20210522 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.41

20210522 Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.41 by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja, Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, India

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ
paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande
śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya!
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya!
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya!

Jayapatākā Swami: So this verse of the prayers of Queen Kuntī, so this prayer gives us a very nice instruction. Queen Kuntī is praying to Lord Kṛṣṇa so that family ties may be cut off. The lady has attachment for two families. Because in India the lady stays most with the husband. She has attachment for her parents. She has attachment for the husband and his family members. So that means that she has two families. Queen Kuntī prayed to Lord Kṛṣṇa so that her affection or entanglement for both these families be cut off. Kṛṣṇa stayed with the Vṛṣṇis in Dvārakā. Vṛṣṇis were Kuntī devī’s paternal family. But she was also attached to her sons, the Pāṇḍavas, that was from her husband’s side. On one side, she wanted that Kṛṣṇa remains with the Pāṇḍavas. But if this happened, on the other hand her paternal family would be bereft of Kṛṣṇa’s association. So she was torn between all these family attachments. But actually, factually, everything was related to Kṛṣṇa. Because Kṛṣṇa was very much connected with both. Both of the families were pure devotees of the Lord. So Queen Kuntī is praying as if this is a family attachment. But actually, this was her pure devotion to Lord Kṛṣṇa. She is giving us a good example how we should be attached to Kṛṣṇa and not with our families. If anyone of our family members falls ill, then we generally pray to the Lord. But the scripture, śāstra says that we should not be asking the Lord for any material favors. That is why, we say if the Lord please. We don’t know what the Lord’s plan is. So, we offer our prayer, but if the Lord has some other plan, then naturally that will prevail.

Śrīla Prabhupāda used the example of Lord Rāma, He was a perfect king. He renounced His wife to show a good example of a king. Similarly, Śrīla Prabhupāda used the example of the six Gosvāmīs. Like Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, he was from the family of the head priest from Śrīraṅgam. And Rūpa and Sanātana, Jīva Gosvāmī, they came from Karnataka, high class brāhmaṇas. But they were employed by the Mughal emperor in a high post. Sanātana Gosvāmī was the Prime Minister and Rūpa Gosvāmī was the Finance Minister. Jīva Gosvāmī was their nephew. So, like that, Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī, his parents were multi-millionaires. Like that, they were all highly placed. But they all became mendicants in Vṛndāvana. Śrīla Prabhupāda did not use the example, but we can also see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He had an affectionate mother, beautiful wife. He was the topmost of all the Paṇḍitas in Navadvīpa.

At the age of 24 He took sannyāsa. And He went and preached all over India. So He was showing how one could be detached. But He manifested attachment toward Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He did not manifest this in Navadvīpa, but He manifested this in South India. When He would meet people, He would embrace them and give them bhakti-śakti. We see in His pastimes, in Nīlācala, we were seeing how Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, his wife, prepared opulent prasāda for Lord Caitanya. Lord Caitanya said, that I am very happy that you offered so opulent and nice prasāda to Kṛṣṇa. So give Me a small little plate on the side, and give Me a portion of this, I cannot take all of this. Like that, this is what happened, which we are reading every night. So Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya knew that Lord Caitanya was Kṛṣṇa. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu would not manifest this normally. So anyway, that we don’t know yet what happened. We heard a family came to Māyāpur, to the temple, their son just passed away in the pukur in their house. But that mother, usually mothers are very emotional, but she was normal. So then we asked the mother, if there was something wrong with her son. She said, yes, he passed away! So then what can I do. I came to pray to Kṛṣṇa, that his soul can be taken to Kṛṣṇa. So we saw that this lady was very advanced in her spiritual understanding.

So, from this verse we understand how we have to be more attached to Kṛṣṇa. It is natural that we have some attachment to our family. But we have to be more attached to Kṛṣṇa. And this is a good example for all of us. Queen Kuntī being a pure devotee, she gave us a good instruction. So there are very exalted, pure devotees of the Lord. Kuntī devī, Draupadī-devī, Devahūti, Sunīti, so many! When we see Lord Caitanya’s pastimes, the devotees from Bengal went to Jagannātha Purī. So men they could approach Lord Caitanya because He was a sannyāsī. Some would offer obeisances and touch His feet, and some would embrace Him as per their particular relationship with the Lord. But the ladies, they would watch from far and they would see the Lord’s feet being touched, and tears would glide down their eyes. So these ladies, they were pure devotees. Lord Caitanya He would go to the house of gṛhasthas every day and would take prasāda.

As a sannyāsī, He should not touch fire and therefore accept food cooked by others. So this way, the ladies used to cook for Lord Caitanya. Along with them sometimes, their husbands would assist in the cooking. Because the husbands were also waiting to serve Lord Caitanya. So this was the rare opportunity that people had to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself. So Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, he desired that Lord Caitanya take prasāda at his home for 30 days. But Lord Caitanya said no. Then Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya said, ok, at least you eat at my place for 20 days. Lord Caitanya said, “No. 15 days? No! 10 days! At least! No! Finally, He agreed for five days!” Like we see in Bengal in market places people bargain and have a tug of war, the same thing was going on there! So then He said that, He would take prasāda at his house for 5 days, Svarūpa Dāmodara, for 5 days, and other devotees, like that he had the whole month filled up.

So this way the devotees got the opportunity to personally serve Lord Caitanya. For six years, He was travelling around South India and West India. Every day He stayed at different gṛhasthas’ house. The gṛhasthas would bathe His feet, the lady would pour the water, and the husband would massage the feet. How many here would like to bathe the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya?! Haribol! Anyway, this way, somehow Lord Caitanya satisfied the desires of all His devotees. Just like how grass and weeds float in the river, we are also here in a similar way in the material world. Just like the grass sometimes come together in a whirlpool, then it is spread apart. This way, some of us take birth as man, some as woman, and in different lifetimes we come together and then we are apart. So, in this way, we think that this present material life is so important. But after this lifetime do we remember anything? So this way, we stay in different relationships, but then we forget it later. But what is permanent, is our relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

So Śrīla Prabhupāda was so merciful, he came, he gave us this information about our eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa. So anyway, this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is so important for us to hear.