4 Levels Of Understanding Krishna’s Appearance Janmashtami 2024 Class

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Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

Hare Krishna. I'm grateful to be here with all of you today. I'm going to be discussing the appearance of Krishna and we'll try to understand it at four different levels.

And what does this four-level understanding mean? Broadly speaking, Bhaktivinoda Thakur explains that Krishna Leela itself can be understood at multiple levels. And I'll explain what Bhaktivinoda Thakur says initially briefly, then after that I'll explain how we can apply that paradigm to Krishna's appearance. So whenever stories are heard.

Now stories can be of different kinds. Stories can be histories, those which have happened. Stories can be fables.

Fables are basically made-up stories that are not events that have happened but they are made-up stories which convey some moral lessons. So there are Aesop's fables, there are Panchatantra tales. Now stories can be myths.

Now the word myth is a little polarizing word because the word myth sometimes conveys the idea of imaginary and generally we rebel against the idea of the scriptures and the stories in them being called imaginary. But it also has a less evaluative idea and a more, it doesn't convey the idea of imaginary as influential. Influential means this character has become mythical in the Indian imagination or in the Indian mind.

I mean that character has become larger than life. So myth is a very influential story. So it's not necessarily an evaluation of its judgment.

Sorry, it's an evaluation of its reality. It's more a statement about its influence. So that's why, say when we write books, say I have written a book on the Ramayana, other people have written books, they are put in mainstream publishing houses.

They publish them and then they put them in their bookshelves. They will classify them in the domain of mythology and in the mythology. Now we can debate the point that whether that should be a classification, but that's the existing classification right now.

Now apart from that, there are just anecdotes. Anecdotes means that things which we have personally experienced, oh this happened to be over here, this happened to be over there. So this may seem to be a very mundane way of starting off, but the reason I am doing this right now, that generally speaking there is a big division or among, when it comes to Krishna Leela, the big division in how it is understood by insiders, we could use the word devotees for insiders and we could use the word outsiders for non-devotees, but it is those who are a part of the tradition and those who are not a part of the tradition.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur, so insiders think of them as literal history. This is exactly how it happened. Outsiders often think of them as something like fables, made-up stories.

And especially when, if you come to Krishna Leela and Krishna Chayagudu pastimes especially, there doesn't seem to be that much to learn from those pastimes. So because of that, the problem that comes is that people start to hear this, what is the point of these stories? So Bhaktivinoda Thakur wanted to build a bridge. So we'll try to apply that approach and we'll see how things move forward.

Okay, so the approach he uses is, he takes a conventional analytical framework. He said there are three levels of Adhikar. The word Adhikar means authority, but Adhikar can also mean qualification.

There are three levels, Kanishta, Madhyama and Uttama. Now we generally use these terms to refer to devotees at different levels. But these are general classificatory terms.

There are people at different levels in general. And when people are at different levels, they analyze things differently. So he says the Kanishtas see everything at a literal level.

So the story, oh and it's a great story, this is exactly how it happened and that's all there is to it. But he says there are people who are more analytical, more intellectual. They want something to contemplate.

They want something to analyze, something to dive deep into in their intelligence. So Vishwanath Ji Thakur also says that, he takes the metaphor of churning and he says the Bhagavatam can be churned first using buddhi and then using bhakti. So it's a very interesting way.

When we churn at different levels, we get different understandings. So in the Amrit Manthan Leela, the churning was happening, different things came out due to the churning. So we could say there are some people who want to churn using their buddhi.

What does this mean? What does that mean? So he says this is it. There are some people who may want to have some ethical lessons from this. So what is this? What can we learn from this? What does this signify? So this is where often life lessons come in.

Okay, this character acted like this in this situation and we can act like this, we can learn this. So ethical is there. So for example, Ravan abducted Sita or Mantara influenced Kaikali.

So that is indicative of how bad association, especially submission to bad association, can be very damaging. How lust can be damaging. That's ethical.

Now beyond that is allegorical. In the allegorical level, we look and our scriptures themselves are not allegorical, but there is some symbolic meaning. At the literal level, people are just primarily interested in entertainment.

Oh, I have heard a nice story and I enjoy the story. At the ethical level, people are interested in guidance. Okay, what can I learn from it? Then at an allegorical level, there is some kind of illumination, some symbolic meaning is there by which intellectual illumination comes in.

And in our tradition also, it is there. Say for example, we have the idea of Ravan representing lust. So at the allegorical level, the key question is not just who is Ravan, but what is Ravan? And then the allegorical is the medium level.

But then he goes forward. In one sense, he is patting on the back those who are analytical, those who are intellectual. Yeah, you know, there are people who just simply hear the story for entertainment.

You are more intelligent, you are looking for some deeper meaning. He appreciates that. But then comes the real twist.

But you are not at the highest level. There is a level that is highest. And at that level, you churn with the rod of bhakti.

And this is the devotional level. Now, you know, Thakur doesn't use the word ethical and allegorical. He just uses the broad word non-literal levels.

So the mathyama want to look for non-literal means. And then there's a transcendental, adhyatmic, divine meaning at devotional levels. So we could put this as L-E-A-D.

Or we can lead people towards Krishna in increasing appreciation. So at the devotional level, what is sought is simply absorption, ecstatic absorption. A devotee just simply loves to hear about Krishna.

And it is said Mahaprabhu would like to hear Guru Maharaj's pastime a hundred times, Pratap Maharaj's leela a hundred times. More, just like, over the nose saying, Aniyor, Aniyor, I want to hear more, complete more. So the devotee's mood is Aniyor.

Now, the key thing is, at a superficial level, the literal and the devotional can seem similar, but they are not. The literal is not the same as devotional at all. At the literal level, as I said, the person's interest is only in entertainment.

And that's why if they hear one story, and after that, if they don't, okay, that story is over, they may hear Krishna Leela, Ram Leela, they hear about Jatayu being killed, they hear about Vimanyu being killed, and they may have tears, and as soon as the TV gets, that particular TV show gets over, switch off that, that, turn on another channel, and they watch a cricket match, and if their favorite batsman gets out, they also cry over it. So there is no clear direction of emotion, there is no detachment. At the devotional level, really, no interest in anything other than Krishna.

Now, of course, as a service, if a devotee has to be interested in other things, then a devotee can do that, but there is no attraction towards it, there is no attachment to it. The mind is completely absorbed in Krishna. So this is the level, if you've got a devotional level, this is the way we see it as Leela.

Leela means it's simply the reciprocation of love between the Lord and His devotees. Another difference is that there is no capacity for analysis at the literal level. There is, on the other hand, there is no need for analysis, even if capacity is there.

What does that mean is that if required, that those who are at the analytical, devotional level, they can also do sophisticated analysis if required, but that is not their need, that they have to do it. The non-literal level, those who are at the Madhyama level, they need that kind of analysis. So that's what convinces them.

It's some substance over it. So let's look at this, and we'll try to understand Krishna's appearance. So, jayati dedhikam janmanavraja rayata indita sajvadhaghrate daitadrishnatham dhikutavatam svarthitantavam svarthitimbhate This is the first verse from the Gopi Gita, and this itself indicates something special over here.

At the literal level, what happens is, it's a story that is interesting. So, a story that is interesting means that at this level, a person is primarily interested in how entertaining is the story. That's why somebody's watching a movie, and their primary concern is, hey, don't tell me the story, don't spoil the suspense.

If the suspense is spoiled, then what happens? The person starts thinking, okay, it's a spoiler. So often in movie reviews, there's a spoiler alert, that there's no spoiler to preview like that. So the idea over here primarily is that Krishna, when we hear Krishna Leela, at the literal level, people want to know, it's a new story.

An old story. Oh, I've heard this. I want to do some lecture shopping.

People aren't interested in going deeper necessarily. But even from a literal perspective, Krishna's appearance is fascinating. In this particular verse, I quoted, jayatite, become janmanah vraja.

This is one of the pramanas that Jiva Goswami uses to emphasize the point that Krishna's appearance is not as simple as it seems. So the gopis here, when they're praying, they are not just sentimental cowherd girls who are just married because they're separated from their object of love. They're actually speaking at a very elevated level of emotion, but also wisdom.

That's how they are talking that our future asuras are going to come. They are saying, that you will provide us, protect us from your future. You have protected us in the past.

You will protect us in the future. Why are you not protecting us now? How can you let us die now? So they're enlightened sages. They are also saying that you are born in the sattva-kula.

That means sattva-kula is actually, it can mean you are a saintly enlightened person. You are born in the, but it also means the sattvatas is one of the Vamishas in the asuras. So they know about Krishna's identity and then they're using the word janmanah vraja.

So what it means is that they are, this is a pramana, one of the many pramanas that Jiva uses to illustrate that Krishna was born in Vrindavan. So let's try to understand the story at the literal level itself. And we will try to piece together some of the missing pieces that are there in the story.

Now the way the story begins at the Bhagavatam is before the actual event. Generally speaking, whenever say a movie starts or a novel starts, there are two ways to start it. One is just start right from the middle of the action and then go backward and then start with some fighting going on and some big action scenes going on and then towards it, okay, who is this person? Who is that person? And why are they fighting? That's one way to do it.

The other is actually build up, build up through a little background. Okay, what are the significance of this fighting? Who is this person? Who is that person? And then fight. So then bring the fight, then they bring the key action.

There are different approaches. So the Bhagavatam begins the 10th Canto, which is talking about the appearance of Krishna with some backstory. So the backstory is related in three different ways.

First, it just creates a dramatic setting for Krishna's appearance, how dramatic and how dangerous the setting energy appears. Second is, it also brings out the character of the characters, how evil Kamsa is. And it also brings out how significant or the significance of Krishna's appearance.

So now we know the backstory is what? It starts with Kamsa arresting his own father. Kamsa's cruelty is shown in the Bhagavatam in many different ways. So it's sometimes you can say, this person is a terrible demon.

Okay, why? Should I believe it just because you say it? No. He arrests his own father. He takes away the throne from his father.

We know that in the Islamic rule of India, that's what Aurangzeb did. Aurangzeb took the throne from his father and imprisoned his father in the same, in a prison where it was very close with Taj Mahal, but he couldn't see the Taj Mahal. Then there's another son of his.

He killed that son and locked off his head and gave that head as a gift to his father. So Kamsa arrested his father and kept him in the control. He was a tyrant.

Now, although he was a tyrant, even tyrants don't like to be seen as tyrants. So he wanted to ask him, does, when his, now the exact sequence is that, he started, he had a depraved nature, but that depraved nature comes out in different ways. He arrests Sugrasena, that incident comes, that is a manifestation of his evil nature.

How does that evil nature start off? At many levels, but at one level he's acting like a good person. Suddenly there's Akashwani. He is taking his sister, actually she's the cousin's sister, Devaki, he's taking her, he's driving her chariot after her body.

So in the world, what a devoted brother I am. Recently, just a few days ago, there was a Rakshabandhan. So the idea that a brother should protect his sister.

He's embodying that. In one moment, that Rakshabandhan becomes the Murthyubandhan. He's catching her by the hair.

He's ready to knock off her head. See here's one Akashwani. Child, the Atyagarbha will be the cause of your death.

Ready to forget all the loss. You know, the level of sinfulness over here is unbelievable. It's, he's not even trying to cover it up.

So first of all, for a man to attack a woman is bad. For a Kshatriya who's meant to protect women, for a Kshatriya to attack a woman is far worse. For a brother to attack his sister is even worse.

For a Kshatriya to attack his sister on her wedding day, that is if you consider sin, sin square, sin cube, sin raised to the power of four. And then to do it on the wedding day in public, in front of everyone. So it's already that because sin raised to the power of five.

So generally when people do bad things, they try to hide it and do it. If they do it in public, public means not just public, but all other kings were there. Ugrasen was there.

In their presence when he's doing this, what does it mean? He does not have any fear of the law. The law has fear of him. He's the kind of demon here.

Once this nature comes out, then he starts doing all kinds of other things. Like I said, he arrests Ugrasen, he persecutes everyone else who he sees as a threat. The Yadus seeing his demonic nature, some of them flee from there and some of them just act as if they're supporting him.

Some of them actually become his supporters, a few of them. And then this is the setting where he's ruling. Among the various demons, Kamsa, like Ravan is always lusty.

Ravan is almost always evil. But Kamsa has his mood swings. At one moment he's cruel, around his kind, next moment he becomes kind.

Vasudev somehow uses some emergency advice, emergency argument, emergency reasoning, emergency pleading and gets him to spare Devaki. This is the bond of responsibility. Although they got married just now, there's no long-term relationship there.

But immediately that sense of responsibility that she's my wife, I have to protect her, do whatever it takes to protect her. It is her sons that are the threat to you and your sons. He promises that and Kamsa believes him.

And Vasudev dutifully gives his son. And then Kamsa says, okay, I know threat from the first son, only one day he can. Vasudev goes back, but he's not relieved.

He still knows this kind of people can change their mind at any moment. The mind of demoniac people is like a horse. Not just like a horse, it's like those who are opening them, those who are trusting them, those who are relying on them, like they riding a horse and suddenly when the horse is going very fast, they're told, okay, go from this horse to that horse.

What? How can I do that? How you have to do that and keep moving at the same pace? Like they change their mind so fast and they expect everyone else to submit to them and do accordingly. It's very difficult to work with such people. So anyway, what he does is, he demands this.

One moment he says, your son is safe. But then Narada Muni comes and tells him, you didn't say it. This is the first child you take a petal of lotus.

It's the first. So why didn't Narada Muni seem to incite? See, actually, we could say, why is Narada Muni inciting him? We could even say, why did the Akashvani come first? Krishna would have just appeared and killed Kamsa. He didn't have to give the Akashvani at all.

Because of that, Kamsa did so much atrocities. Because of this, Vasudev Devaki had to be in prison. Because of that, you know, their six children were killed.

So actually, when Krishna comes, he doesn't just want to kill the demons. He wants the world to know how demoniac they are. When there is danger at that time, how does one use one's power? It's the real test of a person's character.

See, anybody can gain power if they have some intelligence, some shrewdness, some cunning. But after gaining power, when there is danger, do they abuse that power? Kamsa abuses his power big time. How evil he is, Krishna shows that to the backstory.

And he is simply giving him reasons, at one level, to bring out his true colors. And he says, okay, I'll kill all the children. It cannot be a worse nightmare for parents than to have that child not just die, be killed in front of them.

So what kind of brutality is required to do something like that? Let us just hear the story, but we will not even think about it. A parent loses one child, sometimes someone loses a child, even to miscarriage. They never saw the child.

But they lose that child, it causes so much pain. The child is born, the child comes out, you see the child. Kamsa was so cold-hearted, he would kill the children right in front of them.

So, Sudev and Devaki could have been traumatized by this. Because they knew something bigger was going to come to this. They knew the world would be delivered from a tyrant like Kamsa, and if they had to suffer for it, they were ready to do it.

Then, the seventh child, six children were killed, the seventh child disappeared, apparent miscarriage was there, and the eighth child was traumatized. We know here, we will go back to Vrindavan. Now, in Vrindavan, there is an appearance of Krishna.

That is the claim of Jiva Goswami. So, what is the basis of this claim? There are several verses in the scripture, it is said in the Bhagavatam and other places, which indicate that Krishna was born in Vrindavan. So, we do know that Vasudeva and Devaki also get pregnant after a long, long time.

In fact, for her, Vasudeva and Devaki, Vasudeva and Mandra Maharaj, they have different sets of problems. Vasudeva and Devaki are having children, but they are losing children. Mandra Maharaj and Yashoda Mai, they are just not able to have children.

It goes on and on. Nowadays, many pictures are made, Yashoda Maharaja is quite young. Yashoda Maharaja, they are healthy, but they're not very young.

They are middle-aged. So it's almost given up hope of having a child. They do some special tapasya, he becomes pregnant.

And then the appearance of Krishna happens at both places, at Vrindavan and Mathura. Now in Mathura, there's a whole complex backstory. In Vrindavan, this two backstory is not that much.

The two significant things about Vrindavan is that Nanda Maharaj, although he's not the eldest brother, he's the most qualified. That's why, although Upananda is the eldest, he says, Nanda, you should become the king. So he's the king, that's why his position is even more significant.

And yet, he is not having a child. So although he is a Vaishya and Vasudeva is a Kshatriya, they have affection and respect among each other. So we see here that there's whole propaganda about the discrimination in the caste system in India.

So they have a very good friendship. And now we could go backwards and they are related also, a lot of complex, a lot of nuances in the story. But it was division of labour, not segregation of people based on caste.

Everybody had their place, a respectful place, a respectable place in society. He was considered a leader among the Vaishya. The Kshatriya is the king of the entire kingdom.

But every community will have its own leaders and those community leaders are also respected by the followers of that Varna and by the higher authorities also. So he's significant, significantly important. And second is that he doesn't have a child for a long, long time.

And that's why when they get a child, it's not just that Nanda Maharaj and Yashoda are happy. They are very beloved as leaders over there. So all of Vrindavan is happy that our king and queen are now having a child.

So this is the back story in both places. Now when events are to happen, there are two, three significant things over. Sudeva and Devaki, now the literal story when it is, when it's happened, literal story is as events transpire, as they happen.

So there are some significant things. It's like a point, there's always in this world, tension between light and dark. There are forces of goodness, goodness and forces of evil.

Krishna appears at midnight. There's often the question that is raised that if Kamsa was so afraid that of the 8th child of Devaki, he could have just kept Kausadev and Devaki in separate cells and then there would have been no problem. Actually, the point was that first of all, Krishna did not appear by ordinary means of physical union.

They said that Krishna appeared first in the heart of Kausadev, then the heart of Devaki and then he transformed into a womb and then he appeared. He appeared with hair on his body, with ornaments, effulgent form, didn't appear like an ordinary being. So even if they had been kept separate, that would not have made any difference.

The second more important thing is that this is not what Kamsa knew. But why did Kamsa not keep them separate? Kamsa had a huge ego and his ego was that he wanted to falsify the words of the Devatas. He thought that I have already defeated the Devatas in war.

Now, if I can prove that even their words are false, then people will lose all faith in the Devatas and once that faith is lost, my power will have no more challenge, no more threat. That is why I let the child be born and then I will kill the child. I will show that the one who was supposed to be my killer, I am that person's killer.

In that way, I will lose my authority. That was Kamsa's calculation in letting the child be born. It's symbolic that he wanted to create, it's not symbolic, it's instructive.

It's that he wanted to create fear about his power in everyone's hearts. But in that process, it was he who became filled with fear. Ayat Kamsa, it is described in the Bhagavatam, that he would constantly be in fear of Krishna.

Even before Krishna appeared, he was in fear and throughout Krishna's life, he never saw Krishna. Krishna came in Mathura for the wrestling match, but he lived in fear of Krishna. So anyway, the point is that Kamsa wanted to create fear of his power in everyone else's heart and also destroy the faith in the Devatas that people might have.

So Krishna chose to appear at midnight. Now again, there's a striking contrast between what happens in Mathura and what happens in Vrindavan. In Mathura, the darkness of midnight and in the very depth of midnight, very very dark, somehow everybody falls asleep.

It is Krishna Yoga Maya. Vasudev and Devaki, they are shackled, but they're shackled by Krishna. But now, Krishna appears over there.

When Krishna appears, the whole atmosphere becomes illuminated. Not only the outer atmosphere becomes illuminated, hearts become warmed with illumination, with joy, with confidence, with security, with great anticipation. The whole universe becomes celebratory, the appearance of the Lord of the universe.

You know, Vasudev and Devaki are delighted to see Krishna and they offer prayers to Krishna. There is a tension when the Lord appears in this world and those who relate with the Lord in various Rasa's, on one side they have their particular Rasa in which they want to do service to the Lord. At the same time, there is some awareness that this is the Lord.

So Devaki, she offers prayers to Krishna like her husband, but then she says, Krishna, you are in this extraordinary form, how will I hide you? Take some more ordinary form. Oh, in one sense, if she knows he is God, why does she have to hide him? And realistically speaking, in that prison cell, where can she even hide him actually? But it just shows her maternal concern. Krishna tells Vasudev, you take me to Nanda Maharaj's place in Vrindavan.

You leave me there and you come back. And the prison doors open. In that darkness, Krishna brings light and then Vasudev takes Krishna to Vrindavan.

Now that whole story, I won't go into the details of that, but let's look at simultaneously in Vrindavan what's happening is that Yashoda has a very long labor and everybody around her, she has assistants, she has maidservants, they're all waiting. But in the waiting and waiting, they all become exhausted. And when they become exhausted, at that time they all fall asleep.

And even Yashoda falls asleep. And then when she has a child that nobody comes to understand. It's everybody is fast asleep.

So it's the same yoga maya at one level puts the guards to sleep but creates illumination in the prison cell. But what is a very comfortable place, a home, there's no Prabhupada Sampradaya, there's no maternity ward. It's not a maternity ward in the technical sense of the word today.

But in the home which is safe and secure, there is complete darkness. Krishna is brought there. Over there is taken by Vasudev.

So this is at the literal level, the story of how Krishna the next morning, what is happening in Mathura and what is happening in Vrindavan. In Mathura, Vasudev comes back, he brings the girl. What is Krishna doing over here? Krishna wants to be protected, they want to be safe, that's fine.

But to get some innocent child, to let that innocent child be killed, is that the right thing to do? What is that child's fault? Or is that child just being used as a instrument for some higher cause and offered like a sacrificial pawn? So there is a higher plan going on there also. So Kamsa wakes up. Vasudev comes back, shackles that fastened on him, and the guards wake up.

There comes Kamsa. Kamsa comes charging, and he grabs this girl. Devaki, why are you so mean with him? He's a girl.

Don't kill her. He's taken her back. It's a girl.

He says, no, let's not take any risk. He raises her, smash her on the ground, just like he has done before with all the previous children. As he raises her, she slips out of his hands.

He rises above, and there appears the effulgent, powerful form of the goddess. So Devaki and Vasudev have just seen Vishnu, and they've now seen Devi. And Kamsa is seeing Devi for the first time.

He is a worshipper of the goddess. And because he's a worshipper of the goddess, he doesn't know how the goddess appeared. It takes him time to process what happened over there.

He says, you fool, the one who is going to kill you has already appeared elsewhere. So now again, the exact Sanskrit, if you go, the commentators have done different analysis. Is he there somewhere else? Has he already appeared somewhere else? Has he been transported to somewhere else? So what does it exactly mean? Depending on how we read those particular words, there are different meanings over there.

The point is, in Kamsa, things don't register first. So the goddess whom I worship appeared from Devaki. It was a woman.

The goddess had not promised to kill me. She is my worshipable deity. So he immediately has an apparent change of heart.

He says, no, I made a mistake. I made a mistake. Please forgive me.

Please forgive me, Sudev and Devaki. It's interesting. It said that they forgave.

Now, it's important to know what forgiveness means and what it does not mean. If forgiveness is for the past, it's not for the future. If somebody has done some past wrongs, we forgive them.

But still they need to earn trust. So forgiving is not trusting. Sudev and Devaki said that they forgive Kamsa.

But they don't trust him. They don't tell him, oh, actually, you know, I've kept my child in Vrindavan. It's foolishness.

If his change of heart is real or not, we will prove it. They don't just take him at face value. They forgive him, but they don't trust him.

So forgiveness can be given, but the trust has to be earned through action, not just through words. And Vasudev's decision is prone to be right. Kamsa soon has a change of heart and he tries terrorizing and killing all the children who have been born recently.

But initially, let's Vasudev and Devaki go, because we start thinking that the goddess appeared from her womb. She must be a special and great soul. And the philosophical knowledge, spiritual knowledge, can be utilized in different ways.

So in some of the retellings of the 10th century, Kamsa says, really, it's Kali Yuga now. Even the Akashvani speaks lies. There was no threat for me.

Why did I kill so many children? I'm such a terrible person. Oh, but what can I do? I was misled. It's not as far as you're concerned.

It was just destiny that your sons were to be killed. And I happen to be a mere instrument of destiny. And this way he tries to give some excuse for his behavior.

But then again, he goes back to his associates and tells them what has happened. And they start thinking, hey, the goddess said she appeared elsewhere. Therefore, we should do something about it.

He goes on a rampage, killing everyone elsewhere. That's where Putana comes in. But the point is, if you look at the story itself, it's dramatic.

Now, in Vrindavan, on the other hand, there's a huge celebration. In fact, Nandotsava, which is celebrated after the appearance of Krishna, itself is amazing. It's a festive occasion, a spontaneous celebration.

Everybody enjoys that Krishna has been born. So, the moods in these two places are very somber and they're very different. In Mathura, it's still somber.

It's grave. It's uncertain. In Vrindavan, unrestricted celebration, just pure joy.

So, Krishna can evoke different emotions at different times, in different people's hearts. So, now what is described by Acharya is that, actually, Sudev, Nandamahalini Shodha, there are different explanations of this narrative, but let's keep one of them. Nandamahalini Shodha actually had two children.

And because there were two children, that's why her labor went so long and she was so exhausted. And in the darkness, he did not see two children. He saw only one child.

And he replaced that child and he put his child over there. And that Krishna, that was Sudev Krishna and that Vrindavan Krishna. Sudev Krishna is the one who was born to Sudev and Vrindavan Krishna is the one who was born to Nandamahalini Shodha.

They became one. Another explanation is that while Sudev was crossing Yamuna, Krishna fell out of his basket into Yamuna. So, they panicked.

What happened over here? But they found. So, during that time, what Sudev Krishna was the Krishna who fell in and the Vrindavan Krishna who was born in to Mother Nandamahalini Shodha, that Vrindavan Krishna came over here and then the Krishna who was picked up was Vrindavan Krishna. So, either way, the point is Krishna was also born in Vrindavan.

So, even without the additional twist, the story is very dramatic in terms of what all was happening for this child to be born. That's at the literal level. I described the literal at a somewhat detailed level, although we know the story, because that is useful and essential in some ways for understanding the story at other levels.

So, let's look at the ethical level. At the ethical level, there are two different perspectives or two different points that we can consider. The first is from the perspective of Vasudev and Devaki and that's the most important perspective that we have to go through so much difficulty.

For somebody to be a part of a great cause, often they have to go through great trouble, great sacrifice. The first volume of Prabhupada's Amrit is called a Lifetime in Preparation. Now, that's a very, at the same time, a very soft way of putting it.

It's not just a lifetime in preparing. When we say a lifetime in preparation, that means, okay, after you prepare, something more is going to come, like we have for an exam. We know exam is going to come.

We didn't know when we read Prabhupada's story, such spectacular, unparalleled success with outreach in later years. Throughout Prabhupada's own life, we didn't know that. Prabhupada never claimed to be Trikalogya.

Prabhupada was trying various things and when he was going through this, they were all real struggles. It was a lifetime of austerity, lifetime of setbacks, lifetime of disappointments, lifetime of hard breaks. So many things and none of them worked for him.

When Prabhupada came to America in the year 69, if you look back at his life, you could have seen this is all Krishna preparing me, but it could also seen as none of the things that I have done have really worked out. He had written the Bhagavatam, he had started Back to God magazine, he stopped it. He had written the Bhagavatam, he had got the Prime Minister of India's endorsement, the President's endorsement, but it had not really caught up and become a big bestseller.

It was something which was there. He started League of Devotees, he had to drop it. His family business, his business did not work out at all.

His family was not at all supportive, but they were not really supportive of his missionary spirit. So in one sense, Prabhupada had nothing really to show for his efforts till that time. Suddenly, Krishna gave so much.

So for preparing for a great cause, for contributing to a great cause, he may have to go through great difficulty. Vasudeva and Devaki show that they are ready for that. But Sita is actually waiting for us to become ready.

What does becoming ready mean? It means that we need to accept that Krishna's plan, when he says bigger than us, it is better, it is bigger than our plan, it is better than our plan. Sometimes a bigger and better plan may require the parting of our plans, the crushing of our dreams. Sometimes we see something to invest our life in, it's crumbling down.

Sometimes it's not just crumbling down, it crushes down and it causes the ground under us to crumble and we don't even have anywhere to stand. It's utterly devastating. So if we think of it from the emotional perspective, the price that Vasudeva and Devaki had to pay for having Krishna was immense.

You could know that the next child is going to be born, like the next child is also going to die. And it was not that their sacrifices stopped at that, that we have a child and we don't, we can't even take care of that child, we can't see that child, we can't hug that child, we can't even let that child know that we are its parents and we cared for it. Few things as painful as that would have been.

So it's not that even after Krishna appeared, suddenly Krishna did everything magically. From an ethical perspective, they had to keep paying the price even after Krishna appeared. They could never go to Vrindavan.

Even when they were not arrested, they were going to Vrindavan would have raised red flags and they didn't want that to happen at all. They knew that Kamsa was sending Vrindavan, they knew that Vrindavan was happening, they knew Krishna was being protected miraculously. Whether Krishna is protected today better than he is protected the next day.

So it was heart-wrenching suspense for them. They had to go to Vrindavan. Krishna came back.

When Krishna came back, in the beginning it is poison, then there is nectar. But the problem is in the beginning, how long is the beginning going to go on? One year, is it one month, is it 10 years, is it 20 years? It's like somebody is put in a jail and they don't know how long they're going to be in jail. It's very difficult.

If I know it is going to be for this much period, it's painful to be in a jail. But at least if you know how much period it is, it's relatively easier. They don't even know that.

It was the trauma, the upheaval. To hear that in Vrindavan, that nectar that Krishna gave them. Krishna just appeared and effortlessly killed Kamsa.

Reassuring everyone that Kamsa was no threat for anyone at all. First of all for Krishna. What Krishna did was really endearing.

Parents, if they have a child with great talent, with great ability, child is so good at music, my child is so good at maths, my child is so good at this, that's wonderful. The child doesn't just have ability but also has virtues. The child also has humility.

They have a child with some big competition, big championship and then after that it's called to give a speech. And that speech gives credit to everyone. My parents, my friends, my coach, my teachers.

They start bragging about how great I am. Ability attracts the mind but humility conquers the heart. So Krishna kills Kamsa but what does he do after that? He doesn't claim the crown for himself.

In fact, even when the Yadus offer him the crown, he says, he accepts the crown and he goes to Guruji and he says, this is your crown, please accept it. He says, no, no, you should be the king. You are the person who killed Kamsa.

He says, okay, so I have taken this crown for you. I have no intention for the crown. It is meant for you now.

He requests and he insists and he offers that crown. So seeing this disarming humility, his respect for elders, endures their heart so much. But Krishna goes to Vasudev and Devi.

What did they do at that time? This is the union between parent and child. Time of pain, friction and trauma for children when they are growing up. Nowadays, there's a lot of concern about people having, many young people have very difficult childhoods because sometimes the parents are, okay, is it better now? It was not breaking for us, continue.

Okay. So, so now suppose among the worst things for a child when they're growing up, the parents fighting is one thing, parents bickering in front of the child. That's a, that's a bad thing.

The worst feeling that a child can have is to feel unwanted, is to feel abandoned. My parents would, sometimes parents may not have planned to have a child or something, family planning goes wrong and they have a child. Because they're talking about it and the child overhears it.

It's extremely traumatizing for the child to think that I was not wanted. So Krishna was abandoned in one sense by the parents. Now there were reasons, there are extenuating circumstances, but still Krishna was left by his parents in somebody else's place.

Now then, Krishna could have been angry, Krishna could have been, you know, you abandoned me, you didn't care for me. There could have been many different reactions at that particular time. Krishna's responsible.

Krishna says, the children are going to serve their parents. I caused you such pain even before I was born. Because of me, you had to watch six of your children die.

Even after I was born, I couldn't serve you, you were far away from me. I couldn't help you. What can I do? From now onwards, I will serve you.

I will try to do my duty as a child. So in one sense, Krishna acts in a disarming way over here. When Yudhishthira comes in front of Bhishma, Yudhishthira is feeling guilty.

Because of me, Bhishma is on this bed of arrows, Bhishma is in such pain. And the first thing that Bhishma says is, it's most unexpected and most disarming. He says, oh Yudhishthira, how many atrocities and adversities had you to suffer throughout your life, although you're so virtuous.

So the entire mood of the discussion is changed. Krishna doesn't just speak the words. Krishna fulfills the heart's longing of Devaki.

Krishna is by now 10 years old. It's quite old. And Devaki had her pregnancy 10 years ago.

Krishna, by his mystic power, arranges that Devaki suddenly has milk in her breast. And he takes that. Basically, it might seem very odd.

What is Krishna doing? A mother, one of her mothers, especially a mother who very deeply loves a child, one of her fondest desires, one of the most intimate acts of love, is a mother breastfeeding her child. So Devaki never had that opportunity to do that. So Krishna appeared in that majestic Vishnu form.

And Devaki would say, let me feed you one. Now you're in this Vishnu form. She's in this beautiful Shyamsundar kind of form.

And he said, now take me immediately. So Krishna fulfills that desire for Devaki. Even without Devaki requesting it, Krishna is so aware.

Sometimes you wonder, I'm suffering over here. Especially we're trying to practice bhakti and still we are struggling and suffering. Krishna even knows what I'm going through.

Krishna not only fulfills this desire of Devaki that she breastfeeds him, but Krishna arranges for the previous six children also to appear. And she breastfeeds them also. And then they disappear.

They go to the higher abodes. So Krishna in this way, Parinamahamrutopamam, so fulfilling for their hearts. So whenever there's a great cause to be done, great trouble will be required.

But at the end, there is a great reward to be had. Prabhupada said that the success that he got in his Krishna's outreach exceeded even my own expectations. So at the ethical level, we learn from the tribulations of Sudeva and Devaki.

What it takes to be able to serve Krishna. Another thing at the ethical level we understand is that in this world, there will always be people like Kamsa. They will have no part in the child, in the small newborn baby.

No matter how tough and hard people are, something about baby is seen and softens the heart. If seeing a baby doesn't soften the heart, there must be something really wrong with that heart. So for Kamsa to see a small baby, not as a baby who needs protection, as somebody who's a threat, from whom I need protection, so I'll kill this baby.

This requires a level of perversion of the mind. So even at Krishna's time, there were people like Kamsa. People like that will be there throughout.

If we don't encounter them, that's our fortune. But there will be people like this and they will do ghastly things. So sometimes when very bad things happen, recently there's news of atrocities in Bangladesh against Hindus.

There's horrific violence against women in Kolkata. At the same time, we are just hearing these things. Sometimes people hear these things and start thinking that where is God? Does God even exist? Does God even care? Vasudev and Devaki, they saw their children being killed.

What is happening to me? Why is nothing happening to Kamsa? He seems to be in power. His power is increasing. He's having allies.

He's becoming stronger. Krishna has his plan. Krishna's plan works according to his time.

And sometimes there will be people like Kamsa who can create so it is Krishna himself sometimes intervenes. But sometimes Krishna empowers others like he empowered Arjuna to take down the Kauravas. So there will always be dark people.

And while it is very alarming and heart-wrenching, dark people do dark things, but we need to know that this is sometimes just the nature of the world and the nature of perverted people in this world. We should not let just the existence of evil people and their evil actions make us lose faith in God. Krishna's plan will work in his time and we need to wait.

We need to be patient. We need to have faith till that time works out. And when we look at the evil in the world and we start thinking, is there any good? To the point of being good.

It is important for us to be good, but we can't expect that just because I am good, then we know everybody will be good to me. We have to use our intelligence. If somebody goes into a bullfighting rig, there's a bull over there charging towards us.

We cannot tell that bull, hey, I'm a vegetarian, don't hurt me. Being a vegetarian is a good thing, but that does not mean the bull is not going to hurt us. But there will be evil people in the world.

We need to be good, we need to be devoted. At the same time, we need to do what we can to protect ourselves. Vasudev Rather than losing faith in God, he did what he could.

He protected his wife, he protected his child, Krishna as much as he could by sending him to Maharaj in Vrindavan and hiding that secret as well as he could. So sometimes it happens that our Kshetra becomes very limited. Kshetra is our power of influence becomes very limited.

And sometimes the demons power of influence becomes huge. And if we fall in that power of influence of the demoniac person, then we may be victimized at that time. That Kshetra is not going to be there forever.

Krishna will end everyone's Kshetra in due course of time. But during that time, we need to have that faith. The example of Vasudev and Devaki, it was not just that they had to go through difficulties, but they were seeing somebody who was causing difficulties and they had to endure that.

It's very difficult. And the person who is causing difficulty, nothing seems to be happening to that person. So it's difficult.

I'll give examples that while there is light at the end of the tunnel, definitely, but it can be very, very dark. And we have many devotees in Ukraine and the war is happening with Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine itself is basically caught in the power struggle between Russia and America.

And Ukraine is being offered like a sacrificial pawn over there. And the devotees there are in trouble. In the UK, I met some devotees when I was there recently.

It's a very difficult situation. They have their homes and their people and the flourishing communities. It's a geopolitical event.

And now it's scattered all over the world. Trying to rebuild their lives. But still so many of them are maintaining their demons.

They have come to another place where they have other opportunities to practice. So we need to hold on to our faith. Even when sometimes people like Kamsa seem to be going on and on in their power.

And the third point is that at the ethical level, when we look at events, it's important that we don't just look at events in isolation. So far, in one sense, Yashoda and Rasudev never knew what was eventually a great joy for Rasudev and Devaki. From Krishna coming back to Mathura and staying there, that became a source of great pain for even then Yashoda.

So the Lord's manifest presence is there for some time with us. So Rasudev and Devaki didn't have Krishna, didn't forget Krishna. So maybe they were still remembering Krishna.

What that means is that for all of us, when we are practicing bhakti, we can say there are four quadrants. One is the presence of Krishna. The other is the remembrance of Krishna.

Remembrance means the devotional remembrance. Now we could say if there is a presence and remembrance, that is the easiest and the best. Krishna is with us.

Say we are in a temple, at our level we may not see Krishna directly, but we can behold him in the temple. The source of remembrance, the presence is there, the remembrance is there. And the worst is when there is presence but no remembrance.

This is the example of Duryodhana. Krishna came at Shanti too. Krishna even showed his universal form.

But still, what does Duryodhana say? This is just some magic. Since Krishna was in Vrindavan, he had no work to do. So he probably did some tapasya and learned some mystic powers.

That's why he could show some form. It's the hard working prince throughout my life. If I had some idle time like he had, I would also have done some tapasya.

I would have shown bigger forms than what Krishna did. Just dismiss Krishna's form. Sometimes the presence is there, but there's no remembrance.

Now if there is no presence and there's no remembrance, that is materialism. This is what most people are not. This is the toughest.

That there is no presence, but there has to be remembrance. But this is also the most rewarding. It's like when we are not able to have the presence of Krishna with us, do we remember him at that time? If we do, that really shows our devotion.

We could have so many other things to turn towards, other things to remember. We don't do that. So for Nanda and Vasudev, although they don't have Krishna with them, they are longing for Krishna.

In their vatsalya bhava, they are actually trying to bring things for Krishna. He arranges the Gargacharya to go there and do the ceremony discreetly. He gives in charity, although he has nothing to give in charity.

He gives in the mind in charity. So they do what they can. Similarly, when Krishna departs from Vrindavan, so Vrinda Maharaj and Yashoda, they don't forget Krishna.

Oh, we had this wonderful boy in his childhood. Now he has gone. What can we do? Constantly remembering the Lord.

So even when the Lord is present on the planet, he may not be present with all his associates at that time. And the glory of those associates is that there is the remembrance even when there is no presence. That is what we need to do.

For us on days like Janmashtami, we celebrate the appearance of the Lord on this earth. But what we also want is that the remembrance of the Lord that we get on this day, that remembrance becomes more and more relishable for us. We develop a taste for that remembrance, so that throughout the year, that remembrance may continue.

At the ethical level, the test of devotion is when there is not much facility for devotion, do we continue it? Now at the allegorical level, I'll go through the remaining parts. So at the allegorical level, we know again there are two different levels of allegory over here. One is that the six children of Devaki, they represent the six Anarthas.

The six Anarthas have to be removed so that our heart becomes pure. So that means now, if you see this allegorical, sometimes there are four different levels when we use for understanding things. It is important that the representative, what is being represented, the two are not mixed together.

What do I mean by this? When something is spoken at the allegorical level, that's like a symbolism that is hidden over there, symbolism that is indicated over there. The symbolism should not interfere with or override the actual storyline. So if those six children literally represent lost anger, greed, envy, pride and illusion, then why does Krishna bring those children back? Why does Krishna have them breastfed? Because there, it's primarily a reciprocation of love going on.

So we should mix these different levels. You have to be careful about that. So at one level, one understanding is there, another understanding is there.

Our idea is to get more and more understanding, more and more absorption. So sometimes these different levels may synergize, sometimes they may not. So that's one aspect of the non-literal meaning.

The allegorical is that in the process of bhakti, there are, last time, these anarthas, they are there in our hearts and they start appearing. Sometimes what happens is that the six children, they don't just die. It is not that just as miscarriage and they go.

They are born, they are seen and they are destroyed. So sometimes for us, that the lower side within us that is there, that it doesn't just peacefully die. It manifests.

The lust that is there, the anger that is there, the greed that is there, that manifests for us, we confront it. And then if we don't let that swerve us away from Krishna, then it disappears. So then, now we may say Guru is required right at the beginning, you will start the process of bhakti.

Yes, that is true, no doubt. But the Guru bhakti in a devoted way manifests when the anarthas are removed. Then Krishna himself appears.

Balramji represents Guru and Krishna is, of course, Krishna. Krishna appears in our heart. That is one level of allegorical meaning.

Now the second level of allegorical meaning is that Krishna appeared at midnight. So sometimes things have to become very, very dark before they become bright. Sometimes, again, the darkest of times are there, and there doesn't seem to be any hope.

At that time, we turn towards Namo Injanavithaya. In which Kunti Maharaj says, you are the wealth of the hippie population. For us, when there is difficulty in life, we may think I have light.

Through this difficulty, through my intelligence, through my wealth, through my contacts, through my popularity, through my disability, through this, we all try to find out all this. And yes, we have those abilities, we are meant to use them. But these should not take us away from darkness.

Where there is just no hope. Even with the best of our ability, nothing seems to be working. There is just utter darkness.

It's at that time that Krishna reveals himself. It is that Krishna appears and dramatically transforms everything. So sometimes, when we are going through life, we think, so much darkness, when is this going to end? But it's in that darkness that Krishna will manifest.

When Prabhupada went to America, the first year, so it was extremely difficult. Prabhupada had gone on a two-month visa to America. The time at the end of the two months, we think maybe I should go back to India.

Nothing is happening over there. But Prabhupada, something is in India, beyond, keep trying. Prabhupada had no idea when his efforts would have success.

Things seem to become darker and darker and darker. It was Prabhupada staying in one, David Allen was staying with Prabhupada. He seemed to be becoming like a disciple, submissive, interested.

And suddenly, every person went mad because of drugs and attacks. Not only did Prabhupada lose a potential disciple, Prabhupada lost the only place that he had to stay. He had to leave that place running and stay on the streets, homeless.

Probably the darkest period for Prabhupada. But there, rather than losing hope, although he had lost his home, he did not lose his hope. Prabhupada's home ultimately was at Krishna's lotus feet.

Then he called some people who had come for his program and he said, and they moved from the temple to somebody's home. And from there they got the 26th Avenue. And from there, things started looking up.

So for us, things will look up. But if things are not looking up, then we should be looking up. Because things are not looking up, we start looking down and give up.

Krishna is there and Krishna will reward, Krishna will manifest, Krishna will protect. So Krishna appears in the darkest of times. And similarly, sometimes our life has, it's not necessary that life has to become dark before it becomes bright.

But even when our life seems to be extremely dark and there seems to be no hope that light will come, Krishna can bring light at that time. So we never lose hope, even in the darkest of times. And a third level of allegorical significance over here is that Vasudeva and Devaki, they were locked in a cell.

Now, God appearing in this material world itself is the infinite and the unlimited appearing within the finite space and time of this world, sends an extraordinary. When Krishna showed Arjuna the Virat Rupa, Krishna was in this world, on a chariot in one city, in one country, in one planet, in one planetary system, in one universe. Krishna was within the universe and yet the universe was within him.

So Krishna's appearance in this material world, in its finite time and space itself is miraculous. But Krishna appearing in a prison cell is so stunning. Krishna is ready to appear even in the darkest of places.

Prison is kind of a humiliating place. Somebody is, somebody asked somebody, okay, where were you born? I was born in the jail. Why were you born in the jail? What happened? Krishna was born in the jail.

But he appeared and the shackles broke off. The shackles broke off so that he was taken out of the jail. So for all of us, when Krishna appeared in our hearts, when Vasudeva and Devaki were in the cell, Krishna appeared in that cell.

Our heart may seem to be like in a cell right now. It's like it's caught in its attachments. It's not able to come out.

The shackles that are binding us to the various things in this world. Krishna appears. Krishna can just remove the shackles in one moment.

What we may struggle to do for a long, long time, Krishna can just do in one moment. It's Krishna's great potency. So in allegorical level, it's symbolisms in Krishna Yuga.

And that symbolism doesn't mean that the literal story is not true. Things did happen like that. But there is an additional level of meaning.

The last level is the devotional level. Now, the devotional level, we did discuss some things over here. But I conclude with this.

The devotional level, we see everything that happens ultimately as Krishna's Leela. Everything is arranged for the reciprocation of love between Krishna and his devotees. And whatever danger is there, whatever dangerous characters are there, they are all like props or special effects in the drama, just to enhance the excitement, the suspense of the drama.

So within that region, Kamsa, is he a demon? Well, yes, of course, he's a demon. But Kamsa also has a backstory, the devotees also have their backstories. Vasudev and Devaki have their backstory.

And Maharaj and Yashoda have their backstories. But ultimately, through various trajectories, they have come here, their characters in this Leela. So for this level, we focus on this amazing pastime, this divine reciprocation of love.

There's a great, like I said, there's a great test of love for Vasudev and Devaki. There's a great reward of love at the end. So ultimately, at the Leela level, it is understood that love is the highest reality.

It is Krishna's love for us that is the highest reality. The more we develop our love for Krishna, then we also gain entrance into that highest reality. We gain the means to rise above the realities of this world.

Oh, this is happening to me, this person spoke like this, this problem came over here, this person did like this. It's all maybe operationally true, but there is a higher reality. For us, we see when we come to the Leela level, the Leela is not just something, the devotional, it's not just something that happened at that time.

Yes, it did happen at that time, but it's happening even now. So the devotional level, Krishna Leela is like a trailer for us. How sweetly Krishna reciprocating love with the devotees, how selflessly the devotees sacrificing for Krishna shows their love.

This is the wonderful world of love. We actually know for that we actually belong to. It's what we want to go towards.

So Krishna Leela is like a trailer for us. The world of divine love is being demonstrated so that we can be attracted. And then the trailer, we watch the trailer, the trailer is good.

Oh, I want to watch a full movie. Watching the full movie is purifying us and entering into Krishna's abode. And that's where Krishna Leela is not just a trailer, it's also a trail.

Trail means the path. So for us, remembrance of Krishna itself comprises the path by which we go towards Krishna. The essence of bhakti is to make our memory our treasury.

It is for a devotee, remembrance of the memories of Krishna, he becomes the wealth of the heart. Take all the devotees towards Krishna. Krishna went away from Vrindavan, but he left a wealth of memories.

And those memories sustain the gopis, those memories sustain the rajivasis. So for us, when we are celebrating Janmashtami, let us pray that this day become an opportunity for us to get a little bit more of the treasure of the memories of Krishna. And that's more and more of our memory will become Krishna-centered.

When we have bad memories of this person doing this or we ourselves doing something terrible, or this terrible thing happening, all those memories are there. Then when they are the memories that are there, that is not a treasury, that's a trouble house for us. We want to have Krishna memories.

And bhakti is about the more our memories are filled with Krishna, the more they give us joy in this life, the more they draw towards Krishna. We remember Krishna in this world, and then the treasury of memory of Krishna, that is the treasury, that is our next life insurance. People buy life insurance, but bhakti is about getting that next life insurance.

That is making our memory our treasury. We have rich memories of Krishna in our heart, letting our mind go towards those memories again and again and again. What defines a treasury? It's not just that it is valuable, it is that we appreciate also that it is valuable.

Somebody has a treasury, not only they keep it carefully, but they keep watching it. Is it there? Is it there? It happened to me. So like that, when our memory becomes a treasury, we acquire the memories of Krishna, but we treasure them, we keep going back to them, we keep revisiting them, recollecting them, replaying them.

That's Krishna. You are what I hold, you are what I value more than anything else in this world. When we show Krishna that, Krishna has no reason to keep us in this world anymore.

He will draw us back to him. He will appear in our heart, take us as if we are living in the spiritual world while we are in this world also, and then ultimately will take us to the spiritual world. I will deliver you.

Not after a long time, soon I will do it, Krishna says. That's Krishna's supreme love. Let me quickly summarize what I discussed today.

So we talked about Krishna Leela at four different levels. First, I introduced the four levels. Krishna Bhaktivedanta Thakur's analysis of Kanishka, Madhyama and Uttama.

So the Kanishka see things simply as stories for entertainment. The Madhyama look for non-literal meanings and Uttama look at the devotional level. They are focused only on Krishna and basic ecstatic absorption.

At the literal level, we discussed how the story is so dramatic and traumatic and how there are things happening in Vrindavan and Mathura and there is so much suspense and so much intrigue. All those things are there. It's a fascinating, profoundly entertaining story.

At the ethical level, I discussed three things. First is that the price for great service. If you want to do a great service, you have to pay a great price.

That is what Vasudeva and Devaki paid for that service. Then, that's how Krishna reciprocated and rewarded them. There is Vishya, but after the poison, there is nectar at the end.

And the nectar will be wonderful when it comes. At the ethical level, you also discussed that Kamsa-like people will be there in the world. And if we happen to fall in that Kshetra, sometimes they have a big Kshetra and we just happen to be in that Kshetra.

So, if this is a demon and sometimes even a good person, a devotee, may be in that Kshetra. They have to suffer for some time. A devotee doesn't lose faith.

Just like Vasudeva and Devaki maintain faith, you also maintain faith even in such difficult times. And then, lastly, at the ethical level, we also discussed about how in Krishna Leela, there are always various characters who are working in different ways. And for Vasudeva and Devaki, they had to play their role.

Kamsa played his role. Then, I discussed at the allegorical level, we discussed about the six children of the six anarpas and we talked about how in the darkness, Krishna appears. So, life will be very, very tough and there Krishna appears.

And second is, we talked about in the prison cell, Krishna appears. So, these two are slightly different things. One is that we are facing great difficulties and we don't know how to get out of it.

The other is our attachments themselves are causing us great difficulty. There are external situations and there are attachments. So, both of them, Krishna frees us from them.

And then, last, I discussed at the devotional level that this is the reciprocation of extraordinary love. We talked about Krishna as the ideal child and how he reciprocated love with the parents. So, this is like a trailer and a train.

Train means we make our memory our treasure. And thus, we realize that love is the highest reality. Krishna's love for us is acting through all the difficulties that we are going through.

And if we focus on developing love for Krishna, then we'll also go through those difficulties beyond them. Thank you very much.