Bhagavatam tenth canto study 34 – 10.6.24-34 Contact with Krishna is miraculously purifying

Their inconceivable devotion wherein God is invoked for the protection of God. Thank you. The Gopis are praying to the various Gods for the protection of Krishna and they are invoking the protection of the various Gods for the various parts of the body of Krishna.
Thus, they are saying, Indriyani Rishi Kesha. So, let his senses be protected by the Lord of the senses, that is Rishi Kesha. Let the life be protected by Narayana.
Prana Narayana Avatthu. Avatthu means give protection. May his consciousness be protected by the Lord of Shweta Deepa, that is Vishnu again.
Mano Yogeshwar Avatthu. May his mind be protected by Lord Yogeshwar. So, by invoking different forms of the Gods of the Supreme to protect different parts of the body of the Lord of Krishna, they are basically bringing multifacetedness, variatedness in the remembrance of Krishna.
So, the process of Bhakti. So, basically we should work on remembering Krishna more and more and the more we can correlate what we are doing with Krishna, the more there can be remembrance of Krishna. Now, the body, even when we understand that I am not the body, still we identify with the body simply because we are functioning with the body and every single part of the body needs to function properly for us to be able to function.
So, therefore, associating the various limbs of the body with the Lord is a time-honored way in which we can connect our consciousness with Krishna’s consciousness. Prishnigarbhastu te buddhim, text 25, 26. Prishnigarbhastu te buddhim, ātmānāṁ bhagavān paraha, kṛḍantam pātu govinda, shayānāṁ pātu mādhavaḥ, prajantam avyādvai kuṇṭha, āsīnaṁ tvam śrīyapati, bhuñjānāṁ yajña-bhukpātu sarva-grha-bhayāṅkaraḥ.
Prishnigarbhastu te buddhim. May Lord Prishnigarbha protect your intelligence. ātmānāṁ bhagavān paraha.
May your soul be protected by the transcendental Lord who is Bhagavān. Bhagavān paraha is transcendental, all-attractive Supreme Lord. May He protect your soul.
So, earlier citta is the embodied consciousness that was invoked to be protected, now the soul itself will be protected. Now, after talking about different limbs of the body to be protected, now this invoked protection while doing different actions. kṛḍantam pātu govinda, shayānāṁ pātu mādhavaḥ.
When you are playing, may Lord Govinda protect you. It’s interesting, they’re asking Govinda for the protection of Govinda. So, Govinda, in a historical or a revealed sense, is a name that Krishna gets at a particular time when the Vrajavasis enthrone Krishna as their Indra, Govinda.
He is one who’s, but that name has an eternal connotation also. But it’s an eternal connotation, it refers to the Supreme. So, the Vrajavasis are praying to Vishnu in his form or in his name as Govinda to protect their child Krishna.
shayānāṁ pātu mādhavaḥ. And while he’s sleeping, may Lord Mādhava protect him. prajantam avyādvai kuṇṭhaḥ.
Prajantam, if he’s walking around, may Lord Vaikuṇṭha protect him. āsīnaṁ tvāṁ śrīyāpati. When he’s seated, may Śrīyāpati, the Goddess of Fortunes, Lord, may He protect her.
bhunjānāṁ yajña-bhūkpātu. Bhunjānāṁ. While he’s enjoying life, may Lord Yajña protect him.
sarva-graha-bhayāṅkaraḥ. sarva-graha-bhayāṅkaraḥ. He is the one who strikes fear for all fearful planets.
This theme is often brought about in the Bhāgavatam that Krishna or the Supreme Lord is one who causes fear for everyone. Even those who cause fear to everyone. So, bhīra-pīyat-vibheti, that reference came in the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that even fear personified is afraid of Krishna.
So here, people are afraid that when they go through bad phases in their life, when they find that their own life is going through that, that one after another difficulty is coming or coming, nothing that they plan is going right, at that time, they may get distressed. And when the astrologer may tell them that actually, you’re going through a bad period in life, in this particular planet, is is in a malefic phase right now. So when that happens, at that time, how do we move forwards? So we understand that at such times, there may be some certain rituals to be performed, certain yajñas to be performed to try to pacify those planets.
But ultimately, Lord Vishnu is the Supreme Yajneshwar. He is the He is the enjoyer of all sacrifices. So He is the ultimate enjoyer of all sacrifices.
And thus, if that Lord is satisfied, then all the subordinate deities will be pacified. He can protect us from the agitations caused by all other deities. Then, texts 27 to 29.
So this long series where the protection is being sought now from various malicious agents. And actually, how the Lord of name gives potential for all these malicious agents is described. वृद्धा बाल ग्रहाष्चये सर्वे नश्चन्तुते विश्णोर नामग्रहण भीरवः नामग्रहण भीरवः That when the names of Lord Vishnu are chanted, all these fearsome agents, they are vanquished, they are destroyed, they become afraid and they go away.
So who are all these agents? दाकिन्यो यातु धान्याश्च, कुष्मान्द, so witches, devils, enemies of children as Prabhupada translates this. So these are different kinds of witches. So basically the Vedic vision of the universe is of variegatedness at various levels.
It is not just at the level of transcendence but also on the level of, so therefore actually speaking we need to work for protecting ourselves not just at a practical level but also at a higher level, mystical level and that supreme mystic is Lord Hari, Lord of Yogeshwara. If we seek his protection then he will protect us from all dangers, all troubles and that involves just as we may have different kinds of living beings, you could say different races, different mentalities, different human beings are of different levels, similarly you said there are gods of different levels, similarly there are evil beings also of various levels. So दाकिन्यो यातु धान्याश्च, कुष्मान्द, they are all witches of different levels and there are evil spirits also like भूताs, प्रेताs, पिशाचाs, यक्षाs, राक्षाs, विनायकाs and then कोता, रेवति, जेष्टा, पूतना and मात्रुका.
These are all names of various kinds of evil beings, witches who they give trouble to the body, the life air, the senses. They cause torment to the body, the senses and the life air. अपस्मारा, they sometimes cause loss of memory, अपनद्रिष्टह, they cause bad dreams and they also cause महा उत्पातः, they cause great disturbances, वृद्धः.
So and they, it’s interesting that they are well experienced, they tormenting children. So just as the experienced evil stars, that means that we all have heard, most people who live in traditional culture have heard of the malefic stars, that they can cause inauspiciousness, but there are just like them, there are various other agents also that can cause inauspiciousness and if we are to be protected from such inauspiciousness, we need to be able to have a higher protection and that higher protection comes by connection with Vishnu, by absorption in Vishnu. Text 30, श्रिषु कवाच इती प्रणय बद्धाभेर गोपि भीक्रुतरक्षणम् पाय इत्वास्तनम् माता सन्नवेशय आत्मजम् इती प्रणय बद्धाभेर प्रणय बद्धाभेर bound with affection.
What kind of affection? The gopis had maternal affection for Krishna. गोपि भीक्रुतरक्षणम् In this way, for protecting him, they chanted all these mantras, they took out all these measures were taken, कुतरक्षणम् for his protection then, पाय इत्वास्तनम् माता and then, he was offered the milk from his mother’s breast, सन्नवेशय आत्मजम् After feeding him, then she laid him on a bed to rest. It’s a turbulent moment for his mother and she was thinking this must be a turbulent time for my child also.
He was seized away by a terrible demoness and somehow he was protected. So, he chanted mantras to protect him and then after that he was fed and then he was put to rest. So, it’s interesting, dangers come in the lives of everyone, but our basic training, our basic understanding of life, our basic conception comes into play in deciding how we respond to life’s evils.
So, some people might just get into a panic attack, might just become panicky when they face distress. Some people may become frustrated, intoxicated, taking alcohol or drugs to find relief. Some people will pray, pray fervently to Krishna and by praying fervently to Krishna, they become intense in their devotion and this is a result of devotional culture, of devotional, of spiritual training that the reflex action becomes not panic or pessimism, but penance and purification, intensification of devotion.
So, the Vrajavasis are demonstrating to us how when we face danger, they didn’t start blaming God, oh why did such a terrible thing have to happen? Rather, they have an understanding that there are many malefic forces in the universe and such malefic forces may sometimes cause some terrible things to happen in our life and when such things happen, the best thing that we can do is take shelter of the Supreme. And so, they took the shelter of the Supreme and thus, he fell asleep. Now, Krishna, after having done all these protective rituals, after having had a nice adventure, fell asleep and after all this action is over in Vrindavan, now Nanda Maharaj is returning.
So, 6.31, Tavan Nanda Dayo Gopa, Mathuraya Vrajam Gataha, Vilokya Putana Deham, Babhuvir Ati Vismitaha. So, when Nanda Maharaj came back, he had been warned by Vasudev that there might be some kind of disruption in Vraja and therefore, in Gokula, therefore, he should return back as quickly as possible. Now, as he was on his way back, on the outskirts of Vraja, he saw this huge body.
Tavan, at that time, Nanda Dayo Gopa. Now, many of the leading Gopas had gone out of Vrindavan. That’s why we will see that in the pastime involving Krishna and Putana, it’s mostly the Gopis who were involved because Krishna was with them, Krishna was seized from them and they got Krishna back and chanted mantras for his protection.
When a baby is in danger, the parents want to protect and the father’s presence is important, so important, so that the father can at least do something to protect. So, Yashodamayi, for her to not have Nanda Baba with her at that time, made the calamity even more catastrophic. But even then, she took shelter of Krishna and absorbed herself and invoked Krishna’s protection, of course, Vishnu’s protection.
She doesn’t know that Krishna is Vishnu, at least not consciously, but she thought Vishnu’s protection. So, Mathuraya Vrajam Gatha, Nanda Maharaj and the Gopas came back from Vrindavan. They saw the huge body of Putana.
They were astonished. Normally, if we see something that we expect to see, then, actually speaking, if we become angry at that, when we see something unexpected, that’s when the reaction of astonishment comes. Oh, how could this have happened? What does this mean? What can I do about this? This is not the way I expected things.
Now, this astonishment, immediately they did not correlate this with any danger for Krishna. If they had correlated with the danger for Krishna, then it would have been great fear. Thought, is this some mystic manifestation? How exactly has this terrific body come about? Not knowing exactly what had happened, they were struck with wonder.
Ati Vismitaha, text 32. Nanda Maharaj went to the Gopas and explained to them, Oh, Sanjato, my friend, Batrashi, he’s a great saintly person, a very insight person, he has got some mystic power, it seems, a master of mystic powers. Otherwise, that’s therefore, he was able to see this utpata, this disturbance was going to happen.
Anakadundubhi, Anakadundubhi, Anakadundubhi, that is one of the tongue twister names, which is present in the Bhagavatam. And this is a tongue twister name which is used for referring to Vasudeva. So, it is said over here that that Anakadundubhi, Vasudeva, he said, must be a mystic person.
He had told me some kind of disruption is likely to happen, be careful, go back to Raja immediately. And I have come back and I see there is a huge disruption over here. Normally, when somebody gives us some advice or some counsel or some guidance, often it is associated with doing something.
So, that way what happens is, we need to work towards purifying ourselves. And for purification, we need to have some understanding of what kind of impurities will come upon us. So, just as on any path, experts are meant to be able to see the future and tell us what is going to come in the future and to prepare for that future.
So, if somebody is an expert car driver and they say, okay, this car is running well, but be careful in the future, its brakes may fail or it may have some other problem unless you fix this. And if you do not fix it, and then we have those problems, hey, this person is an expert. If a doctor tells us in future, you are likely to get diabetes, be careful.
Okay. And then we start getting some diabetic symptoms. Oh, this doctor had told me this.
So, the capacity to see the future is a sign of expertise. Now, of course, when Vasudev said that there can be some uttapad, some danger in future, Maharaj took it seriously, but he actually saw that a disruption had happened. He was astounded at what he saw, but he was also he was also impressed at the farsightedness, at the mystical power which Anakadandvi, his brother Vasudev seems to have, by which he was able to do something like this.
That’s what he was able to do. Now, going further, the Vijwasi decided that the body of Putana was so huge, something had to be done about it. So, with Parashuram, Parashuram is one who, that form, a divine who delights in carrying and using a Parashu, an axe.
So, Parashubhishya, carrying axes, the Vijwasis cut the body of this particular demoness Putana. So, they threw the pieces far away and then they burned it. After covering it with wood, they burned it.
So, Prabhupada writes in the purport that when a snake is killed, if a snake is considered a dangerous creature, so after the snake is killed, its body is cut into various parts and the body is cut and thrown and burned, so that there is no way that somebody, some other relative of the snake, his wife or children or parents or whoever, they may not detect what has happened to the snake and come back and take revenge. So, basically, if all signs of the presence of the snake are removed, then that possibility is substantially decreased. So, similarly, Putana was a demoness who was like a snake.
Of course, she had come in a very beautiful form and her actual form was very ghastly, but she had exhibited animosity, envy of the kind that had been exhibited by very few, it was like a snake-like envy. So, therefore, the Vijwasis decided to treat her like a snake, but then something amazing happened. So, when her body was burnt, so actually the smoke that came from her body was like the saintly scented smoke of the agaru herb.
So, it was very attractive, pleasing and auspicious. How did this happen? Krishna nirbhukta, because Krishna had touched her. Because Krishna had tasted the milk from her breast, Krishna had sucked from her breast, therefore, all the sins that were there in her body were removed.
Body became spiritualized, relieved of all material conditions and contaminations. So, Krishna causes miracles in life and in death. That in life, when Putana was alive, Krishna miraculously overpowered her, although she was huge and he was tiny, and actually physical strength is one thing, but the strength of karma is often far more serious.
And Krishna was able to overcome whatever strength of negative karma that she might have been having by his capacity to purify her of that. So, just by the contact of Krishna, she became purified. Inside and outside, you become purified by the remembrance of Krishna.
So, that remembrance of Krishna is what is talked about over here. Not exactly remembrance, but even any kind of contact. So, remembrance, we could say, is at one level the remotest contact and another level of the closest contact.
When we remember someone, at that time, that person may be far away, and we are not seeing them, we are not hearing them, we are not touching them, we are not contacting them in any way. So, in that sense, remembrance is the remotest contact. At the same time, it can be the closest contact.
Because if two people are remembering each other, when they are far away, they can feel so close to each other because of that remembrance. So, if remembrance itself can bring such purification, then what to speak of actual contact? And Krishna had contacted Putana with his mouth touching her breast, and thus,