SB 5.8.26

Giriraj Swami: Reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Canto Five, Chapter Eight:

TEXT 26

evam aghaṭamāna-manorathākula-hṛdayo mṛga-dārakābhāsena svārabdha-karmaṇā yogārambhaṇato vibhraṁśitaḥ sa yoga-tāpaso bhagavad-ārādhana-lakṣaṇāc ca katham itarathā jāty-antara eṇa-kuṇaka āsaṅgaḥ sākṣān niḥśreyasa-pratipakṣatayā prāk-parityakta-dustyaja-hṛdayābhijātasya tasyaivam antarāya-vihata-yogārambhaṇasya rājarṣer bharatasya tāvan mṛgārbhaka-poṣaṇa-pālana-prīṇana-lālanānuṣaṅgeṇāvigaṇayata ātmānam ahir ivākhu-bilaṁ duratikramaḥ kālaḥ karāla-rabhasa āpadyata.

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, in this way Bharata Mahārāja was overwhelmed by an uncontrollable desire which was manifest in the form of the deer. Due to the fruitive results of his past deeds, he fell down from mystic yoga, austerity and worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If it were not due to his past fruitive activity, how could he have been attracted to the deer after giving up the association of his own son and family, considering them stumbling blocks on the path of spiritual life? How could he show such uncontrollable affection for a deer? This was definitely due to his past karma. The King was so engrossed in petting and maintaining the deer that he fell down from his spiritual activities. In due course of time, insurmountable death, which is compared to a venomous snake that enters the hole created by a mouse, situated itself before him.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

As will be seen in later verses, Bharata Mahārāja, at the time of death, would be forced to accept the body of a deer due to his attraction for the deer. In this regard, a question may be raised. How can a devotee be affected by his past misconduct and vicious activities? In Brahma-saṁhitā (5.54) it is said, karmāṇi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājām: “For those engaged in devotional service, bhakti-bhajana, the results of past deeds are indemnified.” According to this, Bharata Mahārāja could not be punished for his past misdeeds. The conclusion must be that Mahārāja Bharata purposefully became over-addicted to the deer and neglected his spiritual advancement. To immediately rectify his mistake, for a short time he was awarded the body of a deer. This was just to increase his desire for mature devotional service. Although Bharata Mahārāja was awarded the body of an animal, he did not forget what had previously happened due to his purposeful mistake. He was very anxious to get out of his deer body, and this indicates that his affection for devotional service was intensified, so much so that he was quickly to attain perfection in a brāhmaṇa body in the next life. It is with this conviction that we declare in our Back to Godhead magazine that devotees like the gosvāmīs living in Vṛndāvana who purposely commit some sinful activity are born in the bodies of dogs, monkeys and tortoises in that holy land. Thus they take on these lower life forms for a short while, and after they give up those animal bodies they are again promoted to the spiritual world. Such punishment is only for a short period, and it is not due to past karma. It may appear to be due to past karma, but it is offered to rectify the devotee and bring him to pure devotional service.

COMMENT

Here the fall down of Bharat Maharaja is attributed to past sinful activities, but the purport explains that the fall down was not due to past karma, but it was actually due to willful desires to neglect the practices of spiritual life and get involved with the deer. There are many verses in the Vedic scriptures that confirm that when one surrenders to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and engages in devotional service, he is freed from sinful reactions. One verse is from Brahma-saṁhitā, which we recite every morning: karmāṇi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājām, engagement in devotional service burns to ashes all results of fruitive activities, from the King of Heaven, Indra, to the insect called indragopa. So, in Bhagavad-gītā also, Lord Krishna says,

sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

That if one gives up all other engagements and just surrenders unto Krishna, Krishna will deliver him from all sinful reactions. And in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Srila Rupa Gosvami also describes the characteristics of devotional service. And one of the characteristics is kleśaghnī, which means pure devotional service surpasses all miseries or all sinful activities and reactions. So, when one surrenders to Krishna and engages in pure devotional service, he is no longer bound by past actions and reactions. But even after surrendering, and at every stage, the living entity has free will. So, he can willfully turn away from devotional service at any time, and Bharat Maharaja did exactly that. He turned his attention from devotional service to his pet deer. Thus, he deviated from the principles of devotional service, and in the end, he fell down. Then again, Bhagavad-gītā says that whatever advancement one makes on the path of devotional service remains. So, although he fell down, he still had credit for the service that he did. And when he was separated from devotional service, his desire for devotional service became more intense.

Srila Prabhupada gives the example that if a poor man works very hard to accumulate some wealth, he will think of the value of the wealth to some extent, but he may also forget the value. But if he loses the wealth, then he will always be thinking about how he lost it. Just like sometimes we forget where we kept our chanting beads. So, if we are serious and we realize that we have lost our beads, then all the time we will be thinking of the beads, how to find the beads, and get the beads back. So, if we take devotional service for granted, or any aspect of devotional service for granted, Krishna may take it away for some time, so that our attachment for it increases, or our desire for it increases. And thus, the separation increases the desire or the attachment for Krishna and Krishna’s service. The example is given of a gardener and a tree. Lord Krishna is like a gardener, and He plants the seed of devotion within the hearts of devotees. So, just like a gardener plants a seed, he will very carefully water the seed and protect the seed. And after some weeks or months, say a mango tree, after some months, the seed will sprout, and the seedling will appear. Then the gardener will be very happy, he will be very joyful, that now my plant is growing. Then after some time more, the seedling will sprout two leaves. Then the gardener will again be more happy, that now leaves are coming. Then after some years, when the plant actually grows into a tree, the tree will start to bear buds. Then the gardener will be jubilant, that the tree is bearing buds and soon it will bear fruit. And after some months more, the tree actually begins to show fruits, mangoes.

Now some person may say to the gardener, that the tree has mangoes now, so you should taste them and enjoy them. But the gardener will say, “No, the mangoes are not yet ripe. If I try to taste them now, they will be sour.” So he leaves the mangoes on the tree. Then when he sees that one mango is actually ripe, then he will take down all the mangoes, because he knows that very soon one by one, they will become ripe, and he doesn’t want to leave them on the tree to fall down or to be taken away. So he takes them home and maybe covers them with cloth or hay or something, so that they ripen in the heat. Because he doesn’t want that any sour taste should remain; it should be fully ripened and sweet. So the heat, which ripens the mangoes, is separation. Krishna does not want that the devotee should have any other desire in his heart, or any other thought in his heart, except Krishna. So when Krishna sees that there is some other thought or desire, He may separate Himself from the devotee, so that the devotee does nothing but think of Krishna and Krishna alone. And in his anxiety to get Krishna’s association again, all other thoughts, all other desires are purified. In other words, there should be no sourness left, but the mango should be fully ripened. And then, when the mango is fully ripened, when there is no more thought or desire for anything except Krishna, then Krishna will appear to the devotee and fulfill the devotee’s exclusive desire and attachment for Krishna.

So, separation is the way that Krishna applies heat to make the mango ripe. And here we see that although Bharat Maharaja was able to give up his wife, his son, his kingdom, and everything, but still, he had some desire besides Krishna. Of course, he himself actually gave up his spiritual practices. But then, to make him realize the severity of the mistake, Krishna also took away the human form of life from Bharat Maharaja, so that he would realize his mistake. And after he lost the human form of life and the opportunity to engage in direct devotional service, he was constantly thinking of his loss. And as Bhima Prabhu mentioned yesterday, in his next life as a deer, he returned to the same place where he had his ashram and stayed in association of persons, who are engaging in chanting and hearing the glories of the Lord. So, Rupa Gosvami explains that the only way that we can obtain devotional service is if we have an intense desire for it, and the intense desire is not so easy. It actually develops by the mercy of advanced devotees. Otherwise, although one has every opportunity, he won’t take advantage. There is one nice verse in the Fourth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says, tasmin mahan-mukharitā madhubhic-caritra-, that saintly persons are engaged in Krishna consciousness, they are engaged in devotional service, and on occasion, they speak about the glories of the Lord. Now, when someone is actually eager to hear about the glories of the Lord, then the saintly person knows, and they speak everything to such a soul who is eager to hear. And they are speaking; it is just like a river of nectar that keeps flowing and doesn’t stop. So, those who have ears which are eager to hear, they bring forth this flow of nectar, which comes in waves and splashes its waves everywhere without stop. But those who have no taste for water, they will go to get water, and even if good water is offered to them, they won’t drink it because they have no taste. They have no thirst. The Bhāgavatam says that if one actually develops such taste for the messages of Godhead, thirst—the exact word is thirst—when he has thirst for such topics, and he always wants to drink such topics more and more, then he will have no more thirst for anything material, and he will rise completely above the bodily conception, and he will be completely free of material hunger, thirst, fear, lamentation, and illusion.

So, Bharat Maharaja, again in the form of the deer took advantage of the association of the saintly persons and always lamenting for his loss of the human form of life, which was his chance to perform direct devotional service, he constantly meditated on the process of devotional service, waiting for the time when he would again get the human form and could again engage in direct devotional service.

Are there any questions or comments? Yes? 

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:26:45]

Giriraj Swami: Yes. In other words, he desired to pursue his relationship with the deer more than his worship of the Lord. Maybe he was innocent in the beginning, but ultimately, he chose to give more importance to the deer than to devotional service. Just like Bhagavad-gītā says that by dwelling on the objects of the senses, one develops attachment and lust, and then there is a whole sequence of events that ultimately lead to the person falling down. So, we may say that by accident, I allowed my senses to dwell on some objects, and my senses got attached, and before I knew it, I was more attached to that object than to Krishna consciousness, and I was more after that object than Krishna consciousness. So, one can say that it was a mistake or an accident, but we have so many instructions to guide us to be carefully dealing with the objects of the senses so we don’t become attached. Just like the shastra says, that man and woman should stay separate. An example is given of butter and fire: that if you bring butter close to the fire, then the butter will melt. Even if the butter doesn’t have the desire to melt, but if the butter comes close to the fire, automatically it will melt. So, in the same way, men and women should stay apart, just like butter and fire. If they don’t stay apart, then they will melt. They will become attached to each other and forget about Krishna consciousness. Or they may not forget completely, but their relationship with each other will be in the forefront, and Krishna consciousness will be in the back.

So, we can say that by accident, I got attached, but we cannot just say by accident because we are supposed to follow the Vedic injunctions, and the Vedic injunctions warn us not to associate. So, when we neglect the orders of the scriptures or the spiritual master, how can we say that by accident, we have done it. So, that is why Srila Prabhupada says that ultimately, he was responsible for his fall down, because he was more interested in the deer after some time.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:33:57]

Giriraj Swami: Desire means you have free will. You can use it to serve Krishna, or you can use it to serve maya. Why does someone come to class, and why does someone not come to class? He has free will.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:31:40]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that is what the verse says. But in the purport, Srila Prabhupada says that the fall down appears to be due to past sinful activity, but actually, it is not. It appears to be, but actually, it is due to one’s own desire. So, the devotees who fell down, they committed offenses; they deviated from Prabhupada’s instructions. And when one commits serious offenses and then falls down, he falls and falls and falls. He goes lower and lower and lower. It is not a simple thing that suffering some sinful reaction like a toothache or a stomachache or a headache. This is vaiṣṇava-aparādha, guru-aparādha, disobeying the guru, going against the guru.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:33:10]

Giriraj Swami: Well, Srila Prabhupada says, when disciple surrenders to the spiritual master, then the spiritual master accepts his sinful reaction. But on one occasion, Srila Prabhupada explained that in order to engage in devotional service, one has to be free from sinful reaction. So, Srila Prabhupada explained that the spiritual master accepts enough of the disciple’s sinful reaction so that the disciple can make progress in devotional service, so he can understand the process of devotional service. But after that, if the disciple suffers, it is not exactly the result of sinful activities. We commit sinful activities because we have sinful desires, and even after we surrender to Krishna and the spiritual master, the desires for sinful activity are not left. So, in order to purify the devotees of the remaining traces of sinful desire, the Lord will give some punishment to the devotee that resembles the reaction that the devotee would get if he actually engaged in those things. Because the whole purpose of material world and, action and reaction is to purify the conditioned soul. So, the punishments are meant to purify the conditioned soul so that he gives up even the last traces of sinful desire. So, we can say that he is not actually suffering sinful reactions like ordinary people but he is getting Krishna’s mercy to become more purified. Whereas Srila Prabhupada put it another way that Krishna utilizes your stock of sinful reactions for your best benefit. In other words, He is holding your sinful reactions with Him, and when He sees that some punishment can help you to make advancement, He releases it. So, in one sense, you can say it is not really sinful reaction; that is Krishna’s mercy because He is giving you some punishment for your benefit. Or as Prabhupada put it the other way, that Krishna is utilizing your stock of sinful reactions for your best.

Srila Prabhupada said something else which is also very significant, and that is that if one comes to devotional service and surrenders to the spiritual master, and then commits sins, the spiritual master suffers for the sins. And because the spiritual master is an ocean of mercy, he never rejects the disciples. But sometimes, if the disciple commits too many sins and the spiritual master has to suffer too much for the nonsense disciples, then Krishna will force the disciple away from devotional service so that the disciple’s pain and suffering will spare the spiritual master.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:37:45]

Giriraj Swami: Well, the ordinary devotee is not completely pure, so he suffers reactions that serve to help purify him. But even a devotee who is completely pure, he also appears to suffer from other ailments, but he actually has no attachment for the body. When the body is affected, he has no idea that I am affected, and the suffering of the pure devotee is [Unintelligible 00:38:57] yoga-maya, so that he appears to suffer like anyone else. He is completely under yoga-maya, but still, he feels that he is lowly, he is fallen, he is sinful, and that is why he suffers.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:39:32]

Giriraj Swami: Because Bharat Maharaja didn’t had association of other devotees, he could become attached to deer, and there was no one to correct him or rectify him. And the other point is that if he was with other devotees, then his need or his desire for personal reciprocation could have been satisfied by the devotees instead of the deer. Good point. Srila Prabhupada said, humans are social animals, and he has to associate with someone, so if he doesn’t associate with devotees, then he will have to associate with those who are not devotees. That is what happened.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:41:26]

Giriraj Swami: I don’t think I said that he doesn’t suffer, but I was saying that the quality of the suffering is different. It is like spiritual suffering and material suffering. Spiritual suffering is not the same. It is suffering, but it is ecstasy also.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:43:00]

Giriraj Swami: He says that is it not Bharat Maharaja’s previously karma made him fall down?

You liked to answer Bhima or Maharaja? He is asking, was it not due to Bharat Maharaja’s past karma that he fell down?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:43:52]

Giriraj Swami: Did you hear? He said that in the purport, Srila Prabhupada has said that it was his purposeful neglect of devotional service that made him fall down, not his past karma.

Bhima Prabhu: [Unintelligible 00:44:40]

Giriraj Swami: He quotes Krishna in Bhagavad-gītā, that just by contemplating on the objects of the senses, one can fall down. So, that is what Bharat Maharaja did.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:45:11]

Giriraj Swami: Being afraid of maya is not bad. Like Srila Prabhupada said that our problem was that we are not enough afraid of maya. So, the example of great devotees like Bharat Maharaja, who came into trouble due to negligence of spiritual practices, should serve as a warning to us, that if even such great souls can get into trouble due to neglect, what to speak of us, how careful we have to be so that we don’t get into difficulties.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:46:37]

Giriraj Swami: Until we are fully Krishna conscious, we may be attracted to material sense gratification. So, until we are fully Krishna conscious, we have to careful. And when we are fully Krishna conscious, then we won’t want it. One disciple asked Srila Prabhupada, that as long as we are not fully Krishna conscious, we have to follow the regulative principles. But when we are fully Krishna conscious, then we can do anything, and we won’t be affected. He said, we could even have sex, and we won’t be affected.

So Srila Prabhupada told this story of a king and a boatman. The king wanted to go on the boat along the side of the river, but either the current was too swift or the water was too shallow. So anyway, what the boatman did is he pulled the boat by a rope from the shore, and the boat was just crosses the king to other shore. So, the king was very pleased with the boatman and he told him that take from me whatever benediction you want. So the boatman said, “I would like a velvet carpet to go along the side of the river, so when I pull the boat, my feet won’t get hurt.” Now, this was a completely stupid request because he could have asked for anything so that he wouldn’t have to be involved at all. So, you could have asked for anything. He could have asked for anything. So, Srila Prabhupada compare this to the devotee saying that when he is liberated, then they can have sex because you can have anything you want. You can also have a velvet carpet to pull the boat, but why should you pull the boat if you can have anything you want? In the same way, when someone actually has Krishna consciousness, he is not thinking of such an inferior grade of sense gratification. You won’t want to consider. One acharya says, “Since I have been relishing newer and newer tastes in devotional service, when I think of sex and how I used to enjoy with women, my lips curl in disgust, and I spit.”

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:50:55]

Giriraj Swami: Correct. He didn’t reach the stage of prema. Bhāva-bhakti is the beginning stage of prema. It is the first rays of the sun. So Bilvamangala Thakura also reached the stage of bhāva and he also fell down.

Grantha Raja Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam ki jaya!