Krishna descends to elevate us to happiness – Janmashtami class (Hindi)

Talk at ISKCON, Seshadripuram, Bangalore

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
so now Hare Krishna so today on the holy occasion of Janmashtami Lord Krishna’s few minutes are left so at that time we will talk about the glory of God through two leelas we will discuss so first in our life there is birth and end and in between whatever happens we call it life but in reality our life is eternal so life does not begin with birth nor end with death so first we will talk about the great devotee of God Bheeshma Pitamaha and then we will talk about his birth so Bheeshma Pitamaha is a very interesting person in Mahabharata so he is the oldest and due to circumstances he has to fight against Pandavas he has to fight against Krishna the world sees the person from outside and after a long time they can see what is inside the person the world sees us outside in God sees us inside out so God sees what is inside the heart and after that he sees what is happening outside so this is the vision of God to see inside this in reality can give us a lot of peace and strength because if we see from outside then we will see that we have some things we are good looking, we have wealth, we have speaking power, we have a lot of wealth which is attractive to the world but these things no matter how much we have there are many people who have more than us and what happens because of that insecurity comes because of that we start considering ourselves less and the consciousness of the society depends on the definition of happiness the things we think we will get happiness we define based on that this is good, this is bad I want this, I don’t want this so in today’s society we can understand people’s desires based on the advertisement so the advertisements reflect desires and the advertisements reinforce desires the advertisements show people’s desires and those who don’t have desires the advertisements make those desires they reflect desires and they reinforce desires buy this car and enjoy the envy in your neighbour’s eyes this happiness is not in your own happiness it is in your own happiness which is making others sad so this happiness is of very low level so there are different levels of happiness and when we do bhakti we get the highest level of happiness now how can we decide the highest and lowest level how can we decide the happiness we get what happens to others because of our happiness I gave an example of envy so where is our happiness coming suppose I bought a new car but my neighbour bought a better car so I won’t get any happiness on the contrary I will be sad and if he is also sad, he will get happiness so in this level happiness is a zero sum game zero sum means no one will get happiness my happiness will reduce other’s happiness so in this level happiness is not permanent it will come to me and go away and then come to me such happiness is non-permanent higher than this happiness of bhakti is the highest happiness because this happiness increases other’s happiness when we enjoy bhakti of Bhagwan when we enjoy bhakti of Bhagwan then our happiness does not reduce other’s happiness does not reduce our happiness increases other’s happiness suppose there is a tasty food suppose we are fasting so when we will break the fast so maybe there will be something sweet tasty food but it is in a limited quantity as much as we eat the food it reduces and then it ends but the happiness in bhakti of Bhagwan is unlimited as much as we enjoy if there is a bhakta who is doing kirtan with great interest so what happens he will get inspiration from others and when we do kirtan then we also feel happiness so the happiness of bhakti is the highest there are many reasons one reason is in this discussion that this happiness is not given to others this happiness is given to others devotion makes us joyful and makes us channels of joyfulness bhakti gives us happiness and makes us channels of happiness so that we can give happiness to others in this way if we get this happiness then we never feel insecurity because if we get happiness then we always worry if I am getting happiness from money from wealth from power then it can go so how does Bhagwan see us God sees us inside out from inside so what we have or what we don’t have doesn’t matter to Bhagwan what is our inner consciousness on that basis Bhagwan gives us his grace and this is seen in Bhishma Pitamaha’s Leela Bhishma Pitamaha was Bhagwan’s enemy when Bhagwan was Arjun’s charioteer in the form of Partha charioteer when Bhishma was shooting arrows usually a warrior shoots arrows to a warrior but because the chariot is moving sometimes the arrow is shot to a warrior and sometimes to a charioteer so Bhishma Pitamaha remembers he remembers when I shot an arrow that arrow went to Bhagwan’s body and he says that Bhagwan’s body is so divine that when he was fighting in the battlefield when the battle was going on then what was happening yudhidhura ghrjo vidhum brahishvak then all the horses were running from here to there when they were running the dust was flying and when the dust was flying it hit Bhagwan’s face so usually when we see a person if he looks beautiful attractive then we make fun of him and if he is dirty then we don’t call him beautiful so after cleaning we make fun of him but Bhagwan is so beautiful that the dust that was flying hit Bhagwan’s face and because of that his beauty has increased and when Bhagwan is taking care of the horses he has to pull them so it is a hard work and because of that Bhagwan’s face is sweating and because of that his beauty has increased and he says when I shot an arrow blood is coming out of the arrow and what is happening with that blood Alankritasya this is Alankar for Bhagwan so Bhagwan’s beauty is not dependent on external things his inner beauty and whatever the situation is it increases his beauty so in this way Bhishma Pitamah is remembering that O Bhagwan mam nishit krishna atma he is saying O Krishna, let my consciousness come to you if we see Bhishma Pitamah when he is saying this prayer he is lying on the battlefield on a bed of arrows and his situation is like Krishna and Arjun did this but what Krishna is seeing and what Bhishma is seeing Bhishma is seeing that this person is my devotee he is my master he is my worshipper and I want that my consciousness should come to him and when Bhagwan Krishna comes in front of Bhishma Pitamah Bhagwan sees that he shot an arrow on me he shot an arrow on my devotee Arjun Bhagwan sees that he is my great devotee and I have come to give him my blessings Krishna has come to give me darshan Bhishma Pitamah is saying why has he come? because I have worshipped him the world will say that you fought against Pandavas but Bhagwan does not listen to the world Bhagwan is seeing Bhishma Pitamah and what does he see? Bhagwan wants to teach Bhishma Pitamah Bhishma Pitamah was very powerful very wise and when he is fighting in a battle the possibility of victory of that side increases but what does Bhagwan show? Bhagwan inspired Bhishma to fight against Kauravas and then he showed that if a warrior of Bhishma Pitamah is fighting but he goes against Dharma he goes against Bhagwan then he will be defeated so Bhishma Pitamah knew that the side I will fight I will be defeated the side I will fight is against Dharma the side I will fight I will be defamed that I fought against Dharma Bhishma Pitamah came in such a situation that he appeared and he was going to meet Bhishma but he did not see what Bhagwan wants and what did Bhagwan see? he did not see from outside he saw that he is my devotee and in this way Bhagwan came to bless him so Bhagwan does not see us from outside but from inside and on the 10th day of Mahabharata Bhishma Pitamah on the last day of war on the 9th day of war Bhishma Pitamah took a vow that today I will either kill Pandavas or I will force Krishna to pick up the weapon today when Bhishma Pitamah what was his intention? his intention was he knew that Krishna will kill Pandavas especially Arjuna so he wanted to see what Krishna will do to save his devotee so he took this vow to see what Krishna will do and with this intention what did he do? that day Bhishma fought Bhishma Pitamah was fighting with full strength even in the earlier days but still his whole heart was not there because he was thinking that Duryodhana is so unrighteous I am fighting for him but on this day he fought with full heart why? because he was not fighting for Duryodhana he was fighting for Krishna how? he was seeing what Krishna will do how will he save his devotee and Arjuna was thinking that he is my grandfather I said, how can I fight with them? When the first day of the war was going on, I met Bheeshma Kitama.
Then Arjun started saying to Krishna, Bheeshma, when I was young, I used to play outside. And after playing, I used to sit on his lap. And then I used to play with his beard.
And while playing, I used to call him Pitta. Then my children used to say to me, Son, I am not your father. I am your father’s father.
So how can I shoot Bheeshma Kitama like this? Krishna said, Arjun, this is the time to go into emotions. This is not the time to go into emotions. You remember your duty.
So this was the feeling. Arjun was fighting, but he was not putting all his heart into it. And on the other hand, Bheeshma was fighting with all his might.
And he was fighting with all his might on the Pandavas’ side. And when Krishna saw this, Krishna saw that Arjun was not fighting with all his might. And Bheeshma was fighting in such a way that Arjun will be defeated.
One day the Pandavas may lose. So Krishna started thinking. He became serious.
And then Krishna was in the chariot of Arjun in the form of a charioteer. They were in their room. So one by one, they jumped.
Arjun was watching. Krishna was also there. So Krishna jumped and looked around.
He was watching that if Arjun will not fight against Bheeshma, then he will fight against Bheeshma. So he looked around. There was no weapon.
So a chariot broke in front of him. His wheel came out. So he immediately started lifting his wheel.
Now who lifted the wheel of the chariot? Actually, one of Krishna’s weapons is Sudarshan Chakra. So with this Sudarshan Chakra, he can kill any number of powerful weapons. So when he saw this wheel, he lifted it.
When he lifted the wheel, his name became Rathaangpane. Ratha was a part of the chariot. It was a wheel.
He lifted it. So why did he lift the wheel of the chariot? Why didn’t he call his Sudarshan Chakra? He was so worried that what will happen to his devotee. So he forgot to call his Sudarshan Chakra.
So he lifted the wheel in front of him. And now whenever Bhagwan takes Sudarshan Chakra, he leaves Sudarshan Chakra wherever it is. And he kills the enemy.
But what happened here? Bhagwan Krishna was so worried for his devotee. He thought that if he will throw the wheel from here, then maybe he will hit the target or not. So if he will hit from far, then maybe he will miss the target.
So go in front of him and shoot. So Bhagwan thought that I will go near Bheeshma and throw the wheel from there. And he started running towards Bheeshma.
So Arjuna was fighting with arrows. And he saw where Krishna went. And he saw that Krishna is running with the wheel of chariot.
So Arjuna was very worried. Why? Arjuna was not afraid that Bheeshma will kill him. Arjuna was not afraid that Krishna is going alone and someone will kill him.
Arjuna was afraid that Krishna had vowed before the war started that he will not pick up any weapon. And now Krishna has picked up the weapon. And Arjuna understood immediately that if there is a lot of love between two people, then they understand without saying anything.
Why Krishna is doing this? What is happening? Krishna did not tell Arjuna anything. But Arjuna understood. Because he was not fighting with full enthusiasm.
That is why Krishna has picked up the weapon. So Arjuna shouted at Krishna. Krishna, stop.
Don’t pick up the weapon. Arjuna was worried that if Krishna picks up the weapon, then later people will criticise him. People will criticise him that he did not pick up the weapon and now he has picked up the weapon.
See, you are not true to your promise. And Arjuna could not tolerate that someone will criticise Krishna. That is why he started saying to Krishna, Hey Krishna, stop.
I will fight. I will kill Bheeshma. You don’t pick up the weapon.
He was shouting like this. But Krishna was so angry. He was so worried about his devotee’s safety that he did not say anything.
He was running straight. Now I am telling you the whole story. It took me a lot of minutes to tell you.
This is happening in a few moments. Krishna jumped down and started running. And Arjuna, when he saw that nothing happened, he also jumped from his chariot.
And Arjuna was running after Krishna. He was shouting to Krishna. Krishna, stop.
But Krishna was not listening. Now when two warriors fight with arrows, bow and arrow, they are very far apart. If they were fighting with swords, they would be very close.
So now there was a lot of difference between Bheeshma and Arjuna. So Krishna was going towards Bheeshma When he was going like this, Arjuna was shouting to Krishna Krishna, stop. Stop.
But Krishna was not listening. So Arjuna was running. Arjuna jumped from his chariot and fell down near Krishna.
And he grabbed Krishna’s feet. So that he could hold Krishna’s feet and stop Krishna. But Krishna was so angry and emotional that he kept running.
And he was pulling Arjuna. Krishna was running. And he was running towards Bheeshma.
And he said to Bheeshma, When a king does something wrong, it is the minister’s responsibility to bring the king on the right path. Because you did not bring Dhritarashtra on the right path. That is why you are responsible for this war.
And today I will kill you. Krishna was shouting to Bheeshma with a lot of anger. And when he was going, Bheeshma was very happy.
He had gone to war to see this miracle. He put his bow aside and said, Hey Keshav, I tried my best. But Dhritarashtra was so angry with Duryodhana that he went blind.
Dhritarashtra had to lose everything before he lost his blindness. Bheeshma was very happy. Krishna was running And Arjuna saw that Dhritarashtra was unable to stop Bheeshma.
So what did Arjuna do? Arjuna grabbed Krishna’s feet and dragged him towards Krishna. So what did Arjuna do? Arjuna raised his big warrior feet and said, And he hit the ground hard. And when he hit the ground, he was a very powerful warrior.
So there were holes in the ground. He raised his feet and hit the ground. And when there were holes in the ground, his feet got stuck in the holes.
And when his feet got stuck in the holes, he held on to Krishna. So what happened? Because of this, Krishna stopped. And when he stopped, Arjuna was shouting, Krishna, stop.
Don’t fight. I will kill Bheeshma. And when he was running, he stopped.
And what happened to Krishna? When he was running, his top cloth fell down. His hair fell out. And he could not see anything other than Bheeshma.
And when he was running, he stopped. Arjuna, what are you doing here? He could not see anything other than Bheeshma. And then Arjuna said, Krishna, don’t fight.
I will kill Bheeshma. And when he said this, Krishna calmed down. And when Krishna calmed down, Bheeshma was looking at him.
And for him, the most attractive scene in his life was this. And when his last moment came, he remembered this scene. Suppose, if a killer comes to kill us, we will be scared of him.
And even if we survive, later, we will try to forget the image of that killer. We will not try to remember him. But Bheeshma remembers him.
And he says, why are you remembering him? He is not seeing that Krishna has come to kill me. What is he seeing? He is seeing how much Krishna loves his devotees. He loves them so much, that he is breaking his promise for his devotees.
Bheeshma is a great devotee for him. He knows that I am not a body, I am a soul. The soul is immortal.
The end of the body is near. He is not worried He is seeing that my soul is Krishna’s devotee. And how much Krishna loves his devotees, that he is breaking his promise for his devotees.
So, seeing Krishna’s love, his love for Krishna is awakening in my heart. That is why, neither Krishna is seeing Bheeshma externally, nor Bheeshma is seeing Krishna externally. This relationship between heart and heart is called Bhakti.
In this world, there are many books, Kadambari, movies, which talk about love. So, in that, if there is love, it is a momentary love. The love of our heart, our heart always wants to love someone, and that person loves me.
The love of heart is fulfilled by Bhagwan. When we love Bhagwan, and Bhagwan still loves us, still, we are not able to experience His love. Why? Because, our heart is not facing Him.
Our heart is far away from Him. To the extent, if we are in a room, where there is a lot of light, but our eyes are closed, we cannot see that light. In the same way, if our heart is attached to many physical things in this world, then, how much Bhagwan loves us, how much Bhagwan blesses us.
The more we turn towards Bhagwan, the more we worship Bhagwan, then, our inner eyes open, and we are able to see Bhagwan’s love. And in that, we get the greatest happiness. So, the happiness in Bhagwan’s love, the happiness in Bhagwan’s love, what kind of happiness is that? It is such a happiness, that the more we progress spiritually, the more we experience that happiness.
For example, if there is a newborn baby, a newborn baby, in reality, that baby does not know anything. When he is born, he starts crying, and when his mother gives him milk, at first, he does not even know that there is a person here, who is his mother. He is just tasting the milk, and he is drinking it.
Gradually, when he grows up, he understands that he is not just a source of milk, he is a person, and this person is my mother, and she loves me. How does this happen? The more he grows up, the more he becomes conscious, and then, he starts understanding. So, when the baby has grown up, and suppose, it is very cold at night, so, the mother sees that her baby is shivering, so, she brings a shawl, and puts it on him.
So, now, when the baby is very small, he does not understand anything. At first, he thinks that it is cold, but now, it is not. But later, when he grows up, he understands how much his mother loves him.
Now, his eyes are closed, but still, at first, it is cold, but later, it is not. So, even though the baby has not opened his eyes, he does not see, but he understands. What does he understand? My mother is a Yogi, and my mother has put a shawl on me, and because of that, I do not feel cold.
So, why does he understand? Because the baby has grown up. The more he has grown up, the more he understands. Similarly, when we come to the temple, on the occasion of Janmashtami, there is a Kirtan going on in the temple, there is a divine atmosphere in the temple, and we like that.
So, we leave after having a good experience. But, if we look at our intellect, this Kirtan, the Kirtan of God, is a great joy. Why is it a joy? Our mind is disturbed, but when we come to the Kirtan of God, we see that the mind becomes peaceful.
There are many people, who do not believe in idol worship, but still, they feel that if they come to the temple, they feel peace. But, they do not understand where this peace is coming from. Peace is not coming from the walls of the temple.
Peace is not coming from the floor of the temple. Why is peace coming? Because God is present there. So, when we come to the presence of God, what happens? We experience a divine kind of peace.
What is this peace? If we do a little enquiry, and do a little bhakti, then how is it? We will understand. Like a small child, when he is very small, he feels cold first, then he does not feel cold. He does not understand why he was feeling cold first, but now he feels peace from the cold.
When a child grows up, when he sees a shawl on his body, what does he understand from the shawl? My mother loves me. What is the nature of his love? Now, he has put a shawl on me, and I am getting peace from it. I am getting relief from the cold.
In the same way, when we remember God, when we do kirtan of God, when we see God, why are we getting peace? Why are our worries reducing? Here, at our level, the love of God is being seen. When we do bhakti of God, when we remember God, like a mother puts a shawl on her child, then God puts the shawl of his remembrance on our consciousness. God says, if you are in my consciousness, if you remember me, then by my grace, you will be free from all problems.
What will happen? When we remember God, we will not be overwhelmed by any problem. Because we will understand that this is a problem, but God is greater than this. God will either solve this problem, or give me the power to face this problem.
We become powerful from within. We get relief from worries, we get contentment and power from within. At our level, this is the manifestation of God’s love.
And in this way, if we understand from the perspective of knowledge, that this is God’s love for me, then we will progress more in bhakti. We will put more effort in bhakti, and what will happen? We will feel more peace, more contentment. And in this way, we will come to a level where Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says, आनन्दां बुधिवर्धनम् प्रतिपदं कुणां रतास्वादनम् Every moment, there is happiness.
Every moment, there is such happiness that it is like an ocean, and the ocean is also being filled. We all get such happiness through bhakti of God. And that same God came to this material world When God comes to this material world, why does He come? The descent of the Divine is for the purpose of the ascent of the human.
The descent of the Divine, why does God come here? Because we rise above our consciousness, for the ascent of the human. So that the human, our consciousness reaches their level, and we can attain them. God comes to this material world in many ways.
He establishes dharma here. And what is more important than that? He gives knowledge, He shows the method through which we can go to Him. जन्म करमचमे दिव्यम् एवं योवेति तत्वतः तक्त्वा देहं पुनरजन्म नईति मामेति सो अर्जुना He says when you will understand my love, my birth, then you will be attracted to me.
And when you will be attracted to me, then you will attain me. And for attaining me, I come here. So when God comes in this material world, in the form of Krishna, in the form of Avatar, He comes in a dark room.
Devaki and Vasudev, Kamsa has locked them up in his prison. Why has he locked them up? Because a long time ago, there was a prophecy. When Devaki gets married, what is the prophecy? Devaki’s 8th child will be the cause of your death.
And when Kamsa hears this, what does he do? He immediately gets ready to kill Devaki. She is his sister. So this is such a heinous act.
In reality, attacking a woman is a heinous act. On top of that, attacking a brother is a heinous act. And when a woman is getting married, attacking her is a heinous act.
So this was sin cubed. Kamsa was committing a heinous sin on three levels. Vasudev knows that Kamsa is very powerful.
And Kamsa cannot fight on the level of power. And on top of that, he thinks that if there is a war, it will be inauspicious. It is the path to marriage.
So how does he fight back? He fights back with his intellect. He says, if you are her son, then I will give you her son. That is when Kamsa agrees.
Why does Kamsa agree? Some people ask, if Kamsa was worried about Devaki’s pregnancy, and was afraid of her son, then why did he keep Devaki and Kamsa in the same prison? If Devaki and Kamsa were kept in a different prison, then Devaki and Kamsa would not have had a son. If Devaki and Kamsa did not have a son, then Devaki and Kamsa would not have been in danger. So why didn’t Devaki and Kamsa do that? So what was Kamsa? Kamsa was an Asura.
And what does Asura mean? Kamsa had a feeling, when he heard the Akashvani, that the 8th womb will kill me, then he thought to himself, I will prove this Akashvani to be false. So what did he think? Just like I defeated the Gods in the war, I will defeat the words of the Gods as well. So what did he think? Let Devaki have a son, then I will kill her.
And through her, I will prove the Gods wrong. So with this feeling, he kept Vasudeva and Devaki in the prison. And he brutally killed his 6th son.
The 7th son became a girl, and the girl was freed from his hands. And she appeared in the form of a Goddess. And when the 8th son was born, Krishna appeared in a dark cage in the prison.
That cage was like our heart. In our heart, our soul is tied up. The soul wants eternal life.
But when the soul is tied up in the body, it lives a limited life, in the shadow of death. That is how the soul is tied up in the prison. Just like Vasudeva and Devaki were in the prison, our soul is tied up in the prison of the body.
And when Krishna appeared, the doors of the prison opened. And the shackles of Vasudeva and Devaki opened. And they took Krishna from there.
So, when Krishna was born, it was a miracle. Similarly, when Krishna comes in our heart, even if it is dark, our attachments, the habits that keep us behind, get broken. And light comes in the darkness.
The light that Krishna brought with his creation, the same light he brings in our heart. And we can only pray that, O Krishna, come into my heart, and enlighten my heart, through your knowledge, through your devotion, and take me to your abode. With this prayer, we conclude.
Please repeat the first prayer.