January 29, 2017 archive

Kunti Devi continues to pray,

Govinda go-dvija-surārti-harāvatāra

Yogeśvarākhila-guro bhagavan namas te

O Govinda! You have incarnated to relieve sufferings of the cows, of the Vedic scholars as well as the afflictions of the Devatas. O Lord of Yoga! O Lord of the universe! O Supreme Lord! I offer obeisance to You.” Kunti Devi prayed to Krishna in various ways. She praised Him very melodiously and sweetly.

After hearing all these praises, Krishna, at last, smiled gently. It was as if he was debating whether he should smile or not and that even if he smiles whether his smile should be mild or suppressed or visible. Should his smile come out of his lips? Or should it remain within? Or that smile which was already within, should it remain as is? No one knew his response. Then he suddenly said, “Ok”! That was all what he said! Only one word He uttered. After all her long endearing prayers, the Lord uttered only one word!

What was this ‘OK’ supposed to mean? Did it mean that he would save her from this illusory world? Or was this ‘OK’ supposed to mean that he would take her with him when he left? Or did it mean that he had agreed to remain in their place for some more time? Nothing was clear to them.

We are also not able to figure out the meaning of this ‘OK’. But what do we (devotees) do- we tend to clarify in great detail. “Swamiji, for which topic did you say ‘OK’? Was it for the first question, or was it for the second question? Was it for the unasked question? What is it that is Ok for you? Does this OK apply only to my question or does it apply to my partner’s question here?” In this way, devotees ask million questions. By then I would have forgotten the OK I had initially said. I now say, “What was it that I said? Did I say ‘OK’? No, I don’t remember saying that”. I am reduced to that state!

Let us suppose I initiate a person into a mantra. I am now flooded with questions (from him), “Swamiji, how many times should I chant this mantra? When should I chant? In which all places should I chant? Should I chant in the morning? Do you want me to chant in the evening?” Already in the first question the third question was built in. But yet they minutely question, “Should I chant in the morning? When should I chant? In which direction should I face when chanting the mantra? Can I sleep when chanting the mantra? Can I chant when I am travelling?”

This is the present situation. Whatever I say, people come back to me with 20 questions. Until then they will not leave me. All this happens because we are bound by our sense organs and intellect (buddhi). We are tied to our karmic bondages. Infatuation has enveloped us. For this reason we have so many doubts. In every aspect there is a doubt. Second reason for these doubts is in order to cross-question and bind me, “You only said like this Swamiji; you had only said this”.

“Swamiji, you asked me to come, so I have come; I came only because you asked me to come”- This is what people say. When had I originally asked you to come? I had asked you to come 10 years back and now you are coming. In other words it means you could find the time to come only after 10 years. Now that you have come you decide to pester me, “Swamiji, you asked me to come, see I have come”; Swamiji I have come.”

Such people are bound to their senses. ‘They are bound to their attachments and infatuations. They are bound to their karma. They are all trapped. Why then should I bind myself to them uselessly?’ I think. They try to bind me. The public are my teachers. Dattatreya had only 24 Gurus. But through these experiences of mine, I know that I have thousands of Gurus (teachers). Every day I am accosted by some new teacher or the other. I keep saluting them.

When I open my eyes I desire to see only the face of Lord Vishnu. I desire to see Lord Dattatreya. When I close my eyes I seek to mentally see Datta or think of Him only. I want to think of only Mother Goddess. I want to mentally chant ‘Narayana, Narayana, Narayana, Datta, Datta, Datta’ and so on. My birds blissfully chirp early morning ‘Datta, Guru,’ and so on. But these men, despite their intelligence, decide to behave foolishly. Birds, on the other hand, even though they don’t have any intelligence, act wisely. With such humans I am getting trapped, while with the birds I am enjoying bliss. The birds know only one thing- to learn what I teach. How beautifully they chirp, “Krishna, Rama”. Whichever divine name I teach, they repeat. They keep on repeating both the times.

Here, the Lord simply uttered ‘OK’. Because it was Kunti Devi, she was quiet. In these modern days if ‘abhaya’ (assurance of fear not) blessing is given, they will question, “What is this assurance for? Is it for the fulfillment of the desire that I had expressed during my last visit? Or is it for the fulfillment of my present desire? Or is it for some future desire of mine?” They demand as if it is their birth right to do so.

Krishna took leave of Kunti Devi and others. He proceeded to Hastinapura, took leave of Subhadra and others there. Just as He was about to leave for his city Dwaraka, Emperor Dharmaraja (Yudhisthira) lovingly stopped Krishna.

Yudhisthira had been deeply saddened and weighed down at the death of all his kith and kin in the war. Srikrishna, Maharishi Vyasa and other saints, who could understand the mind of the emperor, consoled him in various ways. Yet, even after all this Yudhisthira could not be at peace. He could not be convinced and he continued to grieve for them all.

As his mind was filled with indiscrimination, Yudhisthira was deluded by feelings of friendships and attachments. Here, the inherently wise man, who was naturally endowed with discrimination and who was an epitome of righteousness, was enveloped by feelings of indiscrimination and was glued to them totally. Feelings of infatuation and indiscrimination had overpowered him completely. He was totally trapped in such feelings. ‘I have killed so many of my relatives. I have brought about limitless grief. I caused a huge flow of blood everywhere. Of what use is this kingdom now?’ he lamented.

Arjuna had developed such feelings in the initial stages of war. Now after completion of the war, Yudhisthira developed such feelings. Perhaps in the middle of the war such feelings would have arisen in him, yet the war cannot be stopped once its begun, isn’t it? War goes about in great speed. It is easy to start a war but once it is begun, to stop it is an extremely difficult task. For this reason great caution should be exercised in the initial stages itself. There should be sweetness in speech. Rashness of speech or speaking in a way that instigates others should be avoided during gatherings. It appeared as if Emperor Yudhisthira now came to his senses. In fact indiscrimination had enveloped his discriminatory capacities totally and he was completely submerged in this grief.

Sriman Narayana!

Kunti devi prays, “O Lord, only those devotees who daily without fail, read, listen, study, recollect and praise Your divine glories and derive the resultant bliss, are able to obtain the vision of your lotus feet! O Lord, only those who, thus have been blessed with the darshan of your holy feet, will be able to exit from this cycle of births and deaths!

These repeated births and deaths is a terrible vicious cycle. Did we not discuss earlier that it was like a dangerous whirlpool? The one who is stuck in a whirlpool can never swim back to safety! Likewise, a person who is sucked into this whirlpool called repeated births and deaths can never ever exit from it. He continues to rotate endlessly in it.

Moreover, it appears as if no person wants to attempt to exit from it! Even if at all he attempt, he fails. Perhaps only when he adheres to the certain specified disciplines he may exit from it, who knows? It is very very rare for a person to exit from this terrible cycle. It is so rare that it can almost be said that there is none who has ever exited from it.

It is the nature of this cycle of these births and deaths (janma chakra). It is that cycle which causes fear in the being. It is that cycle which causes him to be born again and again. It is that cycle which forces him to perform action. This cycle is like a chain of events that are all inter-connected.

Only those who think of You at all times, who follow You, who see You as existing in everything, who pray to You, who read Your stories at all times and who narrate Your stories to others are able to exit from this cycle of births and deaths! They exit from this cycle called illusion (māya). This is possible only because, O Lord, Your benevolent grace has fallen upon them!

O Lord, O Ishwara, who fulfills the desires of all devotees! Why do You seek to leave us and go away, your true friends who have implicitly placed faith in You and have sought shelter in You? At all times You are our sole refuge night and day! O Lord, who else is there for us apart from You?

In all situations and at all times, be it in our joys, in our sorrows or in our difficulties, we see only You, O Lord. Even in our sorrows and difficulties we are seeing only Your miracles, O Lord!

We think, “Because of this sorrow that we are going through, such and such karma has been removed from us.” This is what we believe. At times of happiness we think, ‘God has given us this happiness in order to test us. He seeks to check whether I am arrogant or not. Hence I should be extremely vigilant. I should hold on to satsang with even more rigidness”.

At all times we glorify You. Even when we are seething in anger, we laugh. We think, ‘Our Lord has caused this anger in us’. With such thoughts we discard anger.  At times of sorrow we think, ‘Our Lord has given us this sorrow’. With such thoughts we stop grieving. At times of happiness we exercise extreme vigilance and with such feelings we surrender the happiness to You by saying ‘Krishnārpaṇam’.

Every moment we talk about the words that had been uttered by You. When sitting, standing, walking, sleeping we think or talk about You. When eating we offer to you every morsel of food as naivedya. ‘The Lord seated within me is eating this food’ we think.

O Lord, we believe that You are the food we eat, You are the one who is eating, the hand is You, the mouth is You, the God who is within is You and so on. In this way we see You in everything. Why then are you giving us this sorrow of separation? When we consider You as everything, then wherever You stay we should be there only, isn’t it? Then why can’t you take us? Why are You now distancing us? I fail to understand this”.

Kunti Devi continues, “O Lord, we have brought limitless grief to many kingdoms and their lineages. Due to us many kingdoms got destroyed.

If closeness with the Self (atma) is lost, then what will be the fate of the senses? You are our Self (atma), do you know this? If Self goes far away, then how can these senses of ours function? In your absence we will be reduced to living corpses. Now in Your absence our condition will be similar to that of the senses without the Self.

We Yadavas and Pandavas have fame and prosperity. All this prosperity of ours illumines only because of Your presence! O Lord, it is because of You that we are happy. It is because of You that we experience sorrows. It is because of You that we perform the supreme meritorious deeds.

Swami! If You are not there, then of what use are these luxuries? Why these riches, this power and these kingdoms for us when You, Our Lord is not there with us? What will we do with this fame and all this wealth? What will be the fate of our sense organs in Your absence? Today they function only because of Your presence. In our foolishness and imagination, we presume that we are making everything function.

That being the case, O Lord, now if You desert us and go away, we will lose our mental balance. O Lord who holds the mace! The kingdom of Kuru is shining resplendently in an unprecedented manner, only because of the impressions of Your lotus feet which shine everywhere. Your footprints are like glowing lotuses. Since You have placed Your foot on the lotus it is glowing brightly. Now if your foot is removed, what will happen to that lotus? Will its radiance not be lost? It will simply wither away.

It is because of Your compassionate glance that these mountains, plains, kingdoms, oceans, rivers are all calm and peaceful, O Lord! They are flourishing. With bountiful crops, trees laden with full fruit, flowers, lotuses all these mountains and water bodies are thriving. The surroundings are so beautiful and serene, O Swami! Prosperity and happiness is seen in all quarters. Everywhere one sees, one only finds happiness and bliss. What will be the fate of all these when you leave?

O Jagatpati! O Vishwamurti! If at all You are determined to leave, then please cut this bondage called deep attachment that I have towards these Yadavas and Pandavas. That is all I seek. Please pull me out of this cycle. Please shred this bondage called attachment that I have.

O Lord of Yadavas! Also kindly ensure that this intellect (buddhi) of mine remains eternally focused upon You in total devotion! Please ensure that it does not deviate towards other unnecessary matters. I beg of You, O Lord.

I have always been caught up in this web of difficulties in life. ‘My son is unwell. Things are not working out in favour of that one. This kingdom is lost; that kingdom is in trouble. This person dear to me has lost his leg. That one has lost his hand. Someone known has lost his life’ in this manner I worry endlessly and wastefully. Please shred all these bondages, O Lord. I pray to You.

Hey Srikrishna! Arjuna mitra! Yadu vamsa tilaka! Destroyer of the foes of Mother Earth! You have eliminated from earth the lineage of all those kings who unjustly cheated Mother Earth. Such is Your supreme valour! Such is Your greatness! I offer obeisance to You!

Govinda! Govinda! Govinda! Sriman Narayana!

Kunti devi continued to praise Srikrishna, “O Krishna! To those who have had your darshan, the question of re-birth does not arise. You bless even a poor unfortunate person with your darshan.  The person, who becomes conceited due to his opulence, education, power, position or due to his birth in a good lineage, loses even the eligibility to call out Your name.

To the poor, You are their wealth, O Lord! This illusory world does not touch You. Untouched by these feelings of likes-dislikes, You remain eternally in the Parabrahma state enjoying supreme bliss. I offer obeisance to You, who bestows liberation! I consider You to be the eternal time and the all-pervading Lord who is without beginning and end. You are the Supreme Paramātma!

Even though the living beings fight amongst themselves, O Lord, You forever remain equally within everyone. O Supreme Lord, like an ordinary human being, You engage in action (karma) and in your pastimes. How can anyone understand your divine transcendental pastimes? How can anyone understand your intentions?

There is none who is extremely dear to you. At the same time, there is none whom You despise. But human beings imagine that You are partial towards some and that you maintain differences.

You are the one whom everyone seeks. You reside in every heart. There is nothing that touches You. ‘These people I should favour, those people I despise’ such feelings do not touch You. It is due to the individual devotion or arrogance that either they could attract you or distance from You.

O Vishwatma (universal being)! You are beyond birth and action! We, the living beings, have birth and action! You have descended to incarnate amongst animals, humans, saints and taking on the forms of Varaha, Srirama, Vāmana and Matsya (fish), have sportily completed all your actions therein.

In the waters, You incarnated as a fish. There too You enacted your play. Thereafter You took the form of a boar (Varaha). Then You incarnated as a tortoise. Incarnating in those forms, you enacted all the actions associated with them. All this is nothing but your play. None of these actions touch You.

In Your childhood You broke the pot of milk. In order to punish You, Mother Devaki, who was angered with this deed of yours, went to fetch a rope to tie you with. You shed such profuse tears that the kohl (kajal) from your eyes was washed away. Either to test your mother’s feelings or to soften her heart you enacted this play. How can anyone tie You, O Lord? Is it possible? You are the rope, how then can you be tied with a rope? When those profuse tears flowing down your cheeks washed away the kohl (kajal) from your eyes, You bent your head in fear. What more can be said about your plays, O Lord!

I am deeply drawn towards these childhood activities of Yours. The truth is that fear is afraid of you. You are fear to fear itself! It runs away from you as it is terrified of you. How then can You shed tears as if you are scared? How can You bend your head and stand as if you are petrified? What divine plays You enact, O Lord!

You inherently are birthless! But people say that in order to enhance the glory of the King Yadu, who is very dear to You, just as the sandalwood tree emerges in the Malaya Mountain, you took birth in his family. It is said that nothing, not even a thorny bush, grows in the Malaya Mountain. In such a mountain like a sweet smelling sandalwood tree you emerged. How could you have birth?

Devaki  and Vasudeva, in their previous birth, had prayed that You should be born as their son. Although You are birthless, for the well being of the world and for the destruction of the demons, you have taken birth as their son. This is what people say.

Some others say that when Lord Brahma prayed to reduce the load of Mother Earth, You decided to take birth.  By taking this divine birth, you caused different feelings in different people.

Some others are of the opinion that, to give a chance to people, who having been born on this earth are trapped in the vicious cycle of frutitive actions (karma) and are suffering due to it, You decided to take birth. This birth thus is to enact divine plays so that these suffering people get a chance to listen to your divine stories and recollect them.

All those innocent devotees who ought to be helped, all those people whose sins should be cleansed, all those who have obtained your grace have all been uplifted. Through this incarnation, You have demonstrated innumerable divine sports. Through this birth, ignorance (ajnana) has been washed away in many. So many persons have transformed into divine beings, during this birth of yours. They have attained oneness with you.

O Lord, only those devotees who, daily, without fail, read, listen, study, recollect and praise Your divine glories and derive the resultant bliss, are able to obtain the vision of your lotus feet! Unknowingly many study your glories. Many unknowingly think about you. There are many who help others considering them to be You. This is such a strange play, O Lord.  How many of your divine plays can I narrate, O Lord? They are endless”.

Deciding to return back to Dwaraka, Srikrishna took leave of the Pandavas. He worshipped Vyasa and other Maharishis. In turn, they too reverentially worshipped Srikrishna. Along with Satyaki and Uddhama, He sat in the chariot and was just about to leave when he noticed Uttara, daughter of King Virata and wife of Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu, rushing towards him in great fright. She prayed to him in the following manner:

Pāhi pāhi mahā-yogin deva-deva jagat-pate

Nānyaṁ tvad abhayaṁ paśye yatra mṛtyuḥ parasparam

O Maha yogi! O Deva deva! O Lord of this universe! Kindly protect me! In this world where people kill each other, there is none apart from You who can offer me protection! O Prabhu! O Ishwara! A burning iron arrow is heading towards me. I do not mind if it were to kill me, but O Lord, it should not harm the baby in my womb.”

Listening to this prayer of Uttara, Srikrishna, the Supreme Lord who considers devotees as his children, instantaneously realized that this arrow had been launched by Ashwatthama, the son of Drona. He further understood that in order to eliminate the entire lineage of Pandavas from earth, Ashwatthama had directed the weapon towards them.

Exactly at that moment, 5 fiercely burning arrows were rapidly coming towards the Pandavas. For self protection, the 5 Pandavas immediately took up their bows and arrows. Noticing this plight of the Pandavas, who had utmost devotion towards Him, Srikrishna at once used his weapon the Sudarshana chakra (discus) and protected them.

In order to protect this last descendent of the Kuru lineage Srikrishna, who is the Self (atma) within every being and who is the Lord of all Yogis, entered into Uttara’s womb and enveloping the fetus with his power of illusion (maya shakti), protected it.

Brahmāstra is an undefeatable weapon. Even then, this supremely powerful weapon was neutralized and pacified in front of Vishnu’s power and radiance. It retracted from Uttara’s womb and went away.

Shounaka, please do not consider this to be an extremely astonishing event as this Lord is the storehouse of all miracles! To that Supreme Lord who is devoid of birth and who, with His power of illusion (maya shakti) creates, sustains and absorbs this entire material creation, this is not at all an extraordinary deed!

Kunti Devi observed her sons, the Pandavas as well as their wife Draupadi, being saved from this Brahmastra. She now addressed the Lord, who had accomplished such a supreme deed and who was about to begin his journey, in the following manner:

Namasye puruṣaṁ tvādyam īśvaraṁ prakṛteḥ param

Alakṣyaṁ sarva-bhūtānām antar bahir avasthitam

O Krishna! You are the original being (ādi Puruśa). You are the energy that monitors all the planes of existence. You are beyond illusion (māya shakti). You are beyond the understanding of the senses. You reside not only within the hearts of all beings but also outside of it. I offer obeisance to You, O Lord!

Due to the spiritual ignorance (ajnana) of people, You appear as if you are covered by the veil of illusion. However in reality You are beyond the grasp of direct visible proofs (pratyakṣa pramāṇa i.e. firm knowledge that emerges when a subject is grasped directly through the senses)”.

Here the Lord has not covered Himself with a veil. The illusion of the people has put a veil upon Him. People are covered with a veil of illusion. When they remove this veil of illusion, He will shine.

“O Lord, how then am I to realize or understand You, who are indestructible? A foolish man cannot recognize an actor who is in his costume. Likewise the human being who has an egoistic attachment towards the body and who is infatuated towards it cannot recognize You as the Supreme Paramātma.

Even the best yogis who are at the highest state of enlightenment, who have an inner mind that is totally pure and who possess supreme discriminatory capacities, worship You through the path of devotion (bhakti yoga). This incarnation of Yours is solely for this purpose. How can we, the ordinary women, realize and understand Your original true form, which even supreme Yogis fail to understand in totality?

You have saved us from the terrible weapon that had been thrown by Ashwatthama. Only due to this protection given by You, O Lord, we are still alive. O Lord, who has preached the Bhagavad Geeta! O Lord of this Universe! We pray that at all times difficulties should land upon us. This is because during difficulties, we will be having your darshan”.

Swamiji explains: Do you understand this? Real devotees never pray that difficulties should be taken away from them. Praying that all hardships be taken away, means true devotion is lacking in the person. It means he is attaching a value to his devotion. It is trading. It ends with that transaction. True devotees pray that troubles should come to them. Even in Purandaradasa keertana, this is seen, “O Lord, it is enough if I have your compassion. Nothing else matters”, he says.

Om Sriman Narayana!

O Arjuna, you know the principles of (righteousness) dharma. One should always worship and revere those belonging to the Guru’s lineage; one should never bring about grief to Guru’s family. We should not cause sorrow to any member of the Guru’s family. Unable to bear the death of my sons, I have been wailing uncontrollably. Do not make Kripi, the great lady, to bemoan the death of her son and wail like me. What is the use of this weeping and wailing? By causing her grief, my children will not be restored to life, isn’t it? If Kshatriya kings who unable to restrain their minds, destroy or harm the Brahmins they themselves will get totally destroyed”- screamed Draupadi.

Queen Draupadi, under no circumstances, overstepped the rules of righteousness! Her heart was filled with supreme levels of compassion and mercy! She was devoid of feelings of deceit and dishonesty. She always had feelings of equanimity towards everyone.

Hearing these words spoken by Draupadi, Yudhisthira who was born of an aspect of Yama (God of death) was immensely pleased. He, along with Nakula, Sahadeva, Arjuna, Lord Krishna and all others members present there unanimously agreed. All of them applauded her.

However Bhima in great anger roared, “This heinous sinner Ashwatthama has murdered children who were sleeping. By this heinous deed neither he, nor his master, Duryodhana, obtained any benefit. Elders always state that it is advisable to kill such a person”.

Lord Srikrishna who was present there and who had heard everyone speak now looked at Arjuna’s face and smilingly said, “A Brahmin should not be killed even if he has fallen to lowly degradable levels. I myself had earlier said that he should be killed for having murdered innocent children. I am the one who have made both these statements. Therefore now do as I say. Arjuna, you had earlier made a promise in order to pacify your dearest wife Draupadi. Now fulfill that promise, but yet at the same time through your action, bring happiness to Bhima, Draupadi and me”.

Arjuna understood the Lord’s feelings. He was always with Krishna. He knew that he had the responsibility of fulfilling his promise. Everyone present there was aware of the reason behind Ashwatthama’s arrogance and power. He wore on his head a jewel which was of limitless power. Therefore Arjuna chopped it off together with the hair on his head.

By killing children, Ashwathama had already lost all his luster, splendour and sanctity. Now with the jewel removed from him, even the remaining radiance was gone. Arjuna now unbound Ashwatthama and threw him away from the camp.

Dharma Shastras dictate that a Brahmin, even if he falls to the lowest levels, must not be hanged or killed under any circumstances. Punishments such as chopping off hair from his head, extracting all his wealth, throwing him out of his position, ostracizing him, banishing him or asking citizens not to offer him food and water are equal to death sentence for such degraded Brahmin.

In this way after throwing Ashwatthama out of the camp, the Pandavas together with Draupadi, bemoaned the death of their sons and completed their final rites.

With this the seventh chapter of the first canto comes to an end.

First Canto Eighth Chapter

In this chapter, saving Parikshit who was in Uttara’s womb from the Ashwatthama’s arrow, Kunti Devi’s prayerfully extolling Srikrishna and Yudhisthira’s grief are covered.

Maharishi Suta continues, “After completing the death rites, the Pandavas together with Srikrishna went to Ganga in order to give water oblations to the departed sons. The ladies walked in front. After grieving for them and completing the rituals, they once again bathed in Ganga which had been purified by the dust of Lord Krishna’s lotus feet. Yudhisthira together with his brothers, Gandhāri, Dhritarashtra, Kunti and Draupadi sat there profusely grieving for all their dead kith and kin. Krishna was observing them all.

Together with the other Maharishis He approached and consoled them stating that all living beings had to inevitably face death.

Krishna had returned back to Yudhisthira, the kingdom that had been deceitfully snatched away from him by Duryodhana and his other cunning relatives. He had ensured that the wicked kings who had unrightfully caught hold of Draupadi’s hair, and whose span of life was reduced due to this act, were killed. He got Emperor Yudhisthira to perform 3 Ashwamedha Yāgās. Like the fame attained by Indra, Krishna ensured that Yudhisthira’s virtuous fame spread in all the directions of the world.

Sriman Narayana.