While Lord Kṛṣṇa was thinking in that way, two beautiful chariots, fully equipped with drivers, weapons, flags and other paraphernalia, arrived for Him from outer space. Kṛṣṇa saw the two chariots present before Him and immediately addressed His elder brother, Balarāma, who is also known as Saṅkarṣaṇa: "My dear elder brother, best among the Āryans, You are the Lord of the universe, and, specifically, You are the protector of the Yadu dynasty. The members of the Yadu dynasty sense great danger before the soldiers of Jarāsandha, and they are very much aggrieved. Just to give them protection, Your chariot is also here, filled with weapons. I request You to sit on Your chariot and kill all these soldiers, the entire military strength of the enemy. The two of Us have descended to this earth just to annihilate such unnecessary bellicose forces and give protection to the pious devotees. So we have the opportunity to fulfill Our mission. Please let Us execute it." Thus Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, the descendants of Daśārha, decided to annihilate the thirteen military companies of Jarāsandha.
Pious devotees
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 2
I again offer my respectful obeisances unto the form of complete existence and transcendence, who is the liberator of the pious devotees from all distresses and the destroyer of the further advances in atheistic temperament of the nondevotee-demons. For the transcendentalists who are situated in the topmost spiritual perfection, He grants their specific destinations.
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the complete form of all existence, both material and spiritual. Akhila means complete, or that which is not khila, inferior. As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, there are two kinds of nature (prakṛti), namely the material nature and the spiritual nature, or the external and internal potencies of the Lord. The material nature is called aparā, or inferior, and the spiritual nature is called superior or transcendental. Therefore the form of the Lord is not of the inferior, material nature. He is complete transcendence. And He is mūrti, or having transcendental form. The less intelligent men, who are unaware of His transcendental form, describe Him as impersonal Brahman. But Brahman is simply the rays of His transcendental body (yasya prabhā (Bs. 5.40)). The devotees, who are aware of His transcendental form, render Him service; therefore the Lord also reciprocates by His causeless mercy and thus delivers His devotees from all distresses. The pious men who follow the rulings of the Vedas are also dear to Him, and therefore the pious men of this world are also protected by Him. The impious and the nondevotees are against the principles of the Vedas, and so such persons are always hampered from making advances in their nefarious activities. Some of them, who are specially favored by the Lord, are killed by Him personally, as in the cases of Rāvaṇa, Hiraṇyakaśipu and Kaṁsa, and thus such demons get salvation and are thereby checked from further progress in their demoniac activities. Just like a kind father, either in His favor upon the devotees or His punishment of the demons He is ever kind to everyone because He is the complete existence for all individual existence.
A living being is sufficiently potent to possess knowledge from the Lord in the proportion of fifty sixty-fourths, or seventy-eight percent of the full knowledge acquirable. Since the living being is constitutionally part and parcel of the Lord, he is unable to assimilate all the knowledge that the Lord possesses Himself. In the conditioned state, the living being is subject to forget everything after a change of body known as death. This potent knowledge is again inspired by the Lord from within the heart of every living being, and it is known as the awakening of knowledge, for it is comparable to awakening from sleep or unconsciousness. This awakening of knowledge is under the full control of the Lord, and therefore we find in the practical world different grades of knowledge in different persons. This awakening of knowledge is neither an automatic nor a material interaction. The supply source is the Lord Himself (dhiyāṁ patiḥ), for even Brahmā is also subject to this regulation of the supreme creator. In the beginning of the creation, Brahmā is born first without any father and mother because before Brahmā there were no other living beings. Brahmā is born from the lotus which grows from the abdomen of the Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and therefore he is known as Aja. This Brahmā, or Aja, is also a living being, part and parcel of the Lord, but being the most pious devotee of the Lord, Brahmā is inspired by the Lord to create, subsequent to the main creation by the Lord, through the agency of material nature. Therefore neither the material nature nor Brahmā is independent of the Lord. The material scientists can merely observe the reactions of the material nature without understanding the direction behind such activities, as a child can see the action of electricity without any knowledge of the powerhouse engineer. This imperfect knowledge of the material scientist is due to a poor fund of knowledge. The Vedic knowledge was therefore first impregnated within Brahmā, and it appears that Brahmā distributed the Vedic knowledge.
SB Canto 4
The child's mother, Sunīthā, was the daughter of death personified. Generally the daughter receives the qualifications of her father, and the son acquires those of the mother. So, according to the axiomatic truth that things equal to the same thing are equal to one another, the child born of King Aṅga became the follower of his maternal grandfather. According to smṛti-śāstra, a child generally follows the principles of his maternal uncle's house. Narāṇāṁ mātula-karma means that a child generally follows the qualities of his maternal family. If the maternal family is very corrupt or sinful, the child, even though born of a good father, becomes a victim of the maternal family. According to Vedic civilization, therefore, before the marriage takes place an account is taken of both the boy's and girl's families. If according to astrological calculation the combination is perfect, then marriage takes place. Sometimes, however, there is a mistake, and family life becomes frustrating.
It appears that King Aṅga did not get a very good wife in Sunīthā because she was the daughter of death personified. Sometimes the Lord arranges an unfortunate wife for His devotee so that gradually, due to family circumstances, the devotee becomes detached from his wife and home and makes progress in devotional life. It appears that by the arrangement of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, King Aṅga, although a pious devotee, got an unfortunate wife like Sunīthā and later on a bad child like Vena. But the result was that he got complete freedom from the entanglement of family life and left home to go back to Godhead.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
Lectures
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
- dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ
- viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ
- notpādayed yadi ratiṁ
- śrama eva hi kevalam
- (SB 1.2.8)
So to come to this platform of spontaneous attraction, you have to execute some other formulas. What is that? As you are coming here with some faith, śraddhā, respect. Here is a temple so you should come. You should come regularly. Why? Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅga (CC Madhya 22.83). If you come regularly, then these boys and girls who are engaged in the worship of Kṛṣṇa, or who are developing the life of devotee, practicing under the direction of their spiritual master, they are called sādhu. Sādhu means those who are acting very pious. So those who are acting for Kṛṣṇa, they're automatically pious, because God is pure, and those who are acting for God, they're pious. Each and every activities in this temple are pious activities. Therefore they are pious. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅga (Cc. Madhya 23.14-15). And as soon as you associate with the pious devotees, naturally there will be inclination to act like them. Why not act like them? Actually that is happening. They are dressing like this or they're keeping their body like this. They're chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra in the bag. They're worshiping. They're reading. Why not become like that?
Dvija-bandhu means the boys who have taken birth in the family who are supposed to be very cultured, but their habit is different. They are called dvija-bandhu. In every country, that deterioration of social structure has already begun. They are called varṇa-saṅkara. Varṇa-saṅkara factually means that those who are illiterate. So for them it is very difficult to understand the Vedic principles. Therefore the same knowledge is described in stories just like Mahābhārata, Purāṇas, and for understanding of all men, all women. So Mahābhārata is especially written for such class of men and women. And the hero of Mahābhārata is Arjuna. Similarly, the hero of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is Arjuna's grandson, Mahārāja Parīkṣit, King Parīkṣit.
Now the history of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is like this, that Parīkṣit Mahārāja was a great king, emperor of the world, very pious devotee, all qualified. So sometimes he went to the forest for hunting. The hunting is allowed to the kṣatriyas, kings, royal kings. Why? Because a king has to look after administration of the society; therefore sometimes he has to order to kill some men, "Hang this man." Or sometimes he will take the sword in his own hand and kill the culprit, criminal, immediately. So therefore the killing practice was allowed to the kṣatriyas, royal family. Therefore sometimes the king would go into the forest and kill some animals to practice. Just like in the medical laboratory, physiological laboratory, some animals are tested to see the physiological condition of the body, similarly, always these experiments are made on the animals. So Mahārāja Parīkṣit went to the forest for hunting. So he was very tired. He was very tired, and he entered the cottage of one hermitage. He was at that time in meditation. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja was very much thirsty and hungry, and because he was king, he can order anyone, royal order, so he entered the cottage and asked the hermitage, that muni, that "Please give me something to eat. I am very hungry," or "Give me some drinking water." But he was in meditation. By chance he could not hear Mahārāja Parīkṣit. He was silent. But because he was king, king, royal power, he little became agitated, although he was very nice king, "Oh, he is disordering, er, disobeying my orders?" then he became disgusted. And there was a dead serpent lying there. So he took that dead serpent and put it on the neck of the hermitage and went away.
Prabhupāda: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Six, Chapter One, verse number twenty? Is that the number, twenty? (devotees repeat)
- atra codāharantīmam
- itihāsaṁ purātanam
- dūtānāṁ viṣṇu-yamayoḥ
- saṁvādas taṁ nibodha me
- (SB 6.1.20)
"In this regard, learned scholars and saintly persons describe a very old historical incident involving a discussion between the order carriers of Lord Viṣṇu and those of Yamarāja. Please hear of this from me."
So Yamarāja is the superintendent or the judge for considering what kind of punishment should be given to a certain sinful person. After death, those who are sinful, they are taken to Yamarāja for judgment, what kind of punishment one has to be given. And those who are pious devotees, they are taken charge by the Viṣṇudūta. I think the Christian doctrine, that in this life either you go to hell or go to heaven. Is it not?
Devotee: Yes.
Prabhupāda: That is nice. The same thing. This human form of life is a chance. Actually, in this material world we are all suffering. Duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15). You cannot make it a happy place. That is not possible. Kṛṣṇa says, who has created this material world, He says, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15). Duḥkha means unhappiness; ālayam means place. Duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam. That is also temporary. Duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam, nāpnuvanti mahātmānāṁ saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ (BG 8.15). So this is place of duḥkhālayam. Any commonsense man can understand that Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā... You may challenge, "Where is the unhappiness? We are very happy." Madmen. Kṛṣṇa points out, "No, it is not place of happiness." Why it is not place of happiness? Now, janma-mṛtyu-jarā vyādhi-duḥkha-dośānudarśanam (BG 13.9). Why don't you see the real unhappiness? This is real duḥkha, or unhappiness. What is that? Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi. You have to die. You have to take birth within the womb with so much risk that even your mother can kill you. Is it very happiness? At the present moment the mother... When the child sleeps very peacefully, that "I am on the lap of my mother," now the time has come when the mother is killing the child. So is it very happiness place? That you cannot trust even your mother, what to speak of others. The time has come, degraded, that... Naturally a child, he thinks, "I am safe now with my mother." But the Kali-yuga is so cruel that even with mother you are not safe. And still you say it is a place of happiness? This is called illusion. It is not place.
| Page Title: | Pious devotees |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti |
| Created: | 15 of Jan, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=3, CC=0, OB=1, Lec=3, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 7 |