19820428 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.21.5

(Disclaimer: The following is a machine-generated transcript and may contain errors or inaccuracies. It will be reviewed and verified against the original audio soon.)

The following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on April 28, 1982 – in Murāri Sevaka Farm, USA. The lecture begins with a reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.21.5.

Lord Brahma and all the predominating deities of the various planetary systems began to worship Lord Brahmanade, their supreme master, who had reduced himself from his all pervading form to his original form. They collected all the ingredients and paraphernalia for this worship. Translation with repetition please. Lord Brahma and all the predominating deities of the various planetary systems began to worship Lord Vamanadeva. Began to worship Lord Vamanadeva, their supreme master. Their supreme master who had reduced himself, who produced Himself from his all pervading form to his original form. They collected all the ingredients and paraphernalia for this worship Purport Vaishnavad Muhammad first expanded himself to the universal form and then reduced himself to the original Vāmana Rūpa. Thus he acted exactly like Lord Kṛṣṇa who at the request of Arjuna first showed his universal form and later resumed his original form.

As Kṛṣṇa, the Lord can assume any form he likes, but his original form is that of a of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa’s two Bhagavān According to the capacity of the devotee, the Lord assumes that he has forms so that the devotee can handle Him. This is his causeless mercy. When Lord Vahmanadeva resumed his original form, Lord Brahma and his associates collected various paraphernalia for worship with which to please Him. So Lord Brahma and all the predominant deities of the various planetary systems began to worship Lord Brahmanadeva, their supreme master, who had reduced himself from his all pervading form to his original form.

They collected all the ingredients and paraphernalia for this worship and thank you for your greeting to the residents of Mitai Gorachandra Prabhupāda’s Maharashtra Project just humbly trying to carry out the instructions of his divine grace relation Bhakti Vedānta Swami Prabhupāda so here Śrīla Prabhupāda is very nicely explained for us how Kṛṣṇa assumes various forms that the devotee can handle him. So similarly, the Lord has assumed here a form of so that the devotees can worship the Lord. Actually he’s present in his original form. He’s personally present, but he’s present in a form that we can handle. Because of our fallen nature in this material world, people cannot see God. Therefore he appears to us in his Archa avatar form or his incarnation in the form of worshipable deities.

So in that way also he’s accommodating the desire of the devotee to serve the Lord, to feed the Lord, to clothe the Lord, and so he assumes just a suitable form so that we can handle him in devotional service and develop our devotional service unto his lotus feet. So also when the Lord is personally present, some people feel that, well, if the Lord has His form, which is somehow limiting God, so they’re foolishness. But they cannot understand that the Lord, he is everything. Simultaneously he is an individual person, and that individuality does not limit Him. But it is one aspect of his completeness that although simultaneously he’s everything, he is also an individual person and he can relate with the devotees in a platform of loving reciprocation. So to do so, it is very difficult to lovingly reciprocate with his universal forms. Śrī?

S Arjuna found it a bit overwhelming when he saw in The Bhagavad Gītā 11 chapter reveals how when he saw that universal form, he became overwhelmed. He was saying that I was sitting with Kṛṣṇa, I was putting my head on Kṛṣṇa’s lap sometimes that were joking. And now I see that Kṛṣṇa is himself the universal form. He is the ultimate truth. He is the Param Brahma Param, Dhamma Pritham, Paramaham Havad. Maybe I have committed so many offenses and now I am in a dangerous position. Kṛṣṇa, please forgive me for not realizing who you were. And similarly Vamanadeva, when He was in his universal form, which spread over the whole universe and in the second step covered up everything, at that point everyone was completely overwhelmed.

How to relate with Bhamanadeva when He was in His Tudic ground form, except in complete awe and reverence and astonishment at that particular form, everyone was practically in a stunned state to see the power and the magnificence of the glory of the Lord in His massive universal form. So just to please his devotees, he came again to his original Vāmana form so that they could again worship him and reciprocate with him on a personal basis. So his form does not limit him. Rather, if he did not have his personal form, then he would be limited, just as we have form. How we can say God is less than us? He cannot have a form.

Why these type of philosophers and mental speculators want to limit God that He cannot have a form, and that if he has a form, that form has to be limited like ours. This is their basic mistake and their basic offense. And they don’t understand that the Lord in His unlimitedness and in his personalness is always on the same transcendental platform. He’s always completely in charge of all his multifarious energies. Parasha Shakti, Vidya, Vasudev. So you can see here how Bali Maharaj, he got a special mercy. He got the special mercy that Kṛṣṇa was taking everything away from him. Actually, Kṛṣṇa reveals another verse in the Bhāgavatam. But that’s not the greatest mercy. The greatest mercy is when someone is not puffed up to think that he has anything separate from Kṛṣṇa’s. So then Kṛṣṇa doesn’t have to take everything away.

That in spite of having so many possessions, so many paraphernalias, properties, that the devotee still realizes that nothing is mine, Everything is. Kṛṣṇa does not become infatuated, does not become intoxicated or puffed up by those material acquisitions. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa doesn’t have to take anything away. Rather, he can give more and more because the person has understood rightly. Mr. Bali Maharaj was definitely a devotee. But he had made the mistake that he was thinking that this is mine. So when Kṛṣṇa said, may I beg from you three steps of your land. Well, why not? So the basic mistake was picked up by his wife. His wife came out and said, I believe a little later that your main mistake was you thought it was yours. And you even think that it’s your body that you have said, all right, put the third step here.

I have given you my body, you fool. If you would have understood that nothing was yours to begin with, everything is Kṛṣṇa, then you would have had the correct understanding. So this way we can see that in a Kṛṣṇa conscious Grihasta partnership, often the at least in this case the wife, she had the better understanding. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that the wife can be the good intelligence of the husband in Kṛṣṇa consciousness to remind the husband of his actual duties in Kṛṣṇa consciousness to Guru and to Kṛṣṇa. This a very sublime confirm. So here we see that Vamanadeva, he became very small. He was just a dwarf like that Caitanya Mahāprabhu. When he appeared, he also was kind enough to appear just as the child of Sochi. And he was playing in so many different ways.

And his parents, Jagannath, Mista and Madhusachi, they were able to worship the Lord and to enjoy transcendental pastimes seeing his beautiful lotus face. And like that, every devotee they have is some eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa. They have an eternal relationship with the spiritual master who is leading them to Kṛṣṇa. In this way, those permanent relationships, they may not always be immediately understood. They may be superficially covered by some material dust, but those are superficial for the advanced devotee. And very soon, by performing One’s devotional service, then one transcends all these material dusts which keep us from remembering our eternal relationship.

One thing is that just as the Yoga Māyā of Kṛṣṇa is necessary to cover the devotee intelligence so that the devotee can see Kṛṣṇa as oh, he is my son or he is my daughter, or rather he is my son or mother and father and or he is my brother or he’s my master, he’s my friend, he’s my lover. This is necessary for Yogamaya to cover one understanding of Ka’s God, to see Kṛṣṇa as one’s intimate loved one. That’s not illusion in the material illusion, but that’s a spiritual covering or spiritual ointment which is put on the eyes so that one can see Kṛṣṇa in a particular mood to render him devotional service. Just as when Arjuna saw the universal form, he was not able to at that moment, when realizing Kṛṣṇa’s vastness and glory, to relate with him any longer as a friend.

So again Kṛṣṇa by his mystic vision, by the Yogamaya, he was given a mystic vision to see Kṛṣṇa in his original form. So that is also the mercy of the Lord, that one can see the Lord in his original form so that they can actually relate with him on a spiritual loving platform. So when Kṛṣṇa Caitanya mahprabhu little Viswambhara when he was playing around in the house, you know the story how one day they came a Brahman into the house worshiping his deity Gopal. And he was asking his Gopal deity every day to come and take prasadam. Preparing the prasadam, before he would eat himself, he would offer his prasadam to the deity. When one has a personal deity, this is the system that sometimes there might be a little bit of irregulation in terms of time.

It may not exactly be like a temple on the dot the same time every day. But the devotee will not eat before Kṛṣṇa is bathed and fed his mali bog. That is the basic program when one has personal deity, which is like a Shaile Gramshila or something. So that way even one is traveling, one may be a little late, but because he’s also fasting, so Kṛṣṇa tolerates that. So when the Brāhmaṇa came there and he had a very nice meeting with Jagannath, Miśra and mother Sachi, they begged him, you please worship your deity and offer the prasadam here. So he agreed and he worshipped his deity and prepared prasadam personally. And then he offered and even some families india today, the Brāhmaṇa himself will Prepare the prashana and offer to his deities. And just a wife will assist.

Some are shostak that the Brāhmaṇa himself will prepare the prasana directly for his vyut. So he was such a traveling Brāhmaṇa that he would only offer and prepare the prasadam himself for the deity. So when he was preparing the prasad, the boga and he was ready to offer, then he naturally, in his offering he meditated. Put down the asana, put the plate, meditate. Go pal, go pal. Please come and take your prasada. He was calling. And so then Lord Caitanya, the original Gopal himself, we walked over and he started eating that prasada. No, no, no. What are you doing? No, no. You will be thrown by an offering. He was so upset. And then Mother Satchi and Jagannath Miśra were completely surprised. He never escaped. Does things like this two, three years old. You know these things happen. So then the Brāhmaṇa was very begged.

Please, please again offer the prasad of. Surely this can’t happen again. So then again the Brāhmaṇa prepared the boga and offered in the evening. That time they looked around, no sign of Lord. She came in and he sat down in his meditation. Again he was calling Gopal, come and take the prasada. As soon as he called in Lord, Little Nimāi came up and started taking the prasada again. No, no, no, no. Ruin the offering. Oh Lord Caitanya, just years old. What can anyone say? So they grab him and take him away. Then they request the Ramana. Please just offer some food now. And then again in the night time, prepare the posada. will all be asleep at that time. The baby will be asleep. So then there will be no problem. Then he agreed. And again he offered. He prepared the bogart.

And about midnight nobody was around. He offered the bogart called Gopal, please come and take the boga again. No, no. There comes Binomari and starts taking the prasad. No, no. And then assumed his form as Gopal. His form and six arms and two arms were raised with Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Two arms were Ramchandra and two arms were in the form of Kṛṣṇa. So in this way. Anyone notice the six weapons carry? No. The six arms, what were they holding? There’s another form of Lord Chaitanya. Once he showed, I can’t remember who he showed it to, whether it was Islam or nothing. Where he showed two arms to the Rava Chandra Narasiṁhadev and one of the hands of Masinghadev was cloying and the other one was padding by the keeping one hand on Prahlad’s head and the other one was ripping.

So as Brāhmaṇa became ecstatic that here as worship of Udiya did appear, he was jumping up. He was jumping up and down and paying his obeisances and jumping up and then falling down Namao Vishnu and paying his obeisance, jumping up and then down Namo Gamanayadi and grabbing the Lord’s lotus feet. So then Kṛṣṇa told him that you are my eternal devotee and this is your particular desire that you want to offer me Prashada, offer me boga and my person come and take. So you come to the house of my mother and father for that pastime and you try to do and you come and you worship your deity. Then I come and take the offering. The same thing happened when I was in Vrindavana. You came to the house of Jisoda Ananda and then I offered you and then I came and took it.

And in every pastime this is happening, we can assume that it also happened that he visited the house of Aditi who’s the mother founder Aditi. Aditi Aditi is the other. So every pastime this devotee is coming and offering his, worshiping his deity and calling the Lord. And the Lord comes and takes so like that the particular devotee that was his desire to have this type of a rasa with the Lord and that was his eternal Rasa that he would come and perform that pastime. So to prove to the devotee that in fact he was the same Lord. Therefore he has to show his spiritual form. We can understand that when we are calling the Lord, he’s actually coming and taking the prasadam. He’s assuming that form which is manageable by us. If we are 12ft tall, May Kṛṣṇa he also appear 12ft.

He’s always up to medium size. That means if all the human beings were 12ft tall, then Kṛṣṇa would also appear 12ft tall. If we all the human beings are 4ft tall, then he would appear 4ft tall, just suitable to our particular situation. So in that way Kṛṣṇa is always the perfect size. And he’s always perfectly able to reciprocate with his devotees on the pure loving platform. So we may have eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa here in the material world, or we may have eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa in the spiritual sky. That doesn’t make any difference to the pure devotee of the Lord. Wherever the Lord engages Him in his pure devotional service for him it is the spiritual world for him. It is the transcendental atmosphere. He has no other desire to be satisfied.

Rather, they refuse liberation when it’s offered if it does not include their pure loving service even to be granted a residence in Vaikuṇṭha. If they’re not able to serve the Lord in the devotional service, in the intimate or in the personal relationship according to one’s particular the Rasa, they are not interested in that. They’re not desirous of any kind of independent gift from the Lord except for his loving devotional service. This is the nature of the three devotees of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore they are very Ra. Kṛṣṇa says that of all the people, it is most rare even amongst liberated souls to find one who knows me in truth, who is my pure devotee. One who knows Kṛṣṇa means bhakta mamamijanati. He has to be a pure devotee. One cannot know Kṛṣṇa unless he is a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa.

Kṛṣṇa does not reveal himself to anyone else. This is natural. We’re seeing that how in the modern America there’s so many cutthroat business things going on. One company trying to undercut the other company. They have their industrial espionage and industrial intelligence and so many things trying to find out the trade secrets. Who’s going to reveal anything about himself unless someone else is a partner or is actually a dear friend. No one will even tell you what the combination is to his safe or anything unless the person is very intimately connected. So why should Kṛṣṇa reveal the mysteries and the most confidential secrets about himself and about this material world to anyone who would misuse those to anyone except for his pure devotee.

In fact, in the past times of Lord Caitanya we could see that Lord Caitanya had so completely faith in Haridas Thakur that at one point he told Haridas Thakur that by your chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, by your devotion you have purchased me. I am simply your property. Now you can do with me whatever you want. That the devotee so completely surrenders to Kṛṣṇa, that Kṛṣṇa he is also completely confident that to give himself over to his devotee. Of course we are born and we put up. We are by laws of karma were put in the hands of a mother and a father. Now those mother and father may be the greatest compassionate mother and father or they could be the worst demons like Hiranyakashi who tried to kill his son in the newspaper came yesterday some 14 year old month.

You know, baby was the father, just threw him in the river. He’s a demon. We don’t have any choice on who is our mother and father that’s given to us by the law of Karma. But Kṛṣṇa, he’s not taking birth on the law of Karma. He’s putting himself in a particular devotees hand. Because he knows that devotee will not misuse that superior position of being his mother and father. That they will take care of him with all love and affection because they are his eternal devotees. He knows they’re his eternal devotees. They may forget that this is God. They think this is my baby.

So this is the nature of Kṛṣṇa consciousness that when a devotee proves himself to Kṛṣṇa that I fully depend upon you, then Kṛṣṇa he also knows that he can depend upon the devotee not to misuse that exalted position of being personally able to handle and take care of Kṛṣṇa in various devotional services. One cannot expect that without proving himself that he will be able to take such an exalted position just by his speculation or by his desiring it. Without actually proving that he is a real devotee, that he actually depends upon Kṛṣṇa, he actually has devotion and faith in Kṛṣṇa. The Sahajiyas, they think just because that they think that I am a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. I chant Hare Kṛṣṇa or I do this or that. So therefore they think that now I have already made it now Kṛṣṇa, he’s definitely dependent upon me.

But actually they have never really surrendered in the real sense it is all simply a false ego on their part. They’re not doing what Kṛṣṇa wants, they’re doing what they want. They want to immediately enjoy Kṛṣṇa. Oh this is the nicest thing. Think we can play with God? Oh yes. So I am a devotee, immediately thinks that I am qualified to play with God. They never serve God, they never surrendered to God. They never developed that relationship or uncovered enough material contamination from their heart to develop that relationship. The original relationship they have with Kṛṣṇa instead by some mental concoction immediately want to jump up and actually Kṛṣṇa doesn’t trust them. He doesn’t put himself in their head, it’s all in their mind. So as a result then they’re seen to perform so many materialistic activities.

Why Kṛṣṇa will put himself in the hands of the materialist One day from Nova if one person came over, we thought he was a transvestite. There’s nothing to see a lady performing Aarti in some of these temples and all of a sudden the lady turns around and he’s got about a two wig beard. Lalitā Sakhi is one of the famous names of you know one of the Sahaj Akwa Tahi voice. I am sure that if they find about that in San Francisco and through other places that may make our movement popular, but at least those movements popular, not our movement. But I don’t think that would really be a pollution anyway. At least they superficially are not supposed to engage in breaking regular principles. But they definitely have distorted the whole movement of Vocani Mahāprabhu.

So Bhakti Siddhānta, he had to fight Bhaktivi non taka, had to fight against all these different kind of weird upper sumper diets that had developed because people had in general lost the real honest and proper respect for what was the original movement of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Because there’s so many different kind offshoots that had cropped up. So when they came, they were as reformers to establish what was the real movement of vocal Mahāprabhu. And actually they had succeeded in doing that. The very unfortunate thing was that their followers, especially the followers of after Bhakti Sudhana Zatakur, for some reason or another, they never got it together to work in a combined way and preach that philosophy. So as a result, they more or less stayed at what they were without expanding significantly, even in some cases reducing.

So out of their association came our beloved spiritual master, founder Chari Iskcon Śrī La s Bhaktivedantasam Prabhupāda, who took up the teaching of the previous acharyas and spread Lord Caitanya’s movement all over the world. It was actually predicted in the Padma Purāṇa 5,000 years ago. That of the that person says, you must know that śloka mantra. Śloka, where a mantra received from someone who is not in one of the four bona fide sampradayas will have no effect. It will be fruitless. The four sampradayas also mention the Padma Purāṇa that the four sampradayas, Śrī Brahma, Rudra and Kumar, these are the four authorized sampradayas for hemming down spiritual knowledge in this age of Kali. The sampradāya from Kṛṣṇa, through the Goddess of fortune, Lakshmi, through the creator Brahma Dev, through Lord Shiva and through the four kumaras. So we are in the Sampradāya.

Lord Brahma was mentioned today in this loka going down through Madhavacharya. Lord Caitanya appeared in that Sampradayati initiation in that sampradāya. This way it’s being handed down. So it’s also predicted in the Padma Purāṇa. That these four sampradayas will combine and become one. And that someone will preach, someone will appear in Jagannath Purī who will initiate that movement. So the followers of Bhakti Siddhānta Śrī Thakur see that it was predicted Bhakti Siddhānta. He was come to combine these four sampradayas. We see that on his order Prabhupāda came to the west and that in this way the mercies coming down to the Paramparā. Bhakti Non Takara predicted that someone would go to the west, go around the world and established vocalist movement. So this way we can see that the hand of Kṛṣṇa is working to spread the Kṛṣṇa Conscious movement around the world.

We have to very strictly learn from the mistakes of predecessors. And we have to very strictly follow the instructions of the spiritual master. Śrīla Prabhupāda was asked many times what was his secret of success. He said, I simply stick to the order of Guru. I am simply trying to follow the instructions of my spiritual master. This is the only secret that is better to not live than to willfully not try to follow the order of the spiritual master. One may think that I am not following the order of spiritual master. But I can still please Kṛṣṇa this is not a principle of devotional service. And so the Prabhupāda trained us that we should see the line of previous spiritual masters and follow the instruction of our spiritual master and also try to satisfy the desires of the previous spiritual masters.

Therefore, he requested us to build a Māyāpur project to satisfy Bhaktivino Thakur, Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswati Thakur. This is a very basic principle of devotional service that we try to satisfy the desire of previous coming down just the Prabhupāda requested us to establish farm communities, to distribute books and to so many other programs. So we try to satisfy these desires of previous Acharyas. This principle of Guru Parampar is coming down in that way. So I thank you all for trying to satisfy and implementing the desires of Śrīla Prabhupda and previous cryas. Very important. And I wish you all success. There are many obstacles in the path of pure devotional service. But with determination and Kṛṣṇa’s mercy one can cross over all the obstacles. We have seen that Bali was put to test. But ultimately he was given the mercy of the Lord.

Indra was put to the test. He was ultimately returned to his position. Whoever is more fixed in pure devotional service of course gets the special mercy of the Lord. In his personal association and in his personal benedictions. Any questions? Yes, that’s very good. So walking. Can you do that immediately? If he wants to dive in and leave this material consciousness eternally, then it’s not that you can simply jump in. You may be a Green Bay Packer fan, but you can’t just run out of the stadium and jump in the field and then, you know, be part of the team. You have to be picked by the coach. So similarly, before you can get into the eternal paradise of Kṛṣṇa, you see, you have to be serving one of the devotees of Lord Caitanya in the disciplastic session.

And then in this way you qualify and you’re picked. And then you can play in some role in the team, not according to your whim. You may want to be the quarterback. You may put in, you know, left field or something, whatever. That’s the wrong game. You may put in left in whatever. You have eternal relationship. And actually, what your idea now is what I really mean to say, you may think that just like some may, that, oh, I want to be a. I’d rather be a Gopī with Kṛṣṇa.

But that just may be the person’s little bit of lusty conception in the material vision he may not actually have, or she may not actually have that eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa, but due to some material understanding that, well, I want the highest Rasa or I want the most complete Rasa, like that, where a person may actually as gets purified, may find that actually is more attracted to serving Kṛṣṇa in a parental mood or in a friend or some other mood. So our initial judgment as to what is our relationship with Kṛṣṇa, what we would like to have. I think I would like to play the drunken Lord Shaitanya’s pastimes, or I would like to fan him. That happens. But sometimes we may, so to speak, jump the Ghana. We may go too far too fast.

So it’s recommended by Raghunath Goskoswami, who is of course the Prayojana, the crya of the pure love for Godhead, who definitely is the eternal maidservant of the Lord in his pastimes with Kṛṣṇa and one of the six Goswamis in the Lord Caitanya’s pastimes. But he recommends that we should take the position of servant. We should concentrate on simply serving the servant of the servant of Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa himself will lift us up to our original position. We shouldn’t try by speculation because it can tend to become Sahaji, tend to become cheap to figure out what is our original position? We will have some type of prejudice which may actually slow us down in the long run. Therefore, we should simply focus on rendering humble service. And then the Lord Himself picks us up and takes us to our original position. His devotees take us automatically.

But we should, since service is the basic principle in all the Rasas, leaving it that devotees of Lord Caitanya would not be involved in the Śānta Rasa, they’re involved in service. So from service up, whatever may be the particular relationship, we actually fit in that includes service. So we should involve ourselves, our mentality, our consciousness in the service. And Kṛṣṇa Himself will take us to any different Rasa if that happens to be our particular flavor. Initially, we shouldn’t become preoccupied with what’s our eternal relationship. Rather, we should be developing our service attitude by very practical and very sincere service. And then in this way we will feel transcendental ecstasy, we will feel transcendental purification. We will be able to realize very practically that this body, which is a lump of ignorance, can be used in Kṛṣṇa service, and that we are transcendental to the body.

And this is the fastest way, because we’re not trying to use any kind of material crutches to understand our eternal relationship. We’re allowing it to be realized and using our mind, intelligence and engaging the senses in service.