SB 10.47.64–66 – The Symptom of Pure Love for Krishna Is Humility

Giriraj Swami:

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Chapter Forty-seven, Canto Ten, Text Sixty-four.

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Uddhava, the descendant of Daśārha, then took permission to leave from the gopīs and from mother Yaśodā and Nanda Mahārāja. He bade farewell to all the cowherd men and, about to depart, mounted his chariot.

TEXT 65

taṁ nirgataṁ samāsādya

nānopāyana-pāṇayaḥ

nandādayo ‘nurāgeṇa

prāvocann aśru-locanāḥ

TRANSLATION

As Uddhava was about to leave, Nanda and the others approached him bearing various items of worship. With tears in their eyes they addressed him as follows.

PURPORT

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī points out that Nanda and the cowherd men did not approach Uddhava as a formality, but rather out of spontaneous affection for a dear friend of Kṛṣṇa’s.

TEXT 66

manaso vṛttayo naḥ syuḥ

kṛṣṇa pādāmbujāśrayāḥ

vāco ‘bhidhāyinīr nāmnāṁ

kāyas tat-prahvaṇādiṣu

TRANSLATION

[Nanda and the other cowherds said:] May our mental functions always take shelter of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet, may our words always chant His names, and may our bodies always bow down to Him and serve Him.

PURPORT

The residents of Vṛndāvana were firmly convinced that even if they could not have direct association with their beloved Kṛṣṇa, they would never be indifferent to Him. They were all topmost pure devotees of the Lord.

COMMENT

So we are coming to the conclusion of Chapter Forty-seven, “The Song of the Bee.” Lord Krishna has sent Uddhava from Mathura to Vrindavan, to deliver his message of consolation to the cowherds, in particular, to the gopīs and especially to Srimati Radharani. But although externally Uddhava came to Vrindavan to deliver Krishna’s message and console the residents by speaking with them about Krishna, there was another purpose, which is that Krishna wanted Uddhava to see the super excellent love of the residents of Vrindavan for Him. And after spending time with them, Uddhava realized that the love that they have for Krishna is unlike any love of any other devotees. It is the most pure and sublime and ecstatic love of Krishna that exists. And thus, just before evening he recited two very beautiful verses in appreciation for the gopīs of Vrindavan. I will just read the translations.

TEXT 58

[Uddhava sang:] Among all persons on earth, these cowherd women alone have actually perfected their embodied lives, for they have achieved the perfection of unalloyed love for Lord Govinda. Their pure love is hankered after by those who fear material existence, by great sages, and by ourselves as well. For one who has tasted the narrations of the infinite Lord, what is the use of taking birth as a high-class brāhmaṇa, or even as Lord Brahmā himself?

TEXT 59

How amazing it is that these simple women who wander about the forest, seemingly spoiled by improper behavior, have achieved the perfection of unalloyed love for Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Soul! Still, it is true that the Supreme Lord Himself awards His blessings even to an ignorant worshiper, just as the best medicine works even when taken by a person ignorant of its ingredients.

TEXT 60

When Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa was dancing with the gopīs in the rāsa-līlā, the gopīs were embraced by the arms of the Lord. This transcendental favor was never bestowed upon the goddess of fortune or other consorts in the spiritual world. Indeed, never was such a thing even imagined by the most beautiful girls in the heavenly planets, whose bodily luster and aroma resemble the lotus flower. And what to speak of worldly women who are very beautiful according to material estimation?

TEXT 61

The gopīs of Vṛndāvana have given up the association of their husbands, sons and other family members, who are very difficult to give up, and they have forsaken the path of chastity to take shelter of the lotus feet of Mukunda, Kṛṣṇa, which one should search for by Vedic knowledge. Oh, let me be fortunate enough to be one of the bushes, creepers or herbs in Vṛndāvana, because the gopīs trample them and bless them with the dust of their lotus feet.

TEXT 62

The goddess of fortune herself, along with Lord Brahmā and all the other demigods, who are masters of yogic perfection, can worship the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa only within their minds. But during the rāsa dance Lord Kṛṣṇa placed His lotus feet upon these gopīs’ breasts, and by embracing those feet the gopīs gave up all distress.

TEXT 63

I repeatedly offer my respects to the dust from the feet of the women of Nanda Mahārāja’s cowherd village. When these gopīs loudly chant the glories of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the vibration purifies the three worlds.

COMMENT

And after completing those verses and glorification of the gopīs, Uddhava prepared to leave and came to these verses. One is struck by how exalted the love of the residents for Vrindavan, but their love is spontaneous. It comes from deep within their hearts and is not impelled by scriptural injunctions. But although their love and attraction for Krishna is spontaneous, out of humility because they consider themselves to be ordinary human beings, they pray to always remember Krishna and engagement in His service, as we just read in Text Sixty-six. In fact, the symptom of pure love for God is extreme humility. In fact, scripture says that humility is tantamount to pure love for Krishna. And thus, Nanda Maharaja and the other cowherds pray with words that would be very suitable for us aspiring devotees in the material world. Manaso vṛttayo naḥ syuḥ kṛṣṇa pādāmbujāśrayāḥ—May our mental functions always take shelter of Krishna’s lotus feet.

On Sunday, we had a twelve-hour kirtan and His Holiness Giridhari Swami spoke about the difficulties we face in chanting purely. And he asked different members of the audience, “What is the basic problem?” And different devotees gave different answers, all of which were correct because we know very well what our problems are when we chant, why our mind is distracted. But in that discussion no one mentioned the body. Giridhari Swami kept saying, “More basic, more basic.” And finally, he said, “The mind.” The problem is the mind. The mind is always wandering here and there looking for sense gratification, for impersonal speculation.” So we pray that our mind may be fixed on the lotus feet of Lord Krishna; that our minds may be fixed on the holy names.

I asked Her Grace Rukmini Priya devi dasi, what she is when she sings kirtan. She said, “First of all, when she begins, she feels very nervous, so she shuts her eyes and tries to pretend or forget that she is in a room filled with people, and then she just tries to hear the holy names.” So this is the basic effort of every devotee; to hear the holy names, to fix the mind on the sounds of the holy names. And here, the most exalted devotees in existence are praying that in the same way that we should be praying; manaso vṛttayo naḥ syuḥ kṛṣṇa pādāmbujāśrayāḥ—may our mental functions always take shelter of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. And, vāco ‘bhidhāyinīr nāmnāṁ—may our words always chant His names.

The residents of Vrindavan were always talking about Krishna. They have no other topic of discussion. When Srimati Radharani was in her mood of jealous anger towards Krishna and was criticizing Him indirectly by criticizing the bee, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura gave a very beautiful commentary in which he explains as many commentaries do; what questions the verses are answering. And so, Srimati Radharani was criticizing Krishna on so many different grounds; criticizing Him for His apparent misbehavior in different incarnations as Vamana deva He cheated Bali Maharaja, he asked for only three steps of land as a small dwarf-like brahmana. And then after Bali Maharaja agreed, he expanded himself into a gigantic form and His three steps covered the entire universe. So He cheated him and even after cheating him, He arrested him and accused him of not fulfilling his promise. And then She criticized Him in His incarnation as Lord Rama for killing Bali, not even in a courageous way as a kshatriya should do, but hiding behind a tree like a coward. And then as Her ecstatic mood heightened, She said that if Krishna can live without us, we can also live without Krishna. If He thinks He can be happy without us, with those ladies of Mathura, we can also be happy without Him. But although we can give up Krishna, the association of Krishna, we cannot give up speaking about Him. So the gopīs, all residents of Vrindavan, every pure devotee is addicted to Krishna. They cannot live without Krishna; without speaking about Krishna, hearing about Krishna, remembering Krishna. So they cannot give up speaking about Krishna. But still, in their humble mood, they are praying as we aspiring devotees should pray—vāco ‘bhidhāyinīr nāmnāṁ kāyas tat-prahvaṇādiṣu, may our words always chant His names, and may our bodies always bow down to Him and serve Him.

So, by these prayers the residents of Vrindavan show both their exalted love for Krishna and their humility in praying for what they already have, in praying for qualities that they already have, praying to be engaged in activities that they are already constantly engaged in. So we should follow in the footsteps of the residents of Vrindavan and pray to have such absorption in Krishna consciousness. And although the residents of Vrindavan are the most exalted devotees in creation, because of their humility, they appreciate more the devotion and service of others, and they essentially appreciated Uddhava because he was such a close friend of Krishna’s. And therefore, in the previous verse it is said, nandādayo ‘nurāgeṇa, intense affection, prāvocann aśru-locanāḥ, with tears in their eyes. Because of their love for Krishna, they had intense love for Uddhava because they recognize Uddhava as an intimate friend of Krishna. And they were filled with gratitude and appreciation for his visit, and at the same time they were sorry that he had to leave. But they knew that he had to leave. And Uddhava also was very attached, he became very attached to the residents of Vrindavan, the dust of the feet of the residents of Vrindavan, the dust of Sri Vrindavan dhāma. But because Krishna was personally present in Mathura, displaying His pastimes, He had to leave.

So the residents of Vrindavan, they appreciated Uddhava so much because he reminded them of Krishna. He spoke with them about Krishna and he was a dear friend of Krishna’s. And although they are the most worshipable devotees in existence, they worshiped Uddhava as a dear friend of Krishna’s. So, when one develops such purity of heart, although one is most exalted one feels oneself to be ordinary and prays for such benedictions to always be with Krishna and chant the name of Krishna, rendering service to Krishna, and one appreciates the service and qualities of other devotees, and wants to worship them and serve them.

Hare Krishna.

Do you have any questions or comments? Yes, Sri Balarama Prabhu.

Devotee: Well, [Unintelligible] the residents of Vrindavan. You were saying how [Unintelligible] civilization collapsed [Unintelligible] western civilization that can’t sustain itself, have some kind of a disaster or collapse, and we are just wondering how to plant something like that it seems [Unintelligible]. Although everything is in our heart, [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: So what is your question?

Devotee: My question is material civilization has a bleak future that is going to collapse and how are we going to be able to do our all of our services? We are all working and the Vedic Planetarium is being built because of the whole market [Unintelligible] International banking systems, some things [Unintelligible]. Srila Prabhupada’s service is so [Unintelligible] of how we can just do services?

Giriraj Swami: Our service is not dependent on amenities or technology. If they are there, we can use them, if they are not, we can do the same things without them. I mean, all the same things are going on in Vrindavan. Uddhava had a chariot drawn by horses. So, he and his [Unintelligible]. It is there so we are using it but we don’t need it. What we do need is to apply our minds in Krishna. The only solution is chanting Krishna’s name and engage our bodies in bowing down to Krishna and serving Him. [Unintelligible]

So when Srila Prabhupada first met his guru Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. . . first he was a follower of Mahatma Ghandi and he said we first should become independent and then we can give the message. And Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura convinced him that being dependent or independent are material, we have to preach the message of Chaitanya [Unintelligible] So that will be [Unintelligible] we are the servants, we have to preach. [Unintelligible]

Devotee: Thank you, Maharaja, Hare Krishna!

Devotee: Maharaja, you were saying that, humility means pure love for Krishna, could you elaborate on how one developed humility?

Giriraj Swami: Yes. Well, as of most divine qualities there are two processes: one is by becoming Krishna conscious by hearing, chanting, remembering, and in general, following the instructions of the spiritual master. And the other is by practice, by making an effort.

Once, a devotee asked His Holiness Radhanath Swami how he became so humble. And he said, “You practice. At first, you don’t feel like being humble, you practice.” [Unintelligible] In the beginning, one of the very earliest devotees who was initiated as Gargamuni dasa, told Srila Prabhupada that, “I see that the other disciples are bowing down but I don’t feel in my heart like bowing down.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “You should bow down anyway, the feeling will come.” So we practice. “Prabhu”, we address each other as Prabhu, that means master, I want to serve you. Srila Prabhupada said that if a devotee asks you to do some service, you should accept. And if a devotee offers to render some service to you, you should refuse. This is practice. And then, offenseless chanting and hearing; that cleanses the dust or the dirt from the mirror of the mind. The dirt begins by identifying with the body, the false ego wanting to be the master, the controller, enjoyer. So by chanting, hearing, remembering, serving your spiritual master, serving Krishna, that cleanses the heart. And when the heart is cleansed then naturally the qualities of the pure soul are revealed [Unintelligible]. So we do both: we practice to develop the specific quality that we want, and we engage in offenseless chanting and hearing and remembering [Unintelligible] preaching, and that cleanses the dirt from the mirror of the mind and our natural pure spiritual qualities as part and parcel of Krishna become manifest.

Devotee: I just want to thank you for the wonderful class. It was amazing. [Unintelligible] for Krishna a hundred times and just brought me up to a whole new level of realization about Sri Krishna and the residents of Vrindavana for myself and everyone else [Unintelligible]. me devotional services [Unintelligible].

Giriraj Swami: Well, if one genuinely wants to be humble then he will practice because by practice one develops habits. So we have to practice to give up our bad habits and develop good habits. False humility is a little different, false humility, one makes a show of being humble but isn’t humble. He is just trying to be humble but he just makes a show so people will think he or she is humble. So that comes in the category of duplicity. There is simplicity and duplicity. And scriptures and the acharyas have all said that simplicity is essential for spiritual advancement. Simplicity means that you accept your present position as it is. You are not in denial about your present position and you don’t try to make a show for others to suggest [Unintelligible]. And from there you take whatever measures that are necessary to progress. That is simplicity.

In duplicity, you yourself may not even recognize where you are at. You are in such a consciousness of making a show that you are so busy trying to fool others, but you fool yourself. And then it is very hard to progress. I mean you can, whatever your position is you can advance by the association of pure devotees; whatever your anartha is, the association of the pure devotees is the best remedy. But sometimes the culture in a particular place or a particular situation may make it harder to be straightforward. From a certain point of view, it might be easier to make a show, but that is an unfortunate situation. And on occasion we might have to do that but as a rule we should at least try to acknowledge where we are, not fool ourselves or try to fool others, and take appropriate measures according to sadhu, shastra, and guru, how to genuinely progress.