Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.1.33

Nitāi: "Dear sirs, whose servant are you, where have you come from, and for what reason are you forbidding us to touch the body of Ajāmila? Are you coming from the heavenly planets, are you demigods, sub-demigods, or the best of the perfected devotees?"

Prabhupāda:

kasya vā kuta āyātāḥ kasmād asya niṣedhatha kiṁ devā upadevā yā yūyaṁ kiṁ siddha-sattamāḥ [SB 6.1.33]

This Yamarāja, he has been given his jurisdiction on the lower portion of the universe, Pātāla. Yamarāja is not one of the candidates, but he has been designated to go down and administer the government there. [child making noise]

Jayatīrtha: The children should go out.

Prabhupāda: So nārāyaṅa-parāḥ sarve na kutaścana bibhyati [SB 6.17.28].

[Devotees solely engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṅa, never fear any condition of life. For them the heavenly planets, liberation and the hellish planets are all the same, for such devotees are interested only in the service of the Lord.]

Just like government servant, they have to go anywhere the government orders: "You go and see there." So Yamarāja is, although one of the mahājanas, great personality, most confidential devotee and officer of Kṛṣṅa... There are twelve great personalities: Lord Brahmā...

svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ prahlādo janako bhīṣmo balir vaiyāsakir vayam [SB 6.3.20]

[Lord Brahmā, Bhagavān Nārada, Lord Śiva, the four Kumāras, Lord Kapila [the son of Devahūti], Svāyambhuva Manu, Prahlāda Mahārāja, Janaka Mahārāja, Grandfather Bhīṣma, Bali Mahārāja, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and I myself know the real religious principle. My dear servants, this transcendental religious principle, which is known as bhāgavata-dharma, or surrender unto the Supreme Lord and love for Him, is uncontaminated by the material modes of nature. It is very confidential and difficult for ordinary human beings to understand, but if by chance one fortunately understands it, he is immediately liberated, and thus he returns home, back to Godhead.]

So Yamarāja is also one of the twelve exalted officers, or representative of Kṛṣṅa. But still, he has gone to take charge of the judicial department for judging the sinful—not all, only the sinful.

So these Yamadūtas, order carriers of Yamarāja, they were surprised to see how nice they are, good-looking. So they were surprised, and they were asking question that kasya vā, "Whose servants you are? We are Yamarāja'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 vā kuta āyātāḥ: "And wherefrom you are coming?" Kasmāt: "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?" Kiṁ devāḥ: "Are you demigods or semi-demigods?" In the upper planetary system there are gods, demigods. But yūyaṁ kiṁ siddha-sattamāḥ. Siddha-sattamāḥ means in the spiritual world. Siddha means "completely perfect," and sattamāḥ, "devotees."

Within this material world there is one Siddhaloka. Siddha, caraṅa. 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. Tulasī dāsa 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 Kṛṣṅa, 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-sattamāḥ. 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 yogīs can go, but they are born yogīs. One planet... This is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. 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 śāstra. 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 śāstra.

So kasya vā kuta āyātāḥ kasmād asya niṣedhatha: "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 Viṣṅudūta. So sarve padma-palāśākṣāḥ: exactly the feature like Nārāyaṅa. Padma-palāśa: their eyes are compared with the lotus petal, very nice. Sarve: "All of you look so nice." Padma-palāśa-akṣāḥ pīta-kauśeya-vāsasaḥ. In Vaikuṅṭha, people, they also dress with yellow cloth, pīta-kauśeya, or this saffron color. This is Vaikuṅṭha dress. Kauśeya, pīta, the dress, garments. Kirīṭinaḥ: "with helmets." Kuṅḍalinaḥ: "with nice earring." Kirīṭinaḥ kuṅḍalino lasat-puṣkara-mālinaḥ, "and very nice flower garland." This is Vaikuṅṭha dress. Lasat-puṣkara-mālinaḥ, sarve ca nūtna-vayasaḥ: all young men. In Vaikuṅṭha 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 Vaikuṅṭha there is no such thing.

Nityaḥ śāśvato 'yam [Bg 2.20]. The Vaikuṅṭha planet, because that is spiritual body, that is nityaḥ śāśvataḥ. Never it become... Just like Kṛṣṅa or Nārāyaṅa or Viṣṅu, They are not old. You will find all these pictures of Nārāyaṅa, Viṣṅu, Kṛṣṅa—all young men. So they are also... The inhabitants of Vaikuṅṭha on the spiritual planet, they are also exactly of the same feature. You everything get exactly like God. This is Vaikuṅṭhaloka. The opulence is also like that. Sārṣṭi. There are five kinds of mukti, liberation. One is sāyujya, to merge into the existence. That is also mukti. But Vaiṣṅava does not like such kind of mukti. They think to merge, to become one with the Supreme and lost our individuality, that is, Vaiṣṅava thinks as hell. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. Why? We shall keep ourself, our individuality, the body exactly like Kṛṣṅa. In the Goloka Vṛndāvana they keep exactly like two-handed Kṛṣṅa. In the Vaikuṅṭha they also keep themselves four-handed as Viṣṅu, Nārāyaṅa. So the Vaiṣṅavas are very intelligent. They want to keep themself in as good as God. Sometimes more than God, Vaiṣṅava. That is very intelligent. What is the use of becoming one? I lose my individuality. So that is jñānī's aspiration. But the bhaktas, they want to keep association with Kṛṣṅa or Viṣṅu in the same opulence, same prosperity, everything, bodily features the same, everything.

So advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam ādyaṁ purāṅa-puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanaṁ ca [Bs 5.33].

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without a beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning, and the eternal puruṣa; yet He is a person possessing the beauty of blooming youth.]

So nava-yauvanam. Lord Viṣṅu, Nārāyaṅa, Kṛṣṅa, or the liberated devotees there, they are of the same bodily feature, nava-yauvanam, always young. Therefore it is said, sarve ca nūtna-vayasaḥ. Vayasaḥ means age, and nūtna means just fresh young man. Nūtna-vayasaḥ sarve cāru-caturbhujāḥ: "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 Viṣṅu. Everything like Viṣṅu. Sarve cāru-caturbhujāḥ, dhanur-niṣaṅgāsi-gadā-śaṅkha-cakrāmbuja-śriyaḥ [SB 6.1.34].

And the weapons: dhanuḥ, bow; dhanur-niṣaṅga asi, the arrows and the sword; gadā, club; śaṅkha, conchshell; and cakra, disc. As Viṣṅu has Sudarśana... Śaṅkha-cakra-gadā-padma. There are fourteen different forms of Viṣṅu according to the position of the weapon in different hand, beginning with śaṅkha-cakra-gadā-padma, then cakra-gadā-śaṅkha-padma, in this way. These description are there in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. And according to the change of the weapon, the different names are there. One viṣṅu-mūrti is called Vāmana; one mūrti is called Govinda. In this way there are twenty-four forms of Viṣṅu, śaṅkha-cakra-gadā-padma, according to Their placing in different hands.

So these Viṣṅudūtas, they are exactly dressed like Viṣṅu or equipped with ornaments and everything. Then again, diśaḥ vitimirālokāḥ. And on account of their presence... They have got also bodily effulgence. As Viṣṅu has got bodily effulgence, similarly, the Viṣṅudūtas, 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. Diśo 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 Vaikuṅṭhaloka 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 Vaikuṅṭhaloka or in this material world. Sarva-gaḥ 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. Ātmavat manyate jagat. If one is rascal, he thinks all others rascal also. That is nature. He cannot think that "Somebody is more intelligent than me." He thinks, "I am rascal; therefore everyone is rascal." Ātmavat 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 ātmavat 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-gaḥ. 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 Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam [Bg 4.1]:

[The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvān, and Vivasvān instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikṣvāku.]

"I spoke this philosophy formerly to the sun-god." So unless there is sun-god or the king of the sun planet... So if this king is there, the citizens must be there, the kingdom must be there—but they are made of fire. So similarly, in the Vaikuṅṭha 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 Yamadūta, such persons with four hands, so decorated, so effulgent. So they were surprised, that "You are so nice." So diśo vitimirālokāḥ kurvantaḥ svena tejasā: "By your personal effulgence, you are illuminating wherever you are standing." Diśo. Kim arthaṁ dharma-pālasya kiṅkarān no niṣedhatha [SB 6.1.36]: "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 Ajāmila's body. If we forcibly do, they can punish us." The Yamadūtas 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 arthaṁ dharma-pālasya. Dharma-pāla: "We are also acting not whimsically. We are working under the Dharmarāja, Yamarāja, 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 arthaṁ dharma-pālasya kiṅkarān no niṣedhatha.

So we get description of the Viṣṅudūtas. 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 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-gītā...

[break] ...janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ [Bg 4.9].

[One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.]

You try to understand Kṛṣṅa. Simply try to understand. Don't conclude that "Kṛṣṅa 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 Kṛṣṅa, 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. Kṛṣṅa, when appeared, a few men upon this planet could understand that "Here is the Supreme Personality of Godhead," especially the Pāṅḍavas. They were so fortunate, they could understand, "Kṛṣṅa is..." Kuntī, their mother, she could understand. Kuntī, kuntī-stotra prayer, you will find how she has realized that "Kṛṣṅa, although He is playing just like my nephew, my brother's son, but no, He is the Supreme Personality of..." Even Dhṛtarāṣṭra knew. Dhṛtarāṣṭra knew that Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When Kṛṣṅa sent His messenger to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Akrūra, to advise him that "Why you are envious of your nephews? You stop this," before the war of Kurukṣetra, so Dhṛtarāṣṭra 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 Dhṛtarāṣṭra knew, and what to speak of the Pāṅḍavas?

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? Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilo... [Bs 5.38].

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṅa Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love.]

One who has got love for God, he can see God all the time, and now what to speak of God comes personally before him? So we have to learn from the Supreme Personality of Godhead everything, what is the situation of this material world, what is the situation of the spiritual world. Everything perfectly there is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and we have to learn. Then our life is successful.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda. [end]