SB 2.3.15 – Fortunate Children—A Birthday Talk

Giriraj Swami: 

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

We read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Three, Pure Devotional Service.

TEXT 15

sa vai bhāgavato rājā
pāṇḍaveyo mahā-rathaḥ
bāla-krīḍanakaiḥ krīḍan
kṛṣṇa-kṛīḍāṁ ya ādade

TRANSLATION

Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the grandson of the Pāṇḍavas, was from his very childhood a great devotee of the Lord. Even while playing with dolls, he used to worship Lord Kṛṣṇa by imitating the worship of the family Deity.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

In the Bhagavad-gītā (6.41) it is stated that even a person who has failed in the proper discharge of yoga practice is given a chance to take birth in the house of devout brāhmaṇas or in the houses of rich men like kṣatriya kings or rich merchants. But Mahārāja Parīkṣit was more than that because he had been a great devotee of the Lord since his previous birth, and as such he took his birth in an imperial family of the Kurus, and especially that of the Pāṇḍavas. So from the very beginning of his childhood he had the chance to know intimately the devotional service of Lord Kṛṣṇa in his own family. The Pāṇḍavas, all being devotees of the Lord, certainly venerated family Deities in the royal palace for worship. Children who appear in such families fortunately generally imitate such worship of the Deities, even in the way of childhood play. By the grace of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, we had the chance of being born in a Vaiṣṇava family, and in our childhood we imitated the worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa by imitating our father. Our father encouraged us in all respects to observe all functions such as the Ratha-yātrā and Dola-yātrā ceremonies, and he used to spend money liberally for distributing prasāda to us children and our friends. Our spiritual master, who also took his birth in a Vaiṣṇava family, got all inspirations from his great Vaiṣṇava father, Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda. That is the way of all lucky Vaiṣṇava families. The celebrated Mīrā Bāī was a staunch devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa as the great lifter of Govardhana Hill.

The life history of many such devotees is almost the same because there is always symmetry between the early lives of all great devotees of the Lord. According to Jīva Gosvāmī, Mahārāja Parīkṣit must have heard about the childhood pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa at Vṛndāvana, for he used to imitate the pastimes with his young playmates. According to Śrīdhara Svāmī, Mahārāja Parīkṣit used to imitate the worship of the family Deity by elderly members. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī also confirms the viewpoint of Jīva Gosvāmī. So accepting either of them, Mahārāja Parīkṣit was naturally inclined to Lord Kṛṣṇa from his very childhood. He might have imitated either of the above-mentioned activities, and all of them establish his great devotion from his very childhood, a symptom of a mahā-bhāgavata. Such mahā-bhāgavatas are called nitya-siddhas, or souls liberated from birth. But there are also others, who may not be liberated from birth but who develop a tendency for devotional service by association, and they are called sādhana-siddhas. There is no difference between the two in the ultimate issue, and so the conclusion is that everyone can become a sādhana-siddha, a devotee of the Lord, simply by association with the pure devotees. The concrete example is our great spiritual master Śrī Nārada Muni. In his previous life he was simply a boy of a maidservant, but through association with great devotees he became a devotee of the Lord of his own standard, unique in the history of devotional service.

TRANSLATION

Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the grandson of the Pāṇḍavas, was from his very childhood a great devotee of the Lord. Even while playing with dolls, he used to worship Lord Kṛṣṇa by imitating the worship of the family Deity.

COMMENT

So, in this verse, the childhood play of Maharaja Parīkṣit is described that even while playing with dolls, he would imitate his family’s worship of the Deity. And his home was full of Krishna consciousness, talks about Krishna. Therefore, he heard about Krishna from the very beginning of his life including the childhood pastimes of Krishna in Vrindavan and he may have imitated the childhood pastimes of Krishna in Vrindavan or he may simply have worshiped or imitated the worship of the family Deity. Either way, he was absorbed in Krishna consciousness. And that is the great fortune of taking birth in a family of devotees. And we find in the case of many of our predecessor acharyas that they took birth in the family of devotees and had a natural inclination to Krishna consciousness to the extent that at a young age, they had very little interest in material activities, but were very eager to study Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

One such example is Srila Jiva Gosvami. At a very young age, he was studying Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And of course, his father was the younger brother of Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami—very exalted devotees and confidential associates of Lord Chaitanya. Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was the son of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. And Srila Prabhupada’s own father was also very absorbed in devotional service. In fact, Srila Prabhupada commented that although he would go to the shop to conduct his business but his real interest was in bhajana, in worship. And he would see his father engage in the worship and his father would also encourage him and his friends in celebrating Ratha-yatra and other festivals and distributing prasāda. So, it is a great fortune for a child to be born in a Vaishnava family. And the parents and other elders have a great responsibility to set the proper example and encourage them to push the consciousness.

Now apart from those born in Vaishnava families, even those who are not born in Vaishnava families can also take to Krishna consciousness if they are blessed with the association of the devotees. The great example in our line was Sri Narada Muni who was born the son of a maidservant but by chance or good fortune, during the rainy season, the cāturmāsya, she was engaged in the service of great devotees, bhaktivedāntas. And Narada as a small child of six years was with her to assist in his own way and he became an object of affection for those devotees. He would do service to them and they would give him the remnants of their prasāda and bless them with their good wishes and encouragement. And so even though he came from a lowly family from the material point of view, he rose to the unique standard of Narada Muni.

So, the Fifth Canto in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.5.18) says gurur na sa syāt sva-jano na sa syāt/pitā na sa syāj jananī na sā syāt—no one should become a guru, no one should become a father, no one should become a mother, no one should become a worshipable superior relative unless he can or she can deliver his or her dependent from the repetition of birth and death. This is the responsibility of the parents, the teachers, the government to see that these souls who have taken birth never have to take birth again. And Srila Prabhupada explains that this responsibility can be discharged only if the parents become pure devotees. Only then can they liberate themselves from the repetition of birth and death and also liberate their dependents. So, it’s a great responsibility. Kali-yuga is filled with many distractions—of course maya is always there in every age to distract us—but especially in Kali-yuga where the modes of nature are more prominent and they work against the development of Krishna consciousness.

The mode of goodness—the mode of illumination, the mode of goodness—one can see things as they are but in the mode of passion, one is fixed on the objects of one’s desire and that distorts one’s vision of everything including Krishna consciousness. And in the mode of ignorance, one is so covered by the darkness that one can hardly understand spiritual life at all. And because the society is so materialistic and so covered by the lower modes of nature, it’s even more important that we stick to the association of sincere devotees—pure devotees—and be very strict in our spiritual practices. Sometimes we might think that we can make an exception—this is the mode of passion—we can make an exception for the sake of some immediate material gain and then go back to our spiritual practices.

Hare Krishna Balarama Prabhu!

I hope you all know Balarama dasa. He was Srila Tamal Krishna Goswami’s personal servant for many years and have many. . .

Balaram dasa: This is from Mukunda and this is from his wife. [Unintelligible 00:22:15–00:22:31]

Giriraj Swami: How long will you be here?

Balaram dasa: Just one day.

Giriraj Swami: Just one day?

Balaram dasa: Tomorrow and it’s Sunday. I came here for prasāda. [Laughter]

Giriraj Swami: He is supposed to be on a very strict diet for medical purposes but I don’t know if he is been advised by his doctors. But he has made his own policy that on special occasions, he doesn’t have to follow it. And he is so eager to go off of his diet that he flew all the way because there was no festival in LA. All right, well I think we were just talking about the occasion for today’s gathering is Damodara’s eighth birthday. Damodara, can you stand up?

So, we were reading about how children born in Vaishnava families have special facility to become devotees but they also have the choice to become little rascals, which I am sure they won’t.

All right so are there any questions or comments?

Devotee: Maharaja, you said that most of the sannyasis of Hare Krishna movement were born in a non-devotee family but they were very [Unintelligible].

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, when I was in based in Juhu, I arranged a program for Srila Prabhupada at the home of R. D. Birla and at the time, they were the most prestigious family in India. And his daughter Gopi Kumari Birla was very pious and very inclined to Krishna consciousness. She came many times to meet Srila Prabhupada in Juhu. And her son—of course she may have misjudged him—but her son was very westernized. Tamal Krishna Goswami and I were cultivating him to give a donation. And once we went near the house and he met us. He was wearing a silk, short sleeve shirt completely covered with American flags. So, he was different.

So, after Srila Prabhupada gave his talk, there was a dinner on a beautiful banquet table. And Mrs. Birla was saying to Srila Prabhupada about how Prahlada was born in the family of demons but he became great devotee. But sometimes it also happens that someone is born in the family of great devotees and becomes a demon. So, both are possible. But although she may have been referring to her son Ashok, he actually gave a very big donation for the Vrindavan temple, the biggest donation that anyone in India gave. And I was friends with many of the Birlas, as well as their in-laws, who were married to them. And one of them told me that the whole family was talking about Ashok that how could he give such a great donation to ISKCON which none of them could give. But yes, it’s true. The birth is really, it can offer a facility but there is no guarantee of anything.

And what you said is true. If you read the stories of the lives of many of Srila Prabhupada’s early disciples, there is a symmetry there of how they were searching for spiritual life and then how they came to Srila Prabhupada. The ordinary explanation would be as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that one who has engaged in devotional service but not completed the course fully will take birth and continue where he left in the last life.

I heard that Srila Prabhupada said that Lord Chaitanya placed these devotees in different families in different parts of the world to spread out on Lord Chaitanya’s movement in different countries. So everywhere—in Africa, in China, in Russia, in all sorts of places you find people who are natural devotees and then they take up from [Unintelligible].

Once Srila Prabhupada said—just on that point but this was many years ago—but he said that the Americans are very far from Krishna consciousness but they are coming closer and the Indians are very close to Krishna consciousness but they are running away. So the idea is you can end up anywhere. It really depends on you and the choices you make. And one of the main choices you make is the association that you keep.

But now so many Indians in America come in Krishna consciousness and then when they go back to India their families complain that they became Krishna conscious, “You went to America, we thought when you came back you’d be more expert in eating this and drinking that. Now you don’t even touch it. What happened? What went wrong? You are not fun anymore.” Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Maharaja, you said that the age of Kali, lower modes are more powerful. So could you give some message to kids and us? Could you elaborate a little bit more?

Giriraj Swami: Well, what I said, I would repeat, that because the atmosphere outside the association of the devotees is so materialistic, it’s important to stay in the association of devotees. And even if you have to go to school and different places where you associate with regular people but your main association should be devotees.

Yesterday, Thakura Haridasa called me about a boy in China. His parents are devotees and he himself is extraordinary. I think he is in fourth or fifth grade. (Asking Damodara) What grade are you in? And he is so dynamic and so Krishna conscious. Thakura Haridasa told me they live in a huge building in modern China, that was huge. And his friend, he has made good friends with just a regular person who was a devotee. And that boy is so attached to the devotee whose name is Vamsi that he said to Vamsi that, “I love Vamsi first. Among all of the people of the world, I love Vamsi first and I love my mother second.” His name was Kim. And Vamsi said, “Of all the people in the world, I love my mother first and I love Kim second.”

So yes, if the child is very strong, he can really follow us. But it’s good that they follow us. Children and adults, but we keep our association spiritually. I mean being a devotee is not such a cheap thing [Unintelligible] but we should use our time in Krishna consciousness. And being a devotee means something more than just being a part of an organization or having the designation in one’s mind.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:37:4.3–00:38:03]

Giriraj Swami: That’s a very interesting question. He is asking who was Maharaja Parīkṣit in his previous life? Whether it is in Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā or Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā, we don’t find a mention of who Maharaja Parīkṣit is in previous life. But I’m not saying it as a joke, Maharaja Parīkṣit might be Maharaja Parīkṣit. Just like Arjuna is always Arjuna, the Pandavas are always Pandavas. They are eternal associates in those roles. We find that there are different versions of Maharaja Parīkṣit being cursed and how he responded. And the acharyas say that those different versions are there because in different yuga cycles, Maharaja Parīkṣit had dealt differently with a different curse. So that suggests that every time Krishna appears with the Pandavas, and there is the pastimes of the Mahābhārata war, so there is also Maharaja Parīkṣit would be cursed.

Now in some cases, like Indra or even Brahma, it’s a post. A different person can occupy the post of Brahma or Indra or whoever. But Maharaja Parīkṣit, I have not read this also but the evidence suggests that he is a person, it’s not a post that someone becomes Maharaja Parīkṣit. He is a person. And he has this role in kṛṣṇa-līlā. But you might have some more to add to this. You often ask questions just to bring out discussion but you can probably add to the discussion.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:42:24] 

Giriraj Swami: But I didn’t quite catch what happened in his previous life, why did he take birth in this situation? Did you say that? I followed that when he was in the womb, Asvatthama released the brahmāstra, Krishna came into the womb and saved him. And Maharaja Parīkṣit got a glimpse of Him. And then afterwards he was always searching for that person who saved him. What were you relating that to his previous life?

Devotee: Maybe in his previous life, he failed to see or satisfy himself to see Krishna. . .

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, it’s possible.

Devotee: It’s like Narada Muni could see only once. . .

Giriraj Swami: Okay, any other question or comments?

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Srila Prabhupada used to say [Hindi] that ‘one who has seen the grandson of his grandson, he has attained heaven,’ something like that. And also, we find that in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that in the case of Ajamila, bhojayan pāyayan mūḍho na vedāgatam antakam (Bhāg 6.1.26), so he is exhibiting the same emotion of playing with his child but the Bhāgavatam chastises him by saying that he is just a stupid old fool because he doesn’t see the advent of death. So, my question is—of course as parents we have to take care of our children and bring them up in a Krishna conscious way, but we also find that the role continues on when we have grandchildren and this goes on. The cycle of bringing up grandchildren. So, my question is—when is a good time to disengage? First of all, do we need to disengage from family responsibilities? If yes, then when is a good time to disengage from family responsibilities especially for those of us that are not sannyasa grade, so they are not leading towards sannyasa? So when is a good time to disengage?

Giriraj Swami: When you are at that stage. You’ll feel it because sooner or later you are going to believe your body—everyone will. And we think how will things go on without me. But when you leave your body, things go on. And that’s the idea of sannyasa—it’s like civil death. On the one hand, it’s a matter of having faith in Krishna, and on the other hand it’s a matter of being sufficiently detached to take that step. But it’s a good example. I mean I don’t know how common it is now, but when I was meeting people in India in the 1970s, I met some people who had said, “Oh my grandfather took sannyasa.” It was very common. The grandfather would, until he died,. . . so that can also be a source of inspiration. The Choo Choo train is also a source of inspiration, going on to another stage.

Yes, Sankarsana Prabhu?

Sankarasana dasa: Maharaja, I was listening to one of your classes which you had in 1990 to 1993 in Vrindavan. It was on The Nectar of Devotion. In that class, you mentioned that, Prabhupada mentioned that there are four classes of people, actively intelligent, lazy intelligent [Unintelligible]. You mentioned that Prabhupada falls in the category of lazy intelligent but you did not elaborate on that point in that class. Definitely Prabhupada was intelligent, no doubt. But I’m having difficulty in understanding why he falls in class of lazy intelligent.

Giriraj Swami: He used the word lazy but it’s not really laziness in this case. To give the background, a lazy intelligent doesn’t do much himself. If necessary, he will go out to preach but he doesn’t do much himself but he inspires others to do it. So that’s called lazy intelligence. Prabhupada inspired his disciples to go all over the world and do so much. That’s lazy intelligence. Active intelligence—he does a lot himself but he does it in an intelligent way. So lazy intelligence is the best. Active intelligence is the next step. You can do as much as he can do but lazy intelligent—he can do more because it inspires others.

Then there is lazy foolish. He has many bad ideas but because he is lazy he doesn’t do anything about them. So that’s third best. An active foolish is someone who has bad ideas but he acts on them. He is the most dangerous.

All right, any last question coming? All right.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: All right, so what’s next?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: I think that he is going out of the way. All right.

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Do you want to blow up? Make your wish!

If you want you can have another wish that you don’t have to speak out loud. But be careful because Krishna will hear. Okay.

Well she is very emphatic no blowing I don’t want to come in between this, it seems he wants to blow.