19951228 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.9.45

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on December 28, 1995 in New Govardhana farm, Murwillumbah, Australia. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6th Canto, Chapter 9, Verse 48.

kiṁ durāpaṁ mayi prīte
tathāpi vibudharṣabhāḥ
mayy ekānta-matir nānyan
matto vāñchati tattva-vit

Translation: O best of the intelligent demigods, although it is true that nothing is difficult for one to obtain when I am pleased with him, a pure devotee, whose mind is exclusively fixed upon Me, does not ask Me for anything but the opportunity to engage in devotional service.

Purport (by His Divine Grace Śrīla Prabhupāda): When the demigods finished offering their prayers, they anxiously waited for their enemy Vṛtrāsura to be killed. This means that the demigods are not pure devotees. Although without difficulty one can get anything he desires if the Lord is pleased, the demigods aspire for material profit by pleasing the Lord. The Lord wanted the demigods to pray for unalloyed devotional service, but instead they prayed for an opportunity to kill their enemy. This is the difference between a pure devotee and a devotee on the material platform. Indirectly, the Lord regretted that the demigods did not ask for pure devotional service.

Thus, end the Bhaktivedanta Swami translation and purport to the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 6th Canto, 9th chapter, 48th verse in the matter of ‘The Appearance of the Demon Vṛtrāsura.’

Oṁ Tat Sat!

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the devas had offered their prayers to the Lord and the Lord has granted them His blessings. So they could ask The Lord for anything at that opportunity, but in fact they were able to see The Lord surrounded by His sixteen personal attendants decorated with ornaments. The devas saw the Supreme Lord in that posture, and they fell down and offered their obeisances and offered their prayers. But ultimately what they were asked asking for was that Vṛtrāsura could be eliminated by The Lord.

Vṛtrāsura was so powerful that he could not be killed by the devas. So, when they had no other hope they went to the Lord and the Lord appeared to them being satisfied with their devotional service. But instead of asking for pure devotional love for Kṛṣṇa, they asked to get rid of the enemy after offering many beautiful praises to the Lord. So here in this verse the Lord is saying, “It's true that nothing is difficult to achieve for someone who has pleased Me.” He was kind of correcting because before He had said pure devotees are sheltered, they can achieve anything. But they actually don't want anything else but to serve Me. They don't ask for anything else but to serve in pure devotional service.

Similar situation happened, happens often. The devas get put into difficulty and they have nobody to turn to but the Lord. In one way it keeps them in their place, so to speak. Keeps them aware of their limitations and helps to remind them to surrender to Kṛṣṇa. There was a demon Śaṅkhāsura who had a boon from Brahmā. By that boon he could not be killed by the devas. So, he was looking for the devas to kill them. So, they were all hiding in middle of the Mount Meru, couldn't be discovered by the demon. The demon decided that he would destroy the devas by taking the personified Vedas and destroying them. So that way when Vedic knowledge would be finished, his theory was, that the devas would be finished. Putting that plan, demons are very creative. So, he went up to Brahmaloka but meanwhile the personified Vedas got dream that Śaṅkhāsura was out to get them. So, he just, as soon as he got there, he saw them escaping and he went chasing after them but they went into the ocean. Actually, they dissolved themselves in the water. So by being dissolved in the water, couldn't be found. Śaṅkhāsura, he didn't know, he just them going in the water and then he followed them in the ocean. He was looking everywhere, all over the ocean trying to find them.

So, while he was looking for them, then the devas, they said, “This is our chance.”, and they went out and went by the side of the milk ocean in order to call, to ask Viṣṇu for His help. But Viṣṇu was in yoga-nidrā at that time and nobody wanted to just wake Him up, because He might not be pleased. So, they thought what could we do that will please the Lord most of all. So someone said He is most pleased when you chant His holy names. So, they all began to chant, Indra, Vāyu, Sūrya, Agnideva, all the different devas, they had a big kīrtana. Karatālas, mṛdaṅgas.

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

And that kīrtana went on. And the sound of the transcendental names, they reached the Lord Viṣṇu, and He woke up from His yoga-nidrā and He was very very happy to see all the devas chanting His holy name. Actually Viṣṇu, most of all is happy when someone is just serving Him, actually in pure devotion. But even they were just chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, even they had some other motive to awaken Him, but even then He was very pleased. He said, “This is the happiest time, this is the happiest day for Me, to see all the devas chanting.” So, on this day if anybody chants the Holy Name, I would give them very easily my special mercy, so they can come to me in pure devotion. You know what day that was; Ekādaśī. It was Ekādaśī tithi, so since that was one of the reasons why chanting the names of Kṛṣṇa on Ekādaśī brings so many multiple effects. So if the Lord is pleased, then everything can be achieved. But the pure devotees just want His pure devotion. So the devas want to the have the attention of Lord Viṣṇu and then He asked them what did they would like. They had again the opportunity to get His pure love, but instead they said, “My dear Lord we are being harassed by Śaṅkhāsura. If you could kindly save us.” So, they get the opportunity now and again to ask for the highest benediction, but they often failed to do so. But the Lord is very merciful. So then, He said, “It's alright. If that is what you want, have Kaśyapa hold water in his hand.” And Kaśyapa held his hand, cupped with water, Kaśyapa Muni. And a little microscopic fish appeared in there, like you could barely see it. But gradually, it was getting bigger and bigger and filled up his whole hand and there was no room. I mean it was getting bigger and put into a little well, but it got bigger than the well. Put in the lake, it got bigger than the lake. Then finally put it in the ocean and it got bigger and bigger and bigger. When Śaṅkhāsura saw that gigantic transcendental form of Matsya-avatāra and naturally, immediately, he was attracted to that form. Of course, the demons, they are attracted in another way. He was attracted that, “Oh! Here is someone I can fight with and kill. This must be a deva or something.” Kṛṣṇa reciprocates with everyone. So the demon aimed to kill Him, so then the demon was killed by The Lord. Matsya-avatāra, in His different incarnations, He saves the Vedas. So, He took the Vedas, which in this particular incarnation, had dissolved in the water, He took them out from the water and gave them back to Lord Brahmā and Lord Brahmā in turn handed them to different ṛṣīs to be responsible for the different parts of Vedic knowledge, and in this way the order in the universe was established again. So the Lord, it was in the Padma Purāṇa it was mentioned that... I was looking at glories of Ekādaśī which seemed to hear the tidbits. How the devas, when they get put in these difficulty, and sometime they are successful from getting out of it and that time they should really feel grateful, because only by Kṛṣṇa mercy that the devas can do anything or anyone can do anything. But in case they are not able to get out of it, and they actually have to personally come to The Lord and ask for His help, then that's another opportunity for them. Really here we see that apart from telling us what's the position of the devas are in relation to the Lord, the most important thing here is that glorification of ‘The pure devotees whose mind is exclusively fixed upon Me and the pure devotee does not ask Me for anything but the opportunity to engage in devotional service.’ Devotional service is itself the highest benediction. To actually be able to serve the Lord, to His devotee, serve the Lord is the perfection. But most people in the material world who are devotees of God, they worship God in order to achieve something else. We are reading about how the, some of the Christians, they have half night prayer meetings to pray for people who have some disease or some personal problem to overcome or pray to the Lord to have someone be freed from a demon or a whatever. So they are regularly approaching the Lord but they are asking for some mundane purpose.

Actually, devotional service, the idea is that we can serve the Lord for His pleasure, it's a mystery for most people. Even for the great devas may not. Except for the pure devotees, they are not able to fix their minds on pure devotional service. It is so rare in the universe and we are so fortunate that Caitanya Mahāprabhu has come to give us this love for Kṛṣṇa freely. If someone pleases the Lord, they can achieve anything. Lord Caitanya said that in order for us to please the Lord we need to please His devotees. Pure devotees are spiritual masters, the tulasī, the mother Ganges, the holy dhāma, the Bhāgavatam. By respecting the things which are connected to the Lord, one is able to please the Lord. Because it is mentioned in a seminar, after the recent floods we had in Māyāpur… I really got… hard to forget about the Ganges and about the total implication of the flooding. Lord Caitanya said that when the holy dhāma of Māyāpur floods, then the whole world should be flooded with love for Kṛṣṇa. It’s indication, Prabhupāda revealed that. So, when we were flooded in Māyāpur, then we were looking up some of the glories of the Ganges in the Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Caitanya Bhāgavata. We found that how the Ganges has a very personal relationship with Lord Caitanya. The Yamunā has also combined with the Ganges in Māyāpur. From Allahabad and in Māyāpur, they are combined. And there was a pastime mentioned.

One devotee was… one sage was meditating on the Ganges, saying his Gāyatrī in the water up to his chest, and all of a sudden the Ganges water started rising up, rising up and coming right up, practically covering up his face and then going down and coming up, going down. “What is going on here? Why is the water suddenly rising and falling like this?” And he looked and he saw there was a golden Boy running alongside the Ganges and sometimes He’d go a little further away from the Ganges and the Ganges water would come up, trying to keep on touching those lotus golden feet! He goes in to the Ganges, water goes down. He goes up… in this way the level was coming. And when He went so much out of the water, suddenly the sage saw His worshipable deity, the Ganges personified, come out of the water and offer her obeisances to that Boy. Immediately he jumped out of the water and ran. “What is this!?”, and from a respectable distance he was watching what is going on. And he saw mother Ganges offering prayers of respect, of obeisances, to that Boy. That, “My master, please have your mercy on me that I can always serve you in pure devotion.”, and then she went back in to the water and disappeared.

He knew that she would never offer obeisances like that to anyone but Lord Viṣṇu. He went and offered his obeisances and prayed to the Lord. And because the Lord was pleased with him for his worship of the Ganges, and his prayers, that devotee requested to please reveal to me who you are. So, Lord Caitanya revealed He was Kṛṣṇa to that sage and told him that, “I have incarnated now in order to have my pastimes as a devotee. If you like to watch them or participate, you are welcome. But don't tell anyone about this, what you know today, until I leave. If you tell anyone, there will be a disturbance of my pastimes and I will have to remove you from this world early.” (laughter)

So actually, the Ganges is so purifying that even if somebody is carrying bones to put in the Ganges and on the way, they die, so they go back to Godhead along with the person of whose bones the ashes they are carrying. So, if somebody ever asks you to take ashes to the Ganges, probably the safest service you could ever do. Even if airplane crashes you go back to Kṛṣṇa. So many glories of the Ganges. Even the breeze coming from the Ganges is purifying. Just to remember the Ganges. Even if you are in distant place, if you just say the name of GAṄGĀĀĀĀĀĀĀĀĀĀĀ. What name? (*devotees repeat*) GAṄGĀ! (*devotees repeat*). Two syllables Ga ṅgā, immediately you get purified. Like taking a bath and so many contaminations are washed away.

Of course, you can also chant the Holy Names of Lord Caitanya which bring love for Kṛṣṇa. GAURĀṄGA!!!!! GAURĀṄGA!!!!! NITYĀNANDA!!!! (*devotees repeat*) and if the Lord is pleased, He can give. But what is the most important thing one should get? And when we are reading about the glories of the Ganges, we found another interesting pastime about a devotee called Dharmasva. You know this pastime? The Dharmasva pastime.

Dharmasva, he was going to the Ganges and worshiping her as the caraṇāmṛta of the Lord Viṣṇu, as the sacred devotee of The Lord, and he was offering ārati and then bathing in the water. He took a little water, part of water and took it with him, back home. On the way in that particular kingdom there was a brahma-bandhu who was very sinful by nature and although he was born in a brāhmaṇa family and was posing as a brāhmaṇa, he was a rascal number one. He was a thief and a criminal but he had a high position in the government which you know is quite normal I guess, and there was a bull lying on the road. Since I don't have much time, I have to tell this one quick. There was a bull lying in the road and he was envious why this bull is lying in the road, blocking the way. Picked up a big stick and started beating the bull. And the bull was really not bothering anybody. He could have walked around the bull. And although the bull was pretty docile, but when he started beating the bull with a stick, he changed his mood. (laughter) ROAR! Frankly I don’t know what sound charging bull makes (laughter) but he made it and he went and he gored that brahma-bandhu. His name was Kālakalpa. Kālakalpa got gored by the bull right in the heart, and just opened up his chest and it was a direct hit to the heart, instant death. As soon as he died, Yamadūtas… it was like, “A’ight boys! Come and get him.” They were in like a fire drill, I mean they were in thousands, they were waiting for this one for a long time. (laughter). They were in hoards. It was one major exhibitions of the Yamadūtas in the universe. Came to get Kālakalpa. But when they reached there, they were really frustrated, when they saw Kālakalpa possessed, taken in the hand of the Viṣṇudūtas. Oh! I forgot to tell you what happened. (laughter) Something happened in between. Yamadūtas were on their way. Meanwhile Dharmasva walking around the road (there was a little detail missing there) and he saw the dead body of what appeared to be brāhmaṇa, blood everywhere. He took some of the Ganges water and sprinkled it all over, the body, he took the tulasī-prasādam, sprinkled the Gaṅgā water and he walked on.

So, when the Yamadūtas reached, they found that the Viṣṇudūtas are already there. And they said, “What are you doing here, this is a sinner.”

And they said, “No he had Ganges water sprinkled on him, he is purified.”

“Purified? What do you mean? This sinner? He was a robber, a cheat, he had a guest come over in his house. When the guests were sleeping, he murdered them and cut his body in little pieces and there he took all his money. He would get widows pregnant, have them have abortions. There’s a whole list. Look at this person, he belongs to us. He belongs in hell.”

But what happened was see… Dharmasva, he was walking along. He saw a whole bunch of Yamadūtas completely cut off, and broken and bleeding with arms missing and legs missing and some carrying other wounded Yamadūtas and he said, “What happened to you?”

One Yamadūta was coming by, and he was telling this whole story. “We went to get Kālakalpa and we had this discussion, we found that Viṣṇu-dūtas were there. We had a discussion and we were asking, we were claiming him and we said all the sins he did and everything.

But then the Viṣṇudūtas said, ‘Well that's true everything you said but the real thing is that he was sprinkled with the Ganges water and Viṣṇu's lotus foot touched in the Ganges can wipe out so many sins, so all those sins are gone’.

‘What? Just by a little Ganges water all his sins are gone? C'mon we are taking him.’ and the Yamadūtas are coming forward. They are going to take him by force from Viṣṇudūtas.

And the Viṣṇudūtas said, “You are so offensive. You are doubting the Ganges. You are, not understanding the glory of the Ganges, the potency of the Lord's lotus feet dust and the holy Ganges can purify sins. And you are offending the Ganges, you are offending the Lord, and you are coming to us as if you are going to attack us? CAKRAAAA!” And Sudarśana Cakra or their personal cakras, from wherever they came and just started chopping up Yamadūtas and making mince out of them. Chopped heads, feet… and there was a massacre, which you know, in the history of Yamaloka will never be forgotten. Or the Universe. There were Yamadūtas everywhere, wounded, killed. So they fled from that place.”

And the Yamadūta told Dharmasva, “We made a very very big offence and we really really blew it. And we are suffering for our offence.” And Dharmasva just stopped where he was and he said, “My goodness! I just sprinkled little Ganges water on the dead body and all this thing happened.” And he immediately went back to the Ganges and started offering obeisances. “I just taken the Ganges for granted. I just thought it was you know just only holy river. But the Ganges is so potent and so merciful.” And then he offered ārati and prayers, and he composed beautiful prayers to the Ganges.

And the personified Ganges appeared to him on her crocodile carrier, vāhana, carrying her lotus and conch and the beautiful moon colored white garments, and said, “You have pleased me. You tell me what you would like?”

And he said, “All I want is to be able to have pure devotion for Lord Kṛṣṇa. When I leave my body, I can be chanting the Holy Names in your water, that's all I am asking.”

So, “Tathasthaha!”, she gave her blessings and she went back in to Her water, disappeared from sight. Here was another situation where a devotee got the darśana. Maybe not of Viṣṇu but in this case of the Ganges. He only asked for pure devotion, only asked to be able to chant the holy names of the Lord, to be touching the Ganges. Didn't ask for any mundane thing. So the difference between a pure devotee who asks only for the spiritual blessing of devotional service and such devotional gift, whereas the sakāma devotees like the devas, they have the other mundane concerns that they are preoccupied with. So, this verse tells that Viṣṇu Himself is saying that pure devotees, they only ask for pure devotion. Of course when pure devotee is in difficulty, then the Lord Himself He promises, na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati (Bg. 9.31), My devotee won't perish. So, He will protect His devotee one way or another.

So, this opportunity that Lord Caitanya has given us even though we are maybe born in Kali-yuga, in different backgrounds all over the world, we have the opportunity to hold on to the Lotus feet of the Lord, chant His Holy Name. Even Prabhupāda gave us… bathe in the Ganges or to read the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the Bhagavad-gītā, which are coming from the lotus lips of the Lord and His pure devotees. And to associate with the saṅkīrtana movement of Lord Caitanya, which is flooding the world with the love of Kṛṣṇa. So, the greater benediction is simply to be able to serve the Lord in pure devotion, and Prabhupāda has given that opportunity. And Prabhupāda said that even if we can do a little service, the Lord will be very pleased. Of course Prabhupāda wanted us to do some big services like build Māyāpur, distribute so many millions of books, do so many services which appear big to our personal perspective, although for the devas they may not be big. And Prabhupāda said if you please the previous ācāryas, and then he told to even Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Maharājā, “If you build the 30 story building in Māyāpur, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura will take you back to Godhead hand in hand.”, or something. Open invitation to everyone.

If we can please the Lord, please His pure devotees, we can get the special blessing of the Lord, to have pure love for Him. This is our greatest hope, that pleasing Prabhupāda and previous ācāryas and we can have the pure love for Kṛṣṇa. Of course you can get anything else from the Lord but when we can have the most wonderful of all benedictions, why would you want anything less.

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

So, we have 4 minutes for questions. Don't ask me a long question.

(inaudible question, possibly about asking for material benedictions from the Lord)

It’s not wrong, but it’s not pure devotion. It’s not wrong, it’s not an offense or something but it’s not pure devotion, it’s not transcendental. Their focus is on their bodies. They are devas, they have a material body as a deva. We have material body as a human being. Devas bodies are much better equipped than human bodies. They live millions of years and so on. They have mystic powers. But still, in spite of that, they have their limitations and sometimes when they reach some insurmountable problem, they get preoccupied with that.

So, they have a separate interest. The whole point is that they have its mentioned in the 3^rd canto Bhāgavatam by Kapiladeva that some devotees have a desire for liberation, some have desire for some material benefit or someone has a desire for getting back at enemies. So, whether it’s in goodness, passion, or ignorance, but all of them have a separatist mentality for The Lord. Their motives are not in total harmony with Kṛṣṇa but the pure devotee is in total harmony. He wants what the Lord wants. That's why sometimes a guru is sick, we may pray to the Lord, “If it pleases you, please see that our spiritual master’s health is… whatever. He may recover from this illness.”, or something like that. But we add, “If it please you.”, but ultimately you want to do what the Lord pleases, if it’s all willful to The Lord. We would like to have our spiritual master with us, then we may pray like that. We don't just pray, “Give me this.”, but we want to always do what’s pleasing. Something which are not spiritually related, even then we add 'If it so please you'. Even devotees pray for the protection of the temple, they may pray to please the Lord. This means that we accept that ultimately whatever the Lord does, it’s good. The devas, they didn't want… they wanted to be sure that they got rid of this demon. That was you know, the bottom line. It wasn’t, “If it so please you, please get rid of this demon. Otherwise, we don't mind.” They are attached to that position of being a deva, having that particular service as a deva, just a different perspective. Question of where their attachment is. They are great devotees; we cannot disrespect them. We have to always respect them. Sometimes devotees criticize the deva and that's the worst thing to do. In Nectar of Devotion, it said that you should never disrespect. They are great devotee but there is a slight differentiation. They do have some mundane motive which is separate from the pure devotional interest.

Therefore, pure devotee is even worshipable by the devas, even respectable by them because pure devotee is in harmony with Kṛṣṇa, totally. We are trying to cultivate pure devotional service by the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Śrīla Prabhupad kī… Jaya!!

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam kī… Jaya!!

Nitāi-Gaura premānande… Hari Hari bol!!