32
TEACHINGS OF QUEEN KUNTĪ
and enjoy.” This is  māyā . No one but Kṛṣṇa can be the enjoyer. Kṛṣṇa therefore says in  Bhagavad-gītā ,  bhoktāraṁ yajña : “I am the only enjoyer.” If we supply ingredients for Kṛṣṇa’s enjoyment, we attain the perfection of life. But if we want to imitate Kṛṣṇa, thinking, “I shall become God and enjoy like Him,” then we are in  māyā . Our natural position is to provide enjoyment for Kṛṣṇa. In the spiritual world, for example, Kṛṣṇa enjoys, and the  gopīs , the transcendental cowherd girls, supply the ingredients for Kṛṣṇa’s enjoyment. This is  bhakti .
Bhakti  is a relationship between master and servant. The servant’s duty is to serve the master, and the master supplies whatever the servant needs.
nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānāṁ eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān (Kaṭha Up. 2.2.13)
The Vedic literature informs us that Kṛṣṇa can supply all the necessities for one’s life. There is no scarcity and no economic problem. We simply have to try to serve Kṛṣṇa, and then everything will be complete.
If Kṛṣṇa desires, there may be ample supplies. In America, for example, there is an ample supply of everything needed, although in other countries this is not so. For instance, when I went to Switzerland I saw that everything there is imported. The only thing supplied locally is snow. This is all under Kṛṣṇa’s control. If one becomes a devotee, one will be amply supplied with food, and if one does not become a devotee one will be covered with snow. Everything is under Kṛṣṇa’s control, so actually there is no scarcity. The only scarcity is a scarcity of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Of course, the world is full of dangers. But Kuntīdevī says, “Because Devakī is Your devotee, You saved her from the distresses imposed upon her by her envious brother.” As soon as Devakī’s brother heard that his sister’s eighth son would kill him, he was immediately ready to kill Devakī. But Devakī’s husband pacified him. It is the duty of a husband to protect his wife, and therefore Devakī’s husband said, “My dear brother-in-law, why are you envious of your sister? After all, your sister will not kill you; it is her son who will kill you. That is the problem. So I shall deliver all the sons to you, and then you may do whatever you like with them. Why should you kill this innocent, newly married girl? She is your younger sister, and you should protect her, just as you would protect your daughter. Why should you kill her?” In this way he placated