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Battle of Kuruksetra (CC and Other Books)

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 4.20, Translation and Purport:

“"In whatever way My devotees surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā."

In the Fourth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa affirms that formerly (some 120 million years before the Battle of Kurukṣetra) He explained the mystic philosophy of the Gītā to the sun-god. The message was received through the chain of disciplic succession, but in course of time, the chain being broken somehow or other, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa appeared again and taught Arjuna the truths of the Bhagavad-gītā. At that time the Lord spoke this verse (BG 4.11) to His friend Arjuna.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 4.79, Purport:

The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement has spread all over the world within a very short time (within five years), and mundane people are very much astonished at this. However, by the grace of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, we understand that everything is possible by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. Why does Kṛṣṇa have to take five years? In five days He can spread His name and fame all over the world like wildfire. Those who have faith in and devotion to Kṛṣṇa can understand that these things happen so wonderfully by the grace of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. We are simply the instruments. In the fierce Battle of Kurukṣetra, Arjuna was victorious within eighteen days simply because Kṛṣṇa's grace was on his side.

CC Madhya 4.79, Purport:

If the preachers in our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are sincere devotees of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa will always be with them because He is very kind and favorable to all His devotees. Just as Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa were victorious in the Battle of Kurukṣetra, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement will surely emerge victorious if we but remain sincere devotees of the Lord and serve the Lord according to the advice of the predecessors (the Six Gosvāmīs and other devotees of the Lord). As Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has stated: tāṅdera caraṇa sevi bhakta-sane vāsa, janame janame haya ei abhilāṣa. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness devotees must always desire to remain in the society of devotees. Bhakta-sane vāsa: they cannot go outside the Kṛṣṇa consciousness society or movement. Within the society we must try to serve the predecessors by preaching Caitanya Mahāprabhu's cult and spreading His name and fame all over the world.

CC Madhya 5.32, Purport:

In India the custom is to honor any promise made before the Deity. Such a promise cannot be canceled. In Indian villages, whenever there is a quarrel between two parties, they go to a temple to settle the quarrel. Whatever is spoken in front of the Deity is taken to be true, for no one would dare lie before the Deity. This same principle was followed in the Battle of Kurukṣetra. Therefore in the very beginning of the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated: dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre (BG 1.1).

By not becoming God conscious, human society is deteriorating to the lowest standard of animal life. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very essential to reviving God consciousness among the general populace. If people actually become God conscious, all quarrels can be settled outside of court, as happened in the case of the two brāhmaṇas whose disagreement was settled by the witness Gopāla.

CC Madhya 10.175, Purport:

"Fulfilling my desire and sacrificing His own promise, He got down from the chariot, took up its wheel and ran toward me hurriedly, just as a lion goes to kill an elephant. He even dropped His outer garment on the way."

Kṛṣṇa promised not to fight in the Battle of Kurukṣetra, but Bhīṣma, in order to break Kṛṣṇa's promise, attacked Arjuna in such a vigorous way that Kṛṣṇa was obliged to take up a chariot wheel and attack Bhīṣma. The Lord did this to show that His devotee was being maintained at the sacrifice of His own promise. Brahmānanda Bhāratī said, "Since the beginning of my life I was attached to impersonal Brahman realization, but as soon as I saw You, I became very much attached to the Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa." Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, and thus Brahmānanda Bhāratī became His devotee.

CC Madhya 16.65, Purport:

"Of all types of worship, worship of Lord Viṣṇu is best, and better than the worship of Lord Viṣṇu is the worship of His devotee, the Vaiṣṇava." (Padma Purāṇa)

By the grace of Viṣṇu, a Vaiṣṇava can render better service than Viṣṇu; that is the special prerogative of a Vaiṣṇava. The Lord actually wants to see His servants work more gloriously than Himself. For instance, on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, Śrī Kṛṣṇa provoked Arjuna to fight because all the warriors on the battlefield were to die by Kṛṣṇa's plan. Kṛṣṇa Himself did not want to take credit; rather, He wanted Arjuna to take credit. Therefore He asked him to fight and win fame:

CC Madhya 16.145, Purport:

Lord Kṛṣṇa promised not to fight in the Battle of Kurukṣetra or even take up a weapon. But when Bhīṣma wanted to keep his own promise to break the promise of the Lord, the Lord immediately got down from the chariot, and to make Bhīṣma's promise true He picked up a chariot wheel and rushed forward to kill him. This is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.9.37).

CC Madhya 19.199-200, Purport:

This is a quotation from the Bhagavad-gītā (11.41–42). In this verse, Arjuna is addressing Kṛṣṇa, who was exhibiting His universal form on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra.

CC Madhya 20.130, Purport:

Thus Kṛṣṇa knows the cause of the distressed condition of the conditioned soul. He therefore descends from His original position to instruct the conditioned soul and inform him about his forgetfulness of his relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa exhibits Himself in His relationships in Vṛndāvana and at the Battle of Kurukṣetra so that people will be attracted to Him and will return home, back to Godhead. Kṛṣṇa also says in the Bhagavad-gītā that He is the proprietor of all universes, the enjoyer of everything that be and the friend of everyone. Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram/ suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhutānāṁ (BG 5.29). If we revive our original intimate relationship with Kṛṣṇa, our distressed condition in the material world will be mitigated. Everyone is trying to adjust to the distressed conditions of material existence, but the basic problems cannot be solved unless one is in an intimate relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

CC Madhya 24.98, Purport:

This is a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.10.11). All the members of the Kuru dynasty offered respects when Kṛṣṇa was leaving Hastināpura after the Battle of Kurukṣetra. Kṛṣṇa was going to His own kingdom, and all the members of the Kuru dynasty were overwhelmed by His departure. This verse was spoken in that connection by Sūta Gosvāmī.

A pure devotee becomes attached to Kṛṣṇa by hearing the Lord's glories. The Lord's glories and the Lord Himself are identical. One has to be qualified to understand this absolute truth; therefore one should be given a chance to associate with a pure devotee. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is meant for this purpose. We want to create pure devotees so that other people will benefit by their association.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 1:

Examples of devotees in the second stage, servitorship, are Raktaka, Citraka and Patraka. These are all servants of Kṛṣṇa in Gokula. In Dvārakā there is Dāruka, and in the Vaikuṇṭha planets there are Hanumān and others. Devotees in the third stage, friendship, include Śrīdāmā in Vṛndāvana and Bhīma and Arjuna in Dvārakāor on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. As for those relating to Kṛṣṇa in parental love, they include His mother, father, uncle and similar relatives. In conjugal love there are the damsels of Vraja (Vṛndāvana), the queens in Dvārakā, and the goddesses of fortune in Vaikuṇṭha. No one can count the vast number of devotees in this rasa.

In general, attachment to Kṛṣṇa is of two kinds. The first kind is attachment with awe and veneration. Characterized by a lack of freedom, such attachment is exhibited in Mathurā and on the Vaikuṇṭha planets. In these abodes of the Lord, the flavor of transcendental loving service is restricted.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 9:

Among Kṛṣṇa's innumerable pastimes, however, the most important are His humanlike activities—frolicking in Vṛndāvana, dancing with the gopīs, playing with the Pāṇḍavas on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra and playing in Mathurā and Dvārakā. And His most important pastimes in the human form are those in which He appears as a cowherd boy, a newly grown youth who plays a flute. Just a partial manifestation of His pastimes in Goloka—in Gokula, Mathurā and Dvārāvatī, or Dvārakā—can overflood the whole universe with love of Godhead. Everyone can be attracted by the beautiful qualities of Kṛṣṇa.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion Introduction:

Thinking, feeling and willing are all activities of the mind, and when we will to do something, the activity comes to be manifest by the gross bodily senses. Thus, in our mental activities we should always try to think of Kṛṣṇa and try to plan how to please Him, following in the footsteps of the great ācāryas and the personal spiritual master. There are activities of the body, activities of the mind and activities of speech. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person engages his words in preaching the glories of the Lord. This is called kīrtana. And by his mind a Kṛṣṇa conscious person always thinks of the activities of the Lord—as He is speaking on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra or engaging in His various pastimes in Vṛndāvana with His devotees. In this way one can always think of the activities and pastimes of the Lord. This is the mental culture of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Nectar of Devotion Introduction:

The impersonalists sometimes misunderstand devotional service in such a way that they divide Kṛṣṇa from His paraphernalia and pastimes. For example, the Bhagavad-gītā is spoken on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, and the impersonalists say that although Kṛṣṇa is of interest, the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra isn't. The devotees, however, also know that the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra by itself has nothing to do with their business, but in addition they know that "Kṛṣṇa" does not mean just Kṛṣṇa alone. He is always with His associates and paraphernalia. For instance, if someone says, "Give something to eat to the man with the weapons," the eating process is done by the man and not by the weapons. Similarly, in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, a devotee may be interested in the paraphernalia and locations—such as the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra—which are associated with Kṛṣṇa, but he is not concerned with simply any battlefield. He is concerned with Kṛṣṇa—His speech, His instructions, etc. It is because Kṛṣṇa is there that the battlefield is so important.

Nectar of Devotion Introduction:

This is the summary understanding of what Kṛṣṇa consciousness is. Without this understanding one is sure to misunderstand why the devotees are interested in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. One who is interested in Kṛṣṇa becomes interested in His different pastimes and activities.

The definition of a pure devotee, as given by Rūpa Gosvāmī in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, can be summarized thus: his service is favorable and is always in relation to Kṛṣṇa. In order to keep the purity of such Kṛṣṇa conscious activities, one must be freed from all material desires and philosophical speculation. Any desire except for the service of the Lord is called material desire. And "philosophical speculation" refers to the sort of speculation which ultimately arrives at a conclusion of voidism or impersonalism.

Nectar of Devotion 2:

For example, as soon as Mahārāja Parīkṣit saw that a black man was attempting to kill a cow, he immediately took his sword, wanting to kill the black man, whose name was Kali. That is a kṣatriya's duty. Violence is required in order to give protection. In Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa directly gave His order to Arjuna to commit violence on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, just to give protection to the people in general.

The vaiśyas are meant for producing agricultural products, trading them and distributing them. And the working class, or śūdras, are those who haven't the intelligence of the brāhmaṇas or the kṣatriyas or the vaiśyas, and therefore they are meant to help these higher classes by bodily labor. In this way, there is full cooperation and spiritual advancement among all the different orders of society. And when there is no such cooperation, the members of society will fall down. That is the present position in the Kali-yuga, this age of quarrel.

Nectar of Devotion 10:

In the material world everyone is engaged in the illusory activities of the inferior energy, but when one is given the opportunity to relish the activities of the superior energy performed by Kṛṣṇa, then he forgets all his lesser pleasures. When Kṛṣṇa speaks on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, to the materialistic person it appears that this is simply talk between two friends, but actually it is a river of nectar flowing down from the mouth of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Arjuna gave aural reception to such vibrations, and thus he became freed from all the illusions of material problems.

In the Twelfth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Third Chapter, verse 15, it is stated, "A person who desires unalloyed devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is praised by transcendental sound vibrations, should always hear about His glorification and transcendental qualities. This will surely kill all kinds of inauspiciousness in the heart."

Nectar of Devotion 21:

A person whose word of honor is never broken is called truthful. Kṛṣṇa once promised Kuntī, the mother of the Pāṇḍavas, that He would bring her five sons back from the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. After the battle was finished, when all the Pāṇḍavas had come home, Kuntī praised Kṛṣṇa because His promise was so nicely fulfilled. She said, "Even the sunshine may one day become cool and the moonshine one day become hot, but still Your promise will not fail." Similarly, when Kṛṣṇa, along with Bhīma and Arjuna, went to challenge Jarāsandha, He plainly told Jarāsandha that He was the eternal Kṛṣṇa, present along with two of the Pāṇḍavas. The story is that both Kṛṣṇa and the Pāṇḍavas—in this case Bhīma and Arjuna—were kṣatriyas (warrior-kings). Jarāsandha was also a kṣatriya and was very charitable toward the brāhmaṇas. Thus Kṛṣṇa, who had planned to fight with Jarāsandha, went to him with Bhīma and Arjuna in the dress of brāhmaṇas.

Nectar of Devotion 22:

Kṛṣṇa's favoritism toward His devotees was exhibited in His fight with Bhīṣma. When Grandfather Bhīṣma was lying at the point of death on the bed of arrows, Kṛṣṇa was present before him, and Bhīṣma was remembering how Kṛṣṇa had been kind to him on the battlefield. Kṛṣṇa had promised that in the Battle of Kurukṣetra He would not even touch a weapon to help either side; He would remain neutral. Although Kṛṣṇa was Arjuna's charioteer, He had promised that He would not help Arjuna by using any weapons. But one day Bhīṣma, in order to nullify Kṛṣṇa's promise, exhibited his fighting spirit so magnificently against Arjuna that Kṛṣṇa was obliged to get down from His chariot. Taking up a broken chariot wheel, He ran toward Grandfather Bhīṣma as a lion runs toward an elephant to kill it. Grandfather Bhīṣma remembered this scene, and He later praised Kṛṣṇa for His glorious favoritism toward His devotee, Arjuna, even at the risk of breaking His own promise.

Nectar of Devotion 22:

As for Kṛṣṇa's popularity, there is a statement in the First Canto, Eleventh Chapter, verse 9, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that deals with His returning home from the capital of Hastināpura. While He had been absent from Dvārakā at the Battle of Kurukṣetra, all the citizens of Dvārakā had become morose. Then, when He returned, the citizens joyfully received Him and said, "Dear Lord, while You were absent from the city, we passed our days in the darkness of night. As in the darkness of night every moment appears to be a long duration of time, so while You were gone every moment appeared to us like millions of years. Your separation is completely unbearable to us." This statement shows how popular Kṛṣṇa was all over the country.

A similar incident occurred when Kṛṣṇa entered the arena of sacrifice arranged by King Kaṁsa for His death.

Nectar of Devotion 26:

His helmet, His earrings, His necklace, His four garments, the bangles on His head, the rings on His fingers, His ankle bells and His flute—these are the different features of Kṛṣṇa's ornaments. Kṛṣṇa, the enemy of Agha, always looked beautiful with His incomparable helmet, His earrings made of diamonds, His necklace of pearls, His bangles, His embroidered garments and the beautiful rings on His fingers.

Kṛṣṇa is sometimes called vana-mālī. Vana means "forest," and mālī means "gardener," so vana-mālī refers to one who extensively uses flowers and garlands on different parts of His body. Kṛṣṇa was dressed like this not only in Vṛndāvana but also on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. Seeing such colorful dress and the garlands of different flowers, some great sages prayed, "Lord Kṛṣṇa was going to the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra not to fight, but to grace all of the devotees with His presence."

Nectar of Devotion 26:

Kṛṣṇa's conchshell is known as Pāñcajanya. This Pāñcajanya conch is also mentioned in Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa sounded it before the Battle of Kurukṣetra. It is said that when Lord Kṛṣṇa blows on His transcendental conchshell, the wives of the demons become subject to abortions, and the wives of the demigods become blessed with all auspiciousness. In this way, the sound of Kṛṣṇa's conchshell used to vibrate and circulate all over the world.

Nectar of Devotion 30:

There Rādhārāṇī saw a cottage wherein She and Kṛṣṇa had experienced many loving pleasures, and by remembering those incidents She immediately became overcome with dizziness. This dizziness was very prominently visible." This is an instance of confusion caused by separation.

Similarly, there is a statement describing confusion caused by fearfulness. These symptoms were exhibited by Arjuna when he saw Kṛṣṇa's universal form on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. His confusion was so strong that his bow and arrows fell from his hand and he could not perceive anything clearly.

Nectar of Devotion 37:

Kṛṣṇa exhibited His causeless mercy when He was present at the departure of Grandfather Bhīṣma. During the Battle of Kurukṣetra, Bhīṣmadeva, the grandfather of Arjuna, was lying on a bed of arrows before departing from this mortal world. When Lord Kṛṣṇa, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and the other Pāṇḍavas approached Bhīṣmadeva, he was very grateful to Lord Kṛṣṇa, and he addressed the brāhmaṇa military commander Kṛpācārya thus: "My dear Kṛpācārya, just see the wonderful causeless mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa! I am most unfortunate. I have no qualification. I was opposing Kṛṣṇa's most intimate friend, Arjuna—I even tried to kill him! I have so many disqualifications, and yet the Lord is still so kind that He has come to see me at the last point of my life. He is worshipable by all great sages, but still He is so merciful that He has come to see an abominable person like me."

Nectar of Devotion 37:

It is stated in the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Eleventh Chapter, verse 5, that when Lord Kṛṣṇa returned from the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra to His home at Dvārakā, all the residents of Dvārakā began to talk with Him, as a child talks lovingly to his father after the father's return from foreign countries. This is an example of jubilation.

When Bahulāśva, the King of Mithilā, saw Kṛṣṇa at his palace, he decided to offer his respects by bowing down before Him at least a hundred times, but he was so overcome by feelings of love that after bowing down only once, he forgot his position and could not rise again.

Nectar of Devotion 40:

There is another example of steady and fixed love for Kṛṣṇa in the instance of Arjuna's informing Him of the death of Arjuna's son, Abhimanyu, who was also the nephew of Kṛṣṇa. Abhimanyu was the son of Subhadrā, Kṛṣṇa's younger sister. He was killed at the Battle of Kurukṣetra by the combined efforts of all the commanders in King Duryodhana's army—namely Karṇa, Aśvatthāmā, Jayadratha, Bhīṣma, Kṛpācārya and Droṇācārya. In order to assure Kṛṣṇa that there was no change of love on Subhadrā's part, Arjuna informed Him, "Although Abhimanyu was killed almost in Your presence, Subhadrā's love for You is not agitated at all, nor has it even slightly changed its original color."

The affection that Kṛṣṇa has for His devotees was expressed by Him when He asked Pradyumna not to feel so bashful before Him. He addressed Pradyumna thus: "My dear boy, just give up your feeling of inferiority, and do not hang your neck.

Nectar of Devotion 40:

Pradyumna's attachment in anxiety for Kṛṣṇa was expressed when he said to his wife Rati, "The enemy, Śambara, is already killed. Now I am very anxious to see my father, who is my spiritual master and who always carries the conchshell known as Pāñcajanya." Pradyumna felt great separation from Kṛṣṇa when He was absent from Dvārakā at the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. He said, "Since my father has left Dvārakā, I do not take much pleasure in practicing fighting, nor am I interested in any kind of sporting pastimes. And what need is there to speak of these things? I do not even wish to stay at Dvārakā in the absence of my father."

When Pradyumna came back home after killing Śambarāsura and saw his father, Kṛṣṇa, before him, he at once became so overjoyed that he himself could not understand his joy on that occasion. This is an instance of success in separation. A similar satisfaction was observed when Kṛṣṇa returned from the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra to His home at Dvārakā.

Nectar of Devotion 41:

There are similar statements of fraternal love expressed outside the jurisdiction of Vṛndāvana. When the sons of Pāṇḍu, headed by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, saw Kṛṣṇa in His four-handed form on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, holding His conchshell, disc, club and lotus flower, they completely forgot themselves and became merged in the ocean of nectarean happiness. This shows how the sons of Pāṇḍu—King Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—were all caught up in fraternal love for Kṛṣṇa.

Sometimes the different names, forms, paraphernalia and transcendental qualities provoke fraternal love. For instance, Kṛṣṇa's nice dress, His strongly built body, the all-auspicious symptoms on His body, His knowledge of different languages, His learned teachings in Bhagavad-gītā, His uncommon genius in all fields of endeavor, His exhibition of expert knowledge, His mercy, His chivalry, His behavior as a conjugal lover, His intelligence, His forgiveness, His attraction for all kinds of men, His opulence and His happiness—all provoke fraternal love.

Nectar of Devotion 42:

The symptoms of the kaiśora age have already been described, and it is at this age that devotees generally most appreciate Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa with Rādhārāṇī is worshiped as Kiśora-kiśorī. Kṛṣṇa does not increase His age that although He is the oldest personality and has innumerable different forms, His original form is always youthful. In the pictures of Kṛṣṇa on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra we can see that He is youthful, although at that time He was old enough to have sons, grandsons and great-grandsons. The cowherd boyfriends of Kṛṣṇa once said, "Dear Kṛṣṇa, You need not decorate Your body with so many ornaments. Your transcendental features are themselves so beautiful that You do not require any ornamentation." At this age, whenever Kṛṣṇa begins to vibrate His flute early in the morning, all of His friends immediately get up from bed just to join Him in going to the pasturing grounds. One of the friends once said, "My dear cowherd friends, the sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute from above Govardhana Hill is telling us that we need not go to search Him out on the bank of the Yamunā."

Nectar of Devotion 42:

There is a nice example of the friendship between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. When the fighting was going on, Aśvatthāmā, the son of Droṇācārya, unceremoniously attacked Kṛṣṇa, although according to the prevailing rules of chivalry one's chariot driver should never be attacked by the enemy. Aśvatthāmā behaved heinously in so many ways that he did not hesitate to attack Kṛṣṇa's body, although Kṛṣṇa was acting only as charioteer for Arjuna. When Arjuna saw that Aśvatthāmā was releasing various kinds of arrows to hurt Kṛṣṇa, he immediately stood in front of Kṛṣṇa to intercept all of them. At that time, although Arjuna was being harmed by those arrows, he felt an ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa, and the arrows appeared to him like showers of flowers.

Nectar of Devotion 42:

Following him were his young brothers Nakula and Sahadeva, along with Arjuna, and they all became so overwhelmed at seeing Kṛṣṇa that with full satisfaction they embraced the Lord, who is known as Acyuta (the infallible). There is a similar statement about the cowherd boys of Vṛndāvana. When Kṛṣṇa was on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, all the cowherd boys came to see Him, wearing jeweled earrings in their ears. Becoming so greatly overjoyed, they extended their arms and embraced Kṛṣṇa as their old friend. These are instances of full satisfaction in friendship with Kṛṣṇa.

In the Tenth Canto, Twelfth Chapter, verse 12, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is stated that even after undergoing severe penances and austerities and performing the yogic principles, the great mystic yogīs can hardly become eligible to achieve the dust of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, but the same Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is easily available to the vision of the residents of Vṛndāvana.

Nectar of Devotion 43:

In that condition she was sometimes going within the house, sometimes coming out of the house. She was constantly looking to see if Govinda was coming back along the road. When many very great sages were offering prayers to Lord Kṛṣṇa, glorifying His activities, the Queen of Gokula, mother Yaśodā, entered the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, wetting the lower part of her sārī with the milk flowing from her breast. This entrance of mother Yaśodā at Kurukṣetra was not during the Battle of Kurukṣetra. At other times Kṛṣṇa went to Kurukṣetra from His paternal home (Dvārakā) during the solar eclipse, and at these times the residents of Vṛndāvana also went to see Him there.

Nectar of Devotion 43:

In the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Eleventh Chapter, verse 29, it is stated, "When Kṛṣṇa entered Dvārakā after finishing the Battle of Kurukṣetra, He first of all saw His mother and all His different stepmothers and offered His respectful obeisances unto their feet. The mothers immediately took Kṛṣṇa upon their laps, and because of their parental affection, there was milk flowing out of their breasts. So their breast milk, mixed with the water of tears, became the first offering to Kṛṣṇa." This is one of the examples of being satisfied after a great separation.

There is a similar statement in the Lalita-mādhava: "How wonderful it is that Yaśodā, the wife of King Nanda, out of her parental affection for Kṛṣṇa, mixed her tears and the milk from her breasts and thus bathed her dear son Kṛṣṇa."

Nectar of Devotion 50:

The following is a statement which describes different mellows of devotional service: "Although Kṛṣṇa was invincible to any enemy, the cowherd boys of Vṛndāvana became almost blackish with astonishment upon seeing His wonderful royal garments and His fighting feats on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra." In this statement, although there is a mixture of chivalrous activities and dread in devotional service, there is no perverted reflection of mellows.

One resident of Mathurā requested her father to bolt the doors and then go with her to the school of Sāndīpani Muni to find Kṛṣṇa. She complained that Kṛṣṇa had completely stolen her mind. In this incident there is a mixture of conjugal love and parental love, but there is no incompatibility.

Easy Journey to Other Planets

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

Long, long before the discovery of the principles of antimatter and the anti-material worlds, the subject was delineated in the pages of Bhagavad-gītā. The Gītā itself indicates that its philosophy had previously been taught to the presiding deity of the sun, which implies that the principles of the Bhagavad-gītā were expounded by the Personality of Godhead long before the Battle of Kurukṣetra—at least some 120,000,000 years before. Now modern science has just discovered a fraction of the truths that are available in the Bhagavad-gītā.

The assumption of an anti-material universe is also found in the Bhagavad-gītā. And from all data available it is to be assumed without the slightest doubt that the anti-material world is situated in the anti-material sky, a sky which is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā as sanātana-dhāma, or the eternal nature.

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

It was Brahmā who related this knowledge to the sage Nārada Muni. Similarly, the Bhagavad-gītā was spoken by the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, to Vivasvān, the presiding deity of the sun, and when the aural chain of disciplic succession was broken, Lord Kṛṣṇa repeated the Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. At that time, Arjuna took the role of disciple and student in order to receive transcendental knowledge from Śrī Kṛṣṇa. In order to drive out all misgivings which the gross materialists of the world may have, Arjuna asked all relevant questions, and the answers were given by Kṛṣṇa so that any layman can understand them. Only those who are captivated by the glamour of the material world cannot accept the authority of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. One has to become thoroughly clean in habit and heart before one can understand the details of the anti-material world. Bhakti-yoga is a detailed scientific transcendental activity that both the neophyte and the perfect yogī can practice.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book Introduction:

King Parīkṣit was especially interested in hearing kṛṣṇa-kathā because he knew that his forefathers, particularly his grandfather, Arjuna, were victorious in the great Battle of Kurukṣetra only because of Kṛṣṇa. We may also take this material world as a Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. Everyone is struggling hard for existence on this battlefield, and at every step there is danger. According to Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra was just like a vast ocean full of dangerous animals. His grandfather Arjuna had to fight with such great heroes as Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Karṇa and many others who were not ordinary fighters. Such warriors have been compared to the timiṅgila fish in the ocean. The timiṅgila fish can very easily swallow up big whales. The great fighters on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra could swallow many, many Arjunas very easily, but simply due to Kṛṣṇa's mercy, Arjuna was able to kill all of them.

Krsna Book Introduction:

Just as one can cross with no exertion over the little bit of water contained in the hoofprint of a calf, so Arjuna, by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, was able to very easily jump over the ocean of the Battle of Kurukṣetra.

Mahārāja Parīkṣit very much appreciated Kṛṣṇa's activities for many other reasons. Not only was his grandfather saved by Kṛṣṇa, but he himself also was saved by Kṛṣṇa. By the end of the Battle of Kurukṣetra, all the members of the Kuru dynasty, both the sons and grandsons on the side of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and those on the side of the Pāṇḍavas, had died in the fighting. Except the five Pāṇḍava brothers, everyone died on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was at that time within the womb of his mother. His father, Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna, also died on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, and so Mahārāja Parīkṣit was a posthumous child.

Krsna Book 2:

As confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya (BG 7.25). The Lord says, "I am not exposed to anyone and everyone." When Kṛṣṇa came, He was actually present on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, and everyone saw Him. But not everyone could understand that He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Still, everyone who died in His presence attained complete liberation from material bondage and was transferred to the spiritual world.

"O Lord, the impersonalists or nondevotees cannot understand that Your name is identical with Your form." Since the Lord is absolute, there is no difference between His name and His actual form. In the material world there is a difference between form and name. The mango fruit is different from the name of the mango. One cannot taste the mango fruit simply by chanting "mango, mango, mango."

Krsna Book 7:

Kṛṣṇa's showing the universal form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even when lying down on the lap of His mother, proves that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whether He is manifested as a child on the lap of His mother or as a charioteer on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. The concoction of the impersonalists, that one can become God by meditation or by some artificial material activities, is herewith declared false. God is always God in any condition or status, and the living entities are always the parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. They can never be equal to the inconceivable, supernatural power of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Krsna Book 37:

I will see how You kill the King of Cedi and Dantavakra during the great sacrifice of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. Besides all this, it will be possible for me to see many other chivalrous activities while You remain in Dvārakā. And all these activities performed by Your Grace will be sung by great poets throughout the world. And at the Battle of Kurukṣetra You will take part as the chariot driver of Your friend Arjuna, and as the invincible death incarnation, eternal time, You will vanquish all belligerents assembled there. I shall see a large number of military forces killed on that battlefield. My Lord, let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Your lotus feet. You are situated completely in the transcendental position, in perfect knowledge and bliss. You are complete in fulfilling all Your desires. By exhibiting Your internal potency, You have set up the influence of māyā. Your unlimited potency cannot even be measured by anyone. My dear Lord, You are the supreme controller.

Krsna Book 49:

To show His special favor to a devotee, Kṛṣṇa usually takes away all the objects of his material affection, thus forcing the devotee to be materially helpless, with no alternative but to accept the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. This actually happened to Dhṛtarāṣṭra after the end of the Battle of Kurukṣetra.

Dhṛtarāṣṭra could realize two opposing factors acting before him. He could understand that Kṛṣṇa was there to remove all the unnecessary burdens of the world. His sons were an unnecessary burden, and so he expected that they would be killed. At the same time, he could not rid himself of his unlawful affection for his sons. Understanding these two contradictory factors, he offered his respectful obeisances to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. “The contradictory ways of material existence are very difficult to understand; they can be taken only as the inconceivable execution of the plan of the Supreme, who by His inconceivable energy creates this material world and enters into it and sets into motion the three modes of nature.

Krsna Book 78:

"I have appeared in order to chastise false persons who are internally impure but externally pose themselves as very learned and religious. My killing of such persons is proper, to check them from further sinful activity."

Lord Balarāma had avoided taking part in the Battle of Kurukṣetra, and yet because of His position as an incarnation, the reestablishment of religious principles was His prime duty. Considering these points, He killed Romaharṣaṇa Sūta simply by striking him with a kuśa straw, which was nothing but a blade of grass. If someone questions how Lord Balarāma could kill Romaharṣaṇa Sūta simply by striking him with a blade of kuśa grass, the answer is given in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by the use of the word prabhu ("master"). The Lord's position is always transcendental, and because He is omnipotent He can act as He likes, without being obliged to follow the material laws and principles.

Krsna Book 79:

When Lord Balarāma returned to Prabhāsa-tīrtha, He heard from the brāhmaṇas that most of the kṣatriyas in the Battle of Kurukṣetra had been killed. Balarāma felt relieved to hear that the burden of the world had been reduced. Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma appeared on this earth to lessen the burden of military strength created by the ambitious kṣatriya kings. This is the way of materialistic life: not being satisfied by the absolute necessities of life, people ambitiously create extra demands, and their illegal desires are checked by the laws of nature, or the laws of God, appearing as famine, war, pestilence and similar catastrophes. Lord Balarāma heard that although most of the kṣatriyas had been killed, the Kurus were still engaged in fighting. Therefore He returned to the battlefield just on the day Bhīmasena and Duryodhana were engaged in a personal duel.

Krsna Book 87:

He can remember everything that has happened in the past. Otherwise, how could He remember that He first taught the yoga system of the Bhagavad-gītā to the sun-god, Vivasvān? Therefore, He never dies. Nor does He ever become an old man. Although Kṛṣṇa was a great-grandfather when He appeared on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, He did not appear like an old man. Kṛṣṇa cannot be polluted by any sinful activity, Kṛṣṇa never dies, Kṛṣṇa never becomes old, Kṛṣṇa is never subject to lamentation, Kṛṣṇa is never hungry, and He is never thirsty. Whatever He desires is perfectly lawful, and whatever He decides cannot be changed by anyone. These are the eight transcendental qualities of Kṛṣṇa. Besides that, Kṛṣṇa is known as Yogeśvara. He has all the opulences or facilities of mystic powers, such as aṇimā-siddhi, the power to become smaller than the smallest. It is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā that Kṛṣṇa has entered even within the atom (aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham (Bs. 5.35)).

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.12:

The Lord may break His own promise, but because He is favorable to His devotees, He will always try to uphold their promises. By breaking His own promise and keeping Bhīṣmadeva's on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, the Lord has proved beyond a doubt that He favors His surrendered devotees .

A brāhmaṇa or someone of noble birth endowed with beauty, wealth, and learning may fallaciously conclude that elimination of degraded habits still visible in a devotee can occur only in the case of a brāhmaṇa like Ajāmila. Ajāmila was a brāhmaṇa by birth, but on account of sinful activities caused by bad reactions from his past life, he began performing abominable activities. At the end of his life, however, his remembrance of the Supreme Lord absolved him of all sins. But deliverance is possible for everyone, not just those of high birth.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.5:

We certainly commiserate with them, but at the same time it is hard not to laugh at them. From the Chapter 4 of the Bhagavad-gītā we learn that after an interval of several million years, Lord Kṛṣṇa re-established the spiritual link with the disciplic succession right in the middle of the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, explaining to Arjuna unequivocally and in detail the science of right action, knowledge, and devotional service. The Bhagavad-gītā is not a novel rendition of a new philosophy. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is eternally the original Supreme Personality of Godhead. Similarly, the Bhagavad-gītā is eternally present as His instructions propounding the absolute, undifferentiated truth. The Supreme Lord is eternal, perennially young, and so are His immortal words: they are ever-fresh. Mundane scholars can always discover novel meanings in the Bhagavad-gītā, and in this way they may certainly exhibit their mundane erudition—but this is all just the play of māyā. The real essence of Bhagavad-gītā cannot be transmitted through such persons.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1:

What is noteworthy, however, is that the essence of all Vedic knowledge is available in the Gītopaniṣad, popularly known as the Bhagavad-gītā. Lord Kṛṣṇa milked the cow of the Upaniṣads, and Arjuna drank the milk thus obtained—the Bhagavad-gītā. If Arjuna found time to hear the Bhagavad-gītā in the middle of a battlefield at Kuruksetra, then what urgent business is stopping us from hearing the Gītā? When knowledge of the Gītā spreads, then everyone will easily be able to attain the platform of yoga. And as the pure devotees of the Lord become successful in their efforts to use their spiritual intelligence in the Lord's service, then the science of love of God taught by Lord Caitanya, the most magnanimous incarnation of Godhead, will be distributed everywhere. Judging from all the symptoms, the time is now ripe. Indians should now take shelter of their saintly preceptors, the pure devotees, and unitedly propagate the glorification of Kṛṣṇa via the medium of the Bhagavad-gītā. In this way the world will become prosperous and perfect.

Message of Godhead

Message of Godhead 1:

Marshal Arjuna pretended to display philosophical ignorance and weakness, like an ordinary man, when with his chariot between the two opposing armies on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, he refused to fight. In this way, age after age, the Personality of Godhead and His beloved confidential-servitor devotees bestow their unbounded mercy by dissipating the darkness of nescience of the people of the world. We could hardly have attained to transcendental knowledge if they had not bestowed such mercy upon us.

Sometimes the Personality of Godhead descends Himself; otherwise, He deputes His confidential servants to do this act of kindness. All the messiahs-saints who have come before or who will come in the future to preach the transcendental message of the kingdom of Godhead—are to be understood as the most confidential servants of the Personality of Godhead. Lord Jesus Christ appeared as the son of Godhead, Muhammad introduced himself as the servant of Godhead, and Lord Caitanya presented Himself as the devotee of Godhead. But whatever may be their identity, all such messiahs were of the same opinion about one thing.

Message of Godhead 1:

Being an unalloyed devotee of the Personality of Godhead, Marshal Arjuna was able to discuss the transcendental philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā even on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra. We modern men have no time to get into the details of the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā, even in the midst of our much more ordinary daily duties. But just to teach us, Marshal Arjuna tried to understand the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā at a time when a moment was virtually impossible to spare. All this he did for the sake of people like us, and he fought the battle with full vigor once he had understood the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā.

Affinity for family relations, which Marshal Arjuna displayed overwhelmingly in the manner of the typical modern man, is the sign of our lack of transcendental knowledge. But attaining transcendental knowledge does not necessarily mean renouncing the duties of our ordinary life. After Arjuna had understood the spirit of the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā, the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, never advised him to give up his seemingly ordinary duties.

Message of Godhead 1:

When Marshal Arjuna was unable to solve the problem posed to him by the impending battle of Kurukṣetra, he surrendered himself as a disciple to Śrī Kṛṣṇa in all submissiveness to hear his problem's solution. At the outset, the Personality of Godhead talked with Arjuna just as a friend talks with a friend. But such friendly discussions generally end in friendly—and fruitless—debate. Thus, Marshal Arjuna surrendered himself as the disciple of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, for a disciple cannot disobey the orders of his spiritual master. That is the relationship between a disciple and his master.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, imparted to Marshal Arjuna the vitally important teachings of Bhagavad-gītā only when He saw that Arjuna had surrendered to Him without any vanity regarding his own erudition, and without any other reservation. It is very common for us, like Arjuna, to try to dissipate our disillusionments by our own devices, culled from our own mundane experience. This attempt to remove our daily bodily and mental difficulties is always misdirected.

Message of Godhead 1:

The learned scholar, who is aware of this transcendental knowledge, does not try to annihilate anyone or order anyone annihilated, like a fool. One may then ask this question: What was the purpose for which Arjuna fought on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra? The answer is plain and simple. The fight that is fought in pursuance of military duty touches the body only. The effects of war or pitched upheavals touch the body only and not the soul, much as the effects of a sumptuous feast touch the hunger of the stomach only and not that of the mind. None of these material effects ever touches the eternal living entity, the spirit soul, because the living spirit is invincible, nonflammable, nonmoistenable, and nondryable. Everything that is material can be cut into pieces, can be burnt up, can be moistened, and can be dried up in the air. Thus, to illustrate that the living entity, or spirit soul, is entirely metaphysical, the above explanation is given as indirect proof by negation of material attributes.

Sri Isopanisad

Sri Isopanisad 13, Purport:

Thus Arjuna wanted to become a philanthropic, nonviolent man of the world. But when he became budha by hearing the Vedic knowledge of the Bhagavad-gītā from the Supreme Person, he changed his decision and became a worshiper of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who had Himself arranged the Battle of Kurukṣetra. Arjuna worshiped the Lord by fighting with his so-called relatives, and in this way he became a pure devotee of the Lord. Such accomplishments are possible only when one worships the real Kṛṣṇa and not some fabricated "Kṛṣṇa" invented by foolish men who are without knowledge of the intricacies of the science of Kṛṣṇa described in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

According to the Vedānta-sūtra, sambhūta is the source of birth and sustenance, as well as the reservoir that remains after annihilation (janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1)). The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the natural commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra by the same author, maintains that the source of all emanations is not like a dead stone but is abhijña, or fully conscious. The primeval Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, also says in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.26) that He is fully conscious of past, present and future and that no one, including demigods such as Śiva and Brahmā, knows Him fully.

Page Title:Battle of Kuruksetra (CC and Other Books)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, RupaManjari
Created:24 of Jul, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=10, OB=43, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:53