20100313 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.15.7

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

Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.15.7

sa vai sva-dharmeṇa prajā-pālana-poṣaṇa-prīṇanopalālanānuśāsana-lakṣaṇenejyādinā ca bhagavati mahā-puruṣe parāvare brahmaṇi sarvātmanārpita-paramārtha-lakṣaṇena brahmavic-caraṇānusevayāpādita-bhagavad-bhakti-yogena cābhīkṣṇaśaḥ paribhāvitāti-śuddha-matir uparatānātmya ātmani svayam upalabhyamāna-brahmātmānubhavo 'pi nirabhimāna evāvanim ajūgupat.

saḥ—that King Gaya; vai—indeed; sva-dharmeṇa—by his own duty; prajā-pālana—of protecting the subjects; poṣaṇa—of maintaining them; prīṇana—of making them happy in all respects; upalālana—of treating them as sons; anuśāsana—of sometimes chastising them for their mistakes; lakṣaṇena—by the symptoms of a king; ijyā-ādinā—by performing the ritualistic ceremonies as recommended in the Vedas; ca—also; bhagavati—unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu; mahā-puruṣe—the chief of all living entities; para-avare—the source of all living entities, from the highest, Lord Brahmā, to the lowest, like the insignificant ants; brahmaṇi—unto Para-brahman, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva; sarva-ātmanā—in all respects; arpita—of being surrendered; parama-artha-lakṣaṇena—with spiritual symptoms; brahma-vit—of self-realized, saintly devotees; caraṇa-anusevayā—by the service of the lotus feet; āpādita—achieved; bhagavat-bhakti-yogena—by the practice of devotional service to the Lord; ca—also; abhīkṣṇaśaḥ—continuously; paribhāvita—saturated; ati-śuddha-matiḥ—whose completely pure consciousness (full realization that the body and mind are separate from the soul); uparata-anātmye—wherein identification with material things was stopped; ātmani—in his own self; svayam—personally; upalabhyamāna—being realized; brahma-ātma-anubhavaḥ—perception of his own position as the Supreme Spirit; api—although; nirabhimānaḥ—without false prestige; eva—in this way; avanim—the whole world; ajūgupat—ruled strictly according to the Vedic principles.

TRANSLATION

King Gaya gave full protection and security to the citizens so that their personal property would not be disturbed by undesirable elements. He also saw that there was sufficient food to feed all the citizens. [This is called poṣaṇa.] He would sometimes distribute gifts to the citizens to satisfy them. [This is called prīṇana.] He would sometimes call meetings and satisfy the citizens with sweet words. [This is called upalālana.] He would also give them good instructions on how to become first-class citizens. [This is called anuśāsana.] Such were the characteristics of King Gaya's royal order. Besides all this, King Gaya was a householder who strictly observed the rules and regulations of household life. He performed sacrifices and was an unalloyed pure devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He was called Mahāpuruṣa because as a king he gave the citizens all facilities, and as a householder he executed all his duties so that at the end he became a strict devotee of the Supreme Lord. As a devotee, he was always ready to give respect to other devotees and to engage in the devotional service of the Lord. This is the bhakti-yoga process. Due to all these transcendental activities, King Gaya was always free from the bodily conception. He was full in Brahman realization, and consequently he was always jubilant. He did not experience material lamentation. Although he was perfect in all respects, he was not proud, nor was he anxious to rule the kingdom.

PURPORT

As Lord Kṛṣṇa states in Bhagavad-gītā, when He descends to earth, He has two types of business—to give protection to the faithful and annihilate the demons (paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām [Bg. 4.8]). Since the king is the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he is sometimes called nara-deva, that is, the Lord as a human being. According to the Vedic injunctions, he is worshiped as God on the material platform. As a representative of the Supreme Lord, the king had the duty to protect the citizens in a perfect way so that they would not be anxious for food and protection and so that they would be jubilant. The king would supply everything for their benefit, and because of this he would levy taxes. If the king or government otherwise levies taxes on the citizens, he becomes responsible for the sinful activities of the citizens. In Kali-yuga, monarchy is abolished because the kings themselves are subjected to the influence of Kali-yuga. It is understood from the Rāmāyaṇa that when Vibhīṣaṇa became friends with Lord Rāmacandra, he promised that if by chance or will he broke the laws of friendship with Lord Rāmacandra, he would become a brāhmaṇa or a king in Kali-yuga. In this age, as Vibhīṣaṇa indicated, both brāhmaṇas and kings are in a wretched condition. Actually there are no kings or brāhmaṇas in this age, and due to their absence the whole world is in a chaotic condition and is always in distress. Compared to present standards, Mahārāja Gaya was a true representative of Lord Viṣṇu; therefore he was known as Mahāpuruṣa.

* * *

Guru Maharaja: There were… of course… said that he did and he would sit there. There is a Sanskrit word for that, but I couldn’t hear the Sanskrit word.

Devotee: He also saw there was sufficient food to feed all the citizens. This is called Posana.

Guru Maharaja: Posa… ok.

Devotee: Distributing food to the citizens to satisfy them, this is called Prinana.

He would sometimes call meetings and satisfy the citizens with sweet words, upalalana.

And he would also give them instructions on how to become first class citizens. This is called Anusasana.

Guru Maharaja: Thank you.

So, the king of Gaya or King Gaya. His names is Gaya or he was the king of Gaya?

Devotee: King Gaya.

Guru Maharaja: So, lot of instructions in this verse about how to … how the kings were in the Vedic times. We could appreciate, although today we have today democracy in most parts of the world. Its… and only the servants of the royal family, they don’t have… usually don’t have much power. We can appreciate that. With a qualified king like this, like King Gaya, things were quite well managed, and why doesn’t work in kali yuga? That’s also understandable, but why … previously, at least we can appreciate.

Monarchy was not a bad thing, it was a good thing, it worked, because there was a qualified king who was god realized, he was self realized, he followed the rules, he managed his kingdom with great affection, and we see that in some places of the world like in Thailand, the people love their Monarch, although he is not the … there is no democracy and Prime Minister. And sometimes he has to step in and take some action, and somehow he is really appreciated by the citizens.

I don’t know just offhand, … I haven’t visited …14.50… and other places. So, I don’t know what they are like, but there I saw that the people like him to a large extent, because they saw him as a neutral person who cared about the citizens and, although he was not directly involved in the affairs of the … I mean he was not like… he didn’t arrange them, but the management was done by the Prime Ministers, but he would go and see the citizens, see the …, he would get some idea, but nobody is qualified like Gaya. But it was interesting. I read this verse before that.

Bibhisana said… what I heard was that he said if I don’t follow all the brahmana in the Kali yuga, here is the Brahmana or a king.

Ok, it is so heavy ok. He is going to follow. Anyone who sits like that, that’s a real serious thing. So, that means that at that time in the Treta yuga, they knew that the Kali Yuga, the brahmanas, the kings, they were not… they were respected or they were worthy of respect. So, that was taken as such a serious vow. He said, “Let me be cursed to be a brahmana in the Kali Yuga.”

Ok, ok. So, you take him serious.

The worst thing you can think of

So, it was interesting, and that convinced. Laxman, he was downing Bibhisana, maybe he is a spy from Ravana. But when he took this vow, ok…ok, he is alright. No one will take such a vow unless they really mean it. So, that shows us how lousy it is to be born as a brahmana or a king in the Kali Yuga. So, interesting, how he managed the kingdom, how he was personally Krsna conscious, and he was self-realized, he followed the rules.

We don’t have examples like that… we don’t have like such examples as he was, that we can go on. We know that the kings and tantrum, have illicit affairs, and then he would do all kinds of sinful things. But he was glorified as a mahapurusha, as a great soul amongst the king. He was a great self-realized personality, and the way that he managed the kingdom was also very exemplary, you know.

So, like Lord Caitanya, he said, “Well, I can meet anyone, but I don’t meet a king, because the king in Kali Yuga, they are sense gratifiers, and I am a sanyasi, and so I don’t want to meet Prataprudra.” So, Prataprudra, he was feeling, “Everyone in the kingdom can meet Lord Caitanya except me. I am the only one. That is the only thing I want, is, I want to be able to see Lord Caitanya. So, he was feeling so bad. He thought, “What is the use of living? If I am living, I am the only one who cannot see Lord Caitanya. Oh….” So, he was thinking of suicide. So, Ramananada Roy came and told Lord Caitanya, “See, this king is actually a devotee. He is a good guy, and so somehow show him some mercy.” So, he called the prince, his son, and gave him a chaddar and some stuff. So, like this the king was a little encouraged. He told, don’t commit suicide. So, when the king came, and they have this tradition in Jagannatha Puri that the king would sweep the road before the Jagnnatha deities, what you call that? I forget what you call it.

I heard someone speaking, but I didn’t hear what you said.

So, Lord Caitanya saw him, normally like we have the Lord, the Mayor of Birmingham to sweep the road. So, he had his coat of arms, he has a big slash, he had golden medal, he was the number one citizen of the city, the Lord Mayor. I don’t think in America they, in India they don’t … mayor mayor.. ok, but there Lord Mayor. So, he had all the … he said, “normally I don’t have to sweep the road. I got public servants to do this, but out of respect for your tradition I will do that.” So, he swept the road. In fact, one time he sent one counsellor to represent him, the deputy Mayor, so, he liked so much, he swept the road the whole way. Like forty, fifty minutes he was sweeping. Intention. But normally the king would just sweep the road for few minutes.

So, Lord Caitanya, saw the king sweeping. He… because he was doing a service, a humble service for the lord, so he was very moved. So, by service to Jagannatha, you get the mercy of Lord Caitanya. That was the purport.

Lord Caitanya, then he gave divine vision to the king. So, the king can see seven Lord Caitanya’s in the seven sankirtan parties from his roof top. So, there the king had a tradition that they don’t make their palace higher than the Jagannatha temple. That is pretty hard because the Jagannatha temple is very high, but in any case that is the rule. So, he would, his house looks like his palace in Puri, looks like any other house. It is not higher, it is like two-storied high, but everyone knows that this is the kings house.

So, he would, five hundred years ago, he would look from the roof of his house, and he would see the ratha yatra go by. So, he saw Lord Caitanya, he told Sarbabhauma Bhattacharya and others, how come I am seeing seven Lord Caitanya’s? So, they said, You got the special mercy of Lord Caitanya, that’s why you are seeing seven.

So, like this he had certain mercies. So, he was told by Ramananda Roy, that he should go in a ordinary dress like a Vaisnava, tilak and Chaddar and no shirt. No one knew like what the king looked like without his big turban and his royal dress. So, only a few people knew him close up. So, the… didn’t recognize who was this Vaisnava. He came and Lord Caitanya was taking rest. The kirtan there was rest, the deity was offered bhoga at Vipra asana. So, there the system is that. People lay out some free clothe, and lay their bhoga and the pujari offers hundreds of bhogas, maybe thousands to the deity at one time.

It is interesting that we could do it… in ratha yatra there is at least the devotees who are following …they can offer their food to the deity at the place where they arrive or something. So, at that time Lord Caitanya, He layed down, and He was taking rest on one stone slab. So, the king dressed as a ordinary Vaisnava, he asked the permission of all the devotees, can I rub his lotus legs? And they said, sure, why not. So, he started rubbing the legs of Lord Caitanya, he was messaging, and he gave, he started singing the verses from the Srimad Bhagavatam. He had memorized the verses of the gopi geeta, the songs of the gopis. So, at one point Lord Caitanya was so pleased to hear these verses. One particularly verse he was very pleased, “you have given me this jewels of verses. So, I want to pay you, but I have nothing, I am just a sanyasi, I have nothing to give you, all I can give you is my embrace, my hug. So, he hugged the king.” So, you can imagine the king was hugged by Lord Caitanya. He was like… I don’t know who you are, but I have nothing that I can give you, so I will just give you a hug. So, he hugged him. The king was…. Then Lord Caitanya lied down again.

So, he had all his desires fulfilled because he did seva for Jagannatha. So, we want to promote that people should do this seva for the deities, they should do the seva. By doing the seva they will get their mercy. This is the secret how to get mercy. You get mercy by doing seva. Even this great king like Ambarish, it is said, when he would come to the temple, he would clean the temple, he would mop it, he would sweep it. Now being a king you don’t have to do that ordinary service. But he would do it because he wants to get the mercy of the Lord.

It said in the Brahma Samhita that the goddess of fortune would sweep the touchstones to get the mercy of the Lord. There is no much dust. I think in the spiritual world there are touch stones. But just to show the Lord, we are cleaning, we want your mercy. So, like that they were doing a very humble service. So, if we want to do the mercy, what should we do? Yes, so that is the secret.

So, this king Gaya, it showed how he very… in a very exemplary way, he managed his kingdom, that he was a grihastha. Of course kings have to be grihasthas. That part of the example of a king. He is supposed to be a grihastha, and he is supposed to be very exemplary. So, it said, he did this with his wife, he did various sacrifices for the pleasure of Vsnu. So, as a grihastha they are considered as half. The wife is considered the other half. In fact, she is called the ardhangini, or the better half. I never had a husband, how did you say it was true? They all say, “wife is better.” Anyone wants to deny it.

So, this is the system, and there was the Lord Brahma, he is also a grihastha. So, he was doing a yajna. So, …30.45… in the time and so he said, “What should I do, without my wife I cannot finish the yajna. And so they said, “Well, we will give you another wife.” And not seeing any other way, so, he accepted that solution. So, they passed one maiden through a cow, and how they did? So, that’s why the cow is also known as gaya. So, she is known as gayatri. So, he was married to brahmana real quick, and he can do the… finish the yajna, and then Savitri came, and she saw, “what is this? How the wife has replace me?” So, she cursed Brahma, “you will only be worshipped in this one place of Puskara, where your deity is found. Rest of the place you will not be worshipped.” So, well, so, they tell this story at Puskara tirtha, that one lotus was thrown from the Satya loka. It fell down on the earth in Puskara, and there is where he got his temple. Of course, a few other place, I guess they don’t know, they make the deity of Brahma. In Thailand, Malaysia, but technically you are not supposed to.

I guess… I don’t know what happens if you do.

But just to show that as a grhastha to do the yajna, you need the cooperation of both halves. There is some… we can understand Gaya, King Gaya, he did all this things, very much according to the rules and regulations. Lord Caitanya, when he was Nimai Pandita, he felt, I am earning money and I am maintaining my mother, I am living in a house. So, I should be a householder. I should… I have everything but I don’t have a wife. So, then he got married, because he thought that, and that is the kind of standard that … if someone is working and not living in the brahmachari ashram, they should get married. Otherwise, they are living like a grihastha, they have their own flat, their own apartments, their own house, they have their money, but they don’t have a wife. So, they are not following the dharma properly.

If one is a brahmachari, they live in the ashram, they don’t make any personal money, they work for the temple. That’s one way of life. The other life is working as a grihastha or vanaprastha. So, there are some people, they work outside, they make money, but they don’t live as grihasthas. So, this is not the proper example.

When Lord Caitanya took sanyasa, then he didn’t depend on... He rather depended on Krsna totally. He didn’t do the grhastha dharma. When he was a grhastha, he followed very strictly the grhastha dharma. So, this king, he followed very strictly the grshastha dharma. While he was a king, he followed the kingly dharma. At the same time, he was detached, and he was actually a devotee. So, he was a self-realized soul. So, this is the example. So, we don’t have examples like that much… at least kings … so, is she the example given in the shastra? So, this gives us some idea that how things happened in the past. So, we can appreciate.

So, it’s very hard to follow Lord Caitanya’s example of sanyasa. When he was a sanyasi, he was very austere. When he was a grihastha, he was very pakka in his grihastha dharma. So, it’s hard to follow such examples. But he was exemplary. So, we can get some inspiration in … here is the king Gaya in the place known as Gaya. That’s actually the Gayasura, he was a demon. So, he is a different person. He fought against Vsnu, and Vsnu defeated him, and stepped on his chest. So, he said, the gaya said, “I surrender. But I want two blessings. one is that I want your footprint to worship. If it is not worshipped everyday, then I will come back.” So, the second blessing he said that, people should do their ancestor worship and sun should come every day. One you worship the footprint, and the other was that everyday that will be worshipped. If one day goes by and nobody comes to do their ancestor worship, then you can come back.

So, this is the big hill, and this is knows and the Vsnu gaya. And there is the lotus footprint of Vsnu. So, they say that that hill which is yugas and yugas old is actually the Gaya ashura, and if one day goes by and nobody comes there to do pindi, he will rise up ah… and there he will arrest everybody. So, I went there, and there is a lot of gayas. There is Vsnu gaya, there is the bodha gaya, there are lot of different gayas. Well, in this Vsnu gaya, they have a book, and they have Prabhupadas name, that eleven, in 1971 Prabhupada had gone there with a group of people. So, they have all the names of the devotees in Prabhupadas party. So, I was one of the devotees in the party.

Wow, they have got everybody’s name, they have Prabhupada’s name. The Pandas were very expert. So, they were presenting a silver footprint of Lord Vsnu. So, since they gave me a silver footprint, I felt indebted. So, I gave a …. By rupee standard a very big donation. But they keep a record. I don’t know if we keep a record of all the people who visit. But they have a record of everybody who visits the temple every day. So, they have a record of Prabhupada’s visit. At least they have Prabhupada’s record. I didn’t check their book who else’s record they have.

Srila Prabhupada ki….

I don’t know what the history is, why they… I knew this history of Gaya asura. But why they have eleven gaya’s, this is named after this king Gaya or not, I don’t know. Of course, Buddha Gaya is where the Lord Buddha, he meditated, and there he realized his realizations. And Nirvana… so, there are other nine gaya’s. I don’t know what they are exactly. I didn’t look into it. Maybe a coincidence that the same name as this king Gaya, or maybe they followed some tradition, I don’t know. They say that Sita Devi was very angry with the river there. So, she cursed the river, that you will be dry, but on the surface of the sand you will … your water will flow.

So, you know, in India what this people do to rivers when they are dry. If you don’t know, you want to know, but they answer, “the natures call.” So, everybody since time… since treta yuga, they are passing on top of that river. You dig in the sand, and … foot or two deep, enough water. So, you go there and dig the water, and you start to worship Vsnu. But the non-devotees, they make their mess on top of the river bed. So, that is called the Phalgu river. So, that’s why Lord Caitanya said, we should not be a Phalgu Vairagi. Phalgu Vairagi means that it looks very dry on the surface. It looks like someone is very renounced, but you dig a little under the sand, you will find water. So, some looks like he is renounced, but he actually so many material desires. So, that’s where the Phalgu Vairagya comes from. The Phalgu river – where under the surface there is enough water, or under the surface is dry.

So, I was told to end it at 8.20, because everyone wants to take their Prasad, head out to Laguna beach for the regional festival. Haribol.

So, I know, it come from our beloved… and other Prabhupada disciples, Achyuta.

Devotee: thank you very much.

We have to be careful with the Sanskrit pronounciation. There is the trouble. The word Gaya. In Sanskrit you can have G. long short A, you can have G, short A, Y, you can have G, short A, Y, long A. so, the place where he goes to offer obeisances Pinda is Gaya with a long a. This kinga gaya, g short … king gaya, and then there is Uttama gaya which is the name of the Lord, G long a, y short a. so, the place where they go to offer.. to the forefather is Gaya, and this king is Gaaya. There is no real connection.

Guru Maharaja: Thank you very much.

So, this is king Gaya, and the place is Gaya.

Any other comment?

Devotee: my suggestion, mother of the whole world.

Guru Maharaja: Ok, thank you, Hare Krsna.