19821222 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.20.3

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam

The following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on December 22, 1982, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8th Canto, Chapter 20, Verse 3.

sa cāhaṁ vitta-lobhena
pratyācakṣe kathaṁ dvijam
pratiśrutya dadāmīti
prāhrādiḥ kitavo yathā
[SB 8.20.3]

Translation: I am the grandson of Mahārāja Prahlāda. How can I withdraw my promise because of greed for money, when I have already said that I shall give this land? How can I behave like an ordinary cheater, especially toward a brāhmaṇa?

(Translation with repetition)

Purport: Bali Mahārāja had already been blessed by his grandfather Prahlāda Mahārāja. Therefore, he was a pure devotee, although born in a family of demons. There are two kinds of highly elevated devotees, called sādhana-siddha and kṛpā-siddha. Sādhana-siddha refers to one, who has become a devotee by regular execution of the regulative principles, mentioned in the śāstras, as ordered and directed by the spiritual master. If one regularly executes such devotional service, he will certainly attain perfection in due course of time. But there are other devotees, who may not have undergone all the required details of devotional service, but who, by the special mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa — the spiritual master and the Supreme Personality of Godhead — have immediately attained the perfection of pure devotional service. Examples of such devotees are the yajña-patnīs, Mahārāja Bali and Śukadeva Gosvāmī. The yajña-patnīs.. were the wives of ordinary brāhmaṇas.. engaged in fruitive activities. Although the brāhmaṇas were very learned and advanced in Vedic knowledge, they could not achieve the mercy of Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma, whereas their wives achieved complete perfection in devotional service, despite their being women. Similarly, Vairocani, Bali Mahārāja, received the mercy of Prahlāda Mahārāja, and by Prahlāda Mahārāja’s mercy he also received the mercy of Lord Viṣṇu, who appeared before him as a brahmacārī beggar. Thus Bali Mahārāja became a kṛpā-siddha, because of the special mercy of both guru and Kṛṣṇa. Caitanya Mahāprabhu confirms this favor: guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (Cc. Madhya 19.151). Bali Mahārāja, by the grace of Prahlāda Mahārāja, got the seed of devotional service, and when that seed developed, he achieved the ultimate fruit of that service, namely love of Godhead (premā pum-artho mahān), immediately upon the appearance of Lord Vāmanadeva. Bali Mahārāja regularly maintained devotion for the Lord, and because he was purified, the Lord appeared before him. Because of unalloyed love for the Lord, he then immediately decided, “I shall give this little dwarf brāhmaṇa whatever He asks from me.” This is a sign of love. Thus Bali Mahārāja is understood to be one, who received the highest perfection of devotional service by special mercy.

Thus end the purport of Text 3, Chapter 20, Canto 8, the Bhaktivedanta Purports in the matter of "Bali Mahārāja Surrenders the Universe."

Jayapatākā Swami: So... yesterday someone was asking that, “How… What would be the result.. if someone who is not following principles gets Kṛṣṇa prasādam? Or if someone... who is not following all the devotional principles somehow or other chants Hare Kṛṣṇa, what will be the result?”

Well, here we see that Bali Mahārāja, he was not following all the principles of devotional service... in a strict way. Rather simply by the mercy of Prahlāda Mahārāja, he was able to surrender unto the Lord. This is the... symptom of kṛpā-siddhi.

Similarly, by the mercy of a devotee, even a person may not be fully following all the devotional aspects but that can create all good fortune for that person. The devotees are out on the saṅkīrtana-yajña, and there are so many people whom they meet, you see. Those people are not generally following devotional principles, but by the special mercy of the devotees, who are giving them books, who are giving them prasādam, who are engaging them in devotional service, those.. fortunate souls.. have their spiritual life begun, even though they may not have... considered it in that way, nor had they made any specific plan, to achieve that.. benediction. It simply happened by special mercy.

So, this special mercy is something that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.. has.. been giving out very liberally. In fact, that’s the special... nomenclature, the special characteristic of Lord Caitanya’s incarnation, of His.. descent into this material world; that He gives off, gives out His mercy most liberally. Not considering that, “Well this person is qualified; this person is unqualified. This one you can give the mercy to; this one, you neglect.” No. Everyone, without that consideration, is being offered the mercy. Now, it’s up to them, to what extent they’re able to take the mercy... you see. If they want to take the mercy and utilize it for the purpose of... serving Kṛṣṇa, then their life is perfected. If they take the mercy and they misuse it, they use it simply for some type of sense gratification, then.. what is the use?

Prabhupāda in his poem, Vṛndāvane bhajana, he describes that, “In the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, there were two cousin-brothers fighting, namely Arjuna and Duryodhana. Now, the difference is that, although Arjuna and Duryodhana were both fighting, Arjuna (Duryodhana) knew his relationship with Kṛṣṇa. He was fighting after hearing Bhagavad-gītā, in the consciousness that, this is simply an offering to the Lord, You see even though.. the.. barriers, even though the.. barriers for.. raising… even though they are both fighting, but one, because that person Arjuna was in consciousness of Kṛṣṇa, one achieved eternal life, was victorious, and was elevated as the greatest of all devotees. While the other, for all his hard work and battles, simply achieved.. a change of body, simply achieved his death.”

This is the nature of the material world. The person, he may surround himself with his relatives, or may surround himself with so many types of protection, may think that he is very wise and very expert in terms of his material knowledge, his material... acquisitions. But in spite of all those soldiers, they’re all fallible soldiers, they’re all fallible soldiers and ultimately, that person simply achieves death.. in spite of all these fallible soldiers.

So, here we see that if one gets the special mercy, of guru and Kṛṣṇa: guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja, by that mercy, then it is possible to actually return back to home, back to Godhead, to ultimately get the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. One simply waters the devotional creeper, and the devotional creeper grows.. and grows... and grows.... until finally, it breaks through the material world, goes into the brahma-jyoti, breaks through the brahma-jyoti... and goes upto the Vaikuṇṭha lokas, goes beyond the Vaikuṇṭha lokas, to the spiritual abode of Kṛṣṇa

cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-
lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam
lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
[Bs 5.29]

So, there in the cintāmaṇi-dhāma, that devotional creeper, finally takes shelter of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. There, at the lotus feet of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, when it takes shelter, then that creeper expands, and it produces so many flowers and so many fruits. Those flowers and fruits... are again distributed.. to so many other devotees, innocent people. So, in this way, the devotional creeper grows simply by the gardener - the devotee, watering while serving here, in the material world.

That watering process is hearing, chanting, remembering, etc. So, we should consider who.. we want to follow. We can follow Arjuna, or we can follow Duryodhana. You want to follow Duryodhana, then you’ll have one result. If you want to follow Arjuna, then you’ll have another result. So naturally, the intelligent person can choose what he wants to do. Whether he wants to follow Arjuna.. or Duryodhana. So, the devotees in the saṅkīrtana movement, they accept Kṛṣṇa as the Pārtha-sārathi, as the chariot driver, through the order of śāstra and guru and sādhu, and they allow Kṛṣṇa to guide them through His representatives and through the books which He has spoken and written down, Vyāsadeva.

In this way, the devotee’s success is assured, by taking always the shelter of the Lord. This special mercy.. to be able to get this mercy, even though there is no qualification that one can see for it, that is known as kṛpā-siddhi. That is the special mercy. If somebody gets the mercy very quickly without even trying for it very hard, or not at all, then that person... is considered to be a kṛpā-siddha, or someone who has got the mercy of the Lord; by that mercy, the person has become liberated.

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

By that mercy, a person becomes situated in pure devotional service, from whence, he never forgets his relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, at every obstacle, the devotee always survives, always is victorious, you see. Never perishes. Kṛṣṇa promises, “na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati - My devotee shall never perish.” (Bg 9.31)

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

Any questions? Yes?

Devotee: Why is it often said that special mercy is rarely achieved?

Jayapatākā Swami: Well, it’s not said about Lord Caitanya, but ordinarily Kṛṣṇa doesn’t give special mercy, so much, you don’t find. It’s very rare. How many, you can count. Kubjā got special mercy. Bali Mahārāja got special mercy. The gopīs got special mercy. Some of the queens in Dvārakā, they got special mercy. But... out of so many millions of living entities.. getting that special mercy is rare. Generally, special mercy is given directly by the Lord, or by His representative, so they also very rare. Out of millions and millions of people, you’ll find only one is a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. So if they are the only ones giving out special mercy, then isn’t that quite rare? In any case, special mercy is very valuable. It is priceless commodity. So one should always be hankering, Prabhupāda advised us, for the special mercy of guru and Gaurāṅga. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotee: Then, in the Nectar of Devotion, it says one should always expect the special mercy of Kṛṣṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: Well, you may expect the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. Hope for special mercy and you expect the mercy of Kṛṣṇa… You expect the shelter of Kṛṣṇa. You expect that one day, Kṛṣṇa will give you the special mercy. He’ll give at His own sweet will.. at His own sweet time. That’s not something that we can... expect it for one year, or one week, or one hour and then, if you don’t get it, then we feel, “Oh, Kṛṣṇa is not given special mercy. He's let me down.” Right? “I did saṅkīrtana for one day, and it wasn’t good enough. Didn’t get Kṛṣṇa’s special mercy. Maybe I shouldn’t do saṅkīrtana anymore. I should do something else.” Keep on trying... to do one’s service and hope and pray for the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa has given His special mercy to so many, why won’t He give also to a devotee who is sincerely serving Him? One should... put oneself in the most favorable position for getting Kṛṣṇa’s special mercy.

No one has any... claim... to get pure love for Godhead. Only claim, Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura expressed, was that he was the most fallen of the fallen, and that Lord Caitanya was the most merciful of all, that therefore, he felt that his... claim was that he was so fallen, therefore, he should be delivered first. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotee: How does the spiritual master give special mercy?

Jayapatākā Swami: How does he give special mercy? So many ways. Preaches to the devotees. Explains to them devotional service. Prays to Kṛṣṇa... that the devotee.. may be accepted into devotional service. If a devotee is accepted into devotional service, that’s special mercy! And special mercy goes on in so many different ways. Here, the word… why it’s said, “Special mercy”, can’t… if you want… I mean since… you know… split hairs about the whole thing. That special mercy, what is the special mercy? Means that even the person is not.. following rules and regulations and so many things, wasn’t, you know, living in the āśrama for… and... so many things. He was just uh, he was a king of demons, but he was the grandson of Prahlāda, so he even in spite of not being otherwise so qualified in terms of.. you know, just, sādhana-bhakti, still, by some special mercy, that means by the well-wishes of Prahlāda Mahārāja, just by his wish, just by his favorable... desire, that alone was enough to lay the groundwork, so Bali Mahārāja could develop this spontaneous love for Vāmanadeva.

It’s not that the mercy of the spiritual master has to be in a visible way. That just by his favorable wishes, by his favorable desires, a person can advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But... when a person starts to advance, then one should naturally become more and more responsible, to repay that special mercy.

One takes that whatever advancement one has achieved is due... to the mercy of the spiritual master, in response to one’s desire. In.. most cases. And then when there was no desire, then you know it was special mercy. I had no desire to be a devotee. Somehow, I came.. to... deliver the milk, and the devotees kept giving me cookies.. and.. I can see that by their special mercy, I became a devotee. That… someone may actually come here, looking for Kṛṣṇa, cause there’s some.. problem that person has, or he wants to know about something, or is looking for God, you see. Comes here, starts to practice. So, that you can say that’s ordinary mercy. And if somebody comes and is just completely, not the slightest desire at all for spiritual life, you know, visibly there, still the devotee goes out of his way to just engage that person, giving some prasādam or some… whatever. So, that’s a special mercy. It’s not that the person really did anything to deserve it... or even desires it much. So it's just a devotee, out of his own, “Let me help this person.”

Is that alright? You agree?

Devotees: Jaya!

Jayapatākā Swami: Okay. Haribol.

Devotee: Śrīla Prabhupāda ki,

Devotees: Jaya!