The Dealing Of The lOrD
The Wives Of The Kaliya GlOrifies
The supreme lOrd Srila Sukadeva Goswami
prayers By NaGapaTNis
By the disciples of His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
The primary Cause Of The maTerial WOrld Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura
WhaT is The maTerial WOrld?
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
The True sCripTures Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur
The dealiNG Of The lOrd
His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
The wives of the Kaliya serpent said: The punishment this offender has been subjected to is certainly just. After all, You have incarnated within this world to curb down envious and cruel persons. You are so impartial that You look equally upon Your enemies and Your own sons, for when You impose a punishment on a living being You know it to be for his ultimate benefit. What You have done here is actually mercy for us, since the punishment You give to the wicked certainly drives away all their contamination. Indeed, because this conditioned soul, our husband, is so sinful that he has assumed the body of a serpent, Your anger toward him is obviously to be understood as Your mercy. Did our husband carefully perform austerities in a previous life, with his mind free of pride and full of respect for others? Is that why You are pleased with him? Or did he in some previous existence carefully exe-
cute religious duties with compassion for all living beings, and is that why You, the life of all living beings, are now satisfied with him? O Lord, we do not know how the serpent Kaliya has attained this great opportunity of being touched by the dust of Your lotus feet. For this end, the goddess of fortune performed austerities for centuries, giving up all other desires and observing austere vows. Those who have attained the dust of Your lotus feet never hanker for the kingship of heaven, limitless sovereignty, the position of Brahma or rulership over the earth. They are not interested even in the perfections of yoga or in liberation itself. O Lord, although this Kaliya, the king of the serpents, has taken birth in the mode of ignorance and is controlled by anger, he has achieved that which is difficult for others to achieve. Embodied souls, who are full of desires and are thus wandering in the cycle of birth and death, can have all benedictions manifested before their eyes simply by receiving the dust of Your lotus feet.
We offer our obeisances unto You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although present in the
hearts of all living beings as the Supersoul, You are all-pervasive. Although the original shelter of all created material elements, You exist prior to their creation. And although the cause of everything, You are transcendental to all material cause and effect, being the Supreme Soul. Obeisances unto You, the Absolute Truth, who are the reservoir of all transcendental consciousness and potency and the possessor of unlimited energies. Although completely free of material qualities and transformations, You are the prime mover of material nature. Obeisances unto You, who are time itself, the shelter of time and the witness of time in all its phases. You are the universe, and also its separate observer. You are its creator, and also the totality of all its causes. Obeisances unto You, who are the ultimate soul of the physical elements, of the subtle basis of perception, of the senses, of the vital air of life, and of the mind, intelligence and consciousness. By Your arrangement the infinitesimal spirit souls falsely identify with the three modes of material nature, and their perception of their own true self thus becomes clouded. We offer our obeisances unto You, the unlimited Supreme Lord, the supremely subtle one, the omniscient Personality of Godhead, who are always fixed in unchanging transcendence, who sanction the opposing views of different philosophies, and who are the power upholding expressed ideas and the words that express them. We offer our obeisances again and again to You, who are the basis of all authoritative evidence, who are the author and ultimate source of the revealed scriptures, and who have manifested Yourself in those Vedic literatures encouraging sense gratification as well as in those encouraging renunciation of the material world. We offer our obeisances to Lord Krishna and Lord Rama, the sons of Vasudeva, and to Lord Pradyumna and Lord Aniruddha. We offer our respectful obeisances unto the master of all the saintly devotees of Visnu. Obeisances to You, O Lord, who manifest varieties of material and spiritual qualities. You disguise Yourself with the material qualities, and yet the functioning of those same material qualities ultimately reveals Your existence. You stand apart from the material qualities as a witness and can be fully known only by Your devotees. O Lord Hrsikesa, master of the senses, please let us offer our obeisances unto You, whose pastimes are inconceivably glorious. Your
existence can be inferred from the necessity for a creator and revealer of all cosmic manifestations. But although Your devotees can understand You in this way, to the nondevotees You remain silent, absorbed in self-satisfaction. Obeisances unto You, who know the destination of all things, superior and inferior, and who are the presiding regulator of all that be. You are distinct from the universal creation, and yet You are the basis upon which the illusion of material creation evolves, and also the witness of this illusion. Indeed, You are the root cause of the entire world.
O almighty Lord, although You have no reason to become involved in material activity, still You act through Your eternal potency of time to arrange for the creation, maintenance and destruction of this universe. You do this by awakening the distinct functions of each of the modes of nature, which before the creation lie dormant. Simply by Your glance You perfectly execute all these activities of cosmic control in a sporting mood. Therefore, all material bodies throughout the three worlds those that are peaceful, in the mode of goodness; those that are agitated, in the mode of passion; and those that are foolish, in the mode of ignorance all are Your creations. Still, those living entities whose bodies are in the mode of goodness are especially dear to You, and it is to maintain them and protect their religious principles that You are now present on the earth. At least once, a master should tolerate an offense committed by his child or subject. O supreme peaceful Soul, You should therefore forgive our foolish husband, who did not understand who You are. O Supreme Lord, please be merciful. It is proper for the saintly to feel compassion for women like us. This serpent is about to give up his life. Please give us back our husband, who is our life and soul. Now please tell us, Your maidservants, what we should do. Certainly anyone who faithfully executes Your order is automatically freed from all fear.
Sukadeva Gosvami said: Thus praised by the Nagapatnis, the Supreme Personality of Godhead released the serpent Kaliya, who had fallen unconscious, his heads battered by the striking of the Lord’s lotus feet. Kaliya slowly regained his vital force and sensory functions. Then, breathing loudly and painfully, the poor serpent addressed
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Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in humble submission.
The serpent Kaliya said: Our very birth as a snake has made us envious, ignorant and constantly angry. O my Lord, it is so difficult for people to give up their conditioned nature, by which they identify with that which is unreal. O supreme creator, it is You who generate this universe, composed of the variegated arrangement of the material modes, and in the process You manifest various kinds of personalities and species, varieties of sensory and physical strength, and varieties of mothers and fathers with variegated mentalities and forms. O Supreme Personality of Godhead, among all the species within Your material creation, we serpents are by nature always enraged. Being thus deluded by Your illusory energy, which is very difficult to give up, how can we possibly give it up on our own? O Lord, since You are the omniscient Lord of the universe, You are the actual cause of freedom from illusion. Please arrange for us whatever You consider proper, whether it be mercy or punishment.
Sukadeva Gosvami said: After hearing Kaliya’s words, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was acting the role of a human being, replied: O serpent, you may not remain here any longer. Go back to the ocean immediately, accompanied by your retinue of children, wives, other relatives and friends. Let this river be enjoyed by the cows and humans. If a mortal being attentively remembers My command to you to leave Vrndavana and go to the ocean and narrates this account at sunrise and sunset, he will never be afraid of you. If one bathes in this place of My pastimes and offers the water of this lake to the demigods and other worshipable personalities, or if one observes a fast and duly worships and remembers Me, he is sure to become free from all sinful reactions. Out of fear of Garuda, you left Ramanaka Island and came to take shelter of this lake. But because you are now marked with My footprints, Garuda will no longer try to eat you.
Sukadeva Gosvami continued: My dear King, having been released by Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose activities are wonderful, Kaliya joined his wives in worshiping Him with great joy and reverence.
Kaliya worshiped the Lord of the universe by offering Him fine garments, along with necklaces, jewels and other valuable ornaments, wonderful scents and ointments, and a large garland of lotus flowers. Having thus pleased the Lord, whose flag is marked with the emblem of Garuda, Kaliya felt satisfied. Receiving the Lord’s permission to leave, Kaliya circumambulated Him and offered Him obeisances. Then, taking his wives, friends and children, he went to his island in the sea. The very moment Kaliya left, the Yamuna was immediately restored to her original condition, free from poison and full of nectarean water. This happened by the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was manifesting a humanlike form to enjoy His pastimes.
- Çrémad-Bhägavatam (Bhägavata Puräëa) » Canto 10: the summon bonum » Chapter Sixteen » Verses: 33-67 » Translations by His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
prayers By NaGapaTNis
By the disciples of His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
namo guëa-pradépäya guëätma-cchädanäya ca guëa-våtty-upalakñyäya guëa-drañöre sva-saàvide
The word guëa conveys various meanings: the three basic qualities of material nature, i.e., goodness, passion and ignorance; excellent qualities one manifests because of piety and spiritual achievement; or the internal senses, such as the mind and intelligence. The word pradépäya means "unto Him who manifests or illumines." Thus here the Nagapatnis are addressing the Supreme Lord as "He who manifests all material and spiritual qualities and who causes the living entities to be conscious." One can see the Lord by going beyond the screen of material nature, and therefore He is called guëätma-cchädanäya. If one methodically and intelligently studies the functioning of the material qualities, he will ultimately conclude that there is a Supreme Personality of Godhead and that He exhibits His illusory potency to bewilder those who do not surrender unto Him.
The Lord is never affected by the modes of nature, being their witness, and thus He is called guëa-drañöre. The word sva indicates "one's own," and thus sva-saàvide means that Lord Krishna can be known only by His own people, the devotees, and also that ultimately only the Lord can know Himself perfectly. Therefore we should take Lord Krishna's instructions in Bhagavad-gétä and immediately come to the right conclusion: full surrender to the Lord's lotus feet. Thus we should humbly glorify the Lord, following the example of the Nagapatnis.
- Çrémad-Bhägavatam (Bhägavata Puräëa) » Canto 10: the summon bonum » Chapter Sixteen » Verses: 46 » Translations by His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
The primary Cause Of The maTerial WOrld Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura
The three modes of material nature Maya represents are not the primary cause of the material world. When Maya is empowered by the Lord’s glance, on the strength of the Lord’s energy she becomes the secondary cause of material creation, just as when iron is placed in a fire it acquires the power to burn.
But even for the indirect or secondary cause Lord Krishna remains the ultimate cause. Narayana is the direct cause. In the making of a pot, there is the direct cause, the potter, and the indirect cause, the wheel and a stick. Maya is the wheel and the stick. As no pots can be made without a potter, so creation cannot take place without Krishna.
Karanadaksayi Visnu’s glance towards Maya works in two ways. First, it injects her with unlimited living entities, each a spiritual spark, and second, it creates unlimited universes by the reflection of His touch. That His touch is a reflection means there is no direct bodily contact between Visnu and Maya. Therefore it should not be thought that the Supreme Lord appeared by Maya’s help in each universe. Krishna alone entered each universe as His Puruça incarnation. Again, Krishna is the original cause of material creation. Caitanya-caritämåta Ädi 5.60 states:
kåñëa-çaktye prakåti haya gauëa käraëa agni-çaktye lauha yaiche karaye järaëa
Thus prakåti, by the energy of Lord Krishna, becomes the secondary cause, just as iron becomes red-hot by the energy of fire.
Outside the spiritual sky is the effulgent abode of Brahman, and outside the abode of Brahman is the Causal Ocean. The spiritual abode is devoid of cause, but Maya is illusion, and in the place between the material world and the abode of Brahman is an ocean of spiritual water called the Causal Ocean. Lord Visnu lies in this Causal Ocean. The glance He cast on Maya, who is situated outside the Causal Ocean, agitates her to create. Maya herself cannot touch the Causal Ocean.
- Amåta Väëé: Nectar of Instructions of Immoratality » His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada » Compiled by Sripada Bhakti Mayukha Bhagavat Maharaja Adapted and Published by Isvara dasa
WhaT is The maTerial WOrld? Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
The material world is the perverted reflection of the spiritual world; that which is best in the ideal world is worst in its reflection and that which is lowest in the ideal is highest in its reflection. One can easily understand this by watching one’s bodily limbs reflected in a mirror.
(Jaiva Dharma Chapter 31)Does the material world have an independent existence?
The material world has no independent existence. It is simply a perverted reflection of the spiritual world. The existence, mood, and process, which are pure and auspicious in their ideal position, become inauspicious when reflected here. The qualities that directly create eternal auspiciousness there become pious activities when reflected here. The qualities that indirectly produce auspiciousness there create inauspiciousness here and are considered sinful activities.
(Caitanya-çikñämåta Part 2 7/1)Is the material world false?
The material world is not false; it is real, because of the will of Krishna. However, the material concept of “I and mine,” which we are maintaining in the material world, is false. Those who say that
the material world is false are Mayavädés—they are offenders.
(Jaiva Dharma Chapter 7)
Why is the material world not false?
If you say that this visible world is false, how can you possibly fulfill your purpose? If you bring water in a pitcher, you can use it for many purposes. You cannot say that the pitcher is false, but you can say it is temporary. Similarly, since this visible world helps you fulfill your purpose, you cannot say it is false.
(Tattva-sütra 10)
How is the material world temporary even though it is not false?
To say that the material world is eternal and real because it has emanated from the eternal cognizant Absolute Truth is unreasonable. Such a statement is an outright lie. To say that the material world is the transformation of God is also unreasonable. The truth is that this material world is real but temporary. As a touchstone produces gold, the energy of the Supreme Lord has produced the temporary material world.
(Çré Bhägavatärka-maréci-mälä 1/15)The True sCripTures
Srila Vrindavan Das ThakurThose spiritual scriptures that dissipate the darkness of ignorance and glorify the devotional service of Krishna are true and establish supreme religious principles. If any literature does not glorify topics related to Krishna’s names, forms, qualities, associates, and pastimes; does not describe the topmost glories and eternal position of Krishna’s devotees; and does not describe devotional service to Krishna as the topmost process for attaining the goal of life; then, instead of calling it a scripture, it should be known as the useless babbling of atheists. One should never study such scriptures, understanding them as bad association.
In his commentary, Sri Madhvacarya quotes the following verses from the Skanda Puräëa:
åg-yajuù-sämätharväç ca bhärataà païcarätrakam
nityaà bhägavata-sevayä
müla-rämäyaëaà caiva çästram ity abhidhéyate yac cänukülam etasya tac ca çästraà prakértitam ato’nya grantha vistaro naiva çästraà kuvatma tat
“The Åg, Yajur, Säma, and Atharva Vedas, as well as the Mahäbhärata, the Närada-païcarätra, and the Rämäyaëa, are certainly known as çästra Those books that favorably follow in the footsteps of these authorized scriptures are also counted among the çästras. All other literatures simply lead one down the wrong path and can never be known as scriptures.”
The following verses from the Matsya Puräëa are quoted in the Tattva-sandarbha: sättvikeñu ca kalpeñu mähätmyam adhikaà h areùräjaseñu ca mähätmyam adhikaà brahmaëo viduù tad-vad agneç ca mähätmyaà tämaseñüçivasya ca saìkérëeñu sarasvatyäù pitåëäàç ca nigadyate
“The Puräëas in the mode of goodness glorify the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna; those in the mode of passion promote the glories of Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe; and those in the mode of ignorance celebrate the greatness of Agni, Siva, and Durga. In addition many other scriptures consisting of various mixtures of goodness, passion, and ignorance glorify the ancestors, the demigods, and demigoddesses like Sarasvati.”
Many ignorant ass-like people who desire neither their own nor other’s welfare think that since literatures glorifying Krishna, the devotees of Krishna, and the devotional service of Krishna are critical of materially motivated persons attached to sense gratification, such literatures are therefore ever-conflicting and sectarian like their own literatures. But on the pretext of describing the glories of Krishna, the devotees of Krishna, and the devotional service of Krishna to His own mother, Sri Gaurasundara explained the supreme truth in order to deliver foolish, sensual-knowledge-dependent persons from their defective imaginations. Narrations of the glories of Krishna,
the devotees of Krishna, and the devotional service of Krishna by spiritual literatures that dissipate the darkness of ignorance are not sectarian, ever-conflicting interpretations; rather, they are the only supreme auspicious conclusions for all living entities who desire the topmost good fortune. Those hellish narrow-minded people who are attached to material conceptions think that even Krishna, who is the source of Visnu and the Lord of lords, is an equal rival to the demigods or the worshipable Lord of a bigoted sect. But if one gives up the bad association of studying jïäna-çästras, which are based impersonal considerations, and karma-çästras, which are full of interpretations, flowery language, and injunctions for worshiping many gods, and instead engages in the study of the Ekäyana-çästras, which direct one to the devotional service of Krishna, then he will certainly receive the opportunity to achieve the ultimate perfection of life.
- CB Madhya-khaëòa 1.196, Çré Caitanya-bhägavata - Srila Vrindavana dasa Thakura Edited and Published by Pundarika Vidyanidhi dasa.
The dealiNG Of The lOrd
His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
taà menire 'balä müòhäù straiëaà cänuvrataà rahaù apramäëa-vido bhartur éçvaraà matayo yathä
Even the transcendental wives of Lord Sri Krishna did not know completely the unfathomable glories of the Lord. This ignorance is not mundane because there is some action of the internal potency of the Lord in the exchange of feelings between Him and His eternal associates. The Lord exchanges transcendental relations in five ways, as proprietor, master, friend, son and lover, and in each of these pastimes He plays fully by the potency of yogaMaya, the internal potency. He plays exactly like an equal friend with the cowherd boys, or even with friends like Arjuna; He plays exactly like a son in the presence of Yasodamata; He plays exactly like a lover in the presence of the cowherd damsels; and He plays exactly like a husband in the presence of the queens of Dvaraka. Such devotees of the Lord never think of the Lord as the Supreme, but think of Him exactly as a com-
mon friend, a pet son, or a lover or husband very much dear to heart and soul. That is the relation between the Lord and His transcendental devotees, who act as His associates in the spiritual sky, where there are innumerable Vaikuntha planets. When the Lord descends, He does so along with His entourage to display a complete picture of the transcendental world, where pure love and devotion for the Lord prevail without any mundane tinge of lording it over the creation of the Lord. Such devotees of the Lord are all liberated souls, perfect representations of the marginal or internal potency in complete negation of the influence of the external potency. The wives of Lord Krishna were made to forget the immeasurable glories of the Lord by the internal potency so that there might not be any flaw of exchange, and they took it for granted that the Lord was a henpecked husband, always following them in lonely places. In other words, even the personal associates of the Lord do not know Him perfectly well, so what do the thesis writers or mental speculators know about the transcendental glories of the Lord? The mental speculators present different thesis as to His becoming the cause of the creation, the ingredients of the creation, or the material and efficient causes of the creation, etc., but all this is but partial knowledge about the Lord. Factually they are as ignorant as the common man. The Lord can be known by the mercy of the Lord only, and by no other means. But since the dealings of the Lord with His wives are based on pure transcendental love and devotion, the wives are all on the transcendental plane, without material contamination.
- Çrémad-Bhägavatam (Bhägavata Puräëa) » Canto 01: Creation » Chapter Eleven » Verses: 39 » Purport by His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. !! Sri Sri Nitai Gaurchandra Jayati !! ISKCON Bhägavata Mahävidyalaya is a branch of International Society for Krishna Consciousness Founder-Acarya: His Divine Grace A.C. BhaktiVedanta Swami Prabhupada