both these energies are eternally manifested.\n\nAfter this, Lord Kr�tla and Arjuna entered a vast extensive spiritual\n\nwater. This spiritual water is called the Karatilirtiava Ocean or Viraja which\n\nmeans that this ocean is the origin of the creation of the material world.\n\nIn the Mrtyufijaya Tantra, a Vedic literature, there .is a vivid description\n\nof this Karatla Ocean, or Viraja. It is stated there that the highest planetary\n\nsystem within the material world is Satyaloka, or Brahmaloka. Beyond\n\nthat there are Rudraloka and Maha- Vi�tiuloka. Regarding this MahaVi�tiuloka,\n\nit\n\nis\n\nstated in\n\nthe Brahma-sarhhitii, ya(t kiirap,iirp.ava-jale\n\nbhajati sma yoga: \"Lord Maha- Vi�tiU is lying in the Karapa Ocean. When\n\nHe exhales, innumerable universes come into existence, and when He\n\ninhales, innumerable universes enter within Him.\" In this way, the mate­\n\nrial creation is generated and again withdrawn. When Lord Kr�tla and\n\nArjuna entered the water, it appeared that there was a strong hurricane of\n\ntranscendental effulgence brewing, and the water of the Karapa Ocean\n\nwas greatly agitated. By the grace of Lord Kr�pa, Arjuna had the unique\nexperience of being able to see the very beautiful Karatla Ocean.\n\nAccompanied by Kr�tla, Arjuna saw a large palace within the water.\n\nThere were many thousands of pillars and columns made of valuable\n\njewels, and the glaring effulgence of those columns was so beautiful that\nArjuna became charmed by it. Within that palace, Arjuna and Kr�pa saw\n\nthe gigantic form of Anantadeva, who is also known as Se�a. Lord Ananta­\n\ndeva or Se�anaga was in the form of a great serpent with thousands of\nhoods, and each one of them was decorated with valuable, effulgent jewels,\n\nwhich were beautifully dazzling. Each of Anantadeva's hoods had two\n\neyes which appeared to be very fearful. His body was as white as the\nmountaintop of Kailasa, which is always covered by snow. His neck was\n\nbluish, as were His tongues. Thus Arjuna saw the Se�anaga form, and he\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0372": "The Superexcellent Power of Kr�!la\n\n335\n\nalso saw that on the very soft, white body of Se�anaga, Lord Maha-Vi�rtu\nwas lying very comfortably. He appeared to be all-pervading and very\n\npowerful, and Arjuna could understand that the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead in that form is known as Puro�ottama. He is known as Puru­\n\n�ottama, the best, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, because from\nthis form emanates another form of Vi�rtu, which is known as Garbho­\n\ndakasayi Vi�rtu within the material world. The Maha-Vi�rtu form of the\nLord, Pum§ottama, is beyond the material world. He is also known as\n\nUttama.\n\nTama means darkness, and ut means above, transcendental;\n\ntherefore, Uttama means above the darkest region of the material world.\n\nArjuna saw that the bodily color of Puru�ottama, Maha-Vi�rtu, was as dark\n\nas a new cloud in the rainy season; He was dressed in very nice yellow\n\nclothing. His face was always beautifully smiling, and His eyes, which were\nlike lotus petals, were very attractive. Lord Maha-Vi�rtu's helmet was be­\n\ndecked with valuable jewels, and His beautiful earrings enhanced the\n\nbeauty of the curling hair on His head. Lord Maha-Vi�rtu had eight arms,\n\nall very long, reaching to His knees. His neck was decorated with the\nKaustubha jewel, and His chest was marked with the symbol of §rivatsa,\n\nwhich means the resting place of the goddess of fortune. The Lord wore\n\na garland of lotus flowers down to His knees. This long garland is known\nas a vaijayanti garland.\n\nThe Lord was surrounded by His personal associates N anda and Sunanda,\n\nand the personified Sudarsana disc was also standing by Him. As is stated\n\nin the Vedas, the Lord has innumerable energies, and they were also\n\nstanding there personified. The most important among them were as\n\nfollows: pu§ti, the energy for nourishment, sri, the energy of beauty,\n\nkirti, the energy of reputation, and ajii, the energy of material creation.\n\nAll these energies are invested in the administrators of the material world,\n\nnamely Lord Brahma, Lord Siva and Lord Vi�rtu, and in the kings of the\n\nheavenly planets, lndra, Candra, V arutta and the sun-god. In other words,\n\nall these demigods, being empowered by the Lord with certain energies,\n\nengage in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Personality of\n\nGodhead. The Maha-Vi�!lu feature is an expansion of Kr�!la's body. It is\n\nalso confirmed in the Brahma-sarhhitii that Maha-Vi�!lu is a portion of a\n\nplenary expansion of Kr�!la. All such expansions are nondifferent from the\n\nPersonality of Godhead, but since Kr�!la appeared within this material\n\nworld to manifest His pastimes as a human being, He and Arjuna immedi­\n\nately offered their respects to Lord Maha-Vi�!lu by bowing down before\nHim. It is stated in the Srimad-Bhiigavatam that Lord Kr�!la offered\n\nrespect to Maha-Vi�!lu; this means that He offered obeisances unto Him\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0373": "Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n336\n\nonly because Lord Maha-Vi§!lU is nondifferent from He Himself. This\noffering of obeisances by Kr§!la to Maha-Vi§!lU is not, however, the form\nof worship known as ahangraha-upiisanii, which is sometimes recommended\nfor persons who are trying to elevate themselves to the spiritual world by\nperforming the sacrifice of knowledge. This is also stated in the Bhagavad­\n\ngitii: jfiiina-yajfiena ciipy ante yajanto miim upiisate.\nAlthough there was no necessity for Kr§!la to offer obeisances, because\nHe is the master teacher., He taught Arjuna just how respect should be\noffered to Lord Maha-Vi§!lU. Arjuna, however, became very much afraid\nupon seeing the gigantic form of everything, distinct from the material\nexperience. Seeing Kr§!la offering obeisances to Lord Maha-Viwu, he\nimmediately followed Him and stood before the Lord with folded hands.\nAfter this, the gigantic form of Maha-Vi§!lU,\n\ngreatly pleased, smiled\n\npleasingly and spoke as follows.\n\"My dear Kr§!la and Arjuna, I was very anxious to see you both, and\ntherefore I arranged to take away the babies of the briihmar-a and keep\nthem here. I have been expecting to see you both at this palace. You have\nappeared in the material world as My incarnations in ·order to minimize\nthe force of the demoniac persons who burden the world. Now after\nkilling all these unwanted demons, you will please again come back to Me.\nBoth of you are incarnations of the great sage N ara-Naraya!la. Although\nyou are both complete in yourselves, to protect the devotees and to\nannihilate the demons and especially to establish religious principles in the\nworld so that peace and tranquility may continue, you are teaching the\nbasic principles of factual religion so that the people of the world may\nfollow you and thereby be peaceful and prosperous.\"\nBoth Lord Kf§!la and Arjuna then offered their obeisances to Lord\nMaha-Vi§�U, and taking back the briihmar-a's children, they returned to\nDvaraka via the same route by which they had entered the spiritual world.\nAll the children of the briihmarta had duly grown up. After returning to\nDvaraka, Lord Kr§!la and Arjuna delivered to the briihmarw all of his\nsons.\nArjuna, however, was struck with great wonder after visiting the transcendental world by the grace of Lord Kf§!la. And by the grace of Kf§!la\nhe could understand that whatever opulence there may be within this\nmaterial\n\nworld is an emanation from Him. Any opulent position a\n\nperson may have within this material world is due to Kf§!la's mercy.\nOne should therefore ·always be in Kr§!la consciousness, in complete\ngratefulness to Lord Kf§!la, because whatever one may possess is all\nHis mercy.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0374": "The Superexcellent Power of Kr�!la\n\n337\n\nArjuna's wonderful experience due to the mercy of Krwa is one of the\nmany thousands of pastimes performed by Lord Krwa during His stay in\nthis material world. They were all unique and have no parallel in the\nhistory of the world. All these pastimes prove fully that Kr�!la is the\nSupreme Personality of Godhead, yet while He was present within this\nmaterial world, He· played just like an ordinary man possessing many\nworldly duties. He played the part of an ideal householder, and although\nHe possessed 16,000 wives, 16,000 palaces and 160,000 children, He also\nperformed many sacrifices, just to teach the royal order how to live in the\nmaterial world for the welfare of humanity. As the ideal Supreme Personality, He fulfilled the desires of everyone, from the briihmaras, the highest\npersons in human society, down �o the ordinary living entities, including\nthe lowest of men. Just as King Indra is in charge of distributing rain all\nover the world to satisfy everyone in due course, so Lord Kr�!la satisfies\neveryone by pouring down His causeless mercy. His mission was to give\nprotection to the devotees and to kill the demoniac kings; therefore, He\nkilled many hundreds and thousands of demons. Some of them He killed\npersonally, and some of them were killed by Arjuna, who was deputed by\nKr�!la. In this way He established many pious kings such as Yudhi�thira at\nthe helm of world affairs. Thus, by His divine arrangement He created the\ngood government of King Yudhi�thira, and there ensued peace and\ntranquility.\nThus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Thirty.\n\nfourth Chapter, of Kr�!la, \"The Superexcellent Power of Kr§flU.\"\n\nJ\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0375": "35 I Summary Description\nof Lord Krsna's Pastimes\n•\n\n•\n\n•\n\nAfter returning from the spiritual kingdom, which he was able to visit\n\npersonally along with Kr�!J.a, Arjuna was very much astonished. He thought\nto himself that although he was only an ordinary living entity, by the grace\nof Kr�!la it had been possible for him to see personally the spiritual world.\n\nNot only had he seen the spiritual world, but he had also personally seen\n\nthe original Maha-Vi�!J.U, the cause of the material creation. It is said that\n\nKr�!la never goes out of Vrndavana. Vrndiivanarh parityajya na piidam ekarh\n\ngacchati. Kr�!la is supreme in Mathura, He is more supreme in Dvaraka,\n\nand He is most supreme in Vrndavana. Kr�!la's pastimes in Dvaraka are\n\ndisplayed by His Vasudeva portion, yet there is no difference between the\n\nVasudeva portion manifested in Mathura and Dvaraka and the original\n\nmanifestation of Kr�!la at Vrndavana. In the beginning of this book we\n\nhave discussed that when Kr�!la appears, all His incarnations, plenary\n\nportions and portions of the plenary portions come with Him. Thus some\n\nof His different pastimes are manifested not by the original Kr�!la Himself\nbut by His different portions and plenary portions of incarnation. Arjuna\n\nwas therefore puzzled about how Kr�!la went to see the Kara!J.ar!lavasayi\nVi�!J.U in the spiritual world. This is fully discussed in the commentaries of\nSrlla Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur.\n\nIt is understood from the speech of Maha-Vi�!J.U that He was very\n\nanxious to see Kr�!J.a. It may be said, however, that since Maha-Viwu took\naway the briihmar-a's sons, He certainly must have gone to Dvaraka to do\n\nso. Therefore, why did He not see Kr�!la there? A possible answer is that\n\nKr�!la cannot be seen even by the Maha-Vi�!J.U who is lying in the Causal\nOcean of the spiritual world, unless Kr�!la gives His permission. Thus\n\nMaha-Vi�!J.U took away the briihmar-a's sons one after another just after\n\ntheir births so that Kr�!la would come personally to retrieve them and then\nMaha-Vi�!J.U would be able to see Him there. If that is so, the next\n338\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0376": "Summary Description of Lord I(f��a 's Pastimes\n\n339\n\nquestion is this: Why would Maha-Vi��u come to Dvaraka personally if He\nwere not able to see Kr��a? Why did He not send some of His associates to\ntake away the sons of the briihmarw? A possible answer is that it is very\ndifficult to put any of the citizens of Dvaraka into trouble in the presence\nof Kr��a. Therefore, it was not possible for any of Maha-Vi�!lu's associates\nto take away the briihmar-a's sons, and thus He personally came to take\nthem.\nAnother question may also be raised: The Lord is known as brahmar-ya­\n\ndeva, the worshipable Deity of the briihmar-as, so why was He inclined to\nput a briihmar-a into such a terrible condition of lamentation over one son\nafter another until the ninth son was taken away? The answer is that Lord\nMaha-Vi�!lu was so anxious to see Kr��a that He did not hesitate even to\ngive trouble to a briihmar-a. Although giving trouble to a briihmar-a is a\nforbidden act, Lord Viwu was prepared to do anything in order to see\nKr��a-He was so anxious to see Him. After losing each of his sons, the\n\nbriihmar-a would come to the gate of the palace and accuse the King of not\nbeing able to give the briihmar-as protection and of thus being unfit to sit\non the royal throne. It was Maha-Vi��u's plan that the briihmar-a would\naccuse the k§atriyas and Kr�!la, and Kr��a would be obliged to come see\nHim to take back the briihmar-a's sons.\nStill another question may be raised: If Maha-Vi�!lu cannot see Kr��a,\nthen how was Kr§!la obliged to come before Him after all to take back the\nsons of the briihmana? The answer is that Lord Krsna went to see Lord\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\nMaha-Vi�!lu not exactly to take away the sons of the briihmar-a but only\nfor Arjuna's sake. His friendship with Arjuna was so intimate that when\nArjuna prepared himself to die by entering the fire, Kr��a wanted to give\nhim complete protection. Arjuna, however, would not desist from entering\nthe fire unless the sons of the briihmar-a were brought back. Therefore\nKr§�a promised him, \"I will bring back the briihmar-a's sons. Do not try to\ncommit suicide.\"\nIf Lord Kr§!la were going to see Lord Viwu only to reclaim the sons ·of\nthe briihmar-a, then He would not have waited until the ninth son was\ntaken. But when the ninth son was taken away by Lord Maha-Vi�!lu and\nArjuna was therefore ready to enter the fire because his promise was going\n\nto prove false, that serious situation made Lord Krwa decide to go with\nArjuna to see Maha-Vi�!lu. It is said that Arjuna is an empowered incarnation of Nara-Naraya!la. He is even sometimes called Nara-Naraya!la. The\nNara-Naraya!la incarnation is also one of Lord Vi§!lU's plenary expansions.\nTherefore, when Kr�!la and Arjuna went· to see Lord Vi§!l.U, it is to be\nunderstood that Arjuna visited in His Nara-Naraya!la capacity, just as\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0377": "Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n340\n\nKr§!la, when He displayed His pastimes in Dvaraka, acted in His Vasudeva\n\ncapacity.\n\nAfter visiting the spiritual world, Arjuna concluded that whatever opu­\n\nlence anyone can show within the material or spiritual worlds is all a gift\n\nof Lord Krsna. Lord Krsna is manifested in various forms, as Visnu-tattva\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\n. .\n\nand jiva-tattva, or, in other words, as siirhsa and vibhinniirhsa.\n\n.\n\n.\n\nVi§rz.u-tattva\nis known as siirhsa, and jiva-tattva is known as vibhinniirhsa. He can,\n\ntherefore, display Himself by His different transcendental pastimes, either\n\nin the portion of siirhsa or vibhinniirhsa, as He likes, but still He remains\nthe original Supreme Personality of Godhead .\n\nThe concluding portion of Kr§!la's pastimes is found in the Nintieth\n\nChapter of the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhiigavatam, and in this chapter\n\nSukadeva Gosvami wanted to explain how Krwa lived happily at Dvaraka\n\nwith all opulences. Krwa's opulence of strength has already been displayed\n\nin His different pastimes, and now it will be shown how His residence at\nDvaraka displayed His opulences of wealth and beauty. In this material\n\nworld, which is only a perverted reflection of the. spiritual wprld, the\n\nopulences of wealth and beauty are considered to be the highest of all\nopulences. Therefore, while Kr§!la stayed on this planet as the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead, His opulences of wealth and beauty had no com­\n\nparison within the three worlds. Kr§!la enjoyed sixteen thousand beautiful\nwives, and it is most significant that He lived at Dvaraka as the only hus­\n\nband of these hundreds and thousands of beautiful women. It is specifically\n\nstated in this connection that He was the only husband of sixteen thousand\n\nwives. It is, of course, not unheard of in the history of the world that a\n\npowerful king would keep many hundreds of queens, but although such a\n\nking might be the only husband of so many wives, he could not enjoy all\nof them at one time. Kr§!la, however, enjoyed all of His sixteen thousand\nwives simultaneously.\n\nAlthough it may be said that yogis also can expand their bodies into\n\nmany forms, the yogis' expansion and Lord Kr§!la's expansion are not one\n\nand the same. Kr§!la is therefore sometimes called yogesvara, the master of\nall yogis. In the Vedic literature we find that the yogi Saubhari Muni expanded himself into eight. But that expansion was like a television expan­\n\nsion. The television image is manifested in millions of expansions, but\n\nthose expansions cannot act differently; they are simply reflections of the\n\noriginal and can only act exactly as the original does. Kr§!la's expansion is\nnot material like the expansion of the television or the yogi. When Narada\n\nvisited the different palaces of Krwa, he saw that Kr§!la, in His different\n\nexpansions, was variously engaged in each and every palace of the queens.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0378": "�\n\nSummary Description of Lord Kr��a s Pastimes\n'\n\n341\n\nIt is also said that Kr�!ia lived at Dvaraka as the husband of the goddess\n\nof fortune. Queen Rukmi!li is the goddess of fortune, and all the other\nqueens are her expansions. So Kr�!la, the chief of the Vr��i dynasty,\n\nenjoyed with the goddess of fortune in full opulence. The queens of Kr�p.a\n\nare described as permanently youthful and beautiful. Although Kr�!la had\n\ngrandchildren and great-grandchildren, neither Kr�p.a nor His queens looked\n\nolder than sixteen or twenty years of age. The young queens were so\nbeautiful that when they moved they appeared like lightning moving in\nthe sky. They were always dressed with exalted ornaments and garments\n\nand were always engaged in sportive activities like dancing, singing or\nplaying ball on the roofs of the palaces. The dancing and tennis playing\n\nof girls in the material world appear to be perverted reflections of the\noriginal pastimes of the original Personality of Godhead, Kr�!la, and His\n\nWives.\n\nThe roads and streets of the city of Dvaraka were always crowded with\n\nelephants, horses, chariots and infantry soldiers. When elephants are en­\n\ngaged in service, they are given liquor to drink, and it is said that the\n\nelephants in Dvaraka were given so much liquor that they would sprinkle\na great quantity of it on the road and still would walk on the streets\nintoxicated. The infantry soldiers passing on the streets were profusely\n\ndecorated with golden ornaments, and horses and golden chariots plied\n\nalong the streets. In all directions of Dvaraka City, wherever one would\n\nturn his eyes he would find green parks and gardens, and each of them was\n\nfilled with trees and plants laden with fruits and flowers. Because there\n\nwere so many nice trees of fruits and flowers, all the sweetly chirping\n\nbirds and the buzzing bumblebees joined together to make sweet vibra­\n\ntions. The city of Dvaraka thus fully displayed all opulences. The heroes\n\nin the dynasty of Y adu used to think themselves the most fortunate\n\nresidents of the city, and actually they enjoyed all transcendental facilities.\n\nAll the sixteen thousand palaces of Kr�p.a's queens were situated in this\n\nbeautiful city of Dvaraka, and Lord Kr�!la, the supreme eternal enjoyer of\n\nall these facilities, expanded Himself into sixteen thousand forms and\nsimultaneously en,gaged in different family affairs in those sixteen thousand\n\npalaces. In each and every one of the palaces there were nicely decorated\n\ngardens and lakes. The crystal clear water of the lakes contained many\nblooming lotus flowers. of different colors like blue, yellow, white and red,\n\nand the saffron powder from the lotus flowers was blown all around by\nthe breeze. All the lakes were full of beautiful swans, ducks and cranes,\n\ncrying occasionally with melodious sounds. Lord Sri Kr�!la sometimes\n\nentered those lakes, or sometimes the rivers, with His wives and enjoyed\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0379": "Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n342\n\nswimming pastimes with them in full jubilation. Sometimes the wives of\nLord Kr��a, who were all goddesses of fortune, would embrace the Lord\nin the midst of the water while swimming or taking bath, and the red\nvermilion of kunkuma decorating the beauty of their breasts would adorn\n\nthe chest of the Lord with a reddish color.\n\nThe impersonalists would not dare to believe that in the spiritual world\n\nthere are such varieties of enjoyment, but in order to demonstrate the\nfactual,\n\never-blissful\n\nenjoyment\n\nin the spiritual world,\n\nLord\n\nKr�!la\n\ndescended on this planet and showed that the spiritual world is not devoid\nof such pleasurable facilities of life. The only difference is that in the\nspiritual world such facilities are eternal, never-ending occurrences, whereas\nin the material world they are simply impermanent perverted reflections.\n\nWhen Lord Kr�!la was engaged in such enjoyment, the Gandharvas and\nprofessional musicians would glorify Him with melodious musical concerts,\naccompanied by mrdangas, drums, kettledrums, stringed instruments and\nbrass bugles, and the whole atmosphere would change into a greatly festive\ncelebration. In a festive mood, the wives of the Lord would sometimes\nsprinkle water on the Lord's body with a syringe-like Instrument, and the\nLord would similarly wet the bodies of the queens. When Kr�!la and the\nqueens engaged themselves in these pastimes, it seemed as if the heavenly\nKing,\n\nY ak�araja, were engaged in such pastimes with his many wives.\n\n(Y ak�araja is also known as Kuvera and is considered to be the treasurer of\nthe heavenly kingdom.) When the wives of Lord Kr�!la thus became wet,\ntheir breasts and thighs would increase in beauty a thousand times, and\ntheir long hair would fall down to decorate those parts of their bodies.\nThe beautiful flowers which were placed in their hair would fall, and the\nqueens, being seemingly harassed by the Lord's throwing water at them,\nwould approach Him on the plea of snatching the syringe-like instrument,\n\nand this attempt would create a situation wherein the Lord\n\ncould embrace them as they willingly approached Him. Upon being\nembraced, the wives of the Lord would feel on their mouths a clear\nindication of conjugal love, and this WQuld create an atmosphere of\n\nspiritual bliss. When the garland on the neck of the Lord then touched\n\nthe breasts of the queens, their whole bodies became covered with\nsaffron yellow. Being engaged in their celestial pastimes, the queens\nforgot themselves, and their loosened hair appeared like the beautiful\nwaves of a river. When the queens sprinkled water on the body of Kr�l)a\nor He sprinkled water on the bodies of the queens, the whole situation\nappeared just like an elephant enjoying in a lake along with many sheelephants.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0380": "Summary Description of Lord Kr��a's Pastimes\n\n343\n\nAfter enjoying fully amongst themselves, the queens and Lord Kr�pa\nwould come out of the water, and their wet garments, which were very\nvaluable, would be given up by them to be taken away by the professional\nsingers and dancers. These singers and dancers had no other means of\nsubsistence than the rewards of valuable garments and ornaments left by\nthe queens and kings on such occasions. The whole system of society was\nso well planned that all the members of society in their different positions\nas briihmar-as, k§atriyas, vaisyas, and siidras had no difficulty in earning\ntheir livelihood. There was no competition among the divisions of society.\nThe original conception of the caste system was so planned that one group\nof men engaged in a particular type of occupation would not compete with\nanother group of men engaged in a different occupation.\nIn this way, Lord Kr�v.a used to enjoy the company of His sixteen\nthousand wives. Devotees of the Lord who want to love the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead in the mellow of conjugal love are elevated to the\nposition of becoming wives of Kr�v.a, and Kr�v.a also keeps them always\nattached to Him by His kind behavior. Kr�v.a's behavior with His wives, His\nmovements, His talking with them, His smiling, His embracing, and similar\nother activities just like a loving husband kept them always very much\nattached to Him. That is the highest perfection of life. If someone remains\nalways attached to Kr�v.a, it is to be understood that he is liberated, and\nhis life is successful. With any devotee who loves Krwa with his heart and\nsoul, Kr�pa reciproca�es in such a way that the devotee cannot remain\nunattached to Him. The reciprocal dealings of Kr�v.a and His devotees are\nso attractive that a devotee cannot think of any subject matter other than\nKrsna.\nFor all the queens, Kr�v.a only was their worshipable objective. They\nwere always absorbed in thought of Krwa, the lotus-eyed and beautifully\nblackish Personality of Godhead. Sometimes, in thought of Krwa, they\nremained silent, and in great ecstasy of bhiiva and anubhiiva they sometimes\nspoke as if in delirium. Sometimes, even in the presence of Lord Kr�v.a,\nthey vividly described the pastimes they had enjoyed in the lake or in the\nriver with Him. Some of such talk may be described here.\nOne of the queens said to the bird kurari, \"My dear kurari, now it is\nvery late at night. Everyone is sleeping. The whole world is now calm and\npeaceful. At this time, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is sleeping,\nalthough His knowledge is undisturbed by any circumstance. Then why\nare you not sleeping? Why are you lamenting like this throughout the\nwhole night? My dear friend, is it that you are also attracted by the lotus\neyes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and by His sweet smiling and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0381": "344\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nattractive words, exactly as I am? Do those dealings of the Supreme\nPersonality of Godhead pinch your heart as they do mine?\n\"Hello cakraviiki. Why have you closed your eyes? Are you searching\nafter your husband, who might have gone to foreign countries? Why are\nyou lamenting so pitiably? Alas, it appears that you are very much\naggrieved. Or is it a fact that you also are willing to become an eternal\nservitor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead? I think that you are\nanxious to put a garland on the lotus feet of the Lord and then place it on\nyour hair.\n\"0 my dear ocean, why are you roaring all day and night? Don't you\nlike to sleep? I think that you have been attacked by insomnia, or, if I am\n\nnot wrong, my dear S yamasundara has tactfully taken away your gravity\nand power of forbearence, which are your natural qualifications. Is it a\nfact that for this reason you are suffering from insomnia like me? Yes, I\nadmit that there is no remedy for this disease.\n\"My dear moon-god, I think that you have been attacked by a severe\ntype of tuberculosis. For this reason, you are becoming thinner and thinner\nday by day. 0 my lord, you are now so weak that your thin rays cannot\ndissipate the darkness of night. Or is it a fact that, j ust as I have, you also\nhave been stunned by the mysteriously sweet words of my Lord S yamasundara. Is it a fact that it is because of this severe anxiety that you are\nso grave?\n\"0 breeze from the Himalayas, what have I done to you that you are so\nintent on teasing me by awakening my lust to meet Kf§p.a? Do you not\n\nknow that I have already been inj ured by the crooked policy of the\nPersonality of Godhead? My dear Himalayan breeze, please know that I\n\nhave already been stricken. There is no need to inj ure me more and more.\n\n\"My dear beautiful cloud, the color of your beautiful body exactly\n\nresembles my dearmost S yamasundara's bodily hue. I think, therefore, that\nyou are very much dear to my Lord, the chief of the dynasty of the Y adus,\nand because you are so dear to Him, you are, exactly as I am, absorbed in\nmeditation. I can appreciate that your heart is full of anxiety for S yama­\n\nsundara. You appear to be excessively eager to see Him, and I see that for\nthis reason only, there are drops of tears gliding down from your eyes,\n\nj ust as there are from mine. My dear black cloud, we must admit frankly\nthat to establish an intimate relationship with S yamasundara means to\npurchase unnecessary anxieties while we are otherwise comfortable at\nhome.\"\nGenerally the cuckoo sounds its cooing vibration at the end of night or\nearly in the morning. When the queens heard the cooing of the cuckoo at\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0382": "Summary Description of Lord· Kr�!la's Pastimes\n\n345\n\nthe end of night, they said, \"Dear cuckoo, your voice is very sweet. As\nsoon as you vibrate your sweet voice, we immediately remember Syama­\n\nsundara because your voice exactly resembles His. We must frankly admit\nthat your voice is imbued with nectar, and it is so invigorating that it is\n\ncompetent to bring back life to those who are almost dead in separation\n\nfrom their dearmost friend. So we are very much obliged to you. Please\n\nlet us know how we can welcome you or how we can do something\nfor you.\"\n\nThe queens continued talking like that, and they addressed the mountain\n\nas follows: \"Dear mountain, you are very generous. By your gravitation\n\nonly, the whole crust of this earth is properly maintained, and because\n\nyou are discharging your duties very faithfully, you do not know how to\n\nmove. Because you are so grave, you do not move hither and thither, nor\ndo you say anything. Rather, you alway& .appear to be in a thoughtful\n\nmood. It may be that you are always thinking of a very grave and\n\nimportant subject matter, but we can guess very clearly what you are\n\nthinking of. We are sure that you are thinking of placing the lotus feet of\n\nSyamasundara on your raised peaks, as we want to place His lotus feet on\n\nour raised breasts.\n\n\"Dear dry rivers, we know that because this is the summer season, all\n\nyour beds are dry and you have no water. Because �l your water has now\nbeen dried up, you are no longer beautified by blooming lotus flowers. At\n\nthe present moment, you appear to be very lean and thin, so we can\nunderstand that your position is exactly like ours. We have lost everything\n\ndue to being separated from Syamasundara, and we no longer hear His\n\npleasing words. Our hearts no longer work properly, and therefore we also\n\nhave become very lean and thin. We think, therefore, that you are just like\n\nus. You have turned lean and thin because you are not getting any water\nfrom your husband, the ocean, through the clouds.\" The example given\n\nherewith by the queens is very appropriate. The river beds become dry\n\nwhen the ocean no longer supplies water through the clouds. The ocean is\n\nsupposed to be the husband of the river and therefore is supposed to\n\nsupport her. Unless a woman is supported by the husband with the\n\nnecessities of life, she also becomes as dry as a dry river.\n\nOne queen addressed a swan as follows. \"My dear swan, please come\n\nhere, come here. You are welcome. Please sit down and take some milk.\nMy dear swan, can you tell me if you have any message from Syamasundara?\n\nI take you to be a messenger from Him. If you have any such news, please\ntell me. Our Syamasundara is always very independent. He never comes\n\nunder the control of anyone. We have all failed to control Him, and\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0383": "346\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\ntherefore we ask you, is He keeping Himself well? I may inform you that\nSyamasundara is very fickle. His friendship is always temporary; it breaks\n\neven by slight agitation. But would you kindly explain why He is so unkind\n\nto me? Formerly He said that I alone am His dearmost wife. Does He\nremember this assurance? Anyway, you are welcome. Please sit down. But\n\nI cannot accept your entreaty to go to Syamasundara. When He does not\n\ncare for me, why should I be mad after Him? I am very sorry to let you\n\nknow that you have become the messenger of a poor-hearted soul. You\n\nare asking me to go to Him, but I am not going. What is that? You talk of\nHis coming to me? Does He desire to come here to fulfill my long expecta­\n\ntion for Him? All right. You can bring Him here. But don't bring with Him\nHis most beloved goddess of fortune. Do you think that He cannot be\n\nseparated from the goddess of fortune even for a moment? Could He not\n\ncome here alone, without Lak�mi? His behavior is very displeasing. Does\n\nit mean that without Lak�mi, Syamasundara cannot be happy? Can't He\n\nbe happy with any other wife? Does it mean that the goddess of fortune\n\nhas the ocean of love for Him, and none of us can compare to her?\"\n\nAll the wives of Lord Kr�!la were completely absorbed in thought of\n\nHim. Kr�!la is known as the yogesvara, the master of all yogis, and all the\n\nwives of K.f�p.a at Dvaraka used to keep this yogesvara within their hearts.\n\nInstead of trying to be master of all yogic mystic powers, it is better if one\n\nsimply keeps the supreme yogesvara, Kr�!J.a, within his heart. Thus one's\n\nlife can become perfect, and one can very easily be transferred to the\nkingdom of God. It is to be understood that all the queens of Kr�p.a who\n\nlived with Him at Dvaraka were in their previous lives very greatly exalted\n\ndevotees who wanted to establish a relationship with Kr�!la in conjugal\n\nlove. Thus they were given the chance to become His wives and enjoy a\nconstant loving relationship with Him. Ultimately, they were alltransferred\n\nto the Vaikup.tha planets.\n\nThe Supreme Absolute Truth Personality of Godhead is never imper­\n\nsonal. All the Vedic literatures glorify the transcendental performance of\nHis various personal activities and pastimes. It is said that in the Vedas and\n\nin the Riimiiya\"[ta, only the activities of the Lord are described. Every­\n\nwhere in the Vedic literature, His glories are sung. As soon as soft-hearted\npeople such as women hear those transcendental pastimes of Lord Kr�p.a,\n\nthey immediately become attracted to Him. Soft-hearted women and girls\nare therefore very easily drawn to the Kr�p.a consciousness movement.\n\nOne who is thus drawn to the Kr�p.a consciousness movement and tries to\n\nkeep himself in constant touch with such consciousness certainly gets the\nsupreme salvation, going back to Kr�p.a at Goloka Vrndavana. If simply by\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0384": "Summary Description of Lord Kr��a's Pastimes\n\n347\n\ndeveloping Kr�v.a consciousness one can be transferred to the spiritual\n\nworld, one can simply imagine how blissful and blessed were the queens\n\nof Lord Kr�v.a, who talked with Him personally and who saw Lord Kr�v.a\neye to eye. No one can properly describe the fortune of the wives of Lord\n\nKr�v.a. They took care of Him personally by rendering various transcenden­\n\ntal services like bathing Him, feeding Him, pleasing Him and serving Him.\n\nThus no one's austerities can compare to the service of the queens at\n\nDvaraka.\n\nSukadeva Gosvami informed Maharaja Parik�it that for self-realization\n\nthe austerities and penances performed by the queens' at Dvaraka have no\ncomparison. The objective of self-realization is one: Krwa. Therefore,\n\nalthough the dealings of the queens with Kr�v.a appear just like ordinary\n\ndealings between husband and wife, the principal point to be observed is the\n\nqueens' attachment for Kr�v.a. The entire process of austerity and penance\n\nis meant to detach one from the material world and to enhance one's\n\nattachment to Kr�v.a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kr�p.a is the\nshelter of all persons advancing in self-realization. As an ideal householder,\n\nHe lived with His wives and performed the Vedic rituals just to show less\n\nintelligent persons that the Supreme Lord is never impersonal. Kr�pa lived\nwith wife and children in all opulence, exactly like an ordinary conditioned\n\nsoul, just to exemplify to those souls who are actually conditioned that\none may enter into the circle of family life as long as Kr�v.a is the center.\n\nFor example, the. members of the Y adu dynasty lived in the family of\nKr�pa, and Kr�v.a was the center of all their activities.\n\nRenunciation is not as important as enhancing one's attachment to\n\nKr�v.a. The Kr�v.a consciousness movement is especially meant for this\n\npurpose. We are preaching on the principle that it does not matter whether\na man is a sannyiisi or grhastha. One simply has to increase his attachment\nf<;>r Kr�v.a, and then his life is successful. Following in the footsteps of Lord\n\nSri Krwa, one can live with his family members or within the society or\n\nnation, not for the purpose of indulging in sense gratification but to\nrealize Kr�v.a by advancing in attachment for Him. There are four princi­\n\nples of elevation from conditional life to the life of liberation, which are\n\ntechnically known as dharma, artha, kiima and mok�a (religion, economic\ndevelopment, sense gratification and liberation). If one lives a family life\nfollowing in the footsteps of Lord Kr�v.a's family members, one can\n\nachieve all four of these principles of success simultaneously by making\nKr�v.a the center of all activities.\n\nIt is already known to us that Kr�v.a had 16,108 wives. All these wives\n\nwere exalted liberated souls, and among them Queen Rukmiv.i was the\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0385": "348\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nchief. After Rukmi�i there were seven other principal wives, and the names\nof the sons of these eight principal queens have already been mentioned.\n\nBesides these eight queens, Lord Kr��a had ten sons by each of the other\nqueens. Thus all together Kr��a's children numbered 16,108 times ten.\n\nOne should not be astonished to hear that Kr�pa had so many sons. One\n\nshould always remember that Kr��a is the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nand that He has unlimited potencies. He claims all living entities as His\n\nsons, so even if He had sixteen million sons attached to Him personally,\n\nthere would be no cause for astonishment.\n\nAmong Kr��a's greatly powerful sons, eighteen sons were mahii-rathas.\n\nThe mahii-rathas could fight alone against many thousands of soldiers,\n\ncharioteers, cavalry and elephants. The reputations of these eighteen sons\n\nare very widespread and are described in almost all the Vedic literatures.\n\nThe eighteen mahii-ratha sons are listed as Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Dipti­\n\nman,\n\nBhanu, Samba, Madhu, Brhadbhanu, Citrabhanu, Vrka, Aruna,\n\nPu�kara, Vedabahu, Srutadeva, S�nandana, Citrabahu, Vin1pa, Kavi a·nd\n\nNyagrodha. Of these eighteen mahii-ratha sons of Kr��a, Pradyumna is\n\nconsidered to be the foremost. Pradyumna happened to be the eldest son\nof Queen Rukmi�i, and he inherited all the qualities of his great father,\n\nLord Kf�pa. He married the daughter of his maternal uncle, Rukmi, and\n\nAniruddha, the son of Pradyumna, was born from that marriage. Ani­\n\nruddha was so powerful that he could fight against ten thousand elephants.\nHe married the granddaughter of Rukmi, the brother of his grandmother,\n\nRukmipi. Because the relationship between these cousins was distant, such\n\na marriage was not uncommon. Aniruddha's son was Vajra. When the\n\nwhole Yadu dynasty was destroyed by the curse of a briihmara, only\n\nV ajra survived. V ajra had one son whose name was Pratibahu. The son of\n\nPratibahu was named Subahu, the son of Subahu was named Santasena,\n\nand the son of Santasena was Satasena.\n\nIt is stated by Sukadeva Gosvami that all the members of the Y adu\n\ndynasty had many children. Just as Kr�pa had many sons, grandsons and\ngreat-grandsons, so each one of the kings named herewith also had similar\n\nfamily extensions. Not only did all of them have many children, but all\nwere extraordinarily rich and opulent. None of them were weak or short­\n\nlived, and above all, all the members of the Y adu dynasty were staunch\ndevotees of the brahminical culture. It is the duty of the k�atriya kings to\nmaintain the brahminical culture and to protect the qualified briihmaras,\n\nand all these kings discharged their duties very rightly. The members of\nthe Y adu dynasty were so numerous that it would be very difficult to\n\ndescribe them all even if one had a duration of life of many thousands of\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0386": "Summary Description of Lord Kr�!ia's Pastimes\n\n349\n\nyears. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami informed Maharaja Parik�it that he had\n\nheard from reliable sources that simply to teach the children of the Yadu\n\ndynasty, there were as many as 38,800,000 tutors or iiciiryas. If so many\n\nteachers were needed to educate their children, one can simply imagine\n\nhow vast was the number of family members. As for their military strength,\n\nit is said that King Ugrasena alone had ten quadrillion soldiers as personal\nbodyguards.\n\nBefore the advent of Lord Kr�pa within this universe, there were many\nbattles between the demons and the demigods. Many demons died in the\nfighting, and they all were given the chance to take birth in high royal\nfamilies on this earth. Because of their royal exalted posts, all these\n\ndemons became very much puffed up, and their only business was to\n\nharass their subjects. Lord Kr�pa appeared on this planet just at the end of\n\nDvapara-yuga in order to annihilate all these demonic kings. As it is said in\n\nthe Bhagavad-gitii, paritriirtiiya siidhuniirh viniisiiya ca du�krtam: The Lord\n\ncomes to protect the devotees and to annihilate the miscreants. Some of\n\nthe demigods were also asked to appear on this earth to assist in the\n\ntranscendental pastimes of Lord Kr�pa. When Kr�pa appeared, He carrie in\n\nthe association of His eternal servitors,· but the demigods also were re­\n\nquested to come down to assist Him, and thus all of them took their births\n\nin the Yadu dynasty. The Yadu dynasty had 101 Clans in different parts\nof the country. All the members of these different clans respected Lord\n\nKrwa in a manner befitting His divine position, and all of them were His\ndevotees heart and soul. Thus all the members of the Yadu dynasty were\n\nvery opulent, happy and prosperous, and they had no anxieties. Because\n\nof their implicit faith in and devotion to Lord Kr�pa, they were never\n\ndefeated by any other kings. Their love of Krsna was so intense that in\ntheir regular activities-in sitting, sleeping, traveling, talking, sporting,\ncleansing and bathing-they were simply absorbed in thoughts of Kr�pa\nand paid no attention to bodily necessities. That is the symptom of a pure\n\ndevotee of Lord Kr�P\"a. Just as when a man is fully absorbed in some\nparticular thought, he sometimes forgets his other bodily activities, so the\nmembers of the Yadu dynasty acted automatically for their bodily\nnecessities, but their actual attention was always fixed on Kr�pa. Their\nbodily activities were performed mechanically, but their minds were\nalways absorbed in Kr�pa consciousness.\n\nSnia Sukadeva Gosvami has concluded the Ninetieth Chapter of the\nTenth Canto of Srimad-Bhiigavatam by pointing out five particular\n\nexcellences of Lord Krsna. The first excellence is that before Lord Krsna's\n\nappearance in the Yad�. family, the River Ganges was known as the\n\np��est\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0387": "350\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nof all things; even impure things could be purified simply by touching the\n\nwater of the Ganges. This superexcellent power of the Ganges water was\n\ndue to its having emanated from the toe of Lord Vi��u. But when Lord\nKr��a, the Supreme Vi��u, appeared in the family of the Yadu dynasty,\n\nHe traveled personally throughout the kingdom of the Y adus, and by His\n\nintimate association with the. Yadu dynasty, the whole family not only\n\nbecame very famous but also became more effective in purifying others\n\nthan the water of the Ganges.\n\nThe next excellence of Lord Kr�pa's appearance was that although\n\napparently He gave protection to the devotees and annihilated the demons,\n\nboth the devotees and the demons achieved the same result. Lord Kr�pa is\nthe bestower of five kinds of liberation, of which sayujya-mukti, or the\nliberation of becoming one with the Supreme, was given to the demons like\n\nKamsa, whereas the gopis were given the chance to associate with Him\n\npersonally. The gopis kept their individuality to enjoy the company of\nLord Kr��a, but Kamsa was accepted into His impersonal brahmajyoti.\n\nIn other words, both the demons and the gopis were &piritually liberated,\n\nbut because the demons were enemies and the gopis were friends, the\ndemons were killed and the gopis were protected.\n\nThe third excellence of Lord Kr�pa's appearance was that the goddess of\n\nfortune, who is worshiped by demigod� like Lord Brahma, lndra and\nCandra, remained always engaged in the service of the Lord, even though\n\nthe Lord gave more preference to the gopis. Lak�miji, the goddess of\n\nfortune, tried her best to be on an equal level with the gopis, but she was\n\nnot successful. Nevertheless, she remained faithful to Kr��a, although\n\ngenerally she does not remain at one place even if worshiped by demigods\n\nlike Lord Brahma.\n\nThe fourth excellence of Lord Kr��a's appearance concerns the glories\n\nof His name. It is stated in the Vedic literature that by chanting the\ndifferent names of Lord Vi��u a thousand times, one may be bestowed\n\nwith the same benefits as by thrice chanting the holy name of Lord Rama.\n\nAnd by chanting the holy name of Lord Kr��a only once, one receives the\nsame benefit. In other words, of all the holy names of the Supreme Per­\n\nsonality of Godhead, including Vi��u and Rama, the holy name of Kr��a\n\nis the most powerful. The Vedic literature therefore specifically stresses\n\nthe chanting of the holy name of Krwa: Hare Kr��a, Hare Kr�pa, Kr�pa\nKr�!J.a, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Lord\n\nCaitanya introduced this chanting of the holy name of Kr�!la in this age,\n\nthus making liberation more easily obtainable than in other ages. In\nother words, Lord Kr�!la is more excellent than His other incarnations,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0388": "Summary Description of Lord Kr��a's Pastimes\n\n351\n\nalthough all of them are equally the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\n\nThe fifth excellence of Lord Kr�na's appearance is that He established\n\nthe most excellent of all religious principles by His one statement in the\n\nBhagavad-gitii that simply by surrendering unto Him, one can discharge all\n\nthe principles of religious rites. In the Vedic literature there are twenty\n\nkinds of religious principles mentioned, and each of them is described in\n\ndifferent siistras. But Lord K.f�:pa is so kind to the fallen conditioned souls\n\nof this age that He personally appeared and asked everyone to give up all\n\nkinds of religious rites and simply surrender unto Him. It is said that this\n\nage of Kali is three-fourths devoid of religious principles. Hardly one fourth\n\nof the principles of religion are still observed in this age. But by the mercy\nof Lord Kr�:pa, this vacancy of Kali-yuga has not only been completely\nfilled, but the religious process has been made so easy that simply by\n\nrendering transcendental loving service unto Lord Krwa by chanting His\nholy names, Hare Kr�:pa, Hare K.f�:pa, K.f�:pa Kr�:pa, Hare Hare/\n\nHare Rama,\n\nHare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, one can achieve the highest result of\nreligion, namely, being transferred to the highest planet within the spiritual\n\nworld, Goloka Vrndavana. One can thus immediately estimate the benefit\n\nof Lord Kr�:pa's appearance and can understand that His giving relief to\nthe people of the world by His appearance was not at all extraordinary.\n\nSrila Sukadeva Gosvami thus concludes his description of the super­\n\nexalted position of Lord Kr��a by glorifying Him in the following way:\n\n\"0 Lord Kr�:pa, all glories unto You. You are present in everyone's heart\nas Paramatma. Therefore You are known as J ananivasa, one who lives in\n\neveryone's heart.\" As confirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii,\n\ni5vara� saroa­\n\nbhiltiiniim hrd-dese 'rjuna ti�thati: The Supreme Lord in His Paramatma\n\nfeature lives within everyone's heart. This does not mean, however, that\nKr�:pa has no separate existence as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\n\nThe\n\nMayavadi philosophers accept the all-pervading feature of Para­\n\nbrahman, but when Parabrahman, or the Supreme Lord, appears, they\nthink that He appears under the control of material nature. Because Lord\n\nKr�:pa appeared as the son of Devaki, the Mayavadi philosophers accept\n\nKr�:pa to be an ordinary living entity who takes birth within this material\n\nworld. Therefore Sukadeva Gosvami warns them that devaki-janma-viida,\n\nwhich means that although Kr�:pa is famous as the son of Devaki, actually\nHe is the Supersoul or the all-pervading Supreme Personality of Godhead.\n\nThe devotees, however, take this word devaki-janma-viida in a different\n\nway. The devotees understand that actually Kr�pa was the son of mother\nYasoda. Although Kr�:pa first of all appeared as the son of Devaki, He\n\nimmediately transferred Himself to the lap of mother Yasoda, and His\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0389": "352\n\nKr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nchildhood pastimes were blissfully enjoyed by mother Yasoda and Nanda\nMaharaja. This fact was also admitted by Vasudeva himself when he met\nNanda Maharaja and Yasoda at Kuruk�etra. He admitted that Kr�p.a and\n\nBalarama were actually the sons of mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja.\n\nVasudeva and Devaki were only Their official father and mother. Their\n\nactual father and mother were Nanda and Y asoda. Therefore Sukadeva\n\nGosvami addressed Lord Kr��a as devaki-janma-viida.\n\nSukadeva Gosvami then glorifies the Lord as one who is honored by the\n\nyadu-vara-pari§at, the assembly house of the Yadu dynasty, and as the killer\nof different kinds of demons. Kr�p.a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\n\nco�ld have killed all the demons by employing His different material\nenergies, but He wanted to kill them personally in order to give them\nsalvation. There was no need of Kr�p.a's coming to this material world to\n\nkill the demons. Simply by His willing, many hundreds and thousands of\ndemons could have been killed without His personal endeavor. But actually\n\nHe descended for His pure devotees, to play as a child with mother Y asoda\n\nand Nanda Maharaja and to give pleasure to the inhabitants of Dvaraka. By\n\nkilling the demons and by giving protection to the devotees, Lord Kr�p.a\nestablished the real religious principle, which is simply love of God. By\n\nfollowing the factual religious principles of love of God, even the living\n\nentities known as sthira-cara were also delivered of all material contami­\n\nnation and were transferred to the spiritual kingdom. Sthira means the\n\ntrees and plants, which cannot move, and cara means the moving animals,\n\nspecifically the cows. When Kr�p.a was present, He delivered all the trees,\n\nmonkeys and other plants and animals who happened to see Him and\n\nserve Him both in Vrndavana and in Dvaraka.\n\nLord Kr�p.a is especially glorified for His giving pleasure to the gopis and\n\nthe queens .of Dvaraka. Sukadeva Gosvami glorifies Lord Kr��a for His\n\nenchanting smile, by which He enchanted not only the gopis at V rndavana\n\nbut also the queens at Dvaraka. The exact word used in this connection is\n\nvardhayan kiimadevam. In Vrndavana as the boy friend of many gopis and\nin Dvaraka as the husband of many queens, Kr�p.a increased their lusty\n\ndesires to enjoy with Him. For God realization or self-realization, one\ngenerally has to undergo severe austerities and penances for many, many\nthousands of years, and then it may be possible to realize God. But the\n\ngopis and the queens of Dvaraka, simply by enhancing their lusty desires\nto enjoy Kr�p.a as their boy friend or husband, received the highest type of\nsalvation.\n\nThis behavior of Lord Kr�p.a with the gopis and queens is unique\n\nin the history of self-realization. Usually people understand that for\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0390": "Summary Description of Lord Kr�!ia's Pastimes\n\n353\n\nself-realization one has to go to the forest or to the mountains and undergo\nsevere austerities and penances. But the gopis and the queens, simply by\n\nbeing attached to Kr�!la in conjugal love and enjoying His company in a\n\nso-called sensuous life full of luxury and opulence, achieved the highest\n\nsalvation, which is im-possible to be achieved even by great sages and\n\nsaintly persons. Similarly, the demons such as Kamsa, Dantavakra, Sisupala,\n\netc., also got the highest benefit of being transferred to the spiritual world.\nIn the beginning of Srimad-Bhiigavatam, Srila Vyasadeva offered his\n\nrespectful obeisances to the Supreme Truth, Vasudeva, Kr�pa. After that\nhe taught his son, Sukadeva Gosvami, to preach Srimad-Bhiigavatam. It is\nin this connection that Sukadeva Gosvami glorifies the Lord as jayati.\n\nFollowing in the footsteps of Srila Vyasadeva, Sukadeva Gosvami and all\n\nthe iiciiryas in disciplic succession, the whole population of the world\n\nshould glorify Lord Kr�!J.a, and for their best interest they should take to\n\nthis Kr�!la consciousness movement. The process is easy and helpful. It is\n\nsimply to chant the mahiimantra, Hare Kr�pa, Hare Kr�pa, Kr�pa Kr�pa,\n\nHare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Lord Caitanyahas therefore recommended that one should be callous to the material up-s\n\nand downs. Material life is temporary, and so the ups and downs of life may\n\ncome and go. When they come, one should be as tolerant as a tree and as\n\nhumble and meek as the straw in the street, but certainly he must engage\n\nhimself in Kr�pa consciousness by chanting Hare Kr�pa, Hare Kr�pa, Kr�pa\nKrwa, Hare Hare.\n\nThe Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kr�pa, the Supersoul of all living\n\nentities, out of His _causeless mercy comes down and manifests His different\n\ntranscendental pastimes in different incarnations. Hearing the attractive\n\npastimes of Lord Kr�pa's different incarnations is a chance for liberation\n\nfor the conditioned soul, and the most fascinating and pleasing activities\n\nof Lord Kr�pa Himself are still more attractive because Lord Kr�pa personally is all-attractive.\n\nFollowing in the holy footsteps of Srila Sukadeva Gosvami, we have\n\ntried to present this book K[§!ta for being read and heard by the condi­\n\ntioned souls of this age. By hearing the pastimes of Lord Kr�pa, one is sure\n\nand certain to get salvation and be transferred back home, back to\nGodhead. It is recommended by Sukadeva Gosvami that as we hear the\n\ntranscendental pastimes and activities of the Lord, we gradually cut\n\nthe knots of material contamination. Therefore, regardless of what one\n\nis, if one wants the association of Lord Krwa in the transcendental\n\nkingdom of God for eternity in blissful existence, one must hear about\n\nthe pastimes of Lord Kr�pa and chant the mahiimantra, Hare Kr�pa,\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0391": "Kf�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n354\n\nHare Krwa, Kr�!la Kr�!la, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama,\n\nHare Hare.\n\nThe transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nKr�!la are so powerful that simply by hearing, reading and memorizing this\nbook Krrcw one is sure to be transferred to the spiritual world, which is\n,\n\nordinarily very difficult to achieve. The description of the pastimes of\n\nLord Kr�!la is so attractive that automatically it gives us an impetus to\n\nstudy repeatedly, and the more we study the pastimes of the Lord, the\nmore we become attached to Him. This very attachment to Kr�!la makes\n\none eligible to be transferred to His abode, Goloka Vrndavana. As we have\n\nlearned from the previous chapter, to cross over the material world is to\n\ncross over the stringent laws of material nature. The stringent laws of\n\nmaterial nature cannot check the progress of one who is attracted by the\n\nspiritual nature. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gitii by the Lord Him­\n\nself: although the stringent laws of material nature are very difficult to\n\novercome, if anyone surrenders unto the Lord, he can very easily cross\n\nover nescience. There is, however, no influence of material nature in the\nspiritual world. As we have learned from the Second Canto of Srimad'\"\n\nBhiigavatam,\n\nthe ruling power of the demigods and the influence of\n\nmaterial nature are conspicuous by their absence in the spiritual world.\n\nSrila Sukadeva Gosvami has therefore advised Maharaja Parilqit in the\n\nbeginning of the Second Canto that every conditioned soul should engage\n\nhimself in hearing and chanting the transcendental pastimes of the Lord.\n\nSrila Sukadeva Gosvami also informed King Parik�it that previously many\n\nother kings and emperors went to the jungle to prosecute severe austerities\nand penances in order to go back home, back to Godhead. In India, it is\n\nstill a practice that many advanced transcendentalists give up their family\n\nlives and go to Vrndavana to live there alone and completely engage in\n\nhearing and chanting of the holy pastimes of the Lord. This system\n\nis recommended in the Srimad-Bhiigavatam, and the six Gosvamis of\nVrndavana followed it, but at the present moment many karmis and\n\npseudo-devotees have overcrowded the holy place of Vrndavana just to\n\nimitate this process recommended by Sukadeva Gosvami. It is said that\n\nmany kings and emperors formerly went to the forest for this purpose, but\nSrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur Gosvami Maharaja does not recom­\n\nmend that one take up this solitary life in Vrndavana prematurely.\n\nOne who goes prematurely to Vrndavana to live in pursuance of the\n\ninstructions of Sukadeva Gosvami again falls a victim of miiyii, even while\nresiding in Vrndavana. To check such unauthorized residence in Vrndavana,\n\nSrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur has sung a nice song in this\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0392": "Summary Description of Lord Kr�!la's Pastimes\n\n355\n\nconnection, the purport of which is as follows: \"My dear mind, why are\nyou so proud of being a Vai�!lava? Your solitary worship and chanting of\n\nthe holy name of the Lord are based on a desire for cheap popularity, and\n\ntherefore your chanting of the holy name is only a pretension. Such an\n\nambition for a cheap reputation can be compared to the stool of a hog\n\nbecause such popularity is another extension of the influence of maya.\"\nOne may go to Vrndavana for cheap popularity, and instead of being\n\nabsorbed in Kr�!la consciousness, one may always think of money and\n\nwomen, which are simply temporary sources of happiness. It is better that\n\none engage whatever money and women he may have in his possession in\n\nthe service of the Lord because sense enjoyment is not for the conditioned\nsoul.\n\nThe master of the senses is . .\nHrsikesa, Lord .\nKrsna.\nTherefore, the senses\n..\n\nshould always be engaged in His service. As for material reputation, there\nwere many demons like Rava!la who wanted to go against the laws of\n\nmaterial nature, but they all failed. One should therefore not take to the\ndemoniac activity of claiming to be a Vai�!lava just for false prestige, with­\n\nout performing service to the Lord. But when one engages oneself in the\ndevotional service of the Lord, automatically the V ai�!lava reputation\n\ncomes to him. There is no need to be envious of the devotees who are\n\nengaged in preaching the glories of the Lord. We have practical experience\n\nof being advised by the so-called biibajis in Vrndavana that there is no\n\nneed to preach and that it is better to live in Vrndavana in a solitary place\nand chant the holy name. Such babiijis do not know that if one is engaged\nin preaching work or in glorifying the Supreme Personality of Godhead,\n\nthe good reputation of a preacher automatically follows one. One should\n\nnot, therefore, prematurely give up the honest life of a householder to\n\nlead a life of debauchery in Vrndavana. Sn,a Sukadeva Gosvami's recom­\n\nmendation to leave home and go to the forest in search of Kr�!la is not for\n\nimmature persons. Maharaja PanK�it was mature. Even in his householder\n\nlife, or from the very beginning of his life, he worshiped Lord Kr�!la's\n\nmilrti. In his childhood he worshiped the Deity of Lord Kr�!la, and later,\n\nalthough he was a householder, he was always detached, and therefore\n\nwhen he got the notice of his death, he immediately gave up all connection\nwith household life and sat down on the bank of the Ganges to hear\n\nSrima d-Bhiiga vatam in the association of devotees.\n\n. Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Ninetieth Chapter of\n\nKr�!la, \"Summary Desc ript ion of Lord Knrw's Pastimes.\"\n\nThus ends Volume Two of Krwa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0393": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0394": "Glossary\n\nAk�auhivi-a\n\nmilitary\n\ndivision\n\nconsisting\n\nof 21,870 chariots, 21,870\n\nelephants, 206,950 infantry soldiers and 65,600 cavalry\n\n.Atmiiriima-self-satisfied sage\n\nBahuliisva- King of Videha who personally received the Supreme Lord as a\n\nguest in his home\n\nBali Mahiiriija- king of the lower planetary system, Sutalaloka; he gave\n\neverything to Kr��a in His incarnation as Vamana\n\nBalvala-giant demon killed by Balarama\n\nBavasura-thousand-armed demon who arrested Aniruddha\n\nBhaumiisura-demon killed by Lord Kr��a after complaints by Lord Indra\nBrahma-riik�asas-briihmavas who have become ghosts\n\nCiimara-whisk or· fan used by Kr��a's queens in Dvaraka to fan the Lord\n\nDantavakra-demon friend of Salva, killed by a blow of Kr��a's club\n\nDviirakii- Lord Kr��a's opulent, fortified city built within the water\n\n· Dvivida - gorilla demon killed by Balarama\n\nHastiniipura-capital city of the Pa��avas, entered by Kr��a at the time\nof the Rajasiiya sacrifice\n\n]iimbaviin-a devotee of Lord Ramacandra who fought with Krwa over\n\nthe Syamantaka jewel\n\n]iimbavati-one of Kr��a's wives, the daughter of Jambavan\n\nKiilindi-the Yamuna River personified, a wife of Kr��a\n\nKaumudi-an especially fragrant flower found on the bank of the Yamuna\nRiver\n\nKunkuma- a sweetly flavored reddish powder which is thrown upon the\n\nbodies of worshipable persons\n\nKuntidevi-the mother of the Pa��avas, a paternal aunt and pure devotee\nof Kr��a\n\nLak�mavu-wife of Kr��a who heard of Him from Narada and was taken\n\n357\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0395": "358\n\nKr�!la, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\nby Kr�!la during her svayarhvara. Lak�ma!la is also the name of a\nwife of Samba.\n\n·\n\nMiigadhas-professional singers present at sacrifices\n\nMahii-ratha-a warrior who can fight against ten thousand others\n\nMayavada-the system of philosophy propounded by the impersonalists\nMitravindii-a wife whom Kr�!la won in her svayarhvara competition\n\nNiigapasa-snake-noose, used by Ba!lasura to subdue Aniruddha\n\nNarayartasastra-weapon of Naraya!la (Kr�!la) used by Him to counteract\nLord Siva's Pasupatasastra weapon\n\nNrga-king who had to become a lizard due to his discrepancies in giving\ncharity\n\nParamaharhsa-(literally, the supreme swan) a person who can draw out\nthe spiritual essence, just as a swan can extract milk from water\n\nPurijiita-a type of flower found only in the heavenly planets\n\nPaurtflraka-an imposter who, claiming to be the Supreme Personality of\nGodhead, challenged Kr�t�a and was killed by His Sudarsana-cakra\n\nPradyumna-son of Kr�!la and Queen Rukmi!li\n\nRiijasilya-yajiia-great sacrifice performed by Maharaja Yudhi�thira and\nattended by Lord Kr�!la\n\nRohirti-a wife of Kr�!la\n\nRomahar�arta-disciple of Vyasadeva who failed to offer Lord Balarama\nrespects and was killed by Balarama with a blade of grass\n\nRukmirti-Lord Kr�t�a's principal queen at Dvaraka\n\nSiilva-demon who attacked Dvaraka with a mystic airplane and was killed\nby Lord Kr�!la\n\nSankirtana-yajiia-the recommended sacrifice for the age of Kali, chanting\nof the holy names of God\n\nSiistras-revealeu scriptures\n\nSatadhanvii-a demon who killed Satrajit for the Syamantaka jewel and\nwas later killed by Kr�!la's disc\n\nSatyii-wife of Kr�!la whom He won by subduing seven bulls\nSatyabhiimii-one of Kr�!la's principal queens\n\nSiiyujya-mukti-merging into the existence of the Supreme. This type of\n\nimpersonal liberation was awarded to demons, such as Sisupala,\n\npersonally killed by Kr�!la\n\n·\n\nSiSupiila-demon who insulted Krwa at the Rajasiiya-yajiia and was killed\nby Him\n\nSonitiipura-capital city of the demon Bhaumasura\n\nSrutadeva-poor briihmarta who received Kr�!la in his home and pleased\nthe Lord\n\n·\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0396": "Glossary\n\n359\n\nSubhadrii-sister of Kr��a who was kidnapped and married by Arjuna\n\nSudiimii-briihmava devotee of Lord Kr��a who was an intimate boyhood\nfriend of the Lord\n\nSud arsana- c akra -pers o nal weapon of Sri Kr��a\n\nSukadeva Gosviimi- the exalted son of Vyasadeva, the first narrator of\nthe pastimes of Kr��a in Srimad-Bhiigavatam\nSilta Gosviimi-the speaker of the Srimad-Bhiigavatam before the sages at\nNaimi�ara�ya\nSiltas-professional singers present at sacrifices\nSvayarhvara-ceremony of open competition in which the conquenng\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\n.\n\nprmce Wins a pnncess m marnage\n\nTridavfla-three rods carried by Vai��ava sannyiis is indicating service to\n,\n\nGod in mind, body and words\n\nU§ii-girl who married Kr��a's grandson Aniruddha after a battle with\nBhaumasura's army\nVa�vava-devotee of Lord Naraya�a (Kr��a) who sees every living entity\nas part and parcel of the Lord\nViiruvi-daughter of the demigod Varu!J.a who came in the form of liquid\nhoney which was drunk by Lord Balarama\n\nVi § vu tattv a -expansi o ns of Kr��a as the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n-\n\nYudhi§thira Mahiiriija-eldest Pa!J.9ava brother, a cousin to Kr�!J.a, and a\npure devotee of the Lord\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0397": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0398": "Index\nkills Balvala, 168-169\n\nAbsolute Truth\n\ntours sacred places, 169-173\n\nrealized only by devotion, 26,\n\nanger at Arjuna, 228-229\n\n265\nthree features of, 238, 245\n\nBali Maharaja, 223-225\n\nzation of, 239-240, 246-248,\n\nBanasura\n.\nbenedicted by Lord Siva, 53-\n\nBalvala, 168-169\n\npersonal and impersonal reali­\n\n261-265, 275-281' 285-294\nqualities of, 241-242\n\n54\nattacks and captures Anirud­\n\nAkriira, 10, 12-14\n\ndha, 57-58\n\nAniruddha, 50-52, 55-58, 67-68\n\nfights Kr�v.a, 59-61, 64\n\nArjuna\n\nsurrenders to Krsna, 6 7\n...\n\nand Kalindi, l 7-19\n\nBhadra, 24, 203\n\nat marriage of Satya, 24\nand Subhadra, 227-229\n\nBhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami\n\nstolen, 329-331, 336\n\nBhaumasura (Narakasura), 25-28\n\nMaharaja, 354-355\n\nand briihmarta whose son was\nvisiting Maha-Vi�v.u, 332-337\n\nBhima, 130-132\n\nBrahmacarya, 301\nBriihmarta\n\nBahuHisva, 229-232, 236\n\nproperty of, 70-75\n\nBaladima, Lord Sri\n\nworships Kr�v.a, 101\n\nresidence of in Mithila, 12\n\ngiven charity by Kr�v.a, Ill\n\nkills Rukmi, 51-52\n\nqualifications of, 164-165, 188-\n\nvisits Vrndavana, 76-80\n.\nkills Dvivida, 87-90\n\n189\nVaisnava, 235, 236-237\n.\nwhose son was stolen,\n\nmeets with Kurus and drags\n\n.\n\nHastinapura, 93-99\n\nas first expansion of Kr�v.a, 109\n\n325-331, 336\n\nkills Romaharsana Siita, 163.\n\nBhfgumuni, 321-324\n\n.\n\nBrahma, Lord, 321-322\n\n167\n\n361\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0399": "Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n362\n\nBriihma-muhurta, 107-108\nCaitanya, Lord Sri\n\nSik§ii§faka of,21,102-103\n\nteachings of, basic principle,\n199\n\ndemonstrated\n\n299\n\npure devotion,\n\nand Ramananda Raya,325\n\nCitralekha, 55-56\n\n25\n\nfights Kr�Q.a for piirijiita, 3031\n\nJaimini,261-262\n\nJambavan (�k�a),1,3-6,202\n\nJambavati\n\nsons of,49\n\nDemigods, 62, 238-239, 248', 271,\n306, 320, 330-331\n\nDevaki, 222-226\n\nsuccession\n\ncomplains about Bhaumasura,\n\nmarries Kr�Q.a,7, 202\n\nDantavakra,160-162\n\nDisciplic\n\nlndra\n\n(paramparii),\n\n243, 299\n\nDraupadi, 201, 206\n\nDuryodhana\n\nlearns club fighting from Balarama, 12\n\nfeeling of insult after Rajasiiya­\n\nyajfia, 150-152\n\nDvaraka\n\ncitizens of, inform Krsna of\n\nsun-god's ·arrival,1-3\n\nattacked by Salva,154\ndescribed,100, 341\n\nDvivida Gorilla,87-90\n\nEarth,personified,28-29\nGaru�a, 27\n\nGautama, 263\n\nGopis\n\nreceive Lord Balarama in Vrndavana,76-80\n\nmeet Kr�Q.a and Balarama at\nKuruk�etra, 196-199\n\nHoly Name (Hare Kr�Q.a), 108,258,\n350-351,353-354\n\nJarasandha\n\nkings imprisoned by, 113-117,\n\n133-138\n\nkilled by Bhimasena,129-132\n\nJaya and Vijaya,145-146\nKalindi\n\naccepted by Kr�Q.a,18-20,202\n\nsons of,49\n\nKana�a,263\n\nKasi, King of, 82-84\nKr�Q.a, Lord Sri\n\nand Satrajit, 1-3\n\nfights with Jambavan,4-5\n\npursues and kills Satadhanva,\n10-12\n\nresidence in Hastinapura,15-20\n\naccepts five wives, 18-24\nkills\n\n25-28\n\nMura and\n\nBhaumasura,\n\naccepts 16,000 queens,30\n\ntalks with RukmiQ.i,33-47.\n\nfamily of, genealogical table,\n48-52\n\nfights BaQ.asura,59-68\n\nexpansions and incarnations of,\n66,109,239,260,340\n\ngrace on King Nrga,69-75\n\nkills PauQ.�raka, 81-83\n\nkills Kasiraja and defeats Su­\n\ndak�i'Q.a,84-86\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0400": "Index\n\n363\n\nhomes, 100-106\n\nsons of, 49\nMura Demon, 26\n\nin Hastinapura, 120-124\n\nNarada Muni\n\nvisited by Narada in 16,000\ndaily activities of, 107-117\n\nencourages Maharaja\nthira, 126-127\n\nYudhi�­\n\n.\n\nand Jarasandha, 128-132\n\nkills Sisupala, 145-146\nfights Salva, 157, 160\n\nkills Dantavakra and Vidiiratha,\n162\nand Sudama, 178-189\n\nmeets gopis at Kuruk�etra, 196,\n199\nvisits Srutadeva and B ahulasva,\n\ninforms Yadus of arrest of Aniruddha, 59\ninforms\n\nYadus\n\nof arrest of\n\nSamba, 93\nvisits 16,000 palaces, 100-106\ninvites Kr�:pa to Rajasiiya sac­\n\nrifice, 115-117, 120\n\nand Narayana \\l.�i, 242-243\n\nadvises Vrkasura, 313-314\nNaraya:pajvara, 61-62\n.\n\n229-237\n\nNarottamadasa Thakur, 258, 282,\n296, 311\n\nas goal of Vedas, 241, 244-245\n\nNrga, 69-75\n\nof, 292, 293\n\nPa:p�avas\n\nsix opulences and six qualities\nspeaks about poverty of devo­\n\ntees, 308-312\n\ncarries Arjuna to Maha-Vi�:pu,\n\nvisited by Kr�:pa, 15-20\ngreet\n\nKrwa\n\nin· Hastinapura,\n\n332-337\n\n121-123\n\nqueens of, 341-348\n\nengagements at Riijasiiya sac­\n\nfive excellences of, 349-351\nKrtavarma, 10, 59\npraises Kr�:pa, 16-17\n\ntalks with Vasudeva, 193-194\nLaksmana, wife of Krsna\n.\n\n. ..\n\nmarries Kr�:pa, 24, 203, 205\n\nsons of, 49\n\nLak�ma:pa, wife of Samba, 91-92,\n97-98\nLiberation, 239, 246\nMayavadi philosophy, six divisions\nof, 26 1-262\nMimamsaka philosophy, 26 1-262\nMitravinda\n\nrifice, 147\n\ndistresses of, 309-310\n\nKuntidevi\n\n.\n\nrumored death of, 9\n\ntaken by Kr�:pa, 20, 202\n\nPau!l�aka, 81-83\nPradyumna\n\nWives of, 49-50\nfights against Salva, 154-157\n\nPrasena, 3-4\n\nPrayers\n\nof Jambavan, 5-6\n\nof earth personified, 28-29\nof Sivajvara, 62-64\nof Lord Siva, 64-67\n\nof the Kings imprisoned by\nJariisandha, 134-136\nof the sages of Kuruk�etra,\n209-211\nof Vasudeva, 217-220\nof Bahulasva, 231-232\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0401": "364\n\nKr�!ia, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\nof Srutadeva, 233-235\nof the personified Vedas, 238304\n\nRajasiiya yajiia\nKr�\\la invited by Narada, 115,\n120\n\npreparations, 125-128, 139-140\nKr�\\la elected for first-worship,\n141-143\n\ncompleted, 145-147\nconcluding festivities, 147-150\nRamacandra, Lord, 6\nRasa Dance, 78-79\nRenunciation, 266-267, 289-291,\n347\n\nRomahar�a\\la Siita, 163-167\nRukmi, 50-52\nRukmi\\}i\ntalks with Kr�\\la, 33-47\nsons of, 49\nserves Sudama Brahm�a, 179\nmarriage of, 201\nidentity and expansions of,\n341\n\nRiipa Gosvami, l93, 266, 289, 290,\n294\n\nSahadeva, 141-142\nSalva, 153-160\nSamba, 91-93\nSankaracarya\naccepts Kr�\\la as Supreme Personality of Godhead, 2\nphilosophy rejected, 263\nSankhya philosophy, 262-263\nSannyiisa, 227-228, 289\n\nSatadhanva, 10-12\nSatrajit, 1-10\nSatya (Nagnajiti)\nmarried by Kr�\\la, 20-24, 202203\n\nsons of, 49\nSatyabhama\npresented to Kr�\\la, 8\ngoes with Kr�\\la to abode of\nBhaumasura, 25\nsteals parijata, 30\nsons of, 49\nmarriage of, 201-202\nSisupala, 143-146, 201\nSiva, Lord\nbenedicts Ba\\}lisura, 53\nleads fight against Kr�\\la, 59-62\noffers prayers to KH\\}a, 64-67\nbenedicts Sudak�i\\}a, 84-85\nbenedicts Salva, 153-154\ndevotees, prosperity of, 305313\n\nand Vrkasura, 313-320\nand Bhfgumuni, 322\ntaken shelter of by Arjuna,\n330-331\n\nSivajvara, 61-64\nSpiritual master\nKr�\\la's, 180-182\nnecessity of 282-284\nSridhara Svami, 257, 259,261, 265,\n267,269,282\n\n-\n\nSrutadeva, 229-230, 232-237\nSubhadra, 227-229\nSudak�i\\}a (son of KaSiraja), 84-86\nSudama (friend of Kr�\\la), 176-189\nSudar8ana disc, 19, 26, 28, 64, 8586, 145, 160, 162, 333\n\nSun-god, 1-3\nSupersoul, 13, 180, 254, 256-257,\n269-270, 292-294\n\nSyamantaka jewel, 1-8, 13-14, 201\nUddhava, 117-120\nu�a., 55-58\n\nVarupi, 79\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0402": "Index\nVasudeva\n\ntalks with Kunti, 193-194\n\n365\npremature residence in, 354-\n\n355\n\nmeets Kf�:pa and Balarama, 195\nglorifies Kr�:pa and Balarama,\n\n217-220\nVedas, personified, 238-304\nVidiiratha, 162\nVi�:pu, Lord\n\ndevotees, poverty of, 305-313\n\nprotects Lord Siva from v rkasura, 318-320\n\nand Bhrgumuni, 322-324\n\nvisited by Kr�:pa and Arjuna,\n\n334-337\nmotives in stealing briihmap.a's\n\nsons, 338-340\n\ninstructs\n\nservants\n\ndevotees, 310\n\nregarding\n\nYamuna\n\npersonified (see Kiilindi)\n\nthreatened by. Balarama, 79-80\nas Ganges, 99\n\nYa8oda\n\nreceives Lord Balarama, 76-77\n\nmeets Krsna and Balarama at\n. ..\n\nKuruk�etra, 195\n\nproposes\n\n.\n\nVrndavana\n\nRajasiiya\n\nsacrifice,\n\n125-126\n\nvisited by Balarama, 76\n\ninhabitants of meet Krsna and\n\nelevation to, 259-260\n\nand King Nrga, 72\n\nYudhi�thira\n\nVrkasura, 313-320\n\nBalarama, 190-199\n\nYamaraja\n\n. ..\n\nprepares and executes sacrifice,\n\n140-150\ninquires about devotees of Siva\nand Vi�:pu, 308\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0403": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0404": "Bibliography\nVOLUME I\n\nBhagavad-gitii, xii-xiii, xiv, xv, xviii,\nxix, xxi, xxiii, 13,14,17,18,\n20, 21, 23, 28, 44; 45, 48,\n\n314,325,3 34,349\n\nKatha Upani�ad, 15\nKrsna-bhiivaniimrta, 291\n. . .\n\n.\n\n50, 51, 81, 89, 91, 94, 97,\n\nMahiibhiirata, xii, 21\n\n98, 101, 104, 105, 106,107,\n\nPadma Puriipa, 355,369\n\n109,110,112,125,126,136,\n\n192,194,195,211,215,220,\n\nSkanda Puriina, 210\nSrimad-Bhii avatam, xi, xix, xx, xx�\nxxii, xxii� xxiv, 2,17,18,19,\n20, 85, 105, 129, 1 38, 168,\n\n141,143,144,148,149,158,\n159,161,167,17 3,185,187,\n\ng\n\n221,222,223,226,228,229,\n\nt88,190,193,216,217,221,\n\n246,247,258,276,278,289,\n\n222,225, 310,316,3 3 3,348,\n\n292,294,30 3,304,306,307,\n\n349,350,359\n\n311, 314,315,318,329,336,\n354,359\n\nBrahma-samhitii, xix, 16, 19, 26,\n\nTeachings of Lord Caitanya, 291\nUpadesiimrta, 145\nV�pu Puriipa, 22,88,332\n\n81, 96, 10 3, 104, 107, 143,\n\nVediinta-siltra, 98,104\n\n155,164,192,198,210,216,\n\nVedas, 38, 5 3, 81, 97, 107, 138,\n139,144,148,159,166,218\n\n245,249\n\nCaitanya-caritiimrta, xvii, 11,30,9 3,\n\n219,289,307,340\n\n112,124,166,189,215,247,\n\nVOLUME II\n\nBhagavad-gitii, 3,4,6 3,65,68,70,\n110,125,134,138,145,164,\n\n249,251,252,25 3,254,255,\n259,261,262,263,264,265,\n\n165,176,180,198,219,220,\n\n268,269,270,271,27 3,274,\n275,276,278,281,282,28 3,\n\n239,241,245,246,247,248,\n367\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0405": "Kr��a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead\n\n368\n\n286, 287, 288, 289,290,293,\n\nNarayarta-paiicaratra, 256\n\n295,296,298, 299,302,303,\n\nPadma Purarta, 266,327\nSik�a�taka, 21,102-103\n\n304,306,307,308,312,313,\n314,315,316,317,324,325,\n\nSrimad-Bhagavatam,\n\n14, 25, 55,\n\n327,330,333,334,336,349,\n\n146,148,164,165,170,176,\n\n351,354\nBrahma-sarhhita, 65, 72, 109, 263,\n\n189,193,226,248,253,256,\n\n264, 293, 299, 303, 334\n\n307,308,324,325,326,327,\n\nCaitanya-caritamrta, 276,281,299,\n327\n\nlsopan�ad, 190,292,326\nMahabhiirata, 104,302\nMrtyuiijaya-tantra, 334\n\nNarada-paiicaratra, 309\n\n257,262,263,291,294,300,\n332,340,349,353,354\nVaraha Parana, 256\n\nVediinta-siltra, 5, 42, 240, 251,\n263,265,279,291,300\nVedas, 72, 105, 144, 173, 182,\n209, 238-304, 305, 324\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0406": "Note on Transliterated Sanskrit Words\n\n369\n\nThe vowels are pronounced almost as in Italian. The sound of the\nshort a is like the u in but, the long ii is like the a in far and held\ntwice as long as the short a, and e is like the a in evade. Long i is like\nthe i in pique. The vowel r is pronounced like the re in the English\nword fibre. The c is pronounced as in the English word chair, and the\naspirated consonants (ch, jh, dh, etc.) are pronounced as in staunchheart, hedge-hog, red-hot, etc. The two spirants s and � are pronounced\nlike the English sh; s is pronounced as in sun.\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0407": "", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0408": "Other Books by A.C. Bhaktivedanta �wami\nThe Nectar of Devotion\nThis book is\nwho\n\nthose\n\nare\n\nconsciousness\n\nes\n\npe cia lly intended for\n\nengaged in\n\nmovement.\n\n�a\n\nthe\n\ntext\n\nThe\n\nis\n\nflooded with nectarean stories. philo50phy\n\nand poetic verse\n\na bout ��a and His\n\npure devotees-all taken directly from the\n\nVedic literature . It i a ummary ::tudy of\n\nBhakti-rasiimrta-sindhu, which was written\nin Sanskrit\n\nby Snl.a Riipa Gosv limi the\n.\n\nchief of the six direct disciples of Lord\nCaitanya :'ll ahapra bhu\n\n.\n\nThe subject matter is 10\\-e of God. The\n.Yectar\n\nof\n\nDewtion\n\nteaches\n\nc an\n\nhappy\n\nto\n\nand\n\ninstructs how\n\nto\n\nwhere\n\nplace our love so that all\n\nbecome\nlove\n\nthe\n\nultimate reservoir of love. Kr��a. in five\ndifferent transcendental mellows.\n\n404 pp. 4 full-color plates. :,oftbound.\nS3.95\n\nThe Bhagavad-gita As It Is\nNow for the first time thi\n\nrenowned\n\nscripture is being brought to the West a it\nis-as taught by Kr��a Himself and understood by His disciple Arjuna-in a unique\ntranslation and commentary.\nFrom the Introduction: \"The perple:-..ities of life appear like a forest fire which\ntakes place without being set by an� one.\n\nThe man in material perplexitie is he who\n\ndoes not understand the problems of life.\nOut of many many human beings. the\nBhagavad-gitii is directed to the one who\nseeks to understand his position.\"\n\n318 pp., softbound $2.95\n\nTea chin gs of Lord Caitanya\nA Treatise on Factual Spiritual Life\n\nLord Caitanya, the most munificent incarnation of Godhead, appeared 500 year·\nago\n\nto\n\ndemonstrate\n\nhow\n\nto\n\nlive\n\nthe\n\nteachings of Bhagavad-gitii in the present\n\nage.\n\nLord\n\nCaitanya\n\nwas\n\nfamous\n\nas\n\na\n\nscholar and spoke authoritatively on Kr��a,\n_yoga, liberation and nirvii[la. Still, He i\nbetter known as the divine origin of the\nHare Kr�l)a movement, distributing love of\nGod simply by singing the holy names.\n\n292 pp., ll pp. illus.; hardbound S5.95\nAvailable from ISKCON Press\n38 N. Beacon St., Boston, .l1assachusetts\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0409": "KRSNA\nThe Supreme Per;��ali ty of Godhead\nThe most comprehensive and authoritative Vedic\n\nscriptural litera ture is the Snmad-\n\nBhiigavatam (the Beautiful Story of the Personality of Godhead), the mature contribution\nof- rila Vyasadeva, the compiler of the Vedas.\n\nBhiigavatam,\n\nOf the twelve cantos of the Snmad-\n\nthe Tenth Canto is considered· the most confidential,\n\nsince it describes\n\nthe transcendental pastimes of Sri Kf�l)a,\nthe Persorality of Godhead. Kmw is a\nsummary study of the Tenth Canto of\n\nSnmad-Bhiigavatam.\nSukadeva Gosvaml, the ori gi nal speaker\nof Snmad-Bhiigavatam, has declared that\nthere are three classes of men and that\nthe pastimes of Kr�'!a will be relished by\n'\n\neach of them.\n\n)\n\nThe liberated soul who is\n\nno longer interested in mundane topics\n\nA.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami\n\nmost certainly hears about Kr�'!a with\nthe highest pleasure. The person who is trying to become liberated will also enjoy these\ntopics of the Personality of Godhead, which purify anyone who hears them. And even the\ngross materialist will enjoy hearing about Kr�'!a because of the resemblance between His\naffairs with the gopis and the loving affairs of ordinary boys and gi rls.\n\nThis presentation\n\nof the pastimes of Kr�'!a is a rare opportunity for all mankind to become attracted to the\ntrans�.:endental world of the Personality of Godhead and to thus derive the highest benefit.\n\n�\n-=\nc�\n�\n-6\n\nCo�\n\n400 pp. 84 full--color plates . 8. 00\n\n", "KRSNA_Book_Vol.2_1970_ISKCON_Press_edition_SCAN#p0410": ""}