SB 2.7.23–25 – Approaching Sri Rama-navami

Giriraj Swami: As we are approaching Sri Rama-navami in three days, I will read some verses about Lord Ramachandra and His transcendental qualities and pastimes from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Seven entitled – “Scheduled Incarnations with Specific Functions,” and I will begin with Text Twenty-three.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

For the sake of time, I will just read the translation and purport.

TRANSLATION

Due to His causeless mercy upon all living entities within the universe, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, along with His plenary extensions, appeared in the family of Mahārāja Ikṣvāku as the Lord of His internal potency, Sītā. Under the order of His father, Mahārāja Daśaratha, He entered the forest and lived there for considerable years with His wife and younger brother. Rāvaṇa, who was very materially powerful, with ten heads on his shoulders, committed a great offense against Him and was thus ultimately vanquished.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada:

Lord Rāma is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His brothers, namely Bharata, Lakṣmaṇa and Śatrughna, are His plenary expansions. All four brothers are viṣṇu-tattva and were never ordinary human beings. There are many unscrupulous and ignorant commentators on Rāmāyaṇa who present the younger brothers of Lord Rāmacandra as ordinary living entities. But here in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the most authentic scripture on the science of Godhead, it is clearly stated that His brothers were His plenary expansions. Originally Lord Rāmacandra is the incarnation of Vāsudeva, Lakṣmaṇa is the incarnation of Saṅkarṣaṇa, Bharata is the incarnation of Pradyumna, and Śatrughna is the incarnation of Aniruddha, expansions of the Personality of Godhead. Lakṣmījī Sītā is the internal potency of the Lord and is neither an ordinary woman nor the external potency incarnation of Durgā. Durgā is the external potency of the Lord, and she is associated with Lord Śiva.

As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.7), the Lord appears when there are discrepancies in the discharge of factual religion. Lord Rāmacandra also appeared under the same circumstances, accompanied by His brothers, who are expansions of the Lord’s internal potency, and by Lakṣmījī Sītādevī.

COMMENT

So, that is a very important verse and I will read it because it describes, first of all, the purpose of Lord Krishna’s descent but it also describes the purpose of Lord Rama’s descent.

TEXT

yadā yadā hi dharmasya
glānir bhavati bhārata
abhyutthānam adharmasya
tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham

TRANSLATION

Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion – at that time I descend Myself.

COMMENT

And I will some of the purport, as it is extremely relevant and instructive.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The word sṛjāmi is significant herein. Sṛjāmi cannot be used in the sense of creation, because, according to the previous verse, there is no creation of the Lord’s form or body, since all of the forms are eternally existent. Therefore, sṛjāmi means that the Lord manifests Himself as He is. Although the Lord appears on schedule, namely at the end of the Dvāpara-yuga of the twenty-eighth millennium of the seventh Manu in one day of Brahmā, He has no obligation to adhere to such rules and regulations, because He is completely free to act in many ways at His will. He therefore appears by His own will.

COMMENT

So, Lord Krishna, the Original Personality of Godhead, appears only once in a day of Brahma in His original form, and that is a very long time, and Krishna in His devotional form, as Lord Chaitanya, also appears only once in a day of Brahma in the Kali-yuga, immediately following the Dvapara-yuga, in which Krishna appeared. So, we are very fortunate in this Kali-yuga because in our Kali-yuga, the yugāvatāras is actually Krishna Himself in His devotional form as Lord Chaitanya. And so we have a wonderful opportunity to make our life successful by following the instructions of Krishna in Bhagavad-gītā and especially the process given to us by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu which focuses on chanting the holy name,

harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā

The Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa says, “One should chant the holy names, chant the holy names, chant the holy names of Hari, Krishna. There is no other way, no other way, no other way for success in this age.” And Lord Chaitanya appearance is also predicted in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam – krsna varnam tvisa krsna sango vangastra parsadamyajnaih sankirtana prayair yajanti sumedhasaḥ. So that means krsna varnam. So varnam can mean category, like varna and ashrama, and varnam also means to describe, or glorify. So, krsna varnam means that He is in the same category as Krishna and He is always engaged in describing Krishna or glorifying Krishna—krsna varnam tvisa krsna, but His color is not blackish. Krishna also means blackish and akṛṣṇa means not blackish. krsna varnam tvisa krsna sango vangastra parsadam, and He is accompanied by His associates, so many associates, but – śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda—and they act as His weapons who are destroying the demonic mentality of the people in Kali-yuga. When Krishna appeared, He would physically kill the demons, but in the form of Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya, He does not phyaically kill them but He kills their demonic mentality by the weapons of His beauty and His instructions and His associates.

So, yes, we are very fortunate and we should take full advantage of our good fortune. We are even more fortunate because we have come in touch with His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. Lord Chaitanya predicted,

pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi-grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma

that, “In every town and village, in every country of the world, My name or Krishna’s name, will be preached.” And even Gaudiya Vaishnavas had difficulty understanding how such a thing could happen, literally. They thought maybe it was just a figurative statement, but as we know, our beloved Srila Prabhupada and other acharyas of ISKCON, he actually fulfilled that prediction and brought chanting all over the world and his followers are continuing his mission.

So, now back to our Ramachandra.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.7), the Lord appears when there are discrepancies in the discharge of factual religion. Lord Rāmacandra also appeared under the same circumstances, accompanied by His brothers, who are expansions of the Lord’s internal potency, and by Lakṣmījī Sītādevī.

Lord Rāmacandra was ordered by His father, Mahārāja Daśaratha, to leave home for the forest under awkward circumstances, and the Lord, as the ideal son of His father, carried out the order, even on the occasion of His being declared the King of Ayodhyā. One of His younger brothers, Lakṣmaṇajī, desired to go with Him, and so also His eternal wife, Sītājī, desired to go with Him. The Lord agreed to both of them, and all together they entered the Daṇḍakāraṇya Forest, to live there for fourteen years.

COMMENT

So, this incident was, you could say, a turning point in the pastimes of Lord Rama. He was said to be coroneted as the King of Ayodhya and on the eve of His coronation, His stepmother, Kaikeya, approached His father, Maharaja Dasaratha, and reminded him that he had offer a boon because he was very pleased with her service when she cared for him when he was very ill. So she said, “You remember you promised me two boons?” He said, “Yes, I remember.”

“And I told you I would ask for them when there was need.”

“Yes, I remember.”

So, she said, “I want these boons now.” Of course this also shows the effect of bad association because Kaikeya loved Lord Ramachandra as a son and Lord Rama loved her as a mother, but she had a maidservant named Mantara. Mantara was sort of crooked minded and ego minded and she put these thoughts in Kaikeya’s mind that, “Your son should be the king and not Lord Rama.” So, Kaikeya asked for two boons. One was that her son should be made the king and two, that Lord Ramachandra should be sent into exile for fourteen years because she is very diplomatic. She thought, Well. Bharata may be installed as the king but Rama may come back with His armies and take back the kingdom. Therefore, she added the condition that he should be in exile for fourteen years. So, Maharaja Dasaratha agreed, a real kshatriya, he was true to his word and shortly thereafter, he died of shock.

And while in the forest, Rama and Sita and Lakshman had many pastimes. Actually, when they were going to leave, all the residents of Ayodhya wanted to go with them. none of them wanted to be separated from Sita, Rama, and Lakshman, but Lord Ramachandra forbade them – No, you cannot make Ayodhya vacant, you have to go back.”

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Lord Rāmacandra was ordered by His father, Mahārāja Daśaratha, to leave home for the forest under awkward circumstances, and the Lord, as the ideal son of His father, carried out the order, even on the occasion of His being declared the King of Ayodhyā. One of His younger brothers, Lakṣmaṇajī, desired to go with Him, and so also His eternal wife, Sītājī, desired to go with Him.

COMMENT

Yes, initially, Lord Ramachandra discouraged Sita from accompanying Him. He said, “You are the daughter of a king and you are also very beautiful. You might be at risk in the forest. So, maybe, you better just stay at your father’s home.” But, Sita refused. She said, “No, I am your wife. I must follow you wherever You go. Just like the shadow follows the person.” So, eventually, Lord Rama agreed for Her also to accompany Him.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The Lord agreed to both of them, and all together they entered the Daṇḍakāraṇya Forest, to live there for fourteen years. During their stay in the forest, there was some quarrel between Rāmacandra and Rāvaṇa, and the latter kidnapped the Lord’s wife, Sītā. The quarrel ended in the vanquishing of the greatly powerful Rāvaṇa, along with all his kingdom and family.

COMMENT

So, there is an instructive incident that took place, because when Sita was being abducted by Rāvaṇa, there was a great devotee of Lord Ramachandra named Jatayu who was a bird and he very valiantly fought with Rāvaṇa. And Jatayu was powerful but he was very old at that time and so he was not able to succeed in rescuing Sita from the clutches of Rāvaṇa. When Lord Ramachandra was passing through the forest in search of Sita, He came across Jatayu, who had basically given his life for the service of the Lord, and He took his head in His lap and He caressed him and eventually, Jatayu left his body and Lord Ramachandra performed the last rites just like a son would do for his father. And Srila Prabhupada has used this incident as an example of how we as devotees should make our best effort to preach. We may or may not be externally successful through our efforts but if we give our all to the effort of preaching, the Lord will be satisfied.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Sītā is Lakṣmījī, or the goddess of fortune, but she is never to be enjoyed by any living being. She is meant for being worshiped by the living being along with her husband, Śrī Rāmacandra. A materialistic man like Rāvaṇa does not understand this great truth, but on the contrary he wants to snatch Sītādevī from the custody of Rāma and thus incurs great miseries. The materialists, who are after opulence and material prosperity, may take lessons from the Rāmāyaṇa that the policy of exploiting the nature of the Lord without acknowledging the supremacy of the Supreme Lord is the policy of Rāvaṇa. Rāvaṇa was very advanced materially, so much so that he turned his kingdom, Laṅkā, into pure gold, or full material wealth. But because he did not recognize the supremacy of Lord Rāmacandra and defied Him by stealing His wife, Sītā, Rāvaṇa was killed, and all his opulence and power were destroyed.

Lord Rāmacandra is a full incarnation with six opulences in full, and He is therefore mentioned in this verse as kaleśaḥ, or master of all opulence.

COMMENT

So, there is more but for the sake of time I will skip Text Twenty-four and come to Text Twenty-five which is so beautiful. It is one of my favorite verses in the whole Bhāgavatam. I will just read the translation.

TRANSLATION

When Rāvaṇa was engaged in the battle, the trunk of the elephant which carried the King of heaven, Indra, broke in pieces, having collided with the chest of Rāvaṇa, and the scattered broken parts illuminated all directions. Rāvaṇa therefore felt proud of his prowess and began to loiter in the midst of the fighting soldiers, thinking himself the conqueror of all directions. But his laughter, overtaken by joy, along with his very air of life, suddenly ceased with the tingling sound of the bow of Rāmacandra, the Personality of Godhead.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

However powerful a living being may be, when he is condemned by God no one can save him, and, similarly, however weak one may be, if he is protected by the Lord no one can annihilate him.

COMMENT

Yes, there is saying – kṛṣṇa rākhe mare ke, mare kṛṣṇa rākhe ke. If Krishna wants to protect someone, who can kill him? And if Krishna wants to kill someone, who can protect him? Rāvaṇa was a great devotee of Lord Shiva, and during the fighting, Parvati, the eternal consort of Lord Shiva approached him and said, “Rāvaṇa is your great devotee and he is trouble now. So, you should something to help him.” And Lord Shiva replied, “What can I do, when Lord Ramachandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, wants to kill him? What power do I have to save him?” So, that is the basic principle- kṛṣṇa rākhe mare ke, mare kṛṣṇa rākhe ke. So, under all circumstances, we should take shelter of Krishna.

So, thank you for joining us and listening so patiently and attentively. Now, if any of you want to ask any questions or leave any comments, share any reflections, can raise your hands, your physical hand or virtual hand.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, guru Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances. This is Harivallabhi dasi.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. Yes, Harivallabhi.

Devotee: As you were saying, how fortunate we are that Lord Krishna appears once in the day of Brahma, and we happen to be just five thousand years away from that and how Lord Chaitanya appears and we happen to be just five hundred years away from that, and Srila Prabhupada appeared and we are just fifty years away from that, and how fortunate I am that I get your association. So, just five months away, just kidding. But thank you, guru Maharaja, for your wonderful association. Thank you so much

Giriraj Swami: Thank you for the nice appreciation. Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, Narina, Bhakti Narina

Devotee: Please accept my humble obeisances guru Maharaja. Thank you for sprinkling such nectarean story already by your lotus lips, sprinkled with more sugar. Thank you for your association.

I have a question. So, you said that Kaikeya, by bad association, which were in the face of her maidservant, those envious thoughts were planted in her head, in her mind; and my question is, does it mean that she was not pure at heart so those seeds could be accepted by her or it could happen to anyone?

Giriraj Swami: Well, the way Srila Prabhupada describes it, Maharaja Dasaratha had two co-wives—Kausalya, who was the mother of Ramachandra, and Kaikeya, and he said that there was some natural rivalry between them. He said that Psychology is natural. It was there two million years ago and it is there now. But Lord Rama was so affectionate to her. He treated her just like His mother and she treated Him just like her son. There was a very affectionate relationship but somehow by the bad advice of Mantara, her mind became polluted and so, she took the occasion of the boons that Maharaja Dasaratha had promised her to ask her son to be made the king and Ramachandra should be sent into exile. But her son did not accept to become the king. He considered that Lord Ramachandra was the rightful heir to the throne and all the people loved Him and so he kept the padukas, the shoes of Lord Ramachandra, and because someone had to administrate the kingdom, because as I mentioned Maharaja Dasaratha died of shock very soon after Lord Ramachandra went into exile, so someone had to administrate the kingdom. So, he did it but on the behalf of Lord Rama and he lived very simply, not like a king. Yes, very austerely, just doing his duty until Lord Rama returned.

So, yes we have to be careful of association. Srila Prabhupada said, “Krishna consciousness is 90 percent association.” And Srila Rupa Gosvami enumerates sixty-four items of devotional service, and he says that out of the sixty-four, five are most potent and that by even a slight association with any one of the five, one can awaken dormant love for Krishna. So, the five are sādhu-saṅga, nāma-kīrtana, bhāgavata-śravaṇa, mathurā-vāsa, śrī-mūrtira śraddhāya sevana, and then he gives the definition of sādhu-saṅga. [Unintelligible 57:03–57:10] which means [Unintelligible 57:13–57:15] it means in the same community and in our case that would mean followers of Srila Prabhupada. [Unintelligible 57:32–57:53] the way Srila Prabhupada translates it- who has a similar affection for the Lord- but snigdhe can also be taken that sadhu should be affectionate to you. So, [Unintelligible 57:50–57:57] means that he should be more advanced than you. So that sādhu-saṅga is very potent, one of the five most potent items of devotional service. Anything else?

Devotee: Thank you guru Maharaja, and may I ask the question? Hare Krishna, I got frozen. Thank you guru Maharaja for the reply and may I ask a following question?

Giriraj Swami: Alright.

Devotee: So, when you were reciting Srila Prabhupada’s definition of sādhu-saṅga, and first one is associating in your community, which we understand as followers of Srila Prabhupada, and so does it mean that followers of other sampradāya it is different sort of association?

Giriraj Swami: Well, we can respect all genuine Vaishnavas. We should respect all genuine Vaishnavas but as far as intimate association, we want the association of people who specifically will help us in our relationship with Srila Prabhupada and service to Srila Prabhupada.

Devotee: Yes, it comes through serving Srila Prabhupada and this relationship is the most important to bring us to Krishna, if I am understanding it correctly.

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Devotee: Jaya! Thank you so much, guru Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: So, Kamala Sundari.

Devotee: Hare Krishna guru Maharaja. Narrotam Prabhu had his hand first so maybe he can ask the question first.

Giriraj Swami: Alright.

Devotee: No, please go ahead Mataji.

Devotee: Okay, my question is about Mother Sita and we see that when Lord Rama left to the forest, Mother Sita showed such a high level of spiritual sacrifice of just wanting to go with Lord Rama and we find that in this age it is so much different that with our loved ones and the ones we care about, the spiritual sacrifice is very much lower, obviously. I just wanted to know how do we overcome this spirit of laziness that we have and to show the same spirit of sacrifice that Mother Sita shows, just ready to give up everything and go to the forest, not that I am saying that one should go to the forest or something, but, how do we over this spirit of laziness that we have and to show the spirit of sacrifice more?

Giriraj Swami: Well, first I would say, sincere attentive chanting, because our natural position is to serve selflessly and by offenseless chanting, attentive chanting, sincere chanting, we can cleanse our heart—ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaḿ—and revive our spiritual original nature. And the other thing would be to associate with sincere devotees who are in the mood of making sacrifices for the sake of Srila Prabhupada, for the sake of the mission, for the sake of others, and their association will help you to manifest the same qualities.

Devotee: Okay, thank you so much guru Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Okay, Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Hare Krishna guru Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna

 Devotee: Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Guru Maharaja, my question was again in relation with Kaikeya and how we see that even though throughout her life she was so loving and dedicated to Lord Rama, but due to wrong association for whatever reason, for some period of time she became inimical and harsh towards Lord Rama, almost wanting, as far as sending Him to the forest, not caring about His wellbeing or His rights as the eldest son. So, my question was guru Maharaja that how do we in our life, if we face very harsh behavior or similar behavior in living relationships, then how should be our attitude? How should we deal with that?

Giriraj Swami: Well, the general rule,

tṛṇād api sunīcena
taror api sahiṣṇunā
amāninā mānadena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

We have to tolerate. Many times Srila Prabhupada said that we have to tolerate. What can be done? Yes, I mean it is unfortunate when such events take place but again what can we do? We have to tolerate and again depending who the person is, what the relationship is, you could possible approach them and say that, “Have I done anything to hurt you or offend you that is causing you to act towards me like this? Is there anything I can do to rectify myself or my misbehavior so that our relationship can be congenial as it should be?”

Devotee: Thank you guru Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Okay. Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Any other questions or comments? If not, we can end with Vaishnava praṇāma.

Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto all the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord. They are just like desire trees who can fulfill the desires of everyone, and they are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.

vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca kripa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo vaishnavebhyo namo namah

Ananta koti vaishnava vrindaa ki jaya!