Verse: Krishna's Pastimes in Vrindavan
Transcription: Ram Charan Das
Editing: Her Grace Hemavati Radhika Dasi
Actually when Krishna was going to Vrindavana riding on a cart on His mother’s lap, Krishna asked “What is there in Vrindavana? Why are you going to Vrindavana? Mother Rohini told Krishna that there are many beautiful places to play and then Krishna asked “Why are those places so beautiful?. She then explained to Krishna that because there are beautiful articles. You will find many beautiful articles to play with. So Krishna became very happy and they settled down in Vrindavana and yesterday I described how at night when they all were asleep. Visvakarma, the engineer, the architect, the demigod arrived there with thousands and thousands of helpers and throughout the night and built many beautiful palaces for the residents of Vrindavana. And in the morning when they woke up they found beautiful palaces with the names of different individuals, head of the family inscribed in golden letters on the gateway. So, Vrindavana, although in our mundane vision appears to be just an ordinary place, some sort of forests and now even the forests are drying out. But actually in Vrindavan, in real Vrindavana there are many, many beautiful places where Krishna and His associates reside .So, every morning Krishna used to go to the pasturing ground with Balarama and their other friends and they used to take the calves. Actually when a boy was 6 to 10 years old, he was allowed to take care of the calves and then after that, he used to take care of the cows. So, this is how they used to get trained up. Little boys take care of the calves and older cowherd people take care of the cows. So, Krishna and Balarama along with their friends used to take care of the calves. So, one day when they were taking care of the calves, then all of a sudden Krishna noticed that there is a strange looking calf. So, actually Kamsa sent one of his associates to kill Krishna and the name of that associate was Vatsasura who came disguised as a calf. He thought that actually they used to all plan like as you remember I mentioned yesterday
When Trnavrta came Trnavrta thought that because Putana came in some form that’s why Krishna could kill her but if he comes without a form, without a visible form then Krishna wouldn’t be able to kill him. Therefore he came in the guise of a whirlwind, because that kind of the thing doesn’t really have a tangible or visible form but still Krishna killed him. But then Vatsasura thought that he will be, he won’t make the same mistake as Putana and Trnavrta so he thought that he would come as a calf and Krishna is very fond of calves. Krishna won’t be able to detect him as an enemy and then in a moment he would kill Krishna. But Krishna saw that this personality in the disguise of a calf was looking at him and also looking at other calves in a very angry way. Krishna could detect anger from his glances. So Krishna told Balarama “Balarama, look at this strange character. [All laughs] Something is wrong there. I suspect that this is a demon and look at the way he is looking at us and the way he is looking at the calves. Generally calves do not look at us like that. Krishna said “Anyway I will take care of him. But then Balarama said “Krishna, if you kill a calf then people will say bad things about you. They will say that you have killed a calf because cow killing is considered a very, very heinous crime according to the Vedic understanding. So, Krishna told Balarama “Don’t worry when I will kill him. His demon form will become exposed, so then people won’t say that I killed a calf. They will say I killed a demon. So Balarama said “That’s a good idea. So, then Krishna just started to call the calf. He used to make the sound with His mouth, from His mouth and hearing that sound, all the calves used to come close to Him. So Krishna started making that sound and all the calves started to come towards Him and then this Vatsasura also thought that now is the opportune moment. Now I will go close to Krishna and then I will kill Him. So, he came with his head faced upwards like he wanted Krishna to catch him on his neck. So, Krishna started to scratch him on his neck and then before Vatsasura could do anything all of a sudden Krishna just grabbed him by his hind legs and started to swing him above His head and He swung him until he left his body. So, this way the Vatsasura demon was killed. At a great distance the calf, the dead body of the demon fell down and then everybody could see that he was in fact a demon so they all became very surprised how Krishna could recognize that this demon actually came to cause harm to them. So, in this way everybody went back home, practically every evening they had some wonderful story to tell to all the people about Krishna. They would in great detail describe to their parents and all the members of the family how Krishna killed such and such demon in a very wonderful way. So, after Vatsasura’s death, actually Kamsa used to send the demons and he also used to send his men, his spies to see what was happening. So, a spy went back and told Kamsa that Vatsasura had also been finished. So, Kamsa became very, very upset. One day when Kamsa was in such a bad mood, in extreme anxiety, of what was going to happen to him and how he was going to get rid of this Krishna, the son of Nanda Maharaja, who is actually the son of Vasudev and Devaki, who was actually meant to kill him. So, one of his friends came and told Kamsa, you should call Bhakasura and Bhakasura was so powerful that even the demigods in the heaven used to tremble in fear just hearing his name and I will describe how powerful Bhakasura actually was. So Kamsa then called Bhakasura and they said that look Bhakasura is so powerful that he would positively kill Krishna. No one is able to do it Krishna won’t be able to do anything to Bhakasura. Now others were not strong enough. But this one is much stronger. So, he would surely kill Krishna. So, Kamsa called Bhakasura and he told Bhakasura. So, Bhakasura I think you should go and do something about this boy and Bhakasura said “No problem, I will go and take care of him. I was just waiting for your command, your order.” But then Kamsa said “Be careful, all this great powerful demons have been killed by this little boy. It seems that he has some great power. Maybe He is one of the demigods who have been born as a cowherd boy. Because the power He is displaying is uncommon. It is not possible for a human being to display this kind of power. Now, Bhakasura said “Kamsa, don’t worry, I will just take care of him.” Kamsa agreed “Okay! Demon bless you. Let all the demons bless you for your success [HHBCS laughs]. So, then Bhakasura went there in the morning when the cowherd boys were tending the cows in the pasturing ground. All of a sudden Krishna saw that there was a White Mountain peak in Vrindavana. So, Krishna became very surprised. He said” Where did the mountain come from? But then when they observed closely then they saw that was actually a huge crane and the white of the crane was appearing like a mountain peak and so Krishna became very surprised and he said that this is a special type of creature. So, Krishna’s friends got excited “Krishna let’s go and see what it is.” So, they all went close to the bird. And when they came close then Bhakasura came charging towards Krishna and but when he grabbed Krishna in his mouth and he found that this little boy was very hot. So, he let the boy go. But this time Krishna just played with the crane for some time. In between the crane’s beak Krishna used his feet and pushed the lower back onto the ground and with his hands he pulled the beak. Although the other cowherd boys couldn’t see that. But Krishna expanded his body to such an extent in that way that the crane’s mouth and his neck and the whole body got torn into two pieces. First when Bhakasura actually helped Krishna within his mouth then the demigods became very concerned and felt that now they cannot do something to help Krishna. So, Indra actually released his thunderbolt. But the thunderbolt struck on Bhakasura’s body. Even Indra’s thunderbolt couldn’t do anything. Other demigods started to release their weapons but nothing happened to him actually. So, in this way Krishna played with the Bhakasura for some time. Then Krishna killed that demon. So, this way Bhakasura was killed. Again the news was taken to Kamsa and Kamsa got really upset. And so the next one was. So, what I will do is, I will just I will describe, today I will describe how Krishna killed the demons. I am not going in chronological order. Like many things happened actually between. Krishna killed this demon but today I will just describe the killing demons and this way I will deal with different aspects of Krishna’s pastimes. Now next one was Aghasura. Aghasura was the brother of Bhakasura. So, Kamsa called Aghasura. Aghasura was another very, very ferocious demon. So, Kamsa told Aghasura that Bhakasura had been killed and now what could be done. So Aghasura said “Don’t worry I will go and take revenge of my brother’s death. So, Kamsa again blessed him on behalf of all the demons. He was a huge python. The description of that python has been given as his mouth was wide open and it seems that the upper jaw of the mouth of the snake was touching the sky. The teeth of the snake appeared to be like mountain. And the mouth of the snake appeared to be like a huge cave in the mountain. So, the boys became very surprised. They said “Wow! Look there is a new cave. We didn’t see this cave before. So, they just walked right into it along with the calves and Krishna was standing there and Krishna could sense some danger. But Krishna felt that the boys have already entered his mouth and Krishna’s friends were completely fearless. They knew that Krishna will protect them from all dangers. So, they did not have any fear of anything. So, they walked straight into Aghasura’s mouth and then Aghasura was also waiting just for Krishna to enter. Aghasura felt that as soon as Krishna would enter, he would just close his mouth. So, he just kept his mouth open and Krishna was just watching and that day Balarama was not there because that day was the birthday of Balarama… So, Krishna finally, when all the friends entered into Aghasura’s mouth Krishna felt that he must do something to save them. And so finally Krishna walked into Aghasura’s mouth and as soon as Krishna entered, Aghasura demon closed his mouth and then Krishna expanded himself in such a way and His body became so hot that He got stuck in Aghasura’s throat suffocating him to death. And he could not breathe anymore because Krishna had struck his throat and finally his life air left from his head. His life air penetrated through Brahmarandra, the hole on the top of the head and left the body. There is a very nice discussion about Aghasura and Krishna from Jiva Goswami. After the life air left, Krishna told Aghasura “Sorry, the space was so small that either I had to leave or your life air had to leave .I felt [HHBCS laughs]. So your life air had to leave from the top of your head and all the cowherd boys came out. So, this is how Krishna saved the cowherd boys and killed Aghasura, So, after that they all went and had a picnic. They went to the bank of Yamuna and Krishna told the friends “Today we all will share our food” and Krishna felt and Krishna actually told His friends that My father is the king, so they give me such nice prasadam but others are not so rich, others parents are not so rich, so they can’t give them such opulent food so today we will share our food and they all started to share they all sat down in a circle and some were giving, offering some food to Krishna’s mouth and Krishna was eating that. So, Brahma who was also watching he was wondering who this personality actually is? In many ways he felt that he must be Narayana but when he saw that Krishna was eating the remnants of other cowherd boys, he felt that this cannot be Narayana because Narayana would never eat anyone’s remnants. So, Brahma decided to check out Krishna. Brahma felt that let me see who this person actually is? At that time Brahma stole the calves. So, all of a sudden the cowherd boys noticed that the calves were missing. They were about to get up and started looking for the calves. So, Krishna said just wait a minute maybe they have gone to some distance; you all carry on taking prasadam I will go and look for the calves and I will bring back the calves. When Krishna went to look for the calves, Brahma stole the cowherd boys also. First he stole the calves and now he stole the cowherd boys and he took them in a mountain cave, kept them in a mountain cave, he filled the mountain cave, the mouth of the mountain with a big stone, big And it took Brahma just one second to steal the cowherd boys and fill them up in a mountain cave and turn around and look at Krishna. But Brahma’s one second is actually 1 year according to human calculation. In the 3th Canto, Srimad Bhagvatam, the description has been given very vividly, how the time calculation differs in different planes. Like in the human calculation, we have 12 months in a year. First of all 1 month has 2 sections, the Krishna Paksa and the Sukla Paksa, the waxing period of the moon and the waning period of the moon. Now 1 period, waxing period takes 15 days and waning period takes 15 days. Now this one month is actually a day and night of the Pitri lokas. In the Pitri loka, the Sukla Paksa is the day, our 15 days is the day of the Pitri loka and the night is also 15 days. In the heavenly planets our 6 months is the day and our 6 months is the night. Like when the sun is in the northern hemisphere, then is the day of the demigods and when the sun is in the southern hemisphere, then it is the night of the demigods. So, in this way the concept of day and night ranges in different planes. How much is the day of Brahma? What is the duration of the day of the Brahma?
Devotee: 4.3 Billion Years
HHBCS: 4.2 Billion Years
So, 1000 Chatur yugas- Sat, Treta , Dwapara and Kali, this four yugas multiplied by thousand is a day of Brahma and that is the duration of Brahma’s night. So, Brahma’s one second is our year. So Brahma looked back and he found he was thinking …. Krishna is in great anxiety but when he looked back he found all the cowherd boys and all the calves there. Actually what happened is when Krishna came back after looking for the cows and not finding them, he found that his friends are also missing and remember that day Balarama was not there. So, somehow Brahma….. Because if he tried any funny trick with Balarama, he would have been in trouble. [All laughs]. So, Brahma was, so that day Balarama was not there, So, Brahma stole all the other cowherd boys and when Krishna came back He found that all the cowherd boys were missing. So, he could understand that this was the brain of Brahma. So, he immediately expanded all the cowherd boys and all the calves from his body. So, actually this cowherd boys and calves were expansions of Krishna. That means they were not Jiva Tatva anymore. They were Vishnu Tatva. They all were non-different from Krishna. So, when Brahma looked back, he found the cowherd boys and the calves and then he could understand that this kind of performance can only be done by Narayana, only by the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is his father. So, Brahma came to Krishna, beg forgiveness. So, this is called Brahma-Vimohan Lila. How Brahma was bewildered? There is another important thing to remember, that is that Brahma at that time became very, very repentant that he did something that he committed a great offense to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and although the Lord although Krishna forgave him, Brahma was not satisfied. So, he wanted to perform great penance to neutralize his offence and Brahma actually came here in Navadwip and he performed great penance thousands of years and as a result of that the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared to him in a very wonderful form. The Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared to him in the golden form and he assured Brahma that there was no offense. His offense was forgiven. He did not mind it at all. So, then Brahma asked him “This form of yours I have never seen before. What is the secret behind this form? So, then the Lord told him that in the age of Kali, He appears in this form and that form is known as Gauranga, Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So, Brahma requested golden Supreme Personality of Godhead to give him the chance to appear with him in that pastime in the age of Kali. So, Lord accepted that prayer of Brahma and then again Brahma requested that my Lord usually I am very proud, I become so puffed up, I become so arrogant that I forget your supreme position and becoming proud of my elevated position of Brahma, I commit offense to you. When you appear and you allow me to come with you in that pastime, please allow me to be born in a very low class family. Let me have a very low birth so that there won’t be any room for me to become proud. So, the Lord said “Okay, if you desire that way, then your desire will be fulfilled.” So, then Brahma got a chance to appear in Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastime as Haridas Thakur. Haridas Thakur was born in a Muslim family. But he is actually the highest of all the greatest of all the Brahmanas. Brahma himself, but he was the most intimate associate of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So, this way Brahma stole the calves and he was blessed by the Lord in his golden incarnation. Now one day the cowherd boys were playing in the forests of Vrindavan and then they came to the Talavan for, Tala means palm fruit. Those who were being in India in summer have seen that. Tala fruit is a big type of fruit which has a beautiful fragrance. So, there was a Tala forest which was full of Tala fruits and the boys were playing, they started to get hungry and they smelt the beautiful fragrance of this Tala fruit. And they asked Krishna and Balarama “Please we are feeling very hungry. So, please let us have some fruits, Tala fruits.” But some said that please do not go there because this forest is actually the forest of the demon called Dhenukasura. So, Dhenukasura was a demon in the form of a donkey. He used to protect the Tala forest. So Balarama said “Don’t worry, we can take care of any demon”. They also said yes. When Balarama and Krishna are there, we are not afraid of anything. Because we know you can kill anyone. So, then Balarama just went and He started to shake the forest, the trees, this Tala fruit trees are very strong but Balarama is so strong that he started to shake the trees and the fruits started to drop on the ground making great noise and so, Dhenukasura when he heard the noise he became very angry and immediately he came running and he saw that these little boys were plundering his Tala forest. So, he immediately charged towards Balarama. But Balarama He just grabbed Dhenukasura by his hind leg and started to swing him and then He threw him and Dhenukasura just fell on the top of a Tala tree and left his body. Then Dhenuka’s friends also came and attacked Krishna and Balarama. But Krishna and Balarama one after another finished all the demons. So, in this way Krishna and Balarama killed the demons. Anyway I will try to finish the demons story today and I will go through quickly. And then another demon came his name is Pralambasura. Pralamba was a very powerful demon but Pralamba actually came in the disguise of a cowherd boy. Pralamba saw that Krishna and Balarama were playing with Their friends. So, the way they were playing is Srinath was sitting in one place and surrounded by some of his friends and Srinath was playing a role of a king and Krishna and Balarama appeared there and told Srinath with folded hands that My lord, your highness how you address a king your majesty that Your majesty we are dancers. So, we want to perform some dances for your pleasure. So, everyone said that’s very nice, our king appreciates it very much and the king said I will reward you if I am pleased with your dance, I will reward you with many wonderful things. So, then Krishna and Balarama started dancing. That was the most beautiful dance. So, they said, the king was very pleased. So, the king said as I told you if I am pleased I will reward you to your satisfaction. So, I will give you many valuable jewels or gold. So, Krishna said from your name I know you are Srinath you are the abode of Sri means you are the abode of Laxmi, so you can give a lot of Laxmi, a lot of wealth but I am not interested in wealth. Actually I like to fight. So, I want to fight, I want to wrestle with you. So, if you are really pleased with us so accept our challenge. So, Srinath said fine if that is what you want I promise that I will reward you according to your satisfaction. So, I will offer you what you actually wanted. So, Krishna then said okay I am very happy that you agreed to fight with me. So, in the mean time Pralambasura he thought that this is the good opportunity. So, as a cowherd boy he just walked he just got mingled in the group. So, the boys were divided into 2 groups, one group will wrestle with the other and the looser whoever will be defeated will carry the winner on his back and take him around the forest. Make him ride around the back, around the forest and so this Pralambasura he fought with Balarama because he thought that if Balarama is defeated then Krishna will become so heartbroken that it wouldn’t be at all difficult to kill Krishna. So, Krishna has actually derived the strength from Balarama. So, first I will kill Balarama and then I will kill Krishna. So, he wrestled with Balarama and Balarama was defeated. So, Balarama had to carry Pralambasura. Actually Krishna already told Balarama that look there is another strange character here. Then Krishna actually called the Pralamba Oh! My friend Pralambasura. I didn’t see you for so long. Please come and Pralambasura was very happy that Krishna was treating him nicely, Krishna could recognize him he thought that Krishna thought that he was His friend. Krishna embraced him, he said I am so happy to see you so and they wanted Krishna wanted to Pralamba to fight with Balarama. And then Pralamba actually chose to fight with Balarama. So, Balarama was defeated and Balarama was carrying Pralamba and then after going a little distance Pralambasura became very large. He displayed his own real body now which was a huge demon’s body and he was running away with Balarama on his back. So, Balarama at first couldn’t see around what was the matter. He saw that all of a sudden he saw that he was this little boy who he thought a cowherd boy became a very big, huge demon. So, then Balarama started to hit him on the head and Balarama hit him so hard that Pralambasura left his body. His life air left his body and he was dead. So, this way Pralambasura was dead. Three other demons Krishna killed. One is Shankachurasura. Shankachura was a demon who became envious of Krishna when he saw Krishna was dancing with the gopis. Krishna was actually having loving exchanges with the gopis. This Shankachura came and stole two gopis and Krishna was sitting with Srimati Radharani at that time. So, Lalita and Vishakha came running to Him and told Krishna that this demon has stolen two of our girls. So, Krishna immediately ran after the demon and because the demon was carrying the two girls, he could run very fast, so Krishna very quickly caught him and punched him on his face and the demon was dead [all laughs]. Now this Shankachura had a jewel called Srikant Mani in his chest. So, Krishna opened his chest and took that jewel. So, in the mean time, this happened in the day time. So, Krishna didn’t go back to Srimati Radharani. So, from there He went back to cowherd boys and he gave the jewel to Balarama. So, Balarama asked what happened. Krishna said I got a little delayed because I met a demon on the way so I killed him and I got the jewel from him which was in his heart and I wanted to give it to you. Actually that’s why I got a little late. So, another interesting demon Krishna killed was Aristasura. So, Aristasura was a demon who came in the form of a bull and it was not an ordinary bull, it was a huge bull whose head practically touched the sky and it was so ferocious and started running all over Vrindavana and it started making tremendous noise tremendous roaring sound and so everyone in Vrindavana became very afraid. At that time Krishna was actually playing with the Gopis. So, they were when Krishna saw that all his friends were so afraid. So, Krishna immediately ran after, he approached the bull and the description of Aristasura has been given that when he saw Krishna he started to dig the ground, dig the earth with His hooves and Aristasura’s hooves was very sharp. So, Krishna came and within a very short time, Krishna killed Aristasura. So, after killing Aristasura, Krishna went back to the Gopis. The Gopis said “Krishna, we can’t actually touch You or we can’t deal with You now because You are becoming contaminated by killing a cow. So, You have committed a great sin by killing a cow. So, Krishna said that actually it was in the form of a cow but actually it was not a cow, it was a demon. The Gopis said “But still it has the form of a cow, so you got the son of killing a cow”. So, Krishna asked “So, now tell me what I should do now.” So, they said “That you will get purified by this sin only if you take bath in all the holy places in this world.” Then Krishna said ‘No problem”. So, he hit the ground with his heel and a huge lake was created and all the holy rivers appeared there. Different personalities they are also different devotees of Krishna. So, they appeared there and started to offer prayers to Krishna. And Krishna took His bath and said “now it’s all right”. The Gopis became especially, Srimati Radharani became very embarrassed that they have been defeated by Krishna. Now they have to match that. So, they said “Okay, so we will also make a lake here and the Gopis with the bangles started to dig a lake and the holy rivers appeared and started to offer prayers to Srimati Radharani. So, what are these two places? So, the one Krishna makes is Shyama-Kunda and the one that Gopis made?
Devotees [In unison]: Radha-Kunda
HHBCS: Right
So the Shyama-Kunda and Radha-Kunda was made right after Aristasura’s killing, right after killing of Aristasura. Then Krishna, Kamsa sent Kesi the horse. Now, Kesi came in the form of a terrible horse and was charging towards Krishna. But Krishna just put his hands in Kesi’s mouth and killed Kesi. It says that, in Brahma Vaivarta Purana, it has been described Krishna actually put his hands right inside Kesi’s stomach and pulled out all his guts [HHBCS laughs]. And at that time Kesi took away his original form and carried many, many cowherd boys and went up in the sky. So, Krishna also jumped up in the sky grabbed Kesi and punched him to death. So, this is how Kesi demon was killed. So, now these three personalities like Bhakasura, Aghasura and Kesi were three brothers. So Pariksit Maharaj asked Sukdeva Goswami how was it that these personalities were although they were demons they got the good fortune of being killed by Krishna and got delivered. So, then Sukdeva Goswami told Pariksit Maharaj that long time ago, there was a Gandharva called Gandhavah and he has four sons. These four sons were all great devotees of Vishnu. The eldest one was Vasudeva, then Suhatra, Subhasha and Sudhasha. So, Vasudeva got, he became delivered by becoming a pure devotee of the Lord. But this three other brothers, they were great devotees of the Lord. They were such great devotees that they would not take even a drop of water without worshipping the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So, one day this three Gandharvas, actually there were three sons of Gandharva King went to a lake and there they saw some beautiful scene, that the lake was filled with beautiful lotuses but as soon as they went to see the lotuses, many, many Yaksas came running and caught them. So, you thieves you are stealing the lotuses from this lake so and they caught them and took them to Lord Shiva and when they were taken to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva asked why you stole. So, they said actually we are devotees of Vishnu and took the flowers for worshipping Vishnu we are looking for some flowers and when we saw these lotuses we got tempted to take them and but Shiva said that actually you made a great mistake, there is a curse by Parvati. This lake is actually Parvati’s lake. And there is a curse that if anybody takes the flowers from this lake, then he will be born as a demon. So, although I respect you very much as devotees of Vishnu and Vishnu’s devotees should be taken as Vishnu himself, Vishnu’s devotees are expansion of Vishnu’s potency. So, I have great respect for you Vaishnavas but somehow or other you have become victims of a curse. So, you will be born as demons. But don’t worry you will be delivered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead himself. So, that’s why, that’s how these three Gandharvas appeared as these three demons Bhakasura, Aghasura and Kesi. So, in this way we can also see that Krishna’s pastimes are like drama on a stage. Then Krishna recruits different actors and actresses from different places and these are actually simply Krishna’s divine arrangement because although they are demons, apparently they are demons but they are not ordinary personalities. They are very, very special personalities and unless and until one is a very special personality he cannot participate in Krishna’s pastimes either as a devotee or as a demon. Actually to be with Krishna means a lot of good fortune. So, even though these personalities were participating in Krishna’s pastimes as demons but they were actually very fortunate. Ultimate issue they also were great devotees of Krishna and although they were killed by Krishna but finally they attained the ultimate destination, attained the ultimate destination that is the spiritual sky. Now I will just add a little point here after Krishna killed Kesi, Krishna was swinging the body of Kesi. And ultimately when he let the body and Kesi go, it went flying through the sky and it fell in Mathura and it fell right in front of Kamsa. [All laugh] and so Kamsa couldn’t figure out what happened but then he recognized that it is the body of Kesi and Kesi was Kamsa’s last support. So, Vasudeva who was nearby, Vasudeva also was there in the court at that time. And when Vasudeva realized that it was actually Kesi’ body, Vasudeva smiled and Kamsa noticed it, he started to chastise, he started to scream at Vasudeva saying that you are my greatest enemy in disguise. I know that it is your son who you in a tricky way you took him to Nanda Maharaj’s house and kept him there. So, you deceived him right after his birth. You didn’t tell me that this was your son and now you are happy that I am in trouble. So, you are laughing, he called his man and said “Immediately, grab the head of Devaki and Vasudeva, Vasudeva and Devaki and then they bluff to me. So, immediately Kamsa’s soldiers went and grabbed Vasudeva and Devaki. So, at that time Narada Mini appeared there. So, Narada Muni told Kamsa “Kamsa! What is the use of just killing Vasudeva and Devaki? Like this will not solve your problem. You may feel happy for a time being that you killed Vasudeva and Devaki apparently as your enemy. I told you before also, don’t kill a woman because it’s going to be distressful for you but actually what you should try to do is to kill Krishna. Why are you trying to kill Vasudeva and Devaki? How is it going to solve your problem because Krishna would still continue to exist? So, your problem won’t be solved. So, try to solve your main problem. Kill Krishna and I tell you if you send one or two persons to kill Krishna and Balarama, you will never be successful. So, you have to make a joint endeavour to kill Krishna and Balarama. So, I suggest what you do is you arrange for a Dhanur Yagya- A sacrifice of great bows and you announce to all the kings to come and participate in the sacrifice. Then you also invite Krishna and Balarama. So, when Krishna and Balarama come here, then jointly you attack them with all the kings. So that is how you will be able to kill them. Then Kansa asked “But how should I, how should I encourage all the kings to come, how should I inspire them to come. Then Narada said “You do one thing. You make an announcement that in this Dhanur-Yajna whoever will be able to break the bow, he will get half the kingdom. So, everyone will be interested to get half the kingdom and so that’s how they all will come and so this is how you gather all the kings together and kill Krishna. So, Kamsa thought that’s a great idea. So, he arranged this Dhanur-Yajna. Dhanur means the bow and Yajna means sacrifice and he sent Akrura to get Krishna and Balarama. Hare Krishna. Does anyone have any questions or comments?
HHBCS: Yes
Devotee: I have a question. Generally Dhenu means cow. Kamadhenu ……..
HHBCS: No, that is Dhenu means a cow but Dhenuka is an ass.
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: Yes and that is the spiritual sky. Inconceivable. Right as the number of the cows are unlimited, the space is also unlimited. The spiritual sky is not limited.
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: Yes, that is what we are seeing with our mundane eyes is not the real Vrindavana.
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: Or the other way to answer that question is that Krishna’s potency is inconceivable. Like Krishna can make tens of trillions of cows in a fraction of a centimeter. That is how inconceivable Krishna’s potency is. Yes.
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: Yes.
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: You see, I mean all these literatures, all these scriptures are eternal but they have been compiled by Vyasadeva for our benefit. You see they are there but the writing version has been compiled by Vyasadeva.
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: They are eternal. They are there all the time but people could not understand. When they read before Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s appearance they didn’t understand. Like for example if there is a book about Kalki who will appear say four hundred and twenty five thousand years from now. So there are descriptions of Kalki but you know we won’t be interested because four hundred and twenty five thousand years. Why we should talk now. So, those who knew had access you see then again all the scriptures are available to everybody. The scriptures that are also kept you see like those days there were not printing presses. Things were just written by hand and just very few individuals have in their custody. Some as you know were fortunate and had access to them, access to read it and recognize Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Yes. Hare Krishna.
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: In the spiritual world yes in the spiritual world there is no demon. There are two understandings because demons cannot actually enter into the spiritual sky but the residents of Vrindavana actually they have some impression of a demon. It’s like seeing some paintings on a wall. You see some paintings on the wall and some memories come back. So, it is something like that, memories come back. Like for example you see Sanatana Goswami describing Brhad Bhagvatam, when Gopa Kumar went back to Goloka Vrindavana, he actually saw the Aristasura but better was the Kesi demon. He is describing the Kesi. So, Krishna actually subdued the Kesi demon and put a, took his garland and made a kind of reign out of that on the back of Kesi demon and about all His friends also rode on the back of the Kesi demon. So, now there are no demons in Vrindavana but we have to understand, Sanatana Goswami is actually describing that you know devotees actually get the feel of that pastime. So, the particular horse is not really Kesi or Kesi demon, after his deliverance was promoted to Goloka Vrindavana and there he became a devotee of Krishna. And for Krishna’s pleasure he was actually playing that role, playing that part but his mentality was not demoniac in that sense. So, understanding is in the spiritual sky everyone is a devotee. Sanatana Goswami describes about Kaliya but there Krishna did not banish Kailya to go away but here also it says that Krishna actually put his uttariya, his chadar around Kaliya’s mouth and then He started to play his flute and then He was riding on Kaliya’s back. So, in this way in the spiritual sky there is no demon but the acts are there. The way the demons acted, those acts are enacted there also. Otherwise in the spiritual sky also there won’t be any excitement. So, this excitement is actually generated by different arrangements of Krishna.
Devotee:……….That’s what happened.
HHBCS: That’s right. Ultimately this pastime and but they do not have that demoniac mentality as such. There they are not acting on behalf of Kamsa. They are acting for the pleasure of Krishna.
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: In most cases, the demons are the devotees or elevated personalities who got cursed. They were cursed to become demons but then they got delivered by Krishna. When they were delivered by Krishna, they were promoted.
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: Generally, yes most of them, most of them I would say were Vrindavan devotees. Like, it depends ultimately after the consciousness. For example Putana, Putana got the position of Krishna’s mother but Aghasura is said that it merged into Krishna’s body.
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: Dhenuka also was a Gandharva. He was a Gandharva. Let me see. What did Dhenuka do? Dhenuka did something to Narada Muni and got cursed. He did something and Narada Muni told him that since you acted like an ass…
[All laughs]
Devotee: ………..
HHBCS: What’s that? What’s the next line?
Devotee:………
HHBCS: They didn’t want to become Yasoda, they didn’t want to become like Yasoda but they wanted to become they wanted to have Supreme Personality of Godhead as Their son. You see there is a difference between trying to take the place of Yasoda and wanting to become the mother of Krishna but wanting to have the Supreme Lord as the son is another thing.
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: Yes
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: Yes, they are not actually Sadhana Siddhas as such you see, they are pure devotees. Ultimately they are pure devotees of Krishna who wanted to have the darshan of the Lord but then the Lord fulfilled their desire by saying not in this life but in another life, you will get me as your son. So, that’s why the Lord actually blessed them to become his father and mother. Right. When they became the father and mother like it is an eternal relationship like the relationship with the Lord is not, anything that is in connection to the Lord is eternal. So once you become the father and the mother of the Lord, it is an eternal relationship. It’s not a kind of relation broken by material time.
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: Yes, that can be, it can be understood that way also because by Krishna’s arrangement Nanda Maharaja and Yasoda in the next life they became Nanda and Yasoda in Vrindavana. So, like it’s like in the spiritual sky different individuals are there. By Krishna’s arrangement there they come to the earth planet. At a particular time they again become the personalities that they are there in the spiritual sky in the material world for example like today Giriraj Maharaja just touched the point in the class. He was talking about Ganga. In the spiritual sky there is Ganga. Actually what happened is Krishna had another Gopi friend called Viraja. Viraja, one day Krishna was with Viraja and the Goloka Vrindavan is like a thousand petals, lotus and on each petal there is a house of one of Krishna’s girlfriends. So, Krishna was in Viraja, Viraja’s house. Krishna made 12 friends guards, 12 gates of the house. At that time Maha Lakshmi Devi she started to look for Krishna and then she turned there in Viraja’s house. So, Viraja became afraid that she will be caught now. So, she transformed herself into water and so when Lakshmi Devi came she asked Krishna “What you are doing here?” So, Krishna said “I was just waiting for you”. So, Lakshmi Devi did not believe at first and then she in her meditation she could understand what actually happened. So she cursed Viraja that the water that you have transformed yourselves into, you will remain as water. So then Viraja actually came down as Yamuna being cursed by Radharani. Now you see like this whatever happens on the earth planet in Krishna’s pastimes. The original of that, the root of that is actually in the spiritual sky Goloka Vrindavana. Like we find that lots of curses are going flying around you and so forth. Actually it was Krishna’s arrangement to send his associates down like Radharani cursed Srinath, Subala and you know like I mean as there it was saying that curses were flying you know in all directions and then they as a result ultimately it is all Krishna’s arrangement they came down like that. So here we can also understand from this statement of Srila Prabhupada that Yasoda and Nanda came on to the earth planet but before appearing as Nanda and Yasoda they all appeared as Krishna’s associates.
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: No, they are not given that.
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: But sometimes it happens jivas get elevated and enter into Krishna’s pastimes. Like for example let us consider ourselves we are jives, now does it means that we will never be able to go back to Godhead. Now when is now when we go back, jivas can also go back to Krishna’s eternal spiritual sky
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: Not Nanda and Yasoda in that sense but a jiva himself never thinks that he can become Nanda and Yasoda but if Krishna wants Krishna can offer that position to some jiva if he wants.
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: You see there is a difference between us wanting something and Krishna is offering something. For example the Gopis do want to associate with Krishna and want that Krishna should always be with Radharani and try to make that arrangement but sometimes if Krishna wants, then the Gopis go with Krishna and have an intimate pastimes.
Devotee” Inaudible
HHBCS: Krishna can make anything. Krishna can do everything. Nanda and Yasoda they are Krishna’s eternal father and mother. That is the position. I mean their position is fixed but when Krishna performed the pastime on the earth planet he if you want he may make some living entity take up that role, may allow some living entity to play that role. But ultimately we will find there is some link between that living entity, that individual and the original Personality in the spiritual sky just as we can see here like Yasoda and Nanda has some link with Drona and Dhara. But when we see Drona and Dhara as Vasu, then they are not Nanda and Yasoda as Vasu. Right but they you know although they have some ultimate link with Nanda and Yasoda. So, another way of looking at it is when Drona and Dhara were playing their pastimes right on heavenly planets as Vasu. No. so, they were there at the same time they are here as well. So, this is how inconceivable it is. Drona and Dhara we see as two demigods but when they get the position of Nanda and Yasoda then we cannot really reason how is it happening. So, the best is to leave it as Krishna’s arrangement. Why it happens? How it happens. It’s not up to us. I will take this last question because I am already late.
Devotee: Inaudible
HHBCS: Yes. This understanding is, you see Krishna, all the incarnations of Krishna also appear. So, when Krishna goes to Mathura, then original Krishna of Vrindavana stays back in Vrindavana. But actually it is the Vasudeva Krishna Who actually goes to Mathura. And it has been described as when Krishna went to take the bath near the border of Mathura and Vrindavana. When they were just about to cross the border of Vrindavana, Krishna took bath in, Krishna and Balarama took bath in Yamuna. So, at that time Akrura saw Krishna and Balarama in the four armed form. So, the understanding is when they were taking bath when they got out of the chariot to take bath. At that time Vrindavana Krishna and Balarama went back to Vrindavana and it is the Vasudeva Krishna Who actually got into the chariot and Akrura took Vasudeva Krishna and Sankarshan to Mathura. But original Krishna and Balrama did not leave. Other questions that you have please write down and I will answer them tomorrow Hare Krishna. Oh! You have some cookies.
Devotee: Maharaja
HHBCS: You can take some. Hare Krishna.