19820108 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.8.39-40 and Vaiśiṣṭyāṣṭakam Verse-7

The following is a class given by Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on January 8, 1982 in Calcutta, India. The class begins with a reading from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Canto 8, Chapter 8, Texts 39 and 40 and continues with a Vaisistyastakam verse number 8.

devāḥ svaṁ bhāgam arhanti
ye tulyāyāsa-hetavaḥ
satra-yāga ivaitasminn
eṣa dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ

iti svān pratyaṣedhan vai
daiteyā jāta-matsarāḥ
durbalāḥ prabalān rājan
gṛhīta-kalasān muhuḥ
[SB 8.8.39-40]

Jayapatākā Swami: [Leads translation of the verse] [Devotees repeat]

Translation: Some of the demons said, “All the demigods have taken part in churning the Ocean of Milk. Now, as everyone has an equal right to partake in any public sacrifice, according to the eternal religious system it is befitting that the demigods now have a share of the nectar.” O King, in this way the weaker demons forbade the stronger demons to take the nectar.

Jayapatākā Swami: [Reads the purport]

Purport by His Divine Grace Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda:

Desiring to take the nectar, those among the demons who were less strong spoke in favor of the demigods. The weaker Daityas naturally pleaded on behalf of the demigods to stop the stronger Daityas from drinking the nectar without sharing it. In this way, disagreement and trouble arose as they forbade one another to drink the nectar.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this is the nature of demons. They are interested in their own sense gratification. They and demigods or the devotees they are interested in satisfying the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, they try to satisfy Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa first, always. Everything is offered to the Lord as a bhoga, as an offering, and the devotees are accepting the remnants as prasādam or mercy. But the demons, they are not thinking about giving anything to Kṛṣṇa, so they are simply thinking, how each one can first taste the nectar and thus become eternal, you see.

Sometimes we see that, even there are certain groups which come together, and then after some time, when they achieve the goal, then they break apart. Because each person is interested in his own material development, and not in actually the total good, nor especially in satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, a devotee is known to be as para-duḥkha-duḥkhī, one who is always compassionate to see. When he sees the miseries of others and is trying to deliver that misery, deliver those people from that misery.

In this regard, I would like to go to the saptam Vaisistya or the seventh, uh, great glorification of the transcendental qualities of His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura as written by our Founder Ācārya, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda.

This is,

para duhkhi haya Vaiṣṇava prassiddha,
sei khyati hobe saba pracare pravrddha.
[Vaisistyastakam - Vaisistya 7]

That truly a great devotee of the Lord or one of the great qualities of a devotee of the Lord is that he is para-duḥkhī. That he is himself compassionate to see the suffering of others and therefore he wants to do something about it. So, the placing of the practical effect of that compassion is that such devotees, they go on attempting to increase the pracara or the preaching work of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Śrīla Prabhupāda goes on to say:

nitya-siddha Kṛṣṇa-bhakti jagile sabara
apani palabe kali kari ha-ha-kara
[Vaisistyastakam - Vaisistya 7]

That in the heart of every person is the eternal spirit soul. So that is actually who we are. And that spirit soul has, as its, one of its basic, eternal characteristics, an eternal loving relationship with Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Person, Supreme Personality of Godhead. So therefore, that is known as nitya siddha Kṛṣṇa bhakti. That Kṛṣṇa bhakti is there within the heart. That simply has to be awakened.

Now we have forgotten, or we have misdirected that natural flow of affection to the Lord. So by the preaching work of such great devotees who are compassionate for the suffering of others, then all the evil effects of this age of quarrel, age of Kali they run, and the personification or personified Kali himself run away, when that pure devotional characteristic is automatically awakened from the heart, albedo of the common man and so Kali runs away screaming out, “Ha ha, ha ha! Save me!” Because Kali is destroyed by the effects of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

In the next verse Prabhupāda says:

‘praninamupakaraya' Mahāprabhu vani
iha kala para kala sukhera se khani
[Vaisistyastakam - Vaisistya 7]

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s message is to deliver or to help all of the living entities. By that one is happy in this world and one achieves eternal happiness in the spiritual abode of the Lord even after this life, after this life.

Verse 64 is

eto kaja pore ache tomadera hate
ekatre miliya karya karaha tahate.
[Vaisistyastakam - Vaisistya 7]

That “Well, oh my brother Vaiṣṇavas, there is a lot of work to be done and it is all waiting to be done by us. Therefore, now we should come together, take up this work seriously for the benefit of all the fallen souls. In a cooperative spirit we should work.

Then Śrīla Prabhupāda said,

Vāsudeva vipra bale prabhuer namiya
sakala jivere dao uddhara kariya
tadera saba papa-tapa mo-hinere dao

duhkhi jivera duhkha tumi se ghucao
se ta Vaiṣṇavasrestha para-duhkhe duhkhi
atmendriya tripti yahe nahe tara sukhi
[Vaisistyastakam - Vaisistya 7]

So, Śrīla Prabhupāda here he accounts the transcendental pastime of Vāsudeva Datta, that Vāsudeva Vipra, the great brahm… He called, he prayed to Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu that all of the sinful reactions, all of the karmas which are accumulated by all the living entities, conditioned and in bondage in this universe, that they should all be given personally to him. He prayed, “Give me all of their sinful reactions. I will take all the bad karma, I will take all of the sufferings. I am the most fallen, I am the most insignificant, let it all come upon me.” This was his request.

Why? duhkhi jivera duhkha tumi se ghucao. So then “You take all the miseries, all of the sufferings from all of the living entities and simply give it to me and You liberate all of them and take them all back to the kingdom of God. Let me just alone suffer. I’ll just stay here and rot forever, doesn’t matter, let hundreds and millions and unlimited people go back to God. Let me alone suffer, that is much better. Even I stay here forever, no harm. Let them taste the nectar of pure love for Kṛṣṇa, let them taste the eternal happiness.” This was Vāsudeva Datta’s prayer.

So Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “This is the characteristic of the top most of all pure devotee Vaiṣṇavas of the Lord that transcendentally he feels compassion for the miseries and sufferings of all the suffering people of this world. atmendriya tripti yahe nahe tara sukhi. He has complete, you see, transcendental happiness through Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore, he does not require any material happiness, even material misery is no problem for him. He is already tasting eternal happiness of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore, willingly he would rather take on their misery and let them go back to Kṛṣṇa. They don’t have any concern with material affairs.”

So, three more verses here in this seventh, or sixth… seventh:

ki daya korite pare avaisnava-jana
aparadhi haya matra ‘daridra Nārāyaṇa’
[Vaisistyastakam - Vaisistya 7]

What type of mercy, what type of real help can be done by those who are not devotees, who are… of the Lord, who are avaiṣṇavas? They simply become offenders by calling poor people as poor Nārāyaṇas or daridra Nārāyaṇas, thus offending the Supreme Lord Nārāyaṇa, by giving Him some type of artificial title as daridra.

vijnana sammata sei vaisnavera daya
vaisnava vihina bhume maya duratyaya
Viṣṇu-vaisnava-rajya yadi dharaya haya
tabei se sukhi loka muni-rsi kaya.
[Vaisistyastakam - Vaisistya 7]

According to scientific… The mercy of the pure devotees is very practical and scientific. Without, a land without pure devotees of the Lord is simply a place of suffering in materialistic misery. Therefore, in every land, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu must be placed in the top most position and His pure devotee the Vaiṣṇavas, they must be given full scope to actively work for delivering real happiness to all the people. This is the verdict of all the great sages and the saints from the Vedic literature.

Thus end the seventh Vaisistya of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda.

So here Śrīla Prabhupāda is showing us the real characteristic of His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, and the real characteristic of the devotees or bhakti-yogis in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That they are actually compassionate to the you see ultimate degree. They are willing to accept all types of difficulties, all types of obstacles, so that the soul in bondage in this material world may be delivered.

Actually, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda has shown in his personal lifetime the highest degree of compassion on the whole world by at the advanced age of seventy years, taking all types of difficulties for spreading the message of Caitanya Mahāprabhu all over the world and travelling profusely from 1965 until 1977, all over the world, at least about seventeen times.

So, because of this one compassionate pure devotee’s endeavor the whole world has become awakened to Hare Kṛṣṇa and the great movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu has spread all over the world fulfilling the prediction 500 years ago that in every town and village throughout the whole world, His holy name would be sung, His movement would be spread. So now, that is fast coming true. This is because of compassion.

It is not possible to spread such a glorious and pure thing as pure devotional service, pure love for God, the highest practice of yoga, without being empowered by Kṛṣṇa Himself, without having the pure desire.

kali-kālera dharma—kṛṣṇa-nāma-saṅkīrtana
kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe tāra pravartana
[CC Antya 7.11]

In this Kali-yuga, the recommended process for the age is to chant

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare rāma hare rāma
rāma rāma hare hare

mahā-mantra. And Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, His instruction was that everyone should be engaged in this saṅkīrtana movement. And Lord Caitanya Himself personally engaged even the jungle animals. In the Jhārikhaṇḍa forest, Caitanya Mahāprabhu requested tigers, elephants, deer, snakes, everyone to chant

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare rāma hare rāma
rāma rāma hare hare

[Devotees Repeat]

To chant Hari bol! Hari bol! And because He Himself was the Lord of everyone, He was able to get all the animals to also chant, roll in the ground. At that time, together there were tigers, deer, elephants and there was no question of any uh, danger felt by anyone because everyone was absorbed in love for Kṛṣṇa. So of course, Caitanya Mahāprabhu would even get the animals filled with ecstatic love for God, what to speak of human beings. So, our Founder Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, he had instructed us that we may not be able to immediately engage all of the animals, but at least we should get all the human beings to dance in ecstasy, chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.

By this means, the miseries of this immediate lifetime are dissipated, and one is freed from the repetition of birth and death, one is given the highest position as an eternal sevaka in the eternal devotional service of the Lord. So, in this way, there is no higher position that one could achieve. iha kala para kala sukhera se khani.

So, it is a great responsibility upon those who know better. Nowadays of course, people have become very self-centered. Not in real sense as our real self is not the body, but our eternal soul. But in artificial material sense, they have become bodily centered. The body as the self.

So even if there is some big doctor or someone who knows how to help people, he may be afraid, especially in Western countries that, “If I try to help someone, I won’t get any money out of it and in the end, I may get sued, or this, or that.” So, it is very difficult if one wants to do material charitable work. Even if he wants to do it, then there is every risk that someone ultimately won’t appreciate it. So that type of material welfare work is filled with many defects.

So, the welfare work which is being discussed here is something which is pure. Why do we suffer? Why are we miserable? Why are we forced to get old and die? These are some of the questions that every human being should ask himself and should find out the answer. If I don’t want to be miserable, if I don’t want to grow old, why I am forced to do it? There is a cause for everything.

So therefore, one can understand that ultimately, we are not independent. We are strictly controlled by various natural laws. And those natural laws are given by, ultimately by Kṛṣṇa. mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ, the whole material nature is under His control. So, He is saying to us, it is very difficult to get over this material nature.

daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te
[BG 7.14]

But it is very easy to cross over this material nature and it’s stringent laws by taking shelter of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Just as someone who is given a death sentence may approach the president of the country to get a reprieve, to get a pardon. That ultimate pardon is the right of the Head of State to give in most countries of the world. So, the head of everything is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So similarly, there are various processes of yoga, various religious systems which are ultimately meant to get a pardon or to finish our term in this material prison house. But if one gets a pardon, there is no question, free.

So, the material people they so illusioned, they don’t realize that they are not free. That’s their first mistake. So therefore, the laws of nature are made in such a way that they have to suffer the reaction for the activities that they perform. So, then they realize that actually whatever they are doing, then they are forced to suffer for that. And they are also given a limited time in each body. Each body has got a particular term which is fixed at the time of our birth. How many breaths we have?! May be one lakh, may be five lakhs, five hundred thousand, only five million, whatever. A certain amount of breaths are given. One can reduce those number of breaths or one may slightly increase by certain pious activities, but no matter how much one may increase, ultimately in this material world he cannot stay forever. He has to leave the body sooner or later.

Those yogis who have been able to control their prāṇāyama because they stop the breathing process, naturally their life increases. If they can stop breathing completely, then they can remain without breathing, that is why you find yogis sleep for hundred years. As long as they are remaining in samādhi, then they are not growing older. When they come out of samādhi and they start breathing again then they grow older again. But even then, unless one transfers oneself out of this material world, even the greatest mystic yogis, once their material world is dissolved, then they have to give up this body because at that time everything is finished, even they may be the greatest siddhas or liberated soul rather perfected mystic, the perfected souls.

That type of welfare work which is based upon the body, that you can never satisfy everyone’s body. There always someone dissatisfied mentally or physically with what someone else is doing. Kennedy was appreciated by many people, but Howard Oswald did not appreciate him. Like that Gandhiji was appreciated by many people but there was one man who did not appreciate him. He shot him. In this way, there is always someone who appreciates and someone who doesn’t appreciate any material activity. But the devotee doesn’t care that what if people in ignorance appreciate or don’t appreciate. They first of all care whether Kṛṣṇa appreciates, because if Kṛṣṇa appreciates, automatically everyone is taken care of, because He is the controller of everyone. By His mercy all the difficulties can be crossed over.

So just like that I was saying, if we can get the pardon then there is no question. All these different processes, difficult processes of yoga, difficult processes of religious systems have been simplified in this age of Kali to enable everyone to directly make their appeal to the supreme head. Generally, the systems are quite indirect, even if you pray it is only some abstract name God. Allah only means God. (inaudible) There is no direct name.

Just like if you write a letter, “Dear Prime Minister, Dear President,” if you know his name, you see, Sanjiv Reddy, president of India, Ronald Reagan, president of the USA, whatever, then at least it has a personal touch. And if you send them letter through one of his aides who may be personally connected with him, then you are sure it is going to get there, otherwise it may not get past the secretary in the outer office. So, like that people will say God got burst. It may, it gets there, but in a very abstract way, doesn’t go directly to the most merciful form of the Lord but goes through His expansions here in the material universe for maintaining.

So, this is the problem. People, they don’t know how to directly approach and get a direct pardon from this material prison house, how to achieve a direct relationship with the Supreme Lord? Therefore, they are being kicked by the material nature. They are forced to suffer. And the only hope for them is the devotees, the Vaiṣṇavas, who already have a connection with the Lord, who know these secrets, who have uncovered these from the Vedic literatures and rather have received this special system in the disciplic succession. So, if those persons who know better, who know the secret, if they do not give it out to others, then what is the hope for the common person? Therefore, the whole world is going to hell.

So Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda is writing this particular poem to the devotees of the Lord, that they should be very active and take up this responsibility which is theirs alone. No one else can do this to give out this medicine or this mercy for the upliftment of all the fallen souls, all the suffering persons in this material world, regardless of their background, of their designation, caste, creed, color, whatever may be. So sometimes non-devotees, they’re trying to put on that type of a show to help the suffering people but because they’re also dependant on getting sense gratification, they depended on their bodily demands, otherwise they don’t get their personal happiness, the happiness they get by helping others is simply mental or sentimental.

Because they are not connected through the process of bhakti-yoga with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, with the Supreme Absolute Truth, and they are therefore not getting spiritual bliss from the spiritual platform, which is satisfying not only the soul but the mind and the body, you see, therefore they have to go here and there for eating, for sleeping, for sex life, as their only source of happiness. So, what happens? They don’t get a good food, they don’t get good edibles then they are feeling unhappy. They are not having good sleep, then they are feeling distressed. They are having some uh, disruption in their love affair, everything is down. So then in this way they are afraid of some type of attack from opposing parties, from envious people, they are afraid, they are fearful. So, in this way they are completely absorbed in animal propensities, and it is very difficult for them to actually overcome that to do any new welfare work for the people.

And if they want, finally somehow or other they are able to just control the basic problems, somehow or other just satisfy the minimum wants to be able to push on and think about doing something for others, even then their ideas are all wrong. Their ideas are concocted, they don’t have any real basis of what the real problems of the people are, they just put on something which is satisfying for publicity sake, or to their own mental idea.

[break]

…you see, so in this way, the human ideas that try to do something. So, in this way they call all the poor people, “You serve them. They are Nārāyaṇa.” This is the type of impersonal idea that everyone is Nārāyaṇa. Actually Nārāyaṇa is the Supreme Person. He is always above this material world. He never comes under the control of this material world. He is always possessed with all opulence, all knowledge, all beauty, all fame, all renunciation and all power. So, He doesn’t become in any way limited by this material world, you see. He is Bhagavān. Sarvajna, sarvasakitman, sarvajnanaman, sarvabhauma, sarvasaundarya, sarvaisvarya, like this, all the six qualities, sarvavairagya. So, He doesn’t become a daridra or a poor man.

So, this idea, daridra Nārāyaṇa, simply some concoction. “All that, all these poor men suffering, beggars, they are just another form of Nārāyaṇa, another form of God and we are serving the poor God!” You see, God doesn’t become poor. They are poor humans, poor jivas fallen in the material world. They are part of God, but they are not God. God is above all this – daridratva, poverty, suffering. He is always there to give the help, to lift the people up if we so desire and He has given process how to do that.

So, in different ages there were different processes and some of those processes are still practiced today. But it is very hard to practice the different religious systems in this Kali-yuga, properly. So, a system has been given which is so easy that anyone can practice, and it is so sublime that immediately one feels transcendental happiness in the spiritual platform. So, whether or not one is materially simply getting by or whether materially enjoying, is not depended or materially suffering, he doesn’t lose his complete hope. Doesn’t become completely dejected or filled with lamentation and fear because he is getting transcendental happiness from the spiritual platform.

That type of person can actually do welfare work for the people. He actually can have real compassion and his ideas being authorized by Kṛṣṇa, by the Vedas. They are not simply concoction. They don’t create some disturbance in the future. So therefore, Śrīla Prabhupāda, he was saying that, “Every place in the whole world needs such pure devotees of the Lord, that may purify those lands, may create a proper atmosphere for human development, for cultural, spiritual development, based upon the principles of the eternal, eternal knowledge, eternal truth, based on the principles of Vedic culture, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So how, he at this time, he wrote this before he went to the West. He imploring all the Vaiṣṇavas from India, “Let us work together, let us now make a program to go abroad, to go to the different countries, to help the people to understand what is the purpose of life, to create devotees in each of those countries that they may in turn purify their own lands and in this way the world can be freed from all the suffering and misery.” In this way he was imploring upon them, “Let us wake up, wake up these sleeping souls, let us go out of our, of our religious hermitages and ashrams and all these places, simply living a type of a lazy life. Let us take up the active preaching work.” This was his plea, but no one was interested at that time.

Only those who were interested, they didn’t want to go for making people devotees. They wanted to make some business, show some yoga posture which is simply the very basic warm up of real yoga practice. It has nothing to do with the highest system of yoga at all. So finally, he was all this time humbly thinking that, “We should do it together. We should do it together. I don’t want to make it a one man show.” But when no one came forward, no one would, would take the, the courage with the initiative about, would have the magnanimity, magnanimity of even working together, discussing the topic, then receiving so many orders in dream by Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, then he was obliged that he must go himself to the West. Even he is alone, even he is at the fag end of the material body, he must go to make one last effort. Whatever be the will of Kṛṣṇa, that will happen, but he must not himself after realizing so many transcendental truths allow that mercy not to be distributed as widely as possible.

So, he took up the mission and distributed it all over the world. This was his mission of his whole life. It wasn’t that he got this idea late. His whole life he had the idea. He was planning, and he was preparing but he was thinking that together we should do it. He was not the only devotee, not the only Godbrother, not the only person, why should he go on himself first? He was feeling, “We should all work together and do it as a joint effort in a proper mood of cooperation.” But no one took it up. He realized actually that time was coming to a close the period he would spend in this world. Said, “I have to go at least, no one else is going, it is my duty, I must go. Come what may, depending on the Lord’s mercy.” So now his heritage of helping the souls in this world who are suffering from the material bondage, material misery, has fallen on so many devotees all over the world.

Some of these devotees will think that, “It is a difficult thing to worry about others, better to worry about one’s own material facilities and position first and then we can think about doing something for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we can think about doing something for the misery of others, in giving them pure God consciousness.” So, such people, they won’t be able to do much, they’ve become materially affected.

Others, individually if they try to do, without trying to engage the others, then they won’t get the full mercy of the Lord. But cooperatively try. Prabhupāda tried cooperatively. No one came forward, he had no choice, do it alone. This is the goal, this was the movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, to work in saṅkīrtana. Saṅkīrtana means, khol, kartal, cymbals, drums, singer, dancer, everyone together working and then you create a beautiful, you see, saṅkīrtana chanting party. Just one person cannot make a saṅkīrtana party very perfectly. But many people together, this is the movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu organized, organized movement for delivering the people from their ignorant, miserable condition to the highest platform of pure bliss, pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

So, the demons, they are always interested in “Me first, me first, therefore there is always this type of difficulty, this type of disturbance. But the devotees who have actually understood the essence of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, put always the order of guru, order of Kṛṣṇa in the forefront. Therefore, there must be a harmony. There is only one order, only one goal, only one Supreme Lord. Therefore, everyone is directed to the same end, must be harmony.

If everyone is in, the symphony is playing to the same tune, to the same time then there will be a harmony. Even if there are varieties of instruments, varieties of sub-tunes but the whole thing becomes a symphony, because it is all being directed by the will of the Supreme, same Supreme Lord. When everybody wants to play their own thing, then it becomes a different creation. If they reject the guidance of the Lord and His representatives, then it becomes hopeless.

So now this responsibility is upon all the devotees of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in the world to continue spreading His saṅkīrtana movement until Kali is completely driven out of this world. He’ll run crying, you see. We don’t mind. The devotee doesn’t mind if such an envious person who creates misery, quarrel and dissension amongst the people, is forced to run out. Devotee doesn’t mind if that cruel person is driven out and the people are allowed to be happy in transcendental joy. Let that one troublemaker go out, if that is his misfortune, we don’t mind.

Someone whose happiness is causing misfortune and misery to others, the devotee doesn’t mind if he gets driven out, because they want to see that all the innocent people should get real spiritual bliss.

jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare/
hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare