NITAAI-Veda.nyf > All Scriptures By Acharyas > Unsorted > Demons in Krishna Lila |
Contents
Introduction
....................................................................................Page 3
The Anatomy of the Cloud of An€rtha
...........................................Page 5
A Brief Summary of the Demons in Vヘnd€vana-L…l€ .....................Page
7
P™tan€
.............................................................................................Page 9
®akat€sura .......................................................................................Page
15
Tヘnavarta
........................................................................................Page 16
The
Deliverance of Nalak™vara and MaŠigr…va ..............................Page 17
Vats€sura
........................................................................................Page 21
Bak€sura
.........................................................................................Page 26
Agh€sura
........................................................................................Page 27
Brahm€-vimohana-l…l€
....................................................................Page 29
Dhenuk€sura ..................................................................................Page 33
K€liya
.............................................................................................Page 35
Extinguishing the First Forest Fire
................................................. Page 40
Pralamb€sura
..................................................................................Page 41
The
Second Forest Fire ..................................................................Page 43
Correcting the Br€hmaŠas Performing Sacrifice
............................Page 44
Overcoming the Pride of Lord Indra
..............................................Page 47
Nanda
Mah€r€ja Stolen by VaruŠa
................................................Page 50
Nanda
Mah€r€ja Delivered from the Snake ...................................Page 51
®aŠk€sura .......................................................................................Page 52
Ariミt€sura
.......................................................................................Page 53
Keマi ................................................................................................Page 54
Vyom€sura
.....................................................................................Page 55
INTRODUCTION
®r…la Bhaktivinoda Th€kura explains in his ®r…
Chaitanya ®ikミ€mヘta: "®r… KヘミŠa's activities are of two distinct types; namely
nitya (eternal), and naimittika (occasional). In Goloka Vヘnd€vana, KヘミŠa's nitya-l…l€ or eternal pastimes are conducted
throughout eight periods of the day, and they are constantly in motion. But in
Bhauma Vヘnd€vana this aミta-k€l…ya-l…l€ is
mixed with the naimittika-l…l€ or occasional pastimes. Some occasional pastimes
include KヘミŠa's leaving Vヘnd€vana to live in
Mathur€ and Dv€rak€, His returning to Vraja, His killing of various demons and
so forth. These pastimes are very useful for an aspiring devotee who is bound
within the material world. The naimittika-l…l€ or occasional pastimes of
leaving Vraja actually exist in Goloka Vヘnd€vana, but only
in a conspicuously absent manner; they are truly manifest only in the material
world. Practicing devotees (s€dhakas) understand these occasional pastimes to
be like negatively-tinted reflections of the eternal pastimes. And such sincere
devotees hope that by the influence of understanding the purpose of KヘミŠa's performance of different occasional pastimes,
their own various an€rthas or unwanted material contaminations will be
destroyed."
In the above-mentioned book ®r…la Bhaktivinoda Th€kura
has explained how the demons Lord KヘミŠa killed in Vヘnd€vana represent the main obstacles facing the aspiring devotee. If, by
the Lord's grace, these demons can be killed in the various ways they may
manifest themselves in our lives, then our progress in devotional service is
guaranteed. That is the theme of this course.
®r…la R™pa Gosw€mi has explained in Bhakti-ras€mヘta-sindhu that there are nine stages devotees pass through as they
advance in KヘミŠa consciousness:
adau マraddha tataƒ s€dhu-
sango-'tha bhajana-kriya
tato'n€rtha nivヘttiƒ sy€t
tato niミtha rucis tataƒ
ath€saktis tato bh€vas
tataƒ prem€bhyudancati
s€dhak€nam ayam premnaƒ
pradhurbh€ve bhavet kramaƒ
®r…la Prabhup€da translates these verses as follows:
"In the beginning one must have a preliminary desire for self-realization.
This will bring one to the stage of trying to associate with persons who are
spiritually elevated. In the next stage one becomes initiated by an elevated
spiritual master, and under his instruction the neophyte devotee begins the
process of devotional service. By execution of devotional service under the
guidance of the spiritual master, one becomes free from all material
attachment, attains steadiness in self-realization, and acquires a taste for
hearing about the Absolute Personality of Godhead, ®r… KヘミŠa. This taste leads one further forward to attachment
for KヘミŠa consciousness, which is matured in bh€va, or the
preliminary stage of transcendental love of God. Real love for God is called
prema, the highest perfectional stage of life."
The specific stages are:
1. ®raddha — faith
2. S€dhu-sanga — association with devotees
3. Bhajana-kriya — trying to seriously take up the
process of devotional service
4. An€rtha-nivヘtti — becoming
free of all unwanted things
5. Niミtha — steadiness
in KヘミŠa consciousness
6. R™ci — a deep taste for KヘミŠa consciousness
7. šsakti — attachment for KヘミŠa
8. Bh€va — ecstasy, the first rays of the sun of love
for KヘミŠa
9. Prema — pure love for KヘミŠa
To attain Vraja-bhakti, pure devotional service in ®r…
Vヘnd€vana Dh€ma is no cheap thing. In one purport ®r…la
Prabhup€da writes: "®r…la Bhaktivinoda Th€ura summarizes this growth of
love of Godhead as a gradual process. A person becomes interested in devotional
service by some good fortune. Eventually he becomes interested in pure
devotional service without material contamination. At that point, a person
wants to associate with devotees. As a result of this association, he becomes
more and more interested in discharging devotional service and hearing and
chanting. The more one is interested in hearing and chanting, the more he is
purified of material contamination. Liberation from material contamination is
called anartha-nivrtti, indicating a diminishing of all unwanted things. This
is the test of development in devotional service. If one actually develops the
devotional attitude, he must be freed from the material contamination of
illicit sex, intoxication, gambling and meat-eating. These are the prelim nary
symptoms. When one is freed from all material contamination, his firm faith
awakens in devotional service. When firm faith develops, a taste arises, and by
that taste, one becomes attached to devotional service. When this attachment
intensifies, the seed of love of KヘミŠa fructifies.
This position is called pr…ti or rati (affection) or bh€va (emotion). When rati
intensifies, it is called love of Godhead. This love of Godhead is actually
life's highest perfection and the reservoir of all pleasure."
Once one has passed through the stage of an€rtha-nivヘtti one is able to advance more quickly, seeing that one's obstacles are
largely overcome. While lecturing on Bhagavad G…t€ in 1971 ®r…la Prabhup€da
explained: "In this way, when an€rtha-nivヘttiƒ is finished,
perfect, then he becomes firmly stuck up in KヘミŠa consciousness.
Tato niミtha tato r™ciƒ. Then taste. The taste is so nice that
one cannot give up KヘミŠa consciousness. One cannot give up chanting of Hare
KヘミŠa. It increases the transcendental taste. And after
taste, there is €sakti. KヘミŠa is speaking
from that stage here. Mayy €sakta-manaƒ, €sakti, attachment. When there is
attachment of KヘミŠa, that is the almost final stage of your
perfectional life."
THE ANATOMY
OF THE CLOUD OF ANšRTHA
As Described in
Madhurya Kadambini
By ®r…la Viマvan€th Cakravarti
Th€kura
®r…la Viマvan€th Cakravarti
Th€kura explains that there are four types of an€rthas, recognized according to
their origins:
1.
An€rthas arising from previous sin
2.
An€rthas arising from previous pious activities
3.
An€rthas arising from imperfectly performed bhakti
4.
An€rthas arising from offenses in devotional service
An€rthas Arising From Previous Sinful Activities:
An€rthas arising
from previous sin are the five types of kleミas, or material
sufferings:
1. Avidya
— ignorance (mistaking impermanent to be permanent etc.)
2. Asm…ta —
false ego (bodily identification and the tendency to only accept sense perception)
3. R€ga —
attachment (the desire for material happiness and the means to achieve it)
4. Dveミa — hatred (of unhappiness and the causes of it)
5. Abhiniveミa — acquired nature (absorption in bodily existence, including fear of
death)
An€rthas Arising From Previous Pious Activities:
An€rthas arising
from previous pious activities are attachments to sattva g™na sense enjoyment,
and mukti.
An€rthas Arising From The Improper Performance Of Bhakti:
An€rthas arising
from improper performance of devotional service are a little more subtle
®r…la Viマvan€th Cakravarti
Th€kura says that, just as, along with the main plant, many weeds grow,
similarly, by the cultivation of bhakti there appears acquisition of material
wealth and other facilities, worship and respect by others, a comfortable
position, fame etc. By their very
nature, they have the power to influence the heart of the devotee, grow in
size,and cover up the main plant intended for cultivation, bhakti.
NB: One should note carefully that these do not
include seva apar€dhas.
An€rthas Arising From Offenses:
An€rthas arising
from offenses in devotional service are the ten offenses against the chanting
of the holy names:
1. To
blaspheme devotees
2. To
consider the demigods equal to or independent of Viミnu
3. To
disobey one's spiritual master
4. To
blaspheme the Vedic (or related) scriptures
5. To
consider the glories of chanting the holy name to be imagination
6. To give
some mundane interpretation on the holy name
7. To
commit sin on the strength of the holy name
8. To
consider the chanting of Hare KヘミŠa to be a karma
kandiya activity
9. To
preach the glories of the holy name to the faithless
10. To not
have complete faith in the chanting of the holy names, and to maintain
material
attachments, even after hearing many instructions on the matter
It is also an offense to be inattentive while
chanting
· Seva
apar€dhas do not fit into this category, because they are normally overcome in
the course of the performance of one's devotional service, due to the potency
of the devotional activities, or through some activity specifically performed
for their nullification.
· However,
if one commits seva apar€dhas knowingly, that becomes the seventh offense
against the chanting of the holy names.
· A
person who commits n€ma apar€dha loses the mercy of the Lord in the form of His
name, and therefore suffers in many ways, but if such a person humbly takes the
appropriate remedial methods for his offenses (there are recommended remedies
for each of the ten types) then he is able to gradually get the mercy of the
name again, and his diseased condition is relieved.
The Removal of An€rthas
According to ®r…la
Viマvan€th Cakravarti Th€kura there are five grades of
eradication of an€rthas: limited (to one an€rtha), pervasive (affecting many
an€rthas), general, complete and absolute.
In the case of an€rthas arising from n€ma apar€dha the
rate of nullification is as follows: On the level of bhajana kriya the eradication
is limited. On niミtha the eradication is pervasive. On the level of
bh€va the eradication is general. At prema the eradication is complete, and
with the attainment of the Lord's lotus feet the eradication is absolute.
An€rthas arising from previous sin or piety are
eradicated as follows: On the level of bhajana kriya it is general, at niミtha complete, and on asakti absolute.
An€rthas arising from improperly performed devotional
service are eradicated as follows: With the performance of bhajana kriya,
eradication is limited. With the appearance of
niミtha it is complete, and with the appearance of r™ci it
is absolute.
A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DEMONS
AND THE ANšRTHAS THEY REPRESENT
In his ®r…
Chaitanya ®ikミ€mヘta ®r…la
Bhaktivinoda Th€kura gives the following summary of the demons KヘミŠa killed in His Vヘnd€vana pastimes
and the an€rthas they represent. (Of course we should note that not in all
cases is Lord KヘミŠa dealing with demons as such, like in the pastime of
the Brahm€-vimohana-l…l€, and the lifting of Govardhana Hill, although He is
always dealing with people who have antagonistic mentalities.)
1. P™tana. The pseudo-guru.
3. ®akat€s™ra (the cart demon). Carrying the burden of the cart-load of old and new
bad habits, lethargy and vanity.
2. Tヘn€varta (the
whirlwind demon). The false pride arising from material scholarship, which
gives rise to bogus philosophies.
4. Deliverance of Nalak™vara and MaŠigr…va (breaking the twin arjuna trees). Arrogant pride from
puffed-up aristocracy, rooted in madness for wealth.
5. Vats€s™ra (the calf-demon).
A childish type of mentality which gives rise to a type of greediness which
results in a wicked type of mischievousness.
6. Bak€s™ra (the duck/stork
demon). Cunning duplicity, deceptiveness and false types of behaviour.
7. Agh€s™ra (the snake demon). Cruelty and violence.
8. Brahm€-v…mohana l…la (Lord Brahm€ steals the cowherd boys and calves). Mundane
activities and speculative scholasticism.
9. Dhenuk€s™ra (the ass demon). Gross materialistic intelligence, ignorance of
spiritual knowledge.
10. K€liya (chastising the
K€liya serpent). Brutality and treachery.
11. Extinguishing the First Forest Fire. Inter-communal
discord among Vaiミnavas.
12. Pralamb€s™ra (killing the Pralamba demon). Lusty inclinations desire for personal
gain or honour.
13. The Second Forest Fire. Disruption of religious principles and interference
with religious people by atheism.
14. Correcting the Br€hmaŠas Performing Sacrifice. Callousness towards KヘミŠa due to pride
because of one's position in varn€マr€ma.
15. Overcoming the Pride of Lord Indra. Demigod worship, and the tendency to think "I am
Supreme."
16. Nanda Mah€r€ja Stolen by Varuna. Thinking that spiritual life can be enhanced by
intoxication.
17. Nanda Mah€r€ja Delivered from the Snake. Rescuing the truth of eternal KヘミŠa consciousness which has been swallowed by
impersonalists.
18. ±ankhac™チ€ (killing the
conch-shell demon and retrieving the jewel stolen by him). Proneness towards
acquiring name and fame, and desire for sensuous enjoyment, under the plea of
devotion.
19. Ariミt€s™ra (the bull
demon).Pride arising from indulging in false religions invented by cheaters
which causes neglect of bhakti.
20. Keマi (the horse
demon). The feeling that "I am a great devotee and spiritual master"
21. Vyom€s™ra (the sky demon).
Associating with thieves and other rascals, and with people who put themselves
forward as avataras.
Bhaktivinoda Th€kura says: "The devotee who
worships the holy name should first petition the Lord for the strength to cast
out all these unfavourable tendencies — and should pray thus before Lord Hari
on a daily basis. By doing this regularly, the devotee's heart will eventually
become purified. ®r… KヘミŠa has killed a number of demons which may arise in
the kingdom of the heart — so in order to destroy these problems, a devotee
must cry very humbly before the Lord and admit defeat — then the Lord will
nullify all contaminations."
P¶TANš
P™tan€ represents
the pseudo-guru. The pseudo-guru may appear in one or both of two forms:
1. A deceitful, so-called guru who preaches sense
gratification or liberation or both. In some cases this may be a person who is
engaged in some KヘミŠa conscious activity but has not realized the course
of pure devotional service and tries to give instructions to his disciples
beyond his own understanding, or without regard for their situations
2. The inwardly manifest "spiritual" guide,
in the form of the mundane empiric reasoning faculty (the material mind), is
also like P™tan€.
In order to show mercy to His devotees KヘミŠa sucks the life out of P™tan€'s breast to protect
His own innocent ecstasy, which has arisen within the young devotees' hearts.
According to the Brahm€-vaivarta Pur€na, in her last
life P™tan€ was Ratnam€la, the younger sister of Bali Mah€r€ja, although the
Garga Saˆh…ta says she was his daughter.
The Story of
P™tan€
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
After consulting
with his demoniac ministers, Kaˆsa instructed a witch named P™tan€, who knew
the black art of killing small children by ghastly sinful methods, to kill all
kinds of children in the cities, villages and pasturing grounds. Such witches
can play their black art only where there is no chanting or hearing of the holy
name of KヘミŠa. It is said that wherever the chanting of the holy
name of KヘミŠa is done, even negligently, all bad elements —
witches, ghosts, and dangerous calamities — immediately disappear. And this is
certainly true of the place where the chanting of the holy name of KヘミŠa is done seriously — especially in Vヘnd€vana when the Supreme Lord was personally present. Therefore, the
doubts of Nanda Mah€r€ja were certainly based on affection for KヘミŠa. Actually there was no danger from the activities
of P™tan€, despite her powers. Such witches are called khecari, which means
they can fly in the sky. This black art of witchcraft is still practiced by
some women in the remote northwestern side of India. They can transfer
themselves from one place to another on the branch of an uprooted tree. P™tan€
knew this witchcraft, and therefore she is described in the ®r…mad Bh€gavatam
as khecari.
P™tan€ entered the county of Gokula, the residential
quarter of Nanda Mah€r€ja, without permission. Dressing herself just like a
beautiful woman, she entered the house of mother Yaマoda. She appeared very beautiful, with raised hips, nicely swollen
breasts, earrings, and flowers in her hair. She looked especially beautiful on
account of her thin waist. She was glancing at everyone with very attractive
looks and smiling face, and all the residents of Vヘnd€vana were captivated. The innocent cowherd women thought that she was
a goddess of fortune appearing in Vヘnd€vana with a lotus
flower in her hand. It seemed to them that she had personally come to see KヘミŠa, who is her husband. Because of her exquisite
beauty, no one checked her movement, and therefore she freely entered the house
of Nanda Mah€r€ja. P™tan€, the killer of many, many children, found baby KヘミŠa lying on a small bed, and she could at once
perceive that the baby was hiding His unparalleled potencies. P™tan€ thought,
"This child is so powerful that He can destroy the whole universe
immediately."
P™tan€'s understanding is very significant. The
Supreme Personality of Godhead, KヘミŠa, is situated in
everyone's heart. It is stated in the Bhagavad G…t€ that He gives one necessary
intelligence, and He also causes one to forget. P™tan€ was immediately aware
that the child whom she was observing in the house of Nanda Mah€r€ja was the
Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. He was lying there as a small baby, but
that does not mean that He was less powerful. The materialistic theory that
God-worship is anthropomorphic is not correct. No living being can become God
by undergoing meditation or austerities. God is always God. KヘミŠa as the child-baby is as complete as He is as a
full-fledged youth. The M€y€v€da theory holds that the living entity was
formerly God but has now become overwhelmed by the influence of m€y€. Therefore
they say that presently he is not God, but when the influence of m€y€ is taken
away, then he again becomes God. This theory cannot be applied to the minute
living entities. The living entities are minute parts and parcels of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead; they are minute particles or sparks of the
supreme fire, but are not the original fire, or KヘミŠa. KヘミŠa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even from
the beginning of His appearance in the house of Vasudeva and Devaki.
KヘミŠa showed the
nature of a small baby and closed His eyes, as if to avoid the face of P™tan€.
This closing of the eyes is interpreted and studied in different ways by the
devotees. Some say that KヘミŠa closed His eyes
because He did not like to see the face of P™tan€, who had killed so many
children and who had now come to kill Him. Others say that something
extraordinary was being dictated to her, and in order to give her assurance, KヘミŠa closed His eyes so that she would not be frightened.
And yet others interpret in this way: KヘミŠa appeared to
kill the demons and give protection to the devotees, as stated in the Bhagavad
G…t€: paritr€n€ya s€dhun€m vin€マaya ca duミkヘtam. The first demon to be killed was a woman.
According to Vedic rules, the killing of a woman, a br€hmaŠa, cows or a child
is forbidden. KヘミŠa was obliged to kill the demon P™tan€, and because
the killing of a woman is forbidden according to Vedic マ€stra, He could not help but close His eyes. Another interpretation is
that KヘミŠa closed His eyes because He simply took P™tan€ to be
His nurse. P™tan€ came to KヘミŠa just to offer
her breast for the Lord to suck. KヘミŠa is so merciful
that even though He knew P™tan€ was there to kill Him, He took her as His nurse
or mother.
There are seven kinds of mothers according to Vedic
injunction: the real mother, the wife of a teacher or spiritual master, the
wife of a king, the wife of a br€hmaŠa, the cow, the nurse, and the mother
earth. Because P™tan€ came to take KヘミŠa on her lap and
offer her breast's milk to be sucked by Him, she was accepted by KヘミŠa as one of His mothers. That is considered to be
another reason He closed His eyes: He had to kill a nurse or mother. But His
killing of His mother or nurse was no different from His love for His real
mother or foster mother Yaマoda. We further
understand from Vedic information that P™tan€ was also treated as a mother and
given the same facility as Yaマoda. As Yaマoda was given liberation from the material world, P™tan€ was also given
liberation. When the baby KヘミŠa closed His
eyes, P™tan€ took Him on her lap. She did not know that she was holding death
personified. If a person mistakes a snake for a rope, he dies. Similarly,
P™tan€ killed so many babies before meeting KヘミŠa, but now she was
accepting the snake that would kill her immediately.
When P™tan€ was taking baby KヘミŠa on her lap, both Yaマoda and Rohini
were present, but they did not forbid her because she was so beautifully
dressed and because she showed motherly affection towards KヘミŠa. They could not understand that she was a sword
within a decorated case. P™tan€ had smeared a very powerful poison on her
breasts, and immediately after taking the baby on her lap, she pushed her
breastly nipple within His mouth. She was hoping that as soon as He would suck
her breast, He would die. But baby KヘミŠa very quickly
took the nipple in anger. He sucked the milk-poison along with the life air of
the demon. In other words, KヘミŠa simultaneously
sucked the milk from her breast and killed her by sucking out her life. KヘミŠa is so merciful that because the demon P™tan€ came
to offer her breast milk to Him, He fulfilled her desire and accepted her
activity as motherly. But to stop her from further nefarious activities, He
immediately killed her. And because the demon was killed by KヘミŠa, she got liberation. When KヘミŠa sucked out her very breath, P™tan€ fell down on the
ground, spread her arms and legs and began to cry, "Oh, child, leave me,
leave me!" She was crying loudly and perspiring, and her whole body became
wet.
As she died, screaming, there was a tremendous
vibration both on the earth and in the sky, in all directions, and people
thought that thunderbolts were falling. Thus the nightmare of the P™tan€ witch
was over, and she assumed her real feature as a great demon. She opened her
fierce mouth and spread her arms and legs all over. She fell exactly as Vヘtr€sura when struck by the thunderbolt of Indra. The long hair on her
head was scattered all over her body. Her fallen body extended up to twelve
miles and smashed all the trees to pieces, and everyone was struck with wonder
upon seeing this gigantic body. Her teeth appeared just like plowed roads, and
her nostrils appeared just like mountain caves. Her breasts appeared like small
hills, and her hair was a vast reddish bush. Her eye sockets appeared like
blind wells, and her two thighs appeared like two banks of a river; her two
hands appeared like two strongly constructed bridges, and her abdomen seemed
like a dried-up lake. All the cowherd men and women became struck with awe and
wonder upon seeing this. And the tumultuous sound of her falling shocked their
brains and ears and made their hearts beat strongly.
®r…la
Bhaktisiddh€nta Sarasvat… Th€kura
on P™tan€
In one issue of the Harmonist ®r…la Bhaktisiddh€nta
Sarasvat… Th€kura wrote extensively on the subject of P™tan€, as follows:
(Point 1) (Points extracted
by the teacher of this course, not by ®r…la Bhaktisiddh€nta)
®r… KヘミŠa manifest His
eternal birth in the pure cognitive essence of the serving soul who is located
above all mundane limitations. King Kaˆsa is the typical aggressive empiricist,
ever on the lookout for the appearance of the truth for the purpose of
suppressing Him before He has time to develop. This is no exaggeration of the
real connotation of the consistent empiric position. The materialist has a
natural repugnance for the transcendental. He is disposed to think that faith
in the incomprehensible is the parent of dogmatism and hypocrisy in the guise
of religion. He is also equally under the delusion that there is no really
dividing line between the material and the spiritual. He is strengthened in his
delusion by the interpretation of scriptures by persons who are like-minded
with himself. This includes all the lexicographic interpreters.
(Lexicographical means a strict dictionary meaning)
(Point 2)
The
lexicographical interpretation is upheld by Kaˆsa as the real scientific
explanation of the scriptures, and is perfectly in keeping with his dread of
and aversion for the transcendental. These lexicographical interpreters are
employed by Kaˆsa in putting down the first suspected appearance of any genuine
faith in the transcendental. King Kaˆsa knows very well that if the faith in
the transcendental is once allowed to grow it is sure to upset all his empiric
prospects.
There is historical ground for such misgivings.
Accordingly if the empiric domination is to be preserved intact it would be
necessary not to lose a moment to put down the transcendental heresy the
instant it threatens to make its appearance in earnest. King Kaˆsa, acting on
this traditional fear is never slow to take the scientific precaution of
deputing empiric teachers of the scriptures, backed by the resources of
dictionary and grammar and all empiric subtleties to put down, by the show of
specious arguments based on hypothetical principles, the true interpretation of
the eternal religion revealed by the scriptures.
Kaˆsa is strongly persuaded that faith in the
transcendental can be effectively put down by empiricism if prompt and decisive
measures are adopted at the very outset. He attributes the failure of atheism
in the past to the neglect of the adoption of such measures before the theistic
fallacy has had time to spread among the fanatical masses.
But Kamsa is found to count without his host. When KヘミŠa is born He is found to be able to upset all
sinister designs against those who are apprised by Himself of His advent. The
apparently causeless faith displayed by persons irrespective of age, sex, and
condition may confound all rabid empiricists who are on principle averse to the
Absolute Truth Whose appearance is utterly incompatible with the domination of
empiricism.
But no adverse efforts of the empiricists, whose rule
seems till then to be perfectly well-established over the minds of the deluded
souls of this world can dissuade any person from exclusively following the
Truth when He actually manifest His birth in the pure cognitive essence of the
soul.
(Point 3)
P™tan€ is the
slayer of all infants. The baby, when he or she comes out of the mother's womb,
falls at once into the hands of the pseudo teachers of religion. These teachers
are successful in forestalling the attempts of the good preceptor whose help is
never sought by the atheists of this world at the baptisms of their babies.
This is ensured by the arrangements of all established churches of the world.
They have been successful only in supplying watchful P™tan€s for effecting the
spiritual destruction of persons from the moment of their birth with the
co-operation of their worldly parents. No human contrivance can prevent these
P™tan€s from obtaining possession of the pulpits. This is due to the general
prevalence of atheistic disposition in the people of this world.
(Point 4)
The church that
has the best chance of survival in this damned world is that of atheism under
the convenient guise of theism. The churches have always proved the staunchest
upholders of the grossest form of worldliness from which even the worst of
non-ecclesiastical criminals are found to recoil.
It is not from any deliberate opposition to the
ordained clergy that these observations are made. The original purpose of the
established churches of the world may not always be objectionable. But no
stable religious arrangement for instructing the masses has yet been successful.
The Supreme Lord ®r… Chaitanya Mah€prabhu, in pursuance of the teachings of the
scriptures enjoins all absence of conventionalism for the teachers of the
eternal religion. It does not follow that the mechanical adoption of the
unconventional life by any person will make him a fit teacher of religion.
Regulation is necessary for controlling the inherent worldliness of conditioned
souls.
(Point 5)
But no mechanical regulation has any value,
even for such a purpose. The bonafide teacher of religion is neither any
product of nor the favourer of any mechanical system. In his hands no system
has likewise the chance of degenerating into a lifeless arrangement. The mere
pursuit of fixed doctrines and fixed liturgies cannot hold a person to the true
spirit of doctrine or liturgy.
The idea of an organized church in an intelligible
form, indeed, marks the close of the living spiritual movement. The great
ecclesiastical establishments are the dykes and the dams to retain the current
that cannot be held by any such contrivances. They, indeed, indicate a desire
on the part of the masses to exploit a spiritual movement for their own
purpose. They also unmistakably indicate the end of the absolute and
unconventional guidance of the bona fide spiritual teacher. The people of this
world understand preventive systems, they have no idea at all of the
unprevented positive eternal life. Neither can there be any earthly contrivance
for the permanent preservation of the life eternal on this mundane plane on the
popular scale.
(Point 6)
Those are,
therefore, greatly mistaken who are disposed to look forward to the
amelioration of the worldly state in any worldly sense from the worldly success
of any really spiritual movement. It is these worldly expectants who become the
patrons of the mischievous race of the pseudo-teachers of religion, the
P™tan€s, whose congenial function is to stifle the theistic disposition at the
very moment of its suspected appearance. But the real theistic disposition can
never be stifled by the efforts of those P™tan€s. The P™tan€s have power only
over the atheists. It is a thankless but salutary task which they perform for
the benefit of their unwilling victims.
(Point 7)
But as soon as
theistic disposition proper makes its appearance in the pure cognitive essence
of the awakened soul, the P™tanas are decisively silenced at the very earliest
stage of their encounter with new-born KヘミŠa. The would-be
slayer is herself slain. This is the reward of the negative services that the
P™tan€s unwittingly render to the cause of theism by strangling all
hypocritical demonstrations against their own hypocrisy.
(Point 8)
But P™tan€ does
not at all like to receive her reward in the only form which involves the total
destruction of her wrong personality. King Kaˆsa also does not like to lose the
services of the most trusted of his agents. The effective silencing of the
whole race of pseudo-teachers of religion is the first clear indication of the
appearance of the Absolute on the mundane plane. The bonafide teacher of the
Absolute heralds the Advent of KヘミŠa by his
uncompromising campaign against the pseudo-teachers of religion.
Points from ®r…la Bhaktisiddh€nta' article:
1. Kaˆsa (the chief materialist, in the form of
"aggressive empiricism") likes to suppress the truth before it has
time to develop. He has an innate dislike for anything spiritual.
2. He is associated with like-minded people, including
lexicographers (those who uphold dictionary definitions of subjects that are
transcendental to dictionaries), and he engages these lexicographers to put
down KヘミŠa consciousness at its earliest stage.
3. As soon as the transcendental child is born he
falls into the hands of P™tan€ — the pseudo teachers of religion.
4. The attempted success of P™tan€ over the genuine
spiritual teachers is aided by the efforts of organized religion, which is
"atheism in the garb of theism."
5. "Organized" religion is an attempt to
force the people in general to follow certain religious principles, without
effecting any spiritual advancement in them, so is doomed to failure.
6. They would like to improve materialism through
their "religion," and so enlist the aid of the P™tan€s.
7. But P™tan€ cannot be successful once real religion
has actually appeared, in fact she is destroyed at the earliest point in its
development. "The would-be slayer is herself slain. This is the reward of
the negative services that the P™tanas unwittingly render to the cause of theism
by strangling all hypocritical demonstrations against their own
hypocrisy."
9. ®r…la Bhaktisiddhanta concludes by saying:
"The effective silencing of the whole race of pseudo-teachers of religion
is the first clear indication of the appearance of the Absolute on the mundane
plane. The bonafide teacher of the Absolute heralds the Advent of KヘミŠa by his uncompromising campaign against the
pseudo-teachers of religion."
®AKATšS¶RA
®akat€s™ra
represents a load-carrying mentality arising out of old and new bad habits,
from this life and previous lives. He also represents lethargy, dullness and
false pride. KヘミŠa removes this contamination by kicking it aside.
According to Garga Saˆh…ta he had a body made of air.
He tried to make the cart fall on Lord KヘミŠa's head. In his
previous life he was a demon, a son of Hiranyakミa named Utkaca. He
went to the hermitage of Lomaミa Muni and broke
some trees there and was cursed to become bodiless. (He had a huge body). He
then fell at the Muni's feet and begged for mercy. The Muni told him that in
the next manvantara he would be touched by the foot of the Lord and would be
liberated.
The Story of
®akat€s™ra
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
While listening to
the chanting of the Vedic hymns, the child appeared to be falling asleep, and
therefore mother Yaマoda very silently laid Him down on the bed. Being
engaged in receiving all the friends, relatives and residents of Vヘnd€vana on that holy occasion, she forgot to feed the child milk. He was
crying, being hungry, but mother Yaマoda could not hear
Him cry because of the various noises. The child, however, became angry because
He was hungry and His mother was not paying attention to Him. So He lifted His
legs and began to kick His lotus feet just like an ordinary child.
Baby KヘミŠa had been placed
underneath a hand-driven cart, and while He was kicking His legs, He
accidentally touched the wheel of the cart, and it collapsed. Various kinds of
utensils and brass and metal dishes had been piled up in the handcart, and they
all fell down with a great noise. The wheel of the cart separated from the
axle, and the spokes of the wheel were all broken and scattered hither and
thither.
Mother Yaマoda and all the
gopis, as well as Mah€r€ja Nanda and the cowherd men, were astonished as to how
the cart could have collapsed by itself. All the men and women who were
assembled for the holy function crowded around and began to suggest how the
cart might have collapsed. No one could ascertain the cause, but some small
children who were entrusted to play with baby KヘミŠa informed the
crowd that it was due to KヘミŠa's striking His
feet against the wheel. They assured the crowd that they had seen how it
happened with their own eyes, and they strongly asserted the point. Some were
listening to the statement of the small children, but others said, "How
can you believe the statements of these children?" The cowherd men and
women could not understand that the all-powerful Personality of Godhead was
lying there as a baby and that He could do anything. Both the possible and
impossible were in His power.
T¬NšVARTA
Tヘn€varta represents the false pride produced by useless scholarship,
which gives rise to wrangling debates and arguments, dry reasoning and dry
logical indulgences in the association of people who are attached to such
things. It produces controversy which is disloyal to the path of pure bhakti,
such as M€y€v€da and Buddhism. It is the breeding place of demoniac, sinful
philosophies.
Lord KヘミŠa becomes moved
by the humility of His devotees, who carefully avoid this fault, and He
strangles the demon and removes the thorn from His devotees' endeavours in
devotional service.
According to the Brahm€-vaivarta Pur€na, in his last
life he was a king of Pandy€deミa, named Sahasr€kミa who was cursed by Durv€s€ Muni for appearing naked before him while
the king was enjoying with his 1000 wives. He was cursed to live on earth for
100,000 years and then be killed by Lord KヘミŠa.
The Story of Tヘn€varta
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
One day, shortly
after the ceremony, when mother Yaマoda was patting
her baby on her lap, the baby felt too heavy, and being unable to carry Him,
she unwillingly placed Him on the ground. After a while, she became engaged in
household affairs. At that time, one of the servants of Kaˆsa, known as Tヘn€varta, as instructed by Kaˆsa, appeared there in the shape of a
whirlwind. He picked the child up on his shoulders and raised a great dust
storm all over Vヘnd€vana. Because of this, everyone's eyes became
covered within a few moments, and the whole area of Vヘnd€vana became densely dark so that no one could see himself or anyone
else. During this great catastrophe, mother Yaマoda could not see
her baby, who was taken away by the whirlwind, and she began to cry very
piteously. She fell down on the ground exactly like a cow who has just lost her
calf. When mother Yaマoda was so piteously crying, all the cowherd women
immediately came and began to look for the baby, but they were disappointed and
could not find Him.
The Tヘn€varta demon who
took baby KヘミŠa on his shoulder went high in the sky, but the baby
assumed such a weight that suddenly he could not go any further, and he had to
stop his whirlwind activities. Baby KヘミŠa made Himself
heavy and began to weigh down the demon. The Lord caught hold of his neck. Tヘn€varta felt the baby to be as heavy as a big mountain, and he tried to
get out of His clutches, but he was unable to do so, and his eyes popped out
from their sockets. Crying very fiercely, he fell down to the ground of Vヘnd€vana and died. The demon fell exactly like Trip™r€s™ra, who was
pierced by the arrow of Lord ®iva. He hit the stone ground, and his limbs were
smashed. His body became visible to all the inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana.
THE DELIVERANCE OF
NALAK¶VARA AND MA¦IGRŸVA
This pastime
represents the pride and arrogance coming from the feeling that one has an
aristocratic birth and is wealthy. It gives rise to cruelty to animals, lust
for women, and indulgence in alcohol. These further give rise to debauchery of
the tongue — uncontrolled eating habits and loose talking. Then come general
hard-heartedness, shamelessness and all sorts of disgraceful activities.
KヘミŠa very mercifully
breaks down the twin Arjuna trees while tied to the grinding mortar in order to
destroy all these faults.
· It is very interesting to note that this
pastime of KヘミŠa's is very directly illustrating the predicament of
people who are wealthy and aristocratic, but who become involved in
licentiousness.
· It is also interesting to note the remedy
applied by N€rada Muni — poverty, or in terms which are particularly relevant
to ourselves as aspiring devotees, simple living and high thinking.
The Story of
Nalak™vara and MaŠigr…va
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
The two great
demigods Nalak™vara and MaŠigr…va were sons of the treasurer of the demigods,
Kuvera, who was a great devotee of Lord ®iva. By the grace of Lord ®iva,
Kuvera's material opulences had no limit. As a rich man's sons often become
addicted to wine and women, so these two sons of Kuvera were also addicted to
wine and sex. Once, these two demigods, desiring to enjoy, entered the garden
of Lord ®iva in the province of Kail€sa on the bank of Mandakini Ganges. There
they drank much and engaged in hearing the sweet singing of beautiful women who
accompanied them in that garden of fragrant flowers. In an intoxicated
condition, they both entered the water of the Ganges, which was full with lotus
flowers, and there they began to enjoy the company of the young girls exactly
as the male elephant enjoys the female elephants within the water.
While they were thus enjoying themselves in the water,
all of a sudden N€rada, the great sage, happened to pass that way. He could
understand that the demigods Nalak™vara and MaŠigr…va were too intoxicated and
could not even see that he was passing. The young girls, however, were not so
intoxicated as the demigods, and they at once became ashamed at being naked
before the great sage N€rada. They began to cover themselves with all haste.
The two demigod sons of Kuvera were so intoxicated that they could not
appreciate the presence of the sage N€rada and therefore did not cover their
bodies. On seeing the two demigods so degraded by intoxication, N€rada desired
their welfare, and therefore he exhibited his causeless mercy upon them by
cursing them.
Because the great sage was compassionate upon them, he
wanted to finish their false enjoyment of intoxication and association with
young girls and wanted them to see Lord KヘミŠa face to face. He
conceived of cursing them as follows. He said that the attraction for material
enjoyment is due to an increase of the mode of passion. A person in the
material world, when favored by the material opulence of riches, generally
becomes addicted to three things — intoxication, sex and gambling. Materially
opulent men, being puffed up with the accumulation of wealth, also become so
merciless that they indulge in killing animals by opening slaughterhouses. And
they think that they themselves will never die. Such foolish persons,
forgetting the laws of nature, become overly infatuated with the body. They
forget that the material body, even though very much advanced in civilization,
up to the position of the demigods, will finally be burned to ashes. And while one
is living, whatever the external condition of the body may be, within there is
only stool, urine and various kinds of worms. Thus being engaged in jealousy
and violence to other bodies, materialists cannot understand the ultimate goal
of life, and without knowing this goal of life, they generally glide down to a
hellish condition in their next life. Such foolish persons commit all kinds of
sinful activities on account of this temporary body, and they are even unable
to consider whether this body actually belongs to them. Generally it is said
that the body belongs to the persons who feed the body. One might therefore
consider whether this body belongs to one personally or to the master to whom
one renders service. The master of slaves claims full right to the bodies of
the slaves because the master feeds the slaves. It may be questioned then
whether the body belongs to the father, who is the seed-giving master of this
body, or to the mother, who develops the child's body in her womb.
Foolish persons are engaged in committing all sorts of
sins due to the misconception of identifying the material body with the self.
But one should be intelligent enough to understand to whom this body belongs. A
foolish person indulges in killing other animals to maintain the body, but he
does not consider whether this body belongs to him or to his father or mother
or maternal grandfather. Sometimes a father gives his daughter in charity to a
person with a view of getting back the daughter's child as a son. The body may
also belong to a stronger man who forces it to work for him. Sometimes the
slave's body is sold to the master on the basis that the body will belong to
the master. And at the end of life, the body belongs to the fire, because the
body is given to the fire and burned to ashes. Or the body is thrown into the
street to be eaten by the dogs and vultures.
Before committing all kinds of sins to maintain the
body, one should understand to whom the body belongs. Ultimately it is
concluded that the body is a product of material nature, and at the end it
merges into material nature; therefore, the conclusion should be that the body
belongs to material nature. One should not wrongly think that the body belongs
to him. To maintain a false possession, why should one indulge in killing? Why
should one kill innocent animals to maintain the body?
When a man is infatuated with the false prestige of
opulence, he does not care for any moral instruction, but indulges in wine,
women and animal killing. In such circumstances, a poverty-stricken man is
often better situated because a poor man thinks of himself in relation to other
bodies. A poor man often does not wish to inflict injuries upon other bodies
because he can understand more readily that when he himself is injured he feels
pain. As such, the great sage N€rada considered that because the demigods
Nalak™vara and MaŠigr…va were so infatuated by false prestige, they should be
put into a condition of life devoid of opulence.
A person who has a pinprick in his body does not wish
others to be pricked by pins; a considerate man in the life of poverty does not
wish others to be also put into that condition. Generally it is seen that one
who has risen from a poverty-stricken life and becomes wealthy creates some
charitable institution at the end of his life so that other poverty-stricken
men might be benefited. In short, a compassionate poor man may consider other's
pains and pleasures with empathy. A poor man may be seldom puffed up with false
pride, and he may be freed from all kinds of infatuation. He may remain
satisfied by whatever he gets for his maintenance by the grace of the Lord.
To remain in the poverty-stricken condition is a kind
of austerity. According to Vedic culture, therefore, the br€hmaŠas, as a matter
of routine, keep themselves in a poverty-stricken condition to save themselves
from the false prestige of material opulence. False prestige due to advancement
of material prosperity is a great impediment for spiritual emancipation. A
poverty-stricken man cannot become unnaturally fat by eating more and more. And
on account of not being able to eat more that he requires, his senses are not
very turbulent. When the senses are not very turbulent, he cannot become
violent.
Another advantage of poverty is that a saintly person can
easily enter a poor man's house, and thus the poor man can take advantage of
the saintly person's association. A very opulent man does not allow anyone to
enter his house; therefore, the saintly person cannot enter. According to the
Vedic system, a saintly person takes the position of a mendicant so that on the
plea of begging something from the householder, he can enter any house. The
householder, who has usually forgotten everything about spiritual advancement
because he is busy maintaining family affairs, can be benefited by the
association of a saintly person. There is a great chance for the poor man to
become liberated through association with a saint. Of what use are persons who
are puffed up with material opulence and prestige if they are bereft of the
association of saintly persons and devotees of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead?
The great sage N€rada thereafter thought that it was
his duty to put those demigods into a condition where they could not be falsely
proud of their material opulence and prestige. N€rada was compassionate and
wanted to save them from their fallen life. They were in the mode of darkness,
and being therefore unable to control their senses, they were addicted to sex
life. It was the duty of a saintly person like N€rada to save them from their
abominable condition. In animal life, the animal has no sense to understand
that he is naked. But Kuvera was the treasurer of the demigods, a very
responsible man, and Nalak™vara and MaŠigr…va were two of his sons. And yet
they became so animalistic and irresponsible that they could not understand,
due to intoxication, that they were naked. To cover the lower part of the body
is a principle of human civilization, and when men or women forget this
principle, they become degraded. N€rada therefore thought that the best
punishment for them was to make them immovable living entities, or trees. Trees
are, by nature's laws, immovable. Although trees are covered by the mode of
ignorance, they cannot do harm. The great sage N€rada thought it fitting that,
although the brothers, by his mercy, would be punished to become trees, they
continue to keep their memory to be able to know why they were being punished.
After changing the body, a living entity generally forgets his previous life,
but in special cases, by the grace of the Lord, as with Nalak™vara and
MaŠigr…va, one can remember.
Sage N€rada therefore contemplated that the two
demigods should remain for one hundred years, in the time of the demigods, in
the form of trees, and after that they would be fortunate enough to see the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, face to face, by His causeless mercy. And thus
they would be again promoted to the life of the demigods and great devotees of
the Lord.
After this, the great sage N€rada returned to his abode
known as N€r€yan€マr€ma, and the two demigods turned into trees, known as
twin arjuna trees. The two demigods were favored by the causeless mercy of
N€rada and given a chance to grow in Nanda's courtyard and see Lord KヘミŠa face to face.
Although the child KヘミŠa was bound up to
the wooden mortar, He began to proceed towards the twin trees in order to
fulfill the prophecy of His great devotee N€rada. Lord KヘミŠa knew that N€rada was His great devotee and that the
trees standing before Him as twin arjuna trees were actually the sons of
Kuvera. "I must now fulfill the words of My great devotee N€rada," He
thought. Then He began to proceed through the passage between the two trees.
Although He was able to pass through the passage, the large wooden mortar stuck
horizontally between the trees. Taking advantage of this, Lord KヘミŠa began to pull the rope which was tied to the
mortar. As soon as He pulled, with great strength, the two trees, with all
branches and limbs, fell down immediately with a great sound. Out of the
broken, fallen trees came two great personalities, shining like blazing fire.
All sides became illuminated and beautiful by their presence. The two purified
bodies immediately came before child KヘミŠa and bowed down
to offer their respects and prayers.
VATSšS¶RA
Vats€s™ra (the
calf demon) represents a childish mentality, mischievous and too easily
influenced by bad association. It gives rise to a type of greediness for sense
gratification through which one becomes absorbed in materialism.
According to the Garga Saˆh…ta in his last birth he
had been a demon, Pramila, the son of Muru. He conquered the demigods in battle
and then entered the sage Vas…ミtha's €マrama, and saw Vas…ミtha'a cow named
Nandini. Pramila wanted that cow so he disguised himself as a br€hmaŠa and
tried to beg her. The cow spoke and said "You are a demon in disguise. For
this offense you will have to appear as a calf." Pramila then surrendered
to Vas…ミtha and begged for mercy, and Vasiミtha said that after taking birth as a calf he would be liberated by the
Lord.
The Story of
Vats€s™ra
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
Once, when KヘミŠa and Balar€ma were playing on the bank of the
Yamun€, a demon of the name Vats€s™ra assumed the shape of a calf and came
there intending to kill the brothers. By taking the shape of a calf, the demon
could mingle with other calves. KヘミŠa, however,
specifically noticed this, and He immediately told Balar€ma about the entrance
of the demon. Both brothers then followed him and sneaked up upon him. KヘミŠa caught hold of the demon-calf by the two hind legs
and tail, whipped him around very forcibly and threw him up into a tree. The
demon lost his life and fell down from the top of the tree to the ground. When
the demon lay dead on the ground, all the playmates of KヘミŠa congratulated Him, "Well done, well
done," and the demigods in the sky began to shower flowers with great
satisfaction. In this way, the maintainers of the complete creation, KヘミŠa and Balar€ma, used to take care of the calves in
the morning every day, and thus They enjoyed Their childhood pastimes as
cowherd boys in Vヘnd€vana.
®r…la
Bhaktisiddh€nta Sarasvat… Th€kura
on Vats€s™ra
(from The
Harmonist)
He represents
evils that are peculiar to boyhood. The
neophyte is extremely susceptible to such evils. They can only be eliminated by
the mercy of KヘミŠa. If one engages in KヘミŠa's service they
will be completely eradicated at an early stage.
(Point 1)
There is an
English proverb that sowing of wild oats is inevitable at a young age. The term
Puritanism was originally coined to express the protest of boys and young men
against any undue curtailment of the scope of enjoyment that should be regarded
as permissible to them. Boys and young men claim the right to be merry and
frolicsome. There is nothing objectionable and much that is of positive value
in the display of these juvenile qualities. If the attempt be made to stifle
this innocent play of the boyish nature under the impression that it is an
exhibition of sensuousness and for that reason is as harmful as similar conduct
on the part of grown-up persons, the result is not assurance but discouragement
of juvenile innocence.
(Point 2)
There are indeed
black sheep and these should not be allowed to taint the whole flock, and for
this purpose caretakers with full sense of their delicate responsibility are
required to keep watch over them for ensuring the innocence of boyhood and
youth without killing their joys. But with every precaution it has been found
impossible to attain this double purpose. The scriptures say that it is not in
the power of man to ensure the immunity of boys and girls from the blight of
sensuousness except by means of the service of KヘミŠa.
This is declared to be the only effective and natural method. Let the boys be exposed
to the attraction of the Cowherd Boy of Vraja. They will soon learn to pick up
His company. They will easily realize that KヘミŠa can alone save
them from every form of danger to which they are exposed by the 'right' of
their juvenile nature.
(Point 3)
Why should this be
so? There is a very simple reason. KヘミŠa does not limit
His service only to the middle-aged and old people. The Puritanic idea of
Godhead is a conception which owes its origin to persons who are elderly
although honestly enough anxious to establish the Kingdom of God on this earth.
But if you scratch the thin coating on the surface of their sage and sober
scheme as befitting their age you only detect the rotten arrangement for
securing the maximum of sensuous enjoyment for those very children who are to
be brought up in this virtuous way. If the child is allowed to spoil his health
in boyhood, think these righteous people, he will not be in a position later to
enjoy the legitimate pleasures of the grown-up man. Unless the young man
husbands his resources of sense gratification he will also be a victim of
premature old age. It is a policy of expediency of postponing a small present
measure of enjoyment for reaping a much larger measure of it through the long
tracts of the years to come.
(Point 4)
The spurious
brahmacarya ideal as misconceived by its worldly supporters embodies this
Puritanic outlook. The scriptures indeed, enjoin that everyone should serve
Godhead from the womb. This is the real meaning of brahmacarya. The ascetic
practices that have come to attach themselves to the conception were
interpolated into the scriptures in order to ensure worldly values by this form
of the empiric method. The scheme requires that the laws of the growth of the
physical and mental bodies should be observed and followed. Nature is regarded
as the kind mother who favours only those of her children who cultivate the
filial habit of prying into her secrets. Nature is supposed to be unable to
avoid divulging her secrets to her inquisitive children although she is well
aware that her children will exploit this knowledge for troubling her by
harnessing her to their service. In other words it is also assumed to be the
duty of the kind mother to consent to put herself in chains in order to
minister to the sensuous appetites of her worthier children. Nature is assumed
to be able to do good to her children only by submitting to be the victim of
their lust.
The practices of asceticism are really conceived in
the epicurian spirit. The ascetic dreams of obtaining the mastery over nature
by the method of controlling the senses. If the senses grown callous to the
temptations of the world the ascetic thinks that he will have less chance of
falling into the power of nature. He has an idea that when he will have
perfected these defensive arrangements he will have become the real master of
the situation. The brahmacary, according to the ascetic point of view, is to
pass through a period of training in sever abstinence with his guru in order to
be fitted to discharge the duties of citizenship, which will make a great
demand on his nerves and muscles with greater thoroughness. There is no
reference to the service of God or to any spiritual issue.
We have had many occasions to explain that the
spiritual is transcendental. No mundane consideration can form any part of
spiritual training or conduct. It is not a spiritual affair to be even able to
control one's carnal desires. Such self-control is indeed automatically
produced by the awakening of the soul. But self-control is not therefore a
function of the soul. The soul has nothing to do with the senses. The soul
desires neither sensuality or sexual purity. The soul is not a mere mortal
being. If brahmacarya means a method of gaining moral power it is wholly a
mundane affair and is as such not only of no concern to the soul but is
positively obstructive to spiritual well-being.
This is bound to be so because the point of view of
the soul is all-embracing. The soul rejects nothing. He regards nothing as
redundant or useless. The soul has a use for everything. But the soul sees
everything as it is really related to himself and to other entities. Everything
is absolutely good on the platform of the soul. The scriptural brahmacary
institution accordingly means service of the Brahman i.e., the Reality Who is
always the Great and always the Help. The servant of the Absolute is always
free from delusion.
Morality is a valued commodity only on the plane of
delusion. But it has no locus standi on the plane where the conditions of
existence are perfect.
Till the service of Godhead is realized it is
impossible to be really moral in the sense of being needlessly and perfectly
virtuous. If a person is causelessly virtuous in the worldly sense he or she
will be an easy subject of exploitation for all the cunning rascals of this
world. This is so because morality as conceived by the empiricist has a
reference to the physical body and the
changeable mind and is therefore liable to change so long as the conditions are
not radically altered.
The empiric contriver of juvenile welfare strives to
produce conditions that will favour the growth and continuance of the empiric
moral aptitude. These artificial conditions are confidently enough expected to
be likely to prove of permanent benefit to those young persons who are brought
up under these improvised conditions. But the brand of morality that has to be
produced by the artificial manipulation of the natural environment is likely to
prove of little value when the props are withdrawn. The analogy of needed
protection for the growth of delicate plants does not apply as such plants are
always exoterics. Hot-house morality is thus a misnomer and a delusion in
relation to the soul.
Brahmacarya fully embodies the substantive ideal of
spiritual purity distortedly reflected in the empirical ethical conception.
Brahmacarya means service of the absolute. Juvenile innocence is not the monopoly
of juvenile persons, any more than juvenile naughtiness. They are animal
entities corresponding to analagous spiritual qualities. The spiritual
activities are perfectly wholesome. They include all value and harmonize all
disruptive conflict both of which are so utterly wanting in their mundane
perverted reflections to be found in this world.
It is not to be supposed that everything is done by KヘミŠa and there is nothing to be done by ourselves in any
matter. As a matter of fact there is a division of parts to be played in
functions that relate even to ourselves as between us an KヘミŠa. Certain duties are allotted to us. Certain other
functions are reserved to KヘミŠa. Vats€sura
cannot be killed by us. He is too strong for us. This is in keeping with the experience
of most educationists. Juvenile innocence is a necessity for both young and
old. One cannot acquire it by any artificial process. No person can also
ordinarily retain it after boyhood and youth. This is the real tragedy of human
life.
(Point 5)
Juvenile innocence
is desired on account of its enjoyability. But it should properly be desired
only for the service of KヘミŠa. The parent can
have no higher duty than to employ his boy in the service of KヘミŠa by putting him under the proper teacher, the pure
devotee of KヘミŠa. No parent is entitled to undertake the charge of
spiritual training of his own boy. He is unfitted for the task by his mundane
relationship. Once such relationship is grasped to be an obstacle in the way of
juvenile training the necessity of sending the boy at the earliest opportunity
to the proper teacher becomes self-evident. If the parent continues to retain
his parental interest in the boy after he has been put into school for the
above purpose he will only be standing in the way of the boy's progress. The
training is not for the boy only, but it is a training for his parents as well.
(Point 6)
Boyish naughtiness
is apt to be overlooked, nay encouraged, under the impression that it is nature
to be naughty. This opinion overlooks the all-important factor that the
training is intended for the welfare of the soul of the boy and not for the
juvenile body or mind. The soul does not require to be treated with indulgence.
He is neither young nor old in the worldly sense. The body and mind of the boy
have to be employed in the interest of the soul. Boyish naughtiness and boyish
virtue are alike unnecessary for the soul. It is necessary for the soul to be
freed from either form of worldliness. The mundane nature of the boy is no less
a clog to the wheel of spiritual progress than the adult nature of the grown-up
worldling. The process of training is identical in the two cases as the soul is
neither young nor old.
Much irrational pity is wasted on boys who are
employed from early infancy in the full-time service of KヘミŠa, on exactly the same terms as grown up persons.
Persons who affect much kindness of disposition towards juvenile frailties
profess to be unable to understand why juvenile offenses are taken as seriously
in spiritual training as those of adult persons.
But the teacher in charge of the spiritual training of
boys can perform his duty by them only as the special agent of KヘミŠa. If such a teacher chooses to confide in his own
devices he is bound to be undeceived at every step. What he has really to do is
to use the boy constantly in the service of KヘミŠa. For this
purpose it is necessary for the teacher himself to be a full-time servant of KヘミŠa. It is only by abstaining from anything that is not
distinctively commanded by KヘミŠa or His real
agent, the guru, that the spiritual teacher of the boys can hope to be of any
help to his pupils.
The so-called science of pedagogies requires to be
thoroughly overhauled in order to afford a free hand to the bonafide devotee of
KヘミŠa in managing young persons. The present arrangements
based on the experience of this world and on the hypotheses of an absolute causal
relationship connecting each phenomenon with the rest, by leaving out the
reference to KヘミŠa can only realize the tragic part of a quack lightly
adminstering all the wrong drugs to a parent smitten with a mortal illness.
The King of atheists, Kaˆsa, is always setting the
demon Vats€sura to corrupt and destroy the boys. The teacher of the young
employed by the atheistic society is verily the agent of Kaˆsa. The atheist is
afraid lest the boys are employed in the service of KヘミŠa. He is naturally anxious to prevent any
acquaintance of the boys with KヘミŠa. But if a boy
has really found KヘミŠa the nefarious activities of the empiric teacher are
powerless to destroy his innocence. If such a teacher perseveres in the
fruitless attempt he will thereby quickly bring about his own utter moral
degradation and his sorry trick will also be fully exposed. Because in this
case it is KヘミŠa Himself who opposes his wicked activities on behalf
of his protigi.
As a matter of fact the concern of empiric
educationists for ensuring immunity of boys from the blighting effects of
precocity is altogether hypocritical. The empiric pedant only wants the boy to
grow a body and mind that will ensure greater and longer scope for their
worldly use. He does not want that the worldly use of his body and mind should
be curtailed in any way. In other words he is on principle opposed to the
employment of the healthy body and sound mind for any spiritual purpose. But
why does he want a healthy body for his nasty purpose? Is it only in order to
be able to have the pleasure of a more prolonged wastage and the rake's
progress in downright earnest? A sickly body is not really harmful to a person
who has no higher object in view than undiluted sense gratification.
Points from ®r…la Bhaktisiddh€nta's article:
1. Children are by
nature playful, and this should not be stifled.
2. The only effective way to protect children from
becoming contaminated by sensuality is to engage them in KヘミŠa conscious activities, not just restrict them.
3. The object of the Puritanic idea is to stop
children engaging in sinful activities so they can enjoy those same activities
more when they are adults.
4. There is also a spurious idea that young boy's
should be trained as morally upright brahmacaris so that in the future they
will have the strength to carry out worldly duties very nicely — but
"morality is a valued commodity only on the plane of delusion."
5. Parents must hand their sons over to properly
qualified spiritual teachers. This is also a type of training for the parents.
6. "The mundane nature of the boy is no less a
clog to the wheel of spiritual progress than the adult nature of the grown-up
worldling. The process of training is identical in the two cases as the soul is
neither young nor old."
BAKšS¶RA
Bak€s™ra
represents cunning duplicity, deceptive behaviour and hypocrisy, the outward
manifestations of a false lifestyle of cheating activities.
According to the Brahm€-vaivarta Pur€na, in his last
life he was Suhotra, a Gandharva disciple of Durv€s€ ¤uni. Along with his three
brothers (who became Pralamba and Keミi) he performed
austerities at Puミkara-t…rtha. Once, the three of them were picking
lotuses at the celestial lake Citra-sarovara for offering to Lord KヘミŠa, when they were arrested by servants of Lord ®iva.
Lord ®iva received them very nicely, but told them that he had promised Parvati
that he would curse anyone who took lotuses from that lake, as she had vowed to
offer a thousand lotuses a day to Lord KヘミŠa for 100 days,
and there were exactly 100,000 lotuses there, some of which they had now
picked. So they had to appear as these demons, but they were then killed by KヘミŠa and liberated.
The Story of
Bak€s™ra
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
All the cowherd
boys would daily go to the bank of the River Yamun€ to water their calves.
Usually, when the calves drank water from the Yamun€, the boys also drank. One
day, after drinking, when they were sitting on the bank of the river, they saw
a huge animal which looked something like a duck and was as big as a hill. Its
top was as strong as a thunderbolt. When they saw that unusual animal, they
became afraid of it. The name of this beast was Bak€s™ra, and he was a friend
of Kaˆsa's. He appeared on the scene suddenly and immediately attacked KヘミŠa with his pointed, sharp beaks and quickly swallowed
Him up. When KヘミŠa was thus swallowed, all the boys, headed by
Balar€ma, became almost breathless, as if they had died.
But when the Bak€s™ra demon was swallowing up KヘミŠa, he felt a burning fiery sensation in his throat.
This was due to the glowing effulgence of KヘミŠa. The demon
quickly threw KヘミŠa up and tried to kill Him by pinching Him in his
beaks. Bak€s™ra did not know that although KヘミŠa was playing the
part of a child of Nanda Mah€r€ja, He was still the original father of Lord
Brahm€, the creator of the universe. The child of mother Yaマoda, who is the reservoir of pleasure for the demigods and who is the
maintainer of saintly persons, caught hold of the beaks of the great gigantic
duck and, before His cowherd boyfriends, bifurcated his mouth, just as a child
very easily splits a blade of grass. From the sky, the denizens of the heavenly
planets showered flowers like the cameli, the most fragrant of all flowers, as a
token of their congratulations. Accompanying the showers of flowers was a
vibration of bugles, drums and conchshells.
AGHšS¶RA
Agh€s™ra represents the mentality of cruelty to
others, and violence and causing trouble to others out of envy. This attitude
is an offense against the chanting of the holy names. It may also manifest in
the form of an unwillingness to help other living beings by giving them KヘミŠa consciousness.
According to the Garga Saˆh…ta in his previous life he
was Agha, a son of ®a‰kh€sura. He had a very attractive body, of which he was
very proud. One time he saw the muni Aミ˜avakra, whose
body is disfigured, and he laughed and said "Who is this ugly
person?" The sage cursed him to become the ugliest snake on earth. Agha
then fell at his feet and begged for mercy, so the sage blessed him that he
would be delivered by Lord KヘミŠa.
The Story of
Agh€s™ra
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
The demon Agh€s™ra appeared before KヘミŠa and His friends. Agh€s™ra happened to be the
younger brother of P™tan€ and Bak€s™ra, and he thought, "KヘミŠa has killed my brother and sister. Now I shall kill
Him along with all His friends and calves." Agh€s™ra was instigated by
Kaˆsa, so he had come with determination. Agh€s™ra also began to think that
when he would offer grains and water in memory of his brother and sister and
kill KヘミŠa and all the cowherd boys, then automatically all
the inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana would die. Generally, for the householders,
the children are the life and breath force. When all the children die, then
naturally the parents also die on account of strong affection for them.
Agh€s™ra, thus deciding to kill all the inhabitants of
Vヘnd€vana, expanded himself by the yogic siddhi called
mahim€. The demons are generally expert in achieving almost all kinds of mystic
powers. In the yoga system, by the perfection called mahim€-siddhi, one can
expand himself as he desires. The demon Agh€s™ra expanded himself up to eight
miles and assumed the shape of a very fat serpent. Having attained this
wonderful body, he stretched his mouth open just like a mountain cave. Desiring
to swallow all the boys at once, including KヘミŠa and Balar€ma,
he sat on the path.
The demon in the shape of a big fat serpent expanded
his lips from land to sky; his lower lip was touching the ground, and his upper
lip was touching the clouds. His jaws appeared like a big mountain cave,
without limitation, and his teeth appeared just like mountain summits. His
tongue appeared to be a broad traffic way, and he was breathing just like a
hurricane. The fire of his eyes was blazing. At first the boys thought that the
demon was a statue, but after examining it, they saw that it was more like a
big serpent lying down on the road and widening his mouth. The boys began to
talk among themselves: "This figure appears to be a great animal, and he
is sitting in such a posture just to swallow us all. Just see--is it not a big
snake that has widened his mouth to eat all of us?"
One of them said, "Yes, what you say is true.
This animal's upper lip appears to be just like the sunshine, and its lower lip
is just like the reflection of red sunshine on the ground. Dear friends, just
look to the right- and left-hand side of the mouth of the animal. Its mouth
appears to be like a big mountain cave, and its height cannot be estimated. The
chin is also raised just like a mountain summit. That long highway appears to
be its tongue, and inside the mouth it is as dark as in a mountain cave. The
hot wind that is blowing like a hurricane is his breathing, and the fishy bad
smell coming out from his mouth is the smell of his intestines. "Then they
further consulted among themselves: "If we all at one time entered into
the mouth of this great serpent, how could it possibly swallow all of us? And
even if it were to swallow all of us at once, it could not swallow KヘミŠa. KヘミŠa will
immediately kill him, as He did Bak€s™ra." Talking in this way, all the
boys looked at the beautiful lotuslike face of KヘミŠa, and they began
to clap and smile. And so they marched forward and entered the mouth of the
gigantic serpent.
Meanwhile, KヘミŠa, who is the
Supersoul within everyone's heart, could understand that the big statuesque
figure was a demon. While He was planning how to stop the destruction of His
intimate friends, all the boys along with their cows and calves entered the
mouth of the serpent. But KヘミŠa did not enter.
The demon was awaiting KヘミŠa's entrance, and he was thinking, "Everyone has
entered except KヘミŠa, who has killed my brother and sister. "K a is the assurance of safety to everyone.
But when He saw that His friends were already out of His hands and were lying
within the belly of a great serpent, He became, momentarily, aggrieved. He was
also struck with wonder how the external energy works so wonderfully. He then
began to consider how the demon should be killed and how He could save the boys
and calves. Although there was no factual concern on KヘミŠa's part, He was thinking like that. Finally, after
some deliberation, He also entered the mouth of the demon. When KヘミŠa entered, all the demigods, who had gathered to see
the fun and who were hiding within the clouds, began to express their feelings
with the words "Alas! Alas!" At the same time, all the friends of
Agh€s™ra, especially Kaˆsa, who were all accustomed to eating flesh and blood,
began to express their jubilation, understanding that KヘミŠa had also entered the mouth of the demon.
While the demon was trying to smash KヘミŠa and His companions, KヘミŠa heard the
demigods crying, "Alas, alas," and He immediately began to expand
Himself within the throat of the demon. Although he had a gigantic body, the
demon choked by the expanding of KヘミŠa. His big eyes
moved violently, and he quickly suffocated. His life-air could not come out
from any source, and ultimately it burst out of a hole in the upper part of his
skull. Thus his life-air passed off. After the demon dropped dead, KヘミŠa, with His transcendental glance alone, brought all
the boys and calves back to consciousness and came with them out of the mouth
of the demon. While KヘミŠa was within the mouth of Agh€s™ra, the demon's
spirit soul came out like a dazzling light, illuminating all directions, and
waited in the sky. As soon as KヘミŠa with His calves
and friends came out of the mouth of the demon, that glittering effulgent light
immediately merged into the body of KヘミŠa within the
vision of all the demigods.
BRAHMš-VIMOHANA-LŸLš
The pastime of the bewilderment of Lord Brahm€ and his
subsequent purification frees us from the cultivation of fruitive activities
(karma) and speculative knowledge (jsh€na). It also rectifies the offense of
disrespecting the Lord's m€dhurya feature in favour of His aiマvarya feature.
The Story of
Brahm€-vimohana-l…l€
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
After saving His friends from the mouth of Agh€s™ra
and after killing the demon, Lord KヘミŠa brought His
friends to the bank of Yamuna and addressed them as follows: "My dear
friends, just see how this spot is very nice for taking lunch and playing on
the soft, sandy Yamun€ bank. You can see how the lotus flowers in the water are
beautifully blown and how they distribute their flavor all around. The chirping
of the birds along with cooing of the peacocks, surrounded by the whispering of
the leaves in the trees, combine and present sound vibrations that echo one
another. And this just enriches the beautiful scenery created by the trees
here. Let us have our lunch in this spot because it is already late and we are
feeling hungry. Let the calves remain near us, and let them drink water from
the Yamun€. While we engage in our lunch-taking, the calves may engage in
eating the soft grasses that are in this spot.' "
On hearing this proposal from KヘミŠa, all the boys became very glad and said,
"Certainly, let us all sit down here to take our lunch." They then
let loose the calves to eat the soft grass. Sitting down on the ground and
keeping KヘミŠa in the center, they began to open their different
boxes brought from home. Lord ®r… KヘミŠa was seated in
the center of the circle, and all the boys kept their faces toward Him. They
ate and constantly enjoyed seeing the Lord face to face. KヘミŠa appeared to be the whorl of a lotus flower, and the
boys surrounding Him appeared to be its different petals. The boys collected
flowers, leaves of flowers and the bark of trees and placed them under their
different boxes, and thus they began to eat their lunch, keeping company with KヘミŠa. While taking lunch, each boy began to manifest
different kinds of relations with KヘミŠa, and they
enjoyed each other's company with joking words. While Lord KヘミŠa was thus enjoying lunch with His friends, His flute
was pushed within the belt of His cloth, and His bugle and cane were pushed in
on the left-hand side of His cloth. He was holding a lump of foodstuff prepared
with yogurt, butter, rice and pieces of fruit salad in His left palm, which
could be seen through His petallike finger-joints. The Supreme Personality of
Godhead, who accepts the results of all great sacrifices, was laughing and joking,
enjoying lunch with His friends in Vヘnd€vana. And thus
the scene was being observed by the demigods from heaven. As for the boys, they
were simply enjoying transcendental bliss in the company of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead.
At that time, the calves that were pasturing nearby
entered into the deep forest, allured by new grasses, and gradually went out of
sight. When the boys saw that the calves were not nearby, they became afraid
for their safety, and they immediately cried out, "KヘミŠa!" KヘミŠa is the killer
of fear personified. Everyone is afraid of fear personified, but fear
personified is afraid of KヘミŠa. By crying out
the word "KヘミŠa," the boys at once transcended the fearful
situation. Out of His great affection, KヘミŠa did not want
His friends to give up their pleasing lunch engagement and go searching for the
calves. He therefore said, "My dear friends, you need not interrupt your
lunch. Go on enjoying. I am going personally where the calves are." Thus
Lord KヘミŠa immediately started to search out the calves in the
caves and bushes. He searched in the mountain holes and in the forests, but
nowhere could He find them.
At the time when Agh€s™ra was killed and the demigods
were looking on the incident with great surprise, Brahm€, who was born of the
lotus flower growing out of the navel of Viミnu, also came to
see. He was surprised how a little boy like KヘミŠa could act so
wonderfully. Although he was informed that the little cowherd boy was the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, he wanted to see more glorified pastimes of the
Lord, and thus he stole all the calves and cowherd boys and took them to a
different place. Lord KヘミŠa, therefore, in spite of searching for the calves,
could not find them, and He even lost His boyfriends on the bank of the Yamun€
where they had been taking their lunch. In the form of a cowherd boy, Lord KヘミŠa was very little in comparison to Brahm€, but
because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He could immediately
understand that all the calves and boys had been stolen by Brahm€. KヘミŠa thought, "Brahm€ has taken away all the boys
and calves. How can I alone return to Vヘnd€vana? The
mothers will be aggrieved!"
Therefore in order to satisfy the mothers of His
friends as well as to convince Brahm€ of the supremacy of the Personality of
Godhead, He immediately expanded Himself as the cowherd boys and calves. In the
Vedas it is said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead expands Himself in so
many living entities by His energy. Therefore it was not very difficult for Him
to expand Himself again into so many boys and calves. He expanded Himself to
become exactly like the boys, who were of all different features, facial and
bodily construction, and who were different in their clothing and ornaments and
in their behavior and personal activities. In other words, everyone has
different tastes; being an individual soul, each person has entirely different
activities and behavior. Yet KヘミŠa exactly
expanded Himself into all the different positions of the individual boys. He
also became the calves, who were also of different sizes, colors, activities,
etc. This was possible because everything is an expansion of KヘミŠa's energy. In the Viミnu Pur€na it is
said, par€sya br€hmaŠaƒ マaktiƒ. Whatever we actually see in the cosmic
manifestation--be it matter or the activities of the living entities--is simply
an expansion of the energies of the Lord, as heat and light are the different
expansions of fire.
Thus expanding Himself as the boys and calves in their
individual capacities, and surrounded by such expansions of Himself, KヘミŠa entered the village of Vヘnd€vana. The residents had no knowledge of what had happened. After
entering the village, Vヘnd€vana, all the calves entered their respective
cowsheds, and the boys also went to their respective mothers and homes.
The mothers of the boys heard the vibration of their
flutes before their entrance, and to receive them, they came out of their homes
and embraced them. And out of maternal affection, milk was flowing from their
breasts, and they allowed the boys to drink it. However, their offering was not
exactly to their boys but to the Supreme Personality of Godhead who had
expanded Himself into such boys. This was another chance for all the mothers of
Vヘnd€vana to feed the Supreme Personality of Godhead
with their own milk. Therefore not only did Lord KヘミŠa give Yaマoda the chance to
feed Him, but this time He gave the chance to all the elderly gopis.
All the boys began to deal with their mothers as
usual, and the mothers also, on the approach of evening, began to bathe their
respective children, decorate them with tilaka and ornaments and give them
necessary food after the day's labor. The cows also, who were away in the
pasturing ground, returned in the evening and began to call their respective calves.
The calves immediately came to their mothers, and the mothers began to lick the
bodies of the calves. These relations between the cows and the gopis with their
calves and boys remained unchanged, although actually the original calves and
boys were not there. Actually the cows' affection for their calves and the
elderly gopis' affection for the boys causelessly increased. Their affection
increased naturally, even though the calves and boys were not their offspring.
Although the cows and elderly gopis of Vヘnd€vana had
greater affection for KヘミŠa than for their own offspring, after this incident
their affection for their offspring increased exactly as it did for KヘミŠa. For one year continually, KヘミŠa Himself expanded as the calves and cowherd boys and
was present in the pasturing ground.
As it is stated in the Bhagavad G…t€, KヘミŠa's expansion is situated in everyone's heart as the
Supersoul. Similarly, instead of expanding Himself as the Supersoul, He
expanded Himself as a portion of calves and cowherd boys for one continuous
year.
One day, when KヘミŠa, along with
Balar€ma, was maintaining the calves in the forest, They saw some cows grazing
on the top of Govardhana Hill. The cows could see down into the valley where
the calves were being taken care of by the boys. Suddenly, on sighting their
calves, the cows began to run towards them. They leaped downhill with joined
front and rear legs. The cows were so melted with affection for their calves
that they did not care about the rough path from the top of Govardhana Hill
down to the pasturing ground. They began to approach the calves with their milk
bags full of milk, and they raised their tails upwards. When they were coming
down the hill, their milk bags were pouring milk on the ground out of intense
maternal affection for the calves, although they were not their own calves.
These cows had their own calves, and the calves that were grazing beneath
Govardhana Hill were larger; they were not expected to drink milk directly from
the milk bag but were satisfied with the grass. Yet all the cows came
immediately and began to lick their bodies, and the calves also began to suck
milk from the milk bags. There appeared to be a great bondage of affection
between the cows and calves.
When the cows were running down from the top of
Govardhana Hill, the men who were taking care of them tried to stop them.
Elderly cows are taken care of by the men, and the calves are taken care of by
the boys; and as far as possible, the calves are kept separate from the cows,
so that the calves do not drink all the available milk. Therefore the men who
were taking care of the cows on the top of Govardhana Hill tried to stop them,
but they failed. Baffled by their failure, they were feeling ashamed and angry.
They were very unhappy, but when they came down and saw their children taking
care of the calves, they all of a sudden became very affectionate toward the
children. It was very astonishing. Although the men came down disappointed,
baffled and angry, as soon as they saw their own children, their hearts melted
with great affection. At once their anger, dissatisfaction and unhappiness
disappeared. They began to show paternal love for the children, and with great
affection they lifted them in their arms and embraced them. They began to smell
their children's heads and enjoy their company with great happiness. After
embracing their children, the men again took the cows back to the top of
Govardhana Hill. Along the way they began to think of their children, and
affectionate tears fell from their eyes.
When Balar€ma saw this extraordinary exchange of
affection between the cows and their calves and between the fathers and their
children — when neither the calves nor the children needed so much care —
He began to wonder why this extraordinary thing happened. He was astonished to
see all the residents of Vヘnd€vana so
affectionate for their own children, exactly as they had been for KヘミŠa. Similarly, the cows had grown affectionate for
their calves--as much as for KヘミŠa. Balar€ma
therefore concluded that the extraordinary show of affection was something
mystical, either performed by the demigods or by some powerful man. Otherwise,
how could this wonderful change take place? He concluded that this mystical
change must have been caused by KヘミŠa, whom Balar€ma
considered His worshipable Personality of Godhead. He thought, "It was
arranged by KヘミŠa, and even I could not check its mystic power."
Thus Balar€ma understood that all those boys and calves were only expansions of
KヘミŠa.
Balar€ma inquired from KヘミŠa about the
actual situation. He said, "My dear KヘミŠa, in the
beginning I thought that all these cows, calves and cowherd boys were either great
sages and saintly persons or demigods, but at the present it appears that they
are actually Your expansions. They are all You; You Yourself are playing as the
calves and cows and boys. What is the mystery of this situation? Where have
those other calves and cows and boys gone? And why are You expanding Yourself
as the cows, calves and boys? Will You kindly tell Me what is the cause?"
At the request of Balar€ma, KヘミŠa briefly
explained the whole situation: how the calves and boys were stolen by Brahm€ and
how He was concealing the incident by expanding Himself so people would not
know that the original cows, calves, and boys were missing.
While KヘミŠa and Balar€ma
were talking, Brahm€ returned after a moment's interval (according to the
duration of his life). We have information of Lord Brahm€'s duration of life
from the Bhagavad G…t€: 1,000 times the duration of the four ages, or 1,000 x
4,300,000, comprise Brahm€'s twelve hours. Similarly, one moment of Brahm€ is
equal to one year of our solar calculation. After one moment of Brahm€'s
calculation, Brahm€ came back to see the fun caused by his stealing the boys
and calves. But he was also afraid that he was playing with fire. KヘミŠa was his master, and he had played mischief for fun
by taking away His calves and boys. He was really anxious, so he did not stay
away very long; he came back after a moment (of his calculation). He saw that
all the boys, calves and cows were playing with KヘミŠa in the same way
as when he had come upon them, although he was confident that he had taken them
and made them lie down asleep under the spell of his mystic power. Brahm€ began
to think, "All the boys, calves and cows were taken away by me, and I know
they are still sleeping. How is it that a similar batch of cows, boys and
calves is playing with KヘミŠa? Is it that they are not influenced by my mystic
power? Have they been playing continually for one year with KヘミŠa?" Brahm€ tried to understand who they were and
how they were uninfluenced by his mystic power, but he could not ascertain it.
In other words, he himself came under the spell of his own mystic power.
DHENUKšS¶RA
Dhenuk€s™ra represents ignorance of knowledge of the
soul through gross materialistic intelligence, or jackass-like foolishness.
According to the Garga Saˆh…ta, in his previous life
he was a son of Bali Mah€r€ja named S€hasika. He offended Durv€s€ Muni by
disturbing him when the muni was meditating, by making a lot of noise while he
was enjoying with 10,000 women on Mt Gandham€dana. Durv€s€ cursed him to become
an ass, saying: "Fool! Ass-like person! Become an ass! O demon, after
400,000 years, in transcendental circle of Math™ra, in the sacred forest of
Talav€na, you will attain liberation by Lord Balar€ma's hand." He could
not be killed by KヘミŠa because He had given His word to Prahl€da Mah€r€ja
that He would not kill any of his family members.
Some Special Considerations Regarding the Demons Killed by Lord Balar€ma
®r…la Bhaktivinoda Th€kura explains in ®r… Chaitanya
®ikミ€mヘta: "There
are two demons killed by ®r… Baladeva — but the contaminations they represent
will have to be removed by dint of the devotee's own endeavours. This is one of
the secret mysteries of Vraja-bhakti.
"The jack-ass demon Dhenuk€s™ra represents the
bad mentality of overburdened load-carrying, and the Pralamb€s™ra demon
represents lust for the company of the opposite sex, as well as the desire for
profit, adoration and distinction. When a devotee endeavours with enthusiasm to
remove these contaminations, then, by Lord Balar€ma's mercy they will be cast
far away. Dhenuk€s™ra causes complete and total ignorance of one's eternal
identity; it also stimulates foolish misconceptions about the eternal nature of
the holy name of the Lord, plus it misdirects one with delusions about what is
actually worshipable. These contaminations must be cast out through great
endeavour on the part of the devotee.
"The methods of the process of purification are
very deep and mysterious; therefore it is necessary to learn about them
directly from a bonafide spiritual master."
Teacher's note: Lord Balar€ma is the original guru,
and those who are bonafide spiritual masters are empowered by Him. When the
aspiring devotee takes shelter of the spiritual master he or she receives some
of that transcendental マakti and is thereby able to overcome the influence of
Dhenuk€s™ra.
The Story of
Dhenuk€s™ra
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
While KヘミŠa was thus
engaged in exhibiting His internal potency along with the supermost fortunate
friends, there occurred another chance for Him to exhibit the superhuman powers
of Godhead. His most intimate friends ®r…d€ma, Sub€la and StokakヘミŠa began to address KヘミŠa and Balar€ma
with great love and affection thus: "Dear Balar€ma, You are very powerful;
Your arms are very strong. Dear KヘミŠa, You are very
expert in killing all kinds of disturbing demons. Will You kindly note that
just near this place there is a big forest of the name Talav€na. This forest is
full of palm trees, and all the trees are filled with fruits. Some are falling
down, and some of them are very ripe even in the trees. It is a very nice
place, but because of a great demon, Dhenuk€s™ra, it is very difficult to go
there. No one can reach the trees to collect the fruits. Dear KヘミŠa and Balar€ma, this demon is present there in the
form of an ass, and he is surrounded by similar demon friends who assume the
same shape. All of them are very strong, so it is very difficult to approach
this place. Dear brothers, You are the only persons who can kill such demons.
Other than You, no one can go there for fear of being killed. Not even animals
go there, and no birds are sleeping there; they have all left. One can only
appreciate the sweet aroma that is coming from that place. It appears that up
until now, no one has tasted the sweet fruits there, either on the tree or on
the ground. Dear KヘミŠa, to tell You frankly, we are very attracted by this
sweet aroma. Dear Balar€ma, let us all go there and enjoy these fruits. The
aroma of the fruits is now spread everywhere. Don't You smell it from
here?"
When Balar€ma and KヘミŠa were thus
petitioned by Their smiling, intimate friends, They were inclined to please
them, and They began to proceed towards the forest, surrounded by all Their
friends. Immediately upon entering the Talav€na, Balar€ma began to yank the
trees with His arms, exhibiting the strength of an elephant. Because of this
jerking, all the ripe fruits fell down on the ground. Upon hearing the sound of
the falling fruits, the demon Dhenuk€s™ra, who was living there in the form of
an ass, began to approach with great force, shaking the whole field so that all
the trees began to move as if there were an earthquake. The demon appeared
first before Balar€ma and began to kick His chest with his hind legs. At first,
Balarama did not say anything, but the demon with great anger began to kick Him
again more vehemently. This time Balar€ma immediately caught hold of the legs
of the ass with one hand and, wheeling him around, threw him into the treetops.
While he was being wheeled around by Balar€ma, the demon lost his life.
Balar€ma threw the demon into the biggest palm tree about, and the demon's body
was so heavy that the palm tree fell upon other trees, and several fell down.
It appeared as if a great hurricane had passed through the forest, and all the
trees were falling down, one after another. This exhibition of extraordinary
strength is not astonishing because Balar€ma is the Personality of Godhead
known as šn€nta ®eミan€ga, who is holding all the planets on the hoods of
His millions of heads. He maintains the whole cosmic manifestation exactly as
two threads hold the weaving of a cloth.
After the demon was thrown into the trees, all the
friends and associates of Dhenuk€s™ra immediately assembled and attacked
Balar€ma and KヘミŠa with great force. They were determined to retaliate
and avenge the death of their friend. But KヘミŠa and Balar€ma
began to catch each of the asses by the hind legs and, exactly in the same way,
wheel them around. Thus They killed all of them by throwing them into the palm
trees. Because of the dead bodies of the asses, there was a panoramic scene. It
appeared as if clouds of various colors were assembled in the trees. Hearing of
this great incident, the demigods from the higher planets began to shower
flowers on KヘミŠa and Balar€ma and began to beat their drums and
offer devotional prayers.
KšLIYA
K€liya represents brutal cruelty, maliciousness,
pride, envy and a snake-like crookedness. He particularly tries to pour his
poison into the hearts of innocent Vaiミnavas, which KヘミŠa cannot tolerate, so then the Lord kills him.
According to the Garga Saˆh…ta in his last life,
during the manvantara of Sv€yambh™va Manu, at the beginning of the creation, he
was a sage named Vedaマir€ who was cursed for not allowing the sage Aマvaマir€ to meditate in his €マrama. "You
are angry for no reason! You hiss just like a snake! Become a snake!" Then
Lord Viミnu appeared and told him that He would place His lotus
feet on his head in that lifetime. Then Vedaマir€ took birth
with the first generation of great snakes to appear in the universe, from Dakミa's daughter Kadr™.
The Story of
K€liya
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
Sometimes KヘミŠa used to go with
His boyfriends and with Balar€ma, and sometimes He used to go alone with His
friends to the bank of the Yamun€ and tend the cows. Gradually, the summer
season arrived, and one day, while in the field, the boys and cows became very
thirsty and began to drink the water of the Yamun€. The river, however, was
made poisonous by the venom of the great serpent known as K€liya.
Because the water was so poisonous, the boys and cows
became visibly affected immediately after drinking. They suddenly fell down on
the ground, apparently dead. Then KヘミŠa, who is the
life of all lives, simply cast His merciful glance over them, and all the boys
and cows regained consciousness and began to look at one another with great astonishment.
They could understand that by drinking the water of Yamun€ they had died and
that the merciful glance of KヘミŠa restored their
life. Thus they appreciated the mystic power of KヘミŠa, who is known
as Yogeマvara, the master of all mystic yogis.
When He
understood that the water of the Yamun€ was being polluted by the black serpent
K€liya, Lord KヘミŠa took action against him and made him leave the
Yamun€ and go elsewhere, and thus the water became purified.
When this story was being narrated by ®ukadeva
Gosv€mi, Mah€r€ja Par…kミit became eager to hear more about KヘミŠa's childhood pastimes. He inquired from ®ukadeva
Gosv€mi how KヘミŠa chastised K€liya, who was living in the water for
many years. Actually, Mah€r€ja Par…kミit was becoming
more and more enthusiastic to hear the transcendental pastimes of KヘミŠa, and his inquiry was made with great interest.
®ukadeva Gosvami narrated the story as follows. Within
the River Yamun€ there was a great lake, and in that lake the black serpent
K€liya used to live. Because of his poison, the whole area was so contaminated
that it emanated a poisonous vapor twenty-four hours a day. If a bird happened
to even pass over the spot, he would immediately fall down in the water and
die.
Due to the poisonous effect of the Yamun€'s vapors,
the trees and grass near the bank of the Yamun€ had all dried up. Lord KヘミŠa saw the effect of the great serpent's poison; the
whole river that ran before Vヘnd€vana was now
deadly.
KヘミŠa, who advented
Himself just to kill all undesirable elements in the world, immediately climbed
up in a big kadamba tree on the bank of the Yamun€. The kadamba is a round yellow flower, generally seen only
in the Vヘnd€vana area. After climbing to the top of the tree,
He tightened His belt cloth and, flapping His arms just like a wrestler, jumped
in the midst of the poisonous lake. The kadamba tree from which KヘミŠa had jumped was the only tree there which was not
dead. Some commentators say that due to touching the lotus feet of KヘミŠa, the tree became immediately alive. In some other
Pur€nas it is stated that Garuda, the eternal carrier of Viミnu, knew that KヘミŠa would take this action in the future, so he put
some nectar on this tree to preserve it. When Lord KヘミŠa jumped into the water, the river overflooded its banks,
as if something very large had fallen into it. This exhibition of KヘミŠa's strength is not at all uncommon because He is the
reservoir of all strength.
When KヘミŠa was swimming
about, just like a great strong elephant, He made a tumultuous sound which the
great black serpent K€liya could hear. The tumult was intolerable for him, and
he could understand that this was an attempt to attack his home. Therefore he
immediately came before KヘミŠa. K€liya saw
that KヘミŠa was indeed worth seeing because His body was so
beautiful and delicate; its color resembled that of a cloud, and His legs
resembled a lotus flower. He was decorated with ®r…vatsa, jewels and yellow
garments. He was smiling with a beautiful face and was playing in the River
Yamun€ with great strength. But in spite of KヘミŠa's beautiful
features, K€liya felt great anger within his heart, and thus he grabbed KヘミŠa with his mighty coils. Seeing the incredible way in
which KヘミŠa was enveloped in the coils of the serpent, the
affectionate cowherd boys and inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana
immediately became stunned out of fear. They had dedicated everything to KヘミŠa, their lives, property, affection, activities —
everything was for KヘミŠa — and when they saw Him in that condition, they
became overwhelmed with fear and fell down on the ground. All the cows, bulls
and small calves became overwhelmed with grief, and they began to look at Him
with great anxiety. Out of fear they could only cry in agony and stand erect on
the bank, unable to help their beloved KヘミŠa.
While this scene was taking place on the bank of the
Yamun€, there were ill omens manifest. The earth trembled, meteors fell from
the sky, and the left side of men's bodies shivered. All these are indications
of great immediate danger. Observing the inauspicious signs, the cowherd men,
including Mah€r€ja Nanda, became very anxious out of fear. At the same time
they were informed that KヘミŠa had gone to the
pasturing ground without His elder brother, Balar€ma. As soon as Nanda and Yaマoda and the cowherd men heard this news, they became even more anxious.
Out of their great affection for KヘミŠa, unaware of the
extent of KヘミŠa's potencies, they became overwhelmed with grief and
anxiety because they had nothing dearer than KヘミŠa and because
they dedicated their everything — life, property, affection, mind and
activities — to KヘミŠa. Because of their great attachment for KヘミŠa, they thought, "Today KヘミŠa is surely going to be vanquished!
All the inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana came out
of the village to see KヘミŠa. The assembly consisted of children, young and old
men, women, animals and all living entities; they knew that KヘミŠa was their only means of sustenance. While this was
happening, Balar€ma, who is the master of all knowledge, stood there simply
smiling. He knew how powerful His younger brother KヘミŠa was and that there was no cause for anxiety when KヘミŠa was fighting with an ordinary serpent of the
material world. He did not, therefore, personally take any part in their
concern. On the other hand, all the inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana, being disturbed, began to search out KヘミŠa by following the impression of His footprints on
the ground, and thus they moved towards the bank of the Yamun€. Finally, by following
the footprints marked with flag, bow and conchshell, the inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana arrived at the riverbank and saw that all the cows and boys were
weeping to behold KヘミŠa enwrapped in the coils of the black serpent. Then
they became still more overwhelmed with grief. While Balar€ma was smiling to
see their lamentation, all the inhabitants of Vrajabh™mi merged into the ocean
of grief because they thought that KヘミŠa was finished.
Although the residents of Vヘnd€vana did not
know much about KヘミŠa, their love for Him was beyond comparison. As soon
as they saw that KヘミŠa was in the River Yamun€ enveloped by the serpent
K€liya and that all the boys and cows were lamenting, they simply began to
think of KヘミŠa's friendship, His smiling face, His sweet words and
His dealings with them. Thinking of all these and believing that their KヘミŠa was now within the clutches of K€liya, they at once
felt that the three worlds had become vacant. Lord Chaitanya also said that He
was seeing the three worlds as vacant for want of KヘミŠa. This is the highest stage of KヘミŠa consciousness. Almost all of the inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana had the highest ecstatic love for KヘミŠa.
When mother Yaマoda arrived, she
wanted to enter the River Yamun€, and being checked, she fainted. Other friends
who were equally aggrieved were shedding tears like torrents of rain or waves
of the river, but in order to bring mother Yaマoda to
consciousness, they began to speak loudly about the transcendental pastimes of
KヘミŠa. Mother Yaマoda remained
still, as if dead, because her consciousness was concentrated on the face of KヘミŠa. Nanda and all others who dedicated everything,
including their lives, to KヘミŠa were ready to
enter the waters of the Yamun€, but Lord Balar€ma checked them because He was
in perfect knowledge that there was no danger.
For two hours KヘミŠa remained like
an ordinary child gripped in the coils of K€liya, but when He saw that all the
inhabitants of Gokula — including His mother and father, the gopis, the boys
and the cows — were just on the point of death and that they had no shelter for
salvation from imminent death, KヘミŠa immediately
freed Himself. He began to expand His body, and when the serpent tried to hold
Him, he felt a great strain. On account of the strain, his coils slackened, and
he had no alternative but to let loose the Personality of Godhead, KヘミŠa, from his grasp. K€liya then became very angry, and
his great hoods expanded. He exhaled poisonous fumes from his nostrils, his
eyes blazed like fire, and flames issued from his mouth. The great serpent
remained still for some time, looking at KヘミŠa. Licking his
lips with bifurcated tongues, the serpent looked at KヘミŠa with double hoods, and his eyesight was full of
poison. KヘミŠa immediately pounced upon him, just as Garuda swoops
upon a snake. Thus attacked, K€liya looked for an opportunity to bite Him, but
KヘミŠa moved around him. As KヘミŠa and K€liya moved in a circle, the serpent gradually
became fatigued, and his strength seemed to diminish considerably. KヘミŠa immediately pressed down the serpent's hoods and
jumped up on them. The Lord's lotus feet became tinged with red from the rays
of the jewels on the snake's hoods. Then He who is the original artist of all
fine arts, such as dancing, began to dance upon the hoods of the serpent,
although they were moving to and fro. Upon seeing this, denizens from the upper
planets began to shower flowers, beat drums, play different types of flutes and
sing various prayers and songs. In this way, all the denizens of heaven, such
as the Gandharvas, Siddhas and demigods, became very pleased.
While KヘミŠa was dancing on
his hoods, K€liya tried to push Him down with some of his other hoods. K€liya
had about a hundred hoods, but KヘミŠa took control of
them. He began to dash K€liya with His lotus feet, and this was more than the
serpent could bear. Gradually, K€liya was reduced to struggling for his very
life. He vomited all kinds of refuse and exhaled fire. While throwing up
poisonous material from within, K€liya became reduced in his sinful situation.
Out of great anger, he began to struggle for existence and tried to raise one
of his hoods to kill the Lord. The Lord immediately captured that hood and
subdued it by kicking it and dancing on it. It actually appeared as if the
Supreme Personality of Godhead Viミnu was being
worshipped; the poisons emanating from the mouth of the serpent appeared to be
like flower offerings. K€liya then began to vomit blood instead of poison; he
was completely fatigued. His whole body appeared to be broken by the kicks of
the Lord. Within his mind, however, he finally began to understand that KヘミŠa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he began
to surrender unto Him. He realized that KヘミŠa is the Supreme
Lord, the master of everything.
®r…la
Bhaktisiddh€nta Sarasvat…
on K€liya
(from The
Harmonist)
K€liya is the type of cunning and malice. He is the
embodiment of unrelenting cruelty. There is no place for K€liya in the happy
realm of Vraja. Deceit and cruelty are as poison to the artless loving nature
of the denizens of Vraja. It is quite conceivable for the confidential friends
of KヘミŠa not to entertain any suspicion regarding the
malicious intention of cruel and deceitful persons whose purpose is to poison
them against KヘミŠa. They may even unwittingly fall into the counsel of
such evil persons. But KヘミŠa is sure to rescue His own from the wiles of His
enemies.
Nay KヘミŠa has also a plan
for curing the evil propensity of K€liya himself. The process consists in
making him feel the touches of His dancing feet. But K€liya attempts to bear up
against all curative chastisement. Instead of feeling the joy of supporting the
feet of KヘミŠa on his nasty hoods the monster finds it impossible
to bear his good fortune without undergoing the pangs of actual death. Even the
loyal wives of K€liya who desire the reformation of the monster and whose good
wishes for his well-being are the cause of KヘミŠa's mercy towards
him are at last forced to intercede by a prayer for his banishment from the
realm of Vraja. But the pride of K€liya had received a mortal check.
The banishment of K€liya from the lake of the Yamun€
has a most important spiritual significance. Those who have a purpose to create
trouble against the pure devotees of KヘミŠa by infecting
the devotees with their own malicious disposition meet with a certain degree of
initial success in their nefarious undertaking. This emboldens them to make a
direct attack upon KヘミŠa Himself when He appears on the scene of their depraved
activities in order to restore the living faith of His own bonafide associates.
Those who are not exceedingly clever can never be
servants of ®r… KヘミŠa. But the service of KヘミŠa is also never
available to those whose cunning is employed for depriving KヘミŠa of the fullness of His enjoyment. K€liya and those
who are actuated by a naturally malicious disposition are also styled clever in
the ordinary phraseology of this damned world. Such rascals my also have the
impudence of taking their stand upon the texts of the scriptures and using
their cunningness in the graceless attempt of depriving KヘミŠa of the service of His own. This kind of conduct may
also pass undetected and may even be regarded as possessing the perfect skill
of confidential service. But KヘミŠa is sure to
expose the real nature of the villain just at the moment when it has been
successful in misleading His best loved ones.
It is indeed very difficult to understand the ways of
KヘミŠa. KヘミŠa apparently
permits almost every form of offense to be perpetrated with impunity against
His own beloved ones. This has the effect of providing an opportunity to His
own for proving their incomparable love for Him and by the means of this unique
exhibition of their love to defeat in the most fruitful manner the machinations
of His worst enemies. The friends of KヘミŠa are offered to
the malice of cunning and relentless brutes in order to bring out the
difference between the two and thereby enable the latter to desist from
troubling the devotees of their own accord.
But these brutes are never allowed to associate with
the servants of KヘミŠa even after they forego all their malice towards
them. They are eternally debarred from the service of KヘミŠa in Vraja. But the touch of KヘミŠa's feet makes a real difference between the
recipient of His mercy and the other brutes. K€liya is no longer regarded by
Garuda as the enemy of KヘミŠa. K€liya is, therefore, allowed a place among those
who are protected by KヘミŠa.
It does not follow that it is a paying business to
poison the hearts of His servants against KヘミŠa which is sure
to be granted with the reward of His protection. Yes, this is so after the
pride of the miscreant is thoroughly broken by being trod upon by KヘミŠa Himself. He is thereby inspired with a most
wholesome dread which effectively prevents him from trying to breed mischief
among the bonafide devotees by owning an unwilling allegiance to KヘミŠa and assuming the badge of His servitude by wearing
on his head the print of His lotus feet.
The mercy shown to K€liya is so obviously and
disproportionately great in its magnitude in face of the extreme gravity of his
offense that no rationalistic explanation can do justice to its full
beneficient significance.
EXTINGUISHING
THE FIRST FOREST FIRE
The first forest fire represents hatred and arguments
between Vaiミnavas or different religions, and disrespecting each
other's Deities. It can also represent any type of clash or conflict.
®r…la San€tana Gosw€mi makes the point that some
people say that the fire was a friend of K€liya's who assumed this form, and
others say that he was a demon who was a follower of Kaˆsa.
The Story of
The First Forest Fire
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
Since it was almost night, and all the inhabitants of
Vヘnd€vana, including the cows and calves, were very
tired, they decided to take their rest on the riverbank. In the middle of the
night, while they were taking rest, there was suddenly a great forest fire, and
it quickly appeared that the fire would soon devour all the inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana. As soon as they felt the warmth of the fire, they immediately
took shelter of KヘミŠa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although He
was playing just like their child. They began to say, "Our dear KヘミŠa! O Supreme Personality of Godhead! Our dear
Balar€ma, the reservoir of all strength! Please try to save us from this
all-devouring and devastating fire. We have no other shelter than You. This
devastating fire will swallow us all!" Thus they prayed to KヘミŠa, saying that they could not take any shelter other
than His lotus feet. Lord KヘミŠa, being
compassionate upon His own townspeople, immediately swallowed up the whole forest
fire and saved them. This was not impossible for KヘミŠa because He is unlimited. He has unlimited power to
do anything He desires.
PRALAMBšS¶RA
Pralamb€s™ra represents lust for the opposite sex, and
the desire for profit, adoration and distinction.
According to the Brahm€-vaivarta Pur€na in his
previous life he was Sudarマana, one of the
brothers of Suhotra, who became Bak€s™ra. According to the Garga Saˆh…ta he was
Vijaya, the son of a Gandharva king named H™h™. He was cursed by Kuvera to
become a demon for stealing some flowers from one of his gardens.
Some Special Considerations Regarding Pralamb€s™ra
Bhaktivinoda Th€kura writes: "Lusty attractions
for the opposite sex, greed for money, the desire for sense gratification,
inclinations for increasing one's honour and false prestige, the desire for
being worshipped — these are all certainly very strong obstacles, and are very
difficult to overcome. But if one understands that they are very detrimental
for one's development in KヘミŠa consciousness
one will try very enthusiastically to cast them out.
"If one endeavours in a very humble mood KヘミŠa will certainly show His mercy. Then upon the
awakening of the mood of ®r… Baladeva in the devotee's heart, these
contaminations will instantly be removed.
"The methods of the process of purification are
very deep and mysterious; therefore it is necessary to learn about them
directly from a bonafide spiritual master."
The Story of
Pralamb€s™ra
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
Once while they were engaged in their transcendental
pastimes, a great demon of the name Pralamb€s™ra entered their company,
desiring to kidnap both Balar€ma and KヘミŠa. Although KヘミŠa was playing the part of a cowherd boy, as the
Supreme Personality of Godhead He could understand everything — past, present
and future. So when Pralamb€s™ra entered their company, KヘミŠa began to think how to kill the demon, but
externally He received him as a friend. "O My dear friend," He said.
"It is very good that you have come to take part in our pastimes." KヘミŠa then called all His friends and ordered them:
"Now we shall play in pairs. We shall challenge one another in
pairs." With this proposal, all the boys assembled together. Some of them
took the side of KヘミŠa, and some of them took the side of Balar€ma, and
they arranged to play in duel. The defeated members in duel fighting had to
carry the victorious members on their backs. They began playing, and at the
same time tended the cows as they proceeded through the Bhand…ravana forest.
The party of Balar€ma, accompanied by ®r…d€ma and Vヘミabha, came out victorious, and KヘミŠa's party had to carry them on their backs through
the Bhand…ravana forest. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, KヘミŠa, being defeated, had to carry ®r…d€ma on His back,
and Bhadrasena carried Vヘミabha. Imitating their play, Pralamb€s™ra, who appeared
there as a cowherd boy, carried Balar€ma on his back. Pralamb€s™ra was the
greatest of the demons, and he had calculated that KヘミŠa was the most powerful of the cowherd boys.
In order to avoid the company of KヘミŠa, Pralamb€s™ra carried Balar€ma far away. The demon
was undoubtedly very strong and powerful, but he was carrying Balar€ma, who is
compared to a mountain; therefore he began to feel the burden, and thus he
assumed his real form. When he appeared in his real feature, he was decorated
with a golden helmet and earrings and looked just like a cloud with lightning
carrying the moon. Balar€ma observed the demon's body expanding up to the
limits of the clouds, his eyes dazzling like blazing fire and his mouth
flashing with sharpened teeth. At first, Balar€ma was surprised by the demon's
appearance, and He began to wonder, "How is it that all of a sudden this
carrier has changed in every way?" But with a clear mind He could quickly
understand that He was being carried away from His friends by a demon who
intended to kill Him. Immediately He struck the head of the demon with His
strong fist, just as the king of the heavenly planets strikes a mountain with
his thunderbolt. Being stricken by the fist of Balar€ma, the demon fell down
dead, just like a snake with a smashed head, and blood poured from his mouth.
When the demon fell, he made a tremendous sound, and it sounded as if a great
hill were falling upon being struck by the thunderbolt of King Indra. All the
boys then rushed to the spot. Being astonished by the ghastly scene, they began
to praise Balar€ma with the words "Well done, well done." All of them
then began to embrace Balar€ma with great affection, thinking that He had
returned from death, and they offered their blessings and congratulations. All
the demigods in the heavenly planets became very satisfied and showered flowers
on the transcendental body of Balar€ma, and they also offered their blessings
and congratulations for His having killed the great demon Pralamb€s™ra.
THE SECOND FOREST
FIRE
The second forest fire represents the attack of
atheism and other antagonistic philosophies on KヘミŠa consciousness.
®r…la San€tana Gosw€mi says that some people say that
the forest fire was a friend of Pralamb€s™ra's.
The Story of
The Second Forest Fire
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
While KヘミŠa and Balar€ma
and Their friends were engaged in the pastimes described above, the cows, being
unobserved, began to wander off on their own, entering farther and farther into
the deepest part of the forest, allured by fresh grasses. The goats, cows and
buffalo traveled from one forest to another and entered the forest known as Iミik€˜avi. This forest was full of green grass, and therefore they were
allured; but when they entered, they saw that there was a forest fire, and they
began to cry. On the other side Balar€ma and KヘミŠa, along with
Their friends, could not find their animals, and they became very aggrieved.
They began to trace the cows by following their footprints, as well as the path
of eaten grass. All of the boys were fearing that their very means of livelihood,
the cows, were now lost. When searching out the cows in the forest, they
themselves were very much tired and thirsty. Soon, however, they heard the
crying of their cows. KヘミŠa began to call the cows by their respective names,
with great noise. Upon hearing KヘミŠa calling, the
cows immediately replied with joy. But by this time the forest fire surrounded
all of them, and the situation appeared to be very fearful.
The flames increased as the wind blew very quickly,
and it appeared that everything movable and immovable would be devoured. All
the cows and the boys became very frightened, and they looked towards Balar€ma
the way a dying man looks at the picture of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
They said, "Dear KヘミŠa and Balar€ma, we are now burning from the heat of
this blazing fire. Let us take shelter of Your lotus feet. We know You can
protect us from this great danger. Our dear friend KヘミŠa, we are Your intimate friends. It is not right that
we should suffer in this way. We are all completely dependent on You, and You
are the knower of all religious life. We do not know anyone except You. The
Personality of Godhead heard the appealing voices of His friends, and casting a
pleasing glance over them, He began to answer. By speaking through His eyes, He
impressed upon His friends that there was no cause for fear. Then KヘミŠa, the supreme mystic, the powerful Personality of
Godhead, immediately swallowed up all the flames of the fire. The cows and boys
were thus saved from imminent danger. Out of fear, the boys were almost
unconscious, but when they regained their consciousness and opened their eyes,
they saw that they were again in the forest with KヘミŠa, Balar€ma and the cows. They were astonished to see
that they were completely free from the attack of the blazing fire and that the
cows were saved.
CORRECTING THE
BRšHMA¦AS
PERFORMING SACRIFICE
This pastime illustrates the fault of indifference
towards KヘミŠa arising out of pride due to high birth in the varn€マr€ma system.
The Story of
KヘミŠa Correcting The
Br€hmaŠas
Performing Sacrifice
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
The morning
passed, and the cowherd boys were very hungry because they had not eaten
breakfast. They immediately approached KヘミŠa and Balar€ma
and said, "Dear KヘミŠa and Balar€ma, You are both all-powerful; You can
kill many, many demons, but today we are much afflicted with hunger, and this
is disturbing us. Please arrange for something that will mitigate our
hunger."
Requested in this way by Their friends, Lord KヘミŠa and Balar€ma immediately showed compassion on
certain wives of br€hmaŠas who were performing sacrifices. These wives were
great devotees of the Lord, and KヘミŠa took this
opportunity to bless them. He said, "My dear friends, please go to the
house of the br€hmaŠas nearby. They are now engaged in performing Vedic
sacrifices known as angirasa, for they desire elevation to heavenly planets.
All of you please go to them." Then Lord KヘミŠa warned His
friends, "These brahmanas are not Vaiミnavas. They cannot
even chant Our names, KヘミŠa and Balar€ma. They are very busy in chanting the
Vedic hymns, although the purpose of Vedic knowledge is to find Me. But because
they are not attracted by the names of KヘミŠa and Balar€ma,
you had better not ask them for anything in My name. Better ask for some
charity in the name of Balar€ma."
Charity is generally given to high-class br€hmaŠas,
but KヘミŠa and Balar€ma did not appear in a br€hmaŠa family.
Balar€ma was known as the son of Vasudeva, a ksatriya, and KヘミŠa was known in Vヘnd€vana as the son
of Nanda Mah€r€ja, who was a vaisya. Neither belonged to the br€hmaŠa
community. Therefore, KヘミŠa considered that the br€hmaŠas engaged in performing
sacrifices might not be induced to give charity to a kミatriya and vaisya. "But at least if you utter the name of Balar€ma,
they may prefer to give in charity to a kミatriya, rather
than to Me, because I am only a vaiミya."
Being thus ordered by the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, all the boys went to the br€hmaŠas and began to ask for some charity.
They approached them with folded hands and fell down on the ground to offer
respect. "O earthly gods, kindly hear us who are ordered by Lord KヘミŠa and Balar€ma. We hope you know Them both very well,
and we wish you all good fortune. KヘミŠa and Balar€ma are
tending cows nearby, and we have accompanied Them. We have come to ask for some
food from you. You are all br€hmaŠas and knowers of religious principles, and
if you think that you should give us charity, then give us some food, and we
all shall eat along with KヘミŠa and Balar€ma.
You are the most respectable br€hmaŠas within the human society, and you are
expected to know all the principles of religious procedure."
Although the boys were village boys and were not
expected to be learned in all the Vedic principles of religious ritual, they
hinted that because of their association with KヘミŠa and Balar€ma,
they knew all those principles. By addressing the br€hmaŠas as "knowers of
all religious principles," the boys expressed the point of view that when
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, KヘミŠa and Balar€ma,
were asking for food, the br€hmaŠas should immediately deliver some without
hesitation, because, as stated in the Bhagavad G…t€, one should perform yajsha
(sacrifices) only for the satisfaction of Viミnu.
The boys continued, "Lord Viミnu as KヘミŠa and Balar€ma is standing waiting, and you should
immediately deliver whatever food you have in your stock." They also
explained to the br€hmaŠas how foodstuffs are to be accepted. Generally, the
Vaiミnavas, or pure devotees of the Lord, do not take part
in ordinary sacrificial performances. But they know very well the ceremonials
called dikミa, paマu-saˆsth€ and マautram€ni. One is permitted to take food after the procedure of dikミa and before the animal sacrificial ceremony and the マautram€ni, or ceremony in which liquors are also offered. The boys said,
"We can take your food at the present stage of your ceremony, for now it
will not be prohibited. So you can deliver us the foodstuff."
Although the companions of Lord KヘミŠa and Balar€ma were simple cowherd boys, they were in
a position to dictate even to the high-class br€hmaŠas engaged in the Vedic
rituals of sacrifices. But the smarta-br€hmaŠas, who were simply
sacrificial-minded, could not understand the dictation of the transcendental
devotees of the Lord. They could not even appreciate the begging of the Supreme
Lord, KヘミŠa and Balar€ma. Although they heard all the arguments
on behalf of KヘミŠa and Balar€ma, they did not care for them, and they
refused to speak to the boys. Despite being highly elevated in the knowledge of
Vedic sacrificial rites, all such nondevotee br€hmaŠas, although they think of
themselves as very highly elevated, are ignorant, foolish persons. All their
activities are useless because they do not know the purpose of the Vedas, as it
is explained in the Bhagavad G…t€: to understand KヘミŠa. In spite of their advancement in Vedic knowledge
and rituals, they do not understand KヘミŠa; therefore
their knowledge of the Vedas is superficial. Lord Chaitanya, therefore, gave
His valuable opinion that a person does not have to be born in a br€hmaŠa family;
if he knows KヘミŠa or the science of KヘミŠa consciousness,
he is more than a br€hmaŠa, and he is quite fit to become a spiritual master.
There are various details to be observed in the
performance of sacrifices. They are known as deマa, place; k€la, time;
pヘthag-dravya, the different detailed paraphernalia;
mantra, hymns; tantra, scriptural evidences; agni, fire; ヘtvij, learned performers of sacrifices; devat€, the demigods; yajam€na,
the performer of the sacrifices; kratu, the sacrifice itself; and dharma, the
procedures. All these are for satisfying KヘミŠa. It is
confirmed that He is the actual enjoyer of all sacrifices because He is
directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Supreme Absolute Truth,
beyond the conception or speculation of material senses. He is present just
like an ordinary human boy. But for persons who identify themselves with the
body, it is very difficult to understand Him. The br€hmaŠas were very
interested in the comforts of this material body and in elevation to the higher
planetary residences called svarga-v€sa. They were therefore completely unable
to understand the position of KヘミŠa.
When the boys saw that the br€hmaŠas would not speak
to them, they became very disappointed. They then returned to Lord KヘミŠa and Balar€ma and explained everything that had
happened. After hearing their statements, the Supreme Personality began to
smile. He told them that they should not be sorry for being refused by the
br€hmaŠas, because that is the way of begging. He convinced them that while one
is engaged in collecting or begging, one should not think that he will be
successful everywhere. He may be unsuccessful in some places, but that should
not be cause for disappointment. Lord KヘミŠa then asked all
the boys to go again, but this time to the wives of those br€hmaŠas engaged in
sacrifices. He also informed them that these wives were great devotees.
"They are always absorbed in thinking of Us. Go there and ask for some
food in My name and the name of Balar€ma, and I am sure that they will deliver
you as much food as you desire."
Carrying out KヘミŠa's order, the
boys immediately went to the wives of the br€hmaŠas. They found the wives
sitting inside their house. They were very beautifully decorated with
ornaments. After offering them all respectful obeisances, the boys said,
"Dear mothers, please accept our humble obeisances and hear our statement.
May we inform you that Lord KヘミŠa and Balar€ma
are nearby. They have come here with the cows, and you may know also that we
have come here under Their instructions. All of us are very hungry; therefore,
we have come to you for some food. Please give us something to eat for KヘミŠa, Balar€ma and ourselves."
Immediately upon hearing this, the wives of the
br€hmaŠas became anxious for KヘミŠa and Balar€ma.
These reactions were spontaneous. They did not have to be convinced of the
importance of KヘミŠa and Balar€ma; immediately upon hearing Their names,
they became very anxious to see Them. Being advanced by thinking of KヘミŠa constantly, they were performing the greatest form
of mystic meditation. All the wives then became very busily engaged in filling
up different pots with nice foodstuff. Due to the performance of the sacrifice,
the various food was all very palatable. After collecting a feast, they prepared
to go to KヘミŠa, their most lovable object, exactly in the way
rivers flow to the sea.
OVERCOMING THE
PRIDE
OF LORD INDRA
This pastime illustrates the mistake of thinking that
it is good to perform demigod worship. Also the fault of thinking that "I
am Supreme. I am worshipable."
The Story of Lord
KヘミŠa
Overcoming Indra's Pride
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
When Indra understood that the sacrifice offered by
the cowherd men in Vヘnd€vana was stopped by KヘミŠa, he became
angry, and he vented his anger upon the inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana, who were headed by Nanda Mah€r€ja, although Indra knew
perfectly well that KヘミŠa was personally protecting them. As the director of
different kinds of clouds, Indra called for the samvartaka. This cloud is
invited when there is a need to devastate the whole cosmic manifestation. The
samvartaka was ordered by Indra to go over Vヘnd€vana and
inundate the whole area with an extensive flood. Demonically, Indra thought
himself to be the all-powerful supreme personality. When demons become very
powerful, they defy the supreme controller, the Personality of Godhead. Indra,
though not a demon, was puffed up by his material position, and he wanted to
challenge the supreme controller. He thought himself, at least for the time
being, as powerful as KヘミŠa. Indra said, "Just see the impudence of the
inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana! They are simply inhabitants of the forest,
but being infatuated with their friend KヘミŠa, who is nothing
but an ordinary human being, they have dared to defy the demigods."
KヘミŠa has declared in
the Bhagavad G…t€ that the worshipers of the demigods are not very intelligent.
He has also declared that one has to give up all kinds of worship and simply
concentrate on KヘミŠa consciousness. KヘミŠa's invoking the
anger of Indra and later on chastising him is a clear indication to His devotee
that those who are engaged in KヘミŠa consciousness
have no need to worship any demigod, even if it is found that the demigod has
become angry. KヘミŠa gives His devotees all protection, and they should
completely depend on His mercy.
Indra cursed the action of the inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana and said, "By defying the authority of the demigods, the
inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana will suffer in material existence. Having
neglected the sacrifice to the demigods, they cannot cross over the impediments
of the ocean of material misery." Indra further declared, "These
cowherd men in Vヘnd€vana have neglected my authority on the advice of
this talkative boy who is known as KヘミŠa. He is nothing
but a child, and by believing this child, they have enraged me." Thus he
ordered the samvartaka cloud to go and destroy the prosperity of Vヘnd€vana. "The men of Vヘnd€vana,"
said Indra, "have become too puffed up over their material opulence and
their confidence in the presence of their tiny friend, KヘミŠa. He is simply talkative, childish, and unaware of
the complete cosmic situation, although He is thinking Himself very advanced in
knowledge. Because they have taken KヘミŠa so seriously,
they must be punished, and so I have ordered the samvartaka cloud to go there
and inundate the place. They should be destroyed with their cows."
It is indicated here that in the villages or outside
the towns, the inhabitants must depend on the cows for their prosperity. When
the cows are destroyed, the people are destitute of all kinds of opulences.
When King Indra ordered the samvartaka and companion clouds to go to Vヘnd€vana, the clouds were afraid of the assignment. But King Indra
assured them, "You go ahead, and I will also go, riding on my elephant,
accompanied by great storms. And I shall apply all my strength to punish the
inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana.
Ordered by King Indra, all the dangerous clouds
appeared above Vヘnd€vana and began to pour water incessantly, with all
their strength and power. There was constant lightning and thunder, blowing of
severe wind and incessant falling of rain. The rainfall seemed to fall like
piercing sharp arrows. By pouring water as thick as pillars, without cessation,
the clouds gradually filled all the lands in Vヘnd€vana with
water, and there was no visible distinction between higher and lower land. The
situation was very dangerous, especially for the animals. The rainfall was
accompanied by great winds, and every living creature in Vヘnd€vana began to tremble from the severe cold. Unable to find any other
source of deliverance, they all approached Govinda to take shelter at His lotus
feet. The cows especially, being much aggrieved from the heavy rain, bowed down
their heads, and taking their calves underneath their bodies, they approached
the Supreme Personality of Godhead to take shelter of His lotus feet. At that
time all the inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana began to
pray to Lord KヘミŠa. "Dear KヘミŠa," they
prayed, "You are all-powerful, and You are very affectionate to Your
devotees. Now please protect us, who have been much harassed by angry
Indra."
Upon hearing their prayer, KヘミŠa could also understand that Indra, being bereft of
his sacrificial honor, was pouring down rain that was accompanied by heavy
pieces of ice and strong winds, although all this was out of season. KヘミŠa understood that this was a deliberate exhibition of
anger by Indra. He therefore concluded, "This demigod who thinks himself
supreme has shown his great power, but I shall answer him according to My
position, and I shall teach him that he is not autonomous in managing universal
affairs. I am the Supreme Lord over all, and I shall thus take away his false
prestige, which has risen from his power. The demigods are My devotees, and
therefore it is not possible for them to forget My supremacy, but somehow or
other he has become puffed up with material power and thus is now maddened. I
shall act in such a way to relieve him of this false prestige. I shall give
protection to My pure devotees in Vヘnd€vana, who are
at present completely at My mercy and whom I have taken completely under My
protection. I will save them by My mystic power."
Thinking in this way, Lord KヘミŠa immediately picked up Govardhana Hill with one
hand, exactly as a child picks up a mushroom from the ground. Thus He exhibited
His transcendental pastime of lifting Govardhana Hill. Lord KヘミŠa then began to address His devotees, "My dear
brothers, My dear father, My dear inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana, you can now safely enter under the umbrella of Govardhana Hill,
which I have just lifted. Do not be afraid of the hill and think that it will
fall from My hand. You have been too much afflicted from the heavy rain and
strong wind; therefore I have lifted this hill, which will protect you exactly
like a huge umbrella. I think this is a proper arrangement to relieve you of
your immediate distress. Be happy along with your animals underneath this great
umbrella." Being assured by Lord KヘミŠa, all the
inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana entered beneath the great hill and appeared to
be safe along with their property and animals.
The inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana and their
animals remained there for one week without being disturbed by hunger, thirst
or any other discomforts. They were simply astonished to see how KヘミŠa was holding up the mountain with the little finger
of His left hand. Seeing the extraordinary mystic power of KヘミŠa, Indra, the King of heaven, was thunderstruck and
baffled in his determination. He immediately called for all the clouds and
asked them to desist. When the sky became completely cleared of all clouds and
there was sunrise again, the strong wind stopped. At that time KヘミŠa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, known now as
the lifter of Govardhana Hill, said, "My dear cowherd men, now you can
leave and take your wives, children, cows and valuables, because everything is
ended. The inundation has gone down, along with the swelling waters of the
river."
When KヘミŠa saved the
inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana from the wrath of Indra by lifting Govardhana
Hill, a surabhi cow from Goloka Vヘnd€vana, as well
as King Indra from the heavenly planet, appeared before Him. Indra, the King of
heaven, was conscious of his offense before KヘミŠa; therefore he
stealthily appeared before Him from a secluded place. He immediately fell down
at the lotus feet of KヘミŠa, although his own crown was dazzling like sunshine.
Indra knew about the exalted position of KヘミŠa because KヘミŠa is the master of Indra, but he could not believe
that KヘミŠa could come down and live in Vヘnd€vana among the cowherd men. When KヘミŠa defied the
authority of Indra, Indra became angry because he thought that he was all in
all within this universe and that no one was as powerful as he. But after this
incident, his false puffed-up prestige was destroyed. Being conscious of his
subordinate position, he appeared before KヘミŠa with folded
hands and began to offer the following prayers.
NANDA
MAHšRšJA
STOLEN BY VARU¦A
This pastime represents the misconception that the
bliss of devotional service can be enhanced by indulging in wine and other
intoxicants.
The Story of Nanda
Mah€r€ja
Being Stolen by VaruŠa
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
Mah€r€ja Nanda observed fasting for the whole day, and
just early in the morning of the Dv€daマ…, the day after
Ekadaマ…, he went to take bath in the River Yamun€. He
entered deep into the water of the river, but he was arrested immediately by
one of the servants of VaruŠadeva. These servants brought Nanda Mah€r€ja before
the demigod Varun€ and accused him of taking a bath in the river at the wrong
time. According to astronomical calculations, the time in which he took bath
was considered demoniac. The fact was that Nanda Mah€r€ja wanted to take a bath
in the River Yamun€ early in the morning before the sunrise, but somehow or
other he was a little too early, and he bathed at an inauspicious time.
Consequently he was arrested.
When Nanda Mah€r€ja was taken away by VaruŠa's
servants, his companions began to call loudly for KヘミŠa and Balar€ma. Immediately KヘミŠa and Balar€ma could understand that Nanda Mah€r€ja
had been taken by VaruŠa, and thus They went to the abode of VaruŠa, for They
were pledged to give protection. The inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana, the unalloyed devotees of the Lord, having no shelter other
than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, naturally cried to Him for help,
exactly like children who do not know anything but the protection of their
parents. Demigod VaruŠa received Lord KヘミŠa and Balar€ma
with great respect and said, "My dear Lord, actually at this very moment,
because of Your presence, my life as the demigod VaruŠa has become successful.
Although I am the proprietor of all the treasures in the water, I know that
such possessions do not make for a successful life. But this moment, as I look
at You, my life is made completely successful because by seeing You I no longer
have to accept a material body. Therefore, O Lord, Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Supreme Brahman and Supersoul of everything, let me offer my respectful
obeisances unto You. You are the supreme transcendental personality; there is
no possibility of imposing the influence of material nature upon You. I am very
sorry that my men, being foolish, by not knowing what to do or what not to do,
have mistakenly arrested Your father, Nanda Mah€r€ja. So I beg Your pardon for
the offense of my servants. I think that it was Your plan to show me Your mercy
by Your personal presence here. My dear Lord KヘミŠa, Govinda, be
merciful upon me — here is Your father. You can take him back
immediately."
NANDA MAHšRšJA
DELIVERED FROM THE SNAKE
This pastime
represents how KヘミŠa saves the truth of devotional service from being
swallowed by the M€y€v€dis and other atheists. It illustrates how devotees must
avoid the company of such snake-like people.
In his previous life (as described in the KヘミŠa Books), he was the demigod Vidy€dhara.
The Story of Nanda
Mah€r€ja's
Deliverance from the Snake
(from ®r…la Prabhup€da's
KヘミŠa Books)
The cowherd men, headed by Nanda Mah€r€ja, spent that
night on the bank of the Sarasvat…. They fasted all day and drank a little
water at night. But while they were taking rest, a great serpent from the
nearby forest appeared before them and hungrily began to swallow up Nanda
Mah€r€ja, Nanda began to cry helplessly, "My dear son, KヘミŠa, please come and save me from this danger! This
serpent is swallowing me!" When Nanda Mah€r€ja cried for help, all the
cowherd men got up and saw what was happening. They immediately took up burning
logs and began to beat the snake to kill it. But in spite of being beaten with
burning logs, the serpent was not about to give up swallowing Nanda Mah€r€ja.
At that time KヘミŠa appeared on the
scene and touched the serpent with His lotus feet. Immediately upon being
touched by the lotus feet of KヘミŠa, the serpent
shed its reptilian body and appeared as a very beautiful demigod named
Vidy€dhara. His bodily features were so beautiful that he appeared to be
worshipable. There was a luster and effulgence emanating from his body, and he
was garlanded with a gold necklace. He offered obeisances to Lord KヘミŠa and stood before Him with great humility. KヘミŠa then asked the demigod, "You appear to be a
very nice demigod and to be favored by the goddess of fortune. How is it that
you performed such abominable activities, and how did you get the body of a
serpent?" The demigod then began to narrate the story of his previous
life.
"My dear Lord," he said, "in my
previous life I was named Vidy€dhara and was known all over the world for my
beauty. Because I was a celebrated personality, I used to travel all over in my
airplane. While traveling, I saw a great sage named š‰gir€. He was very ugly,
and because I was very proud of my beauty, I laughed at him. Due to this sinful
action, I was condemned by the great sage to assume the form of a
serpent."
®A¥KšSURA
The killing of this demon represents KヘミŠa's killing the desire for name and fame and the
association of the opposite sex.
The Story of
®a‰k€sura
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
After this incident, on a very pleasant night, both KヘミŠa and His elder brother Balar€ma, who are
inconceivably powerful, went into the forest of Vヘnd€vana. They were
accompanied by the damsels of Vrajabhumi, and they began to enjoy each other's
company. The young damsels of Vraja were very nicely dressed and anointed with
pulp of sandalwood and decorated with flowers. The moon was shining in the sky,
surrounded by glittering stars. The breeze was blowing, bearing the aroma of
mallika flowers, and the bumblebees were mad after the aroma. Taking advantage
of the pleasing atmosphere, both KヘミŠa and Balar€ma
began to sing very melodiously. The damsels became so absorbed in Their
rhythmical song that they almost forgot themselves; their hair loosened, their
dresses slackened, and their garlands began to fall to the ground.
At that time, while they were so much absorbed, almost
in madness, a demon associate of Kuvera (the treasurer of the heavenly planets)
appeared on the scene. The demon's name was ®a‰kh€sura because on his head
there was a valuable jewel resembling a conchshell. Just as the two sons of
Kuvera were puffed up over their wealth and opulence and did not care for
N€rada Muni's presence, this ®a‰kh€sura was also puffed up over material
opulence. He thought that KヘミŠa and Balar€ma
were two ordinary cowherd boys enjoying the company of many beautiful girls.
Generally, in the material world, a person with riches thinks that all
beautiful women should be enjoyed by him. ®a‰kh€sura also thought that since he
belonged to the rich community of Kuvera, he, not KヘミŠa and Balar€ma, should enjoy the company of so many
beautiful girls. He therefore decided to take charge of them.
He appeared before KヘミŠa and Balar€ma
and the damsels of Vraja and began to lead the girls away to the north. He
commanded them as if he were their proprietor and husband, despite the presence
of KヘミŠa and Balar€ma. Being forcibly taken away by
®a‰kh€sura, the damsels of Vraja began to call the names of KヘミŠa and Balar€ma for protection. The two brothers
immediately began to follow them, taking up big logs in Their hands.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid," They called to the gopis.
"We are coming at once to chastise this demon." Very quickly They
reached ®a‰kh€sura. Thinking the brothers too powerful, ®a‰kh€sura left the
company of the gopis and ran for fear of his life. But KヘミŠa would not let him go. He entrusted the gopis to the
care of Balar€ma and followed ®a‰kh€sura wherever he fled. KヘミŠa wanted to take the valuable jewel resembling a
conchshell from the head of the demon. After following him a very short
distance, KヘミŠa caught him, struck his head with His fist and
killed him. He then took the valuable jewel and returned. In the presence of
all the damsels of Vraja, He presented the valuable jewel to His elder brother
Balar€ma.
ARI±TšSURA
Ariミt€sura represents
the pride of fraudulent religionists whose practices have been concocted by
cheaters. Due to their contaminated condition they show disrespect to the
process of pure devotional service to KヘミŠa.
According to the Garga Saˆh…ta in his past life he had
been a br€hmaŠa named Varatantu, who was a disciple of Bヘhaspati. One day he sat facing his guru with his feet extended toward
him. Bヘhaspati told him "You sit as a bull sits! Fool,
you now become a bull!" He then took birth as a bull in East Bengal, and
by the association of demoniac bulls he also became a demon.
The Story of Ariミt€sura
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
One demon named Ariミt€sura entered the
village like a great bull with a gigantic body and horns, digging up the earth
with his hooves. When the demon entered Vヘnd€vana, the whole
land appeared to tremble, as if there were an earthquake. He roared fiercely,
and after digging up the earth on the riverside, he entered the village proper.
The fearful roaring of the bull was so piercing that some of the pregnant cows
and women had miscarriages. Its body was so big, stout and strong that a cloud
hovered over its body just as clouds hover over mountains. Ariミt€sura entered Vヘnd€vana with such a fearful appearance that just on
seeing this great demon, all the men and women were afflicted with great fear,
and the cows and other animals fled the village.
The situation became very terrible, and all the
inhabitants of Vヘnd€vana began to cry, "KヘミŠa! KヘミŠa, please save
us!" KヘミŠa also saw that the cows were running away, and He
immediately replied, "Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid." He then
appeared before Ariミt€sura and said, "You are the lowest of living
entities. Why are you frightening the inhabitants of Gokula? What will you gain
by this action? If you have come to challenge My authority, then I am prepared
to fight you." In this way, KヘミŠa challenged the
demon, and the demon became very angry by the words of KヘミŠa. KヘミŠa stood before
the bull, resting His hand on the shoulder of a friend. The bull began to
proceed towards KヘミŠa in anger. Digging the earth with his hooves, Ariミt€sura lifted his tail, and it appeared that clouds were hovering about
the tail. His eyes were reddish and moving in anger. Pointing his horns at KヘミŠa, he began to charge Him, just like the thunderbolt
of Indra. But KヘミŠa immediately caught his horns and tossed him away,
just as a gigantic elephant repels a small inimical elephant. Although the
demon appeared very tired and although he was perspiring, he took courage and
got up. Again he charged KヘミŠa with great
force and anger. While rushing towards KヘミŠa, he breathed
very heavily. KヘミŠa again caught his horns and immediately threw him on
the ground, breaking his horns. KヘミŠa then began to
kick his body, just as one squeezes a wet cloth on the ground. Being thus
kicked by KヘミŠa, Ariミtasura rolled over
and began to move his legs violently. Bleeding and passing stool and urine, his
eyes starting from their sockets, he passed to the kingdom of death.
KE®I
Keミi represents the
vanity of thinking "I am a great devotee and guru." Also the false
ego arising from attachment from wealth and material accomplishments.
According to the Brahm€-vaivarta Pur€na in his last
life he was Suparマvaka, one of the brothers of the Gandharvas who became
Pralamba and Bak€sura.
The Story of Keマi
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
After being instructed by Kaˆsa, the demon Keマi assumed the form of a terrible horse. He entered the area of Vヘnd€vana, his great mane flying and his hooves digging up the earth. He
began to whinny and terrify the whole world. KヘミŠa saw that the
demon was terrifying all the residents of Vヘnd€vana with his
whinnying and his tail wheeling in the sky like a big cloud. KヘミŠa could understand that the horse was challenging Him
to fight. The Lord accepted his challenge and stood before the Keミi demon. As He called him to fight, the horse began to proceed towards KヘミŠa, making a horrible sound like a roaring lion. Keマi rushed toward the Lord with great speed and tried to trample Him with
his legs, which were strong, forceful, and as hard as stone. KヘミŠa, however, immediately caught hold of his legs and
thus baffled him.
Being somewhat angry, KヘミŠa began to move
around the horse dexterously. After a few rounds, He threw him a hundred yards
away, just as Garuda throws a big snake. Thrown by KヘミŠa, the horse immediately passed out, but after a
little while he regained consciousness and with great anger and force rushed
toward KヘミŠa again, this time with his mouth open. As soon as Keマi reached Him, KヘミŠa pushed His left hand within the horse's mouth. The
horse felt great pain because the hand of KヘミŠa felt to him
like a hot iron rod. Immediately his teeth fell out. KヘミŠa's hand within the mouth of the horse at once began
to inflate, and Keミi's throat choked up. As the great horse began to
suffocate, perspiration appeared on his body, and he began to throw his legs
hither and thither. As his last breath came, his eyeballs bulged in their
sockets, and he passed stool and urine simultaneously. Thus the vital force of
his life expired. When the horse was dead, his mouth became loose, and KヘミŠa could extract His hand without difficulty. He did
not feel any surprise that the Keマi demon was killed
so easily, but the demigods were amazed, and out of their great appreciation
they offered KヘミŠa greetings by showering flowers.
VYOMšSURA
The killing of Vyom€sura illustrates the need to give
up the company of thieves and other rascals, as well as cheating impostors who
disguise themselves as devotees.
According to the Garga Saˆh…ta in his previous life he
was a great devotee king named Bh…maratha from V€r€Šasi. After some time he
renounced his kingdom and went to the Malaya Hills to perform austerities. One
day the sage Pulastya came to his hermitage with many disciples, but Bh…maratha
neglected to welcome them properly, so Pulastya cursed him to become a demon.
But he then blessed him that he would be liberated by KヘミŠa. Bh…maratha then took birth as Vyom€sura, the son
of M€y€sura.
The Story of
Vyom€sura
(from ®r…la
Prabhup€da's KヘミŠa Books)
Later that morning, KヘミŠa went to play
with His cowherd boyfriends on the top of the Govardhana Hill. They were
imitating the play of thieves and police. Some of the boys became police
constables, and some became thieves, and some took the role of lambs. While
they were thus enjoying their childhood pastimes, a demon known by the name of
Vyom€sura, "the demon who flies in the sky," appeared on the scene.
He was the son of another great demon, named M€y€. These demons can perform
wonderful magic. Vyom€sura took the part of a cowherd boy playing as thief and
stole many boys who were playing the parts of lambs. One after another he took
away almost all the boys and put them in the caves of the mountain and sealed
the mouths of the caves with stones. KヘミŠa could
understand the trick the demon was playing; therefore He caught hold of him
exactly as a lion catches hold of a lamb. The demon tried to expand himself
like a hill to escape arrest, but KヘミŠa did not allow
him to get out of His clutches. He was immediately thrown on the ground with
great force and killed, just as an animal is killed in the slaughterhouse.
After killing the Vyoma demon, Lord KヘミŠa released all
His friends from the caves of the mountain. He was then praised by His friends
and by the demigods for these wonderful acts. He again returned to Vヘnd€vana with His cows and friends.