It was at the age of 14 or 15 that Mahāprabhu was married to Lakṣmīdevī, the daughter of Vallabhācārya, also of Nadia. He was at this age considered one of the best scholars of Nadia, the renowned seat of nyāya philosophy and Sanskrit learning. Not to speak of the smārta paṇḍitas, the Naiyāyikas were all afraid of confronting him in literary discussions. Being a married man, he went to Eastern Bengal on the banks of the Padma for acquirement of wealth. There he displayed his learning and obtained a good sum of money. It was at this time that he preached Vaiṣṇavism at intervals. After teaching him the principles of Vaiṣṇavism, he ordered Tapana Miśra to go to and live in Benares. During his residence in East Bengal, his wife Lakṣmīdevī left this world from the effects of snakebite. On returning home, he found his mother in a mourning state. He consoled her with a lecture on the uncertainty of human affairs.
Snakebite (CC and other books)
Expressions researched:
"Kaliya looked for an opportunity to bite"
|"Kaliya snake by dancing on his heads, Kaliya bit"
|"bite inflicted by the black snakes"
|"bitten by a poisonous snake"
|"bitten by a snake"
|"bitten by a snake-bird"
|"bitten by the most venomous snake"
|"bitten by the snake"
|"bitten by the snake-bird"
|"bitten by these snakes"
|"snake bite"
|"snake of separation bit"
|"snake-bitten"
|"snakebite"
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
Garuḍa Paṇḍita, the thirty-seventh branch of the tree, always engaged in chanting the auspicious name of the Lord. Because of the strength of this chanting, even the effects of poison could not touch him.
Garuḍa Paṇḍita was once bitten by a poisonous snake, but the snake’s poison could not affect him because of his chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.
The snake of separation bit Lakṣmīdevī, and its poison caused her death. Thus she passed to the next world. She went back home, back to Godhead.
As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.6), yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram: one’s practice in thinking throughout his entire life determines the quality of his thoughts at death, and thus at death one obtains a suitable body. According to this principle, Lakṣmīdevī, the goddess of fortune from Vaikuṇṭha, who was absorbed in thought of the Lord in separation from Him, certainly went back home to Vaikuṇṭhaloka after death.
CC Madhya-lila
"O brāhmaṇas, just accept me as a completely surrendered soul, and let mother Ganges, the representative of the Lord, also accept me in that way, for I have already taken the lotus feet of the Lord into my heart. Let the snakebird—or whatever magical thing the brāhmaṇa created—bite me at once. I only desire that you all continue singing the deeds of Lord Viṣṇu."
This is a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.19.15) spoken by Mahārāja Parīkṣit while he was sitting on the bank of the Ganges expecting to be bitten by a snake-bird summoned by the curse of a brāhmaṇa boy named Śṛṅgi, who was the son of a great sage named Śamīka. News of the curse was conveyed to the King, who prepared for his imminent death. Many great saintly persons, sages, brāhmaṇas, kings and demigods came to see him in his last days. Mahārāja Parīkṣit, however, was not at all afraid of being bitten by the snake-bird. Indeed, he requested all the great personalities assembled to continue chanting the holy name of Lord Viṣṇu.
CC Antya-lila
"The two very beautiful arms of Kṛṣṇa are just like long bolts. They also resemble the bodies of black snakes that enter the space between the two hill-like breasts of women and bite their hearts. The women then die from the burning poison.
In other words, the gopīs become very much agitated by lusty desire; they are burning due to the poisonous bite inflicted by the black snakes of Kṛṣṇa’s beautiful arms.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
Lord Caitanya, describing the symptoms of a person who has developed from faith to the stage of bhāva, states that such a person is never agitated even if there are causes for agitation. Nor does such a person waste his time even for a moment; he is always anxious to do something for Kṛṣṇa. Even if he has no engagement, he will find some work to do for Kṛṣṇa's satisfaction. Nor does such a person like anything which is not connected with Kṛṣṇa. Although he is situated in the best position, he does not hanker after honor or personal respect. He is confident in his work, and he is never under the impression that he is not making progress toward the supreme goal of life-going back to Godhead. Since he is fully convinced of his progress, he is always confident and keeps himself busy to achieve the highest goal. He is very much attached to gratifying the Lord and in chanting or hearing about the Lord, and he is always attached to describing the transcendental qualities of the Lord. He also prefers to live in holy places like Mathurā, Vṛndāvana or Dvārakā. Such characteristics are visible in one who has developed to the stage of bhāva.
King Parīkṣit affords a good example of bhāva. When sitting on the banks of the Ganges waiting to meet his death, he said: "All the brāhmaṇas present here, as well as Mother Ganges, should know that I am a soul completely surrendered to Kṛṣṇa. I do not mind if I am immediately bitten by the snake sent by the brāhmaṇa boy's curse. Let the snake bite me as it likes. I shall be pleased if all of you present here will go on chanting the message of Kṛṣṇa." Such a devotee is always anxious to see that his time is not wasted in anything which is not connected with Kṛṣṇa.
The sages mentioned in the Upaniṣads and in śruti also desire the post of the gopīs, and they also follow in the footsteps of the gopīs in order to attain that highest goal of life. This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.87.23) when it is said that the sages practice prāṇāyāma (trance) by controlling the breathing process, mind and senses through the mystic yoga practice. Thus they try to merge into the Supreme Brahman. This same goal is attained by atheists who deny the existence of God. If such atheists are killed by an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they also merge into the Brahman existence of the Supreme Lord. However, when the damsels of Vṛndāvana worship Śrī Kṛṣṇa, it is as though they have been bitten by a snake, for Kṛṣṇa's body is compared with the body of a snake. A snake's body is never straight; it is always curling. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa often stands in a three curved posture, and He has bitten the gopīs with transcendental love.
Nectar of Devotion
In the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya there is a statement about the incense which is offered in the temple: "When the devotees smell the good flavor of the incense which is offered to the Deity, they thus become cured of the poisonous effects of material contamination, as much as one becomes cured of a snakebite by smelling the prescribed medicinal herbs." The explanation of this verse is that there is an herb found in the jungles which expert persons know how to use to revive the consciousness of one who is bitten by a snake. Simply by smelling that herb one becomes immediately relieved of the poisonous effects of the snakebite. The same example is applicable: when a person comes to visit the temple and smells the incense offered to the Deity, he is cured at that time from all his material contamination.
In the Garuḍa Purāṇa the stress on hearing is expressed very nicely. It is said there, "The state of conditioned life in the material world is just like that of a man lying unconscious, having been bitten by a snake. This is because both such unconscious states can be ended by the sound of a mantra." When a man is snake-bitten he does not die immediately, but first becomes unconscious and remains in a comatose condition. Anyone who is in the material world is also sleeping, as he is ignorant of his actual self or his actual duty and his relationship with God. So materialistic life means that one is bitten by the snake of māyā, illusion, and thus, without any Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is almost dead. Now, the so-called dead man bitten by a snake can be brought back to life by the chanting of some mantra. There are expert chanters of these mantras who can perform this feat. Similarly, one can be brought back into Kṛṣṇa consciousness from the deadly unconscious state of material life by hearing of the mahā-mantra: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.
Kṛṣṇa used a buffalo horn as a bugling instrument. This instrument was always highly polished and circled with gold bands, and on the middle there was a hole. Regarding these instruments, there is a metaphorical statement about a gopī named Tārāvalī. It is said that Tārāvalī was bitten by the most venomous snake of Kṛṣṇa's flute. Then, in order to neutralize the poisonous effect, she drank the milk produced by the buffalo horn in the hand of Kṛṣṇa. But instead of decreasing the poisonous effect, it increased it a thousand times. The gopī was thus put into the most miserable poisoned condition.
When Kṛṣṇa was fighting with the Kāliya snake by dancing on his heads, Kāliya bit Kṛṣṇa on the leg. At that time Garuḍa became infuriated and began to murmur, "Kṛṣṇa is so powerful that simply by His thundering voice the wives of Kāliya have had miscarriages. Because my Lord has been insulted by this snake, I wish to devour him immediately, but I cannot do so in the presence of my Lord, because He may become angry with me." This is an instance of eagerness to act in ecstatic love as a result of dishonor to Kṛṣṇa.
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
For two hours Kṛṣṇa remained like an ordinary child gripped in the coils of Kāliya, but when He saw that all the inhabitants of Gokula—including His mother and father, the gopīs, the boys and the cows—were just on the point of death and that they had no shelter for salvation from imminent death, Kṛṣṇa immediately freed Himself. He began to expand His body, and when the serpent tried to hold Him, he felt a great strain. On account of the strain, his coils slackened, and he had no alternative but to let loose the Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, from his grasp. Kāliya then became very angry, and his great hoods expanded. He exhaled poisonous fumes from his nostrils, his eyes blazed like fire, and flames issued from his mouth. The great serpent remained still for some time, looking at Kṛṣṇa. Licking his lips with bifurcated tongues, the serpent looked at Kṛṣṇa with double hoods, and his eyesight was full of poison. Kṛṣṇa immediately pounced upon him, just as Garuḍa swoops upon a snake. Thus attacked, Kāliya looked for an opportunity to bite Him, but Kṛṣṇa moved around him. As Kṛṣṇa and Kāliya moved in a circle, the serpent gradually became fatigued, and his strength seemed to diminish considerably. Kṛṣṇa immediately pressed down the serpent’s hoods and jumped up on them.
The identity of Kṛṣṇa and Govardhana Hill is still honored, and great devotees take rocks from Govardhana Hill and worship them exactly as they worship the Deity of Kṛṣṇa in the temples. The followers of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement may therefore collect small rocks or pebbles from Govardhana Hill and worship them at home, because this worship is as good as Deity worship. The form of Kṛṣṇa who began to eat the offerings was separately constituted, and Kṛṣṇa Himself, along with the other inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, offered obeisances to the Deity as well as Govardhana Hill. In offering obeisances to the huge form of Kṛṣṇa and Govardhana Hill, Kṛṣṇa declared, "Just see how Govardhana Hill has assumed this huge form and is favoring us by accepting all the offerings!" Kṛṣṇa also declared at that meeting, "One who neglects the worship of Govardhana-pūjā, as I am personally conducting it, will not be happy. There are many snakes on Govardhana Hill, and persons neglecting the prescribed duty of Govardhana-pūjā will be bitten by these snakes and killed. In order to assure the good fortune of the cows and themselves, all people of Vṛndāvana near Govardhana must worship the hill, as prescribed by Me."
| Page Title: | Snakebite (CC and other books) |
| Compiler: | Labangalatika, Erick |
| Created: | 07 of Aug, 2009 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=4, OB=9, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 13 |