20210612 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.9.10

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.9.10:

kṛṣṇaṁ ca tat-prabhāva-jña
āsīnaṁ jagad-īśvaram
hṛdi-sthaṁ pūjayām āsa
māyayopātta-vigraham

Translation:  Śrī Kṛṣṇa Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, yet He manifests His transcendental form by His internal potency. This very Lord was sitting before Bhīṣmadeva, and since Bhīṣmadeva knew of His glories, he worshiped Him duly.

Purport by Śrīla Prabhupāda: The Lord’s omnipotency is displayed by His simultaneous presence in every place. He is present always in His eternal abode Goloka Vṛndāvana, and still He is present in everyone’s heart and even within every invisible atom. When He manifests His eternal transcendental form in the material world, He does so by His internal potency. The external potency, or the material energy, has nothing to do with His eternal form. All these truths were known to Śrī Bhīṣmadeva, who worshiped Him accordingly.

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Jayapatākā Swami: Although Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He acted as a younger, cousin brother of Yudhistira. When Yudhistira and the other Pāṇḍavas paid their obeisances to Bhīṣmadeva, so did Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. But Bhīṣmadeva knew the glories of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. And therefore he accepted that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although Bhīṣma was on a bed of arrows, and he could not greet everyone in an ordinary way, but he was very expert by his words. So like that we can see that he has such wonderful qualities. And Kṛṣṇa wanted that the glories of Bhīṣmadeva be known. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa arranged that everybody would go together to see Bhīṣmadeva. So Bhīṣmadeva would be happy to know that Dharmarāja Yudhistira who is personified religion along with his brothers are seated on the ruling throne. So people might think, like the Māyāvādīs, that Kṛṣṇa has taken some material form. But this verse explains that His form has nothing to do with the material energy. He manifests Himself from His internal potency. And we can see that He is very wonderful! How He is dealing so affectionately with His devotees. And at the same time, simultaneously, He is present in everyone’s heart and even in every atom. He is present in Goloka Vṛndāvana and He is present here as well.

Sometimes, Śrīla Prabhupāda says that the king is sitting on his throne, and so is the bed bug. But they are not the same. So if you think because of their sitting on the same āsana they are equal, the king’s role is to rule. And the bed bug’s role is to suck blood. Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja was in the high court during the probate case of Śrīla Prabhupāda. There the wooden seat that was there had some bed begs and these were biting him. So he asked what to do? And they said put the legal papers on the seat, they are all reincarnated lawyers, they all respect the legal papers. Ha! Ha! And the lawyers are sucking the blood for their clients. So those who are not religious, they take birth as bed bugs. But they respect legal papers! So Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami put down some legal papers and sat on it, and he wasn’t bitten anymore! So like this the material world is such a place that we are forced to take birth again. But Kṛṣṇa He comes, appears and disappears and not bound by the rules of the material world. Just like the head of state may visit the prison to see what it is like. But he is not subject to the restrictions of the prison house. So Bhīṣmadeva, he was lying down on the bed of arrows, and despite this situation he was to give transcendental knowledge to Yudhiṣṭhira and others, and Kṛṣṇa wanted that this glory of Bhīṣmadeva be manifested. Bhīṣmadeva had the relationship of chivalry with Kṛṣṇa. And at the time of leaving his body, he wanted to see Kṛṣṇa in that mood. And Bhīṣmadeva knew that Kṛṣṇa had broken His vow and lifted the chariot wheel and rushed towards him, and Bhīṣmadeva wanted to see that form.  Bhīṣma is one of the Mahājanas. And he is very expert in the process of bhakti-yoga. Like that, we want all the devotees to be very expert in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And everybody should take lessons from this episode. They should learn how to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There are so many opportunities to preach.

Now during the pandemic period, it is important that people take up the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. If they take up at this time, we hope that they will continue throughout their whole life. When I visited America, I was taken by a disciple to a church. This church in New Jersey, it was a very special church. It is called Unitarian Universalist Church. And they respect the Bible, the Gītā, the Quran, various religions. So I went there and preached the glories of the holy name. And they were all very happy! Then I went in California, Santa Monica, to a church, in Laguna Beach. I don’t know maybe in Australia, and some countries these type of churches exist. But they are quite willing to hear about bhakti-yoga, about the Harināma. They believe that there is only one God. And that all the religions worship that one God.

So, like that, there are opportunities to preach to all kinds of people. I heard that one disciple became an Anglican priest in Australia. Actually my mother was a member of the Anglican church. When she passed away I preached in the church, I remember. She had requested that part of her ashes to be put in the Gaṅgā. And some ashes were left for her children in America.

So, as Bhīṣmadeva was uniting everyone, Śrīla Prabhupāda had predicted that by the Harināma saṅkīrtana, everyone would become Kṛṣṇa conscious. And that way everyone will want to take up devotional service. Now see that there are so many different types of war because of religion. So people want there should be worldwide peace. But this is possible by Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s process. All the holy names of the Lord can be chanted. And this can unite all the people in spiritual consciousness. In Malaysia, the Christians they changed the word in the Bible and changed the name of God and put Allah there. So Muslims protested, why do you use the name of Allah? But then one Member of Parliament said, we should be like the Hindus, they accept all the names of God! So, like that, we want to unite the whole world in the universal religion of one God, one Holy Name. So someone was asking how is that Kṛṣṇa has a transcendental body? Many times we see that Kṛṣṇa is instructing the Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna. Kṛṣṇa’s beautiful young body is exquisitely beautiful. But do you know, how old He was? He was 125 years since He appeared as the son of Devakī. But He doesn’t grow old. I was talking to one of the Śaṅkarācāryas. And I said you have very beautiful Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa deity. But you are physically old. He said, this is my līlā! My pastime. This līlā everyone has in the material world! Everybody grows old. But Kṛṣṇa, He doesn’t grow old. Because He has a transcendental spiritual body, full of eternity, bliss and knowledge.

So, like that, Kṛṣṇa comes in this material world, and with His own sweet will, He also goes back. He appeared in the form of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And He mingled with us, He was dancing, was embracing us, was crying. We are people, He is a Person. But we are only aware of our body, but He is aware of every universe, every body. So we have the great opportunity, we can be connected with Him! It is by the mercy of Lord Caitanya we have this opportunity. He had instructed everyone to perform the congregational chanting of the Holy Names. If we do this, then we can build a relationship with Lord Kṛṣṇa. What a great opportunity it is as a human being! Actually, our tendency is to be very attached to material sense gratification. But that is the demoniac nature.

But I was reading in the third canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that Svāyambhuva Manu was the emperor, Manu is the emperor of the whole universe. So he had a very high standard of material sense gratification. But generally sense gratification brings us down to lower species. But Svāyambhuva Manu he did not degrade. Because he enjoyed his material life, in a Kṛṣṇa conscious way. So Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying that today people are very attached to the comforts of life. They forgot the example of Svāyambhuva Manu. Of course, every morning, he would have the gandharvas from the celestial planets singing the glories and pastimes of the Lord. In his palace, he had a temple. And like this he was always thinking about Kṛṣṇa. Although he had a wife, children, kingdom. His standard of enjoyment was very high! But he was not degraded. So, Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying that in this way, the people of the modern world, if they practice bhakti yoga, maybe the gṛhasthas cannot have a band of gandharvas, but we have the tape recorder! We have video players, we have deities in our house, so we can play the kīrtana, watch the Kṛṣṇa conscious videos. Husband and wife can worship the deities in their house. Like this, they can go back to Godhead! They can live in comfort. But they can be Kṛṣṇa conscious.

So this process is possible for everybody in the world! I mean, the brahmacārīs, sannyāsīs that is another thing. But ordinary people will not want to become sādhus or sannyāsīs. They can also be situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in this way. What we are saying is very, very practical! Let people live comfortable life, have family, have all their comforts, but be Kṛṣṇa conscious. So in this way, the whole world can practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As the ācāryas have taught, gṛhe thāko vane thāko sadā hari bole ḍāko. Whether you live in the house or in the forest, always chant the Holy Names of Hari. Haribol! Gaurāṅga! Nityānanda! Haribol!

So we will have ten minutes of questions and I will try to give the answers. Please help to spread the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness is essential for everyone.

Sadānanda Gauranāma dāsa, Swami Bhagh, Bangladesh, question in Bengali: Fruitive activity and acquiring of knowledge, what is the difference between this and devotional service?

Jayapatākā Swami: You see karma-kāṇḍa tells us do karma for sense gratification. Jñāna-kāṇḍa tells us about nirākāra brahman. But yoga means to connect with the Supreme Lord. Karma-yoga means to work for Kṛṣṇa. Bhakti-yoga means be fully absorbed in pleasing Kṛṣṇa. So bhakti-yoga is above gyana yoga. Bhakti-yoga means the Personality of Godhead. And gyana yoga means connecting with the impersonal form of the Lord.

Question in Bengali: Why is it so important for a devotee to be under the shelter of a spiritual master? Before one takes initiation the chanting and devotional service performed, will that be accepted by Lord Kṛṣṇa or Caitanya Mahāprabhu?

Jayapatākā Swami: The śāstras say that the chanting of the holy name of the Lord does not wait for initiation and other purificatory ceremonies. But Kṛṣṇa sends a guru to help you in your chanting, you take that as Kṛṣṇa’s mercy.

Marīci dāsa, Malaysia: How Lord Kṛṣṇa came in His spiritual body. What about the associates like the Pāṇḍavas, the Kurus, Bhīṣmadeva, did they have a spiritual or material body? How an ordinary person who was not a devotee of the Lord could they also see Kṛṣṇa with their material eyes?

Jayapatākā Swami: At that time Kṛṣṇa-līlā was called prakaṭa-līlā. Everyone could see Him. But those who saw Him, saw Him in different ways. Just like when Kṛṣṇa went into Mathurā in the arena of Kaṁsa, everyone saw Kṛṣṇa in a different way. Devakī and Vāsudeva saw Kṛṣṇa as their dear Son. The wrestlers saw Kṛṣṇa as a valiant warrior. The transcendental yogis they saw Kṛṣṇa as the Supersoul. And Kaṁsa he saw Kṛṣṇa as his death. Like that everybody saw Kṛṣṇa in a different way. The ordinary people they saw Kṛṣṇa as a young boy, how is he fighting the professional wrestlers! BOO! BOO! THIS IS NOT FAIR! BOO! BOO! So like that everyone would see Kṛṣṇa in a different way. Sometimes the associates of Kṛṣṇa they go back in their self same body. They say that Tukārāma, the disciple of Lord Caitanya, he was picked up Garuḍa and taken to Viṣṇuloka. So that is hard to say, who had a spiritual body, but their body was spiritualized.

Sukamala Nitāi dāsa, Habiganj, Bangladesh: in Bengali:  Bhīṣmadeva had waited for Uttarāyaṇa to leave his body. My question is that being a mahā-bhāgavata, was it important that he had to wait to leave at an auspicious time? 

Jayapatākā Swami: Bhīṣmadeva had the blessing or boon that he could leave his body whenever he wished. So that way he was waiting for the all auspicious time. And in addition that Kṛṣṇa being present, the uttarāyaṇa became every more auspicious. So now that Kṛṣṇa was present before him, to leave his body in this situation is most auspicious. Therefore, he took this opportunity and left his body at that particular juncture.

Jayapatākā Swami: I am seeing Bhakti Vijaya Bhāgavata Swami, and all my doubts have been removed away, just by having his darśana!

Sujitendriya dāsa, Māyāpur: in Bengali: In some scriptures there is that Lord Kṛṣṇa body was cremated by Arjuna after Kṛṣṇa’s departure. This is bewildering that the Lord’s body is transcendental, it is mentioned here in this verse, but at the same time, it is mentioned in some other scriptures. How do we reconcile or understand this?

Jayapatākā Swami: We take the Bhāgavata Purāṇa as the Amala Purāṇa. And Bhāgavata Purāṇa says that Kṛṣṇa went back to the spiritual world. He can do anything. In the battlefield of Kurukṣetra sometimes the arrows would pierce Him. And He would be bleeding. So, if He wants He can do anything. But actually, He never dies, He is never affected. And sometimes to bewilder the materialists, He does different things.  We are not disturbed by these things. We were reading in the Caitanya-līlā, how Lord Caitanya He fell in the well. But He did not realize He was in the well. He was in prema, ecstasy! And the water became like ghee, like butter. So, that way He was floating on the butter. And then Advaita Ācārya, and other devotees got Him out of the well. But in His līlā, He never realized any of this. When the Muslim governor saw Him, he started chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa and Hari! And he begged Him for some sevā. So, just like seeing Lord Caitanya people they got changed!

We have to visit the different temples first and then he will visit the Far East devotees.