View source for Whatever Bhisma will speak on devotional service, that is authoritative

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[[Category:Bhismadeva]]

[[Category:speak]]

[[Category:devotional Service]]

[[Category:Authoritative]]

== Lectures ==

=== Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures ===

<span class="q_heading">''' Bhīṣmadeva is one of the recognized stalwart devotee of Kṛṣṇa, mahājana, authority. Whatever Bhīṣma will speak on devotional service, that is authoritative.'''</span>

<span class="LEC-statistics">'''[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 1.8.45 -- Mayapura, October 25, 1974|Lecture on SB 1.8.45 -- Mayapura, October 25, 1974]]:''' Even in His childhood, the demons could not conquer over Kṛṣṇa. Beginning from Pūtanā, when He was only three months old, and up to the killing of so many other demons, Kṛṣṇa was never defeated. That is the history. He was never defeated. Ajita. Therefore His name is Ajita. But Ajita becomes conquered. Ajita jito 'py asi. Although Kṛṣṇa is never conquered, still, you can conquer Him. How? Simply by becoming His beloved devotee.

Just like Bhīṣmadeva. Bhīṣmadeva is one of the recognized stalwart devotee of Kṛṣṇa, mahājana, authority. Whatever Bhīṣma will speak on devotional service, that is authoritative. All the twelve mahājanas... Svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ kapilaḥ kumāro manuḥ prahlādo janako bhīṣmaḥ [SB 6.3.20]. So Bhīṣma wanted to conquer over Kṛṣṇa. He promised. How he conquered, that you know, the story, that when Duryodhana showed some reluctance, that "My dear grandfather, you are not fighting with the Pāṇḍavas wholeheartedly because you have got affection for them. So you are on my side. You should fight wholeheartedly." A little criticizing. So to, in order to please Duryodhana, Bhīṣma promised that "Tomorrow I shall kill all the five brothers. Is that all right?" 'Yes, sir. Do that." "So they cannot be saved unless Kṛṣṇa breaks His promise." Kṛṣṇa said that... Both the parties were informed that "It is family fight. I cannot take part in the family. But I can divide Myself into two: My soldiers one side, and I am one side. But even if I am in one side, I'll not fight." So this was His promise, that He would not fight in the Battle of Kurukṣetra. But Bhīṣma obliged Him to fight, to break His promise in order to save Arjuna. 

Therefore Bhīṣma conquered over Kṛṣṇa, because He had to break His promise. Arjuna was in such a precarious condition that unless Kṛṣṇa would take up the weapon to stop Bhīṣma, Bhīṣma was determined: "All right, let, let me kill my grandson." So in battlefield, it was a great ocean of fighting, and Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Karṇa, they were compared with big, big sharks, crocodiles in the ocean. That was described by Parīkṣit Mahārāja, that "Only for Kṛṣṇa, my grandfather Arjuna was saved. Otherwise, it was impossible for my grandfather to conquer over the fight, to come out victorious. It is simply due to Kṛṣṇa."

So Bhīṣma conquered over Kṛṣṇa. Instead of conquering over Arjuna, he conquered over Kṛṣṇa. So similarly, here also, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, he conquered over Kṛṣṇa's decision. If we become devotee of Kṛṣṇa, then ajita jito 'py asi. This is the statement of Lord Brahmā, that Kṛṣṇa can be conquered. Just like Yaśodā-mā conquered over Kṛṣṇa. That Dāmodara-stotra, you are reading, how Kṛṣṇa was afraid of His mother. So any devotee can attain that stage, controlling Kṛṣṇa by love and affection. There is no question... A devotee never likes to control over... They want to serve Kṛṣṇa. This is also service. When a devotee conquers over Kṛṣṇa or controls over Kṛṣṇa, that is also service. That is not actually controlling, because Kṛṣṇa wants to be controlled, just like a father sometimes says to his children, small children, to rise over the body, and they kick the father. And they... The father feels some relief. It is a kind of massaging. So similarly, everyone worships Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Being, and therefore Kṛṣṇa wants sometimes to be, I mean to say, thought as insignificant subordinate. That is stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, that "Everyone worships Me, but without worshiping, if somebody, I mean, controls over Me, I am very much happy."</span>