Bhishma And Gopis – Striking Similarities – Bhishma Panchaka Special 1

Podcast:

I’m grateful to be here with all of you today. And I’ll speak today on some of the prayers by Bhishma Pitamaha to Lord Krishna.
This is the month of Kartik. And the last five days are celebrated as the Bhishma Panchak. So, in the Bhishma Panchak, this is the time when Lord Bhishmadeva performed severe austerities.
And that is what is celebrated. So, let’s look at one of these verses. And I’ll speak on the theme of how the first canto of the Bhagavatam preludes or predicts the tenth canto.
And how that is the mood in which we all can practise devotion. So, this is 1.940. 1.940. what is the setting over here? We have Bhishma Pitamaha is lying on an arrow bed and is offering prayers to Krishna who has come right in front of him at that time. Krishna himself has come to give darshan and Bhishma is appreciating that.
He is glorifying the Lord. He is telling Yudhishthira Maharaj, just see how Krishna rewards his unflinching devotees that he comes himself to have darshan of the Lord. And Bhishma Pitamaha is remembering many of the pastimes of the Lord in which he has participated.
But this is among the few verses where Bhishma Pitamaha is remembering something, remembering a pastime in which he has not participated. This is the pastime of how the Gopis were maddened in separation from Krishna. So, Lalit Gati Vilas Valkuhasa So, Lalit is graceful, beautiful, attractive.
Gati. So, Krishna, he moved so gracefully. He had such a charm in his movement.
Vilas. Not only was his movements were graceful, but actually his movements were fascinating because what he did. Some people might just walk gracefully or talk gracefully.
But what they talk also is important. What they do is also important. Valkuhasa.
Krishna’s smile was captivating. Pranayanirikshana Kalpita Orumanaha Pranayanirikshana So, the Gopis, when Krishna glanced at them with love, nirikshana, iksha is eyes, nirikshana is to overlook, to see, to cast one’s glance at. So, Pranay is with great love.
Pranayanirikshana Kalpita Orumanaha Orumanaha So, there his love, his all this reflected his art. Now, his heart was filled with love and all this was in his loving glances in his graceful movements and Krutam Kalpita Orumanaha and all this was actually, the Gopis what did they do on seeing all this, on remembering all this? The Gopis are highly glorified because they did something. What is that? Krutam Anukrutavatya Unmadandhaha Krutam when they did like this Anukrutavatya Unmadandhaha they started imitating Krishna’s pastimes and they became Unmadandhaha they became blinded by divine madness Prakritim Aganakilayasya Gopabhadvaha and in this way their prakriti, their nature got changed Aganakilayasya Gopabhadvaha those glorious Gopis they just became transformed, mad with ecstasy so it’s a very curious remembrance undoubtedly he is remembering the glorious the glories of the Gopis now, why is this curious? I’ll talk about this for many reasons but three reasons first of all, Bishwapitama is a celibate, is a lifelong celibate and normally if anybody is trying to follow a vow some kind of self-restraint they normally won’t talk about say anything that will tempt them so if you are fasting on Ekadashi we will probably not talk elaborately about food at that time so Bishwapitama, he is a celibate and he is glorifying the Gopis and he is not just a celibate he is a celibate, he is a brahmachari who is on the verge of death normally on the verge of death we want to remember Krishna but normally the world’s tempting objects are something which we want to avoid remembering but he is remembering the Gopis at that time so for a brahmachari to remember a woman is unusual is questionable for somebody at the time of death to remember someone who could be like a tempting object that is also questionable and on top of that what is he remembering he is not exactly remembering say he is not exactly remembering Krishna over here yes he is remembering but he is remembering Krishna as he was remembered by the Gopis and not only that he is actually remembering and appreciating the transformation that happened in the Gopis because of that now in the Ras Panchadhyay which is the 5 chapters of the 10th canto in the Srimad Bhagavatam chapters 29 to 33 they describe the highest levels of devotion and these are considered by our Acharyas to be like the heart of the Bhagavatam so the 10th canto itself is one level the heart but we could call that within that the heart of the heart of the Bhagavatam is the Ras Panchadhyay and in the Ras Panchadhyay it is like a 5 act play or a 5 stage play nowadays plays are not that common because we just have movies and other things but if there is a play if there is a multi act play then what happens one act happens then the screen closes down and then the screen opens and another act starts so what he is describing is the second act of the play in the first act of the play that is the 29th chapter Krishna calls the Gopis and the Gopis come to the forest to be with him and then Krishna talks with them and then they start the Rasadans and then Krishna disappears from them when Krishna disappears at that time the Gopis start madly searching for Krishna and while searching for him unable to bear separation from him they start acting out some of his pastimes and one Gopi leaps on another Gopi and he treats that Gopi like Trunavarth and that Gopi seems to carry Krishna away and then that Gopi becomes heavier and crushes the other Gopi and another Gopi Krishna one Gopi jumps on another Gopi and that Gopi starts let me go that means that Gopi is like Putana and she is saying let me go let me go and the Gopis also perform pastimes which are yet to happen like the killing of they enact the pastimes of Yomasur and others which are yet to happen in the 10th canto so in this way the Gopis become mad with remembrance of Krishna so here Bhishma Pitamah is remembering that pastime he is remembering how the Gopis are remembering Krishna and are becoming transformed and transported by the remembrance of Krishna so there are these two things which will be the theme of our discussion today see devotion leads to transformation and devotion leads to transportation so transformation means where we are right now there is some change over here and transportation means we are shifted from here to somewhere else so if you consider now why would Bhishma Pitamah remember this particular pastime so I said I will talk about three unusual things about this first of all that a celibate is remembering a woman and that too a woman who is out at night so and that on top of that a person who is dying is remembering some woman on top of that he is remembering specifically how the Gopis are remembering Krishna and are being transformed by that now in many ways although externally the Gopis and Bhishma are very different because Bhishma as I said is a king is a member of a royal family and is a celibate where the Gopis are Vaishya women but internally their mood of devotion is similar how is that similar because both of them had to quote misunderstanding from the world for their devotion both of them were misunderstood by the world now how did this happen with the Gopis of course we know that the Gopis are serving Krishna in parakiya bhaav parakiya bhaav means that I don’t think we need this slide now parakiya bhaav means that the Gopis are serving Krishna in the mood of love and separation so they are not related in wedded love and so because they are not as husband and wife actually eternally they are husband and wife but in that particular leela they are not husband and wife so that’s why they are reproached by the world for what they did leaving everyone I think go out to be with Krishna now Bhishma Pitama he fought on the side of the Kauravas there are multiple reasons why he did that but he fought against Krishna and not only did he fight against Krishna it was not just fighting in the party against Krishna he was actually literally fighting against Krishna that means he was literally shooting arrows the arrows were targeted at Arjuna but while shooting Arjuna some of his arrows also hit Krishna so that’s extreme how does one hit one’s worshipable lord if one is hitting one’s worshipable lord how is that person one’s worshipable lord so what is the mood over here the whole Bhagavatam is in one sense spoken in the shadow of separation the Bhagavatam is a book which is we could say a book for dealing with grief there is grief and there is lamentation lamentation is when something bad happens to us in the past especially bad in terms of losing a loved one and then we keep wallowing in that grief it’s going on and on thinking about it getting entrapped in it getting deluded by it so lamentation is unhealthy however grief is natural and it’s a natural part of the healing process after loss it’s like if our body is physically injured there is a wound and the wound takes time to heal it’s a natural process for healing if I have a fracture then the doctor might tell us first keep your body motionless and then afterward you can start moving your body or if your hand is fractured keep the hand in a sling for some time and gradually start moving it so like that there is a natural healing process for the wounds caused by loss also so what is the loss? Krishna if you consider the context of the Bhagavatam the Bhagavatam is spoken by Shukadeva Goswami to Parishit Maharaj and this has happened soon after the departure of Krishna from the world so it is almost a generation away but a generation is not a big time from the point of view of cosmic history if we consider say Indian history in 1947 India got independent and if you see most of the literature written in India 1950s, 1960s, 1970s it is all in the shadow of the independence movement so there are certain events which are very cosmic or cataclysmic or cosmic in their consequence and then they cast a long shadow or if you look at Europe or even America to some extent in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s I don’t know how much in Canada but the literature that was written in Europe and in UK, Germany, France, America it was quite about the second world war and what happened thereafter so what happens is Krishna’s departure has happened and it’s cast a long shadow the whole Bhagavatam is spoken in the mood of separation from Krishna and in that mood of separation from Krishna in the Bhagavatam is spoken its mood is gradually elevating that means elevating in terms of describing a deeper clearer vision of Krishna describing a deeper connection with Krishna and describing a more you could say a painfully sweeter separation from Krishna so three things, a clearer vision of the Lord, a deeper connection with the Lord and a sweeter separation from the Lord so whenever there is love, there is first of all we need to know the object of love without that the love cannot really be that real so there is a clearer vision of God if we start with the Bhagavatam, the second canto describes the Virata Rupa, the third canto describes the Lord as the Purusha revealed through Prakruti Purusha revealed through Sankhya and then there are various avatars described there is Varaha, there is Vamana, there is Matsya and like that it moves on to the tenth canto, so what is happening is in the tenth canto, there are 90 chapters, the longest canto and there is a clearer and clearer description of the Lord in the tenth canto in fact there are many books on Krishna Leela among the various puranas and itihasas Krishna Leela is described most in the Vishwamitra Bhagavatam so there is a clearer and clearer vision of God then we might know a lot about a particular person say historically we might know a lot, if somebody decides to do a PhD say in say a particular political leader and his thoughts or his contributions one may know a lot about that person but one may not feel any deep connection with that person but it’s not just a clearer vision of the Lord, it’s a deeper connection with the Lord, so if we see there are if we see some of the avatars of the Lord, say like if we consider Matsya avatar there is one primary devotee of Matsya that is Satyavrata or if we consider Kurma or Varaha then devatas offer some prayers to him but beyond that is there any particular devotee, there may be but there is not much description but if you consider Krishna, Krishna has so many different relationships Krishna is a multifaceted Lord and he has multifarious devotees with whom he relates and in that way it’s a very rich relationship, so there is clearer vision, there is deeper connection and then within that deeper connection there is even sweeter separation now as I said it’s a painfully sweet separation generally when there is love then what happens is if we are separated from the object of love, it’s difficult it’s painful, it’s unbearable it’s at the same time there is also sweetness in it the sweetness is there because because even in separation there is remembrance and in that remembrance there is joy so there is, it is Chaitanya Amrit gives the example that loving separation is like hot sugarcane juice because it’s sugarcane juice, it’s delicious so you can’t stop drinking it but because it’s hot we can’t drink it also so it’s painfully sweet so for the Gopis they have given their life to Krishna and now they are separated from Krishna they just can’t bear that separation from him and that mood of the tenth canto is described in the first canto so if we consider in the first canto Krishna’s entry is quite dramatic and we could say it’s a little unusual because in the first canto Krishna’s entry as active presence or active person in the seventh chapter where the son of Drona punished in the chapter and what is happening over there Ashwatthama has killed the sons of the Pandavas and Krishna and Arjuna are chasing Ashwatthama, that’s how Krishna enters so Krishna enters the Bhagavatam in the similar position to how he enters the Bhagavad Gita that is as Parthasarathi as the charioteer of Arjuna and then from the seventh chapter onwards till chapter 15 there is a vivid description of Krishna Leela of different pastimes of Krishna there are 15 chapters and that is the most detailed description of Krishna in the Bhagavatam before the tenth canto so there are these nine chapters one of them is about Dhritarashtra’s departure from the world but apart from that all of them are about Krishna’s pastimes and Krishna’s interactions with his devotees so the tenth canto gives a prelude of the sorry the first canto gives a prelude of the tenth canto so now within that prelude of the tenth canto Bhishma’s prayers give a prelude of the Gopi’s prayers now how exactly does that happen so that’s what I was talking that how the Gopis were misunderstood by the world how can you leave your home at night to go out to be with Krishna like this but the Gopis although they are misunderstood still they stood firm in their conviction Bhishma was also misunderstood because he fought on the side opposite to the lord and yet he stood firm in his conviction now Krishna could have easily arranged for within the Vraja Leela for the Gopis to be married to him and if Krishna had arranged it that way Krishna is the supreme lord and Vraja Leela the Leela of the lord is like a play like a divine drama and different devotees have different roles so some devotees become his mother some devotees become his friend some devotees become his mother or mother aged Gopis that similar relationship some become his friends so if Krishna can give different roles to different devotees he could very well have given with the Gopis the role of his being of being his his wives, his queens rather than being his being his lovers so why does he do that because through that Krishna Krishna has to teach something similarly Krishna could easily have got Bhishma to fight on the side of the Pandavas for Krishna anything is possible we could go into specific contextual reasons why Bhishma fought on the side of the Kauravas and we can go into specific contextual reasons why Krishna was not married to the Gopis but beyond such contextual reasons is a transcendental reason that Krishna wants to make his relationship make his past, the reciprocation based on his relationship more rich more relishable more refined so how refined because generally how do we see love at a basic level if somebody cares for us then they will talk sweetly with us they will be polite to us they will be courteous to us that is not even love that is basic human decency we could say but broadly love is seen in two ways what one offers to the what one gives to the beloved and second is what one gives up for the beloved two things what one gives to the beloved and what one gives up for the beloved just like say parents love their children then the parents want to give the best education to the child may be the best facilities the best comforts may be the best education may be the best in the house it’s hot and there is only one room you can have that room so that you can study comfortably what we give to the person whom we love and second is what we give up for the sake of that person so if say the child is studying and the parents are sitting and watching TV loudly so the child can’t study and they say I am not able to study I had a hard day’s work I want to enjoy right now you manage your study then if you are not able to give up your pleasure of say watching TV then where is the love so giving up TV is like a very preliminary thing at least to not disturb the child’s studies but parents may sometimes be ready to sacrifice things if there is not enough food so the parents will be ready to give up their own food for the sake of the children so what we give to the object of love and what we give up for the object of love and if we consider the practises of bhakti there is our japa and sadhana we study scripture we worship the deities, we chant the holy names in this way we are giving our consciousness to the lord this is what we give to the lord and then the regulative principles that we follow that is what we give up for the lord there is some amount of pleasure in various sensual activities and we give up those pleasures for the sake of the lord that is how we practise sadhana bhakti now in the case of the gopis and in the case of Vishma we are looking at the similarities in their mood in the external they are very different but there is a great similarity the similarity is that the gopis they could only sporadically meet Krishna it was not that because the gopis and Krishna they are not in an authorised relationship so they had to secretly sometimes furtively plan and meet Krishna similarly Vishma couldn’t really meet Krishna on many occasions if we look at the Mahabharata and look at the times when Krishna and Vishma directly meet and talk it’s not many times it’s usually when Krishna comes to say Hastinapur to meet the Pandavas at that time he meets Vishma also or when Krishna comes as Shantidut to talk with Duryodhana Krishna meets Vishma also so they don’t have many meetings and ultimately what does Vishma do for Krishna what does Vishma give up for Krishna and the gopis they give themselves to Krishna when Krishna calls them by playing the flute they go to him but when they do this they are giving themselves to Krishna and what are they giving up they are giving up in one sense their respectability as chaste women as pure women because what will society think about them if they go away like this but they are ready to do that for Krishna’s sake now in the case of Vishma similarly Vishma is both virtuous and devoted but circumstantially he is trapped on the side of evil and now there could be reasons for that Vishma himself said that I am bound by money money has controlled me and therefore I have to I have to do this to fight on the side of the Kauravas now that is a very superficial reason first of all Vishma was a member of royalty Vishma was not a Vishma was not a paid employee so even though he was not even though he had renounced kingship because of a vow still he had right to at least some level of royal comforts he was not drawing a salary from the Kauravas in fact the Kauravas or at least Duryodhana and Dhritarashtra they were all younger to him so so that could be one level of reasoning but the actual reason our Acharya has explained is that the lord wanted to demonstrate how anyone no matter how powerful they may be if they fight against the lord they will be defeated so practically speaking in Mahabharata no person as illustrious as Vishma Vishma was a glorious warrior so great a warrior that that warrior who had defeated all warriors that is Parashurama had been defeated by Vishma it was not actually a defeat because in some ways Parashurama was the teacher of Vishma and Vishma did not want to humiliate Parashurama by defeating him but Parashurama was overpowered and at that time the war stopped so Vishma was the greatest of all warriors on top of that Vishma was immensely learned in fact he had after his birth been taken by his mother Ganga to the heavens and there in the heavens he had learned scripture profusely and profoundly so profuse refers to quantity and profound refers to depth or quality so his learning was both profuse and profound and in this way Vishma actually combined the qualities of a Kshatriya and a Brahmana Kshatriyas also have some significant level of scriptural knowledge but they don’t have the same level of scriptural scholarship that usually Brahmanas have because Brahmanas they have the time and opportunity to fully devote themselves to scriptural study but the Kshatriyas may not have that because they have royal administrative duties and other things but Vishma he had that opportunity for exclusive immersion when he was with the gods when his mother had taken him to heavens he didn’t spend his time in heavenly enjoyment he associated with the sages and learned from them he immersed himself in learning over there and that culture which he learned stood him in good stead when he came back because normally if somebody goes to a hill station say somebody says that I am going for a vacation to the Niagara Falls or I am going in India to some place like Simla or something like that you say okay what are you going there for I want to do sightseeing I want to do this I want to do that I am going there to do serious studies for my IIT exams oh really okay so normally if somebody goes to a place where there are swimming pools and there are beaches and this and a lot of enjoyment to go there and apply oneself to scriptural study or any kind of serious study that’s not easy but Vishma did that so Vishma even in his youth what he exemplified austerity amid luxury he was in the heavens which is a place of luxury but he austerely studied scripture and that is what he did in his life thereafter also Vishma was a celibate was a brahmachari now there are many great personalities who were celibates who took the vows of renunciation and they are described in the Bhagavatam but there is practically no other person who is a Kshatriya who lives in royal opulence and takes the vow of celibacy no it’s a it’s like it’s a very difficult thing to do when there is so much luxury and so much enjoyment available all around to be able to renounce it all and stay pure so Vishma’s whole life was a life of sacrifice and his life was a life of sacrifice where instead of enjoyment he was cultivating something higher so he was cultivating dharma and ultimately what does he do he fights against the lord the whole world misunderstands him what did you do for some petty obligations for just because you had taken the salt of the Kauravas and it was not even the salt of the Kauravas the Kauravas were they came after him so how can it be their salt they were eating his salt in one sense at least but he did that because the lord wanted him to fight on the side opposite to him and he fought on the side opposite to him through that he demonstrated a lesson what was that lesson that lesson was that anyone however powerful they may be if they go against the will of the lord they will be destroyed and Vishma accepted that very difficult duty, a duty for which he would be misunderstood and although he was misunderstood his whole life was serving the lord and he was in this arrow bed see Vishma had he had the wow to die at will and normally if somebody has the ability to die at will then they will seek the most painless death possible in much of the world especially the developed part of the world there was a debate going on about euthanasia euthanasia is when somebody is old, when they are old and usually have an incurable disease then can the doctors give them some pills and or give them some medication to end their lives so it is euphemistically called as mercy killing but more than mercy killing it is convenience killing convenience killing means that actually taking care of those people who are old and sick is not very convenient for their caregivers so they want to end their lives so initially a strong opposition to it even now many religious communities on ethical grounds they oppose it but now society has gone to such an extreme that in Germany was the first country where the right to die is enshrined as a right by the government that means that a person can go to the doctor and tell them that I want to end my life euthanasia was earlier given at a time when a person is terminally sick and has no hope for cure say why live on just in pain why waste money and go through pain just to end my life but now Germany has made it right that a person may have no medical problems but the person just says I don’t want to live anymore so then they can go to a government and they have to fill in some forms and they have to go through some psychological consultation and they have to maybe spend 15 days in waiting and after that they say yes then they can die then the government will the doctors have to give them some medication by which they will die painlessly in fact in this COVID crisis it has happened that there are several people who have taken voluntary euthanasia so it is just day before yesterday I read about a case of an old woman she was feeling so lonely because of the COVID lockdown naturally she couldn’t be with her family and because of that loneliness this happened in America she decided to end her life and it was not like a private suicide it was euthanasia so doctors gave her medicine and for that for that euthanasia her family members came all around and they were there and it was like a memorial service while she was alive so she was dying because of loneliness instead of being with her to help her overcome the loneliness they were there so that she can die now it is the point is I am not going to go into the absurdity of how euthanasia is happening nowadays or you can see the horror also not just absurd it is horror but the point is if somebody has the ability to die at will then they will choose the most painless death ok why this prolonged pain if I am going to die let me die now Bhishma Pitamah had the capacity for Iccha Mrityu and yet he prolonged his life for a long time now for us we all go through different kinds of pain say if say we are physically injured there is some pain and that is difficult to bear but actually far greater in terms of its emotional agony is the pain when we see someone whom we love going through pain and especially someone whom we are meant to protect if they are going through some pain it is extremely not just painful it is frustrating it can be devastating so for a parent to see their child go through some pain and then not be able to face not be able to do anything about it it can completely shatter a person’s morale now Darwin for various reasons led to the school of thought that promoted Atheism in today’s world but Darwin himself at one time planned to become a priest but then his daughter died of tuberculosis and that just chalted him to see her death in her childhood and he said I can’t accept a god like this so he didn’t become an atheist but he became an agnostic and of course the philosophy that the theory that he propagated eventually spawned Atheism aggressive Atheism the point is that to not be able to protect someone whom we love can be immensely painful and the case of Bhishma he was the grandson of the family and he loved the Pandavas in fact if you consider extended family if there is a extended family then what happens is there is a normal hierarchy of protection say the father the parents protect the children but if say in the joint family and if there is there are cousins living together and say in one branch the father is not there so then what happens the other relatives feel a special obligation I have to take care of them so the Pandavas were like that Pandu was not there so Bhishma felt a special obligation to take care of the Pandavas and yet he couldn’t stop he couldn’t stop the many atrocities that befell them that caused him great agony now he could have said I can’t see this virtuous Pandavas suffering like this I don’t want to live anymore he could have said that but he didn’t he lived on not only that if we say among all the Kauravas all those who fought in the head of the Kauravas Bhishma in one sense suffered the most painful death all the other warriors Drona his head was lopped off and it’s over Karna he was shot by the arrow and it’s over Dushyasana he had a little painful death his arm was ripped off and then he was killed Duryodhana his thigh was broken and then he died a painful death but Duryodhana lived for a few hours after he got that fatal blow but Bhishma in one sense suffered the most painful injuries he was such a great Kshatriya and such was his we often use the word he was lying on an arrow bed but what does it mean if we some of us if we go on an international flight and then we don’t have a comfortable bed to sleep on and we get a little irritable because we have to sit and sleep but here he is lying down and lying down with hundreds of arrows piercing his body and if somebody is in that kind of pain and they have the capacity for I am in so much pain I just want to die give me some medicine I want to kill myself that’s what euthanasia people want euthanasia at that time so Bhishma could have done that but he didn’t why didn’t he do that why didn’t he live on in fact he not only endured that pain but he endured that pain for several days he fell on the 10th day and 8 more days he was alive till the Kurukshetra war got over and after that the the last rites of all the deceased warriors were performed and that was not like a rushed affair it took time and then Krishna came and brought Yudhishthira over there before Bhishma and then Bhishma gave instructions to Yudhishthira and in the Mahabharata there is the Shanti Parva and there is the Anushasan Parva there is the the book of peace and the book of administration and these two are among the biggest books in the Mahabharata in fact most Mahabharata that we read the Mahabharata itself is a very big book several thousand more than 110,000 verses actually the longest poem in world history but more than the whole all the events in the Mahabharata right from the birth of the ancestors of the Pandavas to the end of the Kurukshetra war all of that is not as big as is the length of the instructions given by Bhishma so it went on for days upon days so Bhishma was in immense pain and he was still speaking speaking to to Yudhishthira so why was he doing this because he wanted to do the service the lord wanted him to do so the lord why did Bhishma not take the and die earlier because he wanted to serve the lord and he knew by the lord’s plan the Pandavas would eventually triumph and he wanted to wait and behold the triumph of the Pandavas and he beheld the triumph of the Pandavas and then he knew the lord had a service for him see normally if somebody is going to die we won’t dress in very stylish fashionable opulent clothes and go to the person who is going to die but when when Krishna asked the Pandavas to go he asked them to go in royal opulence, why? because he knew that would fulfil the desire of Bhishma and then Krishna wanted Bhishma to instruct Yudhishthira and Bhishma instructed Yudhishthira so why did Yudhishthira need the instruction because victory had taken a heavy toll in English there is a term called Pyrrhic victory Pyrrhic means there was a actually I think a Roman a Greek emperor named Pyrrhus and in the 3rd century something 3rd 4th century he there was a very fierce war that he fought with the Romans and they won the war but in that war they lost many of their prominent generals and their soldiers and this King Pyrrhus is reputed to have said at that time one more victory like this and we will be destroyed now normally you don’t say after victory we will be destroyed one more defeat like this and we will be destroyed but one more victory like this and we will be destroyed what that means is that sometimes victory costs so much that we start thinking what is the use of fighting what is the use of fighting like this is really worth it and generally this is what happens in our close relationships sometimes in our close relationships say husband wife or any other siblings sibling or any kind of relationship parent child relationship sometimes we have a fight we argue we debate we fight now in such fights the purpose has to be peace not victory why not because even if we win what is the result of that victory now we have to live with that other person who has been defeated and defeated means they will be unhappy they will be angry and their unhappiness and anger will boil over into our relationship yes sometimes we may be right and they may be wrong and we may have to establish that but the purpose should not be to defeat the other person especially in close relationships every victory is a pyrrhic victory it will cost more than what it will give so Yudhishthir felt that this victory was pyrrhic I lost my sons I lost my elders I lost so much what is the point of this victory and Krishna wanted Bhishma to instruct because Yudhishthir was feeling that Bhishma has died I was responsible for the death of Bhishma and among all the warriors who were killed on the Kurukshetra war no other death caused no other warriors death especially warrior from the Kauravas side no other Kaurava warriors death caused the Pandavas as much pain as the death of Bhishma so to hear Bhishma speak wisdom that was vital to assuage the afflicted heart of Yudhishthir Yudhishthir was burdened by sense of guilt and he said how could I have been so greedy that for gaining a kingdom I caused the death of so many people and Bhishma spoke to Yudhishthir and told him that a king’s duty is difficult and you did not fight this war just to gain a kingdom you fought this war to do the will of the lord to establish Dharma in the world and so it gave him that bigger vision of the plan of the lord and that’s why he also says I quoted this verse earlier that Bhishma is telling just see Yudhishthir how the lord reward he says that because I am the I am the unflinching devotee because I am an unflinching devotee the lord has come and given me his darshan now at the time of my death so you may say how can a devotee say that I am a pure devotee I am an unflinching devotee isn’t that pride isn’t that arrogance no it is not in this context because Bhishma Pitamah is not simply saying I am a great devotee he is talking about the principle of devotion and how devotion is rewarded by the lord so he is giving his example to say that I did a difficult duty and my difficult duty just see how it was rewarded by the lord it was rewarded because he came right in front of me at this time of my death so just as I did a difficult duty of Yudhishthir now it is your time to do a difficult duty and if you do this difficult duty you will also be rewarded and Bhishma Pitamah he gives his instructions on dharma to Yudhishthir and then after that he closes his eyes and then he meditates inward although Krishna is there in front of him he is beheld in the form of Krishna taken in the form of Krishna with his eyes and then he departs from the world peacefully in remembrance of the lord so while he is departing from the world just before he departs he offers about 10-11 verses of prayers and one among those is this prayer so he is now experiencing the presence of the lord in front of him but he is also experiencing separation because he is going away from the lord the Gopis Krishna had gone away from them the Gopis had come to Krishna and Krishna had disappeared from them in the case of Bhishma Bhishma was going away from Krishna but he was not going away from Krishna externally he was going away from Krishna internally he was going toward Krishna he was going to the abode of Krishna normally when when a person dies they leave home either they go to hospital or they die in the hospital or they die at home then they leave home but when a devotee dies a devotee doesn’t leave home a devotee goes home because for a devotee home is at the lotus feet of the lord home is the lord and a devotee who has devoted oneself to the lord attains the lord at the time of death so Bhishma is about to attain that and that he is remembering as I said the transformation and the transportation devotion is seen through transformation and transportation so he is remembering the transformation that happened in the Gopis by which they are married and they are acting like Krishna, they are acting like Kaliya they are acting like Putana and they are acting in various different ways they are transformed so similarly by his devotion Bhishma was transformed and although he was physically in great pain he was not feeling that pain because his consciousness was no longer there he was so transformed in his absorption in Krishna that it was as if he was not in his body at all he was with Krishna and then he closed his eyes and he departed to the spiritual world and that is the ultimate triumph of a devotee to live and bhakti is the art not just of living but is also the art of leaving living in devotion and leaving in devotion and that’s what Bhishma’s austerities they teach us, they demonstrate to us Bhishma’s life is an example and during this Kartik month when we remember the lord in different ways through his different past times it’s fitting that this Kartik month concludes with an example celebrating the austerities of Bhishma because Bhishma he lived a life of great sacrifice great pain and he demonstrates in an extraordinary way how pain in this world on behalf of the lord will give immense rewards the ultimate reward and that is what we also can aspire in our lives there will be difficulties and pains in different ways and we can’t no matter whatever arrangements we make we can’t free ourselves from pain but what we can do is cultivate a purpose that will make pain worthwhile that will make pain meaningful and devotion is the ultimate purpose that can make even the greatest of pains meaningful and that can make the most difficult of life purposeful that is what Bhishma demonstrates and that is what we can try to internalise based on this contemplation of Bhishma’s glories during this Bhishma Bhishma Panchak in the Kartik month so I will summarise what I spoke today and I spoke today about Bhishma’s extraordinary pastimes and specifically the extraordinaryness of his remembrance of Krishna in this particular verse which is spoken on his deathbed so it’s a celibate remembering women it’s a person on his deathbed remembering what would normally be seen as a tempting object and he is remembering not so much the lord but he is remembering how the gopis are remembering the lord and how the gopis are affected by the remembrance of the lord so what is the significance of this particular mood of Bhishma’s remembrance I discussed that how the first canto reflects or preludes gives a prelude of the 10th canto in the 10th canto there are 90 chapters describing Krishna Leela and the first canto there are 9 chapters and these were both they go into Krishna Leela in significant detail and in the 10th canto the heart of the heart is the gopis prayer Gopi Gita and Bhishma’s song reflects a similar mood of separation so the gopis had to quote misunderstanding and condemnation from the world for their devotion to the lord and Bhishma too had to quote misunderstanding and condemnation because apparently he fought against Krishna then it is discussed about how as the Bhagavatam as it progresses its vision of god becomes clearer then the connection with the lord becomes deeper and separation from him becomes sweeter the whole Bhagavatam in a sense is spoken in the shadow of separation from Krishna because Krishna has just departed from the world and the gopis Krishna has departed from them within that past time and for Bhishma he is going to depart from Krishna’s presence right now and so that mood of separation which is a bittersweet mood that permeates the entire Bhagavatam and then I talked elaborately about Bhishma’s sacrifice that he had a difficult life he practised austerity amid luxury in the heavens instead of enjoying heavenly pleasures he studied scripture with the sages then in the Kuru household although he lived in royal luxury he took a vow of celibacy and then the difficult duty that he had was to fight against the lord to demonstrate that no matter however powerful anyone might be if they go against the lord they will be defeated he took that thankless task and then lastly I talked the major part of the class was about how although Bhishma had lived on for so long normally if somebody is in great pain they want to take euthanasia and have as painless a death as possible and Bhishma went through so much pain one pain was seeing the virtuous Pandavas who were orphans in the sense that they had no father whom he was meant to protect seeing them suffer so much it caused him agony and then on top of that among all the Kaurava warriors all the warriors in the Kaurava side he was by far the most virtuous and yet he suffered the greatest pain by having been pierced by hundreds of arrows and lying on an arrow bed for days together and yet he waited why? because he had faith in the lord’s plan he wanted to behold the Pandavas eventual triumph and he wanted to play his part and his part was glorious that on the arrow bed for days upon days he had a extraordinary discussion on how to do the difficult duty of a Kshatriya the Rajadharma which is in the Anushasini Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata and then after that here he absorbs himself in the lord and he departs so Bhishma is the ideal example of how to depart gloriously in the presence of the lord and by cultivating that mood that life will be difficult for everyone rather than trying to wish away the pain we cultivate a purpose that makes pain meaningful and Bhakti is that ultimate purpose Bhakti is seen by what we give to the lord and what we give up for the lord and both these are demonstrated in extraordinary ways by Bhishma and we can we can pray to assimilate a drop of his mood while remembering his glories during the Bhishma Panchak.
So, thank you very much. So, do we have time for questions and are there any questions? Yes, Prabhuji, we have time for questions and it’s open for everyone but before that I want to say thank you very much the class was so intense that, you know, in India we say if you have hiccups means somebody is remembering you and I can say that maybe lord Krishna himself is coming to you and he can’t miss you speaking. So, thank you very much.
I have one question. Yes, Prabhuji. In the Mahabharata war was for 18 days.
Am I right? Yes, yes. How many days was Bhishma on the bed of arrows? Yeah. That it is not very clearly mentioned.
See, Bhishma Panchak is not related with, exactly related with the with the death bed austerities of Bhishma. Bhishma Panchak was a vrata that Bhishma performed during his lifetime. So, normally if you look at it chronologically, generally speaking, it is said that Bhishma instructed Yudhishthira for about for a significant number of days.
So, if normally Bhishma is said to have departed from the world on Makar Sankranti that usually comes on the 14th of Jan. And the Gita is said to be spoken on Moksha Daikadashi which usually comes around 10th of December or something like that. So, 8th, 10th of December.
So, after that 18 days the war happened and then after that the discussion happened. So, now according to some sources it is said that he spoke for 40 days. So, now the only way he could have spoken for 40 days would be if the Adhikamas came in between at that time.
So, it would be around, if we go from it chronologically, say the 10th, approximately the 10th is the, from 10th to 28th would be 18 days and then a few days for performing the last rites and everything whatever time it takes. Now according to some understandings actually the coronation ceremony was performed and after that he went to Bhishma. According to some understandings it was not the coronation was performed but rather because the coronation is like a big event.
So, it was like more like a informal informal acceptance of power not like the official coronation and then after that he came. So, then we could say that there would be around between 10 to 18, around 18 days are there from that point onwards. So, conventional understanding was he spoke for 40 days.
That 40 days would be possible if there is Adhikamas in between the from between the Moksha Dayakadashi and and Bakka Sankranti. Okay. Yes, I have a question.
I don’t live near a temple and this might be a crazy question to ask but I learned most of my devotions from YouTube and I was wondering what kind of daily devotions do you recommend? Like I sometimes have a different devotion for each day for a week and then I repeat it again my same different ones each day or do you recommend a same mantra or devotion day in day out? What exactly do you mean by devotion in this context? Just mantra, reciting a mantra or different, yeah, along that line of 108 time mantra that’s I repeat and like I say every day I change it just for variety but then I’m thinking well maybe I shouldn’t do that, maybe I should just stick to the one devotion. Okay, I think that’s a good question. I would say there are two aspects to this that there is if you consider any relationship in any relationship for that relationship to be to be rich and real there is certain amount of predictability that is required and a certain amount of unpredictability if there is entirely predictable then we already know if I speak this, this person will speak this, if I do this, this person will do this, then there is no excitement left in that relationship.
Then it’s almost like relating with a robot. On the other hand if it’s completely unpredictable we do some small thing wrong and the other person explodes we just don’t know, then it’s like living in a, living, having a house in a place where there are mines over there. Any step will cause an explosion.
So we can’t have too much unpredictability in our relationships and we can’t have too much predictability. It’s a healthy blend of both. That’s what, so there is some amount of unpredictability that creates some excitement and there is some amount of stability there is some amount of predictability that creates some stability, stable foundation.
So ultimately we also want to develop a relationship with the Lord and for that relationship also in that relationship also we can say there is predictability and unpredictability. So in our devotional practises there need to be some practises that are steady and stable. They like create the foundation.
So a certain amount of chanting of the mantras like we usually chant the Hare Krishna mantra so we study the certain books, we worship Krishna we study the Bhagavatam. So all this there is a certain foundation of predictability. But along with that there is also some now some amount of unpredictability in the sense that say everyday whenever we attend a class or we go to, we say we may digitally attend a class, physically go to a programme, whatever.
We don’t know what we are going to hear exactly on that day. So there is some amount of newness. So we could also chant some special mantras if we like.
But whatever we do special and novel that need not be at the expense of the regular. That can be in addition to the regular. So now if we have limited amount of time, then we can decide, okay, in my limited amount of whatever time I have, there is some regular devotion that I will be doing and there can be some special devotion that I can do.
Even if you are going to read books. There is some background noise. What is going on? Somebody is probably not on mute and that’s coming from somewhere.
Okay. So now if we have say a limited amount of time, that if we are reading books then it is good to have say if you have, even if you say I have half an hour to read every day. That’s all that I have time.
So maybe you decide maybe 20 minutes, I will read one book every day. Maybe I will read the Bhagavad Gita, I will read the Bhagavatam. And then 10 minutes I can read some other articles from here.
Sometimes we get some, read something interesting on the net. Sometimes somebody might forward some articles. There are various magazines that are published in the devotee community.
So we could distribute. So have some room for the regular and have some room for the novel. So let the novel not replace the regular.
So if you do that, then there will be like the balance of predictability and unpredictability. And that will keep your relationship with Krishna real and rich. Does it answer your question? Yes, it does.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Can I ask a question? Yes, please.
First, I want to say thank you to Dan. But if Dan needs further help, you know, you can always contact one of us regular members at ISKCON Ottawa and we will surely be able to help you. And if you put your email here on the chat box, we will give you our regular invitation.
We will send you. And then you can regularly join us and ask even very basic questions also more and more. And then, as Prabhuji just said, that the regular and then the extra and that interrelationship, you can probably get more exposure to that.
So on a short notice, you can send an email address to here, probably ISKCON Ottawa host, and he’s going to put it in our master mailing list, and then you will get regular invitations. Okay? Thank you, Dan. Now my question, Chaitanya Chaitanya Prabhuji, is you said that Bhishma Dev fought against Krishna.
Now, Nanda Baba knew that Kansa is going to kill him, but he went against Kansa and went in favour of Krishna. Raja Dasarath went against Rama, but he went in favour of his vow. He put more weightage on, but here, Bhishma, does it fall in the same category or what is the final destination of Bhishma in this case here? This is not in the 60s.
Okay, so if we consider Bhishma fought against the Lord. Now Nanda Maharaj also was subordinate to Kansa although Kansa was the enemy of Krishna. Kansa wanted to kill Krishna.
And we also see Dasarath Maharaj in one sense acted against Lord Ram. So what are the similarities or differences? Well, we could say that all three have a similar we could say that there is a similarity in that the circumstantial and the transcendental can sometimes pull in opposite directions. The circumstantial and the transcendental say they may pull in opposite directions at times.
And this can say happen in our lives also sometimes. Okay, like I earlier talked about evolution. Evolution itself is not intrinsically atheistic.
It is a scientific theory. But evolution has been widely used by atheists to prop up their theory that the atheism is ideology, science is a tool. So science is a tool, as a tool it neither proves God nor does it disprove God.
But atheism has been but this tool of science specifically the theory of evolution has been used by atheists to promote atheism. So now what happens is suppose a devotee is working in the field of evolution. What does the devotee do at that time? Now the devotee may decide that I am going to go against it.
I am going to use my scientific knowledge to try to counter this theory. But that may not be the devotee’s specialisation on nature. Then sometimes the devotee professionally may have to go and do what is required in their profession.
But then their devotion is different. Their devotional orientation is different. So now I am not, if a devotee is in that situation, we have to carefully consider how to go ahead.
But I am just giving that as an example that sometimes the circumstantial and the transcendental can pull us in opposite directions. So yes, now Nanda Maharaj was, he was not a Kshatriya, he was a Vaishya. And as a Vaishya, he offered taxes and his tribute to Kamsa.
So now why did he do that? Well, you know, there is a, how do I put it, that there is a certain amount of ambiguity about Krishna’s identity among the Vrajavasis. The Vrajavasis actually never accept that Krishna is Vasudev’s son. When Gargamuni comes, Gargamuni tells them that, tells Nanda Maharaj that your son was previously Vasudev’s son.
Now previously is an ambiguous word. Nanda Maharaj thinks that previously means in a previous life he was Vasudev’s son. But he is saying that okay, in this life itself he was born to Vasudev.
And then he says your son is like Narayana. He doesn’t say your son is Narayana. Not that your son is the source of Narayana.
So it is all that. Now in India, many times it says, oh your son is like Ram, your daughter is like Sita. That’s a general way of giving malediction.
So, they never really accept that Krishna is Vasudev’s son. And now the Vrajavasis do see all the dangers coming and they know the demons are coming. But are all the Vrajavasis completely sure that all these demons are being sent by Kamsa? There is definitely apprehension when Uddhava comes, when Akrura comes and asks to take Krishna.
But the Vrajavasis, at that time they don’t really expect that Kamsa has made a plan to kill Krishna. They say okay, he wants Krishna to come, let him go. So, there is a certain amount of deference to authority that is there within the broad Vedic culture.
We see even in Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s past times, although Nawab Hussain Shah was a tyrant, was a religious autocrat who would destroy temples and stuff like that. As long as he was the king, Sanatana Rupa and Sanatana Goswami offered him respects. So, even Prahlad Maharaj, he offered respects to Hiranyakashipu.
He was never disrespectful deliberately, but he remained firm in his devotion. Similarly, Nanda Maharaj, he did all that could be done to protect Krishna and say they were living in Gokul and they decided to move to Vrindavan. They did all they could to protect Krishna, but he didn’t deliberately defy Kamsa in any way.
So, I would say that’s circumstantially there is no need to openly increase hostilities and circumstantially whether he knew that the demons were coming from Krishna, coming from Kamsa, that is also open to question. So, in general, the broad, we could say the Vedic culture, the Bhakti culture, it is not, it is centred on deference to authority, not defiance of authority. Now, there is time when defiance may be required and that is done, no doubt, like Bali Maharaj goes against Shukracharya also.
The Gopis go against their family members. There are times, but there is no need to do it intentionally or deliberately. Now, in the case of Dashrath Maharaj, it was again circumstantially bound because he had his word of honour which he had given to Kaikeyi and that’s why he had to go against his own plan to have Ram enthroned as the Prince Regent and then the King and did Dashrath do something against Ram? Well, it was not against Ram.
It was more that he had to do his duty and that duty happened to be in such a way that it had Ram going to the forest because of that. Now, Ram himself never criticised Dashrath for that and those who criticised Dashrath, Ram silenced them. He said, no, Lakshman was enraged.
He said, the King is doing this out of his infatuation for Kaikeyi and Ram said, no, he is doing it out of obligation, not infatuation. So, sometimes circumstances can put very difficult situations for us. Now, still we see that in Dashrath, I never had as difficult a task as shooting arrows at Ram.
I don’t see any other devotee who had that service or that role. We could say in the Maushal Leela, when they become demons like Hiranyakashipu, they fight against the Lord, but then they are directly in demoniac forms and they have lived their lives mostly as demons. But Bhishma is a virtuous person and he has to fight against the Lord and that is very difficult and that’s what he does.
So, in that sense, his situation is exceptional. So, broadly we could say that circumstances are transcendental. Sometimes there can be tension between the two and that tension is seen with extreme drama in the case of Bhishma’s relationship with Karna.
Does it answer your question, Prabhu? Yes, Prabhuji. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
Hare Krishna Shri Prabhupada ki Jai. Jai. Hare Krishna Prabhuji Shri Prabhupada ki Jai.
I would like to thank you on behalf of all of us who are online listeners, audience. You made a very nice presentation. What I probably would term as compare and contrast of the feelings of Gopis and feelings of Bhishma Pitamaha in this case.
It’s a wonderful way of presenting your Erudite scholarship in the scriptures and making us available in this format. So, I would like to also thank you for giving us the benefit of your studies and deep reflection and it’s wonderful. You really released it.
Thank you so much. Thank you. Hare Krishna.
Hope to hear from you again soon. Happy to be of service. I just noticed a question.
I want to answer it right now. From NIHRD. So, that is, you know, how can we deal with pain? So, on my website, The Spiritual Scientist, I will post, send a link to Surendra Prabhu.
That is, you know, how we can live with pain but not live in pain. There is a talk about that. So, I will send you that link and there you can learn more about how we can rise above distress.