Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.23

Prabhupāda: [leads singing of Jaya rādhā-mādhava]

[04:58]

[prema-dhvāṅī prayers] Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa.

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [leads chanting of verse] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat]

yathā hṛṣīkeśa khalena devakī kaṁsena ruddhāticiraṁ śucārpitā vimocitāhaṁ ca sahātmajā vibho tvayaiva nāthena muhur vipad-gaṅāt [SB 1.8.23]

[devotees chant verse; Prabhupada corrects pronunciation of a number of devotees]

Prabhupāda: That's all right. Now, word meanings.

Pradyumna: yathā—as it were; hṛṣīkeśa—the master of the senses; khalena—by the envious; devakī—Devakī (the mother of Śrī Kṛṣṅa); kaṁsena—by King Kaṁsa; ruddhā—imprisoned; ati-ciram—for a long time; śuca-arpitā—distressed; vimocitā—released; aham ca—also myself; saha-ātma-jā—along with my children; vibho—O great one; tvayā eva—by Your Lordship; nāthena—as the protector; muhuḥ—constantly; vipat-gaṅāt—series of dangers.

[13:36]

Translation: "O Hṛṣīkeśa, master of the senses and Lord of lords, You have released Your mother, Devakī, who was long imprisoned and distressed by the envious King Kaṁsa, and myself and my children from a series of constant dangers."

Prabhupāda: So this is the position of devotees, that Devakī, who happens to be the mother of Kṛṣṅa... She's not ordinary woman. Who can become the mother of the Supreme Personality of Godhead? The most advanced devotee, so that Kṛṣṅa has agreed to become her son. In his previous life, the husband and wife, they underwent severe austerities, and when Kṛṣṅa appeared before them and wanted to give them benediction, they wanted a son like God. So where can be another person who is equal to God? That is not possible.

"God" means there is no equal, there is no greater. Asama-urdhva. That is God. God, there cannot be any competition, that "You are God, I am God, he is God, he is God." No. These are dogs. They are not God. God means without competition: one. God is one. Nobody is great... Asamordhva: nobody is greater than Him. Nobody is equal to Him. Everyone is lower. Ekale īśvara kṛṣṅa āra saba bhṛtya [Cc Ādi 5.142].

[Lord Kṛṣṅa alone is the supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so.]

The only master is Kṛṣṅa, God; and everyone, servant. Never mind even if he's Brahmā, Viṣṅu or Śiva, big, big demigods. And what to speak of others?

Śiva-viriñci-nutam [SB 11.5.33].

[My dear Lord, You are the Mahā-puruṣa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and I worship Your lotus feet, which are the only eternal object of meditation. Those feet destroy the embarrassing conditions of material life and freely award the greatest desire of the soul, the attainment of pure love of Godhead. My dear Lord, Your lotus feet are the shelter of all holy places and of all saintly authorities in the line of devotional service and are honored by powerful demigods like Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. My Lord, You are so kind that You willingly protect all those who simply bow down to You with respect, and thus You mercifully relieve all the distress of Your servants. In conclusion, my Lord, Your lotus feet are actually the suitable boat for crossing over the ocean of birth and death, and therefore even Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva seek shelter at Your lotus feet.]

In the śāstra it is said that He's offered respect by Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. They are the topmost demigods. There are demigods. Above the human being, there are demigods. As we are human being, above the lower creatures, lower animals, similarly, above us there are demigods. And the most important demigod is Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva. Lord Brahmā is the creator of this universe, and Lord Śiva is the destroyer of this universe. And Lord Viṣṅu is the maintainer. Lord Viṣṅu is Kṛṣṅa Himself.

So for the maintenance of this material world there are three guṅas: sattva-guṅa, rajo-guṅa, tamo-guṅa. So each one of them has taken charge of one department. So Lord Viṣṅu has taken the department of sattva-guṅa, and Lord Brahmā has taken the department of rajo-guṅa, and Lord Śiva has taken the department of tamo-guṅa. They are not under the influence of these guṅas. Just like a..., the superintendent of jail. He's not a prisoner; he's controlling officer. Similarly Lord Śiva, Lord Viṣṅu, Lord Brahmā, although they are controlling each department, they are not under the controlling department. We may not commit mistake.

So Hṛṣīkeśa. Kṛṣṅa is the supreme controller. Hṛṣīka, hṛṣīka means senses. So we are enjoying our senses, but ultimately the controller is Kṛṣṅa. Suppose this is my hand. I'm claiming it is my hand: "I shall give you a good fist on your..." I'm very much proud. But I am not controller. The controller is Kṛṣṅa. If you..., if He withdraws the power of the activity of your arm, you become paralyzed. Although you are claiming, "It is my hand. I shall use it," but when it is paralyzed, you cannot do anything. Therefore I may have possessed this hand by the grace of Kṛṣṅa, but I am not the controller. That is Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

Therefore a sane man will think that ultimately if this hand is to be controlled by Kṛṣṅa, then it is meant for Kṛṣṅa. This is the commonsense understanding. I am claiming that "This is my hand, this is my leg, this is my ear." Even children says. You ask the children, "What is this?" "It is my hand." But we may claim, but actually it is not our hand. It is given for... Because I wanted to use my hands in so many ways, Kṛṣṅa has given: "All right, you take this hand. Use it." So it is gift of Kṛṣṅa.

Therefore a sane man is always conscious that "Whatever I have got in my possession—first of all this body and senses—they are actually not mine. I have given all these possession for utility. So if ultimately everything belongs to Kṛṣṅa, why it is not utilized for Kṛṣṅa?" That is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That is intelligence. If I am given all these things for my use, for my sense gratification, but ultimately it belongs to Kṛṣṅa... Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ [Bg 15.7].

[The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.]

Everyone is part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa, so everyone's senses are also Kṛṣṅa's. So when..., when the senses are utilized for Kṛṣṅa's service, that is perfection of life. And so long it is utilized for my sense gratification, it is māyā.

Therefore bhakti means hṛṣīkeṅa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate [Cc Madhya 19.170].

[Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.]

Hṛṣīkeṅa, by the senses, this hṛṣīkeśa-sevanam, when you serve Hṛṣīkeśa, really master of the senses, that is called bhakti. Very simple description, definition of bhakti. Hṛṣīkeṅa..., hṛṣīkeśa-sevanam. Hṛṣīkeśa-sevanam. Not hṛṣīka-sevanam. Hṛṣīka means senses. So when senses are used for sense gratification, that is māyā. And when senses are used for the gratification of the master of the senses, that is called bhakti. Very simple definition. Anyone can understand.

So generally, in this material world, everyone is using the senses for sense gratification. That's all. That is their bondage. That is māyā, illusion. And when he comes to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, purified, when he understands that actually these senses are meant for satisfying Kṛṣṅa, then he's liberated person, mukta. Mukta-puruṣa, liberated person. Īhā yasya harer dāsye karmaṅā manasā vācā [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.187]. When one comes to this position, that "My senses are meant for serving the master of the senses, Hṛṣīkeśa..." The master of the senses are..., is sitting within your heart.

In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ: "I am seated in everyone's heart." Mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca [Bg 15.15]:

[I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.]

"From Me remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness is coming." So why that? Because Kṛṣṅa is so merciful, if I want to use my senses in a certain way... Not my senses; it is Kṛṣṅa's, given. So Kṛṣṅa gives the chance: "All right, utilize it." Suppose I have got tongue. If I want, "Kṛṣṅa, I want to eat stool. I want to taste stool," "Yes," Kṛṣṅa will say. "Yes, you take this body of hog, and eat stool." The master is there, Kṛṣṅa.

Therefore Kṛṣṅa says, mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca [Bg 15.15]. He gives you the body, reminds you, "My dear living entity, you wanted to eat stool? Now you have got a proper body. Now utilize. Here is stool also." Similarly, if you want to become demigod, that also Kṛṣṅa gives you chance. Anything... There are 8,400[000] forms of life. If you want to engage your senses in any type of body, Kṛṣṅa is giving you: "Come on. Here is the body. You take." But we become exasperated by using our senses. Ultimately we become senseless.

Therefore Kṛṣṅa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66]:

[Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.]

"Don't do like this. Your senses are meant for serving Me. So you are misusing it. By misusing, you are being entrapped in different types of body. Therefore to get relief from this tedious business of accepting one body and giving it up, again another body, again another..., to continue this material existence, if you give up this process of sense gratification and surrender unto Me, then you are saved." This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

So at the present moment, our senses are contaminated. I am thinking, "I am American, so my senses should be utilized for the service of my country, my society, my nation." Big, big leaders, big, big so many things. So the real concept is that "I am American, so my senses are American senses. So it must be utilized for America." Similarly, Indians thinking, others are thinking. But none of them do know it that senses belong to Kṛṣṅa. This is ignorance. No intelligence. They are thinking for the time being that these senses, upādhi, designated: American senses, Indian senses, African senses. No. This is called māyā. It is covered.

Therefore bhakti means sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam [Cc Madhya 19.170].

When your senses will be uncontaminated with all these designation, that is the beginning of bhakti. If I think, "I am American. Why shall I take Kṛṣṅa consciousness? It is Hindu God," that is foolishness. If I think, "I am Muhammadan," "I am Christian," then you are gone. But if we purify the senses, that "I am spirit soul. The Supreme Spirit Soul is Kṛṣṅa. I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa; therefore it is my duty to serve Kṛṣṅa," then you become free immediately. Immediately. You are no more American, Indian or African or this or that. You are Kṛṣṅized, Kṛṣṅa conscious. That is wanted.

Therefore Kuntīdevī says, "Hṛṣīkeśa, my dear Kṛṣṅa, You are the master of the senses, and for the sense gratification we are fallen in this material condition of life, different varieties of life." So we are suffering, and suffering to the extent... Even one becomes Kṛṣṅa's mother. Because this is material world, she's also put into suffering, what to speak of others? Devakī is so advanced that she has become the mother of Kṛṣṅa, but still [s]he's put into difficulties. And difficulties by whom? By his [her] brother, Kaṁsa.

So this world is like that. Try to understand. Even you become Kṛṣṅa's mother, and even your brother, who is very nearest relative. So you..., the world is such jealous that if one's personal interest is hampered, everyone will be ready to give you trouble. This is the world. Everyone. Even if he's brother, even he's father. What to speak of others? Khalena. Khala means jealous. This material world is jealous, envious. I am envious of you; you are envious of me. This is our business. This is our business.

Therefore this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is for such person who is no more jealous, who's no more envious. Perfect person. Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra paramo nirmatsarāṅāṁ satāṁ vāstavaṁ vastu vedyam atra [SB 1.1.2].

[Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhāgavata Purāṅa propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries. This beautiful Bhāgavatam, compiled by the great sage Vyāsadeva [in his maturity], is sufficient in itself for God realization. What is the need of any other scripture? As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhāgavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart.]

Those who are jealous and envious, they are within this material world. And those who are not jealous, they are in the spiritual world. Simple thing. You test yourself, "Whether I am jealous, envious of my other associates, friends, everything?" Then I am in the material world. And if I am not jealous, then I'm in the spiritual world. Anyone can test. There is no question of whether I'm spiritually advanced or not. You can test yourself. Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt [SB 11.2.42].

[Devotion, direct experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from other things—these three occur simultaneously for one who has taken shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the same way that pleasure, nourishment and relief from hunger come simultaneously and increasingly, with each bite, for a person engaged in eating.]

Just like if you are eating, you'll understand whether you are satisfied, whether your hunger is satisfied. You haven't got to take certificate from others. Similarly, if you test yourself whether you are jealous, whether you are envious, then you are in the material world. And if you are not jealous, if you are not envious, then in the spiritual world. Then you can serve Kṛṣṅa very nicely if you are not jealous. Because our jealous, enviousness has begin, began from Kṛṣṅa. Just like the Māyāvādī: "Why Kṛṣṅa shall be God? I am..., I am also God. I am also."

So this is the beginning of material life: to become envious of Kṛṣṅa."Why Kṛṣṅa shall be enjoyer? I shall be enjoyer. Why Kṛṣṅa shall enjoy the gopīs? I shall become Kṛṣṅa and enjoy, make a society of gopīs and enjoy." This is māyā. Nobody can be enjoyer. Kṛṣṅa therefore says, bhoktāraṁ yajña... Śrī Kṛṣṅa is the only enjoyer. And if we supply ingredients for His enjoyment, that is our perfection of life. And if we want to imitate Kṛṣṅa, that "I shall become a God. I shall become an imitator enjoyer," then you are in the māyā. Simply our business is...

Just like the gopīs' life. Kṛṣṅa is enjoying, and they're supplying the ingredients of enjoyment. Yes. This is bhakti. We are meant for... Kṛṣṅa is supplying... The servant and master. The servant is being supplied all the necessities by the master, but the servant's duty is to serve the master. That's all. Eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān, nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām... [Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13].

[The Supreme Lord is eternal and the living beings are eternal. The Supreme Lord is cognizant and the living beings are cognizant. The difference is that the Supreme Lord is supplying all the necessities of life for the many other living entities.]

These are the Vedic inform... Kṛṣṅa is supplying you immense..., all the necessities of life. There is no scarcity. There is no economic problem. You simply try to serve Kṛṣṅa, then everything is complete. Because He's Hṛṣīkeśa. And so much... If Kṛṣṅa desires, there may be ample supplies.

Just like in your country, there is ample supplies. In other country... I went to Switzerland: everything is imported. No supply. The supply is only..., only snow. [laughter] Take as much snow as you like. You see? Similarly, everything is under the control of Kṛṣṅa. If you become devotee, then there is no snow supply—simply food supply. And if you don't become devotee, be covered with snow. That's all. Covered with cloud. Everything is under Kṛṣṅa's control.

So actually there is no scarcity. The scarcity is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. So if you become Kṛṣṅa conscious then everything is ample. There is no scarcity. This is the process. Tvayā hṛṣīkeśa... And here it is said: tvayā hṛṣī..., yathā hṛṣīkeśa khalena devakī. The world is full of dangers. But Devakī... Kuntīdevī says, "But because Devakī is Your devotee, You saved her from the distresses offered by her envious brother." As soon as the brother heard that "My sister's son, eighth son of my sister, will kill me," oh, he was ready immediately to kill Devakī. So he was pacified by Devakī's husband. It is the duty of the husband to give protection. "So my dear brother-in-law, why you are envious to your sister? After all, your sister will not kill you. Her son will kill you. That is the problem. So I shall deliver all the sons to you, then you can do whatever you like. Why you are killing this innocent girl, newly married? She is your younger sister, just like your daughter. You should give her protection. What you are doing this?"

So Kaṁsa became pacified. He believed in the words of Vasudeva, that he'll deliver all the sons, "And if you like, can kill." He thought, "Let me save the present situation. After all, later on, mean, Kaṁsa gets a nephew; he may forget this enviousness." But he's never, never to forget. Yes. He killed all the sons and kept them in prison. Śucārpitā badhyā ati-ciram. Ati-ciram means for long time. So [s]he was saved. Devakī was saved after all.

Similarly, if we take the position of Devakī and Kuntī... Kuntī, just like with her sons, Pañca-Pāṅḍava, five Pāṅḍavas... After she became widow, the whole plan was, Dhṛtarāṣṭra's, "How to kill these children of my younger brother? Because, by chance, I was blind, so I could not get the throne of the kingdom. My younger brother got it. Now he's dead. So at least my sons, they should get the throne." That was his policy, Dhṛtarāṣṭra's policy: "I could not get." This is material propensities. "I shall be happy. My sons shall be happy. My community shall be happy. My nation shall be happy." These are extended selfishness.

Nobody's thinking Kṛṣṅa..., how Kṛṣṅa will be happy. Everyone is thinking in his own terms: "How I shall be happy, how my children shall be happy, my community shall be happy, my society shall be happy, my nation..." This is the struggle for existence. Everywhere you'll find it. This is material existence. Nobody's thinking how Kṛṣṅa will be happy.

Therefore this Kṛṣṅa consciousness is very sublime. Try to understand from Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā. And hṛṣīkeṅa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanam [Cc Madhya 19.170], and try to engage your senses for the service of the master of the senses. Then you'll be happy.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda. [end]