40 The Nectar of Devotion

if they are offered the four kinds of spiritual opulences,* they will
refuse to accept them. So what to, speak of their desiring anything
within the material world!” Similarly, Lord Krsna says in another
passage of the Bhagavatam, Eleventh Canto, 14th Chapter, 13th
verse, “My dear Uddhava, a person whose consciousness is completely
absorbed in My thought and activities does not aspire even to occupy
the post of Brahma, or the post of Indra, or the post of lordship over
the planets, or the eight kinds of mystic perfections, or even libera-
tion itself.” In the Twelfth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, 10th
Chapter, verse 6, Lord Siva says to Devi: “My dear Devi, this great
brahmana sage Markandeya has attained unflinching faith and
devotion unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as such
he does not aspire after any benedictions, including liberation from
the material world.”

Similarly, there is a statement in Padma Purana describing the
ritualistic function during the month of Karttika (October-Novem-
ber). During this month, in Vrndavana it is the regulative principle
to pray daily to Lord Krsna in His Damodara form. The Damodara
form refers to Krsna in His childhood when He was tied up with rope
by His mother, Yasoda. Dama means ropes, and udara means the
abdomen. So Mother Yasoda, being very disturbed by naughty
Krsna, bound Him round the abdomen with a rope, and thus Krsna
is named Damodara. During the month of Karttika, Damodara is
prayed to as follows: “My dear Lord, You are the Lord of all,
the giver of all benedictions.” There are many demigods like Lord
Brahma and Lord Siva who sometimes offer benedictions to their
respective devotees. For example, Ravana was blest with many
benedictions by Lord Siva, and Hiranyakagipu was blest by Lord
Brahma. But even Lord Siva and Lord Brahma depend upon the
benedictions of Lord Krsna, and therefore Krsna is addressed as the
Lord of all benefactors. As such, Lord Krsna can offer His devotees
anything they want, but still, the devotee’s prayer continues, “I do
not ask You for liberation or any material facility up to the point
of liberation. What I want as Your favor is that I may always think of

*The fifth kind of liberation, merging with the Supreme, is not considered an
opulence in spiritual variegated existence.
