NBS#189

Çré Çayana Ekädaçé

Issue no:189

10th July 2022

The Cause Of All Causes A Prison For Conditioned Souls

The Atrocities of King Kamsa

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura

Srila Sukadeva Goswami

The Cause Of All Causes

His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

The Characteristics Of Krishna’s Pastimes Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Prakata Lila and Aprakata Lila

Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura Circulaton 32,991

Issue no 189, Page — 2 The Atrocities of King Kamsa Srila Sukadeva Goswami

My dear King Pariksit, despite the going out and returning of Vasudeva the doors inside and outside the house returned to being locked as before.

Thereafter, the inhabitants of the house, especially the watchmen, heard the crying of the new born child and thus awakened from their slumber.

Hearing this, all the watchmen very quickly approached King Kamsa, the ruler of the Bhoja dynasty, and submitted the news of the birth of Devaki's child. Kamsa, who had awaited this news very anxiously, immediately took action. The evil King Kamsa immediately got up from bed, thinking, “Here is Käla, the supreme time factor, which has taken birth to kill me!” Thus overwhelmed, Kamsa, his hair scattered, hurried to the place where the child had been born. Helpless Devaki piteously appealed to Kamsa: My dear brother, all good fortune unto you. Don’t kill this girl. She will be your daughter-in-law. Indeed, it is unbecoming of you to kill a woman.

My dear brother, by the influence of destiny you have already killed many babies, each of them as bright and beautiful as fire. But kindly spare this daughter. Give her to me as your gift. My lord, my brother, I am destitute, being bereft of all my children, but still, I am your younger sister, and therefore it would be worthy of you to give me this last child as a gift. Piteously embracing her daughter and crying, Devaki begged Kamsa to allow her to keep the child, but he was so cruel that he chastised her and forcibly snatched the child from her arms. Having rejected all family relationship with his sister due only to his intense selfishness, Kamsa, who was sitting on his knees, grasped the new-born child by the legs and tried to dash her against the stone prison wall.

The child, Yogamaya-devi, the younger sister of Lord Visnu, slipped upward from Kamsa’s hands and appeared in the sky as Devi, the goddess Durga, with eight arms, completely equipped with weapons. Goddess Durga was decorated with flower garlands, annointed with sandalwood pulp and dressed with excellent garments and ornaments made of valuable jewels. Holding in her hands a bow, a trident, arrows, a shield, a sword, a conch shell, a disc and a club, and being

nityaà bhägavata-sevayä praised by celestial beings like Apsaräs, Kinnaras, Uragas, Siddhas, Cäraëas and Gandharvas, who worshiped her with various presentations, she spoke as follows. O Kamsa, you fool, what will be the use of killing me? The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has been your enemy from the very beginning and who will certainly kill you, has already taken His birth somewhere else. Therefore, do not unnecessarily kill more children. After speaking to Kamsa in this way, the goddess Durga, Yoga-maya, appeared in different places, such as Varanasi, and became celebrated by different names, such as Annapurna, Durga, Kaali and Bhadra.

After hearing the words of the goddess Durga, Kamsa was struck with wonder. Thus, he approached his sister Devaki and brother-in-law Vasudeva, released them immediately from their shackles, and very humbly spoke as follows. Alas, my sister! Alas, my brother-in-law! I am indeed so sinful that exactly like a man-eater [Räkñasa] who devours his own child, I have killed so many sons born of you. Being merciless and cruel, I have forsaken all my relatives and friends. Therefore, like a person who has killed a brähmaëa, I do not know to which planet I shall go, either after death or while breathing. Alas, not only human beings but sometimes even providence lies. And I am so sinful that I believed the omen of providence and killed so many of my sister’s children.

O great souls, your children have suffered their own misfortune created by their previous actions. Therefore, please do not lament for them.

All living entities are under the control of the Supreme, and they cannot always live together.

In this world, we can see that clay pots, jars and other products of the earth are manifest, remain, deteriorate and then disappear, merging again with the earth. Similarly, the bodies of all conditioned living entities are annihilated, but the living entities, like the earth itself, are unchanging and never annihilated [na hanyate han-yamäne çarére].

One who does not understand the constitutional position of the body and the soul [ätmä] becomes attached to the bodily concept of life.

Consequently, because of attachment to the body and its by-products, he feels affected by union with and separation from his family, society and nation. As long as this continues, one continues

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nityaà bhägavata-sevayä his material life. My dear sister Devaki, all good fortune unto you. Overseen and controlled by providence, everyone in this world suffers and enjoys the results of his work. Therefore, although your sons have unfortunately been killed by me, please do not lament for them. In the bodily conception of life, one remains in darkness, without self-realization, thinking, “I am being killed” or “I have killed my enemies.” As long as a foolish person thus considers the self to be the killer or the killed, he continues to be responsible for material obligations, and consequently he suffers the reactions of happiness and distress. The desperate Kamsa continued to beg, “My dear sister and brother-in-law, please be merciful to such a poor-hearted person as me, since both of you are saintly persons. Please excuse my atrocities.” Having said this, Kamsa fell at the feet of Vasudeva and Devaki, his eyes full of regretful tears. Fully believing in the words of the goddess Durga, Kamsa showed familial affection for Devaki and Vasudeva by immediately releasing them from their iron shackles. When Devaki saw her brother actually repentant while explaining ordained events, she released all her anger. Similarly, Vasudeva was also free from anger. Smiling, he spoke to Kamsa as follows. O great personality Kamsa, only by the influence of ignorance does one accept the material body and bodily ego. The philosophical truths that you have stated are correct. Persons in the bodily concept of life, lacking self-realization, differentiate in terms of “This is mine” and “This belongs to another.” Persons with the vision of differentiation are imbued with the material qualities of lamentation, jubilation, fear, envy, greed, illusion and madness. They are influenced by the immediate cause, which they are busy counteracting, because they have no knowledge of the remote, supreme cause, the Personality of Godhead.

Having been thus addressed by the pure-hearted Devaki and Vasudeva, who were now fully appeased, Kamsa felt pleased, and with their permission he entered his home. After that night passed, Kamsa summoned his ministers and informed them of all that had been spoken by Yoga-maya [who had revealed that He who was to slay Kamsa had already been born some-where else]. After hearing their master’s statement, the envious asuras, who were enemies of the demigods and were not experienced in gentle dealings, www.ibmedu.org

Issue no 189, Page—3 advised Kamsa as follows. If this is so, O King of the Bhoja dynasty, beginning today we shall kill all the children born in all the villages, towns and pasturing grounds within the past ten days or slightly more. The demigods always fear the sound of your bowstring. They are constantly in anxiety, afraid of fighting with you. Therefore, what can they achieve by their endeavours to harm you?

While being pierced by your arrows, which you discharged on all sides, some of them, who were injured by the multitude of arrows but who desired to live, fled the battlefield, simply to escape your fury. Defeated and bereft of all weapons, some of the demigods gave up fighting and praised you with folded hands, and some of them, appearing before you with loosened garments and hair, said, “O lord, we are very afraid of you.” When the demigods are bereft of their chariots, when they forget how to use weapons, when they are fearful or attached to something other than fighting, or when their bows are broken and they have thus lost the ability to fight, Your Majesty does not kill them. The demigods boast uselessly while away from the battlefield. Only where there is no fighting can they show their imagined prowess. Therefore, we have nothing to fear from such impotent demigods. As for Lord Visnu, He is in seclusion in the core of the hearts of the yogés. As for Lord Siva, he has gone to the forest. And as for Lord Brahma, he is always engaged in austerities and meditation.

The other demigods, headed by Indra, are devoid of prowess. Therefore, you have nothing to fear from anyone. Nonetheless, because of their enmity, our opinion is that the demigods should not be neglected. Therefore, to uproot them completely, engage us in fighting them, for we are ready to follow you. As a disease, if initially neglected, becomes acute and impossible to cure, or as the senses, if not controlled at first, are impossible to control later, an enemy, if neglected in the beginning, later becomes insurmountable. The foundation of all the demigods is Lord Visnu, who lives and is worshiped wherever there are religious principles, traditional culture, the Vedas, cows, brähmaëas, austerities, and sacrifices with proper remuneration. O King, we, who are your adherents in all respects, shall therefore kill the Vedic brähmaëas, the persons engaged in offering sacrifices and austerities, and the cows that supply milk, from which clarified butter – an essential ingredient of Bhāgavata Mahāvidyālaya

Issue no 189, Page — 4

nityaà bhägavata-sevayä

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sacrifice is obtained. The brähmaëas, the cows, Vedic knowledge, austerity, truthfulness, control of the mind and senses, faith, mercy, tolerance and sacrifice are the different parts of the body of Lord Visnu, and they are the paraphernalia for a godly civilization. Lord Visnu, the Supersoul within the core of everyone’s heart, is the ultimate enemy of the asuras and is therefore known as asura-dviö.

He is the leader of all the demigods because all the demigods, including Lord Siva and Lord Brahma, exist under His protection. The great saintly persons, sages and Vaiñëavas also depend upon Him. To persecute the Vaiñëavas, therefore, is the only way to kill Visnu.

Thus, having considered the instructions of his bad ministers, Kamsa, who was bound by the laws of Yamaraja and devoid of good intelligence because he was a demon, decided to persecute the saintly persons, and the brähmaëas, as the only way to achieve his own good fortune. These demons, the followers of Kamsa, were expert at persecuting others, especially the Vaiñëavas, and could assume any form they desired. After giving

these demons permission to go everywhere and persecute the saintly persons, Kamsa entered his palace. Surcharged with passion and ignorance and not knowing what was good or bad for them, the asuras, for whom impending death was waiting, began the persecution of the saintly persons.

My dear King, when a man persecutes great souls, all his benedictions of longevity, beauty, fame, religion, blessings and promotion to higher planets will be destroyed.

- Çrémad-Bhägavatam (Bhägavata Puräëa) » Canto 10: The Summum Bonum » Chapter Four » Verses 1-46 » Translations by His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

The Cause Of All Causes

His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Krishna is the eternal cause of all causes (sarva-käraëa-käraëam [Bs. 5.1]). One who has no connection with Krishna is inevitably distracted by immediate causes and cannot restrain his vi-

Bhāgavata Mahāvidyālaya

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nityaà bhägavata-sevayä sion of separation or differences. When an expert physician treats a patient, he tries to find the original cause of the disease and not let his attention be diverted by the symptoms of that original cause.

Similarly, a devotee is never disturbed by reverses in life. Tat te 'nukampäà susamékñamäëaù (SB 10.14.8). A devotee understands that when he is in distress, this is due to his own past misdeeds, which are now yeilding reactions - although by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead these are only fractional to what they should have been. Karmäëi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhäjäm (Bs. 5.54). When a devotee under the protection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is to suffer because of faults in his past deeds, by the grace of the Lord he experiences but a little misery. Although the disease of a devotee is due to mistakes committed sometime in the past, he agrees to suffer and tolerate such miseries, and he depends fully on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus he never experiences the material states of lamentation, jubilation, fear and so on. A devotee never sees anything to be unconnected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Srila Madhvacarya, confirms by quoting from the Bhaviñya Puräëa: bhagavad-darçanäd yasya virodhäd darçanaà påthak påthag-dåñöiù sa vijïeyo na tu sad-bheda-darçanaù

Issue no 189, Page—5 our lesser miseries happiness and our bigger miseries great suffering. Fools who run after material happiness find themselves simply entangled in Mäyä’s network.

Attached householders think, “Creating a home and family will make us happy. We will find ourselves some servants and will understand everything we want to know through the manipulation of our senses.” The desire to become a politician, literateur, scholar, aristocrat, philanthropist, national leader, or pious worker is simply an attempt to master the illusory energy. The spiritual authority Prahlada Maharaja however, has warned us not to foolishly engage our senses in external activity or to aspire for selfish interest.

We think we have become masters in this world because we have become attached to family life and accepted the body as the self. We think the material world and everything in it is for our enjoyment.

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, sun, moon, planets, stars, animals, birds, trees, and creepers— we imagine that all have been placed here for us to enjoy. Along with that idea, we think everyone and everything here has been designed to serve us. We never think about the actual purpose of this material world. The truth however is very different. The entire material world is intended to be an ingredient for the Supreme Lord’s worship.

If we are not worshiping Hari, we have no right to take even a blade of grass from this world.

- Çrémad-Bhägavatam (Bhägavata Puräëa) » Canto 10: The Summum Bonum

- Amåta Väëé: Nectar of Instructions of Immoratality His Di-

» Chapter Four » Verse: 28 » Purport by His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta

vine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada Com-

Swami Prabhupada.

piled by Sripada Bhakti Mayukha Bhagavat Maharaja Adapted and Published by Isvara dasa Translated from Bengali by Bhumipati das

A Prison For Conditioned Souls

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura

Those devotees who understand that there is nothing material that can give us eternal happiness are called akiïcana because they want nothing from this world. There is no real happiness in this world. The material world is simply a prison for conditioned souls. We are imprisoned here because we are averse to Krishna. This is the cause of our unlimited miseries and distresses. According to the dictation of the mind, which is compared to the superintendent of a prison house, we think www.ibmedu.org

The Characteristics Of Krishna’s Pastimes Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

What are the characteristics of Krishna’s pastimes?

In His pastimes, Krishna alone is the supreme enjoyer and the living entities are enjoyed by Him in the eternal abode of Vrndavana. These pastimes are blissful and unlimited. They are eternal and uninterrupted.

- (Kalyäëa-kalpataru)

Bhāgavata Mahāvidyālaya

Issue no 189, Page — 6 What are the considerations of Krishna’s pastimes?

Although the quality of being self-satisfied is eternally present in Krishna, the quality of enjoying pastimes is also eternally present in Him. For the Supreme Lord to possess contradictory characteristics in perfect harmony is natural. In one aspect, Krishna has the quality of self-satisfaction, and in another aspect, He manifests His opposite quality of enjoying pastimes with others. This is part of His supernatural capacity for enjoyment.

- (Caitanya-çikñämåta Part 2. 7/7)

Who are the highest personalities in the categories of äçraya, worshiper, and viñaya, the object of worship?

The limit of äçraya-tattva is Sri Radhika, the personification of attachment to Sri Krishna,, and the limit of viñaya-tattva is Çré Krishna Himself, the personification of conjugal pastimes.

- (Caitanya-çikñämåta Part 2. 7/7)

What is the truth of Krishna’s manifest and unmanifest pastimes?

The pastimes of Krishna are of two types: manifest and unmanifest. The Gokula Vrndavana pastimes which are visible to the eyes of ordinary people are called manifest pastimes, and the pastimes that are not able to be seen through material eyes are called Krishna’s unmanifest pastimes. These unmanifest pastimes are always manifest in Goloka Vrndavana, and by the will of Krishna, they become visible to the thoroughly spiritualised eyes.

- (Brahma-saàhitä 5/3)

What are internal meanings of these terms: Mathura, Vasudeva, Devaki, and Kamsa?

In the pious land of Bhärata-varña is Mathura, which is the manifestation of absolute knowledge.

There King Vasudeva, who is the personification of pure goodness, took birth. Vasudeva appeared in a family of devotees and married Devaki, the supposed sister of Kamsa, who is the personification of atheism. Fearing the Lord’s advent from this couple, the wretched Kamsa of the Bhoja dynasty arrested them and put them in the jail which facilitated their constant remembrance of Krishna.

nityaà bhägavata-sevayä What is the internal meaning of the six sons of Devaki and the seventh son, Baladeva?

The couple Vasudeva and Devaki gradually begot six sons, such as Yasa and Kirti, but Kamsa, who was always antagonistic to the Lord, killed them in their childhood. Sri Baladeva’s nature is to always perform service to the Lord and He is the transcendental reservoir of all living entities. He was their seventh son and appeared in the womb of Devaki, who represents a heart filled with knowledge, but out of fear of His maternal uncle Kamsa, He was taken to His home in Vraja.

- (Çré Kåñëa-saàhitä Chapter 4)

Have the pastimes of Krishna been created to imitate from human behavior?

The pure activities of Krishna have been perceived through the spiritual trance (samädhi) of perfectly self-realised persons like Vyasadeva.

Krishna’s activities are not part of mundane history like those of people who live under the clutches of the illusory energy (mäyä), because His activities are not limited to any time or place. Thus His activities are not at all comparable with those of ordinary people.

- (Çré Kåñëa-saàhitä Chapter 3)

Why are all the pastimes of Krishna called ‘eternal’?

Krishna performs different pastimes in the hearts of different devotees depending on their qualification at a particular time. Krishna takes birth in one devotee’s heart, He steals the gopés’ clothes in another’s, and He performs the räsa dance in another’s. He kills Putana in one other devotee’s heart, He kills Kamsa in another’s, He has an amourous exchange with Kubja in yet another’s, and He enacts His disappearance in the heart of a devotee who is leaving his body. The planets, like the living entities, are innumerable. As one pastime takes place on one planet, another pastime takes place on another planet. In this way, each pastime continually takes place. Therefore, all of the Lord’s pastimes are eternal; there is no discontinuation, because the Lord’s energies are always active.

- (Çré Kåñëa-saàhitä Chapter 7)

- (Çré Kåñëa-saàhitä Chapter 4)

- Bhaktivinoda Väné Vaibhäva Published by Isvara dasa

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nityaà bhägavata-sevayä Prakata Lila and Aprakata Lila

Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura

Lord Krishna's three dhamas—Dvaraka, Mathura, and Vrndavana differ from each other according to how much the Lord manifests His earthly, human pastimes (nara-lélä ) —and to what degree of intensity rustic sweetness (mädhurya) is manifest.

Lord Krishna's nara-lélä is of two varieties: manifest (prakata) and unmanifest (aprakata). Performing endless pastimes with His intimate associates, Lord Krishna reveals all the varied moods of different human ages—balya-lélä (childhood), pauganda (boyhood), kaisora (puberty), and vilasa (mature amorous love). When these eternal pastimes cease being visible in the material world they are known as aprakata-lélä, but when these same pastimes of the Lord and His associates are manifest in the mundane plane they are described as prakata-lélä.

Lord Krishna travels between His different holy abodes (dhamas) such as Mathura, Vrndavana, and Dvaraka only in His manifest pastimes (prakata-lélä). When the Lord makes journeys we can therefore understand His activities are prakta-lélä.

Krishna's arrivals and departures from the dhamas do not occur in His aprakata-lélä. The entire prakata-lélä such as His janma-lélä (birth) and mausalalélä (the internecine conflict that destroyed Yadu dynasty) are seen in the innumerable universes in an arranged sequence. In each of these universes exist a Vrndavana, Mathura, and Dvaraka visible to the residents of those planets. The Lord's pastimes may be compared to the sun: The sun is seen during the day in a specific place and time every year, while it yet remains invisible in other areas. Similarly, the Supreme Lord, Krishna, while remaining in His own abode, Vrndavana, reveals His original form in His complete pastimes in one particular universe, but He wishes out of His sweet will to shroud it in other universes.

In manifest pastimes (prakata-lélä), the Lord's boyhood pastimes, for example, are continuous and transcendental, enacted in His original form.

But the disappearance pastimes (mausala-lélä) and the pastime of kidnapping the captured queens are like illusions conjured by magic. We must understand that the reason for exhibiting these two make believe pastimes (krttim-lélä,), is to hide the truth that His pastimes are eternal. In Krishna's prakata-lélä some of His associates, by His own www.ibmedu.org

Issue no 189, Page—7 will, do see gem studded Vrndavana dhama in all its sublime splendour, but others, also by His own will, are not given that vision.

It is worth noting that some very advanced devotees are able to directly view the Lord's pastimes even after He has concluded His prakata-lélä. This is because of their profound devotional involvement, their intense spiritual eagerness, and the divine wishes of the Lord.

In this way, it is established that of all the forms and manifestations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that of Lord Sri Krishna, son of Nanda Maharaja, is paramount, and that amongst His many dhamas Gokula, Vrndavana, is the topmost. Lord Krishna's superlative excellences of prema-mädhurya (divine conjugal love), lélä-mädhurya (transcendental pastimes), venu-mädhurya (expertise in playing the flute), and çré vigraha-mädhurya (matchless beauty) solely existing in Vrndavana dhama.

- Çré Bhägavatamrta-Kana - Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura Translated

by Sarvabhavana dasa

!!!! Sri Sri Nitai Gaurchandra Jayati !!

ISKCON Bhägavata Mahävidyalaya is a branch of International Society for Krishna Consciousness Founder-Acarya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Editor Brajsundar Das Copy Editor Isha Prakash Das Sanskrit Editor, Vrajsevika Devi Dasi Assistance Vamsidhari Gauri Devi Dasi Quotations from the books, letters, and lectures of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ©Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. ©All the paintings are copyrights of their respective artists.

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