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"How to Spend Your Last Seven Days on Earth" Chapter Six
Sixth day’s Lecture All Glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga
All Glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga
Krsna and Rukmini were married in Dwaraka and after some time Rukmini gave birth to Pradyumna. Pradyumna was Kamadeva in his previous life before Lord Siva burned him into ashes. Once, Kamadeva disturbed Lord Siva’s meditation by creating lusty desires in him, thus angering Lord Siva and he burned him to ashes. Since then Kamadeva has not had a physical body. After showing Kamadeva his wrath, Lord Siva blessed him with the ability to influence everyone with lusty desires, even without having a physical body. Krsna then married Jambavati, the daughter of Jambavan. A Yadava warrior named Satrajit lived in Dwaraka and worshipped the Sungod, from whose blessings he received a jewel named Syamantaka that daily produced two kilos of gold. One day his brother, Prasena, went hunting in the forest where he was killed by a lion while wearing that jewel around his neck. When his brother did not return from the forest, Satrajit concluded that Krsna must have killed his brother and taken the jewel, so he blamed Him publicly saying, “Krsna killed my brother and took the jewel.” Thus everyone in Dwaraka was gossiping about it. Lord Krsna proclaimed, “I did not take the jewel. Let us go find who has taken it.” Thus Lord Krsna, accompanied by some people from Dwaraka, left in search for the jewel. In their quest Krsna found Prasena dead and lion tracks leading further into the forest, but did not find the jewel. Following the lion’s tracks they found the lion dead with bear tracks leading to a cave. The Lord entered the cave where He found Jambavati, the daughter of Jambavan (whose face resembled that of a bear), playing with the jewel. The Lord asked her for the jewel, but upon seeing a stranger in the cave, Jambavati’s female playmate immediately went and told Jambavan. Hearing that a stranger had trespassed in his cave, Jambavan became very angry and came to fight with the Lord. They fought for twenty-eight days and nights, thus Jambavan got defeated because no one can defeat the Lord. The Lord then showed His Rama form to him and blessed him. Jambavan became very happy knowing that his worshippable Lord Rama was now before him as Lord Krsna. He worshipped the Lord and offered Him the Syamantaka jewel and his daughter’s hand in marriage. Krsna then returned to Dwaraka and returned the jewel to Satrajit, then married Jambavati following the Vedic rites. Because Satrajit falsely accused Krsna of taking the jewel he was criticized by the citizens of Dwaraka, so to silence the criticism he married his daughter, Satyabhama, to Krsna. Thus Satrajit pleased all the residents of Dwaraka by making Krsna his son-in-law. No one criticizes Krsna’s father-in-law, therefore everyone would say, “Satrajit is very fortunate because he gave his daughter to the Lord.” Kalindi became the Lord’s fourth wife. Once when Krsna visited the Pandavas in Indraprastha (now New Delhi) He got married to Kalindi. On this visit the Lord stayed for four months. One day when Lord Krsna and Arjuna were walking in the forest, Arjuna heard a voice, sweetly singing. He followed the sound to where he found a female sitting near a holy Tulasi plant, she was loudly chanting the holy names of Lord Krsna. Arjuna saw intense longing for the Lord in her. She sang with such great care and attention that tears of love were flowing from her eyes. When she saw Arjuna she understood him to be a representative of the Lord because he wore Tilaka on his forehead and Tulasi beads around his neck. She welcomed Arjuna with folded hands and offered him a seat. The proper way to dedicate one’s life to the Lord is to chant His names and follow the Lord’s statements as found in the scriptures. The ancient scriptures contain the actual and direct orders of the Supreme Lord. The Padma Purana Uttarakhanda states that an initiated devotee of the Lord must wear the holy Tilaka mark on the forehead and holy Tulasi beads around the neck, but if the situation warrants, later Tilaka can be washed off. Per the scriptural rule, these two things are obligatory for a devotee and are favorable for devotional service. Acceptance of favorable things to please the Lord is called devotional service, which means to claim to be a devotee one must follow the Lord’s. A person should not serve the Lord according to their whim, because such service does not produce enough result. All great devotees connected to the Lord always wear Tilak and neck beads. For example, the devotees Garuda and Hanuman are the Lord’s carriers and they always wear Tilak and Tulasi neck beads. Anyone that does not wear Tilak on his/her forehead and Tulasi neck beads hinders their connection to the Lord. Just as policemen or firemen wear particular uniforms identifying themselves as public servants; similarly souls connected to the Supreme Lord through the genuine chain of disciplic succession wear Tilak on their forehead and Tulasi beads around their neck to be identified as devotees of the Lord. Taking initiation from a scripturally authentic Guru means one has established a connection with the Supreme Lord. By seeing Arjuna wearing Tilak and Tulasi beads, the female welcomed him. Arjuna accepted her welcome and asked about her thus: ka tvam kasyasi susroni kuto va kim cikirsasi “O beautiful one, please introduce yourself. Whose daughter are you? What is your name and why are you singing the names of Lord Krsna here? It seems as though you are in search of a husband.” The female introduced herself as the daughter of the Sungod and said: nanyam patim vrne vira tamrte sri-niketanam “I will only accept Lord Sri Krsna as my husband and no one else. May the shelter of the helpless be pleased with me and fulfill my desire, and then I will serve Him.” The Lord always fulfills the desire of His devotees. In the Bhagavad Gita He states, ye yatha mam prapadyantes tam tathaiva bhajamy aham, “With whatever desire and feeling one worships Me, I reward them accordingly.” Chanting the Lord’s names never go in vain. For example, when Krsna marries, He does not marry only to fulfill His own desires, but He marries to fulfill the desire of His unalloyed devotees who chant His name and glories. Real devotees do not engage in activity to fulfill their own desires. Their motto is, “Our every act is to bring happiness to the Lord.” This is the goal of Vaisnava philosophy. The Lord does not bestow His mercy upon those who do things for their own pleasure. Only after a person becomes free from lust, anger and greed does the Lord manifest in that person’s heart. By the Lord marrying He creates pastimes for devotees to hear, relish and preach; and opportunities for devotees to observe festivals in His honor to achieve liberation from the material world. Whatever difficulty or misery is experienced while serving the Lord removes the misery of taking lower births in the future. Srila Bhaktivinod Öhakur states, tava seva sukha duhkha parama sampada nasaye avidyara duhkha, “The misery, pains or unhappiness experienced while serving the Lord and chanting His holy names should be accepted as one’s fortune, because these experiences mitigate future miseries.” Therefore miseries experienced by fasting on Ekadasi or any other misery experienced while servicing the Lord should be patiently tolerated. If a person does not serve the Lord and chant His names in life they become prone to take birth in the dumb lower species where communicating their pains and uneasiness to others is impossible. Therefore everyone should make use of their rare human existence and humbly endeavor to sincerely perform devotional service correctly. There is only benefit in chanting the Lord’s names and serving Him. One should daily study, listen, contemplate and try to understand and follow the real meaning of Srimad Bhagavatam; then the person is considered intelligent. There is a big difference between the Lord’s marriage and marriage between normal people. The scriptures state the soul experiences delight hearing about the Lord’s marriage, whereas normal people’s marriages are limited to sense gratification that contaminates the soul. The soul is an eternal spiritual spark of the Supreme Lord and when it connects to Him through the execution of devotional service the soul is married to the Supreme Lord. From that day of conviction, that serious devotee becomes the Lord’s property. If someone understands that his/her soul belongs to the Supreme Lord they will only execute devotional service to Him and never take shelter of any demigod or goddesses. For example, Mirabai (a famous female devotee of Lord Krsna) met and associated with the Lord’s real devotees and understood from them that her soul belongs to Krsna, therefore she only wanted to establish a connection with Him and no one else. When her parents married her to a prince against her will, she did not accept him because she only wanted to marry Lord Krsna, so she went to Vrindaban and lived there as a devotee. To experience the real pleasure of devotional service one must execute it enthusiastically with genuine faith that the Lord will protect them. Half-hearted execution of devotional service will not bring satisfactory result. The Spiritual Master is the connection between Lord Krsna and the devotee. When a person develops the serious desire to reach the spiritual world, the Lord sends an authentic Spiritual Master to that person. He accepts the candidate as his disciple and instructs him/her in many ways to serve and love the Lord. Kalindi chanted the Lord’s names very seriously, which is why the Lord sent Arjuna to her as His representative. Arjuna was Kalindi’s only connection to the Lord. When he returned he said to the Lord, “O Krsna, I found the daughter of the Sungod, Kalindi, and she is performing great austerity to get You as her husband. She saw my Tilaka and neck beads and respected and honored me very much.” When Krsna heard that Kalindi respected His pure devotee He became very pleased. The scriptures state as soon as a person sees a real devotee they should happily greet them and serve them per their ability and means. Due to the degrading influence of Kaliyuga, most people choose to follow hypocrites that pose as Guru without scriptural license to do so. Many either establish a society to meet and discuss their interpretation of the scriptures or build a temple and employ non-devotee pundits to chant mantras. In either case they act on behalf of their own whim rather than the Lord’s desire. Such groups form more of a social gathering to make a show that they are religious, rather than follow the guidelines set forth in the ancient scriptures. The scriptures state that any activity performed without first accepting initiation from a scripturally authorized Spiritual Master is considered a fruitless endeavor. The Lord thought, “Kalindi has respected My pure devotee, therefore she will become dear to Me.” Thus He married Kalindi, making her one of His queens. Then the Lord married Mitravinda, the daughter of King Jayasena, ruler of the Avanti province. Even though Mitravinda’s marriage was already arranged to Duryodhana, because she accepted Krsna as her husband within her mind, Krsna kidnapped her before everyone present at that ceremony, took her to Dwaraka and married her there following the proper Vedic process. Then Lord Krsna went to the Kaikeya province and married Bhadra, the daughter of Srutikirti, who became one of Krsna’s main queens in Dwaraka. Then He married Nagnajiti, the daughter of King Nagnajit, the king of Kausala province. She was also known as Satya. King Nagnajit vowed to marry his daughter to anyone who could tame seven wild, sharp horned, strong bulls at the same time by piercing and stringing a rope through their noses. While all the kings were watching, Krsna pierced all the bulls’ noses at once and brought them under His control. Unbeknownst to anyone, through His internal potency, Yogamaya, Krsna took seven identical forms and performed the task. Thus He wed Satya. Then the Lord married Laksmana, daughter of King Vrhatsena, ruler of the Madras province. The king had proclaimed that anyone that could hit a fish placed high, between the spokes of a spinning wagon wheel by shooting an arrow between the spokes, by looking at its reflection in a pond below could have his daughter in marriage. Many kings attempted to win the hand of Laksmana, but all failed, until Krsna took His turn, hitting the fish and then marrying Laksmana. Thus Krsna was formally married to eight princesses. They were called the pattamahisis, the main queens of Dwaraka. Their names are Rukmini, Jambavati, Satyabhama, Kalindi, Mitravinda, Nagnajiti, Bhadra and Laksmana. Besides these eight queens, the Lord had sixteen thousand one hundred more wives. These maidens had been kidnapped by the demon Narakasura before their marriages and kept locked in his jailhouse. The Lord killed the demon and married all the maidens. These maidens were not human beings, but were personifications of the scriptures born as human beings to serve Lord Krsna as His wives. But the Lord’s Yogamaya potency arranged for Narakasura to kidnap these maidens so Krsna could perform a new pastime of killing another demon. Even though these maidens were imprisoned by Narakasura, they remained indifferent to him even though he had pressured them to marry him. Lord Indra had gone to the Lord in Dwaraka and informed Him about Narakasura’s roguery, so Lord Krsna went there with Satyabhama and killed the demon and all his warriors, then established Narakasura’s son, Bhagadatta, as king. Bhagadatta was gentle and spiritually minded, hence he worshipped the Lord and then said, “My father has sixteen thousand one hundred females imprisoned, what should I do with them?” Lord Krsna then went there, entered the jailhouse and released them. As soon as they saw Krsna they all wanted to marry Him. They had all been fasting in jail for a long time to get Krsna as their husband, and now upon seeing Him were very pleased. They all said in unison, “O Lord, we are under Your shelter, if You do not accept us we will be very miserable.” The Lord showed them His mercy, brought them to Dwaraka and formally married them per the Vedic rites. In this way Lord Krsna had sixteen thousand one hundred and eight queens. When a living entity sincerely wants to establish a relationship with the Lord, He embraces that soul. With whatever desire and feelings a living entity worships the Lord, He reciprocates with that soul in that way. Krsna is the unlimited, all capable Supreme Lord, therefore marrying over sixteen thousand maidens is not an exaggeration for Him; He could marry billions and more and keep them all satisfied if He liked. Each of His queens gave birth to ten sons resembling the Lord and equal to Him in qualities. They were equal to Him in beauty, intelligence and strength. Transcendental qualities manifest in those that seriously take shelter at the feet of Lord Sri Krsna with complete faith. By His will the Lord even makes His devotees better than Himself. Although no one can become better using their own power, the Supreme Lord yields to the pure love of His devotee. This is His supreme mercy. The Vedanta Sutra states, brahman vid brahmaiva bhavati, “A person that comes to know the Supreme Lord in truth becomes equal to Him,” and, param santim upaiti, “Obtains eternal peace.” By contemplating the above statement it is difficult to discern between God and the living entity. This statement shows how supremely merciful the Lord is; He makes His devotee equal to or better than Himself. To reach this summit of existence the living entity must surrender to the Lord in truth. Only then does the Lord bestow His mercy upon the soul. An example of the Lord bestowing His qualities to His surrendered souls can be understood upon entrance into the spiritual world, because there everyone looks alike and it is difficult to distinguish between the Lord and the living entities. It is difficult to discern between Jaya and Vijaya (the gatekeepers of the spiritual world) and the Lord. As well as looking alike, everyone looks sixteen years old, dresses similarly and no one has a beard or mustache. Similarly all the Lord’s sons looked like Him and were equal in quality to Him. When Krsna’s sons were grown, He arranged their marriage and they also begot ten sons each. Thus, the Yadava dynasty grew to be five hundred sixty million people. A demon named Sambarasura, begot from Mayasura, came to know that only Lord Krsna’s son, Pradyumna, could kill him. Therefore he waited and kidnapped Pradyumna when he was just ten days old. He took him to the ocean and threw him in, where he was swallowed by a fish. One day, a fisherman caught that fish and as destiny would have it, sold it to Sambarasura’s cook. When the cook was preparing the fish, he cut its stomach open and saw the boy there. He then gave the child to Mayavati who nourished and cared for the child. When Pradyumna became twelve years old Narada Muni came to Mayavati and narrated Pradyumna’s previous life to her. Pradyumna was Kamadeva in his previous life and she was his wife, named Rati. Narada Muni advised Mayavati to teach Pradyumna magic to perform supernatural feats and thus he killed Sambarasura. After Pradyumna killed Sambarasura, he and Mayavati reached Dwaraka. When the residents saw them they all became very happy. There Pradyumna was married to Rukmavati, the daughter of Rukmi, and she had a son named Aniruddha and he married Rukmi’s granddaughter. At the time of Aniruddha’s marriage, Rukmi still had a grudge against Krsna and ridiculed Him to Balaram. Lord Balaram could not tolerate Rukmi’s comments, became angry and killed him. One day Lord Krsna joked with Rukmini saying, “Rukmini, you are the daughter of a king and I am but a cowherd boy who grazed cows. I had run away from a battlefield like a coward and great kings keep enmity with Me. You have a fair, beautiful complexion and I am black; I was a thief in My childhood and I lack character because it is well known that I embraced Gopis in the dead of night. By accepting Me as a husband you have made a big mistake, you would be better off finding a husband equal to your stature.” Rukmini is Krsna’s very serious devotee and had never heard such words from Him before. She began crying profusely and fell on the ground unconscious. With great endeavor Lord Krsna revived her. He said she was His most devoted queen and that He had come under her control due to her devotional attitude. He then very lovingly embraced her. Of all Krsna’s queens, Satyabhama was haughty and very bossy and all the other queens knew that Lord Krsna respects her the most. Satyabhama also felt proud that Krsna recognized her. One day Narada Muni came to Satyabhama’s residence where she welcomed him and asked, “O great sage, what meritorious deed had I performed in my previous life to get the Lord as my husband?” To this Narada Muni said, “You had donated the Lord’s weight in jewels and gold to an authentic traditional Brahmana devotee. And if you do it again in this life you will become the eternal wife of the Lord.” Hearing this Satyabhama said, “Those who donate to an unauthentic Brahmana receive either adverse result, or no result from the charity and become poverty-stricken in their next life. When they take birth in poverty they commit many sins and thus degrade themselves further. Therefore it is imperative for the donor to carefully check the receiver of the charity. O Narada, there is no better authentic traditional Brahmana devotee than you, therefore I shall now arrange for a scale and weigh the Lord and donate His weight in jewels and gold to you. Please wait for me.” After saying this, Satyabhama called Krsna, gave Him a nice bath and had Him sit on one side of the scale. She then began placing jewels and ornaments on the other side. But when the scale did not tilt after all the wealth of her house was placed on the scale, she was stunned. Then Narada Muni said to Satyabhama, “If you place a Tulasi leaf on the jewel side of the scale your desire will be fulfilled.” Satyabhama followed Narada Muni’s advice and as soon as she placed a Tulasi leaf on the jewels, Krsna’s side of the scale raised and she donated the jewels and gold to Narada Muni. Krsna loves Tulasi very dearly, which is why one Tulasi leaf caused Krsna’s side of the scale to rise. Krsna’s grandson Aniruddha also married Usha, the daughter of Vanasura. Through the use of black magic, Usha had Aniruddha kidnapped and brought to her place to have as her husband. Vanasura was Bali Maharaja’s son and a great devotee of Lord Siva. He pleased Lord Siva through performing austerities, who then appeared before him and told Vanasura to ask a boon from him. He asked Siva to become guard of his city and he agreed and thus became Vanasura’s guard. Vanasura had one thousand arms and was very strong and powerful. One day he went to Lord Siva and said, “Today you have to wrestle with me.” Lord Siva did not like this request, but because he agreed to guard his city, he agreed to this match, but in his heart cursed him thus, “Very soon your hankering to fight will end.” That night Usha saw Aniruddha in her dream and fell in love. Usha had a maidservant named Chitralekha, an expert in trantra vidya (art of magic powers), and requested her to bring Aniruddha to her. Chitralekha kidnapped him at night while he was asleep. Upon having Aniruddha near her, Usha became very happy, but when her father found out a youthful male was living at her residence, he became very angry. He caught Aniruddha and punished and imprisoned him. When Lord Krsna heard this news He consulted with Balaram, then immediately proceeded to and attacked Vanasura’s kingdom. When Lord Siva, acting as Vanasura’s gatekeeper, saw his disciple’s city being destroyed, he at once took his army of followers and attacked Lord Krsna. Vanasura also brought his four military divisions (in those days the four divisions of army phalanxes were the infantry, on horseback, on elephants and on chariots) and attacked Him. Lord Siva and Vanasura simultaneously attacked Lord Krsna, but the fight between Lord Krsna and Lord Siva was extraordinary. Lord Siva is Lord Krsna’s topmost devotee, but was implicated because of his boon to Vanasura; thus he was helplessly compelled to fight. Lord Siva released a fire weapon at Lord Krsna, who countered it with a water weapon. Lord Siva then released a Brahmastra (nuclear weapon) and Lord Krsna also neutralized that weapon. One after another Lord Siva released celestial weapons at Lord Krsna, who destroyed all of them. Then Lord Siva’s anger grew and he released his infallible weapon of death, the Pasupatastra, but Lord Krsna easily cut the weapon with His disc. Seeing this, Lord Siva then released Saivajvara (presiding personality of malaria) and Lord Krsna released Vaisnavajvara (presiding personality of pneumonia) to counteract it. Saivajvara produces hot fever and Vaisnavajvara produces cold fever. According to Ayurvedic medicine, cold fever is more dangerous than hot fever; thus being overpowered, Saivajvara took shelter of Lord Krsna saying, “O Lord of Dwaraka, please protect me.” Hearing these prayers, the Lord let him go. Even today Saivajvara disturbs people in the form of malaria. Thus Lord Siva was defeated by Lord Krsna. Then the thousand-armed Vanasura came to fight with the Lord wielding weapons. The Lord cut nine hundred ninety six of his arms off, but when He was about to cut off the last four, Lord Siva intervened by praying to please allow Vanasura to keep four arms and Lord Krsna honored his request. Then Aniruddha married Usha and the Lord returned to Dwaraka. In such phenomenal ways Lord Krsna performed many different pastimes. Sri Sukadeva Goswami then speaks about King Nrga. One day when many Yadava princes were pleasurably roaming the gardens of Dwaraka, they came upon a big lizard in a dry well. They informed the Lord, who helped the lizard out of the well using His left hand. As soon as the Lord touched the lizard, he was transformed into a beautiful demigod. Even though the Lord is all-cognizant, to let the princes know who this person is, He asked him to introduce himself. He responded, “I am Nrga, the son of King Iksvaku, from Tretayuga. By mistake I had donated the same cow to two different Brahmanas, thus I became a lizard. Daily I would donate thousands of cows to traditional Brahmanas, but one day a cow I had already donated, left that Brahmana place, came back to my place and mixed with my other cows. The next day I donated thousands of cows to other Brahmanas, in which that cow was given in charity to a different Brahmana. After the first Brahmana found his cow missing, he searched and found her at another Brahmana’s house and a quarrel ensued. They then came before me to solve the confusion and I proposed that one of them take one thousand cows in place of that cow, but neither would accept because they each wanted that particular cow. Unable to satisfy either of the Brahmanas, I did not again speak of the event. When I died, Yamaraja punished me by giving me the body of a lizard, and now You have mercifully liberated me from that hellish existence.” Thus, in this pastime the Lord established the potency of Brahmanas on earth; and had caused them to become disturbed and disagree. Upon hearing this from Nrga, Lord Krsna said, “Ask Me for whatever you want.” The king asked the Lord for devotional service to Him birth after birth, and then left for the spiritual world. Then Lord Krsna taught His sons: sva-dattam para-dattam va brahma-vrtti harec ca yah “Whether an item is given by a person or given by someone else, if someone takes a traditional Brahmana’s things they take birth as a worm in stool for sixty thousand years.” Therefore one must be very careful with a Brahmana’s property. Usually Brahmanas are not very physically strong, but God has invested unlimited power in their mouths. Whatever a traditional Brahmana living correctly says will happen some day. If a Brahmana is following Vaisnava philosophy it does not matter how they behave, therefore it is best to be very cautious when dealing with them. Then Lord Balaram came to Vrindaban and met with Mother Yasoda, Nanda Maharaja and other Vrajavasis and pacified them by telling them that Lord Krsna will one day come to Vrindaban. He stayed in Vrindaban for Chaitra (April-May) and Vaisakha (May-June) months and played with Gopis there. These were different Gopis than Lord Krsna’s. When Lord Krsna’s Gopis received the news brought by Lord Balaram, they thought, “When He returns to Dwaraka, He will tell Krsna of our heart’s desire.” While playing with His Gopis, Lord Balaram drank enough honey to become intoxicated and told the Yamuna River, “Come here, near Me.” The Yamunä River was flowing a little distance from Balaram and did not hear His call. Upon seeing the Yamuna not obeying His request, He became angry and dragged her near Him with His plow. He then entered the river and played with the Gopis there, when a message arrived from Dwaraka that a king named Paundraka had attacked Dwaraka. Upon hearing this Balaram immediately departed for Dwaraka. King Paundraka was the Lord’s gatekeeper in his previous life and had prevented Laksmidevi from entering the Lord’s residence. Therefore She cursed him saying, “Go, take birth in the material world and be envious of the Lord.” Hence he became King Paundraka on earth. Due to his envy of Lord Krsna of Dwaraka, he attached two artificial arms to his shoulders mimicking the Lord’s four-arm form holding conch, disc, club and lotus flower in His hands. He declared he was God and condemned Krsna for impersonating him. One day Paundraka sent a message to Dwaraka challenging Krsna to a fight. The Lord accepted and killed him. When Paundraka’s friend Sudaksina (the ruler of Kashi, the city of Lord Siva, now called Varanasi) learnt of Paundraka’s death, he wanted to avenge his death by killing Krsna. Therefore he prayed to Lord Siva and obtained a powerful weapon. He then released the weapon on Dwaraka guarded by Krsna’s disc weapon, which destroyed it; the disk weapon then proceeded to Varanasi, killed Sudaksina and burnt down his kingdom. Seeing his city being burnt to ashes, Lord Siva attacked the disc weapon, but could not defeat it; thus he prayed to Lord Krsna and He called off the weapon. Then a monkey named Dvivida attacked Dwaraka, who was killed by Lord Balaram. This monkey was King Sugriva’s secretary in Tretayuga. He was very proud of his strength, which caused him to insult Lord Rama’s brother, Laksman. Laksman told Dvivida, “Lord Rama blessed all the monkeys to act fearlessly because all of you had helped Him find Mother Sita, which is why I am not going to kill you now, but I will surely kill you in My next incarnation.” Laksman of Tretayuga became Lord Balaram in Dvaparayuga and killed Dvivida, thus fulfilling his promise. Then Lord Balaram dragged Hastinapur (Delhi) with His plow to the Ganges, wanting to submerge it. Duryodhan had arranged for his daughter Laksmana to be married and invited princes from all over to attend the wedding. Krsna and Jambavati’s son, Samba, also attended. Samba understood that Laksmana wanted him to be her husband so he kidnapped her. But while he was returning to Dwaraka with her, he was arrested by Duryodhan and thrown into prison. Narada Muni brought this news to Dwaraka, and Lord Krsna advised King Ugrasena to send Balaram to Hastinapura to free Samba and bring him to Dwaraka. Balaram asked for Samba’s release, but when Duryodhan did not free him, Balaram became very angry and with His plow began dragging Hastinapura towards the Ganges. Upon seeing this, all the Kauravas headed by Duryodhan were frightened and prayed to Balaram and they released Samba to pacify Him. Jarasandha, king of the Magadha province (now Bihar), conquered twenty thousand eight hundred kings, usurped their kingdoms and imprisoned them. The imprisoned kings collectively wrote a letter to Lord Krsna pleading, “O Lord, please save us.” As Lord Krsna was reading the letter, Narada Muni came with news of King Yudhisthira’s Rajasuya sacrifice. The Lord accepted Yudhisthira’s invitation and agreed to the imprisoned kings’ request. Hence, the Lord went to Indraprastha (New Delhi) and met with Yudhisthira and afterward left with Bhimasena and Arjuna to Magadha (Bihar province, India) to kill Jarasandha. Lord Krsna arranged for Bhimasena to fight Jarasandha, but even though they fought for twenty-seven days, there was no victor. Therefore on the twenty-eighth day the Lord told Bhimasena, “While fighting, look at Me and do exactly the same as I do, thus the wicked will be killed.” Following Krsna’s advice, Bhimasena ripped Jarasandha’s body in half lengthwise by bracing one of his legs to the ground with his foot, while grabbing his other leg and ripping him in half. With Jarasandha now dead, the Lord appointed Jarasandha’s son as king of Magadha province and released all the imprisoned kings. When the kings were released from prison, they all prayed to the Lord in unison saying, “O Lord, we cannot achieve liberation through our own endeavors. Please help us achieve liberation from this world. We are at Your shelter.” Lord Krsna blessed them all and sent them to their respective kingdoms. Krsna then returned to Indraprastha with Bhimasena and Arjuna and participated in Yudhisthira’s Rajasuya sacrifice, where He also took care of His devotees’ shoes. Before the sacrifice started, as an auspicious omen, a great personality needed to be worshipped first. The great personalities present nominated Lord Krsna in unison saying, “Lord Krsna should be the great personality to be worshipped first.” Sisupala was also attending, but could not tolerate Krsna being glorified and said, “Krsna is a cowherd boy and therefore not qualified to be a king. He had embraced others’ wives and ran from the battlefield. He is the killer of His own maternal uncle and very offensive by nature. He is ugly and changes His form as He likes, therefore He is unqualified to be worshipped first.” In this way Sisupala criticized the Lord in many ways. Bhimasena could not tolerate Krsna being criticized and stood up to kill Sisupala, but Krsna stopped him saying, “When he finishes one hundred abusive words I will kill him.” When Sisupala said his one hundred and first abusive word, the Lord cut his head off with His disc weapon. Even though Sisupala insulted the Lord, he still received liberation because while insulting Him, he was fully absorbed in the Lord’s prowess. Human beings have many material obligations in this world that are impossible to complete in their lifetime. Although a person works day and night fulfilling obligations, there is always something undone; therefore after death a person is given another birth to try to finish their obligations. To stop rebirth one should not get lost in the maze of material obligation, but should endeavor to find the real goal of life. Therefore while struggling for material fulfillment, one should also practice spiritual life, because it rewards lasting peace. After Sisupala’s death, his brother Dantavakra started worshipping Lord Siva to fulfill his desire to kill Krsna, unaware that Lord Siva’s blessings cannot supercede Lord Krsna. Any blessings or curses of any demigods or goddesses are ineffective before Lord Krsna. When Lord Siva fought with Lord Krsna, even his most powerful weapon, Pasupatastra, was not successful. If Lord Siva’s Pasupatastra was ineffective against Krsna, how can his blessing help anyone? If Lord Siva himself was defeated by Lord Krsna, how can he bless someone else to kill Him? The main reason Lord Krsna defeated Lord Siva was to prove that He is the Supreme Lord and Lord Siva is His pure devotee. Therefore, even though Dantavakra received Lord Siva’s blessings, Krsna killed him as if playing. Jarasandha and Sisupala had a friend named Salva and when he heard that Krsna had killed both of his friends he became very despondent. He worshipped Lord Siva and received an invisible chariot as a blessing from him. When Yudhisthira’s Rajasuya sacrifice was about to be completed, Salva attacked Dwaraka in Lord Krsna’s absence. Using his invisible chariot, he flew in the sky above Dwaraka and showered weapons down upon the city. The Yadava army protecting the city could not see where the projectiles were coming from, so Pradyumna used magic to determine where the attackers were, but it was of no avail before Salva’s magic power. As soon as Lord Krsna heard about the attack on Dwaraka, He came and cut Salva’s head off with His disc weapon and all the residents of Dwaraka were again peaceful. The Lord had a friend named Sudama (sometimes addressed as Kuchaila) who was very learned in scriptural knowledge. A person that becomes fully learned in the scriptures does not get involved with anything material; they only concentrate on the Lord and His devotional service. Such devotees know that everything of this world, including all formal rituals, are deceiving because they keep the person in the cycle of rebirth and death. Sudama was a real devotee of the Lord and His main goal was to remain Lord Krsna’s devotee and not get involved in worldly affairs. He did not want anything other than the Supreme Lord. Whatever he obtained, his wife would first offer to the Lord; then they would use the remnants to maintain themselves and they would always chant the Lord’s holy names. Sudama was completely surrendered to the Lord and fully depended on His mercy, therefore he did not accumulate anything extra for the future. He knew the Lord is not even available to sages that perform austerity for thousands of years, therefore how can such a rare personality be obtained in a single life performing unsteady austerities? The Lord manifested to Dhruva Maharaja only after he performed austerities for thousands of previous births. The scriptures state a person should chant and execute devotional service properly, with the mentality that he/she must obtain the Lord within this lifetime. If one truly longs for the Lord from the heart and is fixed in devotion to Him, He can be obtained within this lifetime. Sudama had such firm conviction and faith. Once Sudama’s wife said to him, “Dear husband, poverty has become difficult to tolerate, please do something to relieve us. I’ve heard that Krsna is your friend and now He is the king of Dwaraka. Please go to Him and ask Him for some help. He had been your friend since childhood, He will help you. smartya pada-yugalam atmanam adhigacchati, ‘Lord Krsna is such a God that just by remembering Him, He gives Himself in donation to that person.’ If He is such a merciful Lord, than He will surely help you.” Sudama thought, ayam hi paramo labho uttama-sloka darsanam, “I will have an opportunity to see Him and this will be my greatest achievement in life.” Thinking this, Sudama accepted his wife’s plea and while getting ready to depart for Dwaraka said, “Dear wife, it is not good to go to see Krsna empty handed. yady asti kincit upayam grhe, tarhi kalyani diyatam, If there is something in the house to offer as a gift, please give it to me and I will leave for Dwaraka.” The scriptures state a person should never go to see God, a scripturally authentic Spiritual Master, or a king empty handed. They must bring something for them when they go to see them. Not having anything in the house, she immediately went to their neighbor’s house and brought four handfuls of flat rice tied in a cloth and gave it to Sudama. While remembering the Lord, Sudama proceeded towards Dwaraka. To reach Dwaraka one must take a boat ride because Dwaraka is in the Indian Ocean. When Sudama reached the ocean’s shore, Lord Krsna, having disguised Himself as a boatman, approached Sudama and offered to take him to Dwaraka. Sudama agreed, but after reaching far offshore, the boatman said, “O pandit, please give me some remuneration for taking you across.” Sudama responded, “I do not have anything to give You.” The boatman then said, “Why are you lying? You certainly have something with you, but do not want to give.” Sudama then said, “What I have with me is for the Lord, it is not for you.” Then the boatman said, “You have something with you other than what you have for the Lord, please give me that thing.” Sudama said, “The only other thing I have is poverty.” Then the boatman said, “OK, give me your poverty.” This surprised Sudama who then said, “O brother, please do not say such things.” The boatman said, “Will you give me your poverty or not? If you refuse, I’ll sink this boat right here.” In this dilemma Sudama was unsure what to do, then said, “O boatman, have you gone mad? Why do you want my poverty? Why do you want to suffer by taking my poverty? You may die with my poverty.” To this the boatman said, “It doesn’t matter to me if I live or die, you give me your poverty now or I am going to sink the boat right here. O Brahmana, quickly tell me what to do, tell me quickly.” By nature real Brahmanas are afraid for their life, but they possess a lot of power in their speech. The boatman’s threat scared Sudama who then said, “OK brother, please take my poverty, but take me to Dwaraka. I bless you that the Supreme Lord to Whom I sincerely pray to daily, keeps you rich forever.” When Sudama landed in Dwaraka, he paid his homage to that land, because the Lord is enjoying pastimes there. After inquiring of the whereabouts of Rukmini’s palace, Sudama reached the palace where he saw two Vaisnava gatekeepers. He introduced himself and told them his reason for coming. A gatekeeper went inside and informed the Lord saying, “A Brahmana claiming to be Your friend is at the gate. He does not look able to be Your friend because he is not dressed nicely, and does not have shoes, a turban or a shawl. His name is Sudama and he is at the gate crying and asking where his friend is.” Upon hearing Sudama’s name, the Lord immediately ran to the gate and lifted him in His arms, took him inside, placed him on His own seat and washed his feet with His own hands. Sudama was a real Vaisnava devotee of the Lord, which is why he did not become puffed up from the Lord Himself washing his feet. After feeding him sumptuously, the Lord asked, “Who else is at home?” Sudama answered, “There is only my wife at home.” The Lord then said, “Please hand Me whatever she has given you for Me.” Sudama thought, “How can I give such cheap flat rice to such a great king and Lord?” He was ashamed to give the flat rice to the Lord so he kept it hidden under his armpit. Then the all-cognizant Lord forcefully snatched the rice from him, ate a handful of it and secretly told Kubera (the treasurer of heaven), “Whatever wealth is presently there with you, immediately transfer it to Sudama.” The Lord also immediately had the architect of the demigods construct a beautiful palace for Sudama in his town. Krsna and Sudama reminisced about their childhood, but Sudama did not ask the Lord for anything. He spent the night and when morning arrived he returned home empty handed. The Lord saw him off without giving him anything, because He wanted Sudama to say that He didn’t give him anything. The scriptures state, if a devotee thinks negatively about the Lord, merits earned from performing devotional service, chanting and performing austerities, diminish. A devotee’s dedication regularly increases a debt on the Lord, which can only be reduced by thinking against Him. Sudama did not think anything against the Lord, rather he thought, “Oh! How much Krsna gave me!” kvaham daridrah papiyan kva krsnah sri-niketanah “Where I am but a poor sinful Brahmana with no brahmanical symptoms or qualifications, even though born into a traditional Brahmana dynasty; and where the Supreme Lord is filled with all opulence and is the husband of the Goddess of Fortune, He still lifted such an insignificant person like me with His arms and embraced me to His chest. Oh, how much the Lord gave me!” He further thought, “Even though I am an offender of the Lord, His main queen, Rukmini, served me, fed me and performed many other kinds of services. Rukmini is the Goddess of Fortune worshipped by everyone on the whole planet. That same Goddess in the form of Rukmini, served me.” Sudama never thought that the Lord did not give him anything, but was overwhelmed by the mercy the Lord extended to him. When he reached the area of his village, he could not find it. By the Lord’s will Sudama’s village was turned into a wonderful city, which is why he did not recognize it. In the meantime all the citizens came running to welcome him. Seeing this Sudama became stunned and thought, “Before I went to Dwaraka no one would even speak to me, now they are putting garlands around my neck and respecting me, what a surprise!” His wife then came to him and took him home. When he saw the beautiful palace he thought, “This is all due to the Lord’s mercy.” Even with all his newly gained wealth and respect, he remained humble and used everything in the Lord’s service till the end of his life. If someone takes shelter of the Lord his/her problems surely cease.” agre arpita sati pascat kriyata, “First, one has to become free from false ego, then service executed to Lord Govinda brings perfect result.” Then Sri Sukadeva Goswami states that Lord Krsna and the Vrajavasis met again. While Krsna and Balaram were residing in Dwaraka, a specific solar eclipse commenced that usually occurs at the time a yuga ends. Kuruksetra is a place pilgrims go to at the time of an eclipse to perform pious deeds. Everyone from everywhere reached there. Lord Krsna also went there with His Yadavas from Dwaraka. Nanda Maharaja, Mother Yasoda, the Gopis and Gopas also came there from Vrindaban. When Krsna heard that Nanda Maharaja and Mother Yasoda had come, both He and Balaram ran to them like children and embraced them. After meeting with all the Vrajavasis, the Lord met with His Gopis in a solitary place. He embraced them intensely, and asked them about their well-being. The Gopis did not say anything, but merely shed tears of love for Him. The Lord said, “I live in Vrindaban all the time. I do not go even one step out of Vrindaban. I always live with you.” When the Lord was speaking to the Gopis in this way, a message from Yudhisthira arrived saying that he also wants to meet with Him. The Lord met with the five Pandavas, their mother Kunti, and their wife Dropadi. Afterward many sages and saintly people came to meet with the Lord. Vasudev commenced a sacrifice witnessed by Lord Krsna and Balaram, where Devaki told Krsna, “O Krsna, You are the greatest mystic and the Supreme Lord, therefore please bring my six sons killed by Kamsa back to me.” Then the fulfiller of His devotees’ desires took His brother Balaram and reached the subterranean planet Sutalaloka, and met with Bali Maharaja. Bali Maharaja worshipped the Lord and asked the reason for His visit. The Lord said He came to ask him for six demon brothers. When Bali asked why, the Lord said, “These six demons were previously Urna and Marichi’s sons and had become very proud of their austerity. Lord Brahma had become lusty for his own daughter, Sarasvati, and ran after her. These six brothers saw him infatuated with his own daughter and laughed at him. Seeing them laughing at him, Brahma cursed them to become demons. They then pleaded to Brahma who said, ‘You will all surely become demons. Then you will take birth from the womb of Devaki and be killed right after birth. You will then become demons again and the Lord Himself will come to take you all to Devaki and as soon as you drink her breast milk, you will be liberated.’” After hearing this history from the Lord, Bali Maharaja handed the demons over to Him. Then, using His internal potency, Yogamaya, Lord Krsna turned those demons into the likeness of Devaki’s infants and returned them to her. She then fed them her breast milk, thus liberating them from Brahma’s curse and they transformed back into their forms as Marichi’s sons. In this way the Lord completed His visit to Kuruksetra and returned to Dwaraka. Then Sri Sukadeva Goswami speaks about Bahulasva (a king in Janaka Maharaja’s dynasty), king of Mithila (an area near Bihar province), born towards the end of Dvaparayuga, and a Brahmana named Srutadeva that lived in his kingdom. They were both very pious and serious devotees of Lord Krsna and would converse about Krsna’s pastimes with each other. Once King Bahulasva and Srutadeva desired to see Lord Krsna. Although Krsna was living a considerable distance away in Dwaraka, the all knowing Lord instructed His charioteer, Daruka, to arrange the chariot for a trip to Mithila. When sages and saintly people heard that Krsna was going to Mithila, they also departed for Mithila to see Him. When Krsna reached Mithila, King Bahulasva thought, “Krsna has only come here for me to see Him and to solemnly accept my hospitality.” The Brahmana thought similarly, “Krsna loves His unalloyed devotees, which is why He is coming here only for me to see Him and to accept my hospitality in my humble home.” Lord Krsna is all cognizant and aware of both devotees’ thoughts; therefore after meeting the sages and saints on the way to Mithila, He expanded Himself into two forms and expanded the sages and saints into two identical groups, unbeknownst to them. One group went with Krsna to the king’s residence and the other group went with the other Krsna to the Brahmana’s house. When the king served the Lord he thought the Lord had only come to his place and not the Brahmana’s place; and the Brahmana thought the Lord had only come to his place and not the king’s place. Thus the Lord accepted service from both His devotees simultaneously and blessed them. After the sages and saints left Mithila they merged back into one group and some thought they had met with the king and others had thought they met with the Brahmana, but because of Yogamaya’s influence they kept these thoughts to themselves. This illustrates that the Lord fulfills each and every desire of His unalloyed devotees. For His devotees’ satisfaction He manifests in many different forms and changes His form in many ways. Srimad Bhagavatam says that no one can help anyone at the time of death. No one in the material world belongs to anyone and everyone is motivated in some way or other. Only Lord Krsna and an authentic Guru are not motivated. Forgetting this truth, most of human civilization has become attached to material things and bodily relations, considering them their own. This is a big misfortune for the living entities in this world. Therefore the scriptures advise it is intelligent to try to detach oneself from material things and develop a connection with the Supreme Lord through devotional service. This is the best use of the rare human birth, from which the ultimate human goal can be achieved. Then King Pariksit asked Sri Sukadeva Goswami: devasura manusyesu ye bhajanty asivam sivam “Generally it is seen, whether a demigod, demon or human being worships the inelegantly dressed Lord Siva, they become rich and seem to enjoy worldly life. But people that devote their lives to the gorgeously dressed Lord Visnu, the husband of the Goddess of Fortune, are usually seen living as ordinary, simple people. What is the secret behind this? Kindly explain it to me.” It is known that Lord Siva does not have his own home to live in, but lives under a tree even in rain, heat or cold. He does not wear normal clothes, but wears a tiger skin. He decorates his body by smearing ashes all over it and wears a garland of skulls and snakes. Judging by his outward appearance, Lord Siva seems to be very poor, but those who worship him live opulently. Whereas Narayana, the husband of Laksmi, the Goddess of Fortune, wears very opulent, yellow silken garments, is adorned with invaluable jewels like the Vaidurya and Kaustubha gems, and wears a crown bedecked with gold and diamonds. Judging by His outward appearance He lives opulently, but His devotees seem to be living very simply. King Pariksit wanted to know the answer to this mystifying question. Sri Sukadeva Goswami answered this question thus, “In this world nothing can be done without money. Even though everyone needs money, they should be satisfied with whatever can be earned through honest endeavor to be peaceful and satisfied. Only such people always remains happy. People that are dissatisfied with things they obtain in life cannot be peaceful or happy, whereas those that take shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord remain always peaceful and happy with whatever they obtain in life. Whether they are rich or poor it doesn’t matter because they are always communicating with the Lord through chanting His holy names. People ignorant of their connection with God cannot experience pleasure from chanting the Lord’s holy names, just as a person with jaundice cannot experience the sweetness of sugar. No one in this world ever became happy or satisfied with material wealth and there will never be a time when anyone will be completely satisfied with material wealth. If a person obtains material wealth they usually become proud and arrogant and forget about serving the Lord. But if a person becomes a serious devotee of the Lord like Yudhisthira Maharaja, they obtain thousands of times more wealth than devotees of Lord Siva and also remain peaceful.” The Lord’s devotee is never miserable from the heart. People that obtain wealth by worshipping Lord Siva usually misuse it and thus obtain a lower birth in their next life. Whereas those that worship Lord Krsna live a peaceful life and afterward reach the spiritual world. Demigods and goddesses cannot make their devotees happy by awarding wealth and opulence, nor are they happy by giving benedictions. A person does not remain happy forever by worshipping Lord Siva. For example, a demon named Vrka worshipped Lord Siva and obtained a benediction from him. But by blessing Vrka, Lord Siva became miserable and Vrka had to die. Once Vrka asked Narada Muni, “O great sage, please tell me of a remedy by which I can do whatever I want. Please tell me what demigod can be easily pleased with only a short period of worship and can reward me the blessing that I can do whatever I want to do.” Narada Muni told him, “Lord Siva is the only demigod who becomes easily pleased and rewards blessings without any consideration.” Upon hearing this from Narada Muni, Vrka went to Kedaranath in the Himalayas and started chanting the “om namaù sivaya” mantra to please Lord Siva. When Lord Siva did not yet come, he started a fire sacrifice with ghee to please him. When he saw Lord Siva still had not come, he started cutting off bodily parts and throwing them into the fire sacrifice. Still Lord Siva did not appear. Then when he grabbed his hair and pulled his head back to cut his head off, Lord Siva suddenly appeared and touched Vrka, thus repairing his body and restoring him to normal health, and asked, “Vrka, tell me what benediction you want? I am happy with your worship.” Vrka, seeing Lord Siva’s beautiful wife with him, thought of having her for himself and said, “Please give me a boon by which whomever’s head I place my hand, that person immediately turns into ashes.” Upon hearing such a request Lord Siva became unhappy, but was compelled to reward the benediction and did so. Upon receiving it Vrka told Lord Siva, “Let me place my hand on your head to see if your benediction works.” Hearing this statement Lord Siva became bewildered and said, “Why do you want to experiment the boon I have given you on me?” Vrka, wanting Lord Siva’s wife, said, “You should undergo the result of your own given boon first.” Because Lord Siva is not all cognizant as Lord Krsna is, he was not aware of Vrka’s intention of turning him to ashes and taking his wife, Parvati. Thus Lord Siva ran, but Vrka followed him. No one in the universe could save Lord Siva from Vrka. This episode between Lord Siva and Vrka helps illustrate that no one will become happy now or in the future by giving or taking things for material purposes. Lord Siva then surrendered to Krsna saying, trahimam madhusudana, “O Lord Krsna, O Killer of the Madhu demon, please protect me.” The Lord immediately created a beautiful Ashram on the path Vrka was chasing after Lord Siva and changed Himself into a small Brahmachari (celibate) devotee there. Then, the Brahmachari, seeing Vrkasura approaching, came before him and said, “O son of Sakuni, Vrka, please come to My Ashram and take a refreshment. Why are you running so fast? What is the matter?” Vrka, seeing the Brahmachari, stopped and told him why he was running. From this incident we find that even demons respected Brahmacharis and Sanyasis in previous ages. Vrka told the Lord, “I had worshipped Lord Siva and obtained a benediction from him that on whomever’s head I place my hand, that person is turned into ashes. But when I attempted to try this boon out on him, he ran.” Upon hearing this from Vrka, the Brahmachari understood the real motive in Vrka’s heart and said, “Who told you that Lord Siva can give any benediction to anyone? You please believe Me, there hasn’t been potency in Lord Siva’s benedictions since Daksa Prajapati (Lord Siva’s father-in-law) cursed him. Since then Lord Siva does not have the power to bless anyone. I do not believe the said potency Lord Siva is said to have. O Vrka, you are very intelligent, how did you entangle yourself with a person that lives in the crematorium? If you don’t believe Me, place your hand on your own head and you will find his boon has no potency. You also have a head. Scrutinize My words, you will see I am telling the truth.” Vrkasura, confused by the Bramachari’s words, placed his hand on his own head and he was turned into ashes. Seeing the Lord’s help, Lord Siva prayed to Him in many different ways and all the demigods also glorified the Lord. Only the Lord could protect Siva, otherwise he was in great danger from having given a material benediction. No one in this creation can remain happy by receiving material things. Everyone knows everything material is temporary and they will be separated from their family and possessions one day. Lord Siva became miserable by rewarding a material benediction and Vrka was turned into ashes for receiving it. Permanent happiness can only be derived by seriously engaging in spiritual life. Spiritual knowledge can immediately reward peace of mind. Only the very fortunate understand that devotion to Krsna rewards eternal peace, and thus sincerely engage in spiritual life. The gift of devotion to Lord Krsna is real and can never be completely destroyed by any means or manner. Lord Siva himself said: uma kahaun main anubhava apana “O dear wife Parvati, I tell you the truth, it is my own genuine experience that only devotional service and chanting Lord Krsna’s names is eternal and real. Except for this, everything else of this world is temporary and illusory.” Once, all the sages assembled at one place and argued, trisu adhisesu ko mahan, “Who is Supreme among Lord Brahma, Lord Visnu and Lord Siva?” To determine this, all the sages appointed Bhrugu Muni to find the answer, because he is highly intelligent and born from Lord Brahma’s mind. In his investigation, Bhrugu Muni went to see Lord Brahma, but did not pay him his due respect. Seeing his son’s disrespectful attitude angered Lord Brahma, so he asked him to leave his abode, Brahmaloka. Bhrugu Muni then went to Mount Kailasa (Lord Siva’s abode) where Lord Siva was sitting alone with Parvati. In their presence, Bhrugu Muni spoke abusive words to Lord Siva, angering him and he chased Bhrugu away. Bhrugu Muni then went to the Milk Ocean where he saw Lord Visnu laying upon the bed of Sesa serpent, having His feet massaged by Laksmidevi. Upon reaching the Lord, Bhrugu Muni kicked Him hard on the chest and spoke many foul words. The Lord did not become angry, but caught his foot and begged pardon for not being able to welcome him as soon as he arrived. While holding his foot the Lord said, “My chest is very hard and your foot is so soft, by hitting My chest you may have hurt your foot.” And the Lord began massaging Bhrugu’s foot. After finishing his mission, Bhrugu Muni returned to the gathering of sages and said Lord Visnu is the greatest among the three Lords. All goddesses and demigods are parts and parcel of God Himself. Lord Visnu is an incarnation of Lord Krsna and Lord Krsna is sometimes called Lord Visnu; similarly, although the president is the leader of the nation, he is also addressed as a citizen. The scriptures state that Lord Krsna is the Supreme and everyone depends on Him. No one is equal to or greater than Him and no one can ever be equal to Him in any way. There is no scriptural proof that anyone ever received liberation from this world by worshiping Lord Siva, Goddess Durga or any other gods. Besides Lord Krsna no one can ever reward liberation to anyone, which is why when people in India take a dead body for cremation they say, “Chant the name of Govinda, He is the true liberator. Chant the name of Gopal, He is the true liberator. Chant the name of Rama, He is the true liberator,” and then they cremate the body. Nowhere in India does anyone ever say that Siva, Durga, etc. is the true liberator when carrying a dead body for cremation. This is because only Lord Govinda’s name is filled with nectar and rewards liberation to the chanter. Lord Siva is always seen in photos or paintings with his eyes half closed because he is always meditating on the Supreme Lord. Once Lord Krsna appeared before Lord Siva and asked him to request something from Him. Lord Siva responded, “O Lord, anyone who dies in my city, Kasi (now Varanasi), must receive liberation from the cycle of rebirth and death.” The Lord accepted Lord Siva’s request and after appointing him the Guru of everyone said, “Please chant the Taraka Mantra (liberating mantra) in the ear of anyone who dies in Kasi, by the power of which they will receive liberation.” This means that Lord Siva recites the Taraka Mantra, ‘Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare,’ in a person’s ear in Kasi before they die, by which they receive liberation. Neither Kasi city nor Lord Siva have the power to reward liberation to anyone who dies there. People who think or say that Kasi or Lord Siva rewards liberation do not have sufficient knowledge of the scriptures. Once Parvati asked Lord Siva, “O dear husband, why do you wear a garland of skulls around your neck and whose skulls are they?” Lord Siva answered, “O dear Parvati, all these skulls are yours. Whenever you died and took birth you had chanted my names and worshipped me. Overwhelmed by your love for me, I’ve taken each of your discarded skulls and made a garland out of them to wear around my neck. You are very dear to me.” Parvati then asked, “If I am so dear to you, then why don’t you make me immortal? Why did I have to die so many times? You have not died even once.” Lord Siva then said, “You truly love me but you do not follow what I say. I always tell you to chant Lord Govinda’s names, but you do not follow. You always say, ‘I will not accept anyone else, my worshippable Lord is Lord Siva. I will not chant any other name than Lord Siva’s name.’ Such statements of yours keep you entangled in the cycle of rebirth and death. I always carry on chanting the holy names of Lord Govinda, which is why I have become immortal. Because I always keep immersed in the nectar-like narration of Lord Govinda’s pastimes, death cannot touch me. Druva Maharaja was always chanting the names of Lord Govinda, which is why although death came for him, it could not even touch him. Khatvanga Maharaja also could not be touched by death. The reason they could not be touched by death is because they were always chanting my worshippable Lord Govinda’s names. But death does not leave those that chant the names of other gods and goddesses. Therefore, O Parvati, I tell you the truth and the essence of all austerities, only Lord Krsna’s names are real, everything else is temporary.” The power of chanting Lord Krsna’s names is so great that it purifies even the most contaminated soul. Even though Lord Siva wears a garland of skulls, smears ashes from cremations on his body, wears live cobras around his neck, wears live snake armlets, wears a live scorpion belt around his waist and wears tiger skin as his dress, he is honored and worshipped by everyone because he chants Lord Govinda’s names and is in constant meditation on Him. Chanting the Lord’s holy names keeps him pure, which is why even though he is surrounded by inauspicious things, he is always immersed in the essence of all spiritual life, chanting Lord Krsna’s holy names. Sri Sukadeva Goswami then narrated about Lord Krsna and Arjuna bringing a Brahmana’s dead sons back from the residence of Mahavisnu. Once a Brahmana in Dwaraka begot a son who died at birth. This made him very miserable and unhappy. He thought, “I have not committed any sin, why did my child die before me? My son died only due to the king’s sin.” Convinced of this, the Brahmana reached Krsna’s palace, shouted foul words, left his dead son’s body at the palace gate and returned home. In this way, that Brahmana left eight dead sons one by one at the Lord’s door. When he was leaving his ninth dead son’s body at the gate while shouting foul words, due to destiny, Arjuna was present in the Lord’s assembly hall and heard his cries. Arjuna then went to the Brahmana and pacified him saying, “Your next son will not die. If my words do not prove to be true, I will enter into a blazing fire and die.” Upon hearing such a strong vow from Arjuna, the Brahmana returned home. After some time the Brahmana’s wife became pregnant. When time for her to give birth arrived, Arjuna covered the maternity room with his celestial weapons and stood alert at the door. When the child took birth it cried, which made the Brahmana become happy, but after some time the child died and even its physical body disappeared. Seeing this outcome surprised Arjuna, and this failure made him remorseful. He searched everywhere for the child starting from the highest planet in the universe, Brahmaloka, to the bottom most planet, Patalaloka, but the child could not be found anywhere. When Arjuna was about to enter a blazing fire as he had vowed, Lord Krsna Himself came there and told him, “O Arjuna, I will help you bring the Brahmana’s child back to him.” Then the Lord and Arjuna climbed on His chariot and proceeded north. After crossing all the oceans, Lokaloka Mountain and the Brahmajyoti (the bright effulgence of the Lord), they entered into the midst of the Causal Ocean to Lord Mahavisnu’s residence. Lord Krsna and Arjuna entered His residence and saw Lord Mahavisnu lying upon the Sesa snake bed. Arjuna was stunned with wonder, and to teach Arjuna the proper etiquette, the Lord paid homage to Mahavisnu. Seeing Krsna and Arjuna near Him, Lord Mahavisnu said, “I wanted to see both of you, which is why I brought the Brahmana’s sons here. My desire was for both of you to come here, so I could see you both.” Lord Krsna is even greater than Mahavisnu, because Mahavisnu is but a partial manifestation of Lord Krsna, which is why He did not need Mahavisnu’s permission to enter His residence. The Lord then took the Brahmana’s ten sons and returned to Dwaraka. After the Brahmana received his ten sons from Krsna and Arjuna, he became very happy and blessed them.
Thus ends the sixth day’s lecture of Srimad Bhagavatam by the Scripturally Authentic Guru, Mahamandaleshwar Mahant Sri Krsna Balaram Swamiji.
Hari Om Tat Sat==============
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