SB 1.8.29

Giriraj Swami: I would like to request the devotees who have joined on Zoom to put on your cameras so we can see your moon-like faces. Okay. So, as was provided to me by Nitai Gaurasundara Prabhu, I shall read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto One, Chapter Eight: “Prayers by Queen Kuntī,” Text Twenty-Nine.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

TEXT 29

na veda kaścid bhagavaṁś cikīrṣitaṁ
tavehamānasya nṛṇāṁ viḍambanam
na yasya kaścid dayito ‘sti karhicid
dveṣyaś ca yasmin viṣamā matir nṛṇām 

TRANSLATION

O Lord, no one can understand Your transcendental pastimes, which appear to be human and so are misleading. You have no specific object of favor, nor do You have any object of envy. People only imagine that You are partial.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The Lord’s mercy upon the fallen souls is equally distributed. He has no one as the specific object of hostility.

COMMENT

So, this verse is very deep. Here, Queen Kunti says that the Lord has no dveṣyaḥ, object of envy, and no viṣamā, partiality. No dayitaḥ, object of specific favor, no dveṣyaḥ, object of envy, no viṣamā, partiality. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna says, paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām. That He appears, paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ, to deliver the devotees or sadhus; vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām, and to annihilate the miscreants; dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion; sambhavāmi yuge yuge, He manifests Himself millennium after millennium.

Now, on the face of it, paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ, that He appears to deliver the devotees, and vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām, to annihilate the miscreants, seems to be partiality. He is partial to the devotees and so He is delivering them, and He is hostile to the miscreants and so He is annihilating them. But what may appear to be the situation on the surface is actually not so. Actually, the Lord delivers His mercy equally to everyone, and that is His absolute nature. In the battle of Kurukshetra, Krishna defended the Pandavas, that was His mercy, and He killed or arranged to be killed all the Kauravas, but they also benefited equally because everyone who was killed in the presence of the Lord was liberated.

When we visited Amritsar with Srila Prabhupada in 1971, we were invited by the king, Baladeva Indra Singh, and he was a real kshatriya. And he said that an astrologer had told him that he was engaged in the battle of Kurukshetra, but unfortunately, he was on the other side, he was not on Krishna’s side, so he was lamenting. But Srila Prabhupada said, “That may not be true because everyone on the other side who was killed in the presence of Krishna was liberated.” So, that’s the Lord’s equal mercy, that even the duṣkṛtā, the miscreants, pray paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām. They are also liberated when they are killed by the Lord or die in the presence of the Lord, and that is His absolute nature. So now, back to the purport.

PURPORT (continued)

The Lord’s mercy upon the fallen souls is equally distributed. He has no one as the specific object of hostility. The very conception of the Personality of Godhead as a human being is misleading. His pastimes appear to be exactly like a human being’s, but actually they are transcendental and without any tinge of material contamination.

COMMENT

Yes, in the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna says 

māṁ ca yo ‘vyabhicāreṇa

bhakti-yogena sevate

sa guṇān samatītyaitān

brahma-bhūyāya kalpate

That those who engage in unflinching devotional service to Krishna, māṁ ca yo ‘vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate sa guṇān samatītyaitān, they transcend the modes of nature, sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate, and they attain to the Brahman platform. So, when those who simply surrender to Krishna transcend the modes of nature, then certainly, Krishna Himself must be beyond the modes of material nature, and on the Brahman platform, completely transcendental.

PURPORT (continued)

His pastimes appear to be exactly like a human being’s, but actually they are transcendental and without any tinge of material contamination. He is undoubtedly known as partial to His pure devotees, but in fact He is never partial, as much as the sun is never partial.

COMMENT

So, generally, people are favorable to their friends and unfavorable to their enemies. But who is a friend and who is an enemy? Someone who helps us is counted as a friend, and someone who harms us is counted as an enemy. But no one can help Krishna because He is perfect and complete, and no one can harm Krishna because He is always perfect and complete. Therefore, no one can be His friend or enemy, and therefore, no one can be an object of His special favor or hostility. He is equal to everyone.

PURPORT (continued)

He is undoubtedly known as partial to His pure devotees, but in fact He is never partial, as much as the sun is never partial to anyone. By utilizing the sun rays, sometimes even the stones become valuable, whereas a blind man cannot see the sun, although there are enough sun rays before him.

COMMENT

So, the sun is equal in distributing its rays, it is impartial. But if someone, as Srila Prabhupada says, stays in his closet, he will not get the benefit of the sun rays. But that is not because the sun is partial in distributing its rays to some and not to others, but it depends on the receptivity of the person. Similarly, Krishna’s mercy is available equally for everyone, and it is just up to the individual to what extent he accepts that mercy or not.

PURPORT (continued)

By utilizing the sun rays, sometimes even the stones become valuable, whereas a blind man cannot see the sun, although there are enough sun rays before him. Darkness and light are two opposite conceptions, but this does not mean that the sun is partial in distributing its rays. The sun rays are open to everyone, but the capacities of the receptacles differ.

COMMENT

So, we should keep this in mind, that Krishna’s mercy is available to all of us at any time, to any extent. It’s just a matter of how open we are to receiving that mercy.

PURPORT (continued)

Foolish people think that devotional service is flattering the Lord to get special mercy.

COMMENT

Just like we might want something from some big man, so we’ll flatter him to try to please him so that he’ll give us some benefit. So, foolish people think that devotees do that with Krishna.

PURPORT (continued)

Foolish people think that devotional service is flattering the Lord to get special mercy. Factually the pure devotees who are engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord are not a mercantile community. A mercantile house renders service to someone in exchange for values. The pure devotee does not render service unto the Lord for such exchange, and therefore the full mercy of the Lord is open for him.

COMMENT

So, Prahlada Maharaja is a perfect example of a pure devotee, and after Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva appeared and killed Prahlada’s father, Hiranyakasipu, Nṛsiṁhadeva asked Prahlada to accept some benediction, and Prahlada replied, “If I engaged in service to You to get something in return from You, I would be a merchant, I would be no better than a merchant. And I have not come to do business with You. I’ve come to serve You, to please You, out of love.”

And Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva was pleased with Prahlada’s mood of pure devotional service, but still, He wanted Prahlada to take some benediction. And finally, Prahlada said, “I wish that You grant liberation to my father.” He was such a demon that he tried, in so many ways, to kill his own son, Prahlada, just because his son was a devotee. But still, Prahlada didn’t want anything for himself, but if he had to take something, he wanted something for the benefit of his father.

So, as Srila Prabhupada writes here, devotees are not a mercantile community who serve the Lord or praise the Lord to get some benefit. And because pure devotees reflect the qualities of the Lord, we can see how merciful Prahlada was even to his father who was a demon who tried to kill him. And so, Krishna also must be like that, merciful to everyone, even the demons.

PURPORT (continued)

The pure devotee does not render service unto the Lord for such exchange, and therefore the full mercy of the Lord is open for him. Suffering and needy men, inquisitive persons or philosophers make temporary connections with the Lord to serve a particular purpose.

COMMENT

So, here again, Srila Prabhupada is referring indirectly, I mean, without saying as much, but he is referring to a verse from the Bhagavad-gītā, catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ, that four kinds of pious people approach him.

PURPORT (continued)

Suffering or needy, the inquisitive or the philosophers make temporary connection with the Lord to serve a particular purpose. When the purpose is served, there is no more relation with the Lord.

COMMENT

So, here is a startling fact, that if we do approach the Lord for something material, as mentioned in that verse from the Gītā, for relief from distress, for money, or even just to satisfy one’s inquisitiveness, then after getting what he wants, he may have no more connection with the Lord. So, that is very much opposed to pure devotional service in which there is no desire for anything material in return for devotional service. And that relationship is eternal. There is a very nice verse in the First Canto, Second Chapter, yayātmā suprasīdati, that devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self. So, we want to be satisfied, and we can be satisfied if we engage in devotional service in that mood, unmotivated and uninterrupted.

PURPORT (continued)

A suffering man, if he is pious at all, prays to the Lord for his recovery. But as soon as the recovery is over, in most cases the suffering man no longer cares to keep any connection with the Lord. The mercy of the Lord is open for him, but he is reluctant to receive.

COMMENT

Sometimes when we are in distress, we turn to the Lord. There is a saying in English, “There are no atheists in the foxholes.” Foxholes are, you could say, military positions in a war. So, when you are in a foxhole in a war and you could be killed by the enemy, you pray to God. That’s why there are no atheists in the foxholes. They have to pray to God because they have no other recourse. But when their purpose is served, then they may give up their relation with the Lord, which is certainly. . . Well, it’s good that they prayed to the Lord, but it’s unfortunate if they do not maintain their relationship with the Lord because they can get so much more from the Lord, including internal satisfaction and complete liberation.

PURPORT (continued)

The mercy of the Lord is open for him. But he is reluctant to receive it. That is the difference between a pure devotee and a mixed devotee. Those who are completely against the service of the Lord, are considered to be in abject darkness, those who ask for the Lord’s favor only at the time of necessity are partial recipients of the mercy of the Lord, and those who are cent-percent engaged in the service of the Lord are full recipients of the mercy of the Lord. Such partiality in receiving the Lord’s mercy is relative to the recipient and is not due to the partiality of the all-merciful Lord.

When the Lord descends on this material world by his all-merciful energy, He plays like a human being, and therefore it appears that the Lord is partial to his devotees only, but that is not a fact. Despite such apparent manifestation of partiality, His mercy is equally distributed. In the Battlefield of Kurukshetra all persons who died in the fight before the presence of the Lord got salvation without the necessary qualifications because death before the presence of the Lord purifies the passing soul from the effects of all sins, and therefore the dying man gets a place somewhere in the transcendental abode. Somehow or other if someone puts himself open in the sun rays, he is sure to get the requisite benefit both by heat and ultraviolet rays. Therefore, the conclusion is that the Lord is never partial. It is wrong for people in general to think of Him as partial.

COMMENT

So, the Lord’s coming into the material world itself is an act of mercy. He has no need to come into the material world. As mentioned, Lord Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gītā His purposes is for coming. Paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ, one is to deliver the sadhus or the devotees, but actually, the devotees are already delivered. As we mentioned, māṁ ca yo ‘vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate, they are already delivered. So, paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām, and to destroy the miscreants.

Well, Krishna doesn’t have to come personally to do that, He can arrange for them to be killed by any number of means; natural disasters, tsunamis, or He can arrange for them to fight with each other and kill each other. So, He doesn’t have to come to deliver the devotees because they are already delivered, and He doesn’t have to come to annihilate the miscreants because He can arrange for their destruction by many methods. So, why does He come? He comes, really, to satisfy His devotees’ hankering for His personal association. That’s actually the reason. And at the same time, everyone benefits from His presence.

Sometimes Srila Prabhupada gives the example that the governor may visit the prison house. He has no need to visit the prison house, but sometimes he goes just to see how things are going, himself, although he will get the report from the superintendent of prisons, but he goes to see how things are going and to encourage the prisoners. But he, although he is in the prison, is not a prisoner.

So, Krishna comes to encourage us, but we should never think that Krishna is like one of us, who is a prisoner. He is not a prisoner, He is beyond the material nature altogether, but he comes into the material world to benefit us and encourage us to get out of the prison house of material existence. So, He is very merciful, not only to the residents of the spiritual world but also to the prisoners in the prison house of the material world.

So, He really is merciful and equally merciful to everyone, and we just have to take that mercy and be happy in Krishna consciousness. And when we feel obliged to the Lord for His mercy, we will naturally want to reciprocate by serving Him. And in particular, He is pleased when we preach His message. Lord Krishna says at the end of the Bhagavad-gītā that for one who explains the supreme secret of Bhagavad-gītā, liberation is assured. And Krishna says, “There is no servant in the world more dear to Me than he nor will there ever be one more dear.” So, we can just imagine how dear Srila Prabhupada was to Krishna, taking all risks to preach His message. And we should follow in Srila Prabhupada’s footsteps and also render the service that pleases Krishna the most, which is to preach, to bring people to Him.

But to have the strength to preach, we also have to practice. We have to practice what we preach. So, we want to, as far as possible, rise early in the morning, have our morning program, chant our rounds, read Srila Prabhupada’s books or hear classes, and that will make us spiritually fit and strong, and then we can preach, show our appreciation to Krishna for His mercy, which will bring Him the greatest pleasure and make us most dear to Him. Hare Krishna.

So, we’ve taken about an hour. I’m not sure how much time we have, if we have time for questions and comments?

Devotee: Yes, Maharaja, we should have some questions and comments, 10–15 minutes, if it’s not too late for you, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Not at all, I’m two hours behind you. So, if you want to say anything, raise your hand or make yourself known.

Vishnu Charan dasa: Hare Krishna, Maharaja, this is Vishnu Charan dasa from Nashville. Thank you for the nice lecture, Maharaja. My question was if one serves the Lord with devotional service, with the motivation that one day, he will get liberated and get out of this prison house, is that motivation good or bad? I mean, is it a mercantile mentality you think, or is this okay?

Giriraj Swami: It’s good, but it’s not the best. Srila Prabhupada, he is actually paraphrasing something from the Third Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but he expressed it very nicely. That a devotee influenced by the mode of ignorance will think, I’m the only devotee around here, no one else is really a devotee, they are all nonsense, I’m the only real devotee. A devotee influenced by the mode of passion will think, I want to be known as the best devotee, I want everyone to know I’m the best book distributor, best Deity worshiper, best speaker, best cook. So, a devotee influenced by the mode of passion thinks, I want to be the best devotee, I want to be known as being the best devotee. A devotee in the mode of goodness wants to go back home, back to Godhead. But a devotee who is transcendental thinks, I just want to serve Krishna and please Krishna. So, he is not even interested in going back to Godhead for his personal benefit. He might go back to Godhead to serve Krishna, but he doesn’t have that motive to go back to Godhead. But it’s good, as I mentioned, that’s in the mode of goodness, but transcendental is, I just want to serve Krishna and please Krishna.

Vishnu Charan dasa: So, Maharaja, is it possible that one gets purified even with that motivation? Just like Guru Maharaja, he got purified, he went to Krishna and asked for something, but then he realized what he was asking for was just a piece of glass. So, the process itself made him purified. So, is that possible?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, yes.

Vishnu Charan dasa: Like with associations, all the devotees, and getting the proper knowledge that he can not have the motivation anymore.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that’s right. One can begin as a mixed devotee, and eventually become a pure devotee. Yeah, very good.

I saw there is a message in the chat so I’ll read that. “Thank you for the wonderful class, Guru Maharaja. My question is were the Kauravas able to hear the Bhagavad-gītā when Krishna recited it to Arjuna?”

Well, if you read the Bhagavad-gītā, you will find that Dhṛtaraṣṭra is asking his secretary, Sanjay, “What happened on the battlefield?” Dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ. And Srila Prabhupada says that that very question, “What did my sons and the sons of Pandu do?” That very question seems odd. Suppose a man is sitting at the dinner table and he has a plate of prasāda in front of him and he has a fork in his hand, and someone asked, “What did you do?” Well obviously, he is going to eat. So, they’ve assembled on the battlefield of Kurukshetra to fight, so what is the question of asking what did they do?

And Srila Prabhupada gives the answer, referring to the word dharma-kṣetre, kuru-kṣetre is dharma-ksetra, that because it’s a holy place, even though they assembled to fight, it could be that by the influence of the holy place, they gave up their determination to fight. But as for whether the Kauravas were able to hear the Gītā? Not the Kauravas on the battlefield, but Dhṛtaraṣṭra, who was the bind father of the Kauravas, he got to hear it by the mercy of his secretary, Sanjay, who was a disciple of Vyasadeva. So, he got to hear it.

Now, this is another question, “When Krishna is impartial and all merciful, then what is the need to serve Krishna?”

Well, this is a mercantile question, “If I’m going to get the benefits from Krishna, why do I need to serve Him?” You need to serve Him because it’s your constitutional position to serve him, jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya—kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa.’ The constitutional position of the living entity is that he is the eternal servant of Krishna. So, you need to serve Krishna to be spiritually happy, because that’s your natural position, and it gives you pleasure.

In the contaminated stage, we don’t like to serve Krishna. So, it’s sort of implied in this question, “Why do we have to serve Krishna?” Meaning you don’t want to serve Krishna. But that’s alright if you don’t want to serve Krishna. But as a matter of duty, you should adopt the process of bhakti-yoga, and then you’ll come to relish serving Krishna. And many great devotees, when they offer prayers, they pray for only one thing, service. They want nothing else, just service, because it’s their constitutional position to serve Krishna, and they derive immense pleasure from serving Krishna. So, an interesting question.

Are there any other questions or comments?

Jai Sri Radha devi dasi: Hare Krishna, Maharaja, thank you for the wonderful class and wonderful association. I have one small question. My name is Jai Sri Radha devi dasi from Miami. And the question is, I know when I do the service to the Deities, when I cook or make the garland or do ārati, when I’m doing the service, I try my best to pay attention to what I am doing to the Deities. But my brain goes out and thinks, Now I have to go back to the kitchen, clean the kitchen or distribute the prasāda, I need to finish the garlands. Whatever service I’m doing, I don’t pay attention hundred percent. I always worry, “Am I committing offense by doing that? Do I get any benefit?” I always get worried. How do I keep my attention hundred percent when I’m doing a particular service to the Deities?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, it’s good to be attentive in your service and do your best. And it’s true, yes, you may have to wash the utensils and then you may have to distribute the prasāda, but you know that. Why do you have to think of that while you are. . .? Just one thing at a time, and be focused.

Jai Sri Radha devi dasi: Thank you.

Giriraj Swami: I saw in the chat, “What guarantee is there that after a lifetime of service, one goes back to Godhead in that lifetime? Because we want to serve Krishna face to face, like Srila Prabhupada said.”

Can I ask why you asked that question?

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja. This question has always been haunting me for many, many years, and I always keep asking everyone this question, but everyone says differently, and I wanted to hear from you. And I’m very scared to ask you also, it’s not that I want some guarantee or something. But that’s my question I wanted to know. And as you said, those who are in a mode of goodness, they can get liberated. But to serve face to face, you have to go into transcendence. So, how do we go in that state of transcendence? If we just stay in this mode of goodness, there is no hope, it looks like, for me.

Giriraj Swami: Well, there is no guarantee. And as I mentioned, someone influenced by the mode of goodness will think, I want to go back to Godhead, but someone who’s transcendental will think, I just want to serve Krishna and please Krishna. And that will bring you more satisfaction and peace. So, I wouldn’t worry about that. In one morning walk conversation in Mayapur, Jayapataka Swami said to Srila Prabhupada, “Going back to Godhead, it seems like it’s not a physical place but it’s a matter of consciousness.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes.” So, in one sense, you can be back to Godhead even here by your consciousness. But yeah, I don’t think you should worry about that. I think you are probably going back to Godhead anyway, but I don’t think you have to worry about it.

Devotee: Thank you, Guru Maharaja. I want to go wherever you are to serve you.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you, Hare Krishna. Oh, Chandrika Priya dasi has her hand up.

Chandrika Priya dasi: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to you. Thank you for the nice lecture, Guru Maharaja. I just had a comment and a request. So, actually, I just wanted to share that I’ve been reading the pastime of Bharat Maharaja, and actually, at first, I was very perplexed by the pastime.

Giriraj Swami: Of which Maharaja?

Chandrika Priya dasi: Bharat Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Oh, Bharat Maharaja, yes.

Chandrika Priya dasi: Well, I think at first, I was very perplexed by that pastime, but now by your mercy, I’m having some clarity because you brought out this wonderful aspect of the mercy of Krishna. And just today, by your mercy, I was having the realization of how Krishna was so merciful to him, that even if he didn’t have an ordinary body of a deer, he had the remembrance of Krishna and he could associate with devotees and listen to kathā. So, even though externally, it appeared he had a body of deer, but actually, he was so fortunate. And then in his next lifetime, he became so determined to go back home, back to Godhead. You brought out so beautifully the mercy of Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: That’s very nice. Yes, Bharat Maharaja definitely got Krishna’s mercy in amazing ways.

Chandrika Priya dasi: And Guru Maharaja, I have a request, if that’s okay. I have a devotee friend in Melbourne who is very seriously sick in her health condition. So, I was wondering if you could pray for her. Her name is Yamuna Lila dasi.

Giriraj Swami: I will pray for her.

Chandrika Priya dasi: Thank you, Guru Maharaja. Thank you, Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. Any other questions or comments?

Devotee: Maharaja, there is no serious question, but what happened to this King Baladeva Indra Singh if he was on Kaurava side and he got liberated. So, why did he come back, Maharaja?

Giriraj Swami: No, Prabhupada was saying that what that astrologer said was not true. It wasn’t true that he was in the battle of Kurukshetra and he was on the other side, no.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotee: So, Maharaja, you said that Krishna is equal to everyone. So, in the Mahābhārata war, Duryodhana wanted to become emperor, and Yudhisthira didn’t want to have any such desire. And Krishna made Yudhisthira the emperor, and Duryodhana was killed. So, I was just thinking, if suppose I want an iPhone and somebody gives me an Android phone, then. . . I mean, Krishna liberated Duryodhana. So, did that make Duryodhana happy? Did his soul become satisfied after getting liberated, or is it that the soul after liberation still remains unsatisfied?

Giriraj Swami: Well, there are different types of liberation. And the fact that Duryodhana was liberated means that, at least temporarily, he was freed from the miseries of material existence. But the problem with impersonal liberation is that it’s temporary. Because in the impersonal brahmajyoti, as Srila Prabhupada says, the soul feels lonely. And unless the soul has some idea of devotional service, he’ll fall down again into the material world.

But in the case of Duryodhana, because in a way, he did facilitate Krishna’s pastimes. And then the other thing is that Krishna has what Srila Prabhupada calls the road show. He keeps performing His pastimes in different universes, one after the other, one after the other, one after the other. So, it could be that Duryodhana was part of the road show and he played his part in the next universe, and then the next universe, and then the next universe. But I’m quite confident that with so much association of Krishna and Krishna’s merciful nature, eventually, his heart would turn.

Devotee: Thank you, Maharaja. Thank you.

Giriraj Swami:  So, there are two more things in the chat. Okay. Oh, your hand is up. Oh, I see there are two hands up. Okay, Radhika Mataji.

Radhika Mataji: Thank you, Maharaja. Please accept my humble daṇḍavats. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Thank you very much for that class. And obviously, there is a lot of mystery about the liberation question. I was wondering, when the astrologer told this man that he was in the battle of Kurukshetra and Prabhupada said everybody got liberated, even from the other side, and you are saying right now that Duryodhana could have gone to the impersonal brahmajyoti. So, the other side, which liberation did they get? Could it be a liberation that makes them come back?

Giriraj Swami: Actually, the way Srila Prabhupada put it, he wouldn’t have come back, he is liberated. And generally, if someone is liberated, he doesn’t come back. And this may not be referred to those who are killed in the presence of the Lord, but those who get impersonal liberation by merging into the impersonal Brahman, they fall down again.

Radhika Mataji: So, it’s not the same.

Giriraj Swami: No, no.

Radhika Mataji: And also, when Prabhupada mentions in the shastra that Krishna has this tendency, propensity, to fight and all that, so His devotees take on the role of demons to come to fight with Him. So, I’m just wondering again, I’m just curious, when He has to interact with Duryodhana, all the Kauravas and these people, like you are saying, could it really be like the road show? I mean, would Krishna actually interact with people who are actually envious, or would it be really His devotee playing the part? Like Shakuni, who is actually His devotee playing the part.

Giriraj Swami: Well, the principle of what you said is true. And therefore, Jay and Vijay enter the material world as demons to fight with Krishna, because Krishna also has the propensity to fight. But who can fight with Him except a devotee? But they were devotees in the guise of demons. But as far as Duryodhana, we don’t have any information that he is in that category.

Radhika Mataji: Yes, Maharaja. I guess I was just very curious that when Krishna actually comes to the planet, are all the inhabitants conditioned souls? I guess questions are getting very entangling in my mind right now. I mean, now that I remember the Bhagavad-gītā, He comes to restore religious principles and to annihilate the miscreants, like you mentioned in class. So, there must be demons also on the planet for Him to come and kill indirectly.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah.

Radhika Mataji: So, they are not all just His associates.

Giriraj Swami: No.

Radhika Mataji: It became clear. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. Good. Sakshi?

Sakshi dasi: Hare Krishna, dear Guru Maharaja. I had a question in relation to my previous question. Guru Maharaja, if Krishna is so merciful to Arjuna to give him the knowledge of the Bhagavad-gītā, why wasn’t Duryodhana, though being on the battlefield, able to hear it? Was it because he was not open to the mercy, like you mentioned earlier? Some people aren’t open to the mercy. So, is it because of that, or is it because of some other reason?

Giriraj Swami: Well, Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna, but He actually spoke it for all of us. Although Arjuna was the immediate audience, but all of us are the long-term audience. It probably is true that Duryodhana was not open to it, because even when Krishna came to him earlier to try to make a peaceful resolution, Duryodhana would not entertain Him, he was very closed to Krishna. So, he was not really eligible to receive the knowledge of the Bhagavad-gītā. And what is the qualification? Bhakto ‘si priyo ‘si, Krishna tells Arjuna. Arjuna was, as Prabhupada says, not a sannyasi, he was a grihastha, he was not a vedantist, he was a warrior. So, why was he eligible to receive the knowledge?

Bhakto ‘si me sakhā ceti. Krishna said, “Because you are My devotee and my very dear friend, I will impart this knowledge to you.” So, Bhagavad-gītā is meant for the devotees, it’s not meant for the non-devotees. Duryodhana was a non-devotee.

Sakshi dasi: Thank you so much, Guru Maharaja. Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. So many good questions.

Devotee: Hari Krishna, Maharaja. I have a small question. I was wondering, for the Pandavas, at least in Krishna’s pastimes, they came as the sons of demigods, right? From mother Kunti. And at the same time, in the Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta and other books, we hear that they were eternally liberated souls. So, could you share more light on that, Maharaja?

Giriraj Swami: Yes. Even eternally liberated souls have appearance pastimes. I mean, even Krishna has His appearance pastime. And in some cases, it’s explained that Krishna’s eternal associates descend for the sake of His pastimes, and then demigods descend and combine with that eternal associate. And then at the end of Krishna’s pastimes, when the eternal associates returned to the spiritual sky, the demigods who joined for the sake of the pastime, they returned to their abodes.

Devotee: Okay. That makes sense, Maharaja. Thank you.

Host: Okay, it has been almost an hour and half Maharaja, so we will let you retire now. Maharaja has promised me [Unintelligible 01:26:18].

Giriraj Swami: If we are ending now, I suggest we conclude with Vaishnava praṇāma.