Full Surrender 151

Now, although Krsna had come to Kuntidevi to take the dust of the
feet of His superior, His aunt, Kuntidevi addresses Him as Prabhu, the
Lord, not as her beloved nephew. She knows, ‘‘Although Krsna is play-
ing the part of my nephew, my brother’s son, He is still the supreme
master.”’

The symptoms of a really Krsna conscious person are that he knows
that Krsna is the supreme master, he always thinks himself in danger
without Krsna, and by taking shelter of Krsna’s lotus feet he always feels
safe. Krsna says, kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati: ‘“You may
declare to the world that My devotee is never vanquished.”’ (Bg. 9.31) If
one becomes a pure devotee of Krsna, there is no question of danger. Of
course, Krsna gives protection to everyone, for without His protection
no one can live even for a single moment. But one should not think, “‘If
Krsna is giving protection to everyone, what is the use of becoming a
devotee?’’ A king gives protection to every one of his citizens, for that is
his duty, but he especially protects his own circle of men. This is not un-
natural. If one directly engages in the service of the President, when one
is in some difficulty he is especially protected. Although the President
gives protection to all the citizens, those who personally associate with
him, giving him service, receive special consideration. That is not ac-
tually partiality. That is natural. When a gentleman loves all children but
has special love for his own children, no one will say, ‘‘Oh, why are you
loving your own children more than others?’’? No, that is natural.
Similarly, Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita, samo ’ham sarva-bhitesu: *‘1 am
equal to everyone.”’ Krsna, being God, loves everyone because everyone
is part of Him. Nonetheless, He takes special care of His devotees.
Therefore He says, kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati: ‘‘My
devotee will never be vanquished.”’

Krsna always sees to the comforts of His devotees, and the devotees
are always busy seeing that Krsna is satisfied. The devotees dress Krsna,
supply Him food, and always engage in serving Him, and similarly Krsna
always sees to the happiness of His devotees. This is the intimate rela-
tionship between the devotee and Krsna. Every living entity has a rela-
tionship with Krsna, but when one becomes a devotee the relationship
becomes intimate. Therefore Kuntidevi says to Krsna, ‘‘How can You
leave us? We are Your intimate friends. We are simply living by Your
care, by Your mercy. Don’t think that we are safe and that You can

therefore leave us. Our life is always under Your mercy, for we have no
shelter other than Your lotus feet. Kindly don’t leave us.”’ This is Kunti’s
prayer. Similarly, Narottama dasa Thakura sings:
