SB 01.15.07 – Let material triumphs become contributors not distractors in our devotion

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Shri Mataji 157 chanting chanting chanting chanting chanting Arjuna is remembering all the times when he was able to achieve heroic deeds, and he remembers how Krishna was the merciful cause underlying it all, and here he is remembering the Swayambhar where he won the hand of Draupadi. Yath samshrayat, it was by his strength, Drupada geham upagatanam, so those who had assembled in the palace of Drupada, how significantly, till that time, Krishna and Arjuna, in their manifest pastimes, had not even met, as far as the record of the Mahabharata goes.
They had of course heard about Krishna, because Kuntiya and Vasudeva were related, and the happenings related to Vasudeva’s son were known to them, and how he had killed Kamsa, before that how he had killed so many demons, while in Vrindavan, they had known all that. But it was actually in the Drupada’s son’s way, that the first meeting of the Pandavas with Krishna happened, and that was Krishna, who and Balram, who after the Pandavas, in the guise of the Brahmanas, had left, after taking Draupadi’s hand, and they went to the small cottage where they were living, and Krishna and Balram followed, and Krishna actually introduced himself to the Pandavas, he says, I am Krishna, and this is my brother Balram, and I am Krishna, and the Pandavas had already heard about it, and they were elated to see him personally come to meet them, and to offer his support, because at that time, the Pandavas had been sent to Varanavarta by Duryodhana’s schemes, with Dhritarashtra’s consent, and their house of lack in Varanavarta had been burnt, and the Pandavas were living incognito in a forest, as Brahmins, and so Arjuna and the Garbha Brahmin had won the hand of Draupadi, so there it was that the first meeting between Krishna and Arjuna and the Pandavas in general happened. So here we may say that how did Krishna play a role for Arjuna to win the hand of Draupadi? Now, of course, externally also Krishna pacified the kings, the kings had got angry that the Swayamvar had been won by a Brahmana instead of a Kshatriya, and they wanted to attack King Drupada for his arranged test to Swayamvar, which is very difficult to pass, and thereby disgracing all the Kshatriyas.
So the kings, various kings wanted to attack Drupada, and Arjuna and Bhima at the request of Yudhishthira came to defend their father-in-law, and they completely countered all the kings. Bhima countered Shalya, and Arjuna countered Karna. But Arjuna, rather than claiming credit that he had won the hand of Draupadi, is ascribing it to Krishna over here.
So Krishna played an immediate role in pacifying the kings when they had been countered and stunned by Bhima and Arjuna. They had not yet recognized Bhima and Arjuna, but still seeing their prowess, the kings had temporarily stopped their angry outbursts, but still some residual anger remained, and Krishna checked that. But that was only a minor role.
However, Arjuna is meditating that whatever abilities he has, they have come from Krishna, and in that sense, it is by Krishna’s grace that he has been able to do whatever he has done. So he is thanking Krishna, remembering him over here, and this is the mood of a devotee, that no matter whatever happens, even if there is no Krishna factor visibly present, a devotee knows that whatever I am doing is by Krishna’s mercy on me. In the Swayamvara, all the kings were they were maddened by lust for winning Draupadi.
So Tejoritam, actually by his power, he defeated all of them. He penetrated the target fish, which had to be hit. He raised the bow.
It was so very difficult to lift up the bow itself, to tie it, and then shoot the target was also difficult, but Arjuna did that, and he won Draupadi. So now we may think that, okay, winning Draupadi, winning the queen, that is a material activity. But no, for a devotee, actually, even the material life is important, because it affects the spiritual life, and Draupadi herself was an exalted devotee, and a devotee sees that even the successes in one’s material life are coming by Krishna’s grace.
And that has been demonstrated here by Arjuna, that rather than letting our material, our successes in material life infatuate us into thinking about our own glories, a devotee focuses on recognizing how Krishna is playing a benevolent role in all situations. And this way, even our material life can serve as not a distraction from our prayer and meditation, but as a contributor to our prayer and meditation. Rather than worrying about our material life, we know that with Krishna’s grace, everything is possible, and if we just try to serve Krishna, He will arrange everything for us, and we just need to wholeheartedly absorb ourselves in His remembrance.
Thank you.