20230402 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.6.22

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on April 2nd, 2023 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.6.22.

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

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Jayapatākā Swami: We understand that Kṛṣṇa is the origin of everything. And he is the utsa. He is the origin. This way, He always resides in Goloka. At the same time, He may descend in any universe to do His līlā. There are unlimited universes. And he comes in this universe in the 27th Dvāpara-yuga, in every day of Brahmā. In other universes He comes at other times. Just like here it may be 8.10 in India. But in Dubai it is one and a half hours behind. Bangladesh is half hour ahead. It is 8.10 here then it is 8.40 am there. And one more hour ahead is Thailand. Malaysia is another hour ahead. As the sun revolves in the orbit accordingly the times change in different places. This way, Lord Kṛṣṇa is in one universe and accordingly He performs His pastimes in that universe. That is why it is called nitya-līlā. Somewhere that līlā is going on. Haribol! We have to understand that Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes are eternal and He is also eternal and we are also eternal. But Kṛṣṇa out of His own sweet will, He appears. He chooses who will be His father and mother. We don’t have the same facility. In our case there is some justification, okay, this person should be put in this type of body. That is why it is important for the gṛhasthas to completely prepare their mind as to have children. We should do the garbhādāna-saṁskāra. Somewhere in these book stalls they sell Sat-kriyā-sāra-dīpikā. One saṁskāra is the garbhādāna-saṁskāra. And before that one should pray to the Deities, not just pray, give me a baby. We want a Kṛṣṇa conscious baby. We should pray for possibly a long lived, healthy, suputra or son. Kṛṣṇa conscious. Many people come and say, I have been married six years, I don’t have a child, please bless me that I could have a child. But they don’t ask for a Kṛṣṇa conscious child. They don’t ask for long-lived, healthy suputra. There is a story that a poor brāhmaṇa, he had no children. He told his wife that I think I will go to some foreign land and will work and send you money. Then she said, I have no money, I have no children, but at least I have a husband. If you go to some foreign country, then I will not have a husband either. Anyway, there are five kinds of children. Let me see now if I remember, - bad karma child, inimical child, bad debt child, good child – suputra and then there is a child, sad, not caring about the family, maybe here and there. But the bad debt family you owe a debt from previous birth you have to pay it, the person comes as a child just to take money from you. Inimical child is an enemy from previous birth and this birth comes as your child. wants to harm you so comes as your child to harm you. Bad karma child means you have done some bad karma like abortion or something, and the child comes to give you that bad karma. Suputra means he will do the piṇḍī for you, they will go to Gayā or whatever. Will serve the parents very nicely. So suputra is the good one. We should ask for a Kṛṣṇa conscious, long lived, healthy, suputra.

Now we go back to the Pūrāṇic history story, the wife asked the husband that in the next village Vasiṣṭha Muni has come, he is trikāla-jñānī, please go and ask him why you are not wealthy in this life, why you are short of money? So he went to Vasiṣṭha Muni he paid his praṇāmas. Vasiṣṭha Muni asked him what do you want? He said, I don’t have children, I don’t have money, why? Nothing happens by accident, there is a cause behind everything. Vasiṣṭha Nuni meditated and mmmmmm found out, oh, it is for this reason. In your previous birth you were a very, very rich śūdra. But you had buried the wealth and hidden it underground. You did not tell your wife or children. Then you suddenly died with no warning. Your wife, your children had no money, they were starving and died because they had no wealth. But you had so much money and it was all buried and no one knew where. You were a miser. That is why in this life, you have no money and no children. He said, now I understand that. Thank you. What I don’t understand is that how did I get a good wife? And how am I became a brāhmaṇa? Vasiṣṭha Muni meditated again and mmmm aha! You know it was Vaiśākha month, and for three days you had Vaiṣṇava guests. For that good karma in the Vaiśākha month you got 100 times the benefit, and you became a brāhmaṇa and got a good wife. Today, is the Kāmadā Ekādaśī, the bright Ekādaśī of the month of Caitra. Next month is Vaiśākha. So that brāhmaṇa said, “What can I do to get children, to get money? Bachao bachao, help me!” Vasiṣṭha Muni said that, “There are seven days left in Vaiśākha month. So, this way, he did a lot of good karma and then got children and money.”

Now you all are devotees. For you, you are regular customers. Every month, every day, you do your japa, you do your Kṛṣṇa conscious activities. But say your other villagers may not be chanting, not doing kṛṣṇa-sevā. Now, Vaiśakha, Kārtika, Māgha, Dāmodara month have the special opportunity given by Lord Kṛṣṇa that you get 100 times the benefit. This year and every three years, the Puruṣottama month is coming. The Puruṣottama month is not good for good karma. But it is very, very, very good for devotional service. Haribol! Gaurāṅga! Nityānanda! So a 1000 times the benefit. That is why in the month of Puruṣottama month we should offer lamps, and we engage in different varieties of devotional service.

So we should understand that Kṛṣṇa is not subjected to good or bad karma. Kṛṣṇa is transcendental. Janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so ‘rjuna - if we know that Kṛṣṇa’s appearance, His activities are transcendental, are divya, we don’t take birth again. That is why I am stressing to read Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. Why do we take birth in this material world again and again? If we think that the only happiness, the ultimate goal of happiness is having this, what we get from this body, then this body gives us some happiness and distress. If we think that the only happiness, the ultimate goal of happiness is having this, what we get from this body, then this body gives us some happiness and distress. But we don’t get satisfaction. We don’t get santośa, we don’t get satisfaction. There is a famous rock and roll group which sang a song, ‘I can get no satisfaction’. That is the material world. No matter how much we try we are not satisfied. Those who are millionaires, they want more and more.

Yayāti Mahārāja saw some ladies were taking bath naked. Mahādeva Śiva and Pārvatī was going on their bull. They ran up and covered themselves with their clothes. Somehow the daughter of Śukrācārya, Devayānī got thrown in the well. I think Śarmiṣṭhā threw her. Now I am studying for my Bhakti-vedānta degree. So, then Yayāti Mahārāja found this beautiful girl in the well, naked! But he was a gentleman so he tried to help her out of the well. But Devayānī said you should marry me. But he said, I am a kṣatriya, you are a brāhmaṇa, this is pratiloma marriage, I should not do that. But she said that I have been cursed that I am not going to have a brāhmaṇa husband. Anyway, it is a long story. She begged her father and got permission to be married to Yayāti Mahārāja. Yayāti Mahārāja married Devayānī and they had a lot of sex life. But Yayāti Mahārāja was very lusty. And Śarmiṣṭhā asked him for a child. Devayānī had a child in the womb and Śarmiṣṭhā had begged the king that a kṣatriya can be approached for a child. So then she became pregnant. Devayānī could understand that Śarmiṣṭhā got pregnant by her husband. Devayānī was very angry and she approached her father, Śukrācārya. Her father was also angry and cursed Yayāti that he become an old man. When he got cursed, he begged, please release me from this curse. So then he, Śukrācārya, saw that by the curse he had also caused something for his daughter. So then he, Śukrācārya, told Yayāti Mahārāja that you could trade your old age with someone of young age, they could take your old age and you could get young age and be free. Yayāti Mahārāja said that even though I have become an old man, my lusty desires have not gone out.Therefore, if I die with these lusty desires, I will have to take birth again. He had four children, sons. He asked one after another. Three children refused him. I WANT MY YOUTH! The fourth one, he was interested in self-realization, so he was happy to give his youth. So Yayāti Mahārāja traded his old age with his youngest son’s youth. And he had a lot of sex life with his wife. This is the 9th canto, this is the canto of liberation. I was wondering why is it talking so much about sex life? What does that have to do with liberation? Then at one point, Yayāti Mahārāja, he realized that I am doing this again and again, but I am not satisfied. The real purpose of human life is self-realization. Then he preached to his wife, it is a long story and both of them decided that they would do Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And they would stop their sex life. And they did that and they were fully Kṛṣṇa conscious and went back to Godhead.

Anyway, we are in the line of Lord Caitanya, He told all the gṛhasthas to be very active in their Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He is gṛhijana-śikṣaka – teacher of the householders, a name of Lord Caitanya. This way please engage in devotional service in the service of Kṛṣṇa as much as you can. Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted that you should have a Kṛṣṇa conscious offspring and in this way you can engage yourself in devotional service. Do kīrtana, read books, do sevā. And get spiritual taste. Haribol! Gradually get the spiritual taste and that will predominate.

I am very, very happy that so many devotees are doing devotional service. At home you serve your Deities, do different services for Kṛṣṇa. So, it is getting late. I am ending now. I hope that all of you will go back to Kṛṣṇaloka, Goloka doing service to Kṛṣṇa.