Verse: Uddhava Gita
Date: May 31st, 2013
Place: Gita Nagri, USA
Hare Krsna. Today is the last day of our retreat and the last session of our seminar. I hope you have appreciated this, or learned something from these sessions. As I mentioned earlier, I started these retreats about five years ago when I had a sort of heart attack. Then the doctor told me not to travel. Now for me not to travel is not possible, was not possible, so at that time I thought that at least I can go to different places and not travel that extensively. I would go to one place and let everybody come there. That is also what I wrote to my disciples and friends, that all this while I have been travelling to meet you. Now you travel to meet me.
The first session we had was in Switzerland in a very beautiful location. It was a skiing resort on top of a mountain. We booked one hotel and turned that hotel into an asrama and temple. Their banquet hall was our temple room and the dining hall became our classroom. It was very nice and devotees came from different parts of Europe. I think the next one I had was in Orlando in America and many of you came.
That is how I started it. Practically every year I was doing it at different places. Mainly one in Europe, one in America, one in South Africa, one in Australia and one in India. That is how it has been going on for the last five years, or maybe four years. No, I think it is five years. This is the fifth year running. Last year I did not have this retreat in America, so this year we invited you all and you came. I feel very happy.
The topic was a little new topic. All these years I was giving the seminars mainly on story based topics. The first one I did was Ramayana then the next one was Mahabharata. In this way mainly it was story based and the topics were actually rather simple. My basic objective was that you all get to know what we are pursuing, what is our objective and for that Ramayana and Mahabharata were the basis. Mahabharata is the main topic for us, but I selected Ramayana first because if we did Mahabharata then there would not be any room for Ramayana. Therefore I thought Ramayana first and then go to Mahabharata.
This time I selected a topic which is more philosophical, or rather an instruction based topic. Krsna’s instructions to Uddhava. I was a little doubtful at the beginning how the response will be, but I must admit I was very impressed with the response. I saw that no one actually fell asleep. Also many nice questions came up and these interactive exchanges were also very beneficial, very effective. Sometimes in the course of questions and answers I may have been a little heavy, I hope you all will not mind it. You see my business is to be heavy. There are two expressions laghu and guru. Laghu means light and guru means heavy. It is a Sanskrit word. That is of course one way to look at it. The other meaning of guru is one who removes darkness. Gu-ru, one who removes darkness. Either way, to remove darkness you have to push darkness out. You have to push the ignorance away. So the pushing means heavy and also when you are assuming the role of a teacher you have to be heavy.
I remember in my school for the teacher who was heavy we were very careful about doing our homework properly, but those who were light we were not very attentive. They were popular but study wise ... So I hope I did not offend anybody in the course of my presentation.
I was thinking of doing some more of these chapters from Uddhava-gita, but then I thought that I would rather take this session for more interactions, questions and answers maybe and emphasise the basic objective of this Uddhava-gita. Like any other scriptural instructions, these instructions are based on reminding us about what the goal of life is. The ultimate goal of life is pure devotion to Krsna. Uddhava-gita is very, very emphatically making that point. I expect that you will now read this Uddhava-gita on your own. I hope that all of you have a set of Srimad-Bhagavatam at home. So that also includes the Eleventh Canto.
Eleventh Canto was not translated by Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada did only up to the Fourteenth Chapter up to the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. The rest of Srimad-Bhagavatam was translated and purported by a group of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples. Mainly it was Gopiparanadhana Prabhu one of our Godbrothers. He is very scholarly. Actually it amazes me to see how brilliant these devotees were. Gopiparanadhana Prabhu is from America. He is an American. He did not study Sanskrit in school or college. He did not have any exposure to Sanskrit otherwise, but after coming in contact with Srila Prabhupada on his own he started to study Sanskrit and he became a scholar. On his own; it kind of amazes me how it is possible. We also have to remember that Srila Prabhupada pointed out devotees often carry on from their previous life. As you know that Jada Bharata in his previous life he was King Bharata. Similarly Bhismadeva was a Vasu, one of the demigods. It is also like that for devotees. First of all we know the concept of reincarnation. The spirit soul never dies, tatha dehantara praptir [BG 2.13]. At the time of death, or after death dehantara, a spirit soul takes up another body. In this way the spirit soul transmigrates from one body to another body. So many of our devotees must be continuing from their previous life and in the future also many of our devotees will continue into other bodies that will be involved in Krsna consciousness.
Prabhupada also mentioned, “My Guru Maharaja sent you all.”
When Prabhupada was addressing his disciples in America, I think it was in New York City temple. It was Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s Vyasa-puja celebration and Prabhupada mentioned , “My Guru Maharaja sent you all.”
Not only Prabhupada said that, but Prabhupada broke down crying after that, with so much feeling Prabhupada admitted that. So that means these devotees came to assist Srila Prabhupada. Also many devotees who will continue to assist Srila Prabhupada in his mission are coming from a previous background where they had been devotees. Now they came to assist Srila Prabhupada’s mission and many devotees will continue to assist the ISKCON movement in the future.
So to go back to my previous point, Gopiparanadhana Prabhu was the main person who was doing the translation and purporting. These purports were given from the writings of the previous acaryas. That is what Srila Prabhupada also used to do. Prabhupada used to read the commentaries of previous acaryas and based on their commentaries Prabhupada used to give his commentary. The group of devotees like Gopiparanadhana Prabhu, next of course is Hrdayananda Maharaja, Dravida Prabhu, Jayadvaita Maharaja, who was mainly doing the editing, Kesava Bharati Maharaja, these were the devotees as a team they worked on the purports and translation. So the Eleventh Canto was their presentation. They mainly translated other acaryas’ commentaries. They hardly gave any commentary themselves. That is why you will notice many of the verses do not have any commentary. That is because the previous acaryas did not give any commentary, whereas Prabhupada gave his commentary practically on every single verse. Prabhupada actually wanted to translate Srimad-Bhagavatam in sixty volumes. With thirty volumes he had done up to Ninth Canto. No, I think up to Ninth Canto is twenty eight volumes. Prabhupada wanted to translate the Tenth Canto in thirty volumes. He wanted to give extensive commentary on Krsna’s pastimes in the Tenth Canto and then two or three volumes for the Eleventh and Twelfth Cantos.
Eleventh Canto is very important for us, because Eleventh Canto is giving the essence of Srimad-Bhagavatam. The essence of the entire Srimad-Bhagavatam is in the Eleventh Canto. The Tenth Canto ends with Krsna’s pastimes. Tenth Canto is quite elaborate. It has ninety chapters. Tenth Canto describes Krsna’s Vrndavana-lila, mathura-lila and dvaraka-lila, Krsna’s pastimes in Vrndavana, Mathura and Dvaraka. Those pastimes are very elaborately described in the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Tenth Canto is the summum bonum. Tenth Canto is the ultimate point of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Tenth Canto describes the activities and pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the Tenth Canto it has been made clear, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Generally people think that Narayana is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or Visnu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Krsna was an incarnation of Ksirodakasayi Visnu. Actually Ksirodakasayi Visnu is the origin of all incarnations in the material nature. All the incarnations are expansions of Ksirodakasayi Visnu, or manifestations of Ksirodakasayi Visnu. The purusa-avataras are Maha-Visnu or Karanodakasayi Visnu, Garbhodakasayi Visnu and Ksirodakasayi Visnu. Ksirodakasayi Visnu is the presence of Visnu in this planet and He is the Supersoul of all living entities. He is also the origin of all the incarnations in the material nature.
When Krsna comes to the material nature to serve some purpose, then He expands as incarnations and those incarnations are the expansions of Ksirodakasayi Visnu. Many people think that Krsna is an incarnation of Ksirodakasayi Visnu, but from the Eleventh Canto, or from Srimad-Bhagavatam we get to know that Krsna is not an incarnation, but Krsna is the origin of all incarnations. At the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam this point has been established, ete camsa-kalah pumsah Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28]. Krsna is svayam bhagavan and ete camsa-kalah pumsah, all the incarnations are Krsna’s parts and parts of the parts, but Krsna is bhagavan svayam the original Supreme Personality of Godhead. So that is how Srimad-Bhagavatam is actually revealing the identity of Krsna.
What is the relationship between the living entity and the Supreme Personality of Godhead? That of a master and servant. Krsna is the Supreme Lord and Master, whereas the living entities are His fragmental, or tiny, atomic parts and parcels, very small. Krsna is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living entities are parts and parcels. So what is their relationship? What is the relationship between the master and his subordinate? Servant. So Krsna is the Supreme Lord. He is the master. Then what is our relationship with Him? As that of a servant, jivera ‘svarupa’ haya-krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’ [CC Mad 20.108]. The living entities are Krsna’s eternal servants, nitya-dasa, that position always remains, that position never changes. Krsna is always the Lord and master.
But Vrndavana has a different characteristic. Yes, Krsna is the Lord and master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Lord and master, but Vrndavana is the region where Krsna is not the Lord and master and that is why Vrndavana is so special. In Vrndavana Krsna is a friend. In Vrndavana Krsna is a baby, Krsna is a child. In Vrndavana Krsna is a paramour, a lover, a transcendental Romeo. Actually that is what Krsna is. Krsna assumes these roles in Vrndavana in order to enable His devotees to develop some very special relationships. Those special relationships are relationships as a friend, friendship; relationship as a child, a son. In parental relationship the devotees are treating Krsna as their own child just as the parents treat their children. Also a relationship like that of a loving relationship between and young boy and a young girl. Not a young boy with a young girl, rather a young boy with many other young girls.
Now the consideration is friendship takes place between equals, parental relationship is between a superior and subordinate and conjugal relationship is between young boys and young girls. Now friendship, who can become equal to God to become His friend? Can anybody become equal to God? No. In friendship one has to become equal to God, but in parental relationship God has become junior, inferior. How can anybody be superior to God and how can anybody treat God as a boyfriend? These kinds of relationships otherwise are not possible. In Vaikuntha these relationships are not possible. In Vaikuntha no one is Krsna’s friend, in Vaikuntha no one is Krsna’s father, in Vaikuntha no one is Krsna’s girlfriend, but these three relationships are there. So how to develop these relationships?
Now in order to enable His devotees to develop these relationships Krsna made a very special arrangement, in a very special area in the spiritual sky called Vrndavana. There one cannot become equal to Krsna, but Krsna can become equal to somebody. No one can be superior to Krsna, but Krsna can become subordinate to somebody. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, if He wants He can do that. So Vrndavana is the region where Krsna has done that, but in order to do that Krsna had to make everybody forget that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because if devotees remember or recognise Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, how could they treat Him in that way.
A simple consideration can be this, friends, what do they do? They wrestle. That is one of the games. At least in India children do that, especially in the villages, they wrestle. In this wrestling bout there is a condition that whoever loses has to carry the winner on his back. In some wrestling bouts Krsna loses and then the friend demands that now Krsna will have to carry him on His back. Krsna refuses to do that saying that He was not defeated, He slipped on a banana peel and the friend jumped on Him and claimed that he won, which is not fair. So Krsna refuses to carry him on His back.
Then the friend also will not let Him go and says, “Krsna after so much struggle I defeated You and now You are saying You are not defeated. You are giving the excuse that You slipped on a banana peel so You have to carry me.”
Krsna says, “Nothing doing, I will not carry you.”
So they get into a fight and then the friend forces his way onto Krsna’s back. Now just imagine to force his way onto Krsna’s back what he had to do? He had to step on Krsna’s body and then climb onto Krsna’s back. Now which devotee will ever dare to put his foot on the Deity on the altar, on Krsna’s body on the altar. Will anybody even dare to do that? Especially a devotee, will he ever dare to do that? No. Now in Vrndavana they can do that because they have forgotten that Krsna is God. If they remembered that Krsna was God then they could not do that. So that is the speciality of Vrndavana.
The parents tell Krsna, Nanda Maharaja says, “Krsna can You please bring my shoes?”
Little Krsna what He does, He cannot carry them, they are quite big, quite heavy. So He picks them up and puts them on His head and carries them. Now who will ever allow the Supreme Personality