20000807 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.12.29-32

Oà namo bhagavata väsudeväya!

mükaà karoti väcälaà paìguà laìghayate girim
yat-kåpä tam ahaà vande çré-guruà déna-täraëam
paramänanda-mädhavam çré caitanya éçvaram
Harihi oà tat sat

So this section is where, Dhruva Mahäräja was going back to Godhead. Viñëudütas came in an immortal airplane from Viñëuloka and they spoke to him, “We are Viñëudütas, representatives of Godhead, creator of the whole universe, who carries in His hand the bow, Säraìga. We are specially deputed to take you back to the spiritual world. Demigods, they are not able to achieve this… great åñis… even the planets are not able to circumambulate, just to see that [plane]. You are invited to come back home back to Godhead. Rather your forefathers or anyone else, never achieved such planet, the planet known as Viñëuloka, where Lord Viñëu personally resides, the highest of all. Please come with us and live there eternally. This unique airplane has been sent by the Lord, you are quite worthy to board in such airplane.”

Dhruva Mahäräja, he didn’t want to go on the airplane dirty or so, so he took a bath, put on his tilaka, did his worship, decorated himself, paid his obeisances to all the sages, he got ready to go on the transcendental plane, back to Godhead. “Before getting aboard, Dhruva Mahäräja worshiped the airplane, circumambulated it, and also offered obeisances to the associates of Viñëu. In the meantime he became as brilliant and illuminating as molten gold. He was thus completely prepared to board the transcendental plane.” [SB 4.12.29] Finally, “When Dhruva Mahäräja was attempting to get on the transcendental plane, he saw death personified approach him. Not caring for death, however, he took advantage of the opportunity to put his feet on the head of death, and thus he got up on the airplane, which was as big as a house.” [SB 4.12.30] Bigger than a jumbo-jet, all for yourself. In other words, he saw death, it wasn’t a trouble for him. No trouble, he just put his foot on death and walked into the plane. He didn’t have to go through, any traumas, he didn’t have to go through any ignorance or any… like you can ask Doctor Majumdar, sure doctors knows what death is like, they see the patients sometime like this. It is not a pleasant thing for most people. But in this case… even one of my disciple recently… two of my disciples, they were taking care of their grandfather and he was delirious, and they were trying to get him to chant Hare Kåñëa, and he said, “Why I should chant? What is the meaning of all these words?” then they said so many things... He was Indian… “Don’t worry about it, just chant!” The grandchildren can boss the grandfather, because some affection is the result. He started to chant, as soon as he chanted, he was feeling some peace. They stayed up until 2am in the morning and keeping him chanting, and finally they collapsed you know. And then about 3am or 4am in the morning he passed off,  they were in… up to that time they had him chanting but they could see, how it was very traumatic to go through the death, couldn’t speak properly, couldn’t think properly.

Here is Dhruva, he is all dressed up, he is already you know… completely in a very healthy, very sane consciousness and then the spiritual airplane coming and death personification coming, and he just puts his foot on and goes in. May be, he left back his material body. Just walked out of with his spiritual body, something like that, it is explained via secret. So he didn’t have to go through death at all, he didn’t go through that experience.

“At that time drums and kettledrums from the sky were resounding, the Gandharvas were singing; demigods were showering flowers on Dhruva.” [SB 4.12.31] Who leaves the world like this you know, going in a royal fashion. The verse I wanted to read especially today is verse 32.

Çrémad-Bhägavatam 4.12.32

sa ca svarlokam ärokñyan
sunétià jananéà dhruvaù
anvasmarad agaà hitvä
dénäà yäsye tri-viñöapam

Translation: Dhruva was seated in the transcendental airplane, which was just about to start, when he remembered his poor mother, Sunéti. He thought to himself, “How shall I go alone to the Vaikuëöha planet and leave behind my poor mother?”

Purport: Dhruva had a feeling of obligation to his mother, Sunéti. It was Sunéti who had given him the clue which had now enabled him to be personally carried to the Vaikuëöha planet by the associates of Lord Viñëu. He now remembered her and wanted to take her with him. Actually, Dhruva Mahäräja’s mother, Sunéti, was his patha-pradarçaka-guru. Patha-pradarçaka-guru means “the guru, or the spiritual master, who shows the way.” Such a guru is sometimes called çikñä-guru. Although Närada Muni was his dékñä-guru (initiating spiritual master), Sunéti, his mother, was the first who gave him instruction on how to achieve the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is the duty of the çikñä-guru or dékñä-guru to instruct the disciple in the right way, and it depends on the disciple to execute the process. According to çästric injunctions, there is no difference between çikñä-guru and dékñä-guru, and generally the çikñä-guru later on becomes the dékñä-guru. Sunéti, however, being a woman, and specifically his mother, could not become Dhruva Mahäräja’s dékñä-guru. Still, he was not less obliged to Sunéti. There was no question of carrying Närada Muni to Vaikuëöhaloka, but Dhruva Mahäräja thought of his mother.

Whatever plan the Supreme Personality of Godhead contemplates immediately fructifies. Similarly, a devotee who is completely dependent on the Supreme Lord can also fulfill his wishes by the grace of the Lord. The Lord fulfills His wishes independently, but a devotee fulfills his wishes simply by being dependent on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore as soon as Dhruva Mahäräja thought of his poor mother, he was assured by the associates of Viñëu that Sunéti was also going to Vaikuëöhaloka, in another plane. Dhruva Mahäräja had thought that he was going alone to Vaikuëöhaloka, leaving behind his mother, which was not very auspicious because people would criticize him for going alone to Vaikuëöhaloka and not carrying with him Sunéti, who had given him so much. But Dhruva also considered that he was not personally the Supreme. Therefore, if Kåñëa fulfilled his desires, only then would it be possible. Kåñëa could immediately understand his mind, and He told Dhruva that his mother was also going with him. This incident proves that a pure devotee like Dhruva Mahäräja can fulfill all his desires; by the grace of the Lord, he becomes exactly like the Lord, and thus whenever he thinks of anything, his wish is immediately fulfilled.

Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta Swami translation and purport of canto 4, chapter 12, verse 32 of the Çrémad-Bhägavatam in the matter or “Dhruva Mahäräja goes back to Godhead”.

* * *

Hare Kåñëa! So here we can see how Dhruva Mahäräja, he was so grateful, so considered his going back to Godhead, “But if it wasn’t from my mother, who had asked me to look for Kåñëa, look for Bhagavän and today I won’t be going back to Godhead. So how can I go back without my mother? She is the one who guided me.” The very next verse here says:

Çrémad-Bhägavatam 4.12.33

iti vyavasitaà tasya
vyavasäya surottamau
darçayäm äsatur devéà
puro yänena gacchatém

Translation: The great associates of Vaikuëöhaloka, Nanda and Sunanda, could understand the mind of Dhruva Mahäräja, and thus they showed him that his mother, Sunéti, was going forward in another plane.

* * *

Because Sunéti is a guru, she is going ahead. He didn’t have to worry. So here it is also shows that anybody who helps someone to advance in their Kåñëa consciousness, they also… may be in this position as vartama-pradarçaka-guru, vartama means pada. ‘Pada’ means ‘path’. Same spelling actually, Pada-pradarçaka, pada, p-a-t-h. But actually pronounces patha; ‘path-pradarçaka’ or ‘path demonstrator’, ‘path show-er’. He shows the way, who shows the way, shows the path. There are various kinds of çékñä-gurus, one kind is showing the way, preliminary bases. Just like someone may tell, Vraja Vihäré from Våndävana. Vraja Vihäré, you told a story once you shared with us, how he came to Kåñëa consciousness. He was working as an accountant in New York city, in one big firm as charted accountant. And at that time Çréla Prabhupäda was coming for the central park Ratha-yäträ 5^th avenue, and he didn’t know anything about the Hare Kåñëa movement. But one of his friends, he had a book, “Chant Hare Kåñëa and Be Happy” by George Harrison. So, he gave that book to him. And he said, “You know this Hare Kåñëa is very nice. You show go there, they are having a festival.” And he said you know, I was just a normal, like a young man in the material world, my friend is working in a same office with me, we would talk about all the mundane things, we would like the music and we like girls and we like also… he didn’t know… he was not like someone who was very spiritual, but he just told me this nice thing that, “You go and see Hare Kåñëa!” gave me the book and I read, it is really far out. And he actually saw Prabhupäda! If I remember correctly. And he saw the festival. That was like a very late. Then he was still remembering, how that guy next to him gave the book, and convinced him that he should go the festival and spoke about Hare Kåñëa. So that, he looks to that person like a vartama-pradarçaka-guru, although somehow, although he is not… nothing special as far as being very big, advance; but he gave that… without that push, without that little gift or something, he wouldn’t have got. So like that sometime, there are people in your spiritual life that help you to just to take the little effort to go and see the devotees, practice.

Prabhupäda tells a very kindly about when he was in a Gandhi movement, one friend dragged him to see Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura, he can always sense this kind of appreciation, how the friend took him. When he met Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura, then his whole life changed. There he got his first order, “Why don’t you spread Lord Caitanya’s movement to the Western countries, you are just a young man!” Freedom fighter. Freedom or independent movement, whatever. Young people tend to be a little revolutionary. And what we wants to do is dovetail that revolutionary nature, and they should revolve against being in the bondage of the material world. You know, they can manage to revolve things against their parents, against society, all these things. What is very important is to revolve against the bondage of mäyä. That is the proper way to dovetail. Anyway, Prabhupäda was, he was appreciating how his parents, they always encouraged him to be Kåñëa conscious, even said that, you have Kåñëa conscious parents, this is a very essential or important factor that for own Kåñëa consciousness. He appreciated very much that the help that they gave to him. He would watch his father doing the püjäs, he wanted also, I want to do püjä. Since these were installed Deities, he is not initiated, how he can do püjä. So, instead they gave him a small Deity of Gopäla, so he was worshipping his own Gopäla Deity, imitating his father, whatever father was doing… as a five-year old child, he was doing the püjä.

So somebody goes back to Godhead like Dhruva Mahäräja or Çréla Prabhupäda, naturally anybody who did anything to help them, they also will go back. But in this case, it was disciple going back; guru may not be going back, but disciples going back. So the disciples going back, then the guru automatically gets to go back. So this also in the next verse Prabhupäda was always recording his spiritual master, who said that, “If I can get even one soul to go back to Godhead, then I think my mission of preaching Kåñëa consciousness to be successful.” I don’t find any qualification myself. I am a totally… If I look through any qualification, I just find disqualification. I am only here by the mercy of Çréla Prabhupäda and his followers, good association of Çréla Bhakti Vrajendranandana Swami Mahäräja. Haribol! Any one of my disciple, you see, can get back to Godhead then… I am crippled in so many ways, then there is a hope for me to get back to Kåñëa. Prabhupäda, he also used to preach like that: he said, in the next verse:

“The Kåñëa consciousness movement is spreading now all over the world, and sometimes I think that even though I am crippled in many ways, if one of my disciples becomes as strong as Dhruva Mahäräja, then he will be able to carry me with him to Vaikuëöhaloka.” [SB 4.12.33, purport]

Questions at the end.

Bhakti Vrajendrananda Swami: After class, after Mahäräja finish the class.

Jayapatäkä Swami: So, sometime the disciple may be more stronger than instructor. In the case of Dhruva Mahäräja, he realized Kåñëa, his mother didn’t realize Kåñëa; he did so many things even at the very small age bhakta. Because mother guided him to look for Kåñëa, therefore she is also his superior. Also, how we should be like Dhruva Mahäräja, he was respectful to his mother, who helped him. He didn’t have to think about Närada Muni getting back to Godhead, because he goes back to Godhead, whenever he wants to see Viñëu. He is already a liberated soul, so he doesn’t have to worry about Närada. So he is worrying about his mother. That gratefulness is also something very wonderful and we should all emulate that. May be so many people… sometime people are just fixed on the dékña-guru; they don’t want to appreciate anybody else. But we can learn also from Dhruma Mahäräja to respect all of the saintly devotees, who help us in our spiritual life. It is not dékña-guru is a doing his part: giving the mantra, giving the instructions, and accepting services and offering to Kåñëa. But there are many other devotees also helping, giving association, giving guidance, sometimes they are giving some chastisement, when someone is going off the track. All these things are needed to stay on the proper path of devotional service. So this whole pastime is something very wonderful. We can learn so much from it.

There are different kinds of çékñä-gurus. There are some who just showing the way in the beginning and some who give some relevant instructions, and there some one actually, just like the dékña-guru, representing Kåñëa directly. But of course, all the çékñä-gurus are representing Kåñëa to various degrees. But when we accept the instructions, just like we do from the dékña-guru, that is something special. So that’s when someone has a personal çékñä-guru. Others are there, who in various degree help us in a way give us some relevant instruction when we needed.

Even Dhruva Mahäräja sometime, he got distracted, when he was a king. He got into a big war with the Yakñas. At that time, Sväyambhuva Manu came and instructed him. So he was like an instructor, çékñä-guru – instructing spiritual master. He instructed that you know, there is no need of carrying on in this war. Because your brother, one Uttama got killed, but for that how many thousands of Yakñas already died. So for one person you don’t have to annihilate the entire rays. Sometime in war, big fights you just get carried away. You lose the sign of what is going on. Dhruva had this also, but çékñä-guru for that moment. He was specifically focusing on his mother, his mother told him in the beginning “look for Kåñëa.”

Lord Caitanya… conclusion… winding up… the käladüta is coming, the messenger of time. Lord Caitanya, He was so grateful in His dealings with different devotees. Sometime any devotee who served Kåñëa sincerely, then Lord Caitanya became very pleased by that. When He saw Mahäräja Pratäparudra sweeping the road in front of the ratha cart, He became very mercifully inclined to Pratäparudra Mahäräja and He gave him so many blessings. Finally, on the ratha day, someone advised Pratäparudra Mahäräja, he should go wearing a ordinary cloth, taking off his king’s cloth, go wearing a simple one – white dhoti, and tilaka. And when Lord Caitanya is resting, just massage His lotus feet without introducing himself. Because, Lord said, He don’t want to meet a king, because kings are materialist. Usually, if you say something like that some big leader would get offended and all that. [laughter] Because, they are very proud people. If you say, “I won’t associate with you, because you are materialistic!” Probably, he gets very offended by that. Lord Caitanya used such harsh language, instead the king became more eager to see Lord Caitanya. In one point said, I will commit suicide, if I am being a king, I am not allowed to see Lord Caitanya, what is the use of living… The one thing in my life I want is to serve Lord Caitanya; that one thing I can’t get, because why? I am a king? Because he was not an ordinary king, who was just in an enjoying mood, he was a king, who was really serving Kåñëa. Because he swept the road, then Lord Caitanya decided, I will give him mercy. But He cannot officially let him see Him, because He already declared that, “I won’t see any king!” So somehow, He didn’t ever say anything to anybody, but this arrangement was made by the Lord’s devotee. Also how the Lord’s devotee, naturally they do what the Lord wants. So some devotee got inspired to tell the Mahäräja, you just go like this as a Vaiñëava, you don’t go as a king. Don’t ask as a king, you want to see Lord Caitanya, you just go there and do some sevä. Don’t introduce yourself, don’t say anything. Just… I mean, so many devotees are going. After the dancing for so many hours in the Ratha-yäträ then He went and was lying down in the Våndävana gardens, the Jagannätha Vallabha gardens, resting like vipräçana, not too far from the Narendra Sarovara. And there, Pratäparudra Mahäräja, he came, and he just dressed like as a Vaiñëava and he came and asked the devotees that can I massage His lotus feet, at that time Lord Caitanya was lying on a stone slab after so many hours of dancing, He is perspiring, and so on, so much effort He was doing. So the devotees said, go for it! Then he went and started massaging the leg of Lord Caitanya, and then he started singing the géta… the räsa-lélä (Géta Govinda) the five chapters in the Çrémad-Bhägavatam 10^th canto on räsa-léla. And then like this at one point he sang so many nice verses about the mercy of Lord Kåñëa, or anyone who gives Kåñëa’s mercy is so merciful. Lord Caitanya just sat up and just embraced Pratäparudra Mahäräja and said, “I don’t know who you are, but you are the most kind person so Me, that you gave me these beautiful verses of Çrémad-Bhägavatam, these priceless verses. So, I am a poor sannyäsé, I have nothing to repay you. All I can do is give you My embrace.” Then, Pratäparudra Mahäräja, who just completely broke down in tears and he was completely in ecstasy. More than what he could ever expect. And both of them were crying in ecstasy for different reasons. So, like that Lord Caitanya, He was grateful to His devotees for any little service. So, they would never find a more reciprocative or grateful, kind master in this world or anywhere. So we could take advantage of His mercy and engage in our devotional service. Be grateful to all the people, who helped us in our advancement. In this way head steadily back home back to Godhead, taking as many people with us as possible. Hare Kåñëa, Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa, Hare Hare/ Hare Räma, Hare Räma, Räma Räma, Hare Hare.

Diyä, you have a question?

Diyä: Can I go and then come back (from the spiritual world)?

Jayapatäkä Swami: Some people have gone, Brahmä’s four sons, four Kumäras, they went to the spiritual world, and they came back. It is described it, their description is here in this fourth canto of Çrémad-Bhägavatam. Närada Muni, he went… No this spiritual… it describes here in the next verses:

“While Dhruva Mahäräja was passing through space, he gradually saw all the planets of the solar system, and on the path he saw all the demigods in their airplanes showering flowers upon him like rain.” [SB 4.12.34]

Dhruva Mahäräja thus surpassed the seven planetary systems of the great sages who are known as saptarñi. Beyond that region, he achieved the transcendental situation of permanent life in the planet where Lord Viñëu lives. [SB 4.12.35]

The self-effulgent Vaikuëöha planets, by whose illumination alone all the illuminating planets within this material world give off reflected light, cannot be reached by those who are not merciful to other living entities. Only persons who constantly engage in welfare activities for other living entities can reach the Vaikuëöha planets. [SB 4.12.36]

Persons who are peaceful, equipoised, cleansed and purified, and who know the art of pleasing all other living entities, keep friendship only with devotees of the Lord; they alone can very easily achieve the perfection of going back home, back to Godhead. [SB 4.12.37]

In this way, Dhruva Mahäräja…

… You only know from your mother, your mother would say this is your father. Of course, now you can get DNA confirmation… but they tried in one place, there was some rape victim, and they wanted to take all the DNA of that city to find out, who has [raped] her. So every man was going and giving his DNA voluntarily to be tested you know. Then… it was in Australia one place, I don’t know, finally if they found the guy. It is very hard way to find your father. But, sometime the Vedas have described this as an example that If you want to know, who God is, so we want to understand whether God has a place to live, that we find out from the Vedas. Vedas are like our mother. And these scriptures has that reveals about the spiritual world. Actually, according to Hinduism, according to Buddhism, according to all the eastern religions, there are so many devas living in higher planets. You see, but the modern science… even now… Once I saw, one of the big billionaires in America that the co-founder of Microsoft is recently given so many millions and millions of dollars for a big telescope to find out, if there is a life on other planets. They want to get a radio wave, they are thinking that other planet like this, demigods are using radio. [laughter] Like Brahmä as if he is listening to the radio. [laughter] He doesn’t need to have a radio you know. They got a live action [laughter]. We are poor people, we cannot have a live performer every time we want, “Okay! Let there be a dancing!” So we have to have radio, and video Tv, and this recordings are shadow, but they have live performance. So, I don’t know, if they find that way, if they find live on earth. But, according to the eastern religion, all planets are got life in one form or another. You see, even the Buddhist believe that there are devas. They believe in Brahmä in Thailand. You see Brahmä temple… Brahmä temples are there, although in Vedic culture we don’t have Brahmä temple, but there are Brahmä deity in some places in Bangkok, so we have one Brahmä temple in Puñkara tértha. Because Brahmä was cursed not to have, but only one temple. So these devas, they are saying that Dhruva, he is going beyond us. He goes out of the material world, we don’t see him anymore, goes into the nirväna, and then we don’t see where he goes. He leaves the material world. So Dhruva, he is saying that he is going to Vaikuëöha planet, you see. Around the material world there is a layer of called nirväna. In the Vedas it is said that there are two types of nirväna, there is a material nirväna and brahma-nirväna. In the fifth canto Çrémad-Bhägavatam, it described about brahma-nirväna. Within nirväna, there is two layers, there higher layer called the spiritual nirväna, and beyond that there is spiritual planets. But nobody can know that, what is beyond? Unless they have perception, unless you go into it. Whoever gone and come back, again gone and they are telling the Vedas are explaining. And here Dhruva Mahäräja, he is personally from that place, spiritual airplane is coming and taking him. And everyone in the material world, they are following him as far as they can. And then they cannot follow anymore, and they see him go, go, go, go to the spiritual planet. Actually it says, if anybody who listens to this pastime with a faith on Dhruva Mahäräja, they get all kinds of spiritual benefits. Material, spiritual everything.

“By hearing the narration of Dhruva Mahäräja one can fulfill desires for wealth, reputation and increased duration of life. It is so auspicious that one can even go to a heavenly planet or attain Dhruvaloka, which was achieved by Dhruva Mahäräja, just by hearing about him. The demigods also become pleased because this narration is so glorious, and it is so powerful that it can counteract all the results of one's sinful actions.” [SB 4.12.45]

That how do we know that there is nirväna even, we have not seen it. Because Lord Buddha, he was in a meditation, he realized a nirväna, and he told people, this is what I realize, he never said, there was not a God. He never said that there was not a spiritual world. People asked him, “Don’t talk about all these things, first you come to that level then you can understand. First you realize it then after that.” So he was forgetting people to realize, So some of these devotees, that we have to obey that, he is saying it, he realized it. We can see he is very exceptional person, he has so many wonderful qualities. Therefore, must be true. So like that also in so many great devotees are there. Great spiritual masters, great realized souls, they have gone through this expedite, and telling us this and written down in the scripture. So now we take this as an understanding. Also in a… Kåñëa opened His mouth, and it says that Yaçodä looked into the mouth of Kåñëa and saw the material and spiritual world. She could see also the spiritual worlds. Vyäsadeva, who wrote the Vedas, he went in meditation and said, he saw the entire material world, he saw nirväna. He went into through the nirväna and saw the spiritual world, he saw the Vaikuëöha, everything he could see. The whole or everything is coming from Kåñëa, then he came back into his body. He came back his bodily, external consciousness. So there are many people, many people realized by going and coming. So they have written all these things. So from there we can know, somebody goes… maybe some villager in Mäyäpur, we are living in a village. Some villagers have never gone to Kolkata, so they ask their friends, “What is like to go to Kolkata?” “Oh! It is very bad place. So much bad [inaudible word] and there the people are like this and like that, many things, you know, you cannot imagine. I know such villager in their whole life, they never left the village. Once in their life, they went to Krishnagar, which is small district town, you know. It is like may be once they went you know, it is big thing that they went to Krishnagar. Otherwise, whole life they are just in their village, they never left. Maybe, I have someone like that here only been on their estate, they never went. I don’t know…

Bhakti Vrajendranandana Swami: […] she never came to London.

Jayapatäkä Swami: Never been to London? So if you want to find out what London is like, or what Kolkata is like, or what Kuala Lumpur like, then maybe you have to ask someone who went there. So they went and came back and told you this is what is like. So many people are going. Then you can believe it must be there. Right! Hare Kåñëa!