20260103 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.23.13

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

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

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.23.13

sarva-kāma-dughaṁ divyaṁ
sarva-ratna-samanvitam
sarvarddhy-upacayodarkaṁ
maṇi-stambhair upaskṛtam

Translation: It was a wonderful structure, bedecked with all sorts of jewels, adorned with pillars of precious stones, and capable of yielding whatever one desired. It was equipped with every form of furniture and wealth, which tended to increase in the course of time.

Purport: The castle created in the sky by Kardama Muni may be called “a castle in the air,” but by his mystic power of yoga Kardama Muni actually constructed a huge castle in the air. To our feeble imagination, a castle in the sky is an impossibility, but if we scrutinizingly consider the matter we can understand that it is not impossible at all. If the Supreme Personality of Godhead can create so many planets, carrying millions of castles in the air, a perfect yogī like Kardama Muni can easily construct one castle in the air. The castle is described as sarva-kāma-dugham, “yielding whatever one desired.” It was full of jewels. Even the pillars were made of pearls and valuable stones. These valuable jewels and stones were not subject to deterioration, but were everlastingly and increasingly opulent. We sometimes hear of castles thus bedecked on the surface of this earth also. The castles constructed by Lord Kṛṣṇa for His 16,108 wives were so bedecked with jewels that there was no need of lamplight during the night.

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Jayapatākā Swami: So, what did we learn from this activity? How we can apply it in our Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I mean, it is not that if the wife serves the husband, every husband will be able to create these castles in the sky! Like we can remember that Śrīla Prabhupāda compared this service of Devahūti to Kardama Muni to the service of a disciple to his spiritual master. So, this is in the Satya-yuga or the time of Svāyambhuva Manu. So this was the great daughter of Svāyambhuva Manu with the mystic husband Kardama Muni. Naturally, Kardama Muni, he was practicing his mystic yoga but he wanted to be a gṛhastha and experience material happiness! And after that he wanted to take sannyāsa.

Now, Lord Caitanya has taught us that in Kali-yuga we can be brahmacārīs, gṛhasthas or renounced order. We have in Māyāpur, many brahmacārīs. And because of the presence of these brahmacārīs, it is very auspicious. But we see that it is not auspicious to be a brahmacārī or in some kind of renounced order and fall down. It is not a problem if a brahmacārī enters the gṛhastha-āśrama and wants to experience what is there in the material world. Here Kardama Muni performed all his activities within devotional service or service to Kṛṣṇa. He performed the garbhādāna-saṁskāra. So he did austerities and got mystic powers. And he is begetting children in this wonderful castle in the sky!

We see that in our sampradāya some of our ācāryas like Mādhavendra Purī, he was first a gṛhastha. His son was Kṛṣṇa dāsa and he was a great preacher. But later he took sannyāsa. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that if a wife is submissive to the husband, and she is coopearting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then he does not have to leave to take sannyāsa. But Śrīla Prabhupāda said that in Kṛṣṇa consciousness we are engaging in warfare with māyā in both āśramas. So whatever āśrama we are in, we have to continue the fight against māyā! Like, Rāmānujācārya, his wife did not treat the guests nicely. And he was a Vaiṣṇava and he wanted to treat all the Vaiṣṇava and brāhmaṇa guests very nicely! It is mentioned in the scriptures that even if an enemy comes to your house, you treat him nicely and not like an enemy. That is why Rāmānujācārya, through a boy, wrote a letter and sent her the message that your father is calling you because there is some marriage or some ceremony in your home. So after the wife left, he took sannyāsa! Śrīla Prabhupāda was also a gṛhastha. He had many children. But when he was translating Bhagavad-gītā with purports, he had a huge manuscript. Imagine, how much hard work, how much sacrifice he did to write this! His wife sold the manuscript thinking it is old trash and bought tea with the money. This was a shocking thing to Śrīla Prabhupāda! So he took vānaprastha and then sannyāsa. So, wives should not do such things! And of course, we benefited! Śrīla Prabhupāda came to the Americas, carrying out the order of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura! So, he carried out the order of his spiritual master and that way, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement was spread all over the world! Śrīla Prabhupāda kī jaya! Śrīla Prabhupāda kī jaya! Gaurāṅga!

So, many things we can learn from this. We can apply these teachings in our own Kṛṣṇa conscious life. So, we should always keep fighting with māyā and serving Kṛṣṇa. Our weapon, our fight is using bhakti-yoga! We are in this material world for our sense gratification. We want to lord it over the material energy. So bhakti-yoga means we want to serve the Lord, want to do devotional service. So māyā comes to us and offers different sense gratification. But whatever we do, we will do in the service of Kṛṣṇa. And Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying that even if one gets a job, gets a salary, he should think I am working for Kṛṣṇa! In Māyāpur of course, devotees have the opportunity to serve Kṛṣṇa, and they get a maintenance. So, like this it is not that we get rich by serving Kṛṣṇa but we can maintain. So, like Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura he was a naiṣṭhika-brahmacārī. And Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he was a gṛhastha. So, the point is that whatever āśrama we are in, we should serve Kṛṣṇa. So, this is a great opportunity to use this human form of life! So, we want to engage all of our senses, all our activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We want to conquer all the negative influences of the material world and engage ourselves in the positive activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness!

Now the pleasure that is there in Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot be availed in the material world. Now, in this material world there is some happiness and some misery as well. I go to different hospitals and see there are so many patients. They come to me and they ask, “Please give me blessings that I can be cured or my husband can be cured.” So, everyone sees the happiness in the material world - what about the sadness? Now in the 16^th chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā it tells that divine qualities and the demoniac qualities. And in the 17^th chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā the different modes of material nature are explained and which activities are in which mode are explained. At least we should be on the platform of goodness but the best would be if we could perform all our activities for Kṛṣṇa. Like when we give charity, we give to a good person, at a good time with no expectation of return. That is in the mode of goodness. Now, if one is giving a donation thinking that I will get some return by giving money here, then all that is in the mode of passion. And if one gives charity to an unqualified person without thinking, without any good purpose, that is in the mode of ignorance. Like this, every activity is either transcendental or situated in sattva, rājasa or tāmasa. That is why we want that every devotee will understand the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness very nicely!

Śrīla Prabhupāda, he went through the great austerity of writing many books. So we should read those books and study them! And in the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa it is predicted that there would be a ten thousand period of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That will start five thousand years after the beginning of Kali-yuga. And Śrīla Prabhupāda came five thousand years after the beginning of Kali-yuga. It wasn’t an accident that Śrīla Prabhupāda said his books will be the law books for the next ten thousand years! Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! Why did Śrīla Prabhupāda say that his books would be the law books for the next ten thousand years? I could tell you many things that I had personally experience with Śrīla Prabhupāda! But when I ask those who are engaged in my service, and many have not read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. Some have, but many did not! So, I think it is very important to read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books! Śrīla Prabhupāda made this degree system so that people would be encouraged to read his books. So, I have now the Bhakti-vedānta degree and I am taking the test for Bhakti-Sārvabhauma!

So, Kardama Muni what he could in the Satya-yuga and Svāyambhuva Manu period that was something wonderful, but we have to do whatever possible according to the present circumstances. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, he prayed to Lord Caitanya, there is no one as merciful as You, You are the deliverer of all fallen souls and there is no one more fallen than me! We are very fortunate to be here just five hundred years after Lord Caitanya, and during the time of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda! So, we want to use bhakti-yoga as our defense against māyā!

In our Navadvīpa parikramā, the first island is Sīmantadvīpa. And Sīmantinā Devī, she was chanting the names of Lord Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! So Lord Caitanya appeared to her! And she prayed to Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu that, “People call me the witch māyā, I don’t get association with the devotees! And so I heard You are giving the mercy to everyone, so can I get Your mercy here?” And she took the dust from Lord Caitanya’s lotus feet and put it on her head. That is why the name of this island is Sīmantadvīpa! Lord Caitanya said, “You are also one of My internal energies. Here you will experience non-difference from Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī!” So, even the Prauḍhā Māyā, she is the protectress of the holy dhāma and Vṛddha Śiva is the protector of the holy dhāma. So we should be very careful to engage always in the service of Lord Caitanya in this dhāma.

Having sex with your wife or having Kṛṣṇa conscious children is Kṛṣṇa conscious sevā. Of course, having relations within marriage is not sinful. So here Kardama Muni had promised he would give children to his wife, so he created the facility.

Are there any questions or comments?

Question: You said that Śrīla Prabhupāda books, how important it is to read them and how everything is contained in his books. And you also said that in the future these books will become the law books. My question is that when can we read the books by the Gosvāmīs, the other ācāryas, at what stage after studying Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books can we read those books?

Jayapatākā Swami: When we have finished studying all of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books! And we should understand the philosophy. I mean, Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, these are basic books and we should study them! But Nectar of Devotion and Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛta, Nectar of Devotion was translated by Śrīla Prabhupāda and Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛta which the BBT published. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī’s books have been translated as well. Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛta by Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī.

One more question.

Question: When did the ten thousand year period Golden Age period began?

Jayapatākā Swami: The Brhama-vaivarta Purāṇa, it predicts that it will start five thousand years after the beginning of Kali-yuga. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu came 4,500 years after. And Śrīla Prabhupāda came 5000 years after. Śrīla Prabhupāda kī jaya!