SB 10.1.69 – Sri Krishna Janmashtami—Part 02

Giriraj Swami: We just finished reading the first Chapter of the Kṛṣṇa book, which is a summary study of the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by Srila Prabhupada. And the Kṛṣṇa book runs very close to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam but Srila-Prabhupada also includes more explanations, so that we can understand better the context of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the philosophical concepts. But at the end of the First Chapter of Srila Prabhupada’s translation of the Tenth Canto, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he includes some elaborate notes, which are very interesting, and I will read from those, because these are very deep topics, extremely deep topics that we are discussing. So, “Additional notes for this Chapter.”

Now, there was an incident when Kamsa heard the prophecy from the sky that the eighth child of Devaki would kill him, and he became infuriated and he grabbed Devaki by the hair and drew his sword, he was ready to murder his own sister on the day of her wedding. And Vasudeva, to try to pacify Kamsa, spoke to him about the transmigration of the soul, that “Why are you so upset with the thought that you will have to die? Because you will have to die anyway, sooner or later, but you, the soul, will not die, simply you will change the body.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES by Srila Prabhupada

Regarding transmigration of the soul, Śrīla Madhvācārya gives the following notes. When one is awake, whatever one sees or hears is impressed upon the mind, which later works in dreams to show one different experiences, although in dreams one appears to accept a different body. For example, when one is awake one does business and talks with customers, and similarly in dreams one meets various customers, talks about business and gives quotations. Madhvācārya says, therefore, that dreams take place according to what one sees, hears and remembers. When one reawakens, of course, one forgets the body of the dream. This forgetfulness is called apasmṛti. Thus we are changing bodies because we are sometimes dreaming, sometimes awake and sometimes forgetful. Forgetfulness of our previously created body is called death, and our work in the present body is called life. After death, one cannot remember the activities of one’s previous body, whether imaginary or factual.

COMMENT

So, there is a discussion about the transmigration of the soul. Then there is another discussion about the word aṁśa, which generally means portion. So, these are the notes on aṁśa.

ADDITIONAL NOTES continued

This chapter describes that Kṛṣṇa appeared aṁśena, with His parts and parcels or His partial manifestation. In this connection, Śrīdhara Svāmī says that Kṛṣṇa is one hundred percent Bhagavān (kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam). Because of our imperfections, however, we cannot appreciate Kṛṣṇa in fullness, and therefore whatever Kṛṣṇa exhibited when present on earth was but a partial manifestation of His opulence. Again, Kṛṣṇa appeared with His plenary expansion Baladeva. Kṛṣṇa, however, is full; there is no question of His appearing partially. In the Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī says that to accept that Kṛṣṇa was partially manifested would contradict the statement kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says that the word aṁśena means that Kṛṣṇa appeared with all His plenary expansions. The words aṁśena viṣṇoḥ do not mean that Kṛṣṇa is a partial representative of Viṣṇu. Rather, Kṛṣṇa appeared in fullness, and He manifests Himself partially in the Vaikuṇṭhalokas. In other words, Lord Viṣṇu is a partial representation of Kṛṣṇa; Kṛṣṇa is not a partial representation of Viṣṇu. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, Chapter Four, this subject matter is explained very clearly.

COMMENT

Now, it’s a common idea amongst Hindus that Vishnu is the origin and He assumes different forms, Dasa-avatar, and Krishna is an incarnation of Vishnu, but that Vishnu is the supreme. And Srila Jiva Gosvami discusses this point elaborately, as quoted by Srila Prabhupada in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, Chapter Four. That because the general procedure is for the incarnations or descents of the Lord, to appear through Vishnu, even though Krishna is the origin of Vishnu, He observes that etiquette. And He respects the position of Vishnu within the material world, and He also comes into the material world through Vishnu, but still, Vishnu is an expansion of Krishna—Krishna is the origin of Vishnu.

And as Srila Prabhupada mentions, Krishna is 100 percent God. In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Srila Rupa Gosvami enumerates sixty-four qualities of Krishna. Of course, Krishna’s qualities are unlimited, but still, for our benefit, he enumerates sixty-four qualities, and four of these qualities are possessed by Krishna alone, not even Vishnu possesses them. They are related to what we discussed earlier, that the real purpose for Krishna’s descent is to display His pastimes in Vrindavan, in His original form of Krishna. All of the other functions, protecting the devotees, annihilating the miscreants, and establishing the principles of religion, can be done by Vishnu, but the one thing that Vishnu cannot do, which Krishna can do, is to manifest kṛṣṇa-līlā in Vrindavan. So, Srila Rupa Gosvami explains that out of the sixty-four qualities, there are four qualities that Krishna alone possesses and that even Vishnu does not possess.

So, can any of you tell me, one? We’ll begin with one of those qualities. Yes, [Unintelligible 00:10:50]?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:10:55]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, Krishna’s super excellent beauty—rupa-madhurya. So beautiful, that even Lakshmi wants to leave Narayana in order to obtain Krishna.

And there is a very interesting discussion between Lord Chaitanya and Venkata Bhatta when Lord Chaitanya visited Srirangan in South India, and Venkata Bhatta had a conception that actually Vishnu is supreme. And he was thinking that, “My Lord enjoys such divine opulences in Vaikuntha and your Lord is just running around barefoot in the jungles and His only decorations are forest flowers.” So, Lord Chaitanya very intelligently replied that, “If that is true, then why is it that Lakshmi, who is the most chaste woman in the universe and is completely dedicated to her husband Narayana, was ready to give up her chastity in order to obtain the favor of Krishna?”

And Mahaprabhu quotes the verses from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Venkata Bhatta didn’t know what to answer, because it’s true, the Bhāgavatam says that Lakshmi underwent great austerities to get the favor of Krishna, but even then, she could not enter the rāsa dance. So, Venkata Bhatta had no answer. And he asked Lord Chaitanya, “You should answer.” And then to sort of relieve Venkata Bhatta, He said that, “Well, actually, she wasn’t being unchaste to Lord Narayana, because ultimately Narayana and Krishna are the same. In tattva or in siddhanta, they are the same, but in rasa, there is a difference.

So, Krishna came to manifest that rasa in Vrindavan, and yes, He manifested such extraordinary beauty, Lakshmi, the eternal consort of Narayana wanted to join these pastimes in Vrindavan.

A second of the four. . . Yes, [Unintelligible 00:14:44].

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:14:46]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, His flute playing. Now, there are many people in the material world who play the flute. So, Krishna’s flute playing is in a different category. His flute playing from the musical perspective bewilders even Lord Brahma. Sometimes devotees, they like new melodies in kirtan, because they are tired of the old ones. So, they want some new melody. Because after hearing a certain melody, simple melody, “Okay, I got it, I know this.” And then a new melody, it’s hard at first but after a while, “I got this, I got this one figured out, and then they need another new melody.

So, Lord Brahma, the most intelligent being in the universe, he is so intelligent he could engineer the creation of the whole universe and everything in it; he could not wrap his mind around the melodies of Krishna’s flute. In other words, he is the creator of everything in the universe, that includes all the musical notes, but he could not fathom the melody of Krishna’s flute.

So, it’s completely transcendental, beyond the material creation. But Krishna’s flute is also a messenger. Rupa Gosvami explains that Krishna has various messengers who deliver messages for Him, and one of His messengers is the flute. So, when Krishna wants the cows to come back, He plays His flute and He is actually calling them by their names. And when He plays His flute to call the gopīs, yes, they are hearing the music of the flute, but that music is embedded with a message, “Please come to Me,”—it’s a message. Sometimes also, our speech or chanting can be embedded with a message. For example, when we chant the holy names, when we chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.

As Srila Prabhupada says, “Our chanting should be like the genuine cry of a child for its mother.” That should be our mood, but we can chant with a different mood. Sometimes, I give this example, if you go to Loi Bazar in Vrindavan. How many of you have been to Loi Bazar? [laughter] We are talking about Vrindavan.

Srila Prabhupada said, “You won’t find Krishna loitering in Loi Bazar,” which has two meanings—one is, you won’t find that He is loitering in Loi Bazar, and the other meaning is that if you are loitering in Loi Bazar, you won’t find Krishna. [laughter]. So, there is many merchants in Loi Bazar and they will see the devotees on the road and they will say, “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Prabhu. Come! Come! Come! Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna.” So, what is that Hare Krishna? Is that a genuine cry of a child for his mother? What is he actually saying? “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna.” What he is really saying is, bottom line, “I want your money.” That’s really what he is saying. So, with his mouth he says, “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Prabhuji, Hare Krishna Prabhuji, come, come see, Prabhupada, Prabhupada.” [laughter] He says, “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna,” but in his heart he is saying, “Oh, here is a customer, potential customer, let me lure him into my shop, let me sell him some goods and I’ll make some profit.”

Krishna is the origin so, everything that exists in Krishna in the spiritual world, exists in the material world. So, Krishna, just like we have conscious or unconscious messages embedded in our speech, our chanting, even the way we look, the way we walk. . . So, Krishna, when He plays His flute, He sends out a very beautiful message, “Please, please come. I want to meet you.” Okay, so we have two of. . . Yes.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:21:32]

Giriraj Swami: Yes. So, we had rupa-madhurya, exatraordinarily beautiful and venu-madhurya is His sweet flute playing and līlā-madhurya, His very sweet pastime. And these pastimes in Vrindavan are unlike any other pastime of any other incarnation; because there is so much sweetness, so much intimacy that Krishna becomes the son of Mother Yasoda and Nanda Baba. And He becomes subservient to them, to their love. As Srila Prabhupada says, “In other concepts, God is the father and the duty of the father is to provide for the children.” In other words, the children take service from the father. So, when a devotee prays to God the Father, a worshiper prays to God the Father, “Give us this day our daily bread,” or whatever, he is taking service from the father. But when the devotee accepts Krishna as his son, then he is giving service to Krishna.

And there is a very beautiful, well the whole Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is beautiful, but there is a very beautiful time when Krishna leaves Vrindavan and goes to Mathura. As we heard,Vasudeva, when he was trying to pacify Kamsa, he was thinking that, “At least if I save Devaki, I may have a son who can kill Kamsa.” So, Krishna went to Mathura and He killed Kamsa. So, Vasudeva and Devaki wanted that Krishna should stay with them for some time.

Now, Nanda and Yasoda knew that Balarama was not their son. They knew that He was the son of Rohini, who was one of the wives of Vasudeva. But Krishna, they didn’t have any idea that He was not their son. So, there are many very intricate discussions between Krishna and Balarama and Vasudeva and Devaki and Nanda Maharaja, in which they discuss who is the real mother, who is the real father and the debt of the children to the parents. So, although Krishna is supplying the needs of everyone, but He feels that He is indebted to His parents for providing for Him.

And then there is this very intricate discussion that, “Okay, well, Balarama is the son of Vasudeva, so, we will have to let Him stay, but we don’t have to let Krishna stay. But then Balarama said. . . I mean this is in the Bhāgavatam, but a lot comes out from the commentaries, Balarama said. . . Because there is a thing, who is a real mother and father? Real mother and father are the ones who raise the child and protect the child and nurture the child. So, he was saying, “How can I stay with these other parents, who I don’t even know?” And then, “If you take Krishna with you back to Vrindavan and leave me all alone here, how will I survive? I’ll die, I can’t.” So, then it was sort of settled that Nanda would also leave Krishna, and there is so many pastimes, but the idea is that these types of feelings are impossible with any other form of the Lord—His wonderful childhood pastimes.

So, yes, we have three now. So, what is the fourth? I could call on you, but we’ll see if anyone else. . . Yes?

Devotees: Always accompanied by His devotees

Giriraj Swami: Yes. He has devotees who have a superlative degree of love for Him. That refers to these. . . like we said, the siddhānta of Narayana and Krishna is the same, the tattva is the same but the rasa is different. So, they can love Krishna in these very intimate relationships of friends, equals, parents, and lovers, so that the Lord actually becomes subordinate to their love.

So, I’ll conclude with one little story.

So, when we were in Calcutta with Srila Prabhupada and we were new in India. And so, one of our devotees, Acyutananda Swami met the landlord, Mr. Singh Roy. Mr. Singh Roy had his own theories. Many people do have their own theories of spiritual life, and Mr. Singh Roy was one of them. He told Acyutananda that actually Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the origin and that from Him come Radha and Krishna and that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is greater than Radha and Krishna, because just like milk and sugar, rasagullā is greater than milk and sugar. Anyway, he had his theories.

So, Acyutananda came into Srila Prabhupada’s room and he wanted to clarify these points and we happened to be there. So, he said, “Mr. Singh Roy is saying that. . .” He repeated what I just told you, and so, “He is saying that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu comes first.” Srila Prabhupada said, “No, by his own example, milk and sugar comes first, and then, the milk and sugar combine and they produce the rasagullā. [laughter] So, actually, Radha and Krishna come first.”

And then, Acyutananda saw me and asked, “Well, who is greater?” Prabhupada paused for a moment, looked down, and then he pointed to a picture on the wall, which showed Radharani on a little higher platform, and Krishna is sort of kneeling and praying for Her favor. So, Srila Prabhupada said, “Radharani is the greatest because Krishna is kneeling down to Her and asking Her to whatever, forgive Him.”

And then, he pointed to another picture, which showed Krishna carrying Nanda Maharaja’s sandals on His head, (I was happy to see that in our visual display) then he said, “Nanda Maharaja is the greatest, because Krishna is carrying his slippers on His head.” And then Srila Prabhupada said that the devotee is the greatest, because Krishna becomes subordinate to His devotees’ love. So, this is the general principle, but it is manifested to the supreme degree with His devotees in Vrindavan.

And therefore, that is the fourth opulence of Krishna, that even Lord Narayana does not possess. He is surrounded by so many beautiful, wonderful devotees. So, where would we be if Krishna never descended? I don’t even want to speculate on where we would be, but even if we weren’t there, probably, at most, we might be worshipping Lakshmi-Narayana or even Sita-Rama, which is still wonderful, so wonderful. But this special gift, which is the real reason why Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came—to give us this gift of Braja Bhakti—this is the special reason for Lord Krishna’s descent.

So, thank you, you all answered all the questions. We’ll just see if there is anything else here, I mean, there is so much. I mean, there are notes on so many of these points, elaborate notes. Nivṛtta-tarṣaiḥ—one has no material desires. Paśu-ghnāt—animal killer, we discussed that. There is a page for every word.

Now, this is one I actually wanted to find for myself. Means, I wanted to understand for my own benefit. Because hearing the pastimes, when I heard that Vasudeva delivered the first son to Kamsa, and Kamsa became compassionate toward him, and delivered the son back to him and said, “Anyways, the prediction was only that the eighth child would kill me, so I have nothing to fear from the first one, so you can take him back.” So, when I was hearing that, I was thinking, “This is nice, Kamsa’s such a terrible tyrant, but even he was melted by Vasudeva’s virtuousness and he gave the son back and now they can at least enjoy their son.” And then Narada came, and sort of instigated Kamsa. So, I was thinking, “Why did he do that? Things were getting better, and he came and he sort of stirred things up, to make things worse. What is this?”

So, Srila Prabhupada discusses this point in these notes and it’s interesting because there is. . . Although by and large, it’s really a special feature in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, even though there is eighteen thousand verses, but there is no controversy about the verses, it’s pretty clear. But it appears that there is  an alternate version of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that has another verse. And so, Srila Prabhupada quotes that verse in the end notes, and he discusses it and comes back to that point.

ADDITIONAL NOTES continued

An additional verse in this chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is accepted by the Madhvācārya sampradāya, represented by Vijayadhvaja Tīrtha. The verse is as follows:

atha kaṁsam upāgamya

nārado brahma-nandanaḥ

ekāntam upasaṅgamya

vākyam etad uvāca ha

“Thereafter, Nārada, the mental son of Lord Brahmā, approached Kaṁsa and, in a very solitary place, informed him of the following news.”

COMMENT

And we already heard what Narada told him. He said, ”That the demigods are taking birth in these different families and you should be careful.” So, Srila Prabhupada says;

ADDITIONAL NOTES continued

The great saint Nārada descended from the heavenly planets to the forest of Mathurā and sent his messenger to Kaṁsa. When the messenger approached Kaṁsa and informed him of Nārada’s arrival, Kaṁsa, the leader of the asuras, was very happy and immediately came out of his palace to receive Nārada, who was as bright as the sun, as powerful as fire, and free from all tinges of sinful activities. Kaṁsa accepted Nārada as his guest, offered him respectful obeisances and gave him a golden seat, brilliant like the sun. Nārada was a friend of the King of heaven, and thus he told Kaṁsa, the son of Ugrasena, “My dear hero, you have satisfied me with a proper reception, and therefore I shall tell you something secret and confidential. While I was coming here from Nandakānana through the Caitraratha forest, I saw a great meeting of the demigods, who followed me to Sumeru Parvata. We traveled through many holy places, and finally we saw the holy Ganges. While Lord Brahmā was consulting the other demigods at the top of Sumeru Hill, I was also present with my stringed instrument, the vīṇā. I shall tell you confidentially that the meeting was held just to plan to kill the asuras, headed by you.

[laughter]

COMMENT

And this is pretty heavy, pretty heavy.

ADDITIONAL NOTES continued

You have a younger sister named Devakī, and it is a fact that her eighth son will kill you.” (Hari-vaṁśa, Viṣṇu-parva 1.2–16)

COMMENT

And here Srila Prabhupada addresses my doubt.

ADDITIONAL NOTES continued

No one can blame Nāradajī for encouraging Kaṁsa to kill the sons of Devakī. The saint Nārada is always a well-wisher for human society, and he wanted the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, to descend to this world as soon as possible so that the society of demigods would be pleased and would see Kaṁsa and his friends killed by Kṛṣṇa. Kaṁsa would also attain salvation from his nefarious activities, and this too would very much please the demigods and their followers.

COMMENT

So, there is a very important point here that all of us face in life, and that is, that sometimes things happen, which we think are bad, and we may revolt against them, but we don’t actually know whether they are good or bad. Sometimes something that seems to be bad actually turns out to be good, but because of our limited perception, and our limited knowledge, and our limited wisdom, we take it as bad and we fight it, or we blame people for doing something bad. One could have that thought about Narada, but blaming him for giving this information to Kamsa. So. . . Yes?

Devotee: Is Narada the voice that came from the sky or was that somebody else? And who was that?

Giriraj Swami: Well, we don’t have any information as to who.

Devotee: But it wasn’t Narada?

Giriraj Swami: There is no such statement that says it was Narada, no. That’s a good thought, you could look into it.

ADDITIONAL NOTES continued

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura remarks in this connection that Nārada Muni sometimes did things that were beneficial to the demigods and the demons simultaneously.

COMMENT

I mean, in the material world it’s quite common, one party wins and the other party loses. I mean, that’s the whole principle of sports events and many other fields of materialistic endeavor. But, the Vaishnavas like Narada Muni, they act for the benefit even of opposing parties. It’s not that one wins and the other loses, but they actually both benefit and this is the spiritual platform as opposed to material platform.

ADDITIONAL NOTES continued

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura remarks in this connection that Nārada Muni sometimes did things that were beneficial to the demigods and the demons simultaneously. Śrī Vīrarāghava Ācārya, in his commentary, has included the following half-verse in this regard: asurāḥ sarva evaita lokopadrava-kāriṇaḥ. Asuras are always disturbing elements for human society.

COMMENT

So, on this point, that we don’t always know what’s best for us, of course a common example pertains to our wealth. Generally, if we lose our wealth, we think it’s bad, and if we gain wealth, we think it’s good. It can be true, but Srila Prabhupada was a successful businessman but then somehow things changed and everything went wrong in his business. And then while reading the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam he came across Krishna’s statement; yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ. And Krishna says that when He is especially favorably inclined to a sincere devotee, He takes away his opulence. Because if someone is sincere but at the same time has some material attachment, that is an impediment to his devotional service and he is not able to give it up on his own. Krishna may show him special mercy and take it away.

Now, before speaking, I asked Vaisesika Prabhu if I should address the devotees who are sitting here, or the ones who are passing through, and he said I should address the devotees who are sitting here, because the ones who are passing through, if they hear this, they might not come back. [laughter] If they hear of Krishna’s special mercy, I won’t even say it again. But I’ll just finish this.

So, when Prabhupada was having these difficulties with his business and he came across this verse, he was thinking, “Maybe this is what’s happening to me.” And actually, as he describes it, it was Krishna’s special favor to free him to fully take up the mission of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

So, there is another story that’s also on a common place platform. It’s about a farmer and he had two horses and one of the horses escaped somehow. So then, all the neighbors came and said, “Oh, how terrible, you lost one of your horses,” and the wise farmer said, “Maybe yes, maybe no.” So, then his son went out to find that missing horse and while he was out in the jungle, he found two horses, not the same one, but he found two other horses and he brought them back. So, all the neighbors said, “Oh, how wonderful, you lost one horse, but now you have two,” and he said, “Maybe yes, maybe no.” [laughter] So, one of those horses was a little wild, so his son was trying to break him in, tame that horse, train that horse. And while he was trying to break in the horse, the horse threw him and he fell down and he broke his leg. So, all the neighbors came running, “Oh, we heard your son has broken his leg, how horrible,” and the farmer said. . .

Devotees: “Maybe yes, maybe no.”

Giriraj Swami: “Maybe yes, maybe no.” So, then the King’s soldiers came and they were looking to recruit the son into the army but they saw, “Oh, his leg is broken, we can’t take him,” so they left. And all the neighbors came and said, “Oh, how wonderful that the army was coming to draft your son but because of his broken leg they didn’t take him. How wonderful.” And what did the farmer say?

Devotees: “Maybe yes, maybe no.” [laughter]

Giriraj Swami: And the story goes on like that, I don’t remember beyond that. But this is something that we can do when we have that impulse, “Oh, this is horrible,” we can check ourselves, “Maybe yes, maybe no.” [laughter]

It happened to me once, I gave this example in a class and it does happen, that’s another reason why it’s good to preach, it does happen that very soon after you give an instruction in class, you are tested on the same instruction. So, very, very soon, I gave that talk maybe in Dallas, somewhere, and then I went to the airport and I think the flight was delayed or. . . and I thought, “Oh, how horrible,” [laughter] and then I thought, “Maybe yes, maybe no.” [laughter] I checked myself. And then, they were offering 250 dollars for people to volunteer, oh, it maybe was overbooked, but anyway, “Oh, that’s great, I could get a 250 dollars credit with the airline, maybe yes, maybe no.” [laughter]

So, ultimately, we should just surrender to Krishna. He knows best, father knows best. That’s why some devotees pray, like King Pṛthu prayed. . . Because in his case, the Lord was offering him some material reward and Pṛthu Maharaja thought, “This may not actually be good for me, I might be tempted away from the path of pure devotional service.” And then he made this very nice prayer to the Lord, “I do not know what is good for me or bad for me, You know what is best for me. So, just as a father does what’s best for the child without being asked by the child, so you kind of do whatever is best for me without my asking, because I don’t know.”

So, that’s our position in our conditioned side of life. In spiritual side of life, we do know what’s best, I mean, we’ve been told what’s best and we know that’s—“always remember Krishna, never forget Him.” Chant, dance, feast, distribute books. Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: So, there was a hand that went up but I think the hand and the body that it was attached to, they both left. [laughter] oh! You are back, they are both back.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:56:49]

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, I mean, the demon especially may not understand what’s good for him, but the Vaishnava knows. There is so many instances where Narada cursed someone but the curse was actually for their benefit. Can you think of an example?

Devotee: Arjuna trees?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, Nalakuvara and Manigriva. They were naked in the water enjoying with ladies, intoxicated by the wealth of their father, Kuvera. Narada came by and the ladies at least had some shame and they covered themselves but these two brothers, they were so intoxicated with their opulence, that they had no shame. So, Narada cursed them to take birth as trees, because trees like to stand naked and they may think they are very beautiful. Some trees are very beautiful. I mean, if a property has beautiful trees, it enhances the value of the property. But it was a curse, but then ultimately it was a blessing because they got to see Krishna and. . . you know that story.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:59:11]

Giriraj Swami: Well, what really matters is the consciousness. And suppose, Bhumi is feeling the burden of these demonic kings and these demonic kings are creating a disturbing situation especially for devotees. So, her asking Lord Brahma to alleviate the situation and his approaching Vishnu, it doesn’t necessarily mean selfish. I mean, in a somewhat comparable situation, but in a different context, Advaita Acharya and Srivasa Thakura and the devotees of Navadvipa, they were also lamenting about the materialistic condition of society and they prayed that Krishna comes. But their prayer. . . and yes, it’s true that they were happy personally when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came, but they were praying for Him to come for the benefit of the welfare of the people. So, I think that was the mood of Bhumi and Lord Brahma and the other Demigods.

Say you have some service in the temple and there is some obstacle to your service, so you approach Vaisesika Prabhu or Nirakula Mataji, “I’m facing this difficulty, can you help me?” But that’s for service. And Vaisesika Prabhu and Nirakula Mataji, they are concerned with the welfare of the project, they are concerned with your welfare, concerned with the welfare of all living entities.

Devotee: That’s really, what a nice point, if you want to pray, just you can ask for something but if it’s just [Unintelligible 01:02:45]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, yes, yes.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:03:01]

Giriraj Swami: There is. You can find that out in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

Devotee: Thank you.

Giriraj Swami: That’s true, it’s very nice especially for us if we think “I am Krishna’s,” but “Krishna is mine,” that’s even higher. But first we have to think, “I am Krishna’s,” and then when we are really Krishna’s, then we can think, “Krishna’s mine.”