Verse: Srimad Bhagvatam 3.15.34
Transcription: Bhaktin Charlene
Edited: Hemavati Radhika Devi Dasi
[SB 3.15.34]
tad vām amuṣya paramasya vikuṇṭha-bhartuḥ
kartuṁ prakṛṣṭam iha dhīmahi manda-dhībhyām
lokān ito vrajatam antara-bhāva-dṛṣṭyā
pāpīyasas traya ime ripavo ’sya yatra
tat — therefore; vām — unto these two; amuṣya — of Him; paramasya — the Supreme; vikuṇṭha-bhartuḥ — the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha; kartum — to bestow; prakṛṣṭam — benefit; iha — in the matter of this offense; dhīmahi — let us consider; manda-dhībhyām — those whose intelligence is not very nice; lokān — to the material world; itaḥ — from this place (Vaikuṇṭha); vrajatam — go; antara-bhāva — duality; dṛṣṭyā — on account of seeing; pāpīyasaḥ — sinful; trayaḥ — three; ime — these; ripavaḥ — enemies; asya — of a living entity; yatra — where.
TRANSLATION
Therefore, let us consider how these two contaminated persons should be punished. The punishment should be apt, for thus benefit can eventually be bestowed upon them. Since they find duality in the existence of Vaikuṇṭha life, they are contaminated and should be removed from this place to the material world, where the living entities have three kinds of enemies.
PURPORT BY SRILA PRABHUPADA
The reason why pure souls come into the existential circumstances of the material world, which is considered to be the criminal department of the Supreme Lord, is stated in Bhagavad Gita, Seventh Chapter, verse 27. It is stated that as long as a living entity is pure, he is in complete harmony with the desires of the Supreme Lord, but as soon as he becomes impure, he is in disharmony with the desires of the Lord. By contamination he is forced to transfer to this material world, where the living entities have three enemies, namely desire, anger and lust. These three enemies force the living entities to continue material existence, and when one is free from them, he is eligible to enter the kingdom of God. One should not, therefore, be angry in the absence of an opportunity for sense gratification, and one should not be lusty to acquire more than necessary.
In this verse it is clearly stated that the two doormen should be sent into the material world, where criminals are allowed to reside. Since the basic principles of criminality are sense gratification, anger and unnecessary lust, persons conducted by these three enemies of the living entity are never promoted to Vaikuṇṭhaloka. People should learn Bhagavad Gita and accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, as the Lord of everything; they should practice satisfying the senses of the Supreme Lord instead of trying to satisfy their own senses. Training in Krishna consciousness will help one be promoted to Vaikuṇṭha.
KRISHNA – THE MASTER OF ALL MELLOWS
WHEN A CURSE TURNS INTO A BLESSING
So, Jaya and Vijaya are being cursed by the four Kumaras. Eventually we see that it was the Lord’s divine arrangement that they were cursed. Krishna’s pastimes are perfect and complete. So, He arranges His pastimes in such a way that it makes or it gives a very specific instruction to everyone. The original understanding or original plan of Sri Narayana was that he wanted to fulfil the desires of Jaya and Vijaya. Two gatekeepers two very intimate associates of the Lord and they just at the heart of their hearts, they desired to enable the opportunity to the Lord to experience the mellow of chivalry. Vira-rasa.
The mellow of chivalry can be experienced only through rivalry, through fight. It is in a fight that a heroic person can display his prowess and by doing that he experiences this very specific secondary mellow of chivalry. Now in Vaikuntha the Lord didn’t have the facility to experience that mellow because in Vaikuntha nobody has any animosity towards the Supreme Personality of Godhead therefore there was no room for the Lord to fight with anybody.
In Vaikuntha nobody could fight with the Lord. Nobody would ever in his remotest dream think of fighting with the Lord. But Jaya and Vijaya felt that the Lord is being deprived of that mellow. Krishna is the reservoir of all mellow, therefore He is known as rasavaysaha. He is nothing but mellows, He is only mellows. He is the source of all mellows. He is the mellow Himself and different individuals according to their affinity and taste, experiences different mellows.
That has been very beautifully described in the tenth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam when Krishna entered into the wrestling arena of Kamsa then how different individuals saw Krishna in different ways. It says “Mallānām aśanir”, the wrestlers, like Chanur and Mustika, saw Krishna as the thunderbolt personified. “Mallānām aśanir nṛṇāṁ nara-varaḥ.” [SB 10.43.17] The King saw Him as the best of man. And “strīṇāṁ smaro mūrtimān”. And the women saw Him as the personified cupid, cupid himself. And the parents saw Him as the perfect son. The friends saw Him, perfect friend. The enemies saw Him, or the wicked people saw Him, as the Supreme punishment. The Personality who would give them Supreme punishment.
VAIKUNTHA VS VRINDAVAN
So, in this way different individuals saw Krishna in different ways. But of course, that’s the difference between Vrindavan and Vaikuntha. In Vrindavan all the mellows are perfectly present. Five principle mellows and seven secondary mellows. The five principle mellows are neutrality, servitorship, friendship, parental and conjugal. And seven secondary mellows are laughter, surprise, chivalry, wonder, ghastly, fearsome and bathos. Now, when we analyse the mellows then we can see that all the mellows are not present in Vaikuntha. Like for example, in Vaikuntha, the predominating mellow, is servitorship. Actually, in Vaikuntha there is only shanta and dasya. The mellow of neutrality and servitorship.
Everyone in Vaikuntha is related to Narayana in these two mellows, neutrality and servitorship. In Vaikuntha there is no friendship. No one is Krishna’s friend. How can a servant, how can a subordinate, consider his master to be friend. In Vaikuntha, everyone sees Him as the Supreme Lord and master. Narayana doesn’t really experience friendship there. Then in Vaikuntha there is no parental because in Vaikuntha there is no father and mother of Krishna. And in Vaikuntha there is no conjugal. One may say what about Lakshmi Devi. Lakshmi Devi is the perfect wife and Lakshmi Devi is serving Narayan as a maid servant. She is also serving in a mood of servitorship. But our Goswami’s mainly Jiva Goswami has pointed out that how looking for other mellows we have come to Ayodhya.
In Vaikuntha there is no friendship but in Ayodhya there is a tinge of friendship. Hanuman is blessed by the Lord. Lord at His epitome of mercy asking Hanuman, “Hanuman, what do you want from me? What do you really desire? Ask anything from me.” And Hanuman says, “My Lord, if You so desire give me Your embrace. So there, servitorship of Hanuman is merging into friendship. The Lord is giving Him the embrace. But then, looking for parental we come to Mathura. Krishna is just born as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva. And their heart became filled with parental love but immediately after seeing Krishna’s identity as Narayana that parental love disappeared. With awe and reverence, they started to offer prayers, “Oh my Supreme Personality of Godhead, please deliver us from our miserable condition.” So, in this way the slight presence of these mellows are perceived in different regions. Then conjugal, actually, although in Dwaraka, Krishna has His queens but they don’t have a real conjugal relationship with Krishna. That is also like Lakshmi Devi, a relationship of awe and reverence.
VRINDAVAN – THE PERFECTION OF ALL MELLOWS MANIFEST
Now coming for perfection of conjugal, we come to Vrindavan. And there we see, yes, the love affair between Krishna and the Gopis is perfect. And not only that relationship is existing in the perfect form in Vrindavan, not only the conjugal mellow is existing in the perfect form but all the other relationships, mainly parental and friendship are perfectly manifested in Vrindavan. And all these relationships which are the basis, the foundation of mellow, different mellows are revolving around conjugal in Vrindavan through the relationship between Radha and Krishna. So, in this way it has been pointed out also that Vrindavan is the highest region of the spiritual sky. To establish that Vrindavan is the highest region of the spiritual sky, Jiva Goswami has accepted this consideration. That relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead the mellow is perfectly manifest in Vrindavan. As I mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam also it has been pointed out that Krishna was the reservoir of all mellows. Krishna is the reservoir of all mellows. Different individuals will see Krishna in a different way.
JAYA AND VIJAYA PROMOTED TO GOLOKA NAVADWIP
So, Jaya and Vijaya decided to provide the facility or they wished that they could actually fulfil the desire of the Lord to experience the mellow of chivalry. And Narayana knowing their hearts wanted to fulfil their desire. Now these were all the secondary arrangements that were made. The four Kumaras came to Vaikuntha and Jaya and Vijaya acted in a certain way and they cursed them and as a result of that they fell down and became demons. That’s another very beautiful consideration that the option the Lord they had an option to fall down from the material nature, be separated from the Lord but there were two conditions. Whether they wanted to have a favorable relationship with the Lord and stay longer or have an unfavorable relationship, unfavourable attitude towards the Lord and come back to the Lord quicker. And they opted to take that unfavorable relationship with the Lord just in order to come back quickly to Vaikuntha. So, they accepted the mood of animosity. They became enemies of Krishna, Narayana and we know what happened. They were cursed to come for three times, take three births and then finally come back to the spiritual sky. So, in Satya yuga they appeared as Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha.
In Treta yuga they appeared as Ravana and Kumbakarna and in Dwapara yuga they appeared as Shisupal and Dantavakra. But they came again, fourth time, but because the Lord’s identity in the age of Kali is hidden that appearance was not broadcasted. And another consideration is yes, in three births they took to be inimical or have animosity towards the Lord but in the fourth incarnation, the fourth time they came that is as Jagai and Madhai. As Jagai and Madhai they came and in these pastimes the Lord delivered them. Now here we have a very wonderful consideration that Jaya and Vijaya were gatekeepers of Vaikuntha. They’re almost at the boundary of Vaikuntha. Gatekeepers. And they were not so, they didn’t have the opportunity to come very close to the Lord but through this fall down, that apparent fall down of Jaya and Vijaya, they were ultimately promoted to Goloka Vrindavan, Goloka Navadwip.
They received the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and became eternal associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and by becoming eternal associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, they were promoted to Goloka Navadwip. The spiritual Navadwipa and whoever is in Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes also has access to Vrindavan. So, in this way, Jaya and Vijaya from Vaikuntha were actually promoted to Vrindavan pastimes of the Lord.So, in this way even being cursed by a devotee eventually breeds good fortune. Eventually bestows good fortune. So, of course we do not want to approach the Lord and try to develop a relationship with the Lord in a negative way. Our goal is to have a positive relationship with the Lord.
THE ABSOLUTE NATURE OF RELATIONSHIPS WITH KRISHNA
There are two types of attitudes towards the Lord. Anukul, means favourable attitude towards the Lord and pratikul. So, our understanding is we give up the pratikul or adverse relationship with the Lord. But here we can see that even though somebody is related to the Lord in a negative way still he achieves the ultimate spiritual benefit.
So, in whichever way we think about the Lord, brings good fortune, bestows, highest spiritual benefit. So that is how powerful the remembrance of the Lord is. That Kamsa was thinking about Krishna in an inimical way. He was thinking of killing Krishna but he got elevated. He was delivered. Putana came to kill Krishna, smearing her breasts with most deadly poison, when Krishna was just a seven-day old baby. But because Krishna accepted her breasts, Krishna elevated her to the spiritual sky where she got a motherly position. This is how one derives the benefit of being related to Krishna. So, we can see if one derives such benefit through negative attitude towards Krishna what to speak of when one develops the positive attitude towards Krishna?
SRILA PRABHUPADA’S ISKCON – CREATING THE GOOD FORTUNE FOR OTHERS TO RECEIVE KRISHNA’S MERCY
And Srila Prabhupada, through this International Society for Krishna consciousness is enabling us to develop the most positive attitude towards the Lord. Krishna Himself said, those who chant His glory those who distribute His mercy, they are the dear most devotees. Whether we recognise it or not this good fortune is being generated while we try to preach, while we try to spread the Krishna consciousness movement. Prabhupada has very wonderfully designed this arrangement for us. Whether we do it consciously or unconsciously, an inconceivable good fortune is being created for the devotees. What is important that we remain in ISKCON and continue to serve under Prabhupada’s guidance.
Prabhupada is undoubtedly the personality, who has been sent by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to fulfil His prediction. Caitanya Mahaprabhu predicted that in every town and village this Krishna consciousness movement will spread. In every town and village all over the world. Now it’s actually an impossible prediction. It’s an impossible prediction, apparently. Consider, what to speak of five hundred years ago, fifty years ago if we consider, how many people were interested in Indian philosophy? Indian culture, Indian religion? Even today India is looked down upon. As not only as a third world country, its seen as a fourth, fifth, sixth, world country, actually. Doesn’t have any prestige whatsoever in the world scenario. So, who would accept the religion or the teachings of India?
But then Srila Prabhupada comes, about 35, 37 years ago. And in 10 years’ time what He did, is unbelievable, inconceivable. How could it happen? It happened because that was Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s plan. He made a prediction so He is going to make it a point that His prediction will come true and He sent Srila Prabhupada to fulfil that prediction. And those who received the mercy of Srila Prabhupada are undoubtedly receiving the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. But those who cut themselves off from the mercy of Srila Prabhupada I don’t know what’s going to happen to them. Those who do not know about Krishna consciousness, those who haven’t come across Srila Prabhupada’s teachings their case is different. But in spite of coming in contact with Srila Prabhupada, in spite of receiving Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, in spite of being engaged in practicing the process of Krishna consciousness when one gives up the shelter of Srila Prabhupada’s lotus feet which is actually ISKCON, it’s very difficult to say what will happen to them.
Whether they will receive Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy, eventually. Anyway, the point that I’m trying to make is, that those who have received Srila Prabhupada’s mercy it’s very important that they continue to receive this mercy. And the way to receive this mercy of Srila Prabhupada is to remain in ISKCON. That actually reminds me, in 1977, Srila Prabhupada was in Vrindavan, Satsvarup Maharaja brought Madhudvisa Prabhu to Srila Prabupada. Srila Prabhupada was so affectionate towards him. Madhudvisa prabhu, he distanced himself a little bit from ISKCON at that time. So Prabhupada was so affectionate. Prabhupada told him, no matter whatever happens, don’t leave ISKCON. Actually, Madhudvisa prabhu was a sanyasi and he got married. Prabhupada actually pointed out to him I remember there was Abhiram prabhu and who was in Hawaii? Our God brothers? Gaurasundar prabhu.
So Prabhupada pointed out to them, he said that they’re householders, they’re in ISKCON so even as a householder one can stay in ISKCON. It’s not that you married and you have to leave ISKCON. And it’s so wonderful that Madhudvisa prabhu took that instruction of Srila Prabhupada to his heart. And he’s so dedicated and we can’t even imagine what kind of mercy he is going to receive from Srila Prabhupada. All along he rendered so many wonderful services and received so much mercy of Srila Prabhupada and now that he is displaying this loyalty to Srila Prabhupada, Prabhupada will bless these kinds of devotees, in an inconceivable way. And how do we recognize how one is being blessed? By the way one leaves his body. At that time, Prabhupada makes the arrangement to take that devotee back to Godhead. So, Srila Prabhupada has created such a wonderful good fortune for us and now it’s up to us to take full advantage of this good mercy, good fortune and great mercy.
Thank you very much. Thank you very much. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!