Lord Brahmā continued: "My Lord, sometimes I am puzzled as to how Your Lordship will be able to repay, in gratitude, the devotional service of these residents of Vṛndāvana. Although I know that You are the supreme source of all benediction, I am puzzled to know how You will be able to repay all the service that You are receiving from these residents of Vṛndāvana. I think of how You are so kind, so magnanimous, that even Pūtanā, who came to cheat You by dressing herself as a very affectionate mother, was awarded liberation and the actual post of a mother. And other demons belonging to the same family, such as Aghāsura and Bakāsura, were also favored with liberation and achieved You. Under the circumstances, I am puzzled. These residents of Vṛndāvana have given You everything—their bodies, their minds, their love, their homes, their possessions. Everything is being utilized for Your purpose. So how will You be able to repay Your debt to them? You have already given Yourself to Pūtanā! I surmise that You shall ever remain a debtor to the residents of Vṛndāvana, being unable to repay their loving service."
Repay the debt
Expressions researched:
"repay My debt"
|"repay Your debt"
|"repay his debt"
|"repay his debts"
|"repay our debts"
|"repay that debt"
|"repay the debt"
|"repay the debts"
|"repay their debt"
|"repay this debt"
|"repay your debts"
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 3
For pure devotees of the Lord who are completely satisfied with the transcendental loving service of the Lord, there is hardly any necessity to visit the various places of pilgrimage. But those who are not so advanced have the prescribed duties of visiting pilgrimage sites and regularly performing the rituals. The part of the princely order of the Yadu dynasty who went to Prabhāsa performed all duties to be done in a place of pilgrimage and offered their pious actions to their forefathers and others.
As a rule, every human being is indebted to God, the demigods, great sages, other living entities, people in general, forefathers, etc., for various contributions received from them. Thus everyone is obliged to repay the debt of gratitude.
So much glorification of a woman by her husband indicates that he is henpecked or is talking lightly in joke. Kaśyapa meant that householders living with wives enjoy the heavenly blessings of sense enjoyment and at the same time have no fear of going down to hell. The man in the renounced order of life has no wife and may be driven by sex desire to seek another woman or another's wife and thus go to hell. In other words, the so-called man of the renounced order, who has left his house and wife, goes to hell if he again desires sexual pleasure, knowingly or unknowingly. In that way the householders are on the side of safety. Therefore husbands as a class cannot repay their debt to women either in this life or in the next. Even if they engage themselves in repaying the women throughout their whole lives, it is still not possible. Not all husbands are as able to appreciate the good qualities of their wives, but even though one is able to appreciate these qualities, it is still not possible to repay the debt to the wife. Such extraordinary praises by a husband for his wife are certainly in the mode of joking.
SB Canto 6
Everyone is indebted to the demigods, to living entities in general, to his family, to the pitās and so on, but if one fully surrenders to Kṛṣṇa, Mukunda, who can give one liberation, even if one performs no yajñas, one is freed from all debts. Even if one does not repay his debts, he is freed from all debts if he renounces the material world for the sake of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose lotus feet are the shelter of everyone. This is the verdict of the śāstra. Therefore Nārada Muni was completely right in instructing the sons of Prajāpati Dakṣa to renounce this material world immediately and take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Unfortunately, Prajāpati Dakṣa, the father of the Haryaśvas and Savalāśvas, did not understand the great service rendered by Nārada Muni. Dakṣa therefore addressed him as pāpa (the personality of sinful activities) and asādhu (a nonsaintly person). Since Nārada Muni was a great saint and Vaiṣṇava, he tolerated all such accusations from Prajāpati Dakṣa. He merely performed his duty as a Vaiṣṇava by delivering all the sons of Prajāpati Dakṣa, enabling them to return home, back to Godhead.
SB Canto 9
Pūru replied: O Your Majesty, who in this world can repay his debt to his father? By the mercy of one's father, one gets the human form of life, which can enable one to become an associate of the Supreme Lord.
SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)
I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahmā. Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshiped Me, cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore please let your own glorious deeds be your compensation.
With one's body one can acquire all goals of life, and it is one's parents who give the body birth and sustenance. Therefore no mortal man can repay his debt to his parents, even if he serves them for a full lifetime of a hundred years.
This indeed is the duty of all true disciples: to repay the debt to their spiritual master by offering him, with pure hearts, their wealth and even their very lives.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
Advaita Ācārya considered the meaning of the verse in this way: “Not finding any way to repay the debt He owes to one who offers Him a tulasī leaf and water, Lord Kṛṣṇa thinks, 'There is no wealth in My possession that is equal to a tulasī leaf and water.'"
"O gopīs, I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahmā. Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshiped Me, cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore please let your own glorious deeds be your compensation."
CC Madhya-lila
"This body was raised by you, and it comes from you. I cannot repay this debt even in millions of births."
"When the gopīs were overwhelmed with dissatisfaction due to Lord Kṛṣṇa's absence from the rāsa-līlā, Kṛṣṇa returned to them and told them, 'My dear gopīs, our meeting is certainly free of all material contamination. I must admit that in many lives it would be impossible for Me to repay My debt to you because you have cut off the bondage of family life just to search for Me. Consequently I am unable to repay you. Therefore please be satisfied with your honest activities in this regard.'"
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “You have brought Me here to show Me Vṛndāvana. I am very much indebted to you, and I shall not be able to repay this debt.
CC Antya-lila
"'O gopīs, I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahmā. Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshiped Me, cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore please let your own glorious deeds be your compensation.'"
The Lord bound everyone by His transcendental mercy. Who can repay his debt for the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu?
"I shall never be able to repay My debt to you."
Govinda replied, "Lord Jagannātha has saved You. I am insignificant."
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
"My dear friends, do not think for a moment that I have been dealing with you as I do with ordinary devotees. I know what you are. You have forsaken all kinds of social and religious obligations; you have given up all connection with your parents. Without caring for social convention and religious obligations, you have come to Me and loved Me, and I am so much obliged to you that I cannot treat you as ordinary devotees. Do not think that I was away from you. I was near to you. I was simply seeing how much you were anxious for Me in My absence. So please do not try to find fault with Me. Because you consider Me so dear to you, kindly excuse Me if I have done anything wrong. I cannot repay your continuous love for Me, even throughout the lifetimes of the demigods in the heavenly planets. It is impossible to repay you or show enough gratitude for your love; therefore please be satisfied by your own pious activities. You have displayed exemplary attraction for Me, overcoming the greatest difficulties arising from family connections. Please be satisfied with your highly exemplary character, for it is not possible for Me to repay My debt to you."
Vasudeva and Devakī were full of anxieties for Kṛṣṇa's and Balarāma's protection, but they could not enjoy Their childhood pastimes. Kṛṣṇa said, "Unfortunately, being ordered by Our fate, We could not be raised by Our own parents to enjoy childhood pleasures at home. My dear father and mother, a man cannot repay his debt to his parents, from whom he gets this body, which can bestow upon him all the benefits of material existence. According to the Vedic injunctions, this human form of life enables one to perform all kinds of religious activities, fulfill all kinds of desires and acquire all kinds of wealth. And only in this human form is there every possibility that one can get liberation from material existence. This body is produced by the combined efforts of the father and mother. Every human being should be obliged to his parents and understand that he cannot repay his debt to them."
Narada-bhakti-sutra (sutras 1 to 8 only)
It is said that when conjugal affection between a lover and beloved comes to the point of being destroyed and yet is not destroyed, such a relationship is pure love, or prema. In the material world it is not possible to find this kind of love, for it exists only between Kṛṣṇa and His intimate devotees, such as the gopīs. The sentiment between the gopīs and Kṛṣṇa was so strong that it could not be destroyed under any circumstances. Kṛṣṇa praises the gopīs' pure love in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.32.22):
- na pāraye 'haṁ niravadya-saṁyujāṁ
- sva-sādhu-kṛtyaṁ vibudhāyuṣāpi vaḥ
- yā mābhajan durjaya-geha-śṛṅkhalāḥ
- saṁvṛścya tad vaḥ pratiyātu sādhunā
"My dear gopīs, I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahmā. Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshiped Me, cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore please let your own glorious deeds be your compensation."
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
All the gopīs, they passed their days simply crying for Kṛṣṇa, but never condemned Kṛṣṇa. Whenever somebody came... Kṛṣṇa also was thinking of them because gopīs are the greatest devotees, topmost devotees. There is no comparison with the devotion of the gopīs. Therefore Kṛṣṇa was always obliged to them. Kṛṣṇa said to the gopīs that "You have to be satisfied with your own business. I cannot return you anything for your love." Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme, the all-powerful, He was unable to repay the debts for the gopīs. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, ramyā kācid upāsanā vraja-vadhu-vargeṇa yā kalpitā. There is no more better worship than what was conceived by the gopīs. So gopīs are the topmost devotees. And amongst the gopīs, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the topmost. Therefore Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is greater than Kṛṣṇa.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
So when we come to that stage, as Caitanya Mahāprabhu's teaching, the gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayoḥ. He's also bringing the reference of the gopīs because Kṛṣṇa is completely under gopīs. He's so much indebted to the gopīs that He said that "I cannot repay your debts. It is not possible." Kṛṣṇa, the all-powerful, all-opulences, but He had no means to repay the debts of the gopīs. This is the position of the gopīs. Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends, ramyā kācid upāsanā vraja-vadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā. There is no other better shape of worshiping Kṛṣṇa than it was planned by the gopīs.
The Lord wants to give the devotee all opulences, and the devotee refuses to accept it. He wants to give his life and soul to the Lord. This is perfection. The gopīs, the gopīs, the ideal, the topmost devotee, they gave their everything to Kṛṣṇa, but they did not ask anything from Kṛṣṇa. Their honor, their body, their life—everything, sacrificed everything. Therefore Kṛṣṇa said to the gopīs that "I have no power to repay your debt. You be satisfied with your own activity. I cannot give you anything."
General Lectures
Kṛṣṇa and gopīs, the relationship was so intimate and so unalloyed that Kṛṣṇa Himself admitted, "My dear gopīs, it is not in My power to repay you about your loving affairs." Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He became bankrupt, that "My dear gopīs, it is not possible for Me to repay your debts which you have created by loving Me." So that is the highest perfection of love. Ramyā kācid upāsanā vrajavadhū.
We have got so many debts to clear. This is responsibility. Devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṟṇām (SB 11.5.41). We are indebted to the demigods. Just like sun is one of the demigods. We are getting, enjoying the sunshine. We are indebted to him. This is responsibility. Suppose if you take electricity, light, you are responsible for paying the bill. Similarly, you are taking so much advantage of the sunlight. You are also obliged to pay the debts, repay the debts. Deva ṛṣi. Ṛṣi means those who have given us the Vedic literature. Just like Nārada Muni, Vyāsadeva, they have given us... Vyāsadeva given us immense literature. Immense literature. He has written Mahābhārata. He has written the eighteen purāṇas. One of the purāṇas is the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. And he has written the Upaniṣads. Then he has compiled the Vedānta-sūtra. And each and every book, there are innumerable verses. In Mahābhārata there are 100,000's of verses. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 18,000 verses. And if you study one verse, it will take at least one week to understand. So grave thoughts. So therefore, we are reading all these Vedic literatures. Certainly, we are indebted to them.
But because we are foolish, we do not know how the departments are being conducted. So we are not paying any bills. The bills are paid, according to the Vedic injunction, by performing sacrifices. So in this way, our point is sex life, that, the, a gṛhastha, a householder, he has got debts towards his parents, towards his father, towards his mother, towards his wife, towards his children. The society should be human society, not the cats' and dogs' society. That is Vedic conception. So in the Vedic conception of life the sex life is there, but you become indebted. You must repay the debts. If you simply beget children like cats and dogs and go away, then you become responsible for the sinful activities. You must take responsible.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Oh. (break) ...Dakṣa accused Nārada that "My sons were not out of the three kinds of debts." One debt is debtor to the saintly sages. Just like we are reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we are indebted to Vyāsadeva. He has given such literature, and we are taking advantage of it. As such, especially the brāhmaṇas, they have got indebtedness to big sages and saintly person. They receive knowledge from them. And they are indebtor to the demigods. Therefore they have to perform yajñas. And they are indebtor to their father because the father has brought them to this world. So in this way, especially a brāhmaṇa is indebted to demigods, the past sages, and the father. So the indebtedness to the sages is performed by becoming brahmacārī, and to the demigods by offering sacrifices, and to the father by begetting children, to continue the progeny. So Nārada Muni was accused that "You keep them indebted to these principles, so how they can be liberated? Simply by dressing like you, (laughs) a mendicant?" Accusing. But perhaps he did not know. There is another version in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
- devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṛṇāṁ
- nāyam ṛṇī na ca kiṅkaro rājan
- sarvātmanā yaḥ śaraṇaṁ saraṇyaṁ
- gato mukunda parihṛtya...
- (SB 11.5.41)
Anyone who has fully surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, he is no more debtor to anyone. And Kṛṣṇa says that "You surrender to Me, and I shall keep you protected from all kinds of..." Because if you don't repay your debts, then you become sinful. But Kṛṣṇa says, "I shall protect for all kinds of sin." So if anyone has surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, he is no more debtor to anyone. He is immune from all obligation. His only obligation is to Kṛṣṇa.
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Jagadīśa: I'm getting behind, Śrīla Prabhupāda. "Now, after his death..."
Prabhupāda: "You are good sons behind him. You have observed the death ceremony very pompously."
Jagadīśa: "Death ceremony..."
Prabhupāda: "Of your father."
Jagadīśa: "Very pompously"?
Prabhupāda: "Pompously. And, why not repay the debts of your father so that he may live very peacefully in his next life? A line in reply will much oblige us. Yours sincerely." You sign, "Secretary to His Divine...," as you... This man (laughs) over there was a pākā thief, and his sons also.
Jagadīśa: He was a pākā thief?
Prabhupāda: He cheated me. Ten years before I gave him about one thousand rupees. He never paid me. And these sons are also number, pākā, and they are observing the death ceremony.
Jagadīśa: Okay. "And Śrīla Prabhupāda assisted him with some money loan. Your father attempted to repay it, but he could not. Now, after his death, you are good sons behind him. You have observed the death ceremony very pompously. Why not repay the debts of your father so that he may live very peacefully in his next life? A line in reply will much oblige us. Yours sincerely, Secretary..."
Prabhupāda: Is that all right? Let us see how worthy sons they are. Everyone knows. They know. That Gauracandra Gosāi, Rādhā-Dāmodara, he knows. And I have got letters and everything... I... If I go to the court... And who is going to the court? I could have gone to the court, long, long ago. I never liked to go to the court. In my business life also, if somebody did not pay, I never go to the court. Bother... "To push good money after bad money." The money which is lost, and...
Gargamuni: The lift doesn't go up to the roof, though.
Prabhupāda: It doesn't matter. One...
Girirāja: We can take by palanquin.
Prabhupāda: No, one story I can go. Not now, but I can go. So you are trying so much for my comfort. I do not know whether I shall be able to repay you. Then I shall try my best. It is not possible to repay your debts, that so kind. So I can simply pray to Kṛṣṇa to give His blessings to you so that you may remain very steady in devotional service and preach this cult all over the world. Otherwise, I have no other means. Without your help I could not do anything. So you are very much kind. Kindly continue your cooperation. Paropakāra. This is the movement for paropakāra.
Correspondence
1969 Correspondence
So far as milk is concerned, I can arrange for financing in the matter of purchasing cows. The arrangement will be like this, that I shall ask all the centers to finance at least for one cow, and you will have to pay them back the price by supplying ghee. Suppose somebody advances $200 for purchasing a cow; you will have to repay the debt by supplying $200 worth of ghee. After that, the cow becomes your property. But to produce this ghee means there must be regular churning. The men should be engaged in producing vegetables, tilling the field, taking care of the animals, house construction, etc. and the women shall do the indoor activities. Of course, those who are engaged in typing, like Syama Dasi, they cannot do any other work. So you may arrange things in this way.
1970 Correspondence
So far your machinery to print cards, leaflets, and other color pictures. This is very nice if it is not too costly. Better to repay our debts than spend for costly machinery at this point. Also, we shall have only one magazine in our Society so I think that there is no need to print your monthly magazine in London.
1976 Correspondence
Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your offering of July 27, 1976 of 108 pounds and I thank you very much for it. Actually you are correct, it is not possible for the disciple to repay the debt to the spiritual master. Therefore the disciple remains eternally indebted to the spiritual master and continually works in such a way that the spiritual master may become pleased upon him for such sincere services rendered. Always follow the four principles, take prasadam, and above all chant your sixteen rounds a day, and thus you will make steady advancement in devotional service. Continue to preach this movement all over the world and thus you will become happy and you will make others happy also.
Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 6th August 1976 and your very nice donation. Your desire to please me is very pleasing and your preaching program in Spain sounds very nice. Please push on this movement in the Spanish and Portuguese languages with great enthusiasm and certainly Krsna will bless you for taking so much trouble to preach His glories. A Vaisnava always feels himself incapable to repay his debt to his spiritual master therefore he works very hard in order to try and repay that debt. He knows that without the mercy of the spiritual master one cannot preach this Krsna consciousness and therefore he always tries to act in such a way that he may please his guru. Please continue in this way and keep very strictly the regulative principles and chanting the prescribed number of rounds on the beads and you will clear the way for success in your preaching work.
If you feel at all indebted to me then you should preach vigorously like me. That is the proper way to repay me. Of course, no one can repay the debt to the spiritual master, but the spiritual master is very much pleased by such an attitude by the disciple. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said, vyavasayatmika buddhir ekeha kuru nandana (BG 2.41), "Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one." Our only business is to be fixed up in devotional service by pleasing the spiritual master. Those who are not fixed up they have various lines of action (eka means 'one' and bahu means 'many').
The real ocean of mercy is Krsna and it is the duty of the spiritual master to tell his disciple to come to the ocean and be happy. The spiritual master's duty is to lead the disciple to this ocean. I am trying my best and if you try to follow surely you will benefit.
| Page Title: | Repay the debt |
| Compiler: | Matea, Labangalatika |
| Created: | 10 of Nov, 2009 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=7, CC=8, OB=4, Lec=6, Con=4, Let=5 |
| No. of Quotes: | 34 |