CONTENTS:
- ALWAYS THINK OF KRISHNA WITH LOVE
- SRILA PRABHUPADA'S APPRECIATION
- GURU MAHARAJA’S INSTRUCTIONS
1. ALWAYS THINK OF KRISHNA WITH LOVE
SB 10.3.45
yuvam mam putra-bhavena
brahma-bhavena casakrt
cintayantau krta-snehau
yasyethe mad-gatim param
TRANSLATION:
Both of you, husband and wife, constantly think of Me as your son, but always know that I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By thus thinking of Me constantly with love and affection, you will achieve the highest perfection: returning home, back to Godhead.
This is the last thing Krishna told his father and mother before leaving for Vrindavan. Krishna was born in the prison of Kamsa. Kamsa heard that Vasudeva and Devaki’s eight son will be the cause of his death.
At that time Kamsa wanted to kill Devaki to prevent himself from this threat and at that time Vasudeva, Devaki’s husband, Krishna’s father pleaded with Kamsa and suggested that, “There is no need to kill Devaki but as soon as the sons are born of Devaki he would bring them to Kamsa and Kamsa could decide what he wanted to do. In this way Devaki was rescued but as and when their children were born, Vasudeva carried them to Kamsa and Kasmsa mercilessly killed them. In this way Kamsa killed six of Devaki’s sons. The seventh son was Sankarshan, Balarama and Balarama after seven months was transferred from Devaki’s womb to Rohini’s womb and it was understood that the seventh pregnancy of Devaki was a miscarriage then Vasudeva appeared in the womb of Devaki and in due course of time Krishna was born in the prison of Kamsa. Kamsa imprisoned Devaki and Vasudeva because he didn’t want to take any chance.
Although Kamsa knew that Vasudeva was very honest and truthful, Vasudeva is situated in sutrasattva, transcendental mood and that transcendental platform is the platform of absolute truth there is no falsity in that platform. Vasudeva never tells a lie, a person who is situated in sutrasattva or brahma-bhuta platform he never tells anything but the absolute truth so Kamsa knew that Vasudeva, Krishna’s father would never tell a lie or would never do anything deceptive, will never cheat anyone but still because Kamsa was a demon and the demons are by nature suspicious and never trusts anyone. Kamsa could not even trust the most honest person Vasudeva so he put Vasudeva and Devaki in the prison and Krishna was born in the prison. So here is the pastime of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Supreme controller and Supreme Proprietor of everything, although without His sanction even a blade of grass doesn’t move, that Supreme Personality of Godhead simply out of His sweet will and in order to perform His pastimes took birth in the presence of Kamsa. This is how unpredictable Krishna’s activities are.
Krishna acts in the most unpredictable way and He acts in that way simply to give pleasure to His devotees simply to increase the love of His devotee. Everything that Krishna does is to increase the love of His devotee. Now by appearing in the prison of Kamsa as the son of Vasudeva and Devaki, Krishna actually increased the love of His devotees. First of all, the love of Vasudeva and Devaki. In the prison is a very distressful condition and when one is in a distressful condition and when one is going through a lot of difficulties one’s heart naturally becomes heavy and when our hearts become heavy our dependence and our submission to Krishna and our love for Krishna becomes more intensified therefore Krishna puts His devotees into difficulties. When the devotees are in difficulties then they can depend upon Krishna and meditate upon Krishna in a better way and that is why often it is seen that the devotees undergo various kinds of difficulties whereas the non-devotees the demons apparently enjoy.
Devotees also maybe in difficulties and distresses but Krishna always gives them protection. Krishna comes to this planet simply to give pleasure to His devotees and Krishna allows them and helps them become situated on the perfect spiritual platform. Krishna Himself comes and allows His devotees to participate in His pastimes and participating in His pastimes the devotee becomes completely purified of their material contaminations or material attachments. Here Krishna appeared to give pleasure to His devotees Vasudeva and Devaki and here Krishna is giving them the final instruction before leaving for Vrindavan or Gokula.
The instruction was always thought of Me as your son and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thinking of Krishna is the means of becoming free from material bondage. Krishna gives the assurance if you do that then you will gain the ultimate perfection and you will go back to the spiritual sky. Prabhupada is pointing out here that Krishna gave this instruction to Vasudeva and Devaki not because they needed that instruction but it is Krishna’s pastime and He plays in a certain way to teach the conditioned soul and Krishna in this way is showing them how everyone can become free from material bondage and go back to the spiritual sky. The only way to go back to the spiritual sky is to think about Krishna with love and devotion. Time and time again Krishna instructed that in Bhagavad Gita man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me, offer obeisances unto Me.
In Bhagavad Gita this is the only instruction that Krishna repeated twice. Never in Bhagavad Gita one instruction has been repeated twice except this one so that shows how important this instruction of Krishna is and here also Krishna is giving the same instruction, Think of Me with love and affection and remember Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, always know that I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead and think of Me as your son. Actually, one can think of Krishna in any way he wants and Krishna will reciprocate. Our thinking cannot be impersonal, impersonal thinking cannot be long lasting, we cannot think on one thing that we do have any feeling for, for a long time but the things that are dear to us, that we have attachment and feelings we can think of them for a long time. When we think of Krishna we must think of Krishna with feeling and certain emotion. There are four positive and active emotions namely servitorship, friendship, parental and conjugal and one can develop these with Krishna.
2. SRILA PRABHUPADA'S APPRECIATION
Dear Srila Prabhupada,
Please accept my most humble obeisances at the dust of your divine lotus feet. Today is the day we are compelled to meditate upon Your Divine Grace and assess the inconceivable gifts we received from you.
Forty-three years ago, I found the shelter at your lotus feet that totally transformed my existence. Prior to that, my life was a saga of continuous suffering. Although I tried to enjoy in so many ways, all my attempts ended in endless suffering.
Today I feel so embarrassed to even think of them. But then I found you, and your mercy inundated my heart with abundant joy. I am eternally indebted to you for all you have given me, Srila Prabhupada. By your causeless mercy I came to know that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not only a person but that He is Krishna, whom I considered to be the greatest hero from my childhood. You taught me that His deity form in the temple is nondifferent from Him. Although He is not moving, He is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient Supreme Lord, who is also present in my heart as the Super soul. He sees me from both within and without and is waiting for me to develop my loving relationship with Him.
Although I was born in Bengal and heard about Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu from my childhood, no one ever told me that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Rather, I witnessed all kinds of abominable activities being conducted in the name of His teachings. Therefore, I never thought of following Him. You are the one who made me aware that He is Krishna Himself, and that He came as a devotee to elevate us to the topmost region of the spiritual sky, Goloka Vrindavan, where we can join Him in His eternal pastimes. Had you not come to pick me up from the gutter in which I was rotting, how would I ever have received such inconceivable good fortune?
Dear Srila Prabhupada, it is through you that the world came to know the Supreme Personality of Godhead not as an object of fear but as our dear most friend, who is waiting for us to go back with Him in the spiritual world, where He sports with His eternal consort, Srimati Radharani. When we re-establish our lost relationship with Him by surrendering unto His lotus feet, He allows us to enter that world of endless joy.
Dear Srila Prabhupada, you made us realize that Srimati Radharani is the transformation of Krishna’s love. She is His pleasure potency. Although They are one, they separated Themselves to enjoy Their transcendental loving affairs. Unfortunate souls who do not want to accept the existence of the spiritual reality beyond their sight mistake this most exalted spiritual relationship to be mundane and find fault with the Transcendental Couple. By so doing, they miss the golden opportunity you created for them to enter the world of endless ecstasy.
Dear Srila Prabhupada, one afternoon, in Bombay I was seated at your lotus feet, looking out at the as yet uncompleted Sri Sri Radha Rasavihari temple from the balcony of your quarters. I told you, Srila Prabhupada, “Although you taught me that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I still feel that I do not know Him. However, I know you, and you are my everything. All I want is to be with you, life after life.” Without saying anything, you smiled in a way that conveyed everything to me. I offered obeisances to you with a voice ringing with gratitude, “Srila Prabhupada, although I am totally unqualified, please let me stay at your lotus feet forever, engaging my entire existence in your service.”
Desiring to remain at your lotus feet forever as your humble servant,
Bhakti Charu Swami.
(Guru Maharaja’s 2019 Vyasa Puja offering to Srila Prabhupada)
3. GURU MAHARAJA’S INSTRUCTIONS
- When one is in a distressful condition and when one is going through a lot of difficulties one’s heart naturally becomes heavy and when our hearts become heavy our dependence and our submission to Krishna and our love for Krishna becomes more intensified therefore Krishna puts His devotees into difficulties; and
- When we think of Krishna we must think of Krishna with feeling and certain emotion.
(The content of this E-magazine is based on an excerpt from a lecture given by His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami in Durban, South Africa on 2 August 1992 Janmashtami)
(Compiled and Edited by Hemavati Radhika Devi Dasi)