169 The Nectar of Devotion

as Lord Ramacandra, Jambavan, the great king of the monkeys, ren-
dered very faithful service to Him. When the Lord again appeared as
Lord Krsna, He married Jambavan’s daughter and paid him all the
respect that is usually given to superiors. Any honest person is
obliged to his friend if some service has been rendered unto Him.
Since Krsna is the supreme honest personality, how can He forget an
obligation to His servitor?

18. Determined

Any person who observes regulative principles and fulfills his prom-
ises by practical activity is called determined. As far as the Lord’s
determination is concerned, there is an example in His dealings in the
Harivamsa. This is in connection with Lord Krsna’s fighting the King
of heaven, Indra, who was forcibly bereft of the parjata flower.
Parijata is a kind of lotus flower grown on the heavenly planets. Once,
Satyabhama, one of Krsna’s queens, wanted that lotus flower, and
Krsna promised to deliver it; but Indra refused to part with his
parijata flower. Therefore there was a great fight, with Krsna and the
Pandavas on one side and all of the demigods on the other. Ultimate-
ly, Krsna defeated all of them and took the parijata flower, which He
presented to His queen. So, in regard to that occurrence, Krsna told
Narada Muni, “My dear great sage of the demigods, now you can
declare to the devotees in general, and to the nondevotees in particu-
lar, that in this matter of taking the parijata flower, all the demigods
—the Gandharvas, the Nagas, the demon Raksasas, the Yaksas, the
Pannagas—tried to defeat Me, but none could make Me break My
promise to My queen.”

There is another promise by Krsna in the Bhagavad-gita to the ef-
fect that His devotee will never be vanquished. So a sincere devotee
who is always engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord
should know for certain that Krsna will never break His promise. He
will always protect His devotees in every circumstance.

Krsna showed how He fulfills His promise by delivering the parijata
flower to Satyabhama, by saving Draupadi from being insulted and
by freeing Arjuna from the attacks of all enemies.
