SB 10.36.18–19 – Seeing the Underlying Plan of the Lord

Giriraj Swami: 

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

We read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Ten, Chapter Thirty-Six, “The Slaying of Ariṣṭā, the Bull Demon,”

TEXT 18

niśamya tad bhoja-patiḥ

kopāt pracalitendriyaḥ

niśātam asim ādatta

vasudeva-jighāṁsayā

TRANSLATION

Upon hearing this, the master of the Bhojas became furious and lost control of his senses. He picked up a sharp sword to kill Vasudeva.

COMMENT

There is no purport so we will read the next verse.

TEXT 19

nivārito nāradena

tat-sutau mṛtyum ātmanaḥ

jñātvā loha-mayaiḥ pāśair

babandha saha bhāryayā

TRANSLATION

But Nārada restrained Kaṁsa by reminding him that it was the two sons of Vasudeva who would cause his death. Kaṁsa then had Vasudeva and his wife shackled in iron chains.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Kaṁsa realized that there was no use in killing Vasudeva, since it was Vasudeva’s sons, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, who were to kill him. According to the ācāryas, Nārada also advised Kaṁsa that if he killed Vasudeva the two young boys might flee and that it was therefore better not to kill him. Rather, Nārada recommended, Kaṁsa should bring Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma to Kaṁsa’s capital city.

COMMENT

What is the name? Kaṁsa’s capital city?

Devotee: Mathura.

Giriraj Swami: Mathura. Thus spoke Mathuranath. Mathuranath means Lord of Mathura. Does that refer to Kamsa? No, he is not the real Lord of Mathura, it refers to Krishna.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:07:57]

Giriraj Swami: 

PURPORT (continued)

Rather, Nārada recommended, Kaṁsa should bring Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma to Kaṁsa’s capital city, Mathurā.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out that Nārada did not act inimically toward the great devotees Vasudeva and Devakī when he revealed this information to Kaṁsa. In fact, as explained in the Eleventh Canto, Vasudeva was grateful to Nārada because he was arranging for Kaṁsa’s death at Kṛṣṇa’s hands, and further arranging for Kṛṣṇa to come and live in Mathurā, where His loving father could associate with Him.

COMMENT

Hare Krishna.

Though sometimes the activities of devotees are very mysterious, Krishna and Balarama had taken shelter in Vrindavan to be protected from Kamsa’s efforts to kill them. And here, the great sage Narada is informing Kamsa of the fact that Balarama and Krishna were actually sons of Vasudeva, and that they were in Vrindavan, and they were responsible for killing all the demons that Kamsa sent to Vrindavan to kill them. This information infuriated Kamsa who became so angry that he was ready to kill Vasudeva, as we just read. But Narada intervened and convinced him that it was better to spare Vasudeva and rather bring Krishna and Balarama to Mathura.

Now, by revealing the truth, Narada put Vasudeva in a precarious position, or apparently in a precarious position. And so too, Krishna and Balarama, although Narada knew that Krishna and Balarama are the Supreme Lords and therefore there was no risk for them. But he did so with a plan, which was to bring Krishna and Balarama to Mathura to kill Kamsa, and at the same time, satisfy Vasudeva and Devaki and other devotees of Krishna in Mathura. And Vasudeva actually appreciated the act of Narada. So, this is a lesson to us, that great devotees may have plans that we are unable to understand, and we should see the value of their plans and activities. Sometimes it happens that someone acts in a way that appears to be against our self-interest, but which is actually meant for a higher purpose. They themselves may not be aware of the higher purpose, but the devotee who appears to be the victim of the harsh behavior, he can see the plan of the Lord.

The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was spoken under such circumstances. King Parīkṣit was in the forest on an excursion, and he felt very thirsty, and he came to the hermitage of a sage in meditation. And somehow, by higher arrangement, King Parīkṣit became angry, and as a mahā-bhāgavata, he should not have become angry because he was thirsty and was not received properly. There was a dead snake and he put it around the neck of the brahman in meditation, then immediately he lamented, he felt repentant, which shows his greatness as a devotee. But the brahman’s son, Sringi, when he heard that his father had been insulted, he cursed King Parīkṣit to die in seven days of a snake bite. And although Maharaja Parīkṣit could have counteracted the curse, he accepted it as Krishna’s mercy, and he gave up everything, his family, his kingdom, his royal paraphernalia, and just went to the banks of the Ganges and heard Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from Śukadeva Swami.

Another example was King Citraketu being cursed by Parvati. King Citraketu was such an advanced devotee that he had sakshat darshan, he had direct audience of the Lord, and he was traveling through the universe in an aerial conveyance with his associates, and they were singing the glories of the Lord, engaged in saṅkīrtana. And they happened to fly over Kailash, where Lord Shiva was seated with Parvati on His lap and His arm around her, in front of many great sages. And King Citraketu was struck with wonder, “How is it possible that Lord Shiva, who is such a great yogi, is sitting with His wife on His lap in front of so many great sages?” He didn’t even really criticize King Citraketu, but he was just struck by wonder. And Parvati took offense on behalf of her husband, and she cursed King Citraketu to fall down and become a demon. And King Citraketu accepted the curse without any regret. He treated Parvati as his mother, he said, “Yes, mother. Whatever you order for me, I will gladly accept on my head.” And he also perceived the plan of the Lord to bring him back home, back to Godhead more quickly, just like Maharaja Parīkṣit. And Lord Shiva, a little bit chided Parvati by glorifying King Citraketu that, “How glorious are the devotees of the Lord, because they are equipoised in every situation, and for them, heaven or hell or liberation are all the same.” Api tulyārtha-darśinaḥ. And Srila Prabhupada explains that the reason a devotee is equal in heaven or hell or liberation is that he doesn’t live in heaven or hell or anywhere, but he lives with Krishna.

So, there are many such instances. We mentioned on Rama-navami how a brahman had cursed Lord Chaitanya to be bereft of material happiness and Lord Chaitanya was jubilant because he took the curse as a blessing. So, it does happen that a curse is a blessing. And therefore, we should be patient and wait for the indication of the Lord — try to see the purpose of the Lord. There are many contemporary examples as well. Quite early in the movement in 1970, Srila Prabhupada detected that some of his disciples had been contaminated by ideas coming from his godbrothers in India, and he decided to leave America. And years later, at the Krishna-Balarama temple in Vrindavan, he commented that Los Angeles was his best temple and he wanted to make it his headquarters, but because of the disturbance there, he left. And he prayed to the deities, “Why are you doing this?” But then later, as he said at the Krishna-Balarama temple, he saw that Krishna gave him a temple much better than he had in Los Angeles. And that Krishna never takes anything away from a devotee except to give him something better. So, often when we lose something or when something is taken away from us by force, we become disturbed, but if we keep in mind this idea that Krishna will take something away from a devotee only to give the devotee something better, then we won’t react on impulse, like Kamsa who completely lost control. But we will think philosophically, “All right, Krishna has taken this away, what is the plan? He is taking it away for a purpose, to give me something better. So, let us cooperate with the plan of Krishna.”

Once, Tamal Krishna Goswami was. . .without going into too many details or discussing too deeply, let us just say that the GBC decided to take away his Texas Zone, and he accepted the decision although he was very powerful, he certainly could have created some agitation, but he accepted the decision. And then later, he saw the benefit of what had happened, and he quoted the story of King Citraketu and Parvati. Although Parvati was mistaken in her apprehension of Citraketu, and in a sense you could say that she was wrong to curse him, but ultimately, it was meant for a higher good. And Tamal Krishna Goswami told me that in the same way, the GBC or some leaders of the GBC, they may have been wrong in what they did, but still, it could have been for the ultimate good. He took it as being for the ultimate good. And when a devotee takes apparent reversals in that spirit, then Krishna is very pleased. In fact, it is said that when. . . Well, it could apply equally to Krishna or the spiritual master, that when the disciple accepts chastisement, Krishna is very pleased, and he blesses the disciple with spiritual advancement.

Srila Prabhupada also suffered apparent reversals. He wanted to be Krishna conscious at home, he wanted to preach as a grihastha, but his wife’s mood was different. She was a religious lady, but she was not in the mood of preaching. And you may know the story that once, when Srila Prabhupada was away on business, his wife took his most prized possession, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and took it to a pawn shop to get some money, she needed some money. So, when he came back and asked where his Bhāgavatam was and she gave the answer; she said that she wanted to buy some tea biscuits, she needed the money to buy tea biscuits. And at that time, a certain deep resolution overcame Srila Prabhupada, and he said, “You are going to have to choose between tea and me.” So, husband and wife, she thought it was some joking statements, she said, “Oh, I will choose tea, of course.” But it wasn’t a joke, and Srila Prabhupada made his determination that he would leave home.

There was another similar incident in the life of Rupa and Sanatana Gosvami. They were engaged in the service of Navab Hussain Shah, the Muhammadian ruler of eastern India, and they were his most trusted ministers. Srila Prabhupada said, like the prime minister and the finance minister. There were reasons why they accepted that position and why they stayed in that position. And one night, it was raining terribly in Ramakeli, just pouring down torrents of rain, thunder, lightning. And very late at night, a couple in a little cottage heard someone walking very quickly down the footpath in the midst of this tremendous storm, and the wife said to the husband or vice versa, “I wonder who that could be, out so late at night, in the middle of this terrible storm.” And the other said, “Oh, it must be Rupa Gosvami or Sanatana Gosvami. They are slaves to the Navab and they will do whatever he says. It must be them.” So, they overheard this, and the same thing, a firm determination took root in their hearts that they were not going to continue as slaves of the Navab to be mocked by the citizens of Navab’s state.

So, we always have to be open to what is the plan of the Lord for us, what is the desire of the Lord, an, not react to apparent reversals but to see what you are meant to learn from it, what you are meant to get from it. Or even if you can’t understand, then just be open to it. As I discussed the other day, the Pandavas were subjected to such terrible tribulations, and at the end of the battle of Kurukshetra when Bhīṣma deva was lying on the bed of arrows. What that really means is that he had arrows shot through his body, and that was his mattress. And so, the Pandavas and Draupadi, and Krishna came to see him as he was about to leave his body, and he said, “How is it possible that you good souls could have suffered so much?” And then finally, he says, “Even though great sages inquire exhaustively, they cannot ascertain the plan of the Lord.”

And the acharyas who have commented on this portion of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam have said that the Lord was right there. Krishna was right there. So, why didn’t they just ask Krishna? And they give the answer that Krishna would not have told them what His plan was, and they knew that He wouldn’t tell them what His plan was, He would have remained silent. Or even if He would have spoken, He would have spoken in such a deep and mysterious way, that they would have been unable to understand what His plan was. And the acharyas quote a verse from the Eleventh Canto, it is a very interesting verse that says that Krishna is pleased with verses in the Vedas that have hidden meanings, parokṣavāda. From the surface of it you cannot understand the actual purport. So yes, the Vedas are confidential. So, Krishna actually is happy that it is not too easy for people to understand, so that way only the most sincere ones will be able to understand. So Krishna, he doesn’t let us know His plan sometimes, and then, sometimes He does. That is His choice according to what He thinks is best under the circumstances.

Sanatana Gosvami, again in brief, he was suffering from sores that oozed bad liquid, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would embrace him, and Sanatana Gosvami would feel terrible because he just felt it was so offensive to the Lord. So in the end, he decided to commit suicide by throwing himself under the wheels of the chariot of Lord Jagannatha during Ratha-yatra. And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, as the omniscient Lord, said to him, “Is it proper if you give Me something to later take it back or destroy it?” And then he said, “You have given your body to Me, to My service, now how can you take it back or destroy it?” And then He said, “There are many things that I want to do, but I am kept here in Jagannatha Puri.” Because He promised his mother that He would stay in Puri so He wouldn’t be too far, and she would get news of Him. “But I am stuck here in Jagannatha Puri, but I have many things that I want to do in Vrindavan, and I want to do them through you, through your body.” And then He told him, “I want you to compile a book on Vaishnava behavior.” And then, Mahaprabhu gave him the basic idea that became “Sri Hari-bhakti-vilāsa," and He said, “I want you to go to Vrindavan, and excavate the lost places of pilgrimage, and show the ideal example of how to live in Vrindavan.” He said, “I have many things that I want to achieve through your body.” It is a very significant pastime.

So, the Lord can reveal His plan to a devotee when the time is right. And although the Bhāgavatam says that although great sages inquire exhaustively, no one can understand the plan of the Lord, the commentators say that although no one can ascertain the plan of the Lord, although they inquire exhaustively, still, devotees inquire, they do inquire, and they should inquire. So, that is our duty and it is our nature. And if we think about it, we do that. Any sincere devotee will do that. “Now I am getting older, what should I do? Am I just going to stay home and wait for the grandchildren to be born and then take care of the grandchildren, or am I going to go out and preach?” And so, devotees are thinking. There are so many variations but we always do that, we always try to understand what is the best thing to do for Krishna’s service, and then, how do we get the answer. So, by being very sincere and chanting and praying, Krishna can give us the answer in the heart. Sometimes by consulting with others, trusted devotees, mature devotees, we can get guidance by reading the books, we may get the answer jumping out from the page of the books. So, Krishna makes Himself available through His holy name, the deity, the scripture, the devotees. And so, if we are really sincere and really eager to know what He wants of us, then we will approach Him in a very earnest and honest way, and when He sees that we are really sincere and eager and ready to do what He says. . .

Sometimes we don’t exactly want to know what He wants because it might conflict with our ideas and plans, which might include a quantity of comfort for ourselves. So, sometimes you don’t even really want to know. But if we are ready and are not placing any conditions but are really ready to do whatever He wants and really beg Him to tell us what He wants, then He could reveal that to us. And if we do have some attachment that is holding us back, He might take it away from us, and that will also be for our benefit. Although we might resist it, but ultimately, it will be for our benefit. And many such examples. Famous verse, yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁśanaiḥ. Krishna says, “When I am especially favorably inclined to some devotee, the first installment of My special mercy is I take away his material attachments.” So, that is good for us.

Srila Prabhupada used to quote a Bengali saying that. “The Lord, with His ten hands, if He wants to take something from us, how much can we hold on to with our two hands? And if He wants to give us something with His ten hands, how much can we accept with our two hands?” So, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh. But in the case of devotees, both are for the benefit of the devotee, His taking and His giving. And His taking is also just another way of creating a situation in which He can give more. Hare Krishna.

So, are there any questions or comments? Radha Vinod?

Devotee: In our condition state that one [Unintelligible 00:45:37]

Giriraj Swami: How much what is there?

Devotee: Intervention.

Giriraj Swami: Oh, intervention. Radha Vinod Prabhu says that in our conditioned state, to what extent is the Lord involved in our lives, and to what extent are we just suffering the reactions to our karma?

That is a good question. But once a devotee surrenders to Krishna through the spiritual master, the spiritual master and Krishna take charge. And Srila Prabhupada said that Krishna will use the devotee’s sinful reactions to the devotee’s best benefit. It is a very interesting idea that, okay, you surrender to Krishna through the spiritual master, then Krishna says,

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

If you surrender to Krishna, He will free you from all sinful reactions. But it is seen, and authorities like Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura have explained that it is a gradual process. We surrender, and the spiritual master, on behalf of Krishna, accepts enough of the sinful reactions, so that you can better understand the science of Krishna, so that you can make more progress. Because as Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gītā, yeṣām anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām. That those who are freed from sinful actions and reactions, who have acted piously in this birth and previous births, they can take to devotional service. So, if someone is afflicted by too many sinful reactions, he won’t really be able to take to devotional service. And therefore, at the time of initiation, Krishna, or the spiritual master on behalf of Krishna, accepts enough of the disciple’s sinful reactions that he can progress. But we experience practically that we do continue to suffer, and therefore, Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says it is a gradual process.

And Srila Prabhupada also gives the example of the fan, that the fan is turning, and when you surrender to Krishna, it is like pulling out slow, but there is still some momentum that gradually slows down and stops. So, Srila Prabhupada said that Krishna, He takes charge of the devotee’s sinful reactions, and then He releases them for the best interest of the devotee. So, even if we feel that we are suffering some reaction for our past sins, but if we surrender to Krishna, then the sinful reactions are being meted out to us in a certain quantity, at a certain time, for our benefit. So again, we can learn from it and progress more. But if you take it the other way, that it is just the material world, there is always suffering in the material world, and you just tolerate it and save your energy for Krishna consciousness, that is all right too.

Once, I was walking on White Rock Lake, this was just a few weeks ago when I was here, before Houston. So, a lady stopped, and there was some discussion, and afterwards, I was thinking, “What is with her? Was she just a sincere seeker or did she have some ulterior motive?” Anyway, then I went back to my chanting, and I was still thinking; it was so uncanny, it seemed like Krishna sent her, but then, what was it? And then I thought, “It doesn’t matter, it is just the world, the world will go on. I am not here to figure out the world, I am here to chant the holy name, the world will go on.” And so, I said, “Just let that go and just chant.” So, that is also good. Something happens, good or bad or whatever, “It is just the world, the world is going to go on, my karma is going to go on, everything is going to go on, let it go on and let me focus on the holy name.” That is also a legitimate response. Any other questions? Yes?

Devotee: Maharaja, my question is about the concept of Narada Muni. I am just curious because I know, even in Krishna’s appearance, Narada Muni had advised Kamsa that Krishna was coming, and I understand why he was doing it, because he wanted Krishna to appear faster and [Unintelligible 00:53:46]. But what I don’t understand, is how Kamsa trust what Narada Muni said; how does he trust. I mean, ultimately, there has to be something revealed that Narada Muni is devoted to Krishna or something. So, I am just trying to understand that relationship how Kamsa trust Narada Muni to [Unintelligible 00:54:11] manipulate that.

Giriraj Swami: Well, Narada Muni, is a very powerful sage, and he could have that influence. I told this story once, I will tell it again, that in the struggle for the Juhu land, at a certain stage, the devotees canceled the sales agreement. And so, technically, the devotees had no legal standing, they had no right even to be on the property. Srila Prabhupada wanted to have the sales agreement reinstated. So, he arranged to meet with Mr. Nair in Hyderabad, and Mr. Nair brought a guru with him, because he thought that Srila Prabhupada might use some mystic power to convince him to agree to something he didn’t want to agree to, so he brought his guru to, like, counteract Prabhupada’s mystic powers. So, underneath it all, they were adversaries in this situation, Srila Prabhupada and Mr. Nair. And there are some light formalities, that is just how cultured people are under certain circumstances. The first meeting was in the evening, the idea was they were going to meet the next day, and they were staying in Mr. Panawal Pethi estate, he was a very wealthy man who had a big estate.

And so, Mr. Nair’s guru said to Srila Prabhupada, “Swamiji, you appear to be very tired. I think we should let you take rest.” And Prabhupada yawned, “Yes, actually, I am tired. We should take rest.” So then Mr. Nair and his guru went to the next room to take rest. Then, two minutes later, Srila Prabhupada told Tamal Krishna Goswami, “The psychology is that he was tired, so that is why he said, ‘You look tired, you probably need rest.’ He said it because he was actually tired, and he wanted to go to sleep. So, very quietly, you go into the next room, and you will find that Nair’s guru is sleeping. And so, very quietly, you wake up Nair and bring him to me.” [laughter] So, Tamal Krishna Goswami went into the next room, sure enough the guru was snoring away. Then he woke up Nair, and Nair was in the daze, he brought Nair in front of Prabhupada, and they made a new sales agreement. [laughter] So yes, sometimes even demons accept the words of saintly persons.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Nitai-Gaura premānande Hari Haribol!

Devotee: His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya!