NBS#151

Sri Mokñadä Ekädaçé

Issue no:151

25th December 2020

Mohini-murti : The Supreme Personality of Godhead The Lord Incarnates As Mohini- Murti Srila Sukadeva Goswami

Faith In Women

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

The Enjoying Mentality Of The Living Entities Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura

Why Are The Women Of Vraja So Fortunate?

Srila Sanatana Goswami

Associating With The Opposite sex Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

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Issue no 151, Page — 2

The Lord Incarnates As Mohini- Murti Srila Sukadeva Goswami

Sukadeva Goswami said: Thereafter, the demons became inimical toward one another.

Throwing and snatching the container of nectar, they gave up their friendly relationship. Meanwhile, they saw a very beautiful young woman coming forward toward them. Upon seeing the beautiful woman, the demons said, “Alas, how wonderful is Her beauty, how wonderful the luster of Her body, and how wonderful the beauty of Her youthful age!” Speaking in this way, they quickly approached Her, full of lusty desires to enjoy Her, and began to inquire from Her in many ways. O wonderfully beautiful girl, You have such nice eyes, resembling the petals of a lotus flower.

Who are You? Where do You come from? What is Your purpose in coming here, and to whom do You belong? O You whose thighs are extraordinarily beautiful, our minds are becoming agitated simply because of seeing You. What to speak of human beings, even the demigods, demons, Siddhas, Gandharvas, Caranas and the various directors of the universe, the Prajäpatis, have never touched You before. It is not that we are unable to understand Your identity. O beautiful girl with beautiful eyebrows, certainly Providence, by His causeless mercy, has sent You to please the senses and minds of all of us. Is this not a fact? We are now all engaged in enmity among ourselves be-

nityaà bhägavata-sevayä

cause of this one subject matter the container of nectar. Although we have been born in the same family, we are becoming increasingly inimical. O thin-waisted woman, who are so beautiful in Your prestigious position, we therefore request You to favor us by settling our dispute. All of us, both demons and demigods, have been born of the same father, Kasyapa, and thus we are related as brothers. But now we are exhibiting our personal prowess in dissension. Therefore we request You to settle our dispute and divide the nectar equally among us. Having thus been requested by the demons, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who had assumed the form of a beautiful woman, began to smile. Looking at them with attractive feminine gestures, She spoke as follows.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the form of Mohini, told the demons: O sons of Kasyapa Muni, I am only a prostitute. How is it that you have so much faith in Me? A learned person never puts his faith in a woman. O demons, as monkeys, jackals and dogs are unsteady in their sexual relationships and want newer and newer friends every day, women who live independently seek new friends daily. Friendship with such a woman is never permanent. This is the opinion of learned scholars.

Sri Sukadeva Goswami continued: After the demons heard the words of Mohini-murti, who had spoken as if jokingly, they were all very confident.

They laughed with gravity, and ultimately they

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nityaà bhägavata-sevayä delivered the container of nectar into Her hands.

Thereafter, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, having taken possession of the container of nectar, smiled slightly and spoke in attractive words. She said: My dear demons, if you accept whatever I may do, whether honest or dishonest, then I can take responsibility for dividing the nectar among you. The chiefs of the demons were not very expert in deciding things. Upon hearing the sweet words of Mohini-murti, they immediately assented. “Yes,” they answered. “What You have said is all right.”

Thus the demons agreed to accept Her decision.

The demigods and demons then observed a fast.

After bathing, they offered clarified butter and oblations into the fire and gave charity to the cows and to the brähmaëas and members of the other orders of society, namely the kñatriyas, vaiçyas and çüdras, who were all rewarded as they deserved.

Thereafter, the demigods and demons performed ritualistic ceremonies under the directions of the brähmaëas. Then they dressed themselves with new garments according to their own choice, decorated their bodies with ornaments, and sat facing east on seats made of kuça grass. O King, as the demigods and demons sat facing east in an arena fully decorated with flower garlands and lamps and fragrant with the smoke of incense, that woman, dressed in a most beautiful sari, Her ankle bells tinkling, entered the arena, walking very slowly because of Her big, low hips. Her eyes were restless due to youthful pride, Her breasts were like water jugs, Her thighs resembled the trunks of elephants, and She carried a waterpot in Her hand. Her attractive nose and cheeks and Her ears, adorned with golden earrings, made Her face very beautiful. As She moved, Her sari’s border on Her breasts moved slightly aside. When the demigods and demons saw these beautiful features of Mohini-murti, who was glancing at them and slightly smiling, they were all completely enchanted. Demons are by nature crooked like snakes. Therefore, to distribute a share of the nectar to them was not at all feasible, since this would be as dangerous as supplying milk to a snake. Considering this, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who never falls down, did not deliver a share of nectar to the demons. The Supreme Personality of Godhead as Mohini-murti, the master of the universe, arranged separate lines of sitting places and seated the demigods and demons according to their positions. www.ibmedu.org

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Taking the container of nectar in Her hands, She first approached the demons, satisfied them with sweet words and thus cheated them of their share of the nectar. Then She administered the nectar to the demigods, who were sitting at a distant place, to make them free from invalidity, old age and death.

O King, since the demons had promised to accept whatever the woman did, whether just or unjust, now, to keep this promise, to show their equilibrium and to save themselves from fighting with a woman, they remained silent. The demons had developed affection for Mohini-murti and a kind of faith in Her, and they were afraid of disturbing their relationship. Therefore they showed respect and honor to Her words and did not say anything that might disturb their friendship with Her. Rahu, the demon who causes eclipses of the sun and moon, covered himself with the dress of a demigod and thus entered the assembly of the demigods and drank nectar without being detected by anyone, even by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The moon and the sun, however, because of permanent animosity toward Rahu, understood the situation. Thus Rahu was detected.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, using His disc, which was sharp like a razor, at once cut off Rahu’s head. When Rahu’s head was severed from his body, the body, being untouched by the nectar, could not survive. Rahu’s head, however, Bhāgavata Mahāvidyālaya

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nityaà bhägavata-sevayä to everyone, just as water poured on the root of a tree is distributed throughout the entire tree.

— Srimad-Bhägavatam (Bhägavata Puräëa) » Canto 8: Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations » Chapter Nine » Verses: 1-29.

Faith In Women

His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Sri-bhagavän uväca kathaà Kasyapa-däyädäù puàçcalyäà mayi saìgatäù viçväsaà paëòito jätu käminéñu na yäti hi

having been touched by the nectar, became immortal. Thus Lord Brahma accepted Rahu’s head as one of the planets. Since Rahu is an eternal enemy of the moon and the sun, he always tries to attack them on the nights of the full moon and the dark moon. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the best friend and well-wisher of the three worlds. Thus when the demigods had almost finished drinking the nectar, the Lord, in the presence of all the demons, disclosed His original form. The place, the time, the cause, the purpose, the activity and the ambition were all the same for both the demigods and the demons, but the demigods achieved one result and the demons another. Because the demigods are always under the shelter of the dust of the Lord’s lotus feet, they could very easily drink the nectar and get its result. The demons, however, not having sought shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord, were unable to achieve the result they desired. In human society there are various activities performed for the protection of one’s wealth and life by one’s words, one’s mind and one’s actions, but they are all performed for one’s personal or extended sense gratification with reference to the body.

All these activities are baffled because of being separate from devotional service. But when the same activities are performed for the satisfaction of the Lord, the beneficial results are distributed

Cäëakya Paëòita, the great politician and moral instructor, said, viçväso naiva kartavyaù stréñu räja-kuleñu ca: "Never put your faith in a woman or a politician." Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was pretending to be a woman, warned the demons against putting so much faith in Her, for She had appeared as an attractive woman ultimately to cheat them. Indirectly disclosing the purpose for which She had appeared before them, She said to the sons of Kasyapa, "How is this? You were all born of a great åñi, yet you are putting your faith in a woman who is loitering here and there like a prostitute, unprotected by father or husband. Women in general should not be trusted, and what to speak of a woman loitering like a prostitute?" Women, especially beautiful young women, invoke the dormant lusty desires of a man. Therefore, according to Manu-saàhitä, every woman should be protected, either by her husband, by her father or by her grown sons. Without such protection, a woman will be exploited. Indeed, women like to be exploited by men. As soon as a woman is exploited by a man, she becomes a common prostitute.

This is explained by Mohiné-murti, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

— Srimad-Bhägavatam (Bhägavata Puräëa) » Canto 8: Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations » Chapter Nine » Verses : 10 Purport

Associating With The Opposite sex Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

viñayéra anna khäile malina haya mana malina mana haile nahe kåñëera smaraëa

Bhāgavata Mahāvidyālaya

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nityaà bhägavata-sevayä

"When one eats food offered by a materialistic man, one's mind becomes contaminated, and when the mind is contaminated, one is unable to think of Krishna properly."

Those persons who externally engage in sensual activities and accept sense objects just to maintain body and soul together but internally engage in their constitutional position as servants of Krishna are not counted amongst the sense enjoyers, who are attached the fruits of their activities.

The sense enjoyers and persons fond of sense enjoyers are both worldly-minded. Persons who are fond of sense enjoyers are themselves also sense enjoyers, because they always think of sense enjoyment within their hearts. There are some people who are not themselves sense enjoyers, but they take pleasure in associating with sense enjoyers.

Their association should also be renounced, because they will soon become sense enjoyers and bad association themselves. There are two types of sense enjoyers—those who are extremely attached to sense enjoyment and devotees who are attached to sense enjoyment. Associating with those who are extremely attached should be totally rejected.

The devotees who are attached to sense enjoyment are also of two types—those who have included the Lord as a part of their sense enjoyment and those who have kept the Lord in the center of their sense enjoyment. Association with the latter type is www.ibmedu.org

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preferable to association with the former. Although those who engage in sense enjoyment according to religious codes are better than the sinful sense enjoyers, still the practicing devotee should not associate with them until they become devotees.

Simply by wearing the dress of a renunciate one does not become a devotee free from sense gratification, because renunciates often collect and save objects of sense enjoyment. On the other hand, many persons resemble sense enjoyers but utilize everything in the worship of Lord Hari in the mood of detachment. Considering all this, the practicing devotee should give up the association of sense enjoyers and those fond of them and engage in devotional service in a secluded place or, if he is fortunate, in the association of genuine devotees.

Do not associate with women. On the other hand, when a woman is engaged in sädhana-bhakti, she should not associate with men. Associating with the opposite sex is very inauspicious for the advancing devotee. There are two types of men and women. When a man and woman are married according to religious principles, there is no sin in their touching and talking with each other; rather, this touching and talking is beneficial because of the scriptural sanction. There is, however, no provision for illusory activities other than the execution of reciprocal duties. If they are illusioned by each other and they engage in activities other than Bhāgavata Mahāvidyālaya

Issue no 151, Page — 6 prescribed duties, then that is called stré-saìga and puruña-saìga, or association with the opposite sex.

For those who are engaged in worshiping Krishna, such association yields inauspicious results. If either one is guilty of such association, then they become an obstacle for the other party. If the wife is helpful in the discharge of devotional service, then the fault of stré-sanga does not arise. But if the wife is an impediment in the discharge of devotional service, then one should carefully give up her association. We should consider the behavior of the great Vaiñëava äcärya, Srimad Ramanujacarya.

Srimad Ramanujacarya sent his wife to her parent's home after she offended his gurus wife. He then took sannyäsa, in this connection. When there is no marital relationship and one converses with a woman with evil intentions, then this is stré-saìga.

That is sinful and detrimental to devotional service.

Considering these points, the practicing devotee should very carefully give up the association of women and persons fond of women — Sri Bhaktyäloka - The Six Faults and Qualities of Bhakti by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura..

The Enjoying Mentality Of The Living Entities Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura

In His pastimes as a devotee of Hari, Gaurasundara never discussed any topic about mundane women. After totally condemning the association of women and the association of persons who associate with women, Srimad Bhägavatam, which is the ripened fruit of the Vedic desire tree and the king of all scriptures, has established such association as unfavorable to non-duplicitous service to the Lord. Wherever the enjoying mentality of the living entities is engaged in enjoying women, it is to be understood that there is a lack of service attitude towards Krishna, the husband of all women. If anyone came before Gaurasundara to discuss or bring up worldly topics about women, He would immediately and specifically forbid them. On the pretext of studying mundane literature that is contrary to the service of Krishna and with the desire to drink the rasa of dry literature that is devoid of the rasa of devotional service to Krishna, the hearts of living entities that are accustomed to drink worldly rasas become maddened for material sense enjoyment in such a way that the Supreme Lord Gaurasundara, who is the bestower of the mellows of devotional

nityaà bhägavata-sevayä service to Krishna, along with the sampradäyas of His pure devotee mahäjanas, never support such deviation. Those who have properly discussed the topics of Sri Caitanyadeva know very well that He never supported indulgence in any worldly topics about women.

— Sri Caitanya-bhägavata -Ädi-khaëòa Chapter Fifteen: Marriage with visnupriya - Verse: 30-32.

Why Are The Women Of Vraja So Fortunate?

Srila Sanatana Goswami

Because they always engage in Kåñëa-saìkértana, no matter what else they do. They sing while they milk the cows and churn butter for their husbands and children, while they apply kuìkuma, candana, and other cosmetics to their bodies, while they swing on swings, while they comfort their babies, while they clean their houses with water and cow dung. They sing Krishna’s names while cooking, grinding grains, smearing the courtyards with auspicious pastes, and beautifying the walls of their houses with painted designs. Thus the gopis’ unavoidable duties in taking care of their families and maintaining their own bodies do not at all obstruct the ecstasy the gopis feel in worshiping Krishna; rather, these contribute to it by giving suitable occasions for saìkértana.

The gopis are so absorbed in Krishna’s glories that they are hardly aware of the effort they expend while working. And so intense is their singing that they actually see Krishna. Either by the power of meditation they see Him in their hearts as He plays all around Vraja-bhümi, or else they make excuses to take their work out into the pastures and so directly see Him playing there. Sometimes the presence of their elders makes them too shy to sing about Krishna, and then they fly to where Krishna is by the inner vehicle of their minds, helplessly attracted by the power of Lord Urukrama, who intrudes by stealth into the minds of His best devotees. As the gopis chant about Krishna, their minds are more and more attracted to Him, and gradually they are unable to think coherently about anything else. Shedding tears of love, they sob uncontrollably, and their hearts go swiftly (uru-krameëa) to join Krishna, wherever He is.

In short, they are the most fortunate of women because they always see Krishna, always chant His

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nityaà bhägavata-sevayä

glories, always think about Him, and always feel completely attracted to Him in pure love.

The words anurakta-dhiyo ’çru-kaëöhyaù, which describe how the gopis sing, can be understood to be a response to the following doubt: “Isn’t it true that a woman does what she does only because she is attracted to doing it? The gopis must have some attraction for household work, otherwise why would they be so busy doing it? How then can they be said to be merged totally, exclusively in love for Krishna?” The Mathura women respond by commenting that such symptoms as tears in the eyes prove that the gopis’ minds are full of loving attraction for Krishna. The gopis do their household duties only for His sake.

But then another doubt might arise: “With such distracted minds, how could the gopis maintain their bodies and fulfill their family responsibilities?” The answer is that Krishna is Urukrama, the Supreme Lord who possesses amazing energies and accomplishes wonderful feats. The gopis, by fixing their hearts on Him, are easily able to carry out all their duties and obtain whatever is needed.

Even though the gopis think only of Krishna, to the exclusion of everything else, they are free from anxiety over the many duties they are obliged to fulfill. Everything they do is for His satisfaction, so they can do everything expertly simply by the force of Krishna consciousness. This verse also describes the gopis’ singing about Krishna as most promiwww.ibmedu.org

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nent. Their remembrance and visions of Him come as natural consequences of this primary service of singing His glories. Therefore the gopis’ meditating on Krishna and envisioning Him are not explicitly mentioned. The ladies of Mathura conclude, “These women alone are the most fortunate, and in ways for which we can never aspire. How sad!”

— Sri Båhad Bhägavatämåta of Srila SanatanaGosvami, Volume One. Translated by Gopiparanadhana Dasa. 3.7.137.

!! Sri Sri Nitai Gaurchandra Jayati !!

ISKCON Bhagavata Mahavidyalaya is a branch of International Society for Krishna Consciousness Founder-Acarya: His Divine Grace A.C. BhaktiVedanta Swami Prabhupada Editor Brajsunder Das Copy Editor Isha Prakash Das Sanskrit Editor, Vrajsevika Devi Dasi Assistance Vamsidhari Gauri Devi Dasi Quotations from the books, letters, and lectures of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupada ©Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. ©All the paintings are copyrights of their respective artists.

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