Bhagavatam-daily 248 – 11.12.05 – Association’s potency is not just declared but also demonstrated

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.12.5 Krishna is describing to Dawa over here the universal redeeming potency of bhakti as manifested through the association of devotees so here Krishna states that actually by the association of devotees people from various backgrounds of Varna and people from different very different and even often background that are considered low people have been elevated so here as an example what is being stated is that what was stated in principle in the previous verses that even the Devas, Daityas Antyajas Vaishyas they all can be elevated that was stated as a matter of principle and in this verse as well as the next verse what was stated as a principle will be demonstrated through examples and in this way the principle will be further vindicated reinforced, elevated rather elevated in our understanding in our faith and our conviction so many have attained my they have attained my abode my lotus feet praptas Krishna uses the word bhavo also in the Bhagavad Gita in 4.10 this is C and D the first two lines of the verse are so by becoming devoted to me by taking shelter of me many in the past have become liberated and have attained me that’s Krishna saying in the Bhagavad Gita so Krishna is using the same principle that those who are to be elevated those who are to be liberated those who are being given a path to elevation and liberation they need some demonstration and that demonstration has to be not just in terms of declaration but also in terms of real life examples, so now Krishna is giving real life examples over here just as if some coaching classes want to attract students they may say that we have we have the highest success rate in placing our students into IIT out of so many coaching classes so many students go into this, so some people may give some general promotional statements like that, that is ok but if they give a specific example the student from this college often they put pictures also when these coaching classes are advertising themselves they put pictures oh the student got this many marks, the student got this many marks the student got into this IIT, the student got this IIT rank or whatever this JEE rank so just as so that those specific examples create more faith in the readers, in the audience and then they become attracted, so similarly here Krishna is not only giving generic declarations but he is also giving specific demonstrations and here he states that Tvashtra Tvashtra was the sage who was the father of Vritrasura, now of course he was a father not in the sense that he came through not a seminal father but he was a conceptual father in the sense that he had conceptualized him and invoked his presence through the performance of fire sacrifices and then it was so Tvashtra was also a devotee and Vritrasura got the association of Tvashtra and of course in his previous life Vritrasura as Chitraketu had got the association of Narada Muni and Angira Muni and in that way he had become elevated so he became so elevated that he faced death gallantly fearlessly Kayadhavad refers to Prahlad Maharaj now both of these are examples Prahlad who comes in the 7th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam and Vritrasura who comes in the 6th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam both of these are examples of Asuras who were exalted devotees and not just exalted devotees but devotees more exalted than even the Devatas who are normally considered way above the Asuras in terms of religious qualifications so the potency of Bhakti is such that it inverts the normal social hierarchy and Bhaktas are placed far above and the Bhakta even if they are Asura body they are placed far above the Devatas if those Devatas are not as serious Bhaktas as those Bhaktas in Asura bodies so Prahlad of course got the association of Narad Muni when he was in his mother’s womb Narad Muni gave instruction to his mother Kayadhu so Kayadhava refers to one who is the son of Kayadhu so one is referred in terms of relationship with his mother and Kayadhu is referred to in relationship with his father and Prahlad is referred to in relationship with his mother of course Vitrasura had no father but he got his association through his father directly he got association of devotees his father itself was a devotee and also his father was a sage who was associated with other sages who were devotees and there Vitrasura got association then further Prahlad he was in his mother’s womb so it was through his mother that he got association that is also signified through using these paternal and maternal names for these great saintly personalities Adaiya, others and Vrishaparva, Balirbhanu Vrishaparva was a person who was as an infant abandoned by his mother and he became for all practical purposes at least for some time an orphan but by the potency of by the mercy of Krishna he got the association of a sage and he himself became a great devotee thereafter so being deserted, being rejected or neglected or abandoned by one’s parents by one’s mother is considered to be a very unfortunate condition and although Vrishaparva was in that condition but still because he got bhakti so rather than being unfortunate he became supremely fortunate Balirbhanu Bali Maharaj got the association of his grandfather Prahlad Maharaj he got the association of Brahmaji also especially when Vamande was there disciplining him so Bali Maharaj although he was also in a demoniac family he was a king of demons and yet he was elevated and liberated by the mercy of the devotees and the mercy of the lord Banu, Banasur he was a demon but he worshipped Lord Shiva and although he worshipped Lord Shiva for getting material prosperity and material power still because he associated with Lord Shiva eventually he became connected with Krishna and through the combined benedictions of Shiva and Krishna of Krishna manifesting directly and Krishna manifesting to Shiva a plan unfolded by which he was ultimately elevated Maya Maya Dhanav was also a very demoniac person but he served the Pandavas and by their association and of course by the association of Krishna he also became elevated and he got the opportunity to go towards a transcendental destination with Bhishan he when he worshipped Brahma he asked for bhakti after worshipping Brahma and so he had the association of Brahma and he saw Brahma not as a god giving whole new powers he saw as a devotee who will grant who will share devotion and he also got the association of Hanuman and also of course he sided on to the side of the Pandavas and further he got the association of Lord Ramchandra himself so in this way through all these examples the point is demonstrated that bhakti is made universally accessible through devotees