Catching the Tail of a Dog
Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.33
San Francisco, July 18, 1975
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Take a testSan Francisco, July 18, 1975
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Nitai: "Dear sirs, whose
servant are you, where have you come from, and for what reason are you
forbidding us to touch the body of Ajamila? Are you coming from the heavenly
planets, are you demigods, sub-demigods, or the best of the perfected
devotees?"
Prabhupada:
kasya va kuta ayatah
kasmad asya nisedhatha
kim deva upadeva ya
yuyam kim siddha-sattamah
[SB 6.1.33]
This Yamaraja, he has been given his jurisdiction on the lower portion of the universe, Patala. Yamaraja is not one of the candidates, but he has been designated to go down and administer the government there. (child making noise)
Jayatirtha: The children should go out.
Prabhupada: So narayana-parah sarve na kutascana bibhyati [SB 6.17.28]. Just like government servant, they have to go anywhere the government orders, "You go and see there." So Yamaraja is, although one of the mahajanas, great personality, most confidential devotee and officer of Krsna... There are twelve great personalities: Lord Brahma...
svayambhur naradah sambhuh
kumarah kapilo manuh
prahlado janako bhismo
balir vaiyasakir vayam
[SB 6.3.20]
So Yamaraja is also one of the twelve exalted officers or representative of Krsna. But still, he has gone to take charge of the judicial department for judging the sinful -- not all, only the sinful.
So these Yamadutas, order carriers of Yamaraja, they were surprised to see how nice they are, good-looking. So they were surprised, and they were asking question that kasya va, "Whose servants you are? We are Yamaraja's servant. We are so ugly-looking, and you are so beautiful. So whose servants you are?" Kasya, "whose," means either "whose servant" or "whose son," like that. Kasya va kuta ayatah: "And wherefrom you are coming?" Kasmat: "And what is the business? Here you have got... You are so nice-looking. We have come to take this sinful man, and what business you have got here? Why you are forbidding us?" Kim devah: "Are you demigods or semi-demigods?" In the upper planetary system there are gods, demigods. But yuyam kim siddha-sattamah. Siddha-sattamah means in the spiritual world. Siddha means "completely perfect," and sattamah, "devotees."
Within this material world, there is one Siddhaloka. Siddha, carana. They are called siddha means all the yogic mystic powers they have got naturally. Here in this, on the earthly planet, if we want to get some mystic power, we have to practice it by yoga, mystic exercise. But in that planet, Siddhaloka, they are born perfect. Just like if you want to swim in the water, you have to learn it; you have to practice it. But within the sea or water even a small fish, he can very expertly swim, a born qualification. You cannot go against the current of the sea or the water of the river, but a small fish takes pleasure going against the current. Tulasi dasa has said that to go against the current is very difficult. Even an elephant is washed away. But a small fish, because he has taken shelter of the ocean, he can go against the current. This is the... So if we take shelter of Krsna, then even the current is against, we can go because... The same example: the fish has taken shelter of the ocean. Although very small animal, he can go against the...
So siddha-sattamah. Siddhas... Here we have to practice to become siddha, perfect, but there, in the Siddhaloka, they are so perfect that they can go from one planet to another. The yogis can go, but they are born yogis. One planet... This is described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. We have seen in this Second Canto. There is Siddhaloka. So many planets are there, so many opulences are there, that it cannot be compared. And there is description. So one planet to another, or one planet to the Sumeru hills, there is long, millions of miles, made of gold. They are gold. Similarly copper. Similarly, there are different oceans. Now, we may not believe, but there is no question of believing. You cannot say, "There is no such thing." But we can say because we get the information from the sastra. You have no evidence, so you cannot say "No." You can say "Maybe," but we don't say "Maybe." There is because we get the information from the sastra.
So kasya va kuta ayatah kasmad asya nisedhatha: "Then why you are forbidding us? You look so nicely, very highly born, and why you are forbidding us? We have come here to discharge our duties, to take this man to Yamaloka. He is so sinful. Why you are interrupting our business?" Yes. So in the next verses the description is there of the Visnuduta. So sarve padma-palasaksah: exactly the feature like Narayana. Padma-palasa: their eyes are compared with the lotus petal, very nice. Sarve: "All of you look so nice." Padma-palasa-aksah pita-kauseya-vasasah. In Vaikuntha, people, they also dress with yellow cloth, pita-kauseya, or this saffron color. This is Vaikuntha dress. Kauseya, pita, the dress, garments. Kiritinah: "with helmets." Kundalinah: "with nice earring." Kiritinah kundalino lasat-puskara-malinah, "and very nice flower garland." This is Vaikuntha dress. Lasat-puskara-malinah, sarve ca nutna-vayasah: all young men. In Vaikuntha there is no old age, although they are eternal. That is the real form of the spirit. The old age is due to this body, material body. Material thing is born and stays for some time, and then it is annihilated. So up to the time of annihilation, it becomes so old, nasty, bad-looking. But in the Vaikuntha there is no such thing. Nityah sasvato 'yam.
The Vaikuntha planet, because that is spiritual body, that is nityah sasvatah. Never it become... Just like Krsna or Narayana or Visnu. They are not old. You will find all these pictures of Narayana, Visnu, Krsna -- all young men. So they are also... The inhabitants of Vaikuntha on the spiritual planet, they are also exactly of the same feature. You everything get exactly like God. This is Vaikunthaloka. The opulence is also like that. Sarsti. There are five kinds of mukti, liberation. One is sayujya, to merge into the existence. That is also mukti. But Vaisnava does not like such kind of mukti. They think to merge, to become one with the Supreme and lost our individuality, that is, Vaisnava thinks, as hell. Kaivalyam narakayate. Why? We shall keep ourself, our individuality, the body exactly like Krsna. In the Goloka Vrndavana they keep exactly like two-handed Krsna. In the Vaikuntha they also keep themselves four-handed as Visnu, Narayana. So the Vaisnavas are very intelligent. They want to keep themself in as good as God. Sometimes more than God, Vaisnava. That is very intelligent. What is the use of becoming one? I lose my individuality. So that is jnani's aspiration. But the bhaktas, they want to keep association with Krsna or Visnu in the same opulence, same prosperity, everything, bodily features the same, everything.
So advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam adyam purana-purusam nava-yauvanam ca [Bs. 5.33]. So nava-yauvanam. Lord Visnu, Narayana, Krsna, or the liberated devotees there, they are of the same bodily feature, nava-yauvanam, always young. Therefore it is said, sarve ca nutna-vayasah. Vayasah means age, and nutna means just fresh young man. Nutna-vayasah sarve caru-caturbhujah: "All of you are very beautiful, with four hands." So even the living entities they have got also four hands, not empty hands, with good ornament, good dress, and the complexion, color -- everything like Visnu. Everything like Visnu. Sarve caru-caturbhujah, dhanur-nisangasi-gada-sankha-
So these Visnudutas, they are exactly dressed like Visnu or equipped with ornaments and everything. Then again, disah vitimiralokah. And on account of their presence... They have got also bodily effulgence. As Visnu has got bodily effulgence, similarly, the Visnudutas, they have also the bodily effulgence so that wherever they will go, it will be illuminated immediately. There is no necessity of light or sunshine. They personally, they make the place illuminated. Diso vitimira. Timira means darkness, and vi means without. Wherever they will be present... Therefore, in the spiritual world everyone has got the spiritual effulgence, so whole planet is full of effulgence. Just like one example is here in this material world, the sun. There there are living entities. They are also all light because their body is made of fire. And many hundreds and thousands and millions of people with the fiery body, they are living. Therefore you will find always sun fiery, light. Just like you can see from distance a big city. The light is coming out. Is it not? In the night you see a big city, and you are in the village, you will find a big light is coming. So that is artificial, electric light. But in the Vaikunthaloka normally, regularly, their body is light.
We have got one example to learn: the sun planet. Everything is fiery there. Don't think that there is no life. Just like they are concluding, "In this moon planet there is no life." No. Every planet is full of living entities, either in the Vaikunthaloka or in this material world. Sarva-gah sthanur acalo 'yam. Living entities are everywhere. Therefore we cannot believe that these people went to moon planet, because they say there is no living entity. That is not possible. That is not possible. Living entities are everywhere. Even in the fiery planet like the sun, there are. But we are rascals. We think everyone is rascal like us. Atmavat manyate jagat. If one is rascal, he thinks all other rascals also. That is nature. He cannot think that "Somebody is more intelligent than me." He thinks, "I am rascal; therefore everyone is rascal." Atmavat manyate jagat. This is the formula. You will find the example: just like a deaf man. He speaks very slowly. He thinks the other man is also speaking slowly. No. He is deaf. Other man is crying, but he is hearing very slow. Therefore a deaf man speaks very slow. He thinks that he is speaking slow. So atmavat manyate jagat. This is the nature.
So because we cannot live in the fire, it does not mean that there is no such living entity whose body is made of fire. Because I cannot live in the water, don't think there is no living entity. Huge, big, big living entities are there within the water. Why should you think there is no living entity? Similarly, the watery living entities, they may think there is nobody in the land, because they cannot live in the land. This is God's creation. Vicitra. Vicitra means varieties, varieties. There are living entities on the earth. Within the earth you will see. When you go to the beach, there are so many living entities within the earth. Or here, within the wall, there are so many living entities. Sarva-gah. Everywhere there are living entities. There is living entities in the water, there is living entities on the land, there is living entities on the air, and why not in the fire? Fire is also one of the five elements: earth, water, fire, air and sky. So if there are living entities in the water, on the earth, in the air, in the sky, so what is the objection, not in the fire? This is foolishness. And Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita, imam vivasvate yogam proktavan aham avyayam: [Bg. 4.1] "I spoke this philosophy formerly to the sun-god." So unless there is sun-god or the king of the sun planet... So if the king is there, the citizens must be there, the kingdom must be there -- but they are made of fire. So similarly, in the Vaikuntha world, everything is spiritual. That we have to learn. We cannot make our own conclusion foolishly. That is not possible.
So these people never saw, these Yamaduta, such persons with four hands, so decorated, so effulgent. So they were surprised, that "You are so nice." So diso vitimiralokah kurvantah svena tejasa: "By your personal effulgence, you are illuminating wherever you are standing." Disa. Kim artham dharma-palasya kinkaran no nisedhatha: "You look so beautiful and gentle. Why you are doing this wrong thing? We have come to discharge our duties, and you are forbidding us." Means they could understand that "They are so powerful, they have stopped us to touch Ajamila's body. If we forcibly do, they can punish us." The Yamadutas could understand. Therefore politely asking that "You are so gentle, so good-looking, so nice. Why this is your business, that you are forbidding us in discharging our duties?" Kim artham dharma-palasya. Dharma-pala: "We are also acting not whimsically. We are working under the Dharmaraja, Yamaraja, who is justice, how to make judgment against the sinful man. He is appointed for this purpose, and we are just carrying out his order." Then "You look so gentle and highly exalted. Why you are forbidding us? This is very..." kim artham dharma-palasya kinkaran no nisedhatha.
So we get description of the Visnudutas. Now, at least we can think, if we are transferred to the spiritual world, how much happy we shall be, how much opulent we shall be. Here we are thinking possessing one tin car made of tin, and after one year, it is smashed, and throw it again, and we becoming very opulent. So we do not know what is opulence there in the spiritual world. Not only in the spiritual..., even in this material world. In higher planetary system there are many, many different types, opulence. Svargaloka. This moon planet is also one of the opulent planets within this material world. So that is very, very nice. But these people say they went there and could not find any living entities. So if we believe in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, we have to conclude that these people did not go at all in the moon planet. You have to believe this or that, as you like. But we get information from Srimad-Bhagavatam, the moon planet is one of the heavenly planets. If somebody goes there, he can live there for ten thousands of years. Ten thousands of years means our calculation six times. Then sixty thousands of years like of this planet. So these descriptions are there. So these are the ideas. One can understand what will be our opulence if by chance... Not by chance; by our activities.
What is that activities? That is also explained in the Bhagavad-gita... [break] ...janma karma ca me divyam yo janati tattvatah [Bg. 4.9]. You try to understand Krsna. Simply try to understand. Don't conclude that "Krsna is like us, ordinary human being, maybe little learned more than us, or little power..." No. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By His merciful or causeless mercy, He descends to exhibit His form, His activities, so that he can see. Just like in the Buckingham Palace in London, many people are standing. Sometimes the queen comes and stands on the corridor, and everyone can see. That is queen's mercy, not that because she comes in the audience of so many public men; therefore she is also one of them. This is nonsense conclusion. Similarly Krsna, by His causeless mercy if He comes... Some rascals say that God cannot come. Why? Why God cannot come? If He is all-powerful, why He cannot come? Does it mean that God is subject to your dictation that He cannot come? This is foolishness. Yes, God can come; therefore He is all-powerful. He can exhibit Himself to the audience of common man. But only the fortunate man can understand, "Here is God." That is the difference. Krsna, when appeared, a few men upon this planet could understand that "Here is the Supreme Personality of Godhead," especially the Pandavas. They were so fortunate, they could understand, "Krsna is..." Kunti, their mother, she could understand. Kunti, kunti-stotra prayer, you will find how she has realized that "Krsna, although He is playing just like my nephew, my brother's son, but no, He is the Supreme Personality of..." Even Dhrtarastra knew. Dhrtarastra knew that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When Krsna sent his messenger to Dhrtarastra, Akrura, to advise him that "Why you are envious of your nephews? You stop this," before the war of Kuruksetra, so Dhrtarastra admitted that "I know that the advice has come from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but I am so unfortunate, I cannot give up my this habit. Please excuse." So even Dhrtarastra knew, and what to speak of the Pandavas?
So that is the defect of conditioned souls, that they want to see God, and even God comes personally, they cannot see. They cannot see. So who can see? Premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-
Thank you very much. (end)
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Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.33 -- San Francisco, July 18,
1975
© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.
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