SB 10.9.18 – Bhakti Vriksha Program

Giriraj Swami: We are in the auspicious month of Kartik, a little more than halfway through, and in the month of Kartik, the benefit we get from our spiritual practices is magnified. Srila Prabhupada has compared the month of Kartik to a sale. When a store opens, it has a sale and customers can get a valuable commodity by paying a concessional price. So, in the month of Kartik, one can get a great spiritual benefit for even a small investment of time and energy. So, we should take advantage of this month and increase our spiritual practices; chant more, read more, serve more, and get the extra benefit.

During the day cycle, the brahma-muhūrta period, which begins say two hours before sunrise and continues until sunrise, is most auspicious for spiritual practices. Almost every tradition, at least the esoteric section of the tradition, appreciates the value of rising early before sunrise. As I mentioned recently, I had some Muslim friends in Mumbai, and they used to come to the Juhu temple before maṅgala-ārati to pray, and they said in their tradition, Allah hears their prayers more when they are offered before sunrise.

So, just as in the cycle of the day the brahma-muhūrta period before sunrise is most auspicious for spiritual practices, in the cycle of the year, the month of Kartik is most auspicious. And yeah, the benefit of one’s practices performed in the month of Kartik is multiplied.

The month of Kartik, it’s stated in the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa that in the month of Kartik, one should recite the prayer known as Dāmodarāṣṭakam and offer lamps to Lord Damodara, which we will do a little later. The form of Damodara, or the pastime of Damodara, dāmodara-līlā, is celebrated in the month of Kartik. Dāma means rope, and udara means belly. So, Damodara means Krishna is bound around the abdomen by a rope.

The history, as described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, is that Mother Yasoda was feeding little Krishna with her breast milk, but at that time, some milk that was on the fire began to boil over. So, she set aside Krishna to tend to the overflowing milk before Krishna was satisfied. And so, Krishna became angry, and He broke a pot of butter, or yogurt, which He ate and fed to His monkey friends. When Mother Yasoda came back to the spot where she had left Krishna, Krishna knew that He had done mischief, so He fled, and she pursued Him. And He was small and agile, and He was able to stay ahead of her. And the Bhāgavatam explains that even the greatest yogis cannot capture Krishna.

But then, Krishna, seeing her sincere desire to catch Him, allowed Himself to be caught by her. So then, she wanted to bind Him around the belly with ropes to prevent Him from further mischief, and when she went to tie Him, she found that the rope was short by the width of two fingers, which was very surprising because every morning, she would tie Krishna’s belt around His waist when she was getting Him dressed. So, she brought some more rope, and even then, the rope was two fingers too short. She brought more rope, and all the ropes she had, maybe miles of rope because they had a lot of rope in a cowherd family, and they were still two fingers too short.

So now, I will read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. I’ll read a few verses leading up to the verse that I will speak about. Please repeat.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Yes, everyone should move forward so when other people come, they can also be closer.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

We will read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Ten, Chapter Nine, Mother Yaśodā Binds Lord Kṛṣṇa. I’ll read a few verses, which are very illuminating and inspiring. So, texts thirteen and fourteen.

TEXT 13–14

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no beginning and no end, no exterior and no interior, no front and no rear. In other words, He is all-pervading. Because He is not under the influence of the element of time, for Him there is no difference between past, present and future; He exists in His own transcendental form at all times. Being absolute, beyond relativity, He is free from distinctions between cause and effect, although He is the cause and effect of everything. That unmanifested person, who is beyond the perception of the senses, had now appeared as a human child, and mother Yaśodā, considering Him her own ordinary child, bound Him to the wooden mortar with a rope.

COMMENT

So, Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is unborn and eternal, and He has no father or mother, He is the father of every living entity. But still, in the spiritual realm, Krishna reciprocates the love of His devotees in different rasas, or relationships. So, one rasa is śānta-rasa, which means a passive appreciation. Then dāsya-rasa, which means active service. Then sākhya-rasa, which means a friendly relationship. Then vātsalya-rasa, parental relationship. And mādhurya-rasa, conjugal love.

So, Mother Yasoda had the desire to serve Krishna in vātsalya-rasa. Vātsalya is related to the word vatsa, which means cow, because they are maternal. And so, Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, accepted her desire to serve Him as a mother, and He took the part of her son.

In the material world, Krishna has an energy called maya, or mahā-māyā, which causes us to forget Krishna. But He also has another energy called yoga-māyā, which partially reveals the Lord and also conceals Him. Mahā-māyā just conceals Him. But mahā-māyā, which is spiritual, reveals Him as the all-attractive supreme lovable person, but conceals or hides from His devotees the fact that He is the Supreme Lord. And thus, they can serve Him with complete intimacy. And not only do they forget that He is God, but He also forgets that He is God. So, when Mother Yasoda holds the stick and Krishna becomes afraid, He is not pretending, but He actually feels fear. But as we will see later in this pastime, He does also, for the sake of His pastimes, manifest His superhuman powers.

TEXT 15

When mother Yaśodā was trying to bind the offending child, she saw that the binding rope was short by a distance the width of two fingers. Thus she brought another rope to join to it.

TEXT 16

This new rope also was short by a measurement of two fingers, and when another rope was joined to it, it was still two fingers too short. As many ropes as she joined, all of them failed; their shortness could not be overcome.

TEXT 17

Thus mother Yaśodā joined whatever ropes were available in the household, but still she failed in her attempt to bind Kṛṣṇa. Mother Yaśodā’s friends, the elderly gopīs in the neighborhood, were smiling and enjoying the fun. Similarly, mother Yaśodā, although laboring in that way, was also smiling. All of them were struck with wonder.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Actually this incident was wonderful because Kṛṣṇa was only a child with small hands. To bind Him should have required only a rope not more than two feet long. All the ropes in the house combined together might have been hundreds of feet long, but still He was impossible to bind, for all the ropes together were still too short. Naturally mother Yaśodā and her gopī friends thought, “How is this possible?” Seeing this funny affair, all of them were smiling. The first rope was short by a measurement the width of two fingers, and after the second rope was added, it was still two fingers too short. If the shortness of all the ropes were added together, it must have amounted to the width of hundreds of fingers. Certainly this was astonishing. This was another exhibition of Kṛṣṇa’s inconceivable potency to His mother and His mother’s friends.

COMMENT

So, now we come to the verse that explains how Krishna was bound. Please repeat if you can, but you can.

TEXT 18

sva-mātuḥ svinna-gātrāyā

visrasta-kabara-srajaḥ

dṛṣṭvā pariśramaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ

kṛpayāsīt sva-bandhane

TRANSLATION

Because of mother Yaśodā’s hard labor, her whole body became covered with perspiration, and the flowers and comb were falling from her hair. When child Kṛṣṇa saw His mother thus fatigued, He became merciful to her and agreed to be bound.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

When mother Yaśodā and the other ladies finally saw that Kṛṣṇa, although decorated with many bangles and other jeweled ornaments, could not be bound with all the ropes available in the house, they decided that Kṛṣṇa was so fortunate that He could not be bound by any material condition. Thus they gave up the idea of binding Him. But in competition between Kṛṣṇa and His devotee, Kṛṣṇa sometimes agrees to be defeated. Thus Kṛṣṇa’s internal energy, yoga-māyā, was brought to work, and Kṛṣṇa agreed to be bound by mother Yaśodā.

COMMENT

So, in this verse, there are two important words. One is pariśrama, which means hard labor, and the other is kṛṣṇa-kṛpā, which means Krishna’s mercy. And our acharyas explain that the two fingers were overcome by the combination of one, Mother Yasoda’s personal endeavor, and two, by Krishna’s mercy. And they say that when this combination comes into play, namely one’s own endeavor and Krishna’s mercy, then Krishna can be bound. And we do want to bind Krishna in our hearts, and this is the process.

It is said,

ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi

na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ

sevonmukhe hi jihvādau

svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ

Ataḥ, that means therefore, that is following the previous statement that Krishna is beyond the sense of perception. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi. śrī-kṛṣṇa, nāma—His name, ādi – that means His name, His form, His qualities, His pastimes. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ, because they are beyond the range of senses of perception. But by service, sevonmukhe hi jihvādau, and that service begins with the tongue. Now, that might sound very extraordinary that you serve Krishna with your tongue, but the tongue has two functions. One, to vibrate, and the other, to taste. So, when we use the tongue to vibrate the Hare Krishna maha-mantra,

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare

Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare,

and to taste kṛṣṇa-prasāda, which will come later, soon, that’s how we serve Krishna with our tongue, sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. Svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ, and He reveals Himself to such a devotee. So, if we serve Krishna that way, He will reveal Himself to us and we can actually experience His form, His qualities, His pastimes, and serve Him with spiritual senses.

Because Krishna is spiritual, we can’t perceive Him with material senses, but He can reveal Himself to us or give us the eyes to see Him, and He can also give us spiritual senses with which to serve Him. I mean, we already have spiritual senses, within this physical body is the soul, of course, but the soul has form.

The Bhagavad-gītā gives the example that just as we have clothes and when the clothes are old and useless, we discard them and get new clothes, similarly, when the body becomes old and useless, the soul leaves the body and accepts another body. So, the body is compared to dress, and the dress, what we wear, has form because our body has form. So similarly, the body, which is like the dress for the soul, the body has form because the soul has form. And that form is suitable for serving Krishna in one of those five relationships that I mentioned. And so, when we are purified and go to the spiritual world, we will have a spiritual body like Krishna.

How do we deal with the children? In some places, one of the ladies is designated to sort of engage them in this sort of Krishna conscious way while the adults are having satsaṅga.

Devotee: We put a Krishna movie for them.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, I heard that, but it doesn’t seem to have subdued their restless natures. But it was a good thought, a good thought.

So, anyway,

ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi

na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ

sevonmukhe hi jihvādau

svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ

Yes, Krishna reveals Himself. Sevā, that is the key service, sevonmukhe hi jihvādau, beginning with the tongue.

All right, well, maybe we’ll end now and see if any of you have any questions or comments.

Devotee: Guru Maharaja, I have a question.

Giriraj Swami: Yes?

Devotee: Thank you for the nice class. In the translation of the eighteenth verse, Prabhupada mentions Mother Yasoda’s unnecessary labor. So, how should we understand that this labor was unnecessary?

Giriraj Swami: Well, I think if we use the word excessive. . . Excessive means in excess of what is required. That means some of it was required, but some was in excess of what was required. So, unnecessary, it doesn’t mean that all of her labor was unnecessary, but it was His mercy, Krishna was pleased with her efforts, she was perspiring, and she was really exerting herself. So, it was necessary until Krishna agreed to be bound, then it was unnecessary, He made it unnecessary.

Devotee: Thank you, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Yes?

Devotee: I think there is a difference between mahā-māyā and yoga-māyā. What is the difference?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah. In the material world, we have mahā-māyā, and mahā-māyā makes us forget Krishna. And yoga-māyā, which is spiritual, as I said, partially reveals the Lord and partially conceals Him. She reveals Him as the most attractive personality, as the supreme lovable object. So, all the devotees in Vrindavan who are under the influence of yoga-māyā love Krishna. Whereas we, conditioned souls, under the influence of mahā-māyā, are completely forgetful of Krishna, we have no love for Him at all. So, mahā-māyā is material. I mean, she is a servant of Krishna, but she is material, material maya. And yoga-māyā is spiritual. And Srila Prabhupada even mentions yoga-māyā in the last sentence.

PURPORT (continued)

Thus Kṛṣṇa’s internal energy, yoga-māyā, was brought to work, and Kṛṣṇa agreed to be bound by mother Yaśodā.

COMMENT

Maya means illusion, but maya also means mercy.

Any other questions or comments? Yes?

Devotee: Maharaja, what is the difference between Kartik month and Puruṣottama month?

Giriraj Swami: Well, the Kartik māsa comes every year in the Hindu calendar, or lunar calendar, or Vaishnava calendar. In the solar calendar that we follow, every four years is a leap year, there is an extra day in the month of February so that the extra day keeps the months in line with the year. In other words, December is always winter, June is always summer. Otherwise, without the leap year, every year, all the days would become one day earlier, and eventually, it’d be a month earlier, everything would become skewed. So, we have a leap year, that means we add an extra day in the month of February. So, instead of twenty-eight days, it is twenty-nine days. And that keeps the months in line with the year.

In the lunar calendar, they don’t have leap years, so every year, the month’s position changes in relation to the sun’s position. So, every three years, instead of a leap year where you add a day, they add a whole month, and that’s called the Puruṣottama month. And that’s considered also very auspicious for spiritual practices. And they say being once in three years, it’s three times more powerful than Kartik month, and that’s called the Puruṣottama month, Puruṣottama-māsa.

And many devotees go to Puruṣottama-kṣetra for that month. You know what a Puruṣottama-kṣetra is? Jagannatha Puri. And then they read the fifteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, which is Puruṣottama yoga.

Any other questions or comments? Okay, so what’s next?

Devotee: Damodara.

Giriraj Swami: Damodara, good.

Devotee: Do you want to sing?

Devotee: We’ve been going where the photo booth is.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:54:06].

Devotee: So, we are all going there.

Devotee: No, we put it over here on the table.

Devotee: Okay, so we are going to shift over there then.

Devotee: Or I can move it here, that’s more convenient.

Devotee: It’s easier to bring it in a place where more people can simultaneously see it.

Giriraj Swami: And we have the. . .?

Devotee: We have the wicks, yes.

Giriraj Swami: All right, thank you very much. Hare Krishna.

Sri Kartik-māsa ki jaya!

Sri Dāmodara-līlā ki jaya!

Sri Sri Radha-Damodara ki jaya!

Nitai-Gaura premānande, Hari Haribol!

Devotee: Srila Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya!