Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.44

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [devotees repeat] [leads chanting of verse, etc.]

sūta uvāca pṛthayetthaṁ kala-padaiḥ pariṅūtākhilodayaḥ mandaṁ jahāsa vaikuṅṭho mohayann iva māyayā [SB 1.8.44]

[break] [01:18]

Translation: "Sūta Gosvāmī said: The Lord, thus hearing the prayers of Kuntīdevī, composed in choice words for His glorification, mildly smiled. That smile was as enchanting as His mystic power."

Prabhupāda:

pṛthayetthaṁ kala-padaiḥ pariṅūtākhilodayaḥ mandaṁ jahāsa vaikuṅṭho mohayann iva māyayā [SB 1.8.44]

So whatever Kuntī said, that was accepted by Kṛṣṅa. So He remained silent and simply smiled, that "A devotee is glorifying the Lord in chosen words." Here it is said that kala-padaiḥ. Means God is to be worshiped... He is to be offered the best selected words, not that like the atheist fools, they worship, or rather, insult. That very word... It gives us very much pain when God is called "daridra-nārāyaṅa." Why? Why Nārāyaṅa should be daridra? That means no conception of Nārāyaṅa. Therefore they add these insulting words.

But that is not the way of worship. Uttama-śloka. Kṛṣṅa's or God's another name is Uttama-śloka, "who is worshiped by the best, selected words." Uttama-śloka-guṅānuvarṅanam. Yad uttama-śloka-guṅānuvarṅanam.

idaṁ hi puṁsas tapasaḥ śrutasya vā sviṣṭasya sūktasya ca buddhi-dattayoḥ avicyuto 'rthaḥ kavibhir nirūpito yad uttama-śloka-guṅānuvarṅanam [SB 1.5.22]

This is the injunction of the śāstra. Idaṁ hi puṁsas tapasaḥ śrutasya vā. In the material world, everyone, at least the higher class, higher section of the society, they are engaged in so many research work. That is called tapasya. How to find out the best thing for the human, benefit of the human society, scientific research, that is also tapasya. When a scientist invents something, that is result of tapasya. It is not very easily obtained. Therefore tapa..., so many people are engaged in tapasya. Idaṁ hi puṁsas tapasaḥ śrutasya. So many people are engaged in education. Śrutasya. Śrutasya means "of education." The Vedic process of getting education is by hearing. Therefore it is called śruti. The Vedas are called śruti. Formerly... Just like we are reading books. The books were not needed because the memory was so sharp—simply by hearing from the teacher, they'll remember. That is... That is called tradition by hearing. Therefore education means śruti. Śrutibhir pratipannam. Anything, if you want to prove, then you have to give evidence from the śruti. Then it is...

So anyone who is being educated, anyone who is engaged in research work for the benefit of the whole human society... Idaṁ hi puṁsas tapasaḥ śrutasya vā ca buddhi-dattayoḥ. Or somebody is giving in charity, opening hospital, schools, or other good, good purposes, ca buddhi-dattayoḥ. So why they are doing that? What is the purpose? The purpose is avicyutaḥ arthaḥ. Avicyuta means infallible, and artha means purpose. Avicyutaḥ arthaḥ kavibhir nirūpitaḥ. It is ascertained, the purpose. Why one should be engaged in research work? Why one should be engaged in getting good education? Why one should perform charity, or why one should be intelligent? This is higher-class activities. So what is the purpose? The purpose, it is said, kavibhir nirūpitaḥ: "By high-class scholars, they have ascertained." What is it? Yad uttama-śloka-guṅānuvarṅanam: "God is to be worshiped simply by glorifying Him by the best words, uttama-śloka." Not that "My dear God, You have no eyes. You have no leg. You have no hand. You have no mouth." What is this? It is the indirect way of insulting God.

If one man has no eyes, then what he is called? He is called blind. So if one man has no legs, he is called lame. So similarly, if we worship God that "You are blind. You are lame. You are headless. You are brainless," what is this worship? Similarly, this kind of worship—daridra-nārāyaṅa, "Nārāyaṅa is daridra"—is just like that. No. Here Kuntī says that kala-padaiḥ, kala-padaiḥ, "by chosen words." Just like if you worship some superior, when you give foodstuff to your spiritual master, superior, you find out the best, selected foodstuff, not that anything, worst: "You eat it. If you don't like, don't eat. I don't mind." No. This is the way of worship. When you worship superior, and who can be more superior than Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead? He's the Supreme, Absolute Truth. 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.]

So Kuntī has all along... Very selected words she used. That we should learn. That is the injunction of the śāstras, uttama-śloka. Therefore Kṛṣṅa's another name is bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī [SB 1.2.18].

[By regular attendance in classes on the Bhāgavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.]

The best words. Actually, if you love somebody, out of love you cannot use anything, means any word, which is not very much appreciated. So... And they are all applicable. It is not like the logic, kāṅa-chelera nāma padma-locana[?]: one man has got a child who is blind, but he has given the name Padma-locana, "lotus-eyed." Not like that. The selected words which Kuntī has used, it is not improper. They are properly used. Just like here is one word used, Vaikuṅṭha. Kṛṣṅa's another name is Vaikuṅṭha, or God's another name is Vaikuṅṭha. Vaikuṅṭha means vigata-kuṅṭha hy asmāt. Therefore spiritual world is called Vaikuṅṭha. And the material world is duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam [Bg 8.15].

[After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.]

It is not Vaikuṅṭha. You cannot even walk without anxiety. Just like we were walking on the street, and the leg slipped. So we should be very much careful even in walking. Beginning from your morning walk, you are full of anxiety. But Vaikuṅṭha means no anxiety. No anxiety. That is spiritual world. We must understand what is Vaikuṅṭhaloka and what is Jaḍaloka.

So here, everywhere simply danger. But if we take shelter of the Vaikuṅṭha, Kṛṣṅa... Samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavam [SB 10.14.58].

[For those who have accepted the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter of the cosmic manifestation and is famous as Murāri, the enemy of the Mura demon, the ocean of the material world is like the water contained in a calf's hoof-print. Their goal is paraṁ padam, Vaikuṅṭha, the place where there are no material miseries, not the place where there is danger at every step.]

It is just like the boat for crossing over a furious, dangerous ocean. Kṛṣṅa's lotus feet is compared with very sound, secure boat. And boarding it, you can cross over the ocean of nescience. Bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padam. Bhavāmbudhiḥ. Ambudhi means sea, and bhava means repetition of birth and death, birth and death. Just like in the ocean you are struggling. Sometimes you are drowning, and somebody helps you, saves you from being drowned, and again he throws you in the ocean. Then again struggle. So our life in this material world is like that. We are struggling from the beginning, very beginning of our life. We are simply struggling.

We learn from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that after the sex between the man and the woman, the man injects the semina within the womb of the mother, of the woman, and it is emulsified first night, and immediately forms a pealike form. That pealike form develops. So as soon as it is developed... Of course, in the process of development, there is no consciousness, just like deep sleeping. It is like that. But as soon as the body is little developed, the... There are nine holes: two nostrils, two ears, two eyes, one navel, one genital, one rectum. These nine holes develop, then the consciousness comes back. And when the consciousness comes back, then he feels pains and pleasure, because when the body is developed... The body is very delicate. So he is forced to live within urine and stool and so many secretion, and there are always worms in the stool, in the urine, and they take advantage of the delicate body, and they bite. So the baby, packed up, cannot move, cannot say anything, but feels pain, therefore moves. And the pregnant woman therefore feels that the child is moving at the age of seven months in the womb.

So therefore the struggle begins from the womb. And when the child comes out, again struggle. He is lying on the bed; some bug is biting. He cannot express. He is crying, and the mother thinks that he's hungry. In this way, wrongly understands, cannot give relief him. And he is going on crying, crying, crying. We have seen it. We have... Everyone has got experience. Then as soon as he is grown up, he is given responsibility for learning A-B-C-D, or going to school. He doesn't like. No child likes. At least, I did not like to go to school. So this is also another struggle. Then, when he is grown up, he is given more and more responsibility, examination, and then married life, then family maintenance. In this way struggling, struggling, struggling—again death; again enter into the womb of mother. Again the same struggle. So where is happiness? Therefore when Kṛṣṅa says, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam [Bg 8.15], "This whole material world is a place for suffering only," that is a fact.

[After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.]

But mūḍho 'yam, being enamored by māyā, he does not know. He forgets. This life is of forgetfulness, ignorance.

So struggle is going on. So therefore this word is used, that you are struggling in this material world so much, even beginning from your life. Prahlāda Mahārāja says, sadā samudvigna-dhiyām asad-grahāt [SB 7.5.5].

[Prahlāda Mahārāja replied: O best of the asuras, King of the demons, as far as I have learned from my spiritual master, any person who has accepted a temporary body and temporary household life is certainly embarrassed by anxiety because of having fallen in a dark well where there is no water but only suffering. One should give up this position and go to the forest [vana]. More clearly, one should go to Vṛndāvana, where only Kṛṣṅa consciousness is prevalent, and should thus take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.]

Asat. The spiritual world is called sat. Oṁ tat sat. So we should transfer ourself to the spiritual world. Asato mā gama, sad gama. Asato mā sad gama. This is the Vedic injunction. "Don't keep yourself in this asat." Asat means bad. Asat means which will not exist. That is called asat. Asad-grahāt. So because we have accepted this asat, grahāt, with very great eagerness, that "We shall become very happy. We shall live here very happily," therefore there is all... Actually there is no happiness. Suppose if you get some money all of a sudden, actually this is also asat, because when you did not get money, you were anxious to get it, and as soon as you get it, how to preserve it? "Shall I keep it in the bank? Because it is black market. Then there will be income tax. Then what I shall I do?" Another anxiety. Another anxiety.

So asad-vastu, in any way you want to enjoy, it will give you always anxiety. And if you go to the sad-vastu... Asato mā sad gama. If you go to sat, then that is Vaikuṅṭha. That is called Vaikuṅṭha, no more anxiety. This is... Therefore this very word is used, Vaikuṅṭha. Mandaṁ jahāsa vaikuṅṭho mohayann iva māyayā. This māyā is not illusion; this māyā is affection. When a mother laughs, smiles, the child feels very pleasure, very much. The mother... The child on the lap of the mother: mother is seeing the face of the child, and child is seeing the face of the mother; both of them are very pleased. They smile. So māyā, that māyā, means affection. When Kṛṣṅa smiles, He smiles with affection, and the devotee becomes enamored, becomes captivated simply by seeing Kṛṣṅa smiling. This is the process, the express..., exchange of devotional service.

So Vaikuṅṭha: Kṛṣṅa's name and Kṛṣṅa's place. Therefore, as Kṛṣṅa is Vaikuṅṭha, without any anxiety—Kṛṣṅa has no anxiety—similarly, Kṛṣṅa's place is also without any anxiety. Kṛṣṅa's activities, hearing Kṛṣṅa, that is also without anxiety. If we want to be anxiety-less, then we should hear about Kṛṣṅa.

sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhir ye prāyaśo 'jita jito 'py asi tais tri-lokyām [SB 10.14.3]

[Those who, even while remaining situated in their established social positions, throw away the process of speculative knowledge and with their body, words and mind offer all respects to descriptions of Your personality and activities, dedicating their lives to these narrations, which are vibrated by You personally and by Your pure devotees, certainly conquer Your Lordship, although You are otherwise unconquerable by anyone within the three worlds.]

Kṛṣṅa, if you simply hear about Kṛṣṅa... Sthāne sthitāḥ. It doesn't require to change your place. You may be in..., in your place, position. You may be a medical practitioner. You may be engineer. You may be any other man, mercantile man. Whatever you may be, it doesn't... You may be a learned man. You may be a foolish man. It doesn't matter. But you hear. That is... If you want to get the position of Vaikuṅṭha, then you simply hear. It doesn't matter what is your position. Kṛṣṅa never said, "Only this kind of man." Of course, there is classification. The classification is "sinless" and "sinful." Only the person who are sinless, they can understand about God. That sinlessness can be achieved very easily, as I was explaining last night. Śṛṅvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṅaḥ puṅya-śravana-kīrtanaḥ [SB 1.2.17].

[Śrī Kṛṣṅa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.]

Simply if you hear about Kṛṣṅa, then the sinless automatically..., sinlessness automatically comes in, ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanam [Cc Antya 20.12],

[Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṅa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṅa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.]

This is the process of cleansing the mirror of the heart. Mirror, when it issimply by hearing. So by hearing, hearing, it is both the process and the medicine, both, everything. Because one has to become sinless, so one has to adopt some means by which one can become sinless. So simply by hearing, you become sinless. And after being sinless, you become more and more interested.

Just like in jaundice disease that if you... Because the doctors, the medical practitioners, they give sugar candy. The physician gives sugar candy. The sugar candy, to the person suffering from jaundice, tastes bitter: "Oh, it is bitter." But actually sugar candy is not bitter. Similarly, to the sinful man the kṛṣṅa-kathā, discussion about Kṛṣṅa, does not appear to be very palatable. They do not like to hear. They think it is waste of time. But that, as the sugar candy is the only medicine for jaundice disease, similarly, the hari-kathā, or kṛṣṅa-kathā, is the only medicine for our material disease. If we take it... Just like the jaundiced patient: if he takes sugar candy, then gradually he becomes free from the diseased condition, and at that time, the same sugar candy which he tasted in the beginning as bitter, it appears to be very, very sweet. Then he cannot live without. This is the process.

So we are in material disease at the present moment. We have forgotten Kṛṣṅa, and struggling for existence, we are trying to be happy by manufacturing so many plans. But this will not help us. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu approved this process. What is that?

jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhir ye prāyaśo 'jita jito 'py asi tais tri-lokyām [SB 10.14.3]

There was discussion between Rāmānanda Rāya and Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So Rāmānanda Rāya began from varṅāśrama-dharma. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu rejected. Rejected not wholly: eho bāhya āge kaha āra [Cc Madhya 8.59], "Yes, this is not bad, but it is not so important." Eho bāhya āge kaha āra: "If you know something more..." In this way, gradually, step by step, Rāmānanda Rāya said the ultimate goal of life is this, is that, is that. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said all of them as external. At least in this age, it is very difficult. Just like in the beginning, Rāmānanda Rāya said that varṅāśramācāravatā puruṣeṅa paraḥ pumān [Cc Madhya 8.58].

[The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṅu, is worshiped by the proper execution of prescribed duties in the system of varṅa and āśrama. There is no other way to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One must be situated in the institution of the four varṅas and āśramas.’]

He gave stress on the institution of varṅa and āśrama, to observe the rules and regulation of varṅas, four varṅas—to become brāhmaṅa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra—and four āśramas: brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha... But Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, eho bāhya, bāhya: "Yes, it is good, but it is not so, mean, important. Not so important."

Because He knew, in this age, Kali-yuga, who is going to observe this varṅāśrama-dharma? Everyone is śūdra. A śūdra cannot understand this, neither it is possible to bring them back again. Although we are trying, but it is very difficult. Once one has become debauch, to reform him is very difficult. But still there is way. And that way is suggested when... Rāmānanda Rāya suggested that... It is the words of Lord Brahmā, that jñāne prayāsam udapāsya: "One should not very much endeavor to speculate, speculating process." Just like these theosophist, the philosophers, the scientist, they, instead of having direct knowledge from the superior, they, more or less, speculate. So one has to give up this speculating habit. If one thinks that "I know. I am very educated. I am very advanced. I can discover what is God," that is not possible. That is not possible. Athāpi te deva-padāmbuja-dvaya-prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi jānāti tattvam [SB 10.14.29].

[My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years.]

You cannot understand God by your speculative method.

Big, big scholars, they have speculated about Kṛṣṅa in the Bhagavad-gītā. Misled, they could not understand. Just like a big politician, Gandhi, he also has Bhagavad-gītā in his hand, but he never spoke throughout his whole life that Kṛṣṅa is worshipable. He never spoke. Have you seen that he has advised that Kṛṣṅa is worshipable? Never. Dr. Radhakrishnan, he is also so big scholar. He has commented on Bhagavad-gītā. Rather, he says, "It is not to Kṛṣṅa." When Kṛṣṅa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru [Bg 18.65],

[Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.]

Dr. Radhakrishnan says, "It is not to Kṛṣṅa." That is the difficulty. Because they have no mercy of Kṛṣṅa upon them, they cannot understand Kṛṣṅa. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyā-samāvṛtaḥ [Bg 7.25].

[I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My eternal creative potency [yoga-māyā]; and so the deluded world knows Me not, who am unborn and infallible.]

Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ [Bg 18.55].

[One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.]

This is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. But they are not bhaktas. Tilak, he has described Bhagavad-gītā as a karmī; never said that Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You'll find like that, so many, what to speak of others? There are about six hundred commentaries on Bhagavad-gītā, all misleading. Therefore we have presented Bhagavad-gītā as it is, without any misinterpretation. And it is acting. These six hundred editions of Bhagavad-gītā was being advertised in the Western countries, and so many scholars and svāmīs went there—not a single person become a devotee of Kṛṣṅa, not a single for the last two hundred, three hundred years. Before that, there was no such attempt, but for the last at least hundred years, or more than that, many Indians went to the Western countries to preach our philosophy, and they referred to Bhagavad-gītā and so on, but unfortunately not a single person became a devotee of Kṛṣṅa. Not a single person. But as we presented Bhagavad-gītā as it is, within five years, thousands and thousands have become devotee of Kṛṣṅa. One can compare this.

So this is the way, that "Don't speculate nonsensically." That is the injunction of Lord Brahmā: jñāne prayāsam, that " 'You are very much learned scholar. You are a great politician. So I can speculate some religious system by misinterpreting this Bhagavad-gītā'—no, you should stop this." That is the recommendation. Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva: "Just become submissive. Submissive." That is the only way—to become submissive first of all. Then you can understand what is God. Therefore Kṛṣṅa demands, 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.]

So jñāne prayāsam udapā..., namanta eva. And what is the next business? San-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām. One should hear bhavadīya-vārtām, the message of Kṛṣṅa, from a realized soul, not a professional man. A realized soul. San-mukharitām. Sat. Oṁ tat sat. That same, again. That is the way. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommended, bhāgavata paṛa giya bhāgavata sthāne. Don't go and hear Bhāgavata-saptāha by a professional man. That is useless waste of time. If you want to learn about Bhāgavata, then bhāgavata paṛa giya bhāgavata sthāne—realized soul. Grantha-bhāgavata and... That is the recommendation of Brahmā, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted it. When this verse was recited by Rāmānanda Rāya,

jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva jīvanti san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhir... [SB 10.14.3]

Immediately Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, eho haya: "Yes, this is the system." Eho haya, āge kaha āra. Then further development. Then further development: śānta-rasa, dāsya-rasa, sakhya-rasa and vātsalya-rasa... That is rasa-vicāra. That is... When one has stepped into this Vaikuṅṭha platform, then the rasa-vicāra, not before that.

So here also, Kṛṣṅa is described as Vaikuṅṭha. If one takes shelter of Kṛṣṅa, then he also become Vaikuṅṭha. Samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavam. He becomes assured of his safety. Kṛṣṅa is Vaikuṅṭha. So pṛthayā itthaṁ kala-padaiḥ. And we should not try to insult God. We should try to glorify God in glorified language. That I have already explained. Uttama-śloka-guṅānuvādāt. Don't try to speak nonsense and describe God. No. God is never daridra. How He can be daridra? If you describe daridra-nārāyaṅa, it is a blasphemy. No. Uttama-śloka. Just like Kuntī has described, kṛṣṅa-sakha: "You are the friend of Arjuna." That is the proper explanation. Gopī, gopī-vallabha: "Kṛṣṅa, You are always prepared to please the gopīs." Yaśodā-nandana. Yaśodā-nandana vraja-jana-rañjana. These are the description. "Kṛṣṅa, You are the son of Yaśo..." Kṛṣṅa takes pride. Kṛṣṅa, when His name is attached with the activities of a devotee, He becomes very much pleased. But sometimes Kṛṣṅa is called Kaṁsa-nisūdana, Madhusūdana, Kaṁsāri. That is also Kṛṣṅa's pleasure. He appears to be enemy, Kaṁsāri, to the demons.

So these are the description of Kṛṣṅa. We have to follow. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ [Cc Madhya 17.186].

[Dry arguments are inconclusive. A great personality whose opinion does not differ from others is not considered a great sage. Simply by studying the Vedas, which are variegated, one cannot come to the right path by which religious principles are understood. The solid truth of religious principles is hidden in the heart of an unadulterated self-realized person. Consequently, as the śāstras confirm, one should accept whatever progressive path the mahājanas advocate.]

Don't manufacture something which will not be compatible. You just hear, sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatā..., from the realized soul, how Kṛṣṅa should be described. Here, just like Kuntī is describing Kṛṣṅa, kṛṣṅa-sakha. He's Kṛṣṅa, and Draupadī is also called Kṛṣṅa, and Arjuna is also called Kṛṣṅa. So Kṛṣṅa is both, friends for both of them. Kṛṣṅa supplied unlimited measurement of cloth to Draupadī because Draupadī was crying for Kṛṣṅa, "Save my honor." Similarly, Arjuna also, he accepted Kṛṣṅa as the supreme guide. Śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam [Bg 2.7]:

[Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me clearly what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me.]

"There is perplexity, my dear Kṛṣṅa. I cannot decide whether I shall fight or I shall not fight." Kārpaṅya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ: "I am kṣatriya, but due to my weakness, I am trying to avoid fight. So therefore please instruct me. Because You can..., I understand that You can give me the right instruction; therefore I become Your śiṣya." Śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam. Therefore Kṛṣṅa is known as Pārtha-sārathi. Pārtha-sārathi, Kṛṣṅa-sakha, Yaśodā-nandana, Nanda-nandana, Vāsudeva, Devakī-nandana. So God has no name, but He has got thousands and millions of name on account of His different varieties of activities with His devotees. This is the science of understanding Kṛṣṅa's name. Kṛṣṅa-sakha and Vṛṣṅi-ṛṣabha, "The best of the Vṛṣṅi dynasty." Because Kṛṣṅa took birth in the Vṛṣṅi dynasty, so He's the best, Ṛṣabha. Ṛṣabha means the best. And because Kṛṣṅa took birth in the Vṛṣṅi dynasty, therefore the whole family became very famous. And His business was [indistinct] dhrug-rājanya-varga, vaṁśa-dahana. Paritrāṅāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām [Bg 4.8].

[In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.]

So in this way Kṛṣṅa should be described in connection with different activities. But those who are impersonalist, they cannot understand Kṛṣṅa, and being impersonalist, they do not believe in the activities of the Supreme. They think that when the Supreme Absolute Truth comes in the material world, in the material form, then there are activities. Otherwise, impersonal, where there is activity? They cannot understand. Athāpi te deva padām... Therefore nobody can understand Kṛṣṅa without being trained up by a self-realized devotee. If a... If one takes the shelter of Kṛṣṅa's representative, devotee, then it doesn't matter what he is. Kirāta-hūṅāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā ābhīra-śumbhā yavanāḥ khasādayaḥ, ye 'nye ca pāpā yad-apāśrayāśrayāḥ [SB 2.4.18]. If he has taken shelter of a pure devotee—never mind he's a kirāta, hūṅa, āndhra, pulinda, pulkaśā—he is śudhyanti. He becomes purified, and gradually he understands Kṛṣṅa.

So from the example of Kuntīdevī, if we want to understand Kṛṣṅa, and if we want to be transferred to the Vaikuṅṭha atmosphere, then we should follow the Kṛṣṅa's... So Kṛṣṅa was very much pleased. If you worship Kṛṣṅa in the proper way, mahājano yena ga..., then He accepts. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti [Bg 18.55].

[One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.]

And Kṛṣṅa also says, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati [Bg 9.26].

[If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.]

That bhakti is the most important thing. Kṛṣṅa is not interested with your foodstuff. Kṛṣṅa is interested with your bhakti. Therefore this word is used, yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. Not that "I am very rich man. I can offer Kṛṣṅa lucī, purī, halavā. He must take it." Just like we get some palatable foodstuff—we eat up to the neck. No. Kṛṣṅa is ātmārāma. Kṛṣṅa has no hunger. Even if He is hungry, He can fulfill it Himself. He doesn't require your help. But He accepts your foodstuff because you offer Him with bhakti. That is the main thing. Just like you relish foodstuff when you are hungry. If you have got sufficient appetite, any kind of foodstuff, you'll find it is very nice. But if you are offered very palatable foodstuff and you are not hungry—you have no appetite—useless. Similarly, you can Kṛṣṅa offer very nice foodstuff—lucī, purī, halavā and other things—but if you have no bhakti, then Kṛṣṅa will not touch. Therefore it is essential, those who are initiated, they should prepare Kṛṣṅa's foodstuff, and the professional man, noninitiated person, cannot prepare. Because a bhakta prepares the foodstuff with some desire that "Let me do it very nicely. Kṛṣṅa will eat." That... That is different thing from the professional man cooking.

So yo me bhaktyā... The main thing is bhakti. And all the prayers offered by Kuntīdevī—full of bhakti. So we should learn from Kuntīdevī how to offer, and then Kṛṣṅa will be very much pleased, and He will smile. Jahāsa. [pause]

Indian man: Who has told this "daridra-nārāyaṅa"?

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Indian man: "Daridra-nārāyaṅa" ...was told by who? Is it śāstra or it is...?

Prabhupāda: It is not in the śāstra. But somebody, some svāmī has told it.

Indian man: Ramakrishnan...?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Not Ramakrishnan. Vivekananda. [pause] All right.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. [break]

Prabhupāda: [Bengali] [break]

Indian man: ...all the time wanted certain miseries and so on?[?]

Prabhupāda: Hmm?

Indian man: Kuntī?

Prabhupāda: Kuntī had no miseries.

Indian man: No, she wanted all the time.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Kun... Yes. Because she wanted Kṛṣṅa. That is the subject matter of this prayer, that Kṛṣṅa was going to Dvārakā, taking leave from Kuntī, so she thought that "Kṛṣṅa, when we are always in danger, You were always with us. And now we are situated in good position, we are out of danger, and You are going away? The better we be again in danger so that I can see You." That was Kuntī's prayer. That's all. Now we can... [break] [end]