SB 3.15.43 – Four Kumaras Attracted to the Lotus Feet of Narayana

Giriraj Swami: 

om namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
om namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
om namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

We are reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Three, Chapter Fifteen: “Description of the Kingdom of God.”

TEXT 43

tasyāravinda-nayanasya padāravinda-

kiñjalka-miśra-tulasī-makaranda-vāyuḥ

antar-gataḥ sva-vivareṇa cakāra teṣāṁ

saṅkṣobham akṣara-juṣām api citta-tanvoḥ

TRANSLATION

When the breeze carrying the aroma of tulasī leaves from the toes of the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead entered the nostrils of those sages, they experienced a change both in body and in mind, even though they were attached to the impersonal Brahman understanding.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

It appears from this verse that the four Kumāras were impersonalists or protagonists of the philosophy of monism, becoming one with the Lord. But as soon as they saw the Lord’s features, their minds changed. In other words, the impersonalist who feels transcendental pleasure in striving to become one with the Lord is defeated when he sees the beautiful transcendental features of the Lord. Because of the fragrance of His lotus feet, carried by the air and mixed with the aroma of tulasī, their minds changed; instead of becoming one with the Supreme Lord, they thought it wise to be devotees. Becoming a servitor of the lotus feet of the Lord is better than becoming one with the Lord.

COMMENT

The present verse is the best evidence that even impersonalists who have realized the mind can be attracted to the Personality of Godhead and their service. The four Kumaras were absorbed in impersonal Brahman, but when they smelled the aroma from the lotus feet of the Lord mixed with the fragrance of tulasi, from the toes of the Lord, they changed. Their minds and their bodies changed. So, the verse is proof that the form of the Lord is transcendental, beyond the modes of material nature. Before, sages were fixed in brahman beyond the material modes of nature, nothing of the material world could attract them. From the very beginning, they were renounced.

In the beginning of creation, Lord Brahma asked the Kumaras, who were his sons, to marry and procreate, but they refused. They had already decided to remain brahmacharis. And they remained brahmacharis. And although they are thousands of years old, they always maintain the same form and appear just like little boys, about four or five years old, and they are free to travel throughout the universe, and they do so, like little boys, without anything to cover their bodies except the air. And thus, the Kumaras, without considering where they should go or where they should not go, came to the kingdom of God. But when they came to the gateway of Vaikuntha, the gatekeepers stopped them. They said, “No, you cannot enter.” And the Kumaras became agitated. 

The agitation felt by the Kumaras was not material because they were already beyond the modes of material nature. But because they found some obstruction in their service to God, or in their progress to God, they became angry. And in their anger, they cursed the gate keepers. Lord Narayana understood the situation, and He came to the door along with the goddess of fortune, and He tried to intervene and mediate the crisis between the Kumaras and the gatekeepers. But then, the Kumaras saw the beautiful form of the Lord, and in particular smell the aroma from the lotus feet of the Lord mixed with tulasi, they changed. They completely forgot about the impersonal Brahman, and they became devotees.

So, the form of the Lord is transcendental, the qualities of the Lord are transcendental. And therefore, persons who are themselves transcendental and fixed in brahman beyond maya can become attracted to the form of the Lord, the qualities of the Lord, the pastimes of the Lord, and the service of the Lord. But those who are offenders do not become attracted. Therefore, there are two categories of impersonalists. Brahmavadis, they are not offensive to the Personality of Godhead but they prefer to concentrate on the impersonal effulgence. And the Mayavadis are offenders, because they do not accept the Personality of Godhead as transcendental. They think that His name, His form, His qualities, His pastimes, and His service are all material. And therefore, they are offensive.

When Lord Chaitanya came to Kasi, the city was full of Mayavadis. Even now, Kasi is full of Mayavadis. One innocent brahman saw the Lord in Kasi, and he became so overjoyed and overwhelmed with ecstasy and bliss that he went to the leader of the Mayavadis, to Prakashananda Sarasvati, and told him about Lord Chaitanya. He said, “One sannyasi has come from Jagannatha Puri, who is as beautiful as Lord Narayana and as effulgent as Lord Narayana. His hands extend down to His knees, and His eyes are like lotus flowers. His complexion is gold, and He is attractive in every feature. His lips are constantly decorated by the holy name of Krishna, and tears pour from His eyes like the flow of the Ganges. Everyone who sees Him believes that He is directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We have read descriptions in the scriptures of mahā-bhāgavata, and He has all the symptoms of a mahā-bhāgavata, as well as of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So, you should go to Him.”

Prakashananda Sarasvati replied, “What nonsense you are speaking? I have heard of Chaitanya, and He is nothing but a sentimentalist, and He is followed by so many other sentimentalists.” He said so many things about Lord Chaitanya. And in the end, he told the brahman, “Don’t go to Him. If you go to Him, everything will be wrong. You should simply stay with me and study Narayana. Then you can make the progress.” Naturally, the brahman was very disturbed by the statements of Prakashananda Sarasvati, which was so offensive to Lord Chaitanya. So, he went to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and told Him. The Lord smiled slightly and replied, māyāvādī kṛṣṇe aparādhī, that, “The Mayavadis are the greatest offenders of Lord Krishna.”

The brahman said that, “[Unintelligible 00:19:42] said that everyone who sees You,” and he also told Prakashananda Sarasvati, “Everyone who sees You, immediately wants to chant ‘Krishna Krishna Hare Hare,’ any name of Lord Krishna. Prakashananda Sarasvati never chants the holy names of Krishna. What is the reason?” Lord Chaitanya replied, māyāvādī kṛṣṇe aparādhī, that Mayavadis are the greatest offenders to Krishna. And because of offenses, they cannot chant the holy name of Krishna. They can only utter Brahman, ātmā, Chaitanya, so many impersonal types of words and slogans they can utter, but the name of the personal form of the Lord, they cannot utter. And Lord Chaitanya explains, nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ, that, “The holy name of Krishna is the same as Krishna. Nobody can approach Krishna except for the devotees. Therefore, Mayavadis cannot approach Krishna or the holy name of Krishna, which is the same as Krishna.” Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ. “One cannot touch the tip of the lotus feet of the holy name of the Lord with material senses.” One’s senses have to be purified by devotional service, and then he can actually chant the holy name of Krishna. So, unless Mayavadis like Prakashananda Sarasvati become devotees, they cannot chant Krishna’s name. They can only chant ahaṁ brahmāsmi, tat tvam asi. Of course, later, by the special mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, even Prakashananda Sarasvati became a devotee.

So, Lord Chaitanya, when he was speaking to the brahmans of Varanasi, He quoted the same verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, how the Kumaras, who were fixed in the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth, became changed by smelling the fragrance of the Lord. Similarly, one can become changed by hearing the pastimes of the Lord. And he gave the example of Śukadeva Gosvami. Śukadeva Gosvami was fixed in impersonal realization. He was so fixed in impersonal realization that he did not want to come out of the womb of his mother. He wanted to stay in the womb because he thought that, “Brahman is everywhere; Brahman is inside the womb, and Brahman is outside the womb. So, what is the need to come out? But if I come outside the womb, there will be so much maya, and I may become attracted and fall down. So, I should remain where I am.”

Finally, Lord Krishna personally came and assured Śukadeva Gosvami that he would not be attracted by maya. Krishna gave His personal assurance that, “You will not be attracted by maya. Your mother and your father and the whole world are waiting for you. So you should come.” Then, being assured by Lord Krishna, Śukadeva Gosvami, came out of the womb. When he heard the pastimes of Krishna from Srila Vyasadeva, who was his father, in other words, when he heard the Bhāgavatam, he also changed and he became a devotee and undertook the study of the Bhāgavatam from Vyasadeva. And later, he himself became the greatest speaker of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam through Parīkṣit Maharaja.

So, there are many examples of even some personalists who became attracted to the form of the Lord, to the qualities of the Lord, liked the fragrance of the Lord, and to the pastimes of the Lord. But we, unfortunate souls, are not attracted. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, putting Himself in our place has prayed in the Śikṣāṣṭakam, durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥ, “My dear Lord, You are so kind that You have made Yourself available in Your holy name. And therefore, You have hundreds and thousands of names, like Krishna and Govinda. But I am so unfortunate, I commit offenses. And because I commit offenses, I have no attraction for Your holy name. I have attraction to so many other things, but I have no attraction to Your holy name.”

Of course, in the beginning stage, neophytes generally think that they are very advanced in Krishna consciousness. If you ask a neophyte, “How is your bhajana?” He will say, “My bhajana is going very well.” If you ask an intermediate devotee, “How is your bhajana?” He will say, “Not very good. Something is there. but not very good.” If you ask an advanced devotee, “How is your bhajana?” He will say, “I have no bhajana at all. I am simply engrossed in maya; I have no other activities except blaspheming others and hearing criticism of others.” So, actually, the symptom of the neophyte is that he thinks that he is very Krishna conscious. The symptom of the intermediate devotee is that he thinks he is a little Krishna conscious, not much, but at least a little. And the symptom of the advanced devotee is he thinks that he has no Krishna consciousness at all.

So, when one advances from the neophyte stage to the intermediate stage, he begins to perceive the fact that he is full of anartha, he is completely covered in anartha, he is full of offenses. And because of anarthas and aparādhas, he actually has no taste for kṛṣṇa-kathā. He has taste for prajalpaḥ, but not for kṛṣṇa-kathā. But when he is firmly situated in the neophyte position, he has no awareness, he thinks that he is good, better than others, he is better than others and others are worse than him. And the main problem with the others is that they don’t recognize that he is better than them. If they could only recognize he was better than them, than all of the problems would be solved. 

But when a neophyte makes a little progress, he can perceive the fact that actually, he is full of anarthas full of aparādhas. And due to anartha and aparādha, his taste for bhakti is challenged, his bhajana is challenged by so many obstacles. But because he has made some advancement and he has some taste, he doesn’t want to allow the obstacles to come in the way. And therefore, he makes every effort to avoid aparādha, because he knows that by aparādha, his chanting and hearing will be disturbed. And because he has some taste, he doesn’t want his chanting and hearing to be disturbed because he knows that his real life is Krishna consciousness. His real pleasure comes from śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ, and he doesn’t want any impediments to come in the way. And therefore, he is very careful to avoid any situation where his tendency to anartha or his tendency to aparādha will become aggravated. He will avoid such association that leads to aparādha, and he will seek association where he can get kṛṣṇa-kathā, where he can be (break in audio).

Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare.

And if we want good association, we can get the association of Srimati Tulasi-devi who is the confidential associate of Lord Krishna, who is the dearmost devotee of the Lord. And if we want to hear kṛṣṇa-kathā, we can always read Srila Prabhupada’s books and have the association of Srila Prabhupada. So, the opportunity is always there to chant and hear and make advancement in Krishna consciousness. But unfortunate as we are, we have no attraction. Just consider the position of the four Kumaras or the position of Śukadeva Gosvami. They were completely beyond any attachment, or any attraction for maya, they were completely beyond the three modes of nature. Still, they were attracted by Krishna. But even though we have the chance to be attracted by Krishna, what to speak of the attraction of impersonal Brahman, which is beyond the material modes of nature, we are attracted by the topics of the material world. And the topics of the material world, known as prajalpaḥ, can destroy our devotional service.

Srila Rupa Gosvami has also stated in Sri Upadeśāmṛta that prajalpaḥ is one of the six items that destroys bhakti. So we should be careful. We should try to associate with the process of śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ, and that will keep us aloof of material attraction. That will keep us aloof from unwanted topics and unwanted expertise, and that will keep us safe in every condition.

One time in Calcutta, there was a lot of chaos. Srila Prabhupada have been away for some time, and after some time, he came to Calcutta. And many of the devotees had many complaints. So, Srila Prabhupada called a meeting of devotees, and he asked to hear all of them, and he listened very patiently and very sympathetically. And at the end, he said that there should be a temple council, and the temple council should meet to discuss the problems in the temple, and whatever the temple council decided should be accepted, and then it should be recorded in the book, all of the members should sign the book, and so on. But even though Srila Prabhupada listened very patiently and very sympathetically to the complaints of the devotees, after making some arrangements for the management, he spoke in another way. And he said that, “We are prone to discuss mundane topics. And by complaining and discussing, ‘This is wrong, this is right, he is wrong, he is right,’ our times will be lost, we will simply be engaged in mundane talks, and we will miss the chance for spiritual talks about Krishna.”

Then Srila Prabhupada said that personally, he never complains. He said that he suffered so much to establish Krishna consciousness. Even on the boat to America, he suffered two heart attacks, but he never complained. And in America also, he suffered in so many ways to begin Krishna consciousness. So Srila Prabhupada said, “I suffered in so many ways, you cannot even conceive of how I have suffered, but I do not wish to discuss it. But I never complained because my policy was, ‘everything for Krishna, and nothing for myself.’ That was always my policy, and still it is my policy.” And all of us, we should also have the same policy, “Everything for Krishna, and nothing for myself.” Hare Krishna.

Any questions or comment? 

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:37:49] 

Giriraj Swami: So, Krishna came just to assure him that he would not go into maya. But even yogis, they can realize the Lord in the heart. But actual bhakti begins with līlā. The yogis also have realization of the form of the Lord, but they have no realization of the pastimes of the Lord. So, the difference between the yogi and the bhakta is that the bhakta has appreciation of the pastimes, whereas the yogi only has appreciation of the form. So, by hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śukadeva Gosvami became attracted to the pastimes of the Lord, and then he actually began devotional service. Being assured by the Lord that he would not fall into maya was enough for him to come out of the womb. But he actually began his devotional service when he heard the pastimes of the Lord.