20210529 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.45

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on May 29th, 2021 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.45.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

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

Jayapatākā Swami: Kṛṣṇa is known as Ajita. Jita means defeated. Ajita means undefeatable. Kṛṣṇa is Ajita because He can never be defeated, even as a three-month year old baby.

Before we chant the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we have to chant this verse:

nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya
naraṁ caiva narottamam
devīṁ sarasvatīṁ vyāsaṁ
tato jayam udīrayet (ŚB 1.2.4)

So we will listen to these pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, Kuntī devī praying, how He entered the palace of Hastināpura. All the queens, all the ladies, as it is their nature, they were crying to see that Kṛṣṇa is leaving. Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja told them, this is not the time to cry, don’t cry, you have to show smiling faces, so that His journey may be auspicious But, Yudhiṣṭhira he could not control himself, he was crying, and he was requesting Kṛṣṇa to stay for a few more days. So Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that although Kṛṣṇa is svarāṭ, He is ajita, He can do whatever He wants, but He voluntarily is conquered by the love of His pure devotees.

There are two categories of devotees – one with material desires, sakāma-bhakta and the other niṣkāma, one without any material desires. So these sakāma devotees they ask Kṛṣṇa for some material benefits. And niṣkāma-bhakta they only ask Kṛṣṇa for pure bhakti. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that all his devotees are niṣkāma devotees. Some are like ripe mangoes and some like raw mangoes, who will ripen in due course of time. So, the pure devotees are three kinds – there is the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī or the neophyte devotee.

We were reading Lord Caitanya was telling the devotees of Kulīna-grāma how to recognize different grades of devotees. So the devotees who take the name of Kṛṣṇa is one type of Vaiṣṇava. Those who are a little bit advanced in devotional service and constantly chant the names of Kṛṣṇa, they are madhyama-adhikārīs. So the madhyama-adhikārīs, they surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They make friends with the other devotees, they preach, they give mercy to the innocent people. Those who are atheistic or demons, they avoid. Then Lord Caitanya describes the uttama-adhikārī. Simply by seeing him people want to chant. He makes many devotees. And so the madhyama-adhikārī and kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, they surrender to the uttama-adhikārī. We can see that Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja had such love and affection for Kṛṣṇa that he was a mahā-bhāgavata. And by his loving affection Kṛṣṇa became conquered. Everyone prays to Kṛṣṇa. Everyone prays to God. But ordinarily they ask for some material blessings. But those who pray to the Lord and ask for loving devotional service, they are at a different level.

Actually, Kṛṣṇa likes to be controlled by His devotees, by the love for Him. Like Yaśodāmayī controlled Kṛṣṇa as a child, as a devotee as a mother, she was taking care of Him. So we see in the Dāmodara-līlā how Kṛṣṇa, He played like a child and He cried. He likes to be controlled by the love of His mother. All the other children complained that Kṛṣṇa had eaten dirt. So mother Yaśodā asked Kṛṣṇa, open Your mouth, let me look. And when Kṛṣṇa opened His mouth and Yaśodā looked in, and she saw the whole universe. And in the universe, there was the planet earth. And in the earth there was Vṛndāvana. Mother Yaśodā was looking in Kṛṣṇa’s mouth. Kṛṣṇa was saying, “Mother, what are you seeing?” Kṛṣṇa is always in control But He is happy to be controlled by the love of His devotees. As the Supreme Lord He controls everyone. But He likes to be controlled by the love of His devotees. But that is His free will. So that is why it is prescribed that we should try to develop our natural love and affection for Kṛṣṇa. so, that is why all the devotees listening to this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam class, they should try to develop their natural love for Kṛṣṇa.

Lord Caitanya had predicted that pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi-grāma sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma – in every town and village of the world, my name will be propagated. So Śrīla Prabhupāda actually wanted to see this prediction come true. And that is why he went to the West and spread the saṅkīrtana movement. He said, say, we have ten thousand ācāryas, we should then make a hundred thousand. From one hundred thousand to a million. From one million to ten million. Then there will be no shortage of initiating gurus. And this will be the way that Lord Caitanya’s prediction can come true. So actually the highest perfection of life is to be in the personal pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. And that is the goal we should be aiming for.

This way, that should be our goal, we should study all the teaching of Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. I must have read the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam at least three times. Now I reading it again. And now I am on the third canto. We are reading how the four Kumāras cursed Jaya, Vijaya. And how they came down as Hiraṇyākṣa and Hiraṇyakaśipu. And how Varāhadeva was fighting with Hiraṇyākṣa. We have the nature of fighting. Whatever we have natural inclination, this is there in Kṛṣṇa in the fullest amount. His nature is and He becomes very happy and blissful by fighting. But who will He fight with? That is why He fights with devotees. So His devotee takes a role of a demon. As Hiraṇyākṣa, He was fighting with Varāhadeva. And so Varāhadeva he let Hiraṇyākṣa knock out His mace out of His hand. Then Hiraṇyākṣa, he observed the chivalry of fighting and as Varāhadeva did not have weapons, he did not hit Him. Then somehow Hiraṇyākṣa lost his mace. I think he threw his mace at Varāhadeva, Varāhadeva caught it. Then Hiraṇyākṣa had a big flaming trident, he threw it at Varāhadeva and said, “NOW YOU ARE DEAD!” But then Varāhadeva sent His Sudarśana cakra and cut the trident into little pieces. Then, Hiraṇyākṣa came and punched Varāhadeva in His chest. But it was like throwing a flower garland on an elephant. So this fighting between Varāhadeva and Hiraṇyākṣa was very interesting. Then Hiraṇyākṣa became invisible. He was playing some different magical feats and created different armies. From the clouds, he was pouring blood and pus on Varāhadeva. So many magical things he was doing. But then Varāhadeva sent out His Sudarśana cakra again. And when the Sudarśana cakra is there, magical feats disappear. Then Hiraṇyākṣa wanted to grab Varāhadeva and crush Him in his arms.

At that time, his mother Diti, from her breasts, came blood. She remembered that her husband had said that because she had performed the garbhādāna-saṁksāra at a wrong time, she would have demons as sons. But they would be killed by Kṛṣṇa. So just before Hiraṇyākṣa’s death, she was bleeding. Normally the blood is turned into milk. But in this case, it did not turn to milk. Hiraṇyākṣa went to grab Varāhadeva, but he when he grabbed, Varāhadeva was outside his grip. Then Varāhadeva just gave him a slap. He died. See Kṛṣṇa can finish him off in one second! But He was enjoying a little fighting with him!

So, like that Kṛṣṇa likes to be controlled by the love of His devotees. But then sometimes, when He wants to fight, He fights with some devotee, and the devotee takes the role of a demon. Kṛṣṇa, He performed the Kurukṣetra war. Kṛṣṇa, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and He manifested that. But Lord Caitanya, He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He did not reveal that to everyone. Few devotees knew. If people would call him Kṛṣṇa, He would cover His ears and say, “Viṣṇu, Viṣṇu, Viṣṇu!” Because He was performing His pastimes in the role of a devotee. But actually, He is predicted in the 11th canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and many other scriptures as well. We are very fortunate to be in His disciplic succession. And His instructions were, to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, worship Kṛṣṇa and study the teachings of Lord Kṛṣṇa - so it is not a difficult process.

Now the world is suffering from this corona pandemic. If you can please get the people to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, at least any name of God, we should chant and thus go back home back to Godhead. And make this world as a Vaikuṇṭha. Today, we were hearing a letter from Śrīla Prabhupāda, where he said, when I visit Los Angeles or when I visit New York, I am in Vaikuṇṭha, because I go to Kṛṣṇa’s temple. So, if people be Kṛṣṇa conscious, then the whole world will be Vaikuṇṭha!

So today we read how Kṛṣṇa was controlled by the love of Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja. We hope that all of you can become lovers of Kṛṣṇa! Then Kṛṣṇa will be very happy to be controlled by your love! If somebody thinks of Kṛṣṇa in a hurting way, even then they are blessed. Anyway you think of Kṛṣṇa, it is auspicious. But if you think of Him with love, that is very good. That is the essence of bhakti-yoga.