WSN March 2023 – World Sankirtan Newsletter
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By Vijaya Das

Of the top six book distributors in the USA in March, three are disciples of Srila Prabhupada. All three have been distributing books for more than fifty years. What great examples! Bhrigupati Prabhu is in his seventies, but he moves like an energetic young man. He was the No. 2 distributor in the USA in March, with 2,920 book points. Divyanga Prabhu was No. 4 in the US, with 855 book points. In the 1970s, he saw devotees in their van in front of a store, and he asked whether he could get a ride with them into a music concert. They said yes, and then they introduced him to Prabhupada's books. He found them interesting, so he gave a donation and took some. Mrgendra Prabhu asked Divyanga whether he would join them in distributing books to people going to the concert. He agreed. He did it all day and liked it, so the devotees invited him to join them at the next concert. He did that, and he's still going strong. Adi Karta Prabhu was No. 6 in the US, with 721 books points. He not only distributes books but cultivates the people who buy books from him. Some of them become his disciples. When I was distributing with him in Miami, he said, "Mostly I go out on sankirtan to make friends, and sometimes they take books and give donations." Continue reading "WSN March 2023 – World Sankirtan Newsletter
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Madhavendra Puri Appearance
→ Ramai Swami

Before Lord Caitanya appeared He sent His eternal associates like Sri Advaita Acarya, Sri Jagannatha Misra, Saci Mata, Madhavendra Puri, Isvari Puri to earth. Sri Madhavendra Puri took initiation from Sri Laksmipati Tirtha in the Madhvacarya sampradaya.

He had many but Sri Advaita Acarya and Sri Isvara Puri were the chief disciples of Madhavendra Puri. In one way or another, all the Vaisnavas in Bengal and Ksetra mandala (Jagan­natha Puri) were connected with Sri Madhavendra Puri. After Lord Caitanya came many of his disciples joined Mahaprabhu’s sankirtana movement. 

“Madhavendra Puri’s body was completely full of divine love; so were his followers. He displayed uncommon love of God. Seeing a dark blue rain cloud, he would fall down unconscious. Day and night he was intoxicated from drinking the ambrosia of Krishna prema.” (Vrndavana Dasa Thakura)

After making an extensive pilgrimage of Bharata-bhumi (India) he passed his life in Vrndavana and Orissa. He began the restoration work of Vrndavana that Sri Rupa and Sanatana Gos-vamis continued later. Wandering from grove to grove, remembering Radha-Krishna’s sweet Vrndavana pastimes, Madhavendra Puri would faint in ecstasy.

In a dream, Sri Gopala ordered Madhavendra Puri to uncover a buried Gopala Deity and install Him atop Govardhana Hill. Madhavendra Puri celebrated Gopala’s installation with an annakuta (grand festival offering a mountain of foodstuffs to Krishna). This Annakuta festival, also called Govardhana Puja, is one of the most important Vaisnava festivals in Vrndavana, in India, and around the world. The original Gopala Deity, known as Sri Nathaji, is now worshiped in Nathadvara, Rajasthan. 

Madhavendra Puri introduced the conception of madhurya bhava (conjugal love) in the Madhvacarya sampradaya. Mad­havendra Puri sowed the seed of prema bhakti. And Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu became the towering tree dropping honey sweet fruits of prema upon everyone. He also revealed viraha bhava, the mood of love relished in separation from God. His branch of the Madhva sect distinguished itself by this ecstatic love of God. It is known as the Madhva-Gaudiya sampradaya.

Sri Nrsimha-caturdasi
Giriraj Swami

We shall read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Five, Chapter Eighteen: “The Residents of Jambudvipa Offer Prayers,” from the series of prayers recited by Prahlada Maharaja to Lord Nrsimhadeva. Text 8 is a very important prayer, or mantra, and in it many words are repeated, which gives them great emphasis.

TEXT 8

om namo bhagavate narasimhaya namas tejas-tejase avir-avirbhava vajra-nakha vajra-damstra karmasayan randhaya randhaya tamo grasa grasa om svaha; abhayam abhayam atmani bhuyistha om ksraum.

TRANSLATION

I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Nrsimhadeva, the source of all power. O my Lord who possess nails and teeth just like thunderbolts, kindly vanquish our demonlike desires for fruitive activity in this material world. Please appear in our hearts and drive away our ignorance so that by Your mercy we may become fearless in the struggle for existence in this material world.

TEXT 9

svasty astu visvasya khalah prasidatam
   dhyayantu bhutani sivam mitho dhiya
manas ca bhadram bhajatad adhoksaje
   avesyatam no matir apy ahaituki

TRANSLATION

May there be good fortune throughout the universe, and may all envious persons be pacified. May all living entities become calm by practicing bhakti-yoga, for by accepting devotional service they will think of each other’s welfare. Therefore let us all engage in the service of the supreme transcendence, Lord Sri Krsna, and always remain absorbed in thought of Him.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The following verse describes a Vaisnava:

vancha-kalpa-tarubhyas ca
   krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo
   vaisnavebhyo namo namah

Just like a desire tree, a Vaisnava can fulfill all the desires of anyone who takes shelter of his lotus feet. Prahlada Maharaja is a typical Vaisnava. He prays not for himself, but for all living entities—the gentle, the envious, and the mischievous. He always thought of the welfare of mischievous persons like his father, Hiranyakasipu. Prahlada Maharaja did not ask for anything for himself; rather, he prayed for the Lord to excuse his demoniac father. This is the attitude of a Vaisnava, who always thinks of the welfare of the entire universe.

Srimad-Bhagavatam and bhagavata-dharma are meant for persons who are completely free of envy (parama-nirmatsaranam). Therefore Prahlada Maharaja prays in this verse, khalah prasidatam: “May all the envious persons be pacified.” The material world is full of envious persons, but if one frees himself of envy, he becomes liberal in his social dealings and can think of others’ welfare. Anyone who takes up Krsna consciousness and engages himself completely in the service of the Lord cleanses his mind of all envy (manas ca bhadram bhajatad adhoksaje). Therefore we should pray to Lord Nrsimhadeva to sit in our hearts. We should pray, bahir nrsimho hrdaye nrsimhah: “Let Lord Nrsimhadeva sit in the core of my heart, killing all my bad propensities. Let my mind become clean so that I may peacefully worship the Lord and bring peace to the entire world.”

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has given us a very fine purport in this regard. Whenever one offers a prayer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one always requests some benediction from Him. Even pure (niskama) devotees pray for some benediction, as instructed by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His Siksastaka:

ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram
   patitam mam visame bhavambudhau
krpaya tava pada-pankaja-
   sthita-dhuli-sadrsam vicintaya

“O son of Maharaja Nanda [Krsna], I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick Me up from the ocean of death and place Me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.” In another prayer Lord Caitanya says, mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi: “Life after life, kindly let Me have unalloyed love and devotion at Your Lordship’s lotus feet.” When Prahlada Maharaja chants om namo bhagavate narasimhaya, he prays for a benediction from the Lord, but because he is also an exalted Vaisnava, he wants nothing for his personal sense gratification. The first desire expressed in his prayer is svasty astu visvasya: “Let there be good fortune throughout the entire universe.” Prahlada Maharaja thus requested the Lord to be merciful to everyone, including his father, a most envious person. According to Canakya Pandita, there are two kinds of envious living entities: one is a snake, and the other is the man like Hiranyakasipu, who is by nature envious of everyone, even of his father or son. Hiranyakasipu was envious of his little son Prahlada, but Prahlada Maharaja asked a benediction for the benefit of his father. Hiranyakasipu was very envious of devotees, but Prahlada wished that his father and other demons like him would give up their envious nature by the grace of the Lord and stop harassing the devotees (khalah prasidatam). The difficulty is that the khala (envious living entity) is rarely pacified. One kind of khala, the snake, can be pacified simply by mantras or by the action of a particular herb (mantrausadhi-vasah sarpah khalakena nivaryate). An envious person, however, cannot be pacified by any means. Therefore Prahlada Maharaja prays that all envious persons may undergo a change of heart and think of the welfare of others.

If the Krsna consciousness movement spreads all over the world, and if by the grace of Krsna everyone accepts it, the thinking of envious people will change. Everyone will think of the welfare of others. Therefore Prahlada Maharaja prays, sivam mitho dhiya. In material activities, everyone is envious of others, but in Krsna consciousness, no one is envious of anyone else; everyone thinks of the welfare of others. Therefore Prahlada Maharaja prays that everyone’s mind may become gentle by being fixed at the lotus feet of Krsna (bhajatad adhoksaje). As indicated elsewhere in Srimad-Bhagavatam (sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayoh) and as advised by Lord Krsna in Bhagavad-gita (18.65), man-mana bhava mad-bhaktah, one should constantly think of the lotus feet of Lord Krsna. Then one’s mind will certainly be cleansed (ceto-darpana-marjanam [Cc Antya 20.12]). Materialists always think of sense gratification, but Prahlada Maharaja prays that the Lord’s mercy will change their minds and they will stop thinking of sense gratification. If they think of Krsna always, everything will be all right. Some people argue that if everyone thought of Krsna in that way, the whole universe would be vacated because everyone would go back home, back to Godhead. However, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says that this is impossible because the living entities are innumerable. If one set of living entities is actually delivered by the Krsna consciousness movement, another set will fill the entire universe.

COMMENT by Giriraj Swami

vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca
  krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo
  vaisnavebhyo namo namah

Srila Prabhupada quoted this verse in the purport because it describes a Vaishnava and because Prahlada Maharaja, who recited the prayers that we are reading and discussing, is an excellent example of a Vaishnava.

Hiranyakasipu, the father of Prahlada, was a great demon, and he performed such severe austerities that the entire universe became disturbed. Eventually, Lord Brahma went to Hiranyakasipu personally to ask him what benediction he wanted, so that he would cease his austerities and stop the disturbance within the universe. Hiranyakasipu asked for the benediction to become immortal, but Lord Brahma replied, “I myself am not immortal.” So Hiranyakasipu asked for various boons that he thought would indirectly make him immortal. He asked that he not be killed inside a building or outside; that he not be killed in the day or at night; that he not be killed on the land or in the sky; that he not be killed by any human being or animal, demigod or demon, or any other creature; and that he not be killed by any weapon. He asked for such benedictions that he thought would make him immortal and give him absolute supremacy in the universe. And Lord Brahma agreed to all of the requests: “So be it.”

In due course, Hiranyakasipu had a son named Prahlada, and Prahlada was a devotee. Earlier, the Lord in the form of Varahadeva had killed Hiranyakasipu’s brother Hiranyaksa, and Hiranyakasipu was determined to avenge his brother’s death—he actually thought that he could kill Vishnu. He knew that Vishnu had appeared as Varaha and killed Hiranyaksa. Later, Diti, the mother of Hiranyaksa and Hiranyakasipu, desired a son who would kill Indra, because she thought that Indra, with the help of Vishnu, was responsible for the death of her sons.

We know from scripture—sadhu-sastra-guru-vakya—that Vishnu is God. So we might consider, “How could anyone imagine that they could kill God?” But if God came into this room and we didn’t recognize Him by the features that are described in the scriptures, we wouldn’t know He was God, because God looks like a human being. As the Bible says, “God created man in His own image.” God has arms and legs and hands and feet and eyes and ears and a nose and mouth and all the different bodily features we have. His body looks like ours. What distinguishes Him from us is that He has immeasurable potencies. For example, the president of the United States looks like a human being like the rest of us, but he has immense powers (more than some might like). If he wants, he can order the army to invade a country or send the police to arrest a citizen. He looks like us, but we don’t have that power. We might want to do certain things, but we don’t have the power. He has the power. Still, he looks like one of us.

When someone performs great austerities, he can get great powers. Even demons, if they perform the required austerities, can become very powerful and attain various mystic perfections. So, although Lord Vishnu has all power and mystic potency, demons can also get powers. And Hiranyakasipu thought that by his austerities and the powers he derived from them and the benedictions he got from Lord Brahma, he could become immortal and conquer the universe. He had created a great disturbance in the universe by performing severe austerities; now he did so by waging war against the demigods and conquering their territories.

Although he was a demon, Hiranyakasipu had natural affection for his son, and he wanted him to be like his father, a great materialist, and had him educated accordingly. He engaged teachers to instruct the boy to be expert in politics and diplomacy. And as parents sometimes ask their children, “What did you learn in school today? What is your favorite subject?” Hiranyakasipu asked Prahlada, “What is the best thing you have learned?” He thought Prahlada would say something cute, something sweet. But Prahlada gave what was for Hiranyakasipu the worst answer imaginable. He said, “The best thing I have learned is sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam/ arcanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam”—to hear about and glorify Vishnu. Vishnu, whom Hiranyakasipu considered to be his worst enemy. So, Hiranyakasipu became furious, and when nothing else worked, he decided to kill Prahlada. He applied the logic that if a part of your body becomes infected, the disease may spread throughout the body and kill you, so even though it is part of your body, you have to amputate it, for the sake of the rest of the body. He thought, “Although Prahlada is my son, he has been infected by the disease of Vaishnavism and we have to cut him out before the disease spreads and finishes us.”

Hiranyakasipu tried to kill Prahlada in so many ways. He had conquered the demigods, and he occupied the throne of King Indra and ruled over the inhabitants of all the other planets. Except for Brahma and Shiva, all the demigods were engaged in his service, offering him obeisances and praise. He was so powerful. But he could not kill Prahlada. He had horrible demons try to pierce Prahlada’s body with tridents. He threw Prahlada beneath the feet of elephants and in the midst of venomous snakes. But no matter what he did, he could not kill him. He hurled him from a mountain top, gave him poison, starved him, and threw heavy stones on him to crush him. Nothing worked—nothing affected Prahlada in the least. Hiranyakasipu was astonished. He had triumphed over the armies of the demigods, but he could not subdue his five-year-old son.

Finally, after all his efforts had failed, Hiranyakasipu asked Prahlada, “From where do you get your power? You know that when I am angry all the planets of the three worlds, along with their rulers, tremble. But you have no fear, and you have exceeded my power to control you. From where do you get your strength?” And Prahlada replied, “I get my strength from the same source as you, from the source of all strength—from God.” Now, that really infuriated Hiranyakasipu, because he thought that he was the source of his own power. That is the demoniac mentality: we think we are the doers—kartaham iti manyate. We think, isvaro ’ham aham bhogi siddho ’ham balavan sukhi: “I am the controller. I am the enjoyer. I am perfect and powerful and happy.” Hiranyakasipu didn’t want to hear that he got his power from someone else—least of all from the person to whom Prahlada referred: the unlimited Supreme Lord.

Thus Hiranyakasipu became even more infuriated and more defiant. He said to Prahlada, “If this God of yours is everywhere, why is He not present before me in this pillar? I am going to kill you now, and let us see this God of yours protect you!” Filled with rage, Hiranyakasipu rose from his throne and with great anger struck his fist against the column. And out of the pillar emerged the wonderful form of Nrsimhadeva. Nrsimha Bhagavan ki jaya!

Nrsimhadeva is unique. He is neither a man nor an animal but has a form that is half lion and half man. And His appearance fulfilled all the conditions of Lord Brahma. He isn’t a demigod or human being or animal—He isn’t any creature. Ultimately He picked up Hiranyakasipu and placed him on His lap and with His long, sharp nails ripped apart his chest. Hiranyakasipu was extraordinarily powerful, and his chest could withstand the thunderbolt of Indra. No one could pierce his body. He was so powerful. One could throw arrows and all types of weapons at him, and they would bounce off him like nothing. So it was no mean feat to tear open his chest. Yet Nrsimhadeva ripped open his chest with His nails, tore out his heart, and thus killed this great demon.

We glorify Lord Nrsimha daily with the prayer (a line of which Srila Prabhupada quoted in his purport):

ito nrsimhah parato nrsimho
   yato yato yami tato nrsimhah
bahir nrsimho hrdaye nrsimho
   nrsimham adim saranam prapadye

Ito nrsimhah means “Nrsimha is here”; parato nrsimho means “Nrismha is also there.” Yato yato yami tato nrsimhah: “Wherever I go, there is Nrsimha.” Bahir nrsimho: “Nrimsha is outside”; hrdaye nrsimho: “Nrsimha is in my heart.” Nrsimham adim saranam prapadye: “I surrender to Lord Nrsimha, the origin of all and the supreme shelter.” He is everywhere.

We also sing:

namas te nara-simhaya
   prahladahlada-dayine
hiranyakasipor vaksah-
   sila-tanka-nakhalaye

Sila-tanka-nakhalaye. Sila means “stone,” as in saligrama-sila; nakha means “fingernails”; and tanka means “chisel.” If you want to break a hard stone, you have to chisel it. And Lord Nrsimha’s nails were like chisels that cut the chest of Hiranyakasipu—his stonelike heart and chest.

Hiranyakasipu thought that he could become immortal by his own power and intelligence. But his intelligence was not as great as that of Lord Nrsimha, who kept all of Brahma’s boons intact and still was able to kill the demon. Nrsimhadeva assumed this wonderful form—adbhuta means “wonderful”—that was half man and half lion. He sat at the threshold of the palace, which wasn’t inside or outside. He appeared at twilight, which was neither day nor night. And He killed Hiranyakasipu on His lap—not in the sky or on the land. And not with any weapon but with His nails. He kept all the benedictions intact and still killed him.

Srila Prabhupada explains that however intelligent we are, Krishna is always more intelligent. Mother Yasoda tried to bind Krishna with ropes, but no matter how many ropes she tied together, He was always two fingers bigger and she was always just a little short. In the same way, if we try to compete with God—try to outwit God, try to cheat God—we will always fall short. Srila Prabhupada says, “Hiranyakasipu was thinking only of the atomic bomb, how to protect himself from the bomb, but he forgot about the nails.” He made so many arrangements to protect himself, but he neglected to consider the nails. So, the conclusion should be “If you can’t fight Him, join Him.” Nrsimham adim saranam prapadye. Just surrender to Nrsimhadeva. Don’t try to compete with Him or fight with Him. That is the background of Prahlada’s prayers.

After Nrsimhadeva killed Hiranyakasipu, He asked Prahlada to request a benediction, but Prahlada was a pure devotee—he didn’t want any material benediction. In today’s verse we find the word ahaituki: without any motive. Prahlada had no material motive, so when Lord Nrsimhadeva asked him to request a benediction, he refused. He said, “Why are You trying to tempt me with material allurements? If I were to desire material benefit in exchange for devotional service, I wouldn’t be a servant. I would be like a businessman who wants profit in exchange for service. Lord, I am Your eternal servant, and You are my eternal master. We have no other relationship.” Prahlada asked only that there be no material desires within his heart.

But Nrsimhadeva insisted that Prahlada request a benediction, and in the end Prahlada agreed: “If You really want me to ask something of You, then I ask that You purify my father.” This shows the exemplary character of Prahlada, who, as Srila Prabhupada said, is a typical Vaishnava. A Vaishnava is the friend of everyone, of all living entities (suhrdah sarva-dehinam). He never becomes the enemy of his enemy. He remains ever the friend of everyone—even his enemies. So even though Hiranyakasipu was so envious—even of his own son—that he tried in so many ways to kill him, Prahlada remained true to his character as a Vaishnava. He thought of his father’s welfare, and he wished his father well.

In this prayer to Lord Nrsimha, Prahlada is praying for his father and for all envious people, that they may be pacified. Khalah prasidatam: “May all envious persons be pacified.” As Srila Prabhupada notes, almost everyone is envious. In fact, we come into this material world because we are envious of Krishna. That is why we are here. Thus Srila Prabhupada says, “Almost everyone.” The only exceptions are pure devotees. Everyone else has some envy. It is like saying, “Almost everyone in the prison is a criminal.” Yes, in principle, all the prisoners are criminals. There may be some staff members who are not, who are there to minister to the inmates, but the prisoners themselves are criminals. So, other than the devotees who are working for the welfare of the fallen souls, everyone is envious. And no one is spared their envy. Hiranyakasipu was envious of his five-year-old son, a pure devotee. Diti was envious of her nephew Indra. She wanted to kill him, or get him killed. No one is spared.

If we want to get out of the bondage of material existence, we have to become free from envy. And how do we become free from envy? By the process of Krishna consciousness. And that is Prahlada’s prayer: bhajatad adhoksaje. Bhaja means to worship and serve. The word bhakti comes from the verbal root bhaj: to serve with devotion. Serve whom? Adhoksaja: Krishna, who is beyond material sense perception. Hiranyakasipu couldn’t see Vishnu; the Lord was beyond his sense perception. It was only when He chose to appear to him by emerging from the pillar as Nrsimhadeva that Hiranyakasipu could see Him. Otherwise, only pure devotees can see Krishna—no one else. He is beyond the perception of the materially contaminated senses, mind, and intelligence of the conditioned souls.

The process is Krishna consciousness (bhajatad adhoksaje), and as Prahlada has explained, we engage in devotional service in Krishna consciousness by sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam: hearing and chanting about Vishnu and remembering Him. As Srila Prabhupada quoted from the Siksastaka, ceto-darpana-marjanam: sankirtana, the chanting of the holy names of the Lord, cleanses the heart. That is the process. And when the heart is cleansed, we become peaceful and calm (bhadram).

This process is described in two important verses from the second chapter of Srimad-Bhagavatam:

srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah
   punya-sravana-kirtanah
hrdy antah-stho hy abhadrani
   vidhunoti suhrt satam

“Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.” (SB 1.2.17)

 Srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah. When we hear krsna-katha, all the abhadrani—all the material desires, all the disturbances within the heart—are cleansed by the Lord Himself, who is sitting within the heart as the well-wishing friend of the truthful devotee (vidhunoti suhrt satam).

And the transcendental sound itself is Krishna. Krishna enters the ear in the form of transcendental sound, and when we are hearing properly, the sound will enter the heart and cleanse it. Krishna in the form of transcendental sound will cleanse the dirty things in the heart (ceto-darpana-marjanam).

The next verse explains further:

nasta-prayesv abhadresu
   nityam bhagavata-sevaya
bhagavaty uttama-sloke
   bhaktir bhavati naisthiki

“By regular attendance in classes on the Bhagavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.” (SB 1.2.18)

Bhagavata-sevaya: by serving the person Bhagavata or by serving the book Bhagavata, all that is troublesome to the heart—the same word, abhadrani (abhadra, nasta-prayesv abhadresu)—all that is troublesome, all that is disturbing to the heart, becomes destroyed almost to nil at this stage. So when Prahlada prays that envious persons be pacified (bhadram), he is praying that all the abhadra, the disturbing things, the material desires within the heart, be removed. And the way they can be removed is by Krishna consciousness, by absorbing the mind in Krishna. That process is recommended in the Bhagavad-gita (man-mana bhava mad-bhakto) and in Srimad-Bhagavatam (sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayoh)—to absorb the mind in Krishna. That is Krishna consciousness, and that will cleanse the heart and make us calm and peaceful. Then, instead of being envious of others and wanting to exploit and dominate them, we will think of their welfare. We want to help them and encourage them in Krishna consciousness.

Our main process, specially given to us in Kali-yuga by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, is sankirtana, the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. But we have to do it in such a way that our minds are absorbed. That is Prahlada’s prayer, that our minds be absorbed in Krishna. So, when we chant, we want to hear—we want our minds to be absorbed in the sound of Lord Krishna’s holy name. But when we try practically, what do we find? Is our mind peaceful? Is it absorbed in Krishna’s holy name? Or is it wandering here and there, thinking of different things to control and enjoy, which suggests the mentality described in the Bhagavad-gita and ascribed to demons: isvaro ’ham aham bhogi—“I am the controller; I am the enjoyer”? When we analyze the thoughts we have even while we are chanting—while we are supposed to be chanting and hearing—we find that the underlying principles are “I am the enjoyer; I am the controller.” We are chanting, but we are distracted, thinking, “Oh, I have to do this. I have to do that.” What does that imply? That I think I am the controller. “I have to control all these things. I can’t hear Krishna’s name. I have to control all these things.” And why do we want to control them? Though we may also want to control for Krishna’s service, the tendency is to control for sense gratification. We want to control people and events in certain ways as to make our lives more pleasurable. We want to make arrangements to make our lives more pleasant.

This demoniac tendency that we discussed in relation to Hiranyakasipu is there in us too. As our godbrother Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu often quotes, “We have seen the enemy, and he is us.” We are the enemy. It is not out there. We are the enemy—our own bad propensities, our own uncontrolled minds and senses. The problem is not out there. It is right here inside us.

So, we have to work hard. We have to endeavor to chant and hear with attention, with feeling. Whenever the mind wanders, we have to bring it back to the sound of Lord Krishna’s holy name. And that is a difficult job. In fact, it is a futile exercise on our own strength alone. We need help. We need mercy. We need mercy from Krishna. And Prahlada is helping us. We should be praying, but he is leading us in the prayer. In Text 8 he prayed to Lord Nrsimhadeva in the heart, “Kindly vanquish my demonlike desires. Just as You destroyed Hiranyakasipu, kindly destroy my demonlike desires, kill my bad propensities, and sit on the throne of my heart.”

So, we do both: we make our own effort, and we pray for mercy. And when the Lord sees that we are making an honest effort, He is inclined to give His mercy. We don’t just sit back and do nothing and pray for mercy. We have to make an effort. But at the same time, we understand that we cannot be successful by our effort alone; we need the Lord’s help. And when the Lord sees our genuine, sincere, tireless effort, He will be merciful. Mother Yasoda couldn’t bind Krishna with all the ropes in Vraja, but when Krishna saw her tireless effort to bind Him, He felt compassion for her and allowed her to bind Him. Our acharyas explain that that gap of two fingers by which the ropes were always too short can be covered (1) by our endeavor, our hard labor (parisrama), and (2) by Krishna’s mercy (krsna-krpa). These two elements can cover that distance and make our efforts successful—by Krishna’s grace.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, as quoted by Prabhupada in the purport, explains that whenever a devotee offers a prayer to the Lord, he asks for some benediction. Om namo bhagavate narasimhaya is a prayer, and implicit in the prayer is a request for a benediction. But a devotee will not ask for a material benediction like Hiranyakasipu’s: “Let me become immortal so I can conquer the universe and make everyone my servant.” He will ask for a benediction related to devotional service. And that is not wrong. He just won’t ask for something for his sense gratification; he will ask for something for Krishna consciousness—for his own Krishna consciousness and for the Krishna consciousness of others.

We find the example in the Siksastaka (5):

ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram
   patitam mam visame bhavambudhau
krpaya tava pada-pankaja-
   sthita-dhuli-sadrsam vicintaya

“O son of Maharaja Nanda [Krsna], I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into this horrible ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.”

This is a very significant verse. Ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram: “I am Your eternal servant.” We are Krishna’s servants—specifically Krishna’s, the son of Nanda. Nanda-tanuja is an intimate term. Tanu means “body” and ja means “born.” Although the Lord is aja, unborn, for the sake of His pastimes in Vrindavan, He appears as nanda-tanuja, He who was “born from the body of Nanda.” It is very intimate. “Yet although I am Your servant [kinkaram], somehow or the other I have fallen into this terrible ocean of birth and death [patitam mam visame bhavambudhau].” Bhava means “to exist” or “to come into being and then to cease to exist.” And visame Prabhupada translates as “horrible.” Literally, visa means “poison.” This material existence is like an ocean of poison. And within this ocean are ferocious aquatics like sharks, who are ready to devour us. These deadly creatures are compared to lust, anger, and greed—always ready to devour us, to finish us. And there are waves in the ocean, terrible waves that are compared to false hopes and anxieties. They are always tossing us around. And there are strong winds—gales and storms—which are compared to bad association.

The ocean is bad enough, but it becomes even worse when we are subjected to bad association. Such association acts like strong winds that push us in the wrong direction and may cause us to fall over. And while we are floundering in the ocean, drowning in the sea, we may come across some small pieces of wood and think, “Oh, here is a little piece of wood. Let me grab onto it.” Those insignificant pieces of wood are compared to the processes of karma, jnana, yoga, and so on. They can’t save us.

The only thing that can save us is mercy (tava krpa). Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who uttered these verses called the Siksastaka, prays, “By Your mercy, please pick Me up from this horrible ocean of birth and death and place Me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.” It is divine mercy that can save us. And He prays to be an atom at the lotus feet of Krishna. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura remarks that this indicates that we are all originally part and parcel of Krishna.  Dhuli means “dust.” Pada-dhuli: “dust of the lotus feet.” Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu prays, “Please be causelessly merciful to Me. Consider Me, Your eternal servant, a particle of dust at Your lotus feet.”

Someone might question, “Is it proper for a devotee who has taken shelter of the holy name of Krishna to discuss the miseries of material existence?” Well, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu does. So it is not wrong to discuss the miseries of material existence, and it is not wrong to pray for mercy to be reestablished in one’s constitutional relationship with Krishna. Those are things devotees do. And that should be our mood when we chant: that the holy name is Krishna and that we want to reestablish our lost relationship with Him. Thus we want to reestablish our relationship with the holy name—Krishna as the holy name. And our chanting is personal reciprocation with the holy name. When our mind wanders and all these anarthas come up, as they are prone to do, we pray for mercy: “Please save me. I think I am God, the controller, the enjoyer. Please save me from these anarthas.” That is one side of the prayer. The other side is, “Please engage me in Your service. Please accept me as Your eternal servant. Please consider me an atom at Your lotus feet, a particle of dust at Your lotus feet.”

And we have another example from Sri Siksastaka (4):

 na dhanam na janam na sundarim
   kavitam va jagad-isa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare
   bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

“O Lord of the universe, I do not desire material wealth, materialistic followers, a beautiful wife, or fruitive activities described in flowery language. All I want, life after life, is unmotivated devotional service to You.”

Ahaituki. Again the word ahaituki: “causeless, without any motive for personal gain of any sort.” Pure devotional service is anyabhilasita-sunyam jnana-karmady-anavrtam. Anyabhilasita-sunyam: without any ulterior motive. Jnana-karmady-anavrtam: not covered by karma, jnana, or any other process. In His Siksastaka, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu prays in the mood of pure devotion: na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam. Dhanam means “wealth.” Janam means “followers.” Sundarim means “beautiful women, beautiful wife.” And kavitam means “poetry” or “the flowery words of the Vedas.” Sometimes sundarim is placed with kavitam to mean “beautiful poetry.” Some people think they can realize God through poetry, music, or art, and they are attached to such subtle, almost heavenly pleasures. They say they can experience God through hearing a symphony, for instance. So sundarim kavitam: beautiful poetry. And when sundarim is considered with janam, then beautiful women, beautiful wife, children, relatives, and friends are included in janam. And all of these gains are achieved by pious material activities—in other words, karma. So, when Lord Chaitanya says na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam, He means that He doesn’t want anything that can be achieved by karma. And when He says mama janmani janmanisvare, that birth after birth He wants to be engaged in pure devotional service, He tells us that He does not want even liberation, which is the goal of jnana. In other words, He is not praying for the results of karma or jnana but is asking only for pure devotional service. Such is a pure devotee. And that is what we should be praying for.

But Prahlada is asking not just for himself. He is praying for all living entities. And the same principle applies: we pray, but we also have to work. It is not enough to sit back and pray, “Please deliver all the living entities in the universe” while we keep busy in eating and sleeping, or even chanting for our own personal benefit. We also have to work for the deliverance of the fallen souls. And that combination of endeavor and prayer will be effective. We find later, in Prahlada’s prayers to Nrsimhadeva in the Seventh Canto (SB 7.9.44):

prayena deva munayah sva-vimukti-kama
   maunam caranti vijane na parartha-nisthah
naitan vihaya krpanan vimumuksa eko
   nanyam tvad asya saranam bhramato ’nupasye

“O my Lord, I see that most saintly persons are interested only in their own deliverance. Not caring for the big cities and towns, they roam in solitary places with vows of silence. They are not interested in delivering others. As for me, however, I do not wish to be liberated alone, leaving aside all these poor fools and rascals. I know that without Krsna consciousness, without taking shelter of Your lotus feet, one cannot be happy. Therefore I wish to bring them back to shelter at Your lotus feet.”

Prahlada does not have to be concerned about his own liberation, because, as a pure devotee, he is already liberated. Wherever he is, he can always immerse himself in the nectarean ocean of the Lord’s holy names and glories, and feel transcendental bliss. He explains, “For myself I have no anxiety, but I do have one concern. My lamentation (soce) is that people are suffering without Krishna consciousness, and so I am always making plans how to engage them in devotional service.”

naivodvije para duratyaya-vaitaranyas
   tvad-virya-gayana-mahamrta-magna-cittah
soce tato vimukha-cetasa indriyartha-
   maya-sukhaya bharam udvahato vimudhan

“O best of the great personalities, I am not at all afraid of material existence, for wherever I stay I am fully absorbed in thoughts of Your glories and activities. I am quite satisfied to chant Your holy name, because whenever I chant I immediately merge in an ocean of transcendental bliss. My concern is only for the fools and rascals who are making elaborate plans for material happiness and maintaining their families, societies, and countries. I am simply lamenting for them and devising various plans to deliver them from the clutches of maya.” (SB 7.9.43)

Prahlada Maharaja is one of our acharyas—one of the twelve mahajanas—and he is teaching us by his example. He is thinking how he can deliver the fallen souls, how he can induce the fallen souls to take to Krishna consciousness. At the same time, he is praying to his worshipable Deity, Lord Nrsimhadeva, to be merciful to them and deliver them, because he knows that on his own he can’t deliver them—and that on their own they can’t deliver themselves. So, to preach we need the Lord’s mercy. And to practice Krishna consciousness we also need the Lord’s mercy. At every stage, we need the Lord’s mercy. And at the same time, we have to make our own efforts.

In conclusion, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura raises the question, “What if Prahlada Maharaja’s prayer is accepted and everyone becomes Krishna conscious? They all will leave the material universe and go back to Godhead, so what will happen to the universe?”

At the Ardha-kumbha-mela in 1971, I had a rare opportunity to be with Srila Prabhupada in his tent when he was giving darshan, meeting visitors in the afternoon. A man asked him, “What if everyone becomes a devotee—how will the world go on?” And Prabhupada asked me to answer. I don’t remember exactly what I said, maybe something about how will the prison go on if all the prisoners are reformed and released, but I was very attentive to what Prabhupada said after I made my attempt. He replied, “It is like asking, ‘What if everyone becomes rich? Who will be the chauffeur?’ Everyone wants to be rich. You can’t argue, ‘What if everyone becomes rich?’ to say that people not try to become rich.” And he continued, “The problem is not that too many people will become Krishna conscious; the problem is that not enough will become Krishna conscious. Do you think that is a problem—that too many people will become Krishna conscious? That is not the problem. The problem is that not enough will become Krishna conscious.”

In this mood of thinking of the welfare of every living entity, one of our godsisters, Jahnava devi dasi, once asked Srila Prabhupada, “When we chant, should we think of the welfare of all living entities?” And Prabhupada replied, “Oh, you can think of all living entities? You just think of Lord Chaitanya, and He will think of all living entities.” We may desire the welfare of all living entities, but it is not in our capacity to think of all living entities. Even in a family of four, it is hard to think of the welfare of all four at once. So, we can’t think of all living entities. But we can think of Lord Chaitanya, and He will think of all living entities. We can pray to Lord Nrsimhadeva, and He will think of all living entities. And we can pray to be a little particle of dust in Their service—a small instrument in Their mission—by Their divine grace.

Hare Krishna.

Nrsimha Bhagavan ki jaya!
Prahlada Maharaja ki jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Nitai-gaura-premanande hari-haribol!

[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Nrsimha-caturdasi, April 30, 2007, Dallas]
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11-Year-Old Devotee Wins Bhagavad Gita Sanskrit Recitation Award at International Event Held in Sydney
→ ISKCON News

Dr. Meena Srinivasan, Krishna Balaram, and his mother, Abhidheya Devi Dasi at the event. Krishna Balaram, an 11-year-old devotee living in Sydney, Australia was awarded second place for his memorized recitation of chapter 12 of the Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit at the International Gita Mahotsav held at Sydney’s International Convention Centre. The three-day event, held […]

The post 11-Year-Old Devotee Wins Bhagavad Gita Sanskrit Recitation Award at International Event Held in Sydney appeared first on ISKCON News.

Nrisimhadeva was there !
→ Dandavats

By Ramananda Raya dasa Dear Devotees, Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Attached is an article submitted by Shikar and Yoginee about the scary event that happened to their family in South Africa. They were held up in their own home by five gangsters. But miraculously, by Lord Nrsimhadeva’s mercy, they
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𝐔𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐥 – Lord Nrsimhadev Seva!!!
→ Mayapur.com

𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐞𝐰 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐡𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢! 𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐡𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐯. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐛𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐤𝐚 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝. 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 […]

The Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire hosts a tea for faith leaders at Bhaktivedanta Manor, in celebration of the King’s Coronation
→ Dandavats

In the run-up to the momentous occasion of the coronation of King Charles III, Bhaktivedanta Manor hosted a ‘pre-coronation tea’ for faith leaders on Tuesday 2nd May. The event was attended by over 30 religious organisations from Hertfordshire, who collectively represented a dozen faiths. Bhaktivedanta Manor this year celebrates its 50th anniversary — it was
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Comfortable Living and Krishna Consciousness don’t go well together
→ Dandavats

Parasurama Das: The wonderful Tribhuvanath Prabhu used to tell us how Srila Prabhupada often said ” comfortable living and Krishna Consciousness don’t go well together”. Tribhuvanath Prabhu jokingly would say that we should not practice ” cosy yoga”. The bhagavata-dharma, or the cult of Srimad-Bhagavatam, is perfectly distinct from the way of fruitive activities, which
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Jayananda Prabhu’s Disappearance Day—A Successful Life, a Glorious Death
Giriraj Swami

The following letters were written by Srila Prabhupada shortly before and after Jayananda Prabhu’s death.

To Jayananda dasa, February 26, 1977:

This body is today or tomorrow finished. We should not be very much bothered about the body. Trees also live for thousands of years, but that does not mean a successful life. A successful life is one of Krishna consciousness. By the grace of Krishna, from the very beginning you are a devotee, and that is the real profit of your life.

About a sadhu it is said, jiva va mara va—a sadhu may live or die, it doesn’t matter. While living he is engaged in Krishna conscious business, and when dying he goes back home, back to Godhead.

 

To Jayananda dasa, May 5, 1977:

I am feeling very intensely your separation. In 1967 you joined me in San Francisco. You were driving my car and chanting Hare Krishna. You were the first man to give me some contribution ($5,000) for printing my Bhagavad-gita. After that, you have rendered very favorable service to Krishna in different ways. I so hope at the time of your death you were remembering Krishna and as such, you have been promoted to the eternal association of Krishna. If not, if you had any tinge of material desire, you have gone to the celestial kingdom to live with the demigods for many thousands of years and enjoy the most opulent life of material existence. From there you can promote yourself to the spiritual world. But even if one fails to promote himself to the spiritual world, at that time he comes down again on the surface of this globe and takes birth in a big family like a yogi’s or a brahman’s or an aristocratic family, where there is again chance of reviving Krishna consciousness. But as you were hearing krishna-kirtan, I am sure that you were directly promoted to Krishna-loka.

janma karma ca me divyam
  evam yo vetti tattvatah
tyaktva deham punar janma
  naiti man eti so ’rjuna
[Gita 4.9]

Krishna has done a great favor to you, not to continue your diseased body, and has given you a suitable place for your service. Thank you very much.

 

To Ramesvara dasa, May 11, 1977:

Jayananda’s death is glorious. It is very good that he had stated, “What is the use of such a useless body? Better to give it up.” He has left his body very wonderfully, and he has been transferred to Vaikuntha. I have already sent a condolence letter for publication in Back to Godhead. Everyone should follow the example of Jayananda. I am very proud that I had such a nice disciple. If possible, Jayananda’s picture should be hung in the ratha of Lord Jagannatha, and in all of our temples a day may be set aside for holding a festival in his honor, just as we do on the disappearance day of the other great Vaishnavas.

* * *

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

Lord Narasimha Appearance
→ Ramai Swami

Lord Nrsimha is the incarnation of Lord Krsna that appeared to protect his young devotee Prahlada. He appeared as half-man half-lion and killed the envious, atheistic demon, Hiranyakashipu who was materialism personified (hiran-gold, kasipu-soft bed). Devotees pray to Lord Nrsimhadeva for protection and to kill their material desires.

namas te narasimhaya
prahladahlada-dayine
hiranyakashipor vaksaha
shila-tanka-nakhalaye

I offer my obeisances to Lord Narasimha, who gives joy to Prahlada Maharaja and whose nails are like chisels on the stonelike chest of the demon Hiranyakasipu.

ito nrisimhah parato nrisimho
yato yato yami tato nrisimhah
bahir nrisimho hrdaye nrisimho
nrisimham adim sharanam prapadye

Lord Nrsimha is here and also there. Wherever I go Lord Nrsimha is there. He is within the heart and is outside as well. I surrender to Lord Nrsimha, the origin of all things and the supreme refuge.

tava kara-kamala vare
nakham adbhuta-shringam
dalita-hiranyakashipu-tanu bhrigam 
keshava dhrita-narahari-rupa
jaya jagadisha hare

O Kesava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of half-man, half-lion! All glories to you! Just as one can easily crush a wasp between one’s fingernails, so in the same way the body of the wasplike demon Hiranyakasipu has been ripped apart by the wonderful pointed nails on your beautiful lotus hands.

Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire Hosts Event for Faith Leaders at Bhaktivedanta Manor in Celebration of the King’s Coronation
→ ISKCON News

Cutting of a royal cake with a ceremonial sword by Lord Lieutenant Robert Voss and Temple President Vishaka Devi.  In the run-up to the momentous occasion of the coronation of King Charles III, Bhaktivedanta Manor hosted a ‘pre-coronation tea’ for faith leaders on Tuesday 2nd May. The event was attended by over 30 religious organisations from […]

The post Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire Hosts Event for Faith Leaders at Bhaktivedanta Manor in Celebration of the King’s Coronation appeared first on ISKCON News.

Sri Rukmini-dvadasi
Giriraj Swami

Today is Rukmini-dvadasi, the appearance day of Srimati Rukmini-devi. There have been wonderful festivities all day, beginning with the special darshan of the Deities in Their flower outfits, and just now a wonderful abhiseka. During the abhiseka I really felt like I was in Vrindavan. There was so much devotion, spontaneous devotion—every time the pujaris poured another substance on the Deities, there would be gasps and cries of ecstasy and approval. It was wonderful. And that is life in Krishna consciousness—somehow being captivated by Krishna, the beauty of Krishna, manifest in His deity forms, His holy names, and His words and descriptions, the revealed scriptures. We want, somehow or other, to be absorbed in Krishna, and that absorption, encouraged by all these different activities, will cleanse the heart naturally and make us happy.

In terms of tattva (ontology), Krishna is the Absolute Truth. From Him everything emanates. He is the cause of all causes.

isvarah paramah krsnah
  sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah
  sarva-karana-karanam

“Krishna, who is known as Govinda, is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, and He is the prime cause of all causes.” (Brahma-samhita 5.1)

Once, on a morning walk here at Cheviot Hills Park, I asked Srila Prabhupada, “We say that Krishna is the origin of all, but sometimes people question us, ‘You say Krishna is the origin, but what is Krishna’s origin?’ What should we answer?” And Prabhupada replied, “You should tell them that according to our information, Krishna is the origin of everything and has no origin, but if you find someone or something that is the origin of Krishna, we will worship that person or thing—but until then you should worship Krishna.”

So, Krishna is the origin, but in terms of tattva, there are two basic categories: vishnu-tattva and shakti-tattva. Krishna is the source of all Vishnu forms, beginning with Balarama (Krishna’s first expansion), Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha—so many expansions on the side of the energetic (Vishnu). Similarly, there are so many expansions on the side of the energy (shakti), and the first is Srimati Radharani. From Her expand so many gopis in Vrindavan, so many queens in Dvaraka, and so many Laksmis in Vaikuntha.

krsna-kanta-gana dekhi tri-vidha prakara
  eka laksmi-gana, pure mahisi-gana ara
vrajangana-rupa, ara kanta-gana-sara
  sri-radhika haite kanta-ganera vistara

“The beloved consorts of Lord Krsna are of three kinds: the goddesses of fortune, the queens, and the milkmaids of Vraja, who are the foremost of all. These consorts all proceed from Radhika.” (Cc Adi 4.74–75)

Of all Krishna’s queens in Dvaraka, Rukmini-devi is the principal. Ultimately, she is an expansion of Srimati Radharani. All of Rukmini’s qualities are present in Radharani, though Radharani manifests some qualities that Rukmini doesn’t.

Many of Rukmini and Krishna’s pastimes are described in Srimad-Bhagavatam, and they are all relishable and instructive. When I first read the story of Rukmini and Krishna in the Krsna book, I thought that it was the most wonderful story—one that could make a fabulous movie, with romance, suspense, chivalry, adventure, and a truly happy ending. I thought, “This is amazing. You get everything in Krishna consciousness—but completely pure and spiritual.”

Rukmini was the daughter of the king of Vidarbha, and when sages and saintly persons visited the royal palace, they would glorify the transcendental beauty, prowess, and character of Krishna. Sages knew Krishna to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and so they were pleased to glorify Him. And because He was acting as a ruler, kshatriyas were also pleased to speak about Him. By hearing about Krishna, Princess Rukmini became attached to Him (we could say she fell in love). She had never met Him, but just by hearing about Him she developed great faith, attraction, and love for Him and decided that He would be the perfect husband for her.

This is instructive for all of us—that if we hear about Krishna without envy, we will also become attracted to Him. Of course, Rukmini was a very pious, religious, pure-hearted girl. In fact, she was an expansion of Srimati Radharani. And because she was pure and religious and cultured, hearing about Krishna had an especially powerful effect on her heart. In the same way, if we lead pure lives as ordained by scripture, as taught by Srila Prabhupada, when we hear about the beauty and qualities and pastimes of Krishna, we will also become attracted.

Thus Rukmini, a most qualified princess, became attached to Krishna, the most qualified prince, and decided to marry Him. But her eldest brother, Rukmi, was envious of Krishna and forbade her marriage with Him. Instead, he arranged her marriage to his friend Sisupala, who was practically from birth envious of and antagonistic toward Krishna.

Other than Rukmi, all Rukmini’s family members and well-wishers, including her father, favored her match with Krishna. And Rukmini, Krishna’s eternal consort, could not think of marrying anyone else. Later, she told Krishna that only a woman who had not relished the fragrance of the honey of His lotus feet could accept someone else as her husband or lover. Any other suitor would be a “living corpse”—a bag covered with skin, whiskers, nails, and hair and filled with flesh, bones, blood, stool, mucus, bile, and air. “The aroma of Your lotus feet,” she averred, “which is glorified by great saints, awards people liberation and is the abode of Goddess Laksmi. What woman would take shelter of any other man after savoring that aroma? Since You are the abode of transcendental qualities, what mortal woman with the insight to distinguish her own true interest would disregard that fragrance and depend instead on someone who is always subject to terrible fear?” She insisted that she would depend only on Krishna, who has an eternal, blissful, spiritual form.

Understanding the situation, Rukmini, in a bold move, sent a message to Krishna through a trustworthy brahman, expressing her heart’s desire to have only Him as her husband and suggesting how He could steal her away from the assembly at her proposed marriage the following day.

Rukmini was so beautiful and attractive that not only Sisupala but many kings and princes desired her. That is what we experience in the material world: Pretty much everyone looks at everyone else as objects to exploit and enjoy, however sweetly they may act or speak. For example, at the end of almost any phone call to a large business, the company’s rep will ask, “Is there anything else I can do for you?” It’s all scripted. The ultimate purpose is to get your money, but they ask ever so politely, “Is there anything else I can do for you today?” Underneath it all, people want to get something from you for themselves. They want to exploit your body, your mind, or your resources. They are just like the lusty kings and princes hovering around Rukmini.

In that delicate predicament, that awkward situation, Rukmini reached out to Krishna, cried out to Him to save her. That was the only recourse she had, and ultimately that is the only recourse any of us has. We are in an ocean surrounded by sharks ready to devour us, and the only one who can save us is Krishna.

daivi hy esa guna-mayi
  mama maya duratyaya
mam eva ye prapadyante
  mayam etam taranti te

[Lord Krishna says,] “This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who surrender unto Me can easily cross beyond it.” (Gita 7.14)

Rukmini surrendered herself to Lord Krishna with utter, complete sincerity, and the Lord reciprocated and delivered her. Sometimes we also pray to Krishna, but with some duplicity. We want Krishna’s help but at the same time still desire to enjoy materially, without Krishna. There is a saying about soldiers in combat: “There are no atheists in foxholes [pits dug for cover from enemy fire].” There are no atheists in foxholes because someone in extreme danger will naturally pray to God, knowing intuitively that only God can save him. But after he has been saved from his immediate danger, the person will tend to forget God and again think, “I’m the controller, I’m the enjoyer, I’m the proprietor,” and return to his ordinary, self-centered, inauspicious way of life.

Princess Rukmini was completely sincere. She wanted only to serve Krishna, and nothing else. Nothing else would satisfy her. And so she concluded her message to Krishna:

yasyanghri-pankaja-rajah-snapanam mahanto
  vanchanty uma-patir ivatma-tamo-’pahatyai
yarhy ambujaksa na labheya bhavat-prasadam
  jahyam asun vrata-krsan chata-janmabhih syat

“O lotus-eyed one, great souls like Lord Siva hanker to bathe in the dust of Your lotus feet and thereby destroy their ignorance. If I cannot obtain Your mercy, I shall simply give up my vital force, which will have become weak from the severe penances I will perform. Then, after hundreds of lifetimes of endeavor, I may obtain Your mercy.” (SB 10.52.43)

Now, one could argue that yes, Rukmini wanted Krishna, but along with Krishna she got a beautiful palace—there are descriptions in the Bhagavatam of the extraordinary opulence of Dvaraka—and so many nice children and servants and maidservants, and so much affluence. Actually, there is no harm in opulence, as long as Krishna is in the center. That is the main thing—that Krishna should be in the center. A chaste and faithful wife—this is another instruction from the narration of Rukmini and Krishna in the Bhagavatam—will follow her husband. If he is in an opulent position, so be it; or if by circumstances he falls into a poor condition, still she will stay with him. And sometimes it happens that the poor husband, by the grace of Krishna, becomes opulent.

One example is Sudama Vipra. He was Krishna’s friend from when they were students in gurukula, in the ashram of Sandipani Muni. Sudama was a peaceful and learned brahman, detached from sense enjoyment, and he ended up being very poor. Krishna was a prince, the husband of the goddess of fortune, and He naturally ended up being supremely opulent. One day, Sudama’s wife, weak from hunger and distressed (more for her husband’s sake than for her own), implored him, “The Supreme Lord Krishna is nearby in Dvaraka. He is a personal friend and is compassionate to brahmans. Please approach Him, and He will surely give you, a suffering householder, abundant wealth.”

Sudama was not very keen on asking for something material from Krishna, but he did like the idea of seeing Him. In accordance with proper etiquette, he wanted to bring some gift, and he asked his wife if there was anything in the house he could take. They had nothing, so she begged four handfuls of flat rice from neighboring brahmans, tied it in a torn piece of cloth, and gave it to her husband as a present for Lord Krishna. Thus Sudama set out to Dvaraka, constantly thinking of Krishna.

When Lord Krishna caught sight of the brahman, He immediately stood up, went forward to meet him, and embraced him with great pleasure. He seated him very nicely on His own bedstead and washed his feet, while Queen Rukmini, the divine goddess of fortune herself, personally fanned the poor brahman. After some affectionate, philosophical talks about their times in service to their guru, Krishna asked His friend, “What gift have you brought Me?” Sudama felt so ashamed and embarrassed, he simply remained silent and bowed his head. Then the Lord, who knew everything, snatched the flakes of chipped rice tied in the old cloth and exclaimed, “What is this?” He ate a palmful of the rice, but when He was about to eat a second, Queen Rukmini caught hold of His hand and said, “One palmful is enough.” According to Visvanatha Cakravarti, she was thinking, “If You eat all of this wonderful treat Yourself, what will be left for my friends and servants and me?”

Rukmini told Krishna, “This is more than enough to satisfy You. Your pleasure alone assures Your devotee of opulence in this life and the next.” In Krsna (Ch. 81), Srila Prabhupada comments, “This indicates that when food is offered to Lord Krsna with love and devotion and He is pleased and accepts it from the devotee, Rukmini-devi, the goddess of fortune, becomes so greatly obliged to the devotee that she has to go personally to the devotee’s home to turn it into the most opulent home in the world.”

Sudama spent the night in Lord Krishna’s palace, and the next day, after being duly honored by the Lord, without having asked Him for any material benefit, he set off for his home. Walking along the road, he felt blissful, satisfied just by the Lord’s darshan. And he thought that the merciful Lord, considering that if he suddenly became rich he would become intoxicated with material happiness and forget Him, had not granted him even the slightest wealth.

Thus the brahman eventually reached home. In place of his former meager residence, however, he found a celestial palace with beautiful gardens and servants and maidservants. And when Sudama’s wife came forward to greet him, she looked just like the goddess of fortune herself. Without Sudama’s having asked Krishna for anything, and without Krishna’s having told Sudama that He would give him anything, He gave him more than Sudama or his wife could ever have imagined. And Sudama never forgot Lord Krishna. He concluded:

kincit karoty urv api yat sva-dattam
  suhrt-krtam phalgv api bhuri-kari
mayopanitam prthukaika-mustim
  pratyagrahit priti-yuto mahatma

“The Lord considers even His greatest benedictions to be insignificant, while He magnifies even a small service rendered to Him by His well-wishing devotee. Thus with pleasure the Supreme Soul accepted a single palmful of the flat rice I brought Him.”

tasyaiva me sauhrda-sakhya-maitri-
  dasyam punar janmani janmani syat
mahanubhavena gunalayena
  visajjatas tat-purusa-prasangah

“The Lord is the supremely compassionate reservoir of all transcendental qualities. Life after life may I serve Him with love, friendship, and sympathy, and may I cultivate such firm attachment for Him by the precious association of His devotees.”

bhaktaya citra bhagavan hi sampado
  rajyam vibhutir na samarthayaty ajah
adirgha-bodhaya vicaksanah svayam
  pasyan nipatam dhaninam madodbhavam

“To a devotee who lacks spiritual insight, the Supreme Lord will not grant the wonderful opulences of this world—kingly power and material assets. Indeed, in His infinite wisdom the unborn Lord well knows how the intoxication of pride can cause the downfall of the wealthy.” (SB 10.81.35–37)

Firmly fixed in his determination by his spiritual intelligence, Sudama remained absolutely devoted to Krishna, and without avarice, he, with his wife, remained in the opulent position awarded them by Him. Being completely purified by constant remembrance of the merciful, affectionate Lord Krishna, Sudama attained the Lord’s supreme abode.

So, we are not against opulence, and we are not for poverty—we are for Krishna. Sometimes, however, opulence can be an impediment. We may be tested: “Do I want Krishna more or maya more?” And sometimes poverty, in a way, can be an impediment. But whatever is destined for us will come to us. We don’t have to bother about it. It is ordained. Some people are rich automatically, and some people are poor. It is ordained. Whatever happiness is due to us will come, and whatever distress is due to us will come, but the main thing is Krishna, to have Krishna, to make Krishna—the Deity of Krishna, the holy name of Krishna, the pastimes of Krishna, the philosophy of Krishna, everything Krishna—the center of our lives. And if Krishna, the husband of the goddess of fortune (and Rukmini, the goddess of fortune herself) wants, He will give us more facility to serve Him. That is what He did with Sudama Brahman. Knowing that the brahman would not misuse the facility, that he would remain a humble, devoted servant, Krishna gave him everything.

So, if we worship Rukmini-Dvarakadisa and make Them the center of our lives, we may enjoy some of Their opulence. New Dvaraka itself is quite opulent, so we are already enjoying some of Their opulence. But material opulence is incidental, because material things without Krishna will not make us happy. The real thing is Krishna. Only Krishna can make us happy, and with Krishna we will be happy—with or without material things.

Today’s festival is wonderful because it infuses us with thoughts of Krishna, inspires our attraction for Krishna. That is why Srila Prabhupada established this temple, installed the Deities, and trained the devotees, so that they could always be busy with Krishna, busy for Krishna, and by association inspire and teach others also how to be absorbed in Krishna. Among the main processes in the present age of Kali, the foremost is the chanting of the holy names: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. So let us chant Hare Krishna, dance, feast on krsna-prasada, and be happy in Krishna consciousness.

Hare Krishna.

[ A talk by Giriraj Swami on Rukmini-dvadasi, May 14, 2011, New Dvaraka, Los Angeles]