Friday, March 9, 2012

"We Are In Dangerous Position"

Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.37
Los Angeles, April 29, 1973


Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada


Devotee:

apy adya nas tvam sva-krtehita prabho
jihasasi svit suhrdo 'nujivinah
yesam na canyad bhavatah padambujat
parayanam rajasu yojitamhasam

"O my Lord, You have executed all duties Yourself. Are You leaving us today, though we are completely dependent on Your mercy and have no one else to protect us now, when all kings are at enmity with us?"

Prabhupada: So this conversation was going on between Kunti and Krsna when Krsna was going home after establishing the Pandavas in their kingdom and finishing the battle of Kuruksetra. Krsna is going back home, Dvaraka, and was taking leave, farewell, from the aunt. At that time, Kunti offered this prayer. Now she's asking directly that "After finishing Your duty, is it a fact that You are going away, leaving us alone?"

This is the devotee's position. Here it is said, yesam na ca anyad bhavatah padambujat: "We have no other means of protection than Your lotus feet. This is our position." Anyat. Anyat means "anything else." This is full surrender. Just like Narottama dasa Thakura sings, ha ha prabhu nanda-suta vrsabhanu-suta-juta. "Nanda-suta, Krsna, You are present here with the daughter of King Vrsabhanu. Both of You are here." Ha ha prabhu nanda-suta vrsabhanu-suta-juta. We don't want to see Krsna alone. (aside:) Why everyone is coughing? What is the difficulty? Yesterday also I heard. What is the difficulty?

Devotee: I think there's a cold going around.

Prabhupada: Eh?

Devotee: I think there's a cold going around, a lot of people.

Prabhupada: But you have no sufficient warm cloth, so you are affected? That you must arrange. You must take care of your health. Yuktahara-viharasya yogo bhavati duhkha-ha. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said, yuktahara. You should take food just to maintain your health nicely. Similarly, other necessities of body must be taken care of. If you become diseased, then you can execute Krsna consciousness? Just like Brahmananda could not go today. So we must be careful. We should not more or less. Better eat less than eat more. You'll not die by eating less. But you may die eating more. People die for overeating, not for undereating. This should be the principle. Here... Medical science always forbids not to eat more than you require. Voracious eating is the cause of diabetes, and undernourishment is the cause of tuberculosis. This is the medical science. So we should not take under, neither more. In children case, they can commit the mistake of taking more, but adults, they cannot commit. This mistake, taking more. Children, they can digest. All day they are playing.

So anyway, we should take care of our health also. Sanatana Gosvami, he was suffering from itches, very much, and Caitanya Mahaprabhu was embracing him. So the, the itches were wet itches. There are two kinds of itches, wet and dry. Sometimes itching spot is dry, and sometimes it is wet. After itching, it becomes wet. So Sanatana Gosvami's body was all covered with wet itches, and Caitanya Mahaprabhu was embracing him. So the wetness, the moisture was sticking to the body of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So he felt it very much ashamed, that "I am suffering from itches, and Caitanya Mahaprabhu's embracing, and the wet thing is smearing over the body. How much unfortunate." So he decided that "Tomorrow I shall commit suicide instead of allowing me to be embraced by Caitanya Mahaprabhu." So next day Caitanya Mahaprabhu inquired that "You have decided to commit suicide. So do you think this body is yours?" So he was silent. Caitanya Mahaprabhu said that "You have already dedicated this body to Me. How you can kill it?" Similarly... Of course, from that day, his itches were all cured and... But this is the decision, that our body, those who are Krsna conscious, those who are working for Krsna, they should not think that the body belongs to him. It is already dedicated to Krsna. So it must be kept very carefully, without any neglect. Just like you are taking care of the temple because it is Krsna's place. Similarly... We should not take overcare, but some care we should take so that we may not fall diseased.

Anyway... So Kuntidevi says, yesam na ca anyad bhavatah padambujat. This is called full dependence. In the saranagati, in the surrender process, there are six things. The six things is that completely, one of the..., completely dependent upon Krsna. Anukulyasya sankalpah. The first saranagati is to accept everything favorable for Krsna's service. Anukulyam. Anukulyena krsnanusilanam bhaktir uttama. Devotional, first-class bhakti means accepting everything which is favorable for devotional service. And pratikulyasya varjanam. And reject everything which is unfavorable to the procedure of Krsna consciousness. So we forbid that "You don't do this," because they are unfavorable. And we say something, "You do this, chant Hare Krsna sixteen rounds," that is favorable. Saranagati means to give up the unfavorable things and to accept the favorable. Anukulyasya sankalpah pratikulyasya varjanam. And believe that "Krsna will give me protection." Full faith. And to count oneself as one of the servants of Krsna. In this way, saranagati.

So here Kunti says that "If You think, My dear Krsna, now we are well established, we have got our kingdom back, so everything is nicely done, so You want to leave us, that is not a very good proposal. Because we are not free as yet. Because we have killed so many kings, all their relatives and friends, they're also planning to come and again fight with us. This is our position. Parayanam rajasu yojitamhasam. They are still engaged. So You don't think that we are already all free from all dangerous conditions. We are not. And we have no other protection except Your lotus feet. This is our position." So indirectly she was asking Krsna, "Do not leave us. Don't think that we are safe now. We are not safe. Without Your protection, we are always unsafe." This should be the position of the devotees. We are actually in a dangerous position, this material world. At any time, maya will catch, at any time. As soon as we are a little inattentive... "Now I have done my duty. Now let me take rest little." No, there is no rest. We must be always alert.

There is a verse from Srila Rupa Gosvami. What is that? Avyartha-kalartham(?). Avyartha-kalartham. A devotee should be so much careful that he should see, "Whether my time is unnecessarily being spent? Whether I am now engaged in maya's service or Krsna's service?" That one should be very much alert. Avyartha-kalartham nama-gane sada rucih, pritis tat vasatis tale(?). These are the symptoms of advanced devotees. What is that? Nama-gane sada rucih. He's, he's never tired of chanting, or singing or dancing. No tiresome feeling. Nama-gane sada. Sada means always; ruci, taste. "Oh, very nice. Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama..." This is the taste. This taste, to awaken this taste, it takes time. To become... Just like Rupa Gosvami. When he was chanting, he was thinking, "I have got only one tongue and two ears. What I shall chant?" He was thinking, "If I could get millions of tongues and trillions and ears, then I could relish something by chanting and hearing." This was the...

So we should not imitate, but at least we must be very careful to complete the sixteen round, the minimum. Nama-gane sada rucih. We have to increase our taste for singing and chanting. Nama-gane sada rucih pritis tat vasati tale(?). And we should increase our inclination to live in the place where Krsna is living. Krsna is living everywhere -- that is, that is the vision of the higher devotees. Actually He's living, but still, because we are in the lower condition, we should know that here is Krsna in the temple. Krsna is everywhere, but for us, because we have no such vision to see Krsna anywhere and everywhere, therefore we should come here in the temple and see Krsna, "Here is Krsna. Krsna has kindly appeared here in a manner in which I can see Him. That is Krsna's mercy." That is temple. We cannot see... Krsna has completely spiritual body, but we have no eyes to see what is that spiritual body. Sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]. We are accustomed to see this material, jada, gross things. We can see stone, we can see metal, we can see wood. We can see all these material elements. But Krsna is everything. Therefore to be visible to our imperfect eyes, Krsna has appeared in the stone form, but Krsna is not stone. It is not that we are worshiping stone; we are worshiping Krsna. But because we cannot see except stone, therefore Krsna has kindly appeared in the form carved from the stone. This is the conclusion.

So pritis tat vasatis tale. So one should be very much inclined to live within the circle of temple environment. Nama-gane sada rucih. And increase our inclination to chant more and more. Nama-gane sada rucih pritis tat vasatis tale... And one thing, always thinking dependent on Krsna. To... This is Krsna consciousness, always thinking that "Without Krsna, my life is useless. I am in danger." Actually you are in dangerous position without Krsna. So Krsna..., Kunti is offering that prayer that "Krsna, You are thinking that now we are safe, but I don't think we are safe. We are always in danger. So if You think that we are safe, then who will give us protection? Because we have no other protection except Your lotus feet." Yesam na canyad bhavatah padambujat, padambujat. Pada means feet. Ambuja means lotus. "So except Your lotus feet, we have no other shelter. We have no other shelter. And so far our safetiness is concerned, we are already encircled by so many enemies, because in the fight one's father has died. So his son is preparing to fight with us. So we are not at all free now."

So apy adya nas tvam sva-krtehita prabho. Now Krsna is addressed as prabhu. Although Krsna has come to Kuntidevi to take the dust of his feet, of her feet -- she's superior aunt -- -but Kuntidevi is addressing Him the prabhu, the Lord. Kuntidevi is not addressing Him... She's asking her beloved nephew... But He, she knows that "Krsna, although playing the part of my nephew, my brother's son, still He's Prabhu, He's the supreme master." Therefore she's addressing Him, "Prabhu." Jihasasi. Jihasasi means, "Are You actually leaving us?" Jihasasi svit suhrdah. Suhrdah means those who are well-wishers. Anujivinah. Anujivinah means, "They are living under Your mercy only. Our life is always under Your mercy."

So these things, these are the symptoms of really Krsna conscious person, that one should think always in danger without Krsna. This is the first step. And by taking shelter of Krsna's lotus feet, one should always feel safe. Now I am under the protection. Krsna says, kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati. It is a fact. If you become a pure devotee of Krsna, there is no question of danger. Pranasyati. Krsna gives protection to everyone. Without His protection, nobody can live even for a single moment. That's a fact. So if you think that "Krsna is giving protection to everyone; then what is the use of becoming a special devotee?" No, there is use. Just like the king gives protection to everyone, every one of the citizens. That is his duty. But he has got special protection for his own men. This is the distinction. This is not unnatural. One is directly engaged in the governor's or the president's service, so when he is in some difficulty, he has got special protection. Although President Nixon is giving protection as president to every citizens, but those who are personally associated with him, giving him the service, they are a special consideration. That is not unnatural. That is natural. That is not partiality. Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita that samo 'ham sarva-bhutesu: "I am equal to everyone." He's God. How He can be partial to somebody and partial to some...? No. Samo 'ham. That is samata. That is natural. When a gentleman loves all children but he has special love for his own children, that is natural. That is not partiality. Nobody will..., you will say, "Oh, why you are loving your own children more than others?" No, that is natural. This is not partiality. Similarly, Krsna loves everyone because everyone is part and parcel of Krsna. But He takes special care of the devotee. Therefore He says, kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati. His bhakta, His devotee, will never be... He's always allowed to see the comforts of the devotees. And the devotees are always busy to see how Krsna is satisfied. By dressing Him, by supplying Him food, by serving Him -- always engaged. Similarly Krsna is also always engaged to see "How My devotees will be happy?" This is the process going on.

So this is intimate relationship with Krsna. The ordinary living entity, they have got relationship; but when one becomes devotee, it is intimate relation, intimate friend. Therefore Kunti is requesting Krsna that "How You can leave us? We are Your intimate friends." And anujivinah. Anujivinah means, "We are simply living by Your care, by Your mercy. So don't think that we are safe and You are leaving us. We have no other shelter than Your lotus feet. Kindly don't leave us." This is the Kunti's prayer. Similarly Narottama dasa Thakura says, ha ha prabhu nanda-suta vrsabhanu-suta-juta koruna karoho ei-baro: "Now I am fully surrendered. You can show Your mercy." Because without Krsna consciousness, when one thinks that "I shall protect myself, my society will protect me, my community will protect me, my state will give me protection. What do I care for God...?" This is the general tendency. So, "I have got so many protections. Why shall I go to Krsna? These rascals, those who have no protection, they can go to Krsna." That is their view. But that is not the fact. Unless Krsna give you protection, there is no protection.

This is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam: balasya neha saranam pitarau nrsimha. When Prahlada Maharaja offering prayer to Krsna, Nrsimhadeva, he said, "My dear Lord, balasya, for the children, it is not to be thought that because one child has got father and mother, he has got full protection. No. That is not." If Krsna does not give protection to a child, in spite of having thousands of father and mother, he'll not be protected. This is the fact. Similarly he says, nartasya cagadam udanvati majjato nauh. It is not that good physician or good medicine can give one protection. No. Suppose one is suffering from some disease and one is very rich man. He engages first-class physician, first-class medicine is being... Does it mean that his life is guaranteed? No. If Krsna does not give him protection, despite all supply of good medical treatment and medicine, he'll die. This is a fact. Similarly, if you have got good, nice boat, it is not guarantee that you'll not drown in the ocean. No. At any moment, if Krsna does not give you protection... This is our position.

So we may have invented so many counteract, counteractions for our protection. That is scientific advancement, struggle for existence. Nature is offering difficulties, and the human beings, so-called scientists, they are trying to invent something to check this difficulty. This is called struggle for existence. But it is not possible. Unless Krsna gives you protection, your invention has no use. So Kunti knows it. Although Kunti happens to be the mother of big, big warriors -- Arjuna, Bhima -- still she thinks that "They are not sufficient to give us protection. My sons are so big, big warriors, but that is not protection. Except Yourself..." Therefore she says, yesam na ca anyat: "It is not that anyone can give us protection except Your lotus feet."

So this is a very nice verse for the surrendered soul seeking the protection of Krsna. And if we remain in that position, that our only protector is Krsna and our only duty is to serve Krsna, then our life is successful.

Thank you very much. (end)
>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.37 -- Los Angeles, April 29, 1973

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