20000519 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.13.6-7

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 19^th May 2000, in Mathurādeśa. The class begins with the reading from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam canto 1, chapter 13, text 6–7.

Vijaya Veṇugopāla dāsa: Those who are new, I would like to introduce His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja, who is the member of the GBC in ISKCON, and initiating guru. He also has many other responsibilities within ISKCON and many other. He is world GBC. A major project is Māyāpur project, where world headquarters is. We welcome His Holiness to the city and we request him to speak a few words from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya
jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena
tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ

nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe

vande ‘haṁ śrī-guroḥ śrī-yuta-pada-kamalaṁ śrī-gurūn vaiṣṇavāṁś ca
śrī-rūpaṁ sāgrajātaṁ saha-gaṇa-raghunāthānvitaṁ taṁ sa-jīvam
sādvaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ parijana-sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaṁ
śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān saha-gaṇa-lalitā-śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś ca

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

śrī rāma jaya rāma jaya jaya rāma
śrī rāma jaya rāma jaya jaya rāma

govinda jaya jaya! gopāla jaya jaya!
rādhā-ramaṇa hari govinda jaya jaya!

nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya
naraṁ caiva narottamam
devīṁ sarasvatīṁ vyāsaṁ
tato jayam udīrayet

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-gurun dina tāriṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya!
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya!
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya!

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.13.6

mumucuḥ prema-bāṣpaughaṁ
virahautkaṇṭhya-kātarāḥ
rājā tam arhayāṁ cakre
kṛtāsana-parigraham

(A-side: You have that translation? Hare Kṛṣṇa! Different languages. Any other language you need Tamil language. Do you know English?)

Translation: Due to anxieties and long separation, they all cried out of affection. King Yudhiṣṭhira then arranged to offer sitting accommodations and a reception.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.13.7

taṁ bhuktavantaṁ viśrāntam
āsīnaṁ sukham āsane
praśrayāvanato rājā
prāha teṣāṁ ca śṛṇvatām

Translation: After Vidura ate sumptuously and took sufficient rest, he was comfortably seated. Then the king began to speak to him, and all who were present there listened.

Purport: King Yudhiṣṭhira was expert in reception also, even in the case of his family members. Vidura was well received by all the family members by exchange of embraces and obeisances. After that, bathing and arrangements for a sumptuous dinner were made, and then he was given sufficient rest. After finishing his rest, he was offered a comfortable place to sit, and then the king began to talk about all happenings, both family and otherwise. That is the proper way to receive a beloved friend, or even an enemy. According to Indian moral codes, even an enemy received at home should be so well received that he will not feel any fearful situation. An enemy is always afraid of his enemy, but this should not be so when he is received at home by his enemy. This means that a person, when received at home, should be treated as a relative, so what to speak of a family member like Vidura, who was a well-wisher for all the members of the family. Thus Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja began to speak in the presence of all the other members.

Harihi oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: Before the Kurukṣetra yuddha, Vidura had advised Dhṛtarāṣṭra not to be so partial to his son Duryodhana. That Duryodhana was up to no good and was misleading their family and taking the family on a path of destruction. But then Duryodhana started to insult Vidura, calling him a dog and many other things. So then Vidura saw that his good advice was not being appreciated. So then he left and he went on a pilgrimage to all the holy places of India. During that time, the Kurukṣetra yuddha, war was fought and whatever he had predicted had come true. All of the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra had been eliminated. Yudhiṣṭhira had been coronated and was on the royal throne. So when Vidura came back, he was the uncle of the Pāṇḍavas and he was always the well-wisher of the Pāṇḍavas. He had protected the Pāṇḍavas in so many difficult circumstances. Apart from that, he was a devotee of the Lord. He was very well mannered, very well behaved, very wonderful caritra. So everybody loved him very much. That’s why when they saw him, they felt so much relief to have his spiritual association. They were crying out of affection, and they arranged for him a very nice reception. There is some culture and moral codes about how to offer people reception. So we find these are mentioned again and again in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Yudhiṣṭhira, Kṛṣṇa, Rāma, all the great personalities, they are very expert at observing all of these Indian moral codes.

You find in India that these moral codes are observed to some degree even by the minority communities, because it’s so much a part of the culture. And this should be taught to everyone. It’s not just some religious code, but it’s a code for how to have a civilized human society. There is someone comes to the house, he’s to be treated as if Nārāyaṇa was visiting the house – atithi nārāyaṇa. And sometimes it is also mentioned in Purāṇas that to test a gṛhastha, different devas, they come to the house in different forms, or even Kṛṣṇa has come to the house. So actually, these things sometimes happen. Krāntideva was fasting and he was very hungry. At the end of his fast, they brought him some food. But before he could eat, different hungry people came unexpected to his palace and said they are very hungry. So then he gave some food to one, then to the other, then to the other. Finally, there was only a little bit left. Maybe if he didn’t eat it, he will die. But still somebody came and was begging. So then he gave that also. And like this… Then afterwards they all revealed that they were Brahmā, Śiva, Viṣṇu, and they had all come in disguise to test. They heard he was a generous person, but whether he was really generous or not, then he had passed the test. So then they all gave him blessings and after that he could go back to Godhead. So these things happen sometimes… of course, may not be the normal thing, but there is a whole cultural background. That’s the difference, when we go to somebody’s home in India, then they tend to treat you, receive you following these codes. In the western countries they don’t have this type of culture so much. They don’t even know that they should offer you a seat or a glass of water or anything. There’s a lot of fear also to receiving people at the home. So through this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Prabhupāda is also promoting this cultural exchange.

The other point here is that because Vidura is himself such a great devotee of Kṛṣṇa, wherever he goes, he brings Kṛṣṇa with him. Yudhiṣṭhira, there’s a very beautiful verse that he composed in his welcome speech. Welcome speeches are also a part of welcoming.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.13.10

bhavad-vidhā bhāgavatās
tīrtha-bhūtāḥ svayaṁ vibho
tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni
svāntaḥ-sthena gadābhṛtā

(A-side: You offer to Hanumān first then give me that prasāda.)

Translation: My lord, devotees like your good self are verily holy places personified. Because you carry the Personality of Godhead within your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage.

Jayapatākā Swami: Because Vidura is always thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, he is thinking means that Kṛṣṇa is in his heart. We found this, wherever His Divine Grace Śrīla Abhayacaraṇa Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda, the founder of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, wherever he went, the place became like a Vṛndāvana, because he also was always carrying Kṛṣṇa in his heart. So the atmosphere became very much purified and surcharged with a devotional vibration. Actually, we go to a holy place because we want to hear from the great saints who are there about the glories of the holy place. Like Vidura himself is such a great saint that wherever he goes, he is bringing the holy place with him. He’s a personified holy place. And so wherever he goes, that place also becomes a place of pilgrimage. Just like so many people are coming here to the temple. Because where there’s a temple that is also a tirtha, it’s also a place of pilgrimage because Lord is residing. This is the home of the Lord. So here, because Lord Śiva, Hanumān and other devas are residing, this devālaya becomes also a place of pilgrimage. So wherever Kṛṣṇa is discussed in a society of devotees that also becomes a place of pilgrimage. It becomes a place that we should go to. In this way, everyone, what? What happens when you go to a place of pilgrimage? Do you know what happens? Of course, you may think what happens is that sometimes the pūjārīs ask you for a donation or your shoes get stolen or pickpockets take your money from your pocket. Nowadays in the holy places, there’s so many disturbances going on. But we have to be prepared for these things because it’s Kali-yuga. But that’s not really, why we should get preoccupied with these things. Wherever people are going and they’re going in a religious mood, so they’re not suspecting. So that unscrupulous people, they’re taking advantage of people. Previously, people were generous so they would give enough donation. Pūjārīs didn’t have to ask. All may be different, but why we go to the holy place? You see, when we go to the holy place, then we leave something behind us, and we take something with us. We leave behind us some of the contaminations of our material life, some of the sins, some of the misidentification. And we take with us something of that spiritual vibration. But to really get that spiritual vibration just to go and see the place is not as powerful as to go and hear the glories of the place from some bona fide devotee, from some saintly person. Because when we hear the glories of the place, this also penetrates our consciousness and goes to the heart. Therefore, it says that we should not just go to take a bath in the Gaṅgā or Yamunā or visit some temple, but we should go and listen and to the pure devotees who are there and to serve. If we do some sevā, then it’s also more effective. So now sometimes the devotees are coming from the holy. dhāma said that Prabhupāda said that, he wanted all of his followers by chanting, by regularly studying the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā, by performing some sādhana, then they should also become purified. And this way they also, by their association, they can also benefit other people. In other words to have association with a saintly person, then you feel some spiritual relief. And if somebody does a service for a saintly person, for a devotee, then they also get benefit. Because Kṛṣṇa is more pleased when His devotee is served even than when he has served. So in order to help other people. If someone become very spiritually advanced, a little bit spiritually advanced, and other people will get a benefit by serving. So that’s what Prabhupāda wanted that the devotees should become pure enough that by other people doing some service for them, for Kṛṣṇa, that those people would get the benefit. So, and we see that because certain devotees, when they’re taking initiations and when they’re seriously practicing devotional service, then they become empowered more and more to help other people also. And as they help other people, the thing is like a cycle, then they become more purified. And as they become more purified, then everyone who gives their association, they also feel more benefit. So this we can even see, even amongst the relatively new devotees that this effect is happening. You can imagine someone like Vidura, we cannot even imagine someone like Vidura, who was directly the incarnation of Yamarāja, who is the uncle of Kṛṣṇa.

(A-side: One garland you can give it also here, give to Rādhā Kṛṣṇa’s name, leave it on.)

And after visiting all the holy places, after seeing, hearing about giving so many instructions from Maitreya Ṛṣi, which is going to be discussed in the fourth canto, like this, Vidura is really surcharged with Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So then in this way, by getting his association, everybody is getting so much mercy. That’s why Yudhiṣṭhira saying, you’re a personified holy place. So in this case, the holy place has come to them. Sometimes we have to go to the holy place, but sometimes the holy place comes to us. Then that’s something very special.

We just completed the month of Vaiśākhā or Mādhava. At that time, devotees visiting the home is something very special. If any devotee visits the home and you do sevā, then that has a very multiple effect, 100-times more potent. But anyway, that’s already over now. Ended yesterday, day before yesterday, then, but it comes again in a month of Kārtika also. There are some months also which are more special for doing sevā for devotees and Kṛṣṇa.

Having the Bhakti-vṛkṣa meetings and Mañjarī and house programs in the home is also like receiving Kṛṣṇa at home, because the kīrtana and the class is also representation of Kṛṣṇa. So having such programs in the house makes the house also a place of pilgrimage. It purifies. Many householders told me that after having kīrtanas in the house, many of the disturbances that might have been there before in their household life were taken away and or reduced significantly. So this is also a very big opportunity to receive devotees in the house and have them do some bhajanas and kīrtana class. This is a simple way for the householders to have their existence purified. Since the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is also considered a book incarnation of Kṛṣṇa and Bhagavad-gītā is directly the words of Kṛṣṇa spoken. So therefore, by having the class in the house, this also spiritualizes the home and gives a blessing to all the family members.

How many of you are having classes sometime in your house? So all of you are blessed. How many would like to have classes in their house and get the blessings of Kṛṣṇa?

They want more, more blessings. So those who want, who should they contact? Prema Padminī or any of the local Bhakti-vṛkṣa leaders, you can consult. They can arrange for you a program in your home. I’d like to go to everybody’s house, but somehow Kṛṣṇa, He can go into Dvārakā. When he arrives in Dvārakā, from the one, Kṛṣṇa comes out, 16,108 Kṛṣṇa. And He goes into each of the palaces of His queens. And in the morning, I am not Kṛṣṇa. I am only Kṛṣṇa’s dāsa-anudāsa. So I am not able to expand like that into 16,000 forms. Only one form. Some great devotees like Nārada, they got siddhis. They can go to ten forms. That would also make more efficient. But Kṛṣṇa, He has unlimited capacity. So He goes into all the different houses at the same time. So like that, Kṛṣṇa is also present in everyone’s home. They can put the picture of Kṛṣṇa or the small Deity of Kṛṣṇa. So in that way, Kṛṣṇa is also residing in everyone’s home.

Then, as we understood from the teachings of Prahlāda that Kṛṣṇa is present everywhere. He’s in the columns, He’s in the air, He’s everywhere. For those who have the vision, they can realize Kṛṣṇa everywhere. But that’s more advanced stage. You directly get the presence through His Deity, through His teachings, through His devotees. Anything connected with Kṛṣṇa is actually very powerful.

This was explained when Pārvatī asked to Lord Śiva in the Śiva Purāṇa, I believe it’s Śiva Purāṇa, Śiva or Padma, which is the best type of worship. There are so many kinds of worship mentioned in the Veda. So what is the best? What’s the most beneficial for the worshiper?

So then Lord Śiva, he said that,

ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ
viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param
tasmāt parataraṁ devi
tadīyānāṁ samarcanam
[Padma Purāṇa]

Ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ -- Amongst all the different kinds of worship, viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param - Viṣṇu’s worship is considered as supreme with only one exception. My dear beautiful-faced goddess tasmāt parataraṁ devī.
Tadīyānāṁ samarcanam. Tadīya means tat-sambandiya, that which is in relation to Viṣṇu. Samarcanam, worshipping those things which are related to Viṣṇu is even more beneficial. Just like, we get some blessings when we do Janmāṣṭamī vrata. And the Aṣṭamī, when Kṛṣṇa appears, we get so many blessings by observing that day. We fast till midnight, and we hear the glories of the Lord. During the day, we chant japas and offer abhiṣeka and worship. Fifteen days later, is the Rādhāṣṭamī. So, there you only have to fast till midday. And it’s a simple ceremony. Of course, there’s also abhiṣeka. There’s flowers, there’s kīrtana. There’s many things.

Say Kṛṣṇa is more pleased when you’re worshipping His devotee. So He gives more blessings, when you observe Rādhāṣṭamī. Of course, Rādhārāṇī gives Her blessings, when you do Kṛṣṇa Astami. So we do both, no doubt. Like this, worshipping the devotee of the Lord is more pleasing to Kṛṣṇa. So like this Vidura, he’s the pure devotee of the Lord. So the Pāṇḍavas, by worshipping him, they were actually pleasing Kṛṣṇa more. And everybody was feeling great relief. So, these are the secrets in the bhakti path. When Lord Caitanya would be added that who are you? Then He says nasyat. He said that I’m not a sannyāsī. I’m not a vipra. I’m not a gṛhastha. I am not, you see, śūdra. I am gopībhartru padakamalayor dāsadāsānudāsa. I am the servant of the servant of the servant of Lord Kṛṣṇa who is the husband and protector of the gopīs.

So for the devotee, we like to be the dāsānudāsānudāsa. Servant of the servant of the servant. Even we don’t aspire to be Rādhā or to be something like that. That for us is also very offensive. We don’t want to be Yasoda or be Nanda Mahārāja. We want to be one of their assistants. We want to be someone helping them. Someone, just like in Vṛndāvana, there are so many elderly gopīs who are there with Mother Yaśodā. And they’re also taking care of Kṛṣṇa, helping mother Yaśodā. Like this, those who are feeling the desire to serve Kṛṣṇa in motherly affection. They want to be one of the assistants of Mother Yaśodā. Those who want to serve the Lord like a maid servant. Then they can be one of the assistants of Rādhārāṇī or the assistants of the assistants of the assistants.

You see, it’s not that we want to be Hanumān. Nobody can be Hanumān. Hanumān is eternally Hanumān. But we can be the servant of the servant of Hanumān. We can also be one of his assistants. Just like there are so many monkeys assisting Hanumān. Millions. When Rāma was having the fight with Rāvaṇa, you see, during the wartime, then Hanumān, he had enough service. But afterwards, when he came to Ayodhyā then he also wanted some sevā. But there are so many servants and so many people, they didn’t know what service to give him. But he’s saying that if I don’t have a service, I don’t feel happy. So we all need to have some sevā to keep us happy.

This is one advantage of the Kali-yuga, that there’s so much māyā, there’s so many people who are suffering due to ignorance about their real spiritual life, that there’s lot of sevā, a lot of service to help other people, to be Kṛṣṇa conscious. When the whole world becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious, then we have to worry what to do. But until that time, we don’t need to worry about it now. So Hanumān asked, “What service?” So they thought, well, you can do the service that whenever you see, when somebody yawns, yawning, then normally either you should cover the mouth or you snap the fingers in front. So that way, because when yawning, maybe some spirit can enter in at that time. You’re opening up your cakras. And some evil spirit could enter. So to stop that by snapping, that keeps them away.

So they said, whenever Lord Rāma yawns, you can snap your finger in front of His mouth. That’s the sevā. But hardly Rāma is yawning. He’s very well rested. But Hanumān is just watching now, day and night, he is just watching, I mean, whenever Rāma is awake, he’s just sitting there waiting, watching. Because that’s his sevā, he has to go and… (snaps fingers). So he’s just watching. It’s very intense, actually. Every time. Finally, Rāma, He wants to poor devotee. All the time. He’s just waiting to do the sevā. The one time I have to yawn, you know, so he can do the sevā. So then Rāma went to yawn and Hanumān jumped, nearly… (snaps fingers) putting too much tension on everybody. So I don’t know what other service they had to find. Other service for Hanumān. But everybody needs to have a service, doing some sevā. This is really the perfection of life.

It’s what we are meant to. We come to this world, if we serve the Lord, then our life becomes a success. Because we are connected with the Lord. Actually, in the material life, we are, because of ignorance. We are so much attracted to the objects of the senses. And we think that happiness is going to come from the senses. Naturally, the senses give us some immediate pleasures. We are hungry and when we eat, naturally we feel happy. If we are tired and we get rest, we feel relief. If we are, you see, feeling something nice. If we’re smelling something nice, we can immediately get this sensation. So this way we’re naturally conditioned to thinking that this material sense gratification is what is the goal of life. But this is actually not the goal of life. These sensations and these pleasures are there.

But the same senses also cause us suffering. It’s like now I’m sitting here, my left foot is falling asleep. I have to change position.

(A -side:Okay. No, it’s all right.)

Same senses will give us some pain also. If somebody is burning some rubber tires. They were doing that in Bahrain sometime years ago. Then they were smelling so bad in the street. Or something’s rotten. Or we feel something, feel very nice. But if somebody. If he fall down, he’s got marks on his knees from having played and fallen. Then maybe it hurt you when you fell. You’re big boys. I don’t know if you’re… (break) […] the solution for permanent happiness. Just to have sense happiness. But we are naturally attracted like that and addicted like that. So how to change it?

We see here the Pāṇḍavas, they are naturally attracted to see Yudhiṣṭhira. I mean, to see Vidura. When Vidura came, maybe it was because of family affection for some people, or maybe it was. But Yudhiṣṭhira, he could really appreciate it because he’s such a great devotee that he’s carrying Kṛṣṇa with him. When we develop such attraction and such attachment for the devotees of the Lord, for the service of the Lord, for the chanting of the Lord’s names, for hearing the glories of the Lord, then this is considered a very good sign. This is like already a very professional level. But how to do that? Automatically we are attracted to ice cream and automatically we’re attracted to so many things. But how to become attracted to Kṛṣṇa? This happens by associating with devotees who are attracted to Kṛṣṇa. This happens when we hear about the Lord.

So by hearing about Kṛṣṇa from the devotees of Kṛṣṇa, by serving, then gradually this contamination that is only making us focused on our senses, this gets purified. Sense happiness and suffering is still there as long as we have senses. But as Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (2.59), paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartante, we develop a higher taste. Unless somebody chants Hare Kṛṣṇa with the devotees, unless they engage in some devotional service, they won’t get that higher taste. some type of transcendental association they need, then they can develop the higher taste. So this higher taste, when we have it, then automatically everything becomes balanced. That’s why we are not preaching, you know, so much about renunciation and doing big tapasyas and austerities because these things are not so useful for bhakti path.

These may be good for jñāna or other path, but for bhakti it’s not useful so much because it also makes the heart very hard. If you do too much austerity, little austerity we do to help us to control the senses. There’s so much we have to control, to be able to fix our mind on Kṛṣṇa. As we fix our mind on Kṛṣṇa, then eventually we develop this attraction to Kṛṣṇa like a magnet. Our mind is drawn to Kṛṣṇa, whenever His glories are being discussed. When that level is reached, then devotional service become very easy. But in the initial stage, even though we may not have this attraction, we need to use our intelligence and force ourselves a little bit to do these things.

When we do it very quickly, especially if we chant Chaitanya Mahāprabhu’s names, He gives us a blessing that this natural love for Kṛṣṇa is awakened. It’s something within everyone. It’s simply now it’s been covered. So when we read about great devotees, we see how they have all these natural qualities of loving Kṛṣṇa.

Vidura also, he is very conscious about. He wants to tell people the good, so he doesn’t want to disturb them, so he doesn’t volunteer to them that all the Yadu vaṁśa has already left the world. They don’t know that yet. He’s just telling them what they already know, not to cause them any suffering. That’s also we should tell the truth, but we should tell it also in a palatable way. Something may be true, but it may not be useful or palatable. Then it’s not to be spoken.

It should have some constructive purpose. So all these things we can learn from Yudhiṣṭhira and his exchange with Vidura and Vidura and his exchange with the Pāṇḍavas. So we hope that you go deep into this study, this exchange between Vidura and Yudhiṣṭhira and the Pāṇḍavas. Also how Vidura, how he was very merciful to his blind brother Dhṛtarāṣṭra and how in the future he’s going to preach to him and get him to take up self realization.

Encouraging people to take up self realization is one of the most important services, if not the most important service of the devotees. I want to thank all of the devotees who are doing this encouraging fellow colleagues and friends and neighbors and others to take up self-realization. Because this is really what human life is meant for. We should survive. We should have a comfortable, healthy life. But ultimately, we should know who we are. We should know who is Kṛṣṇa and in this way we should achieve all success.

So since your senses may be telling you it’s already overtime for breakfast, I will end the class here and question and answers will be after. So you can think of any question either from this class or from anything about Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You can write them down if you like and that will happen after breakfast. Thank you very much. Kṛṣṇa. Dhanyavāda, Nanḍri, Nanni, kṛtagyakaru, I said Malayalam ‘nanni’. Kannada, what is it?