Çré Kämikä Ekädaçé
Issue no: 214
A HeArt to HeArt tAlk
Lord Indra and Mother SurabhI offer PrayerS
Srila Sukadeva Goswami
a heart-to-heart taLk
Disciples of His Divine Grace
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
a SPecIaL favor of the Lord
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
13th July 2023
SubordInatIon to the SPIrItuaL MaSter
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur
the dangerS of PrIde
Srila Sanatana Goswami
uSeLeSS arguMentS
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur
Sukadeva Gosvami said: After Krishna had lifted Govardhan Hill and thus protected the inhabitants of Vraja from the terrible rainfall, Surabhi, the mother of the cows, came from her planet to see Krishna. She was accompanied by Indra. Indra was very ashamed of having offended the Lord. Approaching Him in a solitary place, Indra fell down and lay his helmet, whose effulgence was as brilliant as the sun, upon the Lord’s lotus feet. Indra had now heard of and seen the transcendental power of omnipotent Krishna, and his false pride in being the lord of the three worlds was thus defeated. Holding his hands together in supplication, he addressed the Lord as follows.
[King Indra said:] Your transcendental form, a manifestation of pure goodness, is undisturbed by change, shining with knowledge and devoid of passion and ignorance. In You does not exist the mighty flow of the modes of material nature, which is based on illusion and ignorance. How, then, could there exist in You the symptoms of an ignorant personsuch as greed, lust, anger and envywhich are produced by one’s previous involvement in material existence and which cause one to become further entangled in material existence? And yet as the Supreme Lord You impose
punishment to protect religious principles and curb down the wicked. You are the father and spiritual master of this entire universe, and also its supreme controller. You are insurmountable time, imposing punishment upon the sinful for their own benefit. Indeed, in Your various incarnations, selected by Your own free will, You act decisively to remove the false pride of those who presume themselves masters of this world. Even fools like me, who proudly think themselves universal lords, quickly give up their conceit and directly take to the path of the spiritually progressive when they see You are fearless even in the face of time. Thus You punish the mischievous only to instruct them. Engrossed in pride over my ruling power, ignorant of Your majesty, I offended You.
O Lord, may You forgive me. My intelligence was bewildered, but let my consciousness never again be so impure. You descend into this world,
O transcendent Lord, to destroy the warlords who burden the earth and create many terrible disturbances. O Lord, you simultaneously act for the welfare of those who faithfully serve Your lotus feet. Obeisances unto You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the great Soul, who are all-pervading and who reside in the hearts of all. My obeisances unto You, Krishna, the chief of the Yadu dynasty. Unto Him who assumes transcendental bodies according to the desires of
His devotees, unto Him whose form is itself pure consciousness, unto Him who is everything, who is the seed of everything and who is the Soul of all creatures, I offer my obeisances.
My dear Lord, when my sacrifice was disrupted I became fiercely angry because of false pride. Thus I tried to destroy Your cowherd community with severe rain and wind. O Lord, You have shown mercy to me by shattering my false pride and defeating my attempt [to punish Vrindavan]. To You, the Supreme Lord, spiritual master and Supreme Soul, I have now come for shelter.
Sukadeva Gosvami said: Thus glorified by Indra, Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, smiled and then spoke to him as fol-lows in a voice resonant like the clouds.
[The Supreme Personality of Godhead said:] My dear Indra, it was out of mercy that I stopped the sacrifice meant for you. You were greatly intoxicated by your opulence as King of heaven, and I wanted you to always remember Me.
A man blinded by intoxication with his power and opulence cannot see Me nearby with the rod of punishment in My hand. If I desire his real welfare, I drag him down from his materially fortunate position. Indra, you may now go. Execute My order and remain in your appointed position as King of heaven. But be sober, without false pride.
Mother Surabhi, along with her progeny, the cows, then offered her obeisances to Lord Krishna. Respectfully requesting His attention, the gentle lady addressed the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was present before her as a cowherd boy.
[Mother Surabhi said:] O Krishna, Krishna, greatest of mystics! O Soul and origin of the universe! You are the master of the world, and by Your grace, O infallible Lord, we have You as our master. You are our worshipable Deity. Therefore, O Lord of the universe, for the benefit of the cows, the brähmaëas, the demigods and all other saintly persons, please become our Indra. As ordered by Lord Brahma, we shall perform Your bathing ceremony to coronate You as Indra. O Soul of the universe, You descend to this world to relieve the burden of the earth.
Sukadeva Gosvami said: Having thus appealed to Lord Krishna, mother Surabhi performed His bathing ceremony with her own milk, and Indra,
ordered by Aditi and other mothers of the demigods, anointed the Lord with heavenly Ganga water from the trunk of Indra’s elephant carrier, Airavata. Thus, in the company of the demigods and great sages, Indra coronated Lord Krishna, the descendant of Dasharha, and gave Him the name Govinda. Tumburu, Narada and other Gandharvas, along with the Vidyadharas, Siddhas and Caranas, came there to sing the glories of Lord Hari, which purify the entire world. And the wives of the demigods, filled with joy, danced together in the Lord’s honor.
The most eminent demigods chanted the praises of the Lord and scattered wonderful showers of flowers all around Him. All three worlds felt supreme satisfaction, and the cows drenched the surface of the earth with their milk. Rivers flowed with various kinds of tasty liquids, trees exuded honey, edible plants came to maturity without cultivation, and hills gave forth jewels formerly hidden in their interiors. O Pariksit, beloved of the Kuru dynasty, upon the ceremonial bathing of Lord Krishna, all living creatures, even those cruel by nature, became entirely free of enmity. After he had ceremonially bathed Lord Govinda, who is the master of the cows and the cowherd community, King Indra took the Lord’s permission and, surrounded by the demigods and other higher beings, returned to his heavenly abode.
Çrémad-Bhägavatam (Bhägavata Puräëa) » Canto 10: The Summum Bonum » Chapter Twenty Seven » Verses 1–28 » Translations by Disciples of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
a heart-to-heart taLk
Disciples of His Divine Grace
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
çré-bhagavän uväca mayä te 'käri maghavan makha-bhaìgo 'nugåhëatä mad-anusmåtaye nityaà
mattasyendra-çriyä bhåçam
According to Sridhar Svami, Indra and Lord Krishna here exchange a heart-to-heart talk. Indra revealed his mind to the Lord, and now Lord Krishna similarly reveals His own intention.
In Text 11 of this chapter, Indra emphatically declared that Lord Krishna is in fact everything, and thus, according to Indra's own criteria, forgetting Lord Krishna is clearly a state of insanity. When the Supreme Lord reminds us of His supreme existence, He is not proudly advertising Himself like a mundane politician or entertainer. The Lord is self-satisfied in His own infinite existence and is trying, lovingly, to bring us back to our own perfect existence as His eternal associates.
From God's point of view even the mighty King of heaven, Indra, is a mere child—and a naughty child at that—and thus the Lord, being a caring father, punished His child and brought him back to the sanity of Krishna consciousness.
mäm aiçvarya-çré-madändho
daëòa päëià na paçyati
taà bhraàçayämi sampadbhyo
yasya cecchämy anugraham
One may argue, "God should desire everyone's real welfare; therefore, why should Lord Krishna state in this verse that He removes the intoxicating opulence of one who is about to receive His mercy, rather than simply stating that He will remove everyone's opulence and bless everyone?" On the other hand, we may point out that irrevocable death occurs for everyone, and thus Lord Krishna does take away everyone's opulence and everyone's false pride. However, if we apply the Lord's statement to events within one's immediate life, before death, we may refer to Krishna's statement in the Bhagavad-gétä (4.11): ye yathä mäà pra-
padyante täàs tathaiva bhajämy aham. "As people surrender to Me, I reward them accordingly."
Lord Krishna desires everyone's welfare, but when He says here yasya cecchämy anugraham, "for one whose welfare I desire," it is understood that the Lord refers to those who by their own activities and thoughts have manifested a desire to achieve spiritual benefit. Lord Krishna wants everyone to be happy in Krishna consciousness, but when He sees that a specific person also desires spiritual happiness, the Lord especially desires it for that person. This is a natural act of reciprocation consistent with the Lord's statement samo 'haà sarva-bhüteñu: "I am equal in My attitude to all living beings." (Bg. 9.29)
"My dear Lord Krishna, You are the most powerful of all mystic yogés because You are the soul of the complete universe, and only from You has all this cosmic manifestation taken place. Therefore, although Indra tried his best to kill my descendant cows in Vrindavan, they remained under Your shelter, and You have protected them all so well. We do not know anyone else as the Supreme, nor do we go to any other god or demigods for protection. Therefore, You are our Indra, You are the supreme father of the whole cosmic manifestation, and You are the protector and elevator of all the cows, brähmaëas, demigods and others who are pure devotees of Your Lordship. O Supersoul of the universe, let us bathe You with our milk, for You are our Indra. O Lord, You appear just to diminish the burden of impure activities on the earth."
a SPecIaL favor of the Lord
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
It is noteworthy that Krishna sometimes removes all of a rich man’s opulences in order to facilitate his becoming a soul surrendered to Him. This is a special favor of the Lord’s. Sometimes it is seen that a person is very opulent materially, but due to his devotional service to the Lord he may be reduced to poverty. One should not think, however, that because he worshiped the Supreme Lord he became poverty-stricken. The real purport is that when a person is a pure devotee but at the same time, by miscalculation, wants to lord it over material nature, the Lord shows His special mercy by taking away all material opulences until at last he surrenders unto the Supreme Lord.
After instructing Indra, Lord Krishna asked him to return to his kingdom in the heavenly planets and to remember always that he is never the supreme but is always subordinate to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He also advised him to remain as King of heaven but to be careful of false pride.
After this, the transcendental surabhi cow who had come with Indra to see Krishna offered her respectful obeisances unto Him and worshiped Him. The surabhi offered her prayer as follows:
As long as we remain attached to family life or house, we are in trouble, but if we follow and serve the spiritual master, who constantly serves Krishna, we will no longer have any problem. There is no way to make our lives auspicious except to follow the Lord’s devotees. Service to the spiritual master, who is most dear to the Supreme Lord, is more beneficial than service to the Supreme Lord Himself. Our progress lies in serving the spiritual master, because by such service the fallen living entities are delivered. Those who want actual benefit must serve the spiritual master and the devotees with love and devotion.
What does it mean to serve them? Guru and the Vaiñëavas engage in no other activity but Krishna's service. If we are to serve them, we should assist them in their service to the Supreme Lord and happily follow their orders without reservation.
Subordination to the spiritual master is required at all stages of life. To try to personally serve Krishna with pride and without the guru’s guidance simply causes disturbance. By denying or disobeying the spiritual master, one certainly brings about his own ruination. “I am serving Hari.”: to think this is a symptom of pride. False pride is the first and
main cause of falldown. By finding fault with guru and the Vaiñëavas, one’s ruination is inevitable. Without service to guru, the living entities cannot find benefit.
Becoming interested in one’s own happiness brings misfortune on a living entity. Unless one is an unalloyed devotee he cannot serve Krishna, and without serving guru one cannot become an unalloyed devotee. There is no other way for the conditioned souls to become delivered except to serve the spiritual master and the Vaiñëavas
— Amåta Väëé: Nectar of Instructions of Immoratality » His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupäda » Compiled by Sripad Bhakti Mayukha Bhagavat Maharaja » Adapted and Published by Ishvara Das
the dangerS of PrIde
Srila Sanatana Goswamividyä-dhana-kula-ädi tapasyära made tora bhakta, tora bhakti ye-ye-jana vädhe se päpiñöha-saba dekhi’ maruka puòiyä äcaëòäla näcuka tora näma-guëa gäïä” advaitera väkya çuni’ karilä huìkära prabhu bale,—“satya ye tomära aìgékära”
“Let all the sinful people who are proud of their education, wealth, high birth, and austerities and those who place obstacles in the path of Your devotees and Your devotional service burn to death, and let all others, including the dog-eaters, dance while singing Your holy names and qualities.” Hearing Advaita’s statement, the Lord roared loudly and said, “Whatever You say will be fulfilled.”
“Pride born of education, pride born of wealth, pride born of high birth, and pride born of austerities all originate from the false ego, which is the source of all inauspiciousness. Only those unfortunate envious people who are ignorant of the glories of the devotees and the characteristics of devotional service are puffed-up with the pride of their respective education, wealth, high birth, and austerities. They put obstacles on the path of the devotees and their devotional service, so their hearts are naturally inclined towards sinful activities.
“Let sinful people burn to death with envy on seeing the devotees from all classes of this world and their extraordinary devotional service. And let Me have the pleasure of seeing the envious proud
persons’ hearts burn on seeing the enthusiastic dancing of the dog-eaters and other condemned and neglected persons who joyfully identify themselves as followers of the path of prema-bhakti.” Lord Gaurasundara approved these statements of Advaita.
— Caitanya Bhägavata » Madhya-khaëòa » Chapter Six » Verse 171uSeLeSS arguMentS
Srila Bhaktivinoda ThakuraUseless arguments arise from envy or pride, aversion or attachment to sense gratification, or foolishness or self-pride. Quarrelsome people also become intoxicated by useless arguments. While discussing topics of the Lord and His devotees the practicing devotee should always be careful to avoid useless arguments.
Talking without reason about other people is extremely adverse to devotional service. Many people talk about others to establish their own reputation. Being envious, some people are accustomed to discuss others' character. The minds of those who are busy in such topics can never be fixed on the lotus feet of Krishna. Talking about others should be rejected in all respects. But in the practice of devotional service there are many favorable topics that are faultless, even though they are about others. In order to completely renounce talking about others, one needs to live in the forest.
The two different types of practicing devotees are the householders and the renunciates. Because the renunciates have no business whatsoever with sense enjoyment, they can give up talking about others in all respects. But because a householder is engaged in earning, saving, protecting, and maintaining the family, he cannot completely give up talking about others. It is best for him to live in a Krishna conscious family. When all ones material activities are related with Krishna, then even his unavoidable talk about others becomes sinless and a part of devotional practice in relation to Krishna. He should not talk about others in a way that is detrimental to anyone. He should talk about others only whatever little is necessary in his Krishna conscious family. He should not talk about others without reason. Moreover, when a guru enlightens his disciple on some topic, then
unless he occasionally talks about others, his instruction may not be clear. When previous mahäjanas have talked about others in this way, there is merit in such talk, not fault. As Sukadeva Gosvami said in Çrémad-Bhägavatam (2.1.3-4):
nidrayä hriyate naktaà vyaväyena ca vä vayaù divä cärthehayä räjan kuöumba-bharaëena vä dehäpatya-kalaträdiñv ätma-sainyeñv asatsv api teñäà pramatto nidhanaà paçyann api na paçyati
"The lifetime of such an envious householder is passed at night either in sleeping or in sex indulgence, and in the daytime either in making money or maintaining family members. Persons devoid of ätma-tattva do not inquire into the problems of life, being too attached to the fallible soldiers like the body, children and wife. Although sufficiently experienced, they still do not see their inevitable destruction."
Although Sukadeva Gosvami talks about the materialists in order to instruct his disciple, he is not considered a prajalpé. Therefore, such activities should be considered beneficial. Again, in order to instruct His own disciples, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu spoke about pseudo-renunciates in the following words from the Caitanya-caritämåta (Antya 2.117, 120, 124):
prabhu kahe,—"vairägé kare prakåti sambhäñaëa
dekhite nä päroì ämi tähära vadana kñudra-jéva saba markaöa-vairägya kariyä indriya caräïä bule 'prakåti' sambhäñiyä" prabhu kahe,—"mora vaça nahe mora mana prakåti-sambhäñé vairägé nä kare darçana
"The Lord replied, "I cannot tolerate seeing the face of a person who has accepted the renounced order of life but who still talks intimately with a woman. There are many persons with little in their possession who accept the renounced order of life like monkeys. They go here and there engaging in
sense gratification and speaking intimately with women. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, "My mind is not under My control. It does not like to see anyone in the renounced order who talks intimately with women."
Unless one speaks in this way while instructing and while concluding a subject, there is no benefit for oneself or others. Therefore, when the previous äcäryas have personally set example and taught others, how will we be benefitted by acting contrary to their instruction? And if one discusses in this way the improper behavior current in a religious sect or amongst the general public, then such talk is not adverse to devotional service. Even if one sometimes talks about a particular person, there is no fault. In the Çrémad-Bhägavatam (4.14.29) Maitreya Muni, the foremost devotee, spoke about Vena Maharaja in this way:
maitreya uväca itthaà viparyaya-matiù päpéyän utpathaà gataù anunéyamänas tad-yäcïäà na cakre bhrañöa-maìgalaù
"The great sage Maitreya continued: Thus the King, who became unintelligent due to his sinful life and deviation from the right path, became actually bereft of all good fortune. He could not accept the requests of the great sages, which the sages put before him with great respect, and therefore he was condemned."
Sri Maitreya Åñi needed to speak about others in this way; he spoke to his audience to instruct them. This is not prajalpa. The practicing devotee normally discusses ancient history in the association of devotees. Occasionally they talk about nondevotees. Such talk is always auspicious and favorable to devotional service. But those who talk about others while influenced by devotional impediments like envy, hatred, pride, or distinction are offenders at the feet of Bhaktidevi.
Debate arises only from a desire for conquest. It is extremely abominable. Fault-finding arises only from imposing one's own bad habits on others. This should be given up in all respects. Speaking falsehoods is another form of useless talk. Worldly
talk is completely rejected by renounced devotees. Householders may accept some worldly talk that is favorable to devotional service. If topics like archeology, zoology, astrology, and geography are devoid of God consciousness, they should be rejected. In Çrémad-Bhägavatam (12.12.49-50) Sri Sukadeva Gosvami has said:
måñä giras tä hy asatér asat-kathä na kathyate yad bhagavän adhokñajaù tad eva satyaà tad u haiva maìgalaà tad eva puëyaà bhagavad-guëodayam tad eva ramyaà ruciraà navaà navaà tad eva çaçvan manaso mahotsavam tad eva çokärëava-çoñaëaà nåëäà yad uttamaùçloka-yaço 'nugéyate
"Words that do not describe the transcendental Personality of Godhead but instead deal with temporary matters are simply false and useless. Only those words that manifest the transcendental qualities of the Supreme Lord are actually truthful, auspicious and pious. Those words describing the glories of the all-famous Personality of Godhead are attractive, relishable and ever fresh. Indeed, such words are a perpetual festival for the mind, and they dry up the ocean of misery."
Speech in the form of blaspheming sadhus is the source of great inauspiciousness. If one wants to attain devotion to Lord Hari, then he should make a vow like this: "In this life I will never blaspheme sadhus." Devotees are sadhus. By blaspheming them, all one's virtues are destroyed. By blaspheming the supremely pure Lord Mahädeva, Prajäpati Dakña, the best of ascetics, met with severe inauspiciousness. As stated in Çrémad-Bhägavatam (10.4.46):
äyuù çriyaà yaço dharmaà lokän äçiña eva ca hanti çreyäàsi sarväëi puàso mahad-atikramaù
"My dear King, when a man persecutes great souls, all his benedictions of longevity, beauty, fame, religion, blessings and promotion to higher planets will be destroyed."
The conclusion of this essay is this: Whatever prajalpa is not favorable for devotional service should be carefully given up by Vaiñëavas who are cultivating bhakti. Amongst these instructions, the instruction to tolerate the urge to speak mentioned in the first verse—väco vegaà—is only a conditional urge. By giving up prajalpa, the urge to speak is permanently regulated. In order to pass one's life without sin, one should not speak anything more than whatever little is necessary. One need discuss only whatever is auspicious for oneself and others. If one wants to discuss topics of others, it will simply be useless speech. Therefore, in Çrémad-Bhägavatam (11.28.2) Lord Krishna instructed Uddhava as follows:
para-svabhäva-karmäëi yaù praçaàsati nindati sa äçu bhraçyate svärthäd asaty abhiniveçataù
"Whoever indulges in praising or criticizing the qualities and behavior of others will quickly become deviated from his own best interest by his entanglement in illusory dualities."
Bhägavata Mahävidyalaya is a Educational Unit of International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Founder-Acarya: His Divine Grace A.C. BhaktiVedanta Swami Prabhupada