By Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa

Srimad Bhagavatam Canto – 10.3.31 delivered on August 10, 2004

visvam yad etat sva-tanau nisante

yathavakasam purusah paro bhavan

bibharti so 'yam mama garbhago 'bhud

aho nr-lokasya vidambanam hi tat

TRANSLATION

At the time of devastation, the entire cosmos, containing all created moving and nonmoving entities, enters Your transcendental body and is held there without difficulty. But now this transcendental form has taken birth from my womb. People will not be able to believe this, and I shall become an object of ridicule.

PURPORT

As explained in Chaitanya-Charitamrita, loving service to the Personality of Godhead is of two different kinds: aisvarya-purna, full of opulence, and aisvarya-sithila, without opulence. Real love of Godhead begins with aisvarya-sithila, simply on the basis of pure love.

premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena

santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti

yam syamasundaram acintya-guna-svarupam

govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

(Bs. 5.38)

Pure devotees, whose eyes are anointed with the ointment of prema, love, want to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Syamasundara, Muralidhara, with a flute swaying in His two hands. This is the form available to the inhabitants of Vrindavana, who are all in love with the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Syamasundara, not as Lord Vishnu, Narayana, who is worshiped in Vaikuntha, where the devotees admire His opulence. Although Devaki is not on the Vrindavana platform, she is near the Vrindavana platform. On the Vrindavana platform the mother of Krishna is mother Yashoda, and on the Mathura and Dvaraka platform the mother of Krishna is Devaki. In Mathura and Dvaraka the love for the Lord is mixed with appreciation of His opulence, but in Vrindavana the opulence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not exhibited.

There are five stages of loving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead—santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhurya. Devaki is on the platform of vatsalya. She wanted to deal with her eternal son, Krishna, in that stage of love, and therefore she wanted the Supreme Personality of Godhead to withdraw His opulent form of Vishnu. Srila Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura illuminates this fact very clearly in his explanation of this verse.

Bhakti, bhagavan and bhakta do not belong to the material world. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (14.26):

mam ca yo 'vyabhicarena

bhakti-yogena sevate

sa gunan samatityaitan

brahma-bhuyaya kalpate

"One who engages in the spiritual activities of unalloyed devotional service immediately transcends the modes of material nature and is elevated to the spiritual platform." From the very beginning of one's transactions in bhakti, one is situated on the transcendental platform. Vasudeva and Devaki, therefore, being situated in a completely pure devotional state, are beyond this material world and are not subject to material fear. In the transcendental world, however, because of pure devotion, there is a similar conception of fear, which is due to intense love.

As stated in Bhagavad-gita (bhaktya mam abhijanati yavan yas casmi tattvatah [Bg. 18.55]) and as confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam (bhaktyaham ekaya grahyah), without bhakti one cannot understand the spiritual situation of the Lord. Bhakti may be considered in three stages, called guni-bhuta, pradhani-bhuta and kevala, and according to these stages there are three divisions, which are called jnana, jnanamayi and rati, or prema—that is, simple knowledge, love mixed with knowledge, and pure love. By simple knowledge, one can perceive transcendental bliss without variety. This perception is called mana-bhuti. When one comes to the stage of jnanamayi, one realizes the transcendental opulences of the Personality of Godhead. But when one reaches pure love, one realizes the transcendental form of the Lord as Lord Krishna or Lord Rama. This is what is wanted. Especially in the madhurya-rasa, one becomes attached to the Personality of Godhead (sri-vigraha-nistha-rupadi). Then loving transactions between the Lord and the devotee begin.

The special significance of Krishna's bearing a flute in His hands in Vrajabhumi, Vrindavana, is described as madhuri. .. virajate. The form of the Lord with a flute in His hands is most attractive, and the one who is most sublimely attracted is Srimati Radharani, Radhika. She enjoys supremely blissful association with Krishna. Sometimes people cannot understand why Radhika's name is not mentioned in Srimad-Bhagavatam. Actually, however, Radhika can be understood from the word aradhana, which indicates that She enjoys the highest loving affairs with Krishna.

Not wanting to be ridiculed for having given birth to Vishnu, Devaki wanted Krishna, with two hands, and therefore she requested the Lord to change His form.

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Mother Devaki is requesting Lord Krishna who appeared as Vishnu before her to become an ordinary looking child. Earlier Srila Prabhupada explained that she was requesting the Supreme Lord to somehow do something so that Kamsa does not detect that Vishnu Himself is born, and here that was the mixture of love along with some knowledge of Krishna’s Omnipotency. Srila Prabhupada differentiates between Yashoda’s love for Krishna, Vatsalya rasa and Devaki’s Vatsalya rasa in this purport.

Devaki has some knowledge of Krishna’s Omnipotency, whereas Yashoda’s love for Krishna was pure love, which is the love of Vrindavan where by the divine arrangement the Lord is like an ordinary being, equal among all of them and there is no knowledge of the opulence of Krishna, there is no knowledge that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So, at the same time Devaki also was overpowered with love - she was scared that Kamsa may harm Krishna. If she had full knowledge and if the knowledge was not camouflaged by the internal energy, then Devaki would not pray like that, Devaki knows that He is God, He is come to my womb, He has taken birth in my womb, so nobody can harm Him.

So these are the various situations where the different variety of transcendental realization, love of the Lord is explained. Srila Prabhupada explains here that the understanding of Bhakthi has got 3 stages and the first thing is when there is knowledge about the Lord, about the universe, how everything has been created from Him and because of that awareness, there is knowledge, love is also awakened for the Lord. The first one is jnana and the other one is jnanamaya and then that is mixed with the awareness of the opulence of the Supreme Lord, then there is Rati or Prema which is actually pure love, just like Yashoda, just like the Gopis where there is no awareness that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So the ultimate perfection of life, which Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has offered to all, is that kind of love of Vrindavana. You should not forget that is the goal but at the same time how to reach that goal is very clearly given by the acharya, our Spiritual Master, Srila Prabhupada. Even though the goal is that Madurya rasa or any of the Vrindavana rasas, yet one should not take that as cheap because it is an extremely exalted position, it is the result of having attained one’s awakening or svarupa siddhi. You don’t have to tell yourself that you are a servant of Krishna; we have to remind ourselves that we are servant of Krishna. Svarupa siddhi means that there is natural sense of feeling of liking Krishna and not only that; one understands one’s nature as servant of Krishna, naturally. Such a person can see every other living entity as being part and parcel of Krishna, beyond each individual body, minds, identities, beyond all the differences. Such a person is able to see his own self as well as the others being part and parcel of Krishna.

So therefore unless one comes to that platform it is not possible to have any experience of transcendental causeless love of the Lord. Srila Prabhupada has very closely established in his conversations, in his purports that we will have to go step by step to purify ourselves, which is the first stage. Only after that devotional service or devotional advancement begins. After one understands one’s svarupa or one awakens that he is the servant of Krishna and then there is transaction with the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna, loving transactions. Even in the temples, Srila Prabhupada explains that within the deities there is Lakshmi and Narayana and our worship according to the regulative principles is received by the Supreme Lord in the form of Lakshmi Narayana.

The deities are Radha-Krishna Chandra, but there is no one qualified to offer according to the level of rasa, so when there is no pure devotion, spontaneous devotion, there is no question of Lord Shyamasundara coming and receiving our offering. We are, therefore, guided properly by Srila Prabhupada to offer everything with reverence, with proper timing, punctuality - this is very important. This is the rasa for Lord Narayana. When we do that we get purified. When the Goswamis worshiped Radha and Krishna deities, they were in spontaneous devotion, if they get one chapathi, they will give one chapathi. If nothing is there, they will tell the Lord nothing is there today. Whatever they get they used to offer. So, different rasas, these are all what our parampara has to offer, very high stuff. So we are linked to this parampara. What parampara has to offer is very high but one’s position is very low. So, that is why -

Namo maha-vadanyaya

krsna-prema-pradaya te

krsnaya krsna-caitanya-

namne gaura-tvise namah.

Krishna conscious movement is offering the highest thing to the most fallen and it is available for those who strictly seek the mercy of the Spiritual Master, seek the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. One who tries to satisfy the Spiritual Master -

Yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto 'pi

So, it’s the advancement the devotee makes in Krishna consciousness, which is purely by the blessings of the Spiritual Master and not by any other gymnastics. If one sincerely follows, tries to serve the Spiritual Master in his mission and tries to follow what the Spiritual Master has demanded that the disciple should follow, simply trying is enough. In spiritual life, success or failure is immaterial, if any difficulties are there in anything, what is more important is ask yourself ‘Am I trying more, Am I trying more’ that is all. Where you stand Krishna doesn’t see. From wherever you are standing, are you trying to move towards Him, that is what Krishna sees. So, never get discouraged, seeing that somebody is standing somewhere else, in a more steady state, I am not in a steady state, do not get discouraged. You should try to become steadier or always try to increase your determination for devotional service, increase your sincerity, try to increase your humility, and try to follow more strictly.

It is so wonderful that simply for trying, we are given, Krishna is so kind you see, just like if you can lift 5 kilos, please lift 5 kilos, don’t lift 4 kilos or if you desire, ‘how can I lift for you 6 kilos Krishna, when can I desire, when can I lift.’ This is what it is. So Krishna is never asking any of us, Srila Prabhupada is never asking any of us to produce any particular kind of result. Krishna and Srila Prabhupada are asking us to produce one thing, sincerely attempt, struggle, work hard, when we try to work hard, to advance in spiritual life, work hard to serve Srila Prabhupada then only the material struggle will go.

Within each of us there is a struggle for existence, the struggle for existence is a must, and every living entity will have the struggle for existence. The struggle for existence is set aside when we struggle for spiritual advancement. Krishna says, okay he is struggling for spiritual advancement, as Srila Prabhupada said we don’t struggle for material existence, we don’t go to offices, we don’t do business like that, as they are doing, but at the same time we are struggling for something else which produces eternal result, whereas the other struggle produces, temporary results, it implicates one in karma whereas this struggle gives us advancement in spiritual life. So therefore, the Lord is seeing how much we are trying. Keep on trying, do not give up. Here is the goal, here is what Srila Prabhupada has asked us to do, let me try, keep trying. Whether it is chanting offenselessly, or whether it is attending the sadhana strictly, whether it is understanding Srila Prabhupada, what he wrote or whether it is Vaishnava behaviour. Whatever it may be, as long we are trying, then the super soul is satisfied and advancement is given. The moment we give up trying, then Maya will attack us. Okay, if you don’t want to try this, better you struggle for material existence, replacement. So life is never going to be complacent till we die.

One should not be under any false impression, that as long as this body is there, this mind is there, life is going to be smooth. Life will always be full of various challenges to purify ourselves and then as Srila Prabhupada said, you struggle one life time then automatically by the mercy of the Spiritual Master, you will get some eternal benefit.