Verse: Srimad Bhagvatam 6.18.54-61
Date: November 5th, 2016
Place: Govardhan, India
Transcription: Jahnavi Devi Dasi
Edited: Ambarisa Maharaja Das
sāṁvatsaraṁ puṁsavanaṁ
vratam etad aviplutam
dhārayiṣyasi cet tubhyaṁ
śakra-hā bhavitā sutaḥ
TRANSLATION
Kaśyapa Muni continued: If you perform this ceremony called puàsavana, adhering to the vow with faith for at least one year, you will give birth to a son destined to kill Indra. But if there is any discrepancy in the discharge of this vow, the son will be a friend to Indra.
TEXT 55
bāḍham ity abhyupetyātha
ditī rājan mahā-manāḥ
kaśyapād garbham ādhatta
vrataṁ cāñjo dadhāra sā
TRANSLATION
O King Parīkṣit, Diti, the wife of Kaśyapa, agreed to undergo the purificatory process known as puàsavana. "Yes," she said, "I shall do everything according to your instructions." With great jubilation she became pregnant, having taken semen from Kaçyapa, and faithfully began discharging the vow.
TEXT 56
mātṛ-ṣvasur abhiprāyam
indra ājñāya mānada
śuśrūṣaṇenāśrama-sthāṁ
ditiṁ paryacarat kaviḥ
TRANSLATION
O King, who are respectful to everyone, Indra understood Diti's purpose, and thus he contrived to fulfill his own interests. Following the logic that self-preservation is the first law of nature, he wanted to break Diti's promise. Thus, he engaged himself in the service of Diti, his aunt, who was residing in a āśrama.
TEXT 57
nityaṁ vanāt sumanasaḥ
phala-mūla-samit-kuśān
patrāṅkura-mṛdo ’paś ca
kāle kāla upāharat
TRANSLATION
Indra served his aunt daily by bringing flowers, fruits, roots and wood for yajïas from the forest. He also brought kuça grass, leaves, sprouts, earth and water exactly at the proper time.
TEXT 58
evaṁ tasyā vrata-sthāyā
vrata-cchidraṁ harir nṛpa
prepsuḥ paryacaraj jihmo
mṛga-heva mṛgākṛtiḥ
TRANSLATION
O King Parīkṣit,, as the hunter of a deer becomes like a deer by covering his body with deerskin and serving the deer, so Indra, although at heart the enemy of the sons of Diti, became outwardly friendly and served Diti in a faithful way. Indra's purpose was to cheat Diti as soon as he could find some fault in the way she discharged the vows of the ritualistic ceremony. However, he wanted to be undetected, and therefore he served her very carefully.
TEXT 59
nādhyagacchad vrata-cchidraṁ
tat-paro ’tha mahī-pate
cintāṁ tīvrāṁ gataḥ śakraḥ
kena me syāc chivaṁ tv iha
TRANSLATION
O master of the entire world, when Indra could find no faults, he thought, "How will there be good fortune for me?" Thus, he was full of deep anxiety.
TEXT 60
ekadā sā tu sandhyāyām
ucchiṣṭā vrata-karśitā
aspṛṣṭa-vāry-adhautāṅghriḥ
suṣvāpa vidhi-mohitā
TRANSLATION
Having grown weak and thin because of strictly following the principles of the vow, Diti once unfortunately neglected to wash her mouth, hands and feet after eating and went to sleep during the evening twilight.
So now we have come to verse 61:
TEXT 61
labdhvā tad-antaraṁ śakro
nidrāpahṛta-cetasaḥ
diteḥ praviṣṭa udaraṁ
yogeśo yoga-māyayā
labdhvā — finding; tat-antaram — after that; śakraḥ — Indra; nidrā — by sleep; apahṛta-cetasaḥ — unconscious; diteḥ — of Diti; praviṣṭaḥ — entered; udaram — the womb; yoga-īśaḥ — the master of yoga; yoga — of yogic perfections; māyayā — by the power.
TRANSLATION
Finding this fault, Indra, who has all the mystic powers [the yoga-siddhis such as aṇimā and laghimā], entered Diti’s womb while she was unconscious, being fast asleep.
PURPORT
A perfectly successful yogī is expert in eight kinds of perfection. By one of them, called aṇimā-siddhi, he can become smaller than an atom, and in that state he can enter anywhere. With this yogic power, Indra entered the womb of Diti while she was pregnant.
LECTURE
THE IMPARTIAL LORD FAVORS HIS DEVOTEES
So, this chapter is describing various descendents of Kasyapa muni. Kasyapa is one of the Prajapatis and from Kasyapa came different species of life. From Aditi, one wife of Kasyapa is Aditi, from Aditi came the Adityas or demigods, headed by Indra and Surya. And from Diti, the other wife, came the Daityas, like Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyaksa. And from the beginning they developed their animosity. The animosity actually began because although they came from the same lineage, one side was favoured by the Lord and the other apparently was not. Aditi’s side, Aditi’s children became favoured by Visnu whereas Diti’s children were not. It is not that some were favoured and some were not. It was actually their own doing. Sura and Asura. Suras are those who are submissive to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and asuras are those who do not submit to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. These two types of living entities are always there.
We can see that from the very beginning there were these two types of living entities. And those who surrender to the Lord they become favoured by the Lord and those who do not, they become disappointed and envious. It is not that the Lord is being partial to anyone. Krishna responds, Krishna reciprocates according to the way one acts towards Him. Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante, (Bg 4.11) Prapati, the word prapati means surrender. Prapadyante—the way one surrenders unto Me, tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham, accordingly I respond. The scripture is actually making this point very very clearly, indicating what the result of surrendering unto Krishna is and what is the outcome of not surrendering to Krishna or what is the outcome of becoming envious of Krishna.
INIMICAL DEALINGS OF DITI & INDRA
So, these two lines are coming down. One line is from Diti and the other line is from Aditi. So here Diti’s line is being described. Diti became very upset with Indra because Indra killed her son. And therefore, she wanted to take revenge and she wanted to have a son who would become an enemy of Indra and would kill Indra. So, with that desire she approached her husband Kasyapa muni. And Kasyapa muni was shocked to hear her desire but still he agreed to her proposal. But he made a condition that you have to perform a sacrifice called Pumsavana, a vrata and keeping some vow for one year. And if there is any discrepancy in observing those vows then instead of becoming an enemy of Indra, your son will become a friend of Indra. And as a result of that she became pregnant and she started to strictly follow that vow in order to have a child in her womb who would become an enemy of Indra.
And Indra finding out that purpose of his step-mother’s intentions wanted to defend himself. That is why in the previous verse it has been pointed out; self-preservation is the law of nature. By hook or by crook one must preserve himself, one must protect himself, one must try to avoid being killed. And Indra started to serve her when she was performing this vrata. But the purpose of that service was also not very clean. It was actually in the disguise of being a servant, he was actually looking for the opportunity to kill the womb. And eventually he found a situation when Diti was performing severe austerities, she became frail. When the body becomes subjected to such austerities, due to weak body the mind also becomes affected.
IMPORTANT HABITS TO CULTIVATE
That’s another point that has been made here. And she forgot or she neglected, after eating food she did not wash her feet, her mouth and her hands. Or rather it should go in the other order. First wash one’s hands, then mouth and then feet. One lesson to learn; I often notice, sometimes devotees eat and don’t even wash their hands. Vedic culture is that before you eat, you wash your hands and feet and mouth. And after you finish eating then again you wash your hands, feet and your mouth. Then she fell asleep in the evening at the time of sandhya. Sandhya is twilight. When the day turns into night is one sandhya. When night turns into day is another sandhya. And when forenoon turns into afternoon that is another sandhya. In this way there are three sandhyas or three conjunctions of time: morning-dawn, evening-dusk and noon. These three times are considered to be very auspicious and in these three times one is meant to perform spiritual activities. Like gayatri is meant to be chanted during these three periods, three sandhyas.
USING SIDDHIS FOR HIDDEN AGENDAS
But here Diti fell asleep in the evening and Indra found his opportunity. So here also we can see that when one performs proper spiritual activities his body becomes invulnerable. His body remains protected. But because of this discrepancy in performing her spiritual activity properly Indra found the opportunity. And Indra has the mystic power of a yogi. The yogis have various types of mystic powers, astha-siddhis. There are eight types of mystic powers and one of them is anima--anur aniyar. Anu means small. And this anima siddhi is the ability to become very very small, Prabhupada pointed out-- smaller even than an atom. In this way he entered into her womb and Indra has the thunder, vajra, and with the vajra he cut the womb into seven pieces. Then further he cut the body. When he cut the body into seven pieces the seven personalities appeared. In each segment one soul entered. Then he divided them further into seven. And in this way, they became forty-nine. So, forty-nine individuals were generated.
THE PENETRATING EFFECTS OF DEVOTIONAL SERVICE
But Indra didn’t understand one thing: that these children were not his enemies. They were his friends. And Prabhupada pointed out later on, that because she was performing the Vaisnava activities, the son became a Vaisnava, the son became a devotee. So, this is an important thing to remember: that how the mother’s consciousness affects the child in the womb. Although Diti conceived the child with an ill intention, but because she was performing the rituals of a Vaisnava, the child in the womb became affected by that. And the child became a devotee of Krishna, a devotee of Vishnu.
VEDIC SCRIPTURES ARE NOT MYTHS BUT ACTUAL HISTORIC ACCOUNTS
So, in this way we can see that the Vedic scriptures are so scientific. It’s giving the perfect understanding, the most scientific understanding. It is unfortunate that today even in India these scriptures are considered to be mythology, myth, fairytales, fictitious stories. It is by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy that we recognize that these scriptures are not only truth, but dealing with absolute truth. It is by Prabhupada’s mercy that we became aware of this fact and we are today able to take advantage of these scriptures. And when we systemically study, under the guidance of a pure devotee like Srila Prabhupada, then we get the perfect understanding of these books. And as a result of that we are receiving the absolute spiritual knowledge.
We notice that in fiction we don’t the lineage like that. The family history, the family line is recorded in history, generation after generation. And in the Vedic culture we find the lineage starting all the way from the beginning of the creation, from Lord Brahma downwards. Lord Brahma is the first created being in this universe and then Brahma has various children. The first sons of Brahma are the four Kumaras. Brahma created his children, procreated from his mind. Brahma was alone but Brahma had the power to even create children from his mind. And four sons were created, the four Kumaras. But they were not interested in getting involved in mundane activities. They simply wanted to remain absorbed in their spiritual consciousness. So, then Brahma again created ten sons. And out of them are the nine Prajapatis, the nine great sages and Narada muni.
And then other children were born. Like one was Kasyapa and he gave birth to various other entities. From Kasyapa came various other lines. The demigods came from Kasyapa. The demons came from Kasyapa. The snakes came from Kasyapa. The birds came from Kasyapa. Like he had various wives, as I said from Aditi came the Adityas, the demigods. From Diti came the Daityas, the demons. From another wife called Kadhru, from Kadhru came the snakes. And from his wife Vinata came the birds like Garuda and Aruna. And other creatures also came. And the human beings, the Manavas came from Manu. From his right-hand side came Manu and from his left-hand side came Satarupa. And from Manu and Satarupa came the Manavas or the human beings. So, there are different species and they all came in this way from the original Prajapatis. And we can see in Bhagavatam is giving such a clear lineage. Like how different entities came from different personalities and their natures and their characteristics.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR CHOICE
And the bottom line is that when one surrenders to Krishna, he becomes favoured by the Lord. And when one goes against Krishna he becomes destroyed by the Lord. And in the material nature, so there are two types of living entities, one who are totally absorbed in materialistic activities and the others who are involved in spiritual activities. Those who are involved in spiritual activities—spiritual activities mean those who are surrendered to the Lord—they become favoured by the Lord. It’s natural. Like the demigods, they are favoured by the Lord. Like the employees, those who are employed by the master, then the master takes care of them. But those who are not surrendered to the master he doesn’t care about them. And those who become inimical to the master, then eventually the master has to take action.
THE SAME DEMONIAC MENTALITY; OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLE
So that is what we find that the demons, those who are opposed to Krishna, they always try to lord over this material nature. Or rather we can put it the other way around; that those who try to enjoy and control and lord over the material nature, they cannot surrender to the Lord. They want to control everything, possess everything by dint of their own power. Therefore, they want to acquire power. And today we are seeing how the society is becoming demoniac. Everyone is trying to earn money, to make a lot of money, because the money is power. Not that money is the power all the time.
In Kali yuga this is the power. In other ages the power was the military strength and physical power. They used to cultivate that bodily power. Those demons, by performing austerities and penances, they used to acquire power. And with that power they even wanted to kill the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And today we can see the same thing is happening in a little different way. They do not have the physical power or military power. They have monetary power. And with the money they want to control everything. And we can see that when people have money, they don’t want to accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And as a result of that they will perish eventually.
THE DIVINE POWER WILL FUNCTION IN FORM OF HARMONY
On the other hand, if one surrenders unto Krishna then he simply depends upon Krishna and he is maintained by Krishna in the most wonderful way. And eventually when there is a calamity, there is bound to be a calamity. The divine force and the demoniac force will eventually conflict. We are seeing today how the demoniac power is increasing. But eventually the divine power will come. But in this age the divine power will not function in the way of conflict. The divine power will function in the form of harmony; in the sense that the devotees in this age will not conflict with the demoniac power—that is the purpose of sankirtana. In other ages there is a conflict. The Lord Himself comes and He kills the demons, destroys the demoniac. But in this age the Lord will not come to destroy the demons. In this age through His sankirtana He will harmonize the demoniac.
Sankirtana will include everybody. Even the demons will become transformed. In this age Krishna will not come to kill the demons. Prabhupada pointed out that if Krishna came to kill the demons, then practically everybody had to be wiped out, because to a greater or lesser degree today everyone has demoniac tendencies. Therefore, Krishna came in the form of the Holy Name. And this Holy Name will have its spiritual potency of transforming the demoniac tendencies. As we saw Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came in this age with a very special weapon. sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam, (SB 11.5.32). Astra means weapon. What is the astra in this age? With what kind of weapon Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came? Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came with the Holy Name—that is the astra. And what is the effect of the Holy Name? —Prema. With love you will conquer everybody in this age.
When Nityananda Prabhu was hurt by Madhai, Jagai and Madhai, two brothers attacked him. And Nityananda Prabhu’s response was, “You have struck me with the edge of broken waterpot, but does it mean that I won’t give you, my love?” “Merechhish kolshir kana, Tai bole ki prem debona.” Does it mean that I won’t give you, my love? So that is the mood of a devotee: even if the enemies come and hit us, our approach will be, our response will be, still I will love you, still I will offer my love to you. So, when we harbor that attitude, when we display that attitude, then the Lord’s mercy will flow. And their hearts will be transformed.
SEEKING THE ONLY SHELTER AT KRISHNA’S LOTUS FEET THROUGH HOLY NAMES
It will be a big test actually, a big challenge. If there is crisis—which is inevitable—the way the world is heading, the way the world is going there is bound to be a massive calamity. Like what is happening in Syria and Iraq today it will happen in other parts of the world also. It will happen in Europe. It will happen in America. It will happen in India. Now when that happens what will the devotees do? Run away, but where will you run? At least from Syria and Iraq they are running towards Germany seeking for asylum. But in India where will you go? Pakistan?
The only shelter at that time will be the lotus feet of the Lord. And how are you going to take the shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord? Take the mrdanga and kartals, go onto the streets and chant the Holy Name of the Lord. And we will see what happens. We will experience it at that time practically. We will see how the Lord’s mercy will flow. All kinds of amazing things will start to happen when you face the calamity in this way. Krishna’s mercy will become manifest and people’s faith will be generated. Our faith will be increased and others—those who don’t have faith—will also become faithful. Therefore, we must recognize that the Holy Name, chanting of the Holy Name, is the only way. There is no other way.
[CC Adi 17.21]
nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā,
BEING CONSCIOUS ABOUT OUR PURPOSE OF JOINING ISKCON
So that is why it is so important that we read Srila Prabhupada’s books very carefully. Yesterday we had a very nice session celebrating Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day. And in that celebration, we saw how so many loyal devotees, loyal followers of Srila Prabhupada spoke so eloquently about Srila Prabhupada’s wonderful arrangement: Srila Prabhupada’s arrangements through his books, Srila Prabhupada’s arrangements through his institution of ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada’s arrangement of spreading this movement all over the world. And this is the real solution for this age. Therefore, let us become serious about the path that we have accepted. Since we have accepted this path of Krishna consciousness lets accept it wholeheartedly. Let us not take it as a part time thing. Our involvement in ISKCON should not be like joining a club—occasionally we go there for recreation or socializing.
The purpose of our joining ISKCON is to become serious about our existence.
Why are we here? Why did we get this human form of life? Why did we come across Srila Prabhupada’s teachings? All that has a purpose. So let us fulfill that purpose by becoming serious about our responsibilities.
Thank you all very much. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Does anybody have any questions?
Question: You explained the story of Jagai and Madhai and how Nityananda Prabhu forgave and gave so much love. How can we develop this mood of forgiveness?
HH BCSM: Yes. Follow the teachings of Srila Prabhupada. Recognize your spiritual identity. Recognize how everyone else is a part and parcel of Krishna. And recognize that how those who are not involved in Krishna consciousness, they need Krishna consciousness. That is how we develop real compassion. Like developing your relationship: when your brother is suffering how do you feel? Do you feel like just walking away or do you want to help him? Why? Because he is your brother. You have a relationship with him. So similarly, when you develop your relationship with all other living entities, recognizing that they are also your brothers and sisters, with their father Krishna, then you feel the need to take them back to the father. That’s how you develop your compassion.
Question: You stated that in this Kali yuga sankirtana will only kill the demons. Krishna will not come and kill the demons…
HH BCSM: the demoniac propensities…
Question: Won’t Kalki come in Kali yuga?
HH BCSM: That will be at the end, not now. Kali yuga just began. Right, another 42,7000 years to go.
Question: In the verse 30 of this canto and chapter it says, to increase the population Brahma created woman from the better half of man’s body. This is in reference to Kasyapa muni, it is written. So, what does this line mean?
HH BCSM: It is to be understood that, the other part of a man is a woman. Not that woman is created from man’s body. It came from Brahma’s body. The first woman Satarupa came from the left-hand side of Brahma’s body. But it is saying that the other half, or the better half, because here, a man is not complete by himself. And a woman is not complete by herself. When they get together then they become complete. That is one way of looking at it, like when they get married.
Question: You mentioned that Krishna says that when one surrenders unto Me then I reciprocate accordingly. How do I know if I have surrendered enough?
HH BCSM: Surrender means depending upon Krishna. You will check. You can consider are you depending upon your own ability, upon your own resources, or are you depending on Krishna? So that is how you measure yourself. Like for example, generally what do we try to do? We tend to depend upon our own ability. When there is a medical need or physical difficulty we run to a doctor. When we have some other difficulty, we call the police. So, when one becomes surrendered to Krishna, I’m talking about total surrender like that, then he won’t depend upon all those things. He will simply depend upon Krishna. That is the meaning of surrender. Mārobi rākhobi-jo icchā tohārā.
Whether you want to keep me or whether you want to kill me it’s up to you. So, we are practicing how to surrender. We are praying to Krishna. But then there is another stage. At that stage one doesn’t even want to trouble Krishna. That is a very advanced stage. And now what happens? We try to do things with our own means and when we fail then you pray to Krishna, right? It’s good. At least somehow or other we are depending on Krishna.
From Rahul: How Sri Prabhupada…
HH BCSM: Not Sri Prabhupada---Srila Prabhupada, okay.
Question: How Srila Prabhupada got the idea to form ISKCON society?
HH BCSM: Because Prabhupada saw the need that in order to spread this Krishna consciousness movement an institution was necessary. Like for example, when you start a small business can run the show by yourself? You have a small shop. You can start the shop and you man the shop. But when you want to spread your business to other places what do you do? You establish a company. And through that company the business expands. Now if you want to establish a multi-national company what you will have to do? Can you run it yourself, all by yourself? No. You need to involve many people and as result of that, because of that, you need a society or an institution. And that’s why Srila Prabhupada wanted to establish ISKCON.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Gaura premanande.
How many of you are going to Vrndavana now? Okay, Haribol!