Krishna is our protector even when he seems to be the afflictor

[Bhagavatam class on 10.39.31 at Bhaktivedanta Manor, London, UK]

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna Good morning, this is the 10th Kancha One of the most traumatic incidents in the Bhagavatam which is being described over here. Akrura has come and Krishna is about to depart and the gopis have been frantically hoping, praying, begging that something will somehow stop Krishna from departing. And when they say nobody is doing anything then they openly exhibit their emotions.
They have spoken this way. Their desperate longings are expressed in the previous verses before this. They were afflicted, devastated by the feelings of separation from Krishna.
Imminent separation. It had not yet happened but it was going to happen. And the magnitude of their separation was they have described earlier, this is 39th chapter, 31st chapter is the Gopi Gita.
So there they describe how actually, चन्दसियद्रजाचारयन्पशुन् So when Krishna, you go out to to grease the cows at that time नविन्नसुन्दरं नाथतेपदं When we see your lotus feet and we think that these lotus feet are actually touching the pebbles शिलत्रणान्कुरैसीदतीतिन When we think that the pebbles, the twigs, the stones, they are piercing your lotus feet we feel as if our hearts are in tears. कलिलतामनः कान्तगच्चति So even when Krishna is just a little distance away their hearts are with Krishna and they feel even the smallest pain that they feel in separation with Krishna. The smallest of the pain that Krishna feels they feel it multiplied even more.
That is actually the nature of love. Normally, there are two human beings or two people, two beings every one of them, each one of them is a distinct individual and everyone experiences emotions in their own way. Now, people often talk about empathy Try to put yourself in other people’s shoes and then try to feel what they are feeling.
Sometimes when we are upset with someone, we want to put them in their place. But instead of putting them in their place, we need to put ourselves in their place. If we put ourselves in their place, then we will be able to see what is their way of looking at things.
So actually, empathy is good. In empathy, we try to see what other people are feeling. But in love, one not only feels what the other person is feeling actually one feels more strongly what the other person is feeling than what they themselves may be feeling.
For Krishna, that pebble touching him is no hurt at all. But the gopis feel it is intolerable. And when they think like this, that Krishna when you go out for for grazing the cows triti, a small fraction of a moment appears to be like a yuga.
It appears to be unlimited. So, here similarly, that actually the gopis at that time, what is the separation they are talking about? They say that we can’t even tolerate the separation from you when our eyelids blink and we can’t see you. So, in the Ananda Vandavan Champu, Kavi Karanapur says that when for one moment we are unable to see you we feel as if the universe has been destroyed.
Deprived of seeing you for one moment. And now, when Krishna is going, how long is he going to go? Days? Months? Years? They have no idea. So, they are devastated just by the thought.
Virahathura Brisham Prajastriya Krishna Vishakta Manasa These are the Gopis of Vrindavan and what is their characteristic? Krishna Vishakta Manasa. There is Asakta and there is Vishakta. Asakta, the word comes many times in the Bhagavatam.
But Vishakta doesn’t come so often. Vishakta means Vishesh Rupena Asakta. It is a very special kind of attachment.
So, Krishna Vishakta Manasa. It is strongly attached to Krishna. In fact, sometimes we think that our problem in this world is that we are attached.
You know, we are attached to this thing, we are attached to that thing. We are attached to so many things and that’s why we suffer. Actually, our suffering is not because of attachment.
Our suffering is because of detachment. We are suffering because we are detached from Krishna. We are detached from Krishna.
The perfection of life is not detachment, but it is attachment. We want to become attached to Krishna. In 6.47 and 7.1, Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita talks about the same thing.
He says, the topmost yogis are those who are constantly thinking of me. yoginam sarvesha mangate na antaradmanah shraddhavan bhajate yoma same yukta tamoguna They are constantly thinking of me. So, from the first chapter to sixth chapter, or rather second chapter to sixth chapter, Krishna is giving a progressive journey from karma yoga through ashtanga yoga to bhakti yoga.
But in the seventh chapter, he outlines another way to get to that level. Not through various yogas, but directly by practising bhakti. And then the first line of the first verse of the seventh chapter is mayi asakta manah partha yogam yunjan madhah surya So, mayi asakta manah So, how can you make your mind attached to me? That I’ll describe to you.
This 7.1 was one among the verses that Srila Prabhupada gave the maximum Bhagavad Gita classes on. The whole purpose of bhakti is to make our mind attached to Krishna. And here, the gopis have attained that perfection.
Krishna visakta manah Fully attached to Krishna. So, the gopis are they are the topmost yogis, the yoginis of devotion. And now, krishna visakta manasa visrujya lajja So, the word lajja can mean shame, it can also mean modesty.
Visrujya means giving up modesty. rudhusmasu svaram So, they gave up their modesty and started crying loudly. Govinda damodara madhaveti Oh Govinda, oh Damodara, oh Madhava Desperate.
Calling out. So, actually, these three lines, Govinda, Damodara, Madhaveti, this was used as a chorus by Belvamangal Thakur. And he has written a famous composition called the Govinda Damodara Stotra.
So, one of those verses is the same verse and there are many other verses. In those verses, Govinda Damodara Stotra, he has envisioned how different devotees at different times, when they were in danger, they called out Govinda Damodara Madhaveti. agre kurunamatha pandavannam dushasane naratha astrakesha krishnatadakrosha dananya natha Govinda Damodara Madhaveti So, he is envisioning how when Draupadi agre kurunamatha pandavannam in front of the Kurus and the Pandavas what happened was, Draupadi agre kurunamatha pandavannam dushasane naratha astrakesha Dushasana dragged her by her hair, grabbed her clothes, dragged her in public.
So, krishnatadakrosha dananya natha Krishna refers to Draupadi over here. Akrosha, she called out desperately. Ananya natha, she knew I have no other lord except Krishna.
She called out Govinda Damodara Madhaveti. So, this particular verse is the seed from which Vilamangal Thakur has expanded and he has envisioned how devotees in different times, in different situations have called out to Krishna. And here, when the Gopis are calling out to Krishna, the Visrujjalaja, they gave up their modesty.
This has multiple meanings and that will be the theme of our class today. That what is actually happening in Krishna Leela in Vrindavan. So, normally, whenever we are grief struck, we are overwhelmed, even when we want to cry, we don’t cry in public.
We go somewhere private and we cry in private. So, but when the emotions overwhelm us too much, then we are not aware of where we are. So, the Gopis, in that sense, they were crying publicly for Krishna.
But it’s more than that. The significance here is that the Gopis were not directly related to Krishna. The Gopis were young women, Krishna was a young man.
And in Vrindavan, they were not directly related with each other. Whenever they would meet, their meetings would always be in private. And the Gopis as well as Krishna had kept their attraction to each other secret.
But here, publicly they were calling out Krishna, Krishna. So, here when Krishna is about to depart, the Gopis publicly exhibit their love for Krishna. And in a conservative society, generally public displays of affection, even among married couples, are not so much encouraged.
What to speak of somebody who is not married. So, then the Gopis, what is happening over here? The devotion, the theme of the Bhagavatam, the underlying theme throughout is that Bhakti trumps everything else. All other hierarchies that are there in the Bhagavatam, that are there in general society, they are all trumped by Bhakti.
For the sake of Krishna, one should be ready to give up everything. So, the idea is that, say, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja. Krishna says, conclusion of the Bhagavad Gita is, give up all dharmas and surrender to me.
I had gone to a, I was invited to give a talk at a Hindu function. And it was a Gita Jayanti. So, they were reciting the 18th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita.
And there while reciting they came to 18.66 and they started reciting, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja. So, I asked them, why are they reciting adharman? He says, dharma. So, they quoted some Gita commentator who said, actually, Krishna has come to establish dharma.
So, how can Krishna tell you to give up dharma? Therefore, they said, somebody, while thousands of years in the Gita was coming down, somebody forgot to put a A over there. So, what Krishna is saying, sarva-dharman parityajya, give up all dharma and surrender to me. So, we have added that.
Now, Arjuna is such a virtuous person, that for Arjuna, adharma is not an option at all. Arjuna is actually caught between two dharmas. At the start of the Bhagavad Gita, he is torn between two dharmas, the Kshatriya dharma and the Kula dharma.
Kshatriya dharma means, he is a martial guard in the society and he has to fight against aggressors. His Kula dharma, his dynastic duty is that he is meant to protect the members of his dynasty. So, these two dharmas have come in conflict for him.
The Kshatriya dharma and the Kula dharma. And which dharma to choose, that is his dispute. That is his indecision.
Prachamitvam dharmasamudachetah I ask you two points and he says, tell me what is dharma? So, Krishna is telling, the summit of all dharma is to give up dharma for the sake of Krishna. That doesn’t mean one has to become adharmic. But rather, one takes up whatever it takes for serving Krishna.
So, the Gopis, what they demonstrate here is, that for a woman, especially in a traditional society, her chastity is her greatest virtue. And the Gopis are ready to risk losing that for the sake of Krishna. So, at one level, in bhakti, we give up the bad for Krishna.
We give up anti-devotional activities, meat-eating, gambling, intoxicating, illicit sex. That is good, that is essential. But bhakti means not only giving up the bad for Krishna, but even giving up the good for Krishna.
Giving up the good doesn’t mean we become bad. Giving up the good means we rise to something higher than good. There is adharma, there is aparadharma and there is paradharma.
Adharma is irreligious activity. Aparadharma is material religiosity and paradharma is the transcendental religiosity. So, this giving up worldly morality for the sake of Krishna, that is demonstrated in the Bhagavatam through the activities of the Gopis.
And this verse actually demonstrates the Gopis publicly calling out to Krishna. It’s described in the 10th canto that when Krishna played the flute and he called out to the Gopis, pati-sudhanvaya-bhratru-bandhavan ati-vilangyate antya-cchutaagataha kati-vidas-tava-udgita-mohitaha So, Krishna called out to the Gopis. udgita-mohitaha Gopis say that, Krishna is saying that when you played the flute, the sound of the flute was so loud and we just pulled out from our houses and we left everyone.
pati-sudhanvaya-bhratru-bandhavan We left all our relatives to come to you. So, now if somebody is playing the flute, music is supposed to be very sweet. Like say, harmonium is supposed to be played sweetly.
If somebody comes, somebody plays a harmonium and he says, your harmonium was so loud. Loud is not a compliment for harmonium, isn’t it? So, when Krishna is saying you played the flute, Gopis are saying, Krishna, your flute was so loud. So, how is loud a compliment? Actually, for the Gopis, when Krishna calls them, the smallest sound about Krishna calling is loud.
It’s so loud that they can’t hear anything else. To give an example from ordinary life, say if the mother is working in the kitchen and in the nearby bedroom, a child is there. And then the child makes a small cry.
The mother fears, what has happened? The small sound is heard very loudly because there is so much care, there is so much affection, so much love. So, the Gopis, they feel, your sound was so loud that we could not hear anyone else. Our family members were restraining us, don’t go, it is night, how can you go out like this? But they didn’t hear anyone else.
Just went straight to Krishna. Now, they left everyone and went to Krishna, but the Bhagavatam describes, this is the start of the 29th chapter. In the 33rd chapter, when they come back, it is described that Krishna, by his yoga maya, arranged in such a way that the family members of the Gopis thought that the Gopis were still with them.
So, initially, the Gopis, when they wanted to go, their family members restrained. And by Krishna’s yoga maya potency, the Gopis thought that, Gopis left. They felt that we have resisted, overcome the family members and we have gone.
And the family members thought that we had restrained the Gopis. So, the Gopis, so in the Gopala Champu, Jiva Goswami explains, he takes this concept similar to what is there Maya Sita. Just as it is said that in the Ramayana, that when Sita was abducted, the real Sita was not abducted.
The real Sita was with Agni and Ravana only took the Maya Sita. So, Jiva Goswami explains like that, there were mayic expansions of the Gopis who stayed with their family members. And that’s why they did not think that the Gopis have left and gone.
So, in that sense, at that time, although the Gopis left Krishna and went to perform Ras Tela, still the world did not come to know about them. Their reputation was not sullied. Because they thought that we restrained them, they did not go.
But in this case, it is in public. The Gopis are calling out to Krishna. Visrujyalaja.
Modesty is important. But ultimately, all virtues are meant in the service of devotion, in the service of Krishna. The Gopis feel that if Krishna leaves us, what is the use of our life? If our life is of no use, then what is the use of our modesty? We have to somehow or the other stop Krishna from going.
And in their desperation, Visrujyalaja. So this verse, the significance of this is that the Gopis are ready to sacrifice everything for Krishna’s sake. Even their reputation of being cheesed.
And the whole theme of the Bhagavatam, which builds up towards the 10th candle, is that, that which is normally considered good, and that which is normally considered bad. There is this hierarchy in the world. But the Bhagavatam consistently inverts this hierarchy.
So if there is bhakti, then that which is considered good may be bad, and that which is considered bad may be good. So how is that? This is a whole class in itself, but I’ll just give you 3-4 examples. If we consider the 6th candle.
Rudrasur is a demon. And Indra is God. He is not just God.
He is the king of the gods. Devendra. And normally in the battle between the devatas and asuras, the devatas are good and they win.
In this case, Indra wins. But it is Rudrasur who actually wins. So Indra is shown to be attached.
Rudrasur is shown to be spiritually exalted. So the normal hierarchy that the devatas are higher than the demons, that is inverted. Actually there is a demon who is higher than a devata.
So externals don’t matter. If there is bhakti, bhakti can invert all hierarchies. The same thing is demonstrated again in the 7th candle.
Where Prahalad is a demon. He is born in a demoniac family. In that sense, he can be called a demon.
There is this whole idea of caste by birth. Prahalad is born in a demoniac family. But all the devatas, they capitulate to Hiranyakashipu.
Prahalad doesn’t capitulate. All the devatas try to pacify Narasimhadev when he appears. Narasimhadev pays no heed to them.
He says, when my devotee Prahalad was being tortured, was being exalted, you neither protected him nor did you protest. What is the use of your prayers now? At that time, Prahalad pacifies the Lord. So here, it is not just an inversion of hierarchy in terms of the asura being higher than the devata.
The asura is also a small child. So there are fully grown up idols and there is a small child. Normally, idols are considered to be greater than children.
But a fall child is shown to be greater than an idol. An asura is shown to be greater than devatas. Because there is bhakti.
In the 8th canto again, the same thing comes again and again. Bali Maharaj is a king. And Shukracharya is the brahmana.
So, what happens? He is not just a king, he is a demon. Shukracharya is a brahmana. But Bali Maharaj is shown to be a far greater devotee than Shukracharya.
So, same theme again comes in the 9th canto when Durvasa Muni is there. Durvasa Muni and Ambarish Maharaj. Ambarish Maharaj is a kshatriya.
Durvasa Muni is a sannyasi and a brahmana. And still that hierarchy is inverted. That one who has devotion, they are far greater than anyone else whatever hierarchy they may have.
This is the consistent theme of the Bhagavatam. Prahlad Maharaj says, Oh Lord, that there may be a brahmana endowed with brahmanical qualities, the 12 qualities of a brahmana. But if that brahmana does not have devotion to me, then a dog-eater is far better.
Because that person will be able to deliver oneself and one’s own family. So, that same theme of the Bhagavatam, which is that conventional conceptions of right and wrong, conventional conceptions of hierarchy are inverted. So, now here the gopis are simple cowherd women.
And not only simple cowherd women, simple cowherd women who seem to have a relationship with some man other than the husband. This would be considered low down in the hierarchy. But they are considered to be the topmost of devotees.
Why? Because they have devotion. So, bhakti inverts all social hierarchies. That is the theme of the Bhagavatam consistently.
And if we move forward in this particular pastime, now what is, at one level the Bhagavatam is demonstrating bhakti inverts all social hierarchies. But what is the point of demonstrating this? What is the ultimate point of this pastime in the 10th Canto? So, in the Gopal Champu, Jiva Goswami explains that actually when Krishna left Vrindavan, now Krishna, he had actually no desire to leave Vrindavan. Simply wanted to stay there.
And his intention was, if I go, I’ll come back as soon as possible. As soon as possible. But when he goes there, his plan was that he will kill Kamsa and he’ll come back.
And as soon as he kills Kamsa, then the Yadus, they all come and they tell Krishna. They want to offer the throne, the royal crown to Krishna. And Krishna says, you know, I am simply a coward boy.
I don’t want this crown. I don’t want this throne. And anyway, Maharaja Ugrasen is still there.
Kamsa had usurped the throne from his father. He is the eldest among us. He should take the crown.
And the Yadus are very pleased to see that Krishna not only has phenomenal strength, he also has such culture and humility that he is not, although he has earned the throne, he has overthrown somebody who no one else could overthrow. But still he is not overwhelmed. Very pleased with him.
And then Ugrasen is offered the crown and Krishna says, please give me a leave now. I’ll depart. And the Yadus are panicking.
Krishna, how can you leave us? He says, what do you mean, how can I leave you? Krishna says, I am the son of Vandamaharaj. They are my parents. I have to go there.
That’s where I live. So the Yadus say, no, you are not their son. You are our son.
You are actually Devaki’s son. The prophecy was made that the Ashtamgarbha, the 8th child, will kill Kamsa. So you have killed Kamsa.
That proves that you are the 8th child of Devaki. Now the 10th Canto actually leaves a state of suspense of whether the Vrajavasis really know and accept that Krishna is not their child. And Gargamuni comes to name Krishna.
We know Vasudev comes and puts Krishna in Nandamaharaj’s house and then he goes at night. So Nandamaharaj and Yashodamayi, when Yashodamayi wakes up, she says, oh, this is my child. She always thinks Krishna is her child.
And when Gargamuni comes there, Vasudev sends him because he is their royal priest and he wants Gargamuni to do the rites for Krishna, the name-giving ceremony. But at that time Nandamaharaj thinks that Vasudev is such a great well-wisher of mine that when I have got a child, he has sent his priest for doing the name-giving ceremony. And Gargacharya is a Brahmana.
So he doesn’t want to speak a lie. But he can’t even speak the truth. So what he says is very interesting.
He says that actually you have got a son who is just like Narayan. And he says in a previous birth, previously, Sanskrit is a little ambiguous, previously he was the son of Vasudev. Now what does previously mean? So Nandamaharaj thinks in a previous life he was the son of Vasudev.
He thinks we are all in traditional Indian society, the idea that if a child is born, maybe he was a grandfather earlier, he was a great grandfather, some family member has come back again. So like that Nandamaharaj actually never knows and they don’t accept that Krishna is anyone other than their child. And always the Vrajavasis are thinking.
Now when Balram gets married to Revati, and this is much later, they send the news. The news comes to Nandamaharaj. So Nandamaharaj is very happy that Balram’s marriage has taken place.
But then the first question here is, what about Krishna? Will Krishna marry a Kshatriya girl in Dwarka or will he marry a Vaishya girl here in Vrindavan? If he marries a Kshatriya girl, that means he is acknowledging that he is the son of Vasudev. If he comes back here and marries Radharani, then if he marries a Vaishya girl, then he accepts that he is our son. So the Vrajavasis actually in their heart, they never accept that Krishna is anything other than their son.
So here Krishna is caught in a conflict. He says, I don’t know what to do. So they say, you have to stay here.
You are our son. How can you go there? And moreover, you have a duty to us now. You have killed Kamsa, but Kamsa was a leader of many other demons.
And all those demons are now going to take revenge against us. So you have to be here to protect us. Krishna actually is still a small child, but he has a very strong Kshatriya intelligence.
And then he now has to break this news to Nanda Maharaj. And Nanda Maharaj has been there among the spectators, watching when Krishna killed Kamsa. And the Vrajavasis were jubilant that how Krishna killed this tyrant Kamsa.
And then they thought the next king will be coronated, we will go back. And Nanda Maharaj is waiting. Krishna, when you look up, we will all go back.
And then Krishna is looking so grave. Nanda Maharaj starts having some misgivings. Something must be wrong.
And Krishna tells that, you know, the Yadus, they are claiming based on the prophecy that I am their son, that I am Vasudev’s son. And they want me to stay here. Nanda Maharaj is shattered.
He starts laughing. Sometimes in life there is so much grief that the only way to stop crying is to start laughing. So he says that, oh, it is our fortune that great people are claiming our son to be their son.
So they are claiming our son to be their son. So now sometimes say when a husband and wife get divorced, then there is custody battle over the child. So Nanda Maharaj, he is thinking about Krishna.
He wants Krishna to come back. But then he doesn’t want Krishna to be traumatised. So he says it is our great fortune.
Then Nanda Maharaj says, Krishna, how can I live without you? How can Yashoda live without you? If you are going to stay here, then I will get Yashoda here. We will all come here and we will stay here. Krishna says, Nanda Baba, how can you stay here? Actually, we are all the servants of the cows.
And we have so many cows. Where is there grazing land for the cows? He says the cows cannot stay in a city like Mathura. Nanda Maharaj says, no problem.
He says, you know, we will take the cows. We don’t mind walking a long distance to graze the cows, but we want to be next to you. Krishna says, Nanda Baba, actually you cannot stay here.
You have to go back to Vrindavan. Not only do you have to go back to Vrindavan, you have to cut off all ties with me. Nanda Maharaj is like one thunderbolt after another falling on me.
What are you saying, Krishna? How can you? Why can’t we stay in touch with you? Krishna says that actually Mathura is a city. It has defensive structures. It can be protected from aggressors.
Vrindavan is a simple village. Vrindavan cannot be easily protected from aggressors. If the enemies, the friends of Kamsa, if they attack Mathura, you know, I can defend Mathura.
But if they attack Vrindavan, Vrindavan is defenceless from all sides. I will not be able to protect. If I am here and they attack there, I cannot be there at both places.
So if Kamsa’s friends even suspect that you and I are close to each other, then to get back at me, they will attack. And therefore, we have to pretend as if we have no relationship with each other. That I just stayed at your place for some time.
But afterwards, I came back and I forgot you and you forgot me. Nandamaharaj is shocked. He says, how can we forget you, Krishna? Will you forget us? Nandamaharaj says, no, I am never going to forget you.
Krishna says, I cannot forget you. I long to be back with you. But please understand, all of you Vrajavasis are so dear to my heart.
I cannot tolerate any harm happening to you. And therefore, this is the only way. We have so many cows, we have so many Vrajavasis, all of them cannot fit in Mathura.
We have to stay in Vrindavan and we have to be disconnected. We have to be totally disconnected. And that is why, actually, although Mathura and Vrindavan were so close to each other, Krishna never crossed Mathura and went to Vrindavan.
Because Krishna wanted to protect the Vrajavasis. So the separation was actually the means of the protection of the Vrajavasis. The protection from the aggressors.
Several times it is described when Jarasandha came to attack. The Vrajavasis, they also had their guards. Those guards were not really with weapons who would fight a big war.
They had their small sticks and other things. But the guards were just sentries to alert. And then whenever the army of Jarasandha would pass by, the Vrajavasis would leave Vrindavan and go and take shelter in the forest for that duration.
They did not want. Krishna told them, don’t even let any aggressors come to know about how prosperous Vrindavan is. So in that way, they will not attack Vrindavan.
So time and time like this it happened. And through it all, Krishna was so agonised. Krishna was so desperately longing to go back to Vrindavan somehow or the other.
One day Krishna told Balram, do you know, he says that, against my own intelligence, my legs want to run and go to Vrindavan. But, he says, I can go secretly. But the Yadus are very afraid.
Because they are afraid that if I go to Vrindavan, then Yad Gathwanani Vartante. You will go to Vrindavan and you will never come back. So because of that, they are so opposed.
They are saying that I should not go there. They want me to forget Vrindavan. But how can I forget? So then Vasudev sees that Krishna has just come back from Mathura to Vrindavan, from Vrindavan to Mathura, and he is not able to relate with anyone in Mathura.
You know, it’s like there is a small child, maybe Krishna is around 10 at that time, but he is not very old. Now suddenly, if a child is taken away from the home, and placed in another home and told, this is your mother, this is your father. I know who my mother is, I know who my father is.
So, he is respectful to Vasudev, he is respectful to Devaki, but he is not even able to address Devaki properly as a mother. Then Vasudev starts thinking what to do. Then he sends a message to Nanda Maharaj, that now I am secure, please send Rohini back.
He thinks that Rohini is like one… She was there with Krishna in Vrindavan. So there will be one familiar face over here. One familiar face.
And Krishna will have at least someone with whom he can relate. And so he calls. And then when the message comes to Rohini, Rohini has all this time been staying with Nanda Maharaj and Yashoda.
And Yashoda and Rohini, they have become like one soul in two bodies. So closely bonded. Not only they were too close to each other, the two were close to each other, but the two also had small children.
And they have taken care of both the children together. And now, Rohini and Yashoda, they are so agonised to be separated. Yashoda says that actually, Rohini, you know, when you go there, my heart will go with you.
When you embrace Krishna, through you I will be embracing Krishna. When you will be fondling Krishna’s hair, it is I who will be fondling Krishna’s hair. Please go.
Please go and be with Krishna. I will make various delicacies for Krishna to eat. Take them all.
And take my love with you when you go to Krishna. And when Rohini comes, actually, she finds that Krishna is so mortified. Krishna doesn’t know what to do.
Because on one side, Nanda Maharaj left. Nanda Maharaj said that Vasudev is like your father. Just as you would obey me, obey Vasudev.
So now Vasudev and the Yadus, they are all his elders. Krishna doesn’t want to disobey them. But none of them are able to be sympathetic.
Because they are all suspicious. The Mathuravasis, they are suspicious. They appreciate that the Vajvasis took care of Krishna.
But they think, you know, Krishna has become too attached to the Vajvasis. Krishna will leave us anytime and go away. And they don’t want Krishna to go away.
So they are thinking, what we should do? We should make Krishna forget Vrindavan. And whenever Krishna tries to talk about Vrindavan, they change the subject. They don’t let Krishna talk anything about Vrindavan.
Now for him, Krishna is a small child. And that was his life. So he is not allowed to speak anything about that.
So what to do? So Rohini comes up and he tells Rohini his heart. And then Rohini feels her heart cries for Krishna. She says, I’ll speak to everyone.
I’ll tell them about how much love the Vrajvasis had for you. And then she tries to speak. When she tries to speak, the Yadus think that our Krishna, we understand that he was a small child.
The Vrajvasis must have fed him a lot of sweets. And that’s why Krishna has become so attached to them. But you are a grown up woman.
You are our family member. What sweets did they feed you? Then you become so attached to them. You are meant to be on our side, not their side.
So Rohini feels so exasperated. He doesn’t know what to do. And this way Krishna is living in Vrindavan.
Krishna is living in Mathura, longing to go to Vrindavan. But just unable to go. His heart is there in Vrindavan.
But he cannot go there. So actually in Krishna Leela, Krishna demonstrates it is not often, there have been many poets, Bhagavatam itself talks and many Vaishnava poets have talked about how much of the Gopis’ separation from Krishna. That was extraordinarily intense.
The Gopis just lived in a state of heartbreak every day longing for Krishna to come. But it was not only the Gopis who were separated from Krishna. It was Krishna who was separated from the Gopis also.
So Jiva Goswami tells the whole Gopal Champu from Krishna’s perspective. What was the agony that Krishna was going through because of being separated from Krishna. Krishna and Balaram, they would stay in the same room and sometimes they would just talk about Vrindavan.
There were only two people who could talk with each other. And then they would just hug each other and cry. Cry remembering the Vrajavasis longing to be there.
Somehow not being able to be there. So the Gauri Vaishnava Acharyas, they actually describe this Virahaatura Vrisham. That Virahaatura, this affliction because of separation.
This is the summit of devotion. Now you may wonder, what is this? This is agony. There is happiness over there.
Spiritual world is full of happiness. But the Lord and His topmost devotees, they both seem to be in agony. But actually this is not agony.
This is ecstasy. How is it ecstasy? The basic principle is that remembrance of Krishna is joyful. Kulshikar Maharaj says, Sukhataram aparam na jaatun jaane, Haricharan smaranam rute na tulyam.
Sukhataram aparam. I don’t know any happiness other than this. Now Kulshikar Maharaj was a very powerful king at his times.
So he had all kinds of worldly pleasures, which most of us can’t even dream about. He had all those. But he says, I don’t know any pleasure that equals the pleasure of Haricharan smaranam rute na tulyam.
The pleasure of remembering Lord Hari. So remembrance of Krishna is always a source of happiness. Remembrance of Krishna is like amrut.
It’s like nectar. But some remembrance is like sweet nectar. And some remembrance is like bitter nectar.
It is nectar. But while tasting, it can taste bitter. So when Krishna is there with the gopis, Krishna is there with his devotees, in their union, there is sweet nectar.
But when there is separation, there is bitter nectar. It’s nectar. It’s nectar but it is bitter nectar.
And this nectar, why is it considered to be the topmost devotion? Now Bhishma says this and in Anadapya Sutra also it is said that there are various definitions of bhakti given. So Bhishma, Prabhupada quotes Bhishma, he says that when there is reason for a relationship to break and still the relationship doesn’t break, that means it is pure love. That means that we normally expect some reciprocation from someone.
And when that person doesn’t reciprocate, why should I care for this person? That’s how we may feel. So there is a reason to break the relationship and even when the relationship doesn’t break despite that reason, that is called pure love. So now when Krishna leaves Vrindavan and goes away, actually the gopis leave everything for Krishna.
The gopis, they give up their reputation of being chaste for the sake of Krishna. There is nothing more that anyone can give up for the sake of Krishna. The gopis give up everything for Krishna and what does Krishna do? Krishna gives them up and goes away.
From the material perspective, it may seem as if, you know, God is abandoning those who have abandoned everything for him. This is the opposite of the normal conception of devotion that people have. Normal conception of devotion people have is that that God should be my protector.
That I have problems in life and Krishna, God should protect me from those problems. That is one level of religiosity. Yes, it is, yes, at least we come to Krishna when we are in trouble and we seek his protection.
But the Bhagavatam talks about such a high level of religion that we see, there is a tenth canon, the Bhagavatam itself, you know, Parikshit Maharaj is cursed to die. So it’s like say, you start, there is some movie which starts with a hero who is fated to die in seven days. And there will be a whole kind of adventure, you know, maybe the hero has to go somewhere, find some mystical herb or eat this, do that and then somehow he is able to avoid death.
But the Bhagavatam is what? It starts with the hero cursed to die and it ends with the hero dying. So what is this? What happened? You know, what happened? Where is God? What is his help? Where is, in a sense, Parikshit Maharaj dies. So where is the help of God? Krishna’s help is in the absorption that is granted to him.
The Bhagavatam depicts that absorption in Krishna is the ultimate protection. So Parikshit, he is not protected at the material level but he is protected at a far deeper level. He is absorbed in Krishna and actually even before this Takshak comes and bites him, Parikshit has transcended the cycle of birth and death by his absorption in Krishna.
So at one level Parikshit Maharaj depicts that actually Krishna doesn’t protect at a material level. Krishna protects at a spiritual level where he gives absorption. Now it’s one thing that we expect someone to protect and that person doesn’t protect.
But it’s far worse when the person whom we expect to protect us, that person causes hurt to us. That person hurts us. So in the case of the Gopis, how is it? Krishna leaves them and goes away.
So the Gopis’ heartbreak is because of Krishna leaving them. So it is far from God being the protector, it is as if God is the afflictor. God is the cause of their suffering and yet what is the Gopis’ devotion? They are completely absorbed in Krishna.
They are separated from Krishna but they are deeply absorbed in Krishna. So Krishna leaves them and goes away but when he leaves, he enters deeper into their heart. He enters so deep into their heart that he pervades their entire being.
And the Gopis demonstrate that absorption in Krishna is the ultimate spiritual perfection. That Krishna may be there with us, Krishna may not be there with us. But if you are absorbed in Krishna, that is life’s ultimate perfection.
And at one level the pastime of the Gopis with Krishna is very very exalted. It is so exalted that for us to understand the intricacies of the setting and everything, it will take many many years of not just study but also purification to understand. But there are certain principles from there also that we can apply at our level.
The Gopis, they are separated from Krishna still they are absorbed in Krishna. We are in the material world, we are also separated from Krishna. We can also strive for absorption in Krishna.
Separation does to love what wind does to fire. There is a forest fire and there are firefighters who are fighting the forest fire. The firefighters know the worst thing that can happen in the forest fire is a stormy wind comes along.
The wind will spread the fire everywhere and it will be almost impossible to control it. So for the Gopis, separation from Krishna is like the stormy wind. And the fire of love for Krishna that is there in their heart, it burns much much more.
And they become even more absorbed in Krishna. Now we shouldn’t think that I’ll become separated from Krishna, I’ll go away from devotee association, my love for Krishna will increase. No! That same wind, it will make a forest fire bigger.
But our love for Krishna is not like a forest fire, it is like a candle. When the wind comes, the candle gets extinguished. So like that if we go away from devotees, actually our devotion will get extinguished.
So we need the association of devotees. Bhakti Sanjayate Bhakti. But still we are also separated from Krishna, we don’t have direct association with Krishna right now.
And if we expect Krishna’s protection at the material level, I have this problem, Krishna should solve this problem, I have this problem, Krishna should solve this problem. Krishna can. Many times Krishna solves the problems also.
But he solves them in his own ways. If our devotion is based on the expectation of material protection, then our devotion will never be steady. Because the nature of the material world is, there will be ups and downs.
It is, sometimes things will work out right, sometimes things will not work out right. That is just the nature of the material world. And Krishna doesn’t change the nature of the material world for anyone, even for devotees.
Just as a person may be a very great devotee, they may be pure devotees, but still their body is going to grow old, their body is going to get diseased, their body is going to perish. So the nature of the material world doesn’t change. So when Krishna manifests as the deities, that’s Krishna Himself manifesting.
But still, at the material level, if somebody mishandles the deities, then the deities have to materially protect. Sometimes some invaders came and they tried to desecrate the deities. So the devotees didn’t think at that time, the Goswamis and others, they didn’t think, Oh this is Krishna, He will protect Himself and He will protect us.
Now some of the most thrilling adventures in Gaudiya Vaishnava history are how the devotees protected the deities. How when Vrindavan was being desecrated, the devotees took the deities to Jaipur. So the point I am making is, at a material level, Krishna often doesn’t manifest.
Krishna doesn’t change the nature of material nature even for His devotees. Material nature has its own nature. But what Krishna does is, He takes His devotees to the spiritual nature.
He raises our consciousness to the spiritual level. So if we are expecting Krishna’s protection at the material level, yes, we have to function in the material world and we need material things for functioning here. And things will work out in due course.
But if that expectation of material protection is the basis of our devotion, then our devotion will never be steady. If instead what we expect is, Krishna give me absorption in you. Let me be absorbed in you.
So that absorption itself is the ultimate protection. Because usually when problems come in our life, we think that, you know, Krishna should remove this problem. This problem should be removed.
This problem should be removed. And that way we pray to Krishna. Krishna can remove that problem also.
But this material world is itself a problematic place. One problem goes, another will come. Another will come.
What Krishna wants us to do is not just work for the change out there. We work for the change in here. Change in here means, we become absorbed in Krishna.
It is Krishna bahirmukha. We have become bahirmukha. We are turned away from Krishna.
And what we need to do is, seva unmukha. By service to him, we become unmukha. Our face turns towards him.
So we, the external tribulation is meant to bring inner absorption. There is tribulation out there and each problem may have a cause. But Shri Prabhupada explains, the miseries of material existence are ultimately, are meant to indirectly remind us of our incompatibility with matter.
That we don’t belong here. We don’t belong here. So when there is material adversity, material affliction is there, that is meant to kindle spiritual absorption.
Turn towards Krishna. Take shelter of Krishna. But instead, so instead of using the world as a means, we often use Krishna as a means to the world.
Right now? So the Harinam mini bus today will leave at 6pm, not 6.30pm. So I’ll just finish in a few minutes. So, talking about how when we expect protection at the material level, we cannot gain absorption in Krishna. It’s like, Krishna has this problem.
Please solve this problem. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. If the problem is solved, Krishna Krishna.
If not, you solve it. Hare Rama, Hare Rama. Why not? Till now, Rama Rama.
What is the use of this chanting? So, when we are too caught in the problems of the world, even when we are chanting, we are not Krishna conscious, we are problem conscious. Then, even if the problem is removed, where is our spiritual growth? Our spiritual growth happens when we become Krishna conscious. So, we often, in the material conception of bhakti, people practise bhakti.
Their idea is, God is a tool to this world. I have problem in this world and God is a means for solving problem in this world. So, the idea is that God is not a tool to this world, this world is a tool to God.
Whatever is happening in this world is meant to remind us of Krishna. So, Krishna is playing his flute and he is inviting us, just as he played the flute, to invite the gopis to come and participate in darshan. Krishna is playing his flute to invite all of us.
Come to me. Come to my spiritual world. I am performing pastime.
Join in my pastime. Assist in my pastimes. The material conception of bhakti is, Krishna, I want to perform pastimes here.
And you assist me here. I had this problem, remove this problem. I had that problem, remove that problem.
Now, Krishna can remove problems. Krishna will remove problems. But the very expectation that Krishna should remove our problems, that itself is a problem.
Because we are staying in material consciousness. It is not that Krishna wants our life to be problem-free. Krishna does.
Krishna will free his devotees from problems. But Krishna wants us to become absorbed in him. The more we become absorbed in him, something wonderful happens.
What happens is that we discover how tough Krishna can make us. How tough Krishna can make us. That means that life will give us problems.
And if we had not been practising Krishna bhakti, we would have crumbled under the weight of the problems. But when we take shelter of Krishna, we realise that I had this problem. Such a big problem.
But by taking shelter of Krishna, I am sheltered. I am able to cope with this problem. Although this problem is troubling me, I am able to cope with it.
So the problems often come by our own past karma. It’s not that Krishna causes the problems. Krishna can remove the problem.
But Krishna uses those problems to help us to become absorbed in him. So I’ll conclude with one last example of how Krishna makes us tough. Suppose there is a child who has not done the homework.
And the child has got a very strict teacher. The teacher is going to punish the child. So the teacher’s punishment is, I have not done your homework, show your hand.
Now the mother knows the child has not done the homework. The mother doesn’t want the child to be punished. At the same time, the mother doesn’t want the child to be undisciplined also.
So what the mother does, the child is going to school. The mother puts a nice thick glow on the child’s hand. And with the glow, the child goes to school.
Have you done your homework? Show your hand. Now big noise comes. The stick hits.
But the stick does not hurt. Why? Because the glow is there. The glow protects.
So for us, material nature is like the teacher. We are like that errant child. And Krishna is like the mother.
And absorption in Krishna is the glow. So when problems come, we expect that the teacher should not beat me. But no.
What Krishna is going to do is, the blows of life will hit, but they will not hurt. Problem will be there, but the shelter and absorption of Krishna will act as a shelter. But the child starts thinking, why do I need this glow? While the child is going to school, the child just takes off the glow and throws it away.
And when the child goes to school, he gets beaten. So like that, if we think, you know, what is this Krishna Consciousness doing? I am chanting. What is the use of it? Just forget it.
And then when we forget it, then we get it. Then we just get beaten. It is not that Krishna is causing the suffering.
Krishna is helping us protect us from the suffering. But the protection he gives is absorption. madhashraya-katha-mrishta-sunvanti-katha-yanti-tapanti-vibhidha-sthapa-naithaan-madhgata-cheetasa Krishna says, tapanti-vibhidha-sthapa.
In the Kapiladeva section it says, various miseries will come in this world. But naithaan, the devotee is not afflicted by them. Madhgata-cheetasa, because the consciousness is absorbing them.
So the Bhagavatam demonstrates, both through Pariksit Maharaj’s pastime and the pastime of the Gopis, that absorption in Krishna is the ultimate protection. And that absorption is always available for us. And tribulation in the world is often a further impetus for that absorption.
So if we seek the protection of absorption, we will never be disappointed. We always get that protection and through that absorption, Krishna will guide us appropriately. Once we are absorbed, once we are calmed, once we are strengthened internally, how to deal with that external problem? That is a detail.
Krishna will guide us. We will deal with the problem appropriately, but more important is, we will get the conviction about the reality and the potency of Krishna’s protection. And that is the ultimate gain in life.
Just having a problem-free life is not a big gain. Because ultimately life is going to end in death. But if during the course of our life, the problems impel us to become absorbed in Krishna, they give us conviction about the potency of absorption in Krishna, then that is the ultimate gain.
Because that absorption in Krishna will ultimately take us to Krishna. So I’ll quickly summarise. I spoke today on the theme of the 10th canto, describing how the Gopis are publicly showing their affection for Krishna, calling out Krishna, please don’t go.
So this theme is immortalised by Pillu Amangal Thakur and how different devotees call out Govinda, Damodar, Madhaveti. And the significance of this is that for a woman, her chastity is the most important virtue and the Gopis are ready to give up even that for Krishna. So bhakti means pure devotion, not just giving up the good, bad for Krishna, but even the good for Krishna.
And sarva-dharman paritye. So what Krishna is saying in the conclusion of the Bhagavad Gita, in the Rashtrila the Gopis demonstrate that. And the Gopis have so much love for Krishna that a small, sweet sound of the flute sounds so loud that they become deafened to everything else.
They are ready to give up everything else for Krishna. At that time in the Rashtrila, Krishna arranges through yoga maya, through the maya form of the Gopis that their reputation is not sullied. But here, they are publicly proclaiming their love for Krishna.
And I discussed about how the Bhagavatam inverts conventional notions of high and low. That Asura is greater than a devata. Ritra Asura is greater than Indra, Prahlada is greater than all the devatas, even Brahmaji.
Ambarisha is greater than Durvasa and similarly, Bali is greater than Shukracharya. And ultimately the Gopis were simple village cowherd girls. And even cowherd girls who have affection for someone other than her husband.
They are greater than the greatest devotees. So bhakti is the most important thing. And I discussed elaborately about how just as the Gopis are separated from Krishna, similarly the Krishna was separated from the Gopis.
And in order to protect the Yadus and to protect the Vrajivasis, protect the Yadus from the direct attack of the allies of Kamsa, and protect the Vrajivasis from being attacked because of their association with Krishna, Krishna stayed in Mathura and cut off association with Vrajivasis. And he was mortally afflicted by that. But that, he was absorbed in the devotees, the devotees were absorbed in him.
And that is life’s ultimate perfection. I concluded by talking about how separation does to love what wind does to fire. The fire is great, it spreads.
The fire is small and gets extinguished. So for us, if sometimes we are somehow put in difficulties, if there is an expectation of material protection, then our devotion will always be unsteady. But instead if we seek spiritual absorption, that itself will be the ultimate protection.
The blows of life will hit but they will not hurt. Because we will be absorbed in Krishna just like a child who is being beaten but there are gloves. The Bhagavatam demonstrates that for Parikshit Maharaj, there is no protection in the material level.
He dies when he is cursed but there is protection in the spiritual level through absorption. For the Gopis, what to speak of Krishna being the protector? Krishna is the afflictor. He goes away and that’s the cause of their distress.
But still the Gopis remain devoted because they are experiencing Krishna’s presence through absorption. The Bhagavatam’s theme is that absorption in Krishna is the ultimate protection. I’ll conclude with one thought that whatever karma may get us through, Krishna will get us through.
In our life, whatever karma may get us through, Krishna will get us through. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.
Do we have time for questions or comments?