From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir
Date: March 7th, 2014
Speaker: HG Krsnanandini devi dasi
Subject: S.B. 5.13.19
So we are reading from the Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 5 chapter 13 text 19.
Rahugana converses with Jada Bharatha
atah kathancit sa vimukta apadah
punas ca sartham pravisaty arindama
adhvany amusminn ajaya nivesito
bhraman jano ‘dyapi na veda kascana
TRANSLATION
O killer of enemies, Maharaja Rahugana, if the conditioned soul somehow or
other gets out of his dangerous position, he again returns to his home to
enjoy sex life, for that is the way of attachment. Thus, under the spell of
the Lord’s material energy, he continues to loiter in the forest of material
existence. He does not discover his real interest even at the point of
death.
PURPORT
This is the way of material life. When one is captured by sexual attraction,
he becomes implicated in so many ways and cannot understand the real aim of
life. Therefore Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.5.31) says, na te viduh svartha-gatim
hi visnum: generally people do not understand the ultimate goal of life. As
stated in the Vedas, om tad visnoh paramam padam sada pasyanti surayah:
those who are spiritually advanced simply look to the lotus feet of Visnu.
The conditioned soul, however, not being interested in reviving his
relationship with Visnu, becomes captivated by material activities and
remains in everlasting bondage, being misled by so-called leaders.
HG Krsnanandini devi dasi:
(invocatory prayers)
So I sit before you as a product of four of my really great heroes: my
husband, HG Tariq prabhu, my mother, HG Bhumati devi dasi, my siksha guru
and dearest friend HH Bhakti Tirtha Swami Krsnapad and my eternal father-
the giver of life- the hope of my life, and the benefit of all of us, HDG
Srila Prabhupada. I want to ask the blessings of all of my godbrothers and
godsisters so that I may speak something that will touch all of our hearts
and will help us to become closer to Krishna and to each other which is one
of the purposes of this whole International Society for Krishna
consciousness.
So in this chapter Maharaja Jada Bharatha, he is letting go full force. He’s
not holding anything back. As we know the story, Jada Bharatha was once a
great emperor of the whole world-Bharat Maharaja and he gave up his kingdom,
his beautiful wife, his all opulence, everything to go and become a little
more self-realized to finish the goal of life: svartha-gati and he retired
to the forest and as he was in the forest and he at first was doing his
meditations and his sadhana and his puja and somehow or the other he became
attracted by (of all things) a deer! And of course this attraction caused
him to forget the goal and purpose for which he was there and at the end of
life because he was thinking about the deer, he gave up his body and became
a deer in his next life. But because he was a great soul and a very pious
being, the Lord somehow or the other gave him the knowledge of his previous
lives. And so even as a deer he went to associate with sadhus, he stayed in
their hermitages, he took the prasadam-the refuge and at the end of his life
as a deer, he was granted another chance. And he became Jada Bharatha. And
in that life he decided: ‘Oh no more nonsense, no more material
entanglement, no more maya! No more fuss!’ And he decided to act as though
he was dumb and retarded and crazy and even though he was born in a brahmin
family and even though he had a loving father who tried his best to teach
him all the brahmanical ways, the standards, the pujas, the cleanliness, he
refused to be a part of that and so he did the opposite of whatever his
father taught him. And his father died disappointed that he had not been
able to share with his son the brahminical life.
When his father died, Jada Bharatha was of course left with his brothers and
they just treated him like an animal or someone they didn’t care for. And
they had him do all the menial tasks, all the unclean work, they gave him
food that wasn’t fit for animals. But Jada Bharatha, being a pious soul
never protested and he accepted the treatment of his brothers as a sadhu.
So, somehow or the other his brothers got really tired of him and they
decided to sell him to some demons who were coming through. They wanted to
do a sacrifice to the goddess Kali. And this is the mode of ignorance, mode
of tamas. They wanted a human being to sacrifice to Kali. And they purchased
Jada Bharatha from his brothers. And of course Jada Bharatha still did not
protest and he went along with these people. And they set up their altar to
goddess Kali and just as they were getting ready to be-head Jada Bharatha,
the goddess became so infuriated, as is the nature of the demigods and other
saintly people, when they see saints and devotees being mistreated they
become angry.
So Kali, became so angry, she came out of the murti and decapitated the
heads of all the demons who were causing such trouble to such a pure devotee
like Jada Bharatha. And then Jada Bharatha somehow or the other ended up as
a palanquin bearer for King Rahugana who was somewhat a pious king and he
was annoyed with Jada Bharatha because he was carrying the palanquin
imbalanced, because Jada Bharatha did not want to step on any ants.
He was a Vaishnava at heart, he didn’t want to cause any hurt to any
living entity. So then at some point Maharaja Rahugana began to chastise
Jada Bharatha for his way of carrying the cart. And then Jada Bharatha
kicked in full force as Guru! The duty of Guru is to quickly and immediately
cut through the chase, to cut through all the maya and the entanglement. So,
Jada Bharatha took this opportunity to enlighten Maharaja Rahugana and he
told him that “You are entangled in the material world, you are enjoying
your kingdom and your wife, all of this sex life, but just know that you are
an eternal spiritual being and the bliss and joy of your real eternal nature
is so much greater than what you are experiencing. So give up this nonsense.
Give up this designation that I am a king, I am a great man”.
sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam. These designations that hold
us back. Prabhupada spoke of that often: I am a woman, I am a man, I am
black, I am white, I am young, I am diseased, they are all a part of the
material disease. And Jada Bharatha wanted Maharaja Rahugana to give that
disease up quickly. And because Maharaja Rahugana was a pious man, he could
hear the instruction of Jada Bharata. So Jada Bharatha was doing his duty as
a Guru.
So now I am going to switch gears just a little. Yesterday my wonderful
god-brother, HH Badrinarayan asked us all to suffer on behalf of Krishna and
that is such a commendable request because in the material world, we have to
suffer anyway. But I am going to ask us to BE HAPPY on behalf of Krishna and
I hope that at the end of the class you will see that there is no difference
between what Badrinarayan was saying and what I am saying.
So the idea that Jada Bharatha is speaking about, is grihamedi life.
grihamedi life is a life in which there is a husband, there is a wife but
they are together for the purpose of sense-enjoyment. But grihastha life is
a life where the husband and wife are together for the sake of Krishna. It
is a very auspicious ashram, it is a progressive step up from the
brahmachari ashram. And in the community, in the Vaishnava community there
should be so much cooperation between brahmacharya, grihasta, vanaprastha
and sannyasa. We should all see ourselves as a part of a system, an
organisation that Krishna Himself set up and established for the benefit of
mankind. So grihasta life does not have to be the deep dark well. It does
not have to be where everyone is after their own sense-gratification.
Grihastha life can be devotional service to Krishna and if it is done
properly one develops all the auspicious qualities: truthfulness, kindness,
generosity, compassion-these are the qualities that if one properly engages
in grihastha life and raises ones consciousness like that, one can be
purified.
In fact, one of our Acharyas, HDG Bhaktivinoda Thakur, he said that
grihastha life for those who have a view towards peaceful life and those who
want to raise Krishna conscious children is a good institution for a
Vaishnava. So I think, that our charge, as servants of Srila Prabhupada is
to show how this institution can be good. How the devotees can proceed from
brahmacharis, if they so choose to grihastha. And then from grihastha, if
they so choose to vanaprastha. And from vanaprastha if they so choose to
sannyasa and be healthy. Because if we raise healthy children then we will
give birth to healthy brahmacharis, who will become healthy grihasthas, who
will become healthy vanaprasthas, healthy sannyasis.
I have to share a little my story so that this can kind of work in. I was
initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1972, Dallas, Texas. And my mother was also
initiated and my step father and two brothers. And we had travelled a very
very long way from Cleveland, Ohio, which is a day’s drive – 24hrs to get to
Dallas. This was 71, when my mother became a devotee; we had some
difficulties with the temple president there. And so we were trying to find
a place that would accept us for who we are, so that we can serve Krishna.
We had very strong Christian background. In our Christian family, were
ministers and evangelists and they were saying that isn’t Lord Jesus Christ
good enough for you? Why are you leaving this good Christian heritage to
take this cult? So, we were getting flack from our family, we were getting
flack from the devotees and we just took shelter of Srila Prabhupada.
Somehow or other we knew that if we could just somehow stay with Prabhupadas
movement everything would be all right. So we got to Dallas, Texas, the
temple president, Stoka Krishna das was his name, some of you may know him,
he called Cleveland and the Cleveland temple president said, ‘Oh don’t let
them in they’re trouble makers’. Somehow my mother knew enough about Krishna
consciousness, she said, ‘Prabhu, we don’t have anywhere to go. We came all
the way from Cleveland. Here’s my daughter, she is pregnant. I have all
these little children. What to do?’ So, the devotee was kind, and he said to
us, ‘OK you can stay one night but tomorrow you have to go because
Prabhupada will be here’. We said “Prabhupada!!-our hero, our savior”, we
would have slept on the rooftop, if Prabhupada would be here. So when
Prabhupada came, they told him: ‘Prabhupada, there’s this black lady from
Cleveland and all children are here’, and Prabhupada sent for my mother,
because the devotees didn’t know that we had written letters to Prabhupada
and he had written back. And so my mother sat in a room with Srila
Prabhupada for six hours and the next day she met Prabhupadas secretary by
the water fountain and the secretary said Prabhupada is initiating people
tomorrow and my mother said: ‘We want to get initiated’.
So he told Prabhupada and Prabhupada asked my mother “how many do you want
to get initiated?” By this time my mother had called my step father, who
wasn’t with us in the initial coming and he had come quickly on a bus. So
when my mother told Prabhupada she said, my step father, her, me, my two
brothers.
So Prabhupada said, fine. Later I heard that there were some questions,
where some devotees said, ‘Prabhupada, we don’t think we should initiate
them because we don’t know what their sadhana is? We don’t know what temple
they are associated with!’ But because Prabhupada was so kind and so
merciful, he initiated us and from that day to this one I have nothing but
eternal gratitude to Srila Prabhupada.
Later about 5 years ago, I met the devotee who had given us such a hard time
initially in Cleveland. He was in the North Carolina temple, and I said
‘Prabhu, do you remember me?’ and after sometime and he said, ‘Yes, I do. If
I could please tell your mother and your brothers to please forgive me for
everything I did to you and if I could, I’d take it back’. And I said,
‘Prabhu, I wouldn’t let you take it back’. I said, ‘Because of what you did
to us, because of all the trouble and tribulations you caused us, we left
Cleveland and ended up in Dallas, Texas, getting initiated on Radhashtami,
by Srila Prabhupada in the same day he installed Radha- Kalachandji. So I
wouldn’t let you take it back.’
(Audience: Applause).
So, this idea, you know: I have been given this service by Srila Prabhupada,
to somehow or other strengthen the grihastha ashram in this movement. Srila
Prabhupada built a house for the whole world to live in peacefully and every
time I come to a place like Mayapur, my heart just sinks out! I am seeing
the Chinese devotees and the Russian devotees and the African devotees and I
know that it is because of one man’s love and dedication and that is
Prabhupada! And he built this house because he wanted every single one of us
to find shelter and peace and hope and joy in that house.
And I was thinking today, I was thinking what if Prabhupada was taking a
walk around this house. What if he was taking a walk around Europe and
America and Africa and Mayapur? What would Prabhupada say to us? And I think
that Prabhupada would be just so grateful that the temple of the Vedic
planetarium is being made and the devotees from all over the world are
contributing to that event. I think that he would be so pleased that the GBC
is trying to cooperate. I think that he would be pleased that his books are
being distributed left and right. I think that he would be pleased that the
doors are now open for people from every country to take to this movement
and come into his house and find shelter.
But there are some things that would cause our spiritual master a heavy
heart: and it is those things that I would humbly ask to speak to you about
today. I think that Prabhupadas heart would be a little heavy knowing how
some of his daughters and granddaughters were suffering and were not
protected. I think that his heart would be a little heavy knowing that
sometimes some of the brahmacharis are feeling a little weighted and they
can’t go to their temple authorities to ask for help and guidance. I think
that Prabhupadas heart would be a little heavy about that.
I think Prabhupadas heart would be a little heavy because as Suresvara
prabhu so nicely told us that we’ve been given the accolade of having the
highest philosophy of all the different yogas, but the poorest behavior. I
think that will make our Prabhupadas heart heavy. So I want to humbly
request all of the devotees and all of the leaders to think about what is it
that each of us can do to take some of the heaviness off from the heart of
Srila Prabhupada. In having a balanced understanding about grihastha life, I
think that that would help.
I myself have personally given birth to 10 children: 5 boys and 5 girls. And
I have to tell you, at the birth of each of my children, I personally
offered them at the lotus feet of Prabhupada.
And every single one of those children have helped me to surrender more to
the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha Krishna. Because I knew that I was totally
helpless to take care of this person, I was totally helpless to give them
Krishna consciousness and that I had to be totally dependent on Prabhupada
and Radha Bankabihari, my istadev, to do the work for them, and caused me to
surrender and always be prayerful. So, yes having children was a burden and
a challenge but I wouldn’t trade it for anything, because it is those
children that help me now to appreciate Krishna consciousness more. It is
those children that are my offering to the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada.
So, when we talk about Jada Bharatha and when we talk about the surgeon
cutting swiftly and quickly the illusion from the devotees, I hope that we
remember that there are opposite examples-there are examples of grihasthas
who make Krishna the center of their life, who give in charity, who make
sacrifices, who support all of the other ashrams and I hope we will
understand that this ashram is a devotional service at the lotus feet of
Srila Prabhupada, just like all the other ashrams and we have to cooperate.
My daughter, who is here, Ganga. So Ganga Saraswati and her husband Ganesh,
they surprised me by coming to Mayapur a week ago. And it was such a
wonderful pleasant surprise. So, they went to Vrindavan for two days and
while there, they met this priest at Kusum Sarovar. His name was Uttama and
he told them a lila about Prabhupada, which I thought, totally exemplifies
the compassion of our beloved Srila Prabhupada.
This person must have been about 90 years old, Ganga said. And he told them
that Prabhupada used to come to Kusum Sarovar and he would chant at a little
temple that his parents and grandparents used to run and that he would
always, the little boy was 8 years old at that time, Prabhupada would say:
Uttama, Uttama, please come and chant with me and he would give the little
boy a 108 beads to chant. And the little boy, 8 years old, he said that as
soon as Prabhupada closed his eyes he would run out. Cause he didn’t want to
chant 108 rounds.
And so Prabhupada understood his mentality, and one day Uttama, the priest,
now 90, but he was remembering when he was 8. He said Prabhupada sat down
with him and took all the beads off the japa beads except 27 so that he will
be able to chant 27 beads and that would be a round for him. And then he
could do that and then he could chant 16 rounds with Srila Prabhupada and I
thought wow!
How merciful is Prabhupada, how compassionate is he? That he adjusts and he
knows the hearts of all the living entities. And as his
representatives he wants us to be like that. That’s our debt. Always think
about how can I repay Prabhupada for what he did for me and there is just no
way I could do it. Because he severed the maya, he gave me Radha and
Krishna, he gave me you all, this association of devotees wherever you go
around the world, you have family. He gave us the knowledge of how to get
from death to life! So how can you repay Prabhupada? We can only repay him
by being good examples of his love and his compassion and his mercy and his
kindness. And that is the dedication that I am asking all of us to do. To
have compassion one for the other, to have mercy one for the other and to
really try to see how we can operate in this big house in a cooperative
manner in the way that would make Srila Prabhupada happy.
So I think I’ll stop here and if there are any questions or comments. Is
there a microphone?
Krsnarupa devi dasi:
Hare Krishna. Mataji, thank you so much for that wonderful class. Couple of
comments. One of them is a story about Srila Prabhupada that I would like to
share. The other thing is that it was very nice that you mentioned that we
should actually try and be happy in Krishna consciousness. For the last 40
years, probably since I was 12 years old I’ve been contemplating death and
as a devotee we are always very focused on- that we have to prepare in this
life for death. And sometimes it can get a bit depressing. So it’s very nice
to see that actually we can also be happy in Krishna consciousness. Material
world is of course, a place that’s not a happy place. But by Prabhupadas
grace we can be happy in Krishna consciousness.
HG Krsnanandini devi dasi:
Thank you prabhu. He said chant and be happy. And I don’t think that
Prabhupada would tell us anything that he didn’t think we could do.
Krsnarupa devi dasi: And the other thing that I want to share is a story
about Prabhupadas compassion. You mentioned so nicely this wonderful
pastime, the Uttama. I think it was in Melbourne, Australia. It was about
June-July, I think it was probably around, maybe 1973-74 and all the
devotees were madly preparing for the Ratha Yatra, so there weren’t many
devotees that were free and Srila Prabhupada was there and our god brother
Citahari prabhu was in a car with Prabhupada sitting in the back seat with
Prabhupada, driving to botanical gardens where Srila Prabhupada would take
his morning walk. And it was around peak hour time and there were hundreds
of people rushing to work, walking, catching buses, trains etc. And Citahari
personally conveyed this story to me. And he said that he was sitting in the
back seat with Srila Prabhupada and looking at everyone on this tread- mill,
this mad rat race and he was thinking: look at these fools, look at these
idiots, they’re just rushing around like so many rats and mice and here I
am, I’m sitting here with my spiritual master: Jagat Guru and you know
comparing their state to his state, in a not particularly compassionate way,
a bit derogatory and then he turned around and looked at Srila Prabhupada
who was looking out on the other side through the other window of the car
and Srila Prabhupada had tears rolling down the cheeks of his lotus face and
turned to Citahari and said: “how can they be saved?” It is just such a
wonderful example of Prabhupadas extreme magnanimity and compassion. I just
wanted to share that
HG Krsnanandini devi dasi:
Thank you so much prabhu for sharing that. Thank you so much. Any other?
Devotee:
Thank you for a very nice class. I remember your family coming to Dallas.
Prahladananda also remembers. Yes, and we were all very amazed that your
mother could get initiated and you were how old at that time?
HG Krsnanandini devi dasi:
I was about 20. 19 or 20.
Devotee:
You were 19 or 20. You all looked very small.
HG Krsnanandini devi dasi:
My brother was 14 and I was 20.
Devotee:
Acha. We thought you were very young. We were all very amazed that
Prabhupada did this. And yet there wasn’t any question in most people’s
minds, at least not in my mind, as to whether or not it was right or wrong,
because we all had that constant faith that Srila Prabhupada knew exactly
what he was doing. And now I am very appreciative that you are telling this
story of how you came and how it unfolded and so forth and I can see that
Prabhupada was absolutely right. As always. Hare Krsna.
(Audience: Applause)
HG Krsnanandini devi dasi:
I just want to share with you all. The devotee when I told him I wouldn’t
let you take it back and he told me a little story that Satsvarup Maharaja
was there and Satsvarup told him, that they were kind of saying:
“Prabhupada, may be, we don’t know”. Prabhupada said that “Wherever I see a
spark of Krishna consciousness I must fan it”.
(Mataji speaks tearfully) And he said, “Wherever I see a spark of Krishna
consciousness, I must fan it”. And the devotees said to me that
Krishnanandini just think that Prabhupada had to fan that spark. So, eternal
gratitude to Srila Prabhupada, for fanning the spark. And we all have to be
like that. We all have, wherever we see that spark of Krishna consciousness,
we have to fan it. Because there is so much suffering and pain in the world,
and we’ve been given the greatest gift, we’ve been given the opportunity to
once again re-enter that eternal kingdom of God. And how you get to keep
that gift is by giving it? How you get to have love of God is by giving it.
And so because Prabhupada fanned that spark, I am able to sit here 42-43
years later and tell the story. So let us try to fan that spark in our own
lives and really have faith.
I think often of the story of Sakshi Gopal. You know the story where the
old brahmin, he was going on a pilgrimage to distant distant temple to see
the deity of Gopal. The old brahmin was wealthy and the young brahmin was
poor. But they were journeying together. At that time there were no trains
and buses. They walked thousands of miles to go see Gopal. And because the
young brahmin was so attentive to the old brahmin, the old brahmin was very
very grateful. And when they finally got in front of the deity Gopal, the
old Brahmin said, “My dear son. You have served me even better than my own
son and because of that I want to do something for you. So he said please
accept my daughter as your wife”.
But the young brahmana protested, he said “My dear sir, I didn’t serve you
because I wanted anything. I served you just because it’s my duty to serve
you, you’re a brahmana, so you don’t owe me anything”. But the old brahmana
insisted that he give his daughter to this young brahmana, and he said “In
order to seal the bargain, I am saying it in front of the deity of Gopal.
Gopal will be the witness”. So the young brahmana acquiesced and said ok. So
then they travelled back thousands of miles again, months to their village.
The old brahmin went back home to his family and the poor brahmin went back
home to his family and after sometime the poor young brahmin began to think:
“Well, the old brahmin did promise his daughter and she’s not here, so I
should probably go and just remind him, because I know that he doesn’t want
to tell an untruth in front of the deity”. So the young brahmin went to the
family of the old brahmin and he said “My dear sir, remember your word that
you were going to give your daughter in marriage to me”. But when the wife
heard it and the son heard it, they said, Oh No! You can’t give my daughter
and my sister to this poor brahmana. If you do that, I’ll kill myself. So
the old brahmin was just in a quandary. He didn’t know what to do. He was
really an honest and truthful soul but he didn’t want his wife to kill
herself and he didn’t want others frustration.
Finally the eldest son, he was making a very sarcastic joke. He
said, “Well if the deity witnessed that, you go and get that deity and tell
him to come be a witness”. So the poor young brahmin, he had faith in the
Lord and he had travelled thousands of miles again, by foot to go and see
the deity, Gopal. And when he got in front of the deity, he offered his
prostrated obeisances, he said “My dear lord I hate to bother you but I’ve
come because you were a witness and I need You to come and be a witness that
the old brahmin gave his word” And the Lord told the poor young brahmin,
“Well, I am deity I can’t walk.” So the poor young brahmin, quick on his
toes, he said to the Lord: “My Lord if you can talk, you can walk”
(Audience: Laughter)
The Lord said: “Ok, such is the faith of My devotee”. And the Lord got off
the altar and He said, “I will come with you on one condition and that is
that you will never turn back. You trust that I am following you because you
hear My ankle bells tinkling and in that way you’ll know I am coming behind.
Never look back”. So the brahmin said ok. And he began to travel and he’d
stop at night, he’d rest and the Lord would rest and he could always hear
the Lords ankle bells tinkling.
So one day, he was almost close to the village. They had travelled miles and
miles. And he had just got a little anxious cause he didn’t hear the Lord’s
ankle bells tinkling and he said:
“Oh no, where is Gopal? He is not with me anymore”.
And so he looked back and Krishna Gopal said, “My dear sir, because you
looked back, I cannot go any further. I have to stay here. But it is close
enough, so you go and tell the villagers that I am here and they will come
to see Me”. So the poor young brahmin ran to the village and he said,
“Everyone come, come see.
Gopal has come to witness. Gopal has come to witness.” And sure enough the
whole village came out and there was the beautiful gorgeous Lord, Gopal and
He was called Sakshi Gopal, the Lord who comes as witness. So I think that
story is to help us to have faith that we may not always see Krishna, we may
not always, you know, just have a feeling of His presence. But because He
has given His word and His pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada has given His
word, we can trust that the Lord will always be with us and He will always
be our witness. And this is the faith of the devotees!
Thank you all very much!
Srila Prabhupada ki jai. Srila Prabhupada ki jai.
Sri Sri Radha Madhava ki jai. Sri Pancha-Tattva ki jai.
All glories to the assembled devotees. Hare Krsna.
(applause)
