HH Danavir Goswami

[Guest guest]

Live from Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir!

 

March 3, 2005

Verse: Srimad Bhagavatam 1.13.8

Speaker: HH Prabhavisnu Swami

__

 

 

yudhisthira uvaca

api smaratha no yusmat- paksa-cchaya-samedhitan

vipad-ganad visagnyader mocita yat samatrkah

 

Maharaja Yudhisthira said: My uncle, do you remember how you always

protected us, along with our mother, from all sorts of calamities? Your

partiality, like the wings of a bird, saved us from poisoning and arson.

 

PURPORT: Due to Pandu's death at an early age, his minor children and widow

were the object of special care by all the elderly members of the family,

especially Bhismadeva and Mahatma Vidura. Vidura was more or less partial to

the Pandavas due to their political position. Although Dhrtarastra was

equally careful for the minor children of Maharaja Pandu, he was one of the

intriguing parties who wanted to wash away the descendants of Pandu and

replace them by raising his own sons to become the rulers of the kingdom.

Mahatma Vidura could follow this intrigue of Dhrtarastra and company, and

therefore, even though he was a faithful servitor of his eldest brother,

Dhrtarastra, he did not like his political ambition for the sake of his own

sons. He was therefore very careful about the protection of the Pandavas and

their widow mother. Thus he was, so to speak, partial to the Pandavas,

preferring them to the sons of Dhrtarastra, although both of them were

equally affectionate in his ordinary eyes. He was equally affectionate to

both the camps of nephews in the sense that he always chastised Duryodhana

for his intriguing policy against his cousins. He always criticized his

elder brother for his policy of encouragement to his sons, and at the same

time he was always alert in giving special protection to the Pandavas. All

these different activities of Vidura within the palace politics made him

well-known as partial to the Pandavas. Maharaja Yudhisthira has referred to

the past history of Vidura before his going away from home for a prolonged

pilgrim's journey. Maharaja Yudhisthira reminded him that he was equally

kind and partial to his grown-up nephews, even after the Battle of

Kuruksetra, a great family disaster.

 

Before the Battle of Kuruksetra, Dhrtarastra's policy was peaceful

annihilation of his nephews, and therefore he ordered Purocana to build a

house at Varanavata, and when the building was finished Dhrtarastra desired

that his brother's family live there for some time. When the Pandavas were

going there in the presence of all the members of the royal family, Vidura

tactfully gave instructions to the Pandavas about the future plan of

Dhrtarastra. This is specifically described in the Mahabharata (Adi-parva

114). He indirectly hinted, "A weapon not made of steel or any other

material element can be more than sharp to kill an enemy, and he who knows

this is never killed." That is to say, he hinted that the party of the

Pandavas was being sent to Varanavata to be killed, and thus he warned

Yudhisthira to be very careful in their new residential palace. He also gave

indications of fire and said that fire cannot extinguish the soul but can

annihilate the material body. But one who protects the soul can live. Kunti

could not follow such indirect conversations between Maharaja Yudhisthira

and Vidura, and thus when she inquired from her son about the purport of the

conversation, Yudhisthira replied that from the talks of Vidura it was

understood that there was a hint of fire in the house where they were

proceeding. Later on, Vidura came in disguise to the Pandavas and informed

them that the housekeeper was going to set fire to the house on the

fourteenth night of the waning moon. It was an intrigue of Dhrtarastra that

the Pandavas might die all together with their mother. And by his warning

the Pandavas escaped through a tunnel underneath the earth so that their

escape was also unknown to Dhrtarastra, so much so that after setting the

fire, the Kauravas were so certain of the death of the Pandavas that

Dhrtarastra performed the last rites of death with great cheerfulness. And

during the mourning period all the members of the palace became overwhelmed

with lamentation, but Vidura did not become so, because of his knowledge

that the Pandavas were alive somewhere. There are many such instances of

calamities, and in each of them Vidura gave protection to the Pandavas on

one hand, and on the other he tried to restrain his brother Dhrtarastra from

such intriguing policies. Therefore, he was always partial to the Pandavas,

just as a bird protects its eggs by its wing.

 

__________________________

 

(repeats verse)

 

This word paksa means "wings" or "bird". It's also said:

 

jayas tu pandu-putranam yesam pakse janardanah

 

The sons of Pandu are always victorious because they take the side of

Janardana, because they have joined the side of Krsna, so they are protected

by the Lord. Anyone who takes shelter of the Lord becomes protected and

victorious. This is also stated in the last portion of the Bhagavad Gita,

"Wherever there is Krsna and Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will also

certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality and

success.

 

So the Pandavas were protected by the Lord and by His dear devotee Vidura.

Vidura acted very much like a spiritual master; he was always giving good

advice and he. . . it's especially mentioned here Yudhisthira is remembering

how he saved them from the arson especially. Because there was a plan,

Dhrtarastra and Duryodhana had a plan to "peacefully annihilate" them by

fire. They built the house of lacquer so that it would be very combustible

and it would burn up very quickly. And Yudhisthira Maharaja, being so

obedient to his elders, he went there without any hestitation, even though

there may have been some indication of danger. He always considered to

follow the instruction of elders, that's very important, so he went there

and the people of Varanavata received the Pandavas very well, but there was

this Purocana who was a minister of Dhrtarastra and Duryodhana, and it was

the plan that after some time the house would be set on fire with the

Pandavas and their mother inside. But they didn't want to do it right away

because then it would be too obvious what was happening. So they were very

diplomatic and waited for about a year.

 

But as we hear, Vidura already gave Yudhisthira the hint and Yudhisthira was

alert and they were in anxiety, transcencental anxiety because they had

service to perform for the Lord. But also Vidura--either he came in disguise

or he sent one excavator, either way--and the excavator dug a tunnel from

inside the house. . . it was a very small opening and it was hidden, nobody

could see it, and then when it was the right time they could go inside the

tunnel and escape outside.

 

It so happened that after about one year, Kunti had a reception for

brahmanas; she was offering a nice feast and festivities, giving gifts. And

it so happened that one Nishada lady was there with her five sons, and

evidently there was some--at least some of the persons there were drinking

intoxicating beverages, because all of them, the Nishada lady and her five

sons--became so intoxicated that they fell asleep. They couldn't even leave

the palace. And this was the indication, Yudhisthira took the opportunity

and had the house set on fire at the doorway. Purocana also was sleeping

soundly after the celebrations. So the house was set ablaze and the Pandavas

went inside the tunnel and in no time, because it was made of lac, it burned

to ashes. And everyone thought that the five sons were the Pandavas and that

this Nishada's woman's remains was Kunti, everyone except Vidura and Lord

Krsna. So in this way the Pandavas were saved.

 

This verse is very nice because we learn many things about the Vedic culture

from this verse. We see how the spiritual master, Vidura, gives instructions

to save the disciple from all calamities, from all difficulties. And we see

how Yudhisthira, as perfect disciple, could understand the instructions of

the spiritual master, even though it was difficult for others. And it was

with great faith--complete faith--in those instructions that he carried the

activity of setting the house on fire. Actually it was quite a risky thing

to do, because Yudhisthira, Dharmaraja, he would never do anything against

dharma, he would never do anything immoral. So to set the house on fire

knowing that people were sleeping inside, normally that would be considered

an immoral act. But he had confidence and faith in the words of the

spiritual master, Vidura. And as it turned out that was the most moral thing

to do. Canakya Pandit says that when you're dealing with a cunning

person--the word is "satha"--if you're dealing with someone who's very

cunning, very devious, very clever, you should be more cunning to outsmart

them. It's not that we should be naive. That wouldn't have been a very great

accomplishment if Yudhisthira Maharaja had been so naive not to take

advantage of this situation to protect themselves because he knew that Lord

Krsna wanted them to rule the world. Therefore it was their duty to protect

themselves.

 

Another point here is that Kunti was not able to understand directly the

indications given by Vidura, but it was her good quality that she had taken

shelter of her sons as widows are supposed to do. In Vedic culture, the

widow does not re-marry, and she does not go out independently but she goes

back under the protection of her elder sons. So Kunti did that and in this

way she able to be also protected.

 

We came make some kind of analogy that the instructions of Srila

Prabhupada--like the instructions of Vidura--in his books are there, for

everyone for all time. However, there is the tunnel also required to help us

get out of the blazing fire of material existence, and that tunnel, we could

say, is like ISKCON, the International Society for Krsna Consciousness. We

don't just have books, we don't just have philosophy, but we have a

practical means to apply them, a practical means to escape the blazing fire

of material existence. Every morning we sing:

 

samsara-davanala-lidha-loka-

tranaya karunya-ghanaghanatvam

 

"The spiritual master is receiving benediction from the ocean of mercy. Just

as the cloud pours water over forest fire to extinguish it, so the spiritual

master extinguishes the blazing fire of material existence. I offer my

respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master."

 

So just as Vidura did not simply give the hint. . . nobody could have

faulted him if he had simply given the hint and then prayed to the Lord "I

hope that they understand, I hope Yudhisthira understood, I hope that they

figure out to dig the tunnel". No, he sent the excavator as well, very

expertly, so that the tunnel would surely be dug. In the same way it was not

enough simply for Srila Prabhupada to give the literature. He also gave the

tunnel. He gave the practical means of executing devotional service, the

practical means of becoming saved. This word is also used here "mocitah",

released. To get released from this blazing fire of material existence.

 

Therefore this movement of Srila Prabhupada should never be considered some

kind of a material organisation. That is very very offensive. To refer to

ISKCON as a material organization is very very offensive. Srila Prabhupada

would spend his time making a material organisation? He had nothing better

to do? How many times did we hear Srila Prabhupada criticize even the

so-called liberated persons who came back to open hospitals and schools and

altruistic activity? He criticised them like anything. Do you think he would

do something similar after that criticism? He would be a hypocrite.

Therefore we cannot say that ISKCON is material in any way. There's nothing

material about it. It is a spiritual organisation, it is meant to deliver

persons back to home, back to Godhead. That's it's only purpose; it has no

other purpose.

 

Now along with that wonderful objective--saving people from this cycle of

birth and death--there will be many other good benefits from ISKCON. It will

also of course help people come to the mode of goodness who were formerly in

passion and ignorance, and it will help people those in ignorance come to

passion. It's a fact.

 

I remember, I used to be into athletics before I joined the movement and

there was one of my friends who was a professional basketball player. So

after I joined the temple in 1970, he came with his wife. He was very

submissive. We weren't that close before, but somehow or other my taking to

Krsna consciousness inspired him. So he came and he and his wife were

inquiring very submissively about what Krsna consciousness was. And I was in

ecstacy--a professional basketball player, very famous, he was coming. So I

was preaching to him. . . he never came again (laughing). Maybe my preaching

wasn't so good. But I did see him some years later, I again looked him up

and we got together and we had a meeting. And he had becoming a raving

born-again Christian. He wouldn't let me speak one word, he was just

constantly telling me about Jesus.

 

So before that he didn't have any signs of religion at all. I don't know,

perhaps he got some inspiration to take up some form of religion. That's not

the real purpose, but so many side benefits will be there from the Krsna

consciousness movement. But primarily the movement itself--and we should

always remember this--the movement itself is "prema pumartho mahan", to

teach love of Godhead. This is the message of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

There are other goals in life, dharma artha, kama, moksa--purusartha. But

those things are automatically achieved by one who takes to devotional

service. There's a verse by Srila Prabhodananda Sarasvati Thakur. He

explains that:

 

muktih mukulitanjali sevate 'sman dharmartha-kama-moksa samaya-pratiksah

 

That one who takes to devotional service, Mukti is standing with her hands

folded ready to render service. And she's not alone, her assistants, dharma,

artha, and kama, are also there ready to serve the devotee. There's nothing

lacking. Religion is there, economic development is there, and sense

gratification is there. It's not that a devotee of the Lord is lacking any

of these things. He gets them all automatically without any separate

endeavour. Either we look at it that from the point of view of karma one

gets a certain amount of happiness or distress, or if we say that we've

surrendered to Krsna, then Krsna personally will take care to make sure that

the devotee is satisfied. Krsna is not incapable of fulfilling the desires

of His devotees or making sure that they are happy or comfortable. This is

not difficult for Krsna.

 

So I think that if we can take this instruction. . . Srila Prabhupada told

us to work within ISKCON, to build ISKCON, to expand it. This is our

devotional service to do that. It is not fulfilling Prabhupada's desire if

we leave ISKCON for any reason. Sometimes, I remember, Prabhupada was

speaking in Los Angeles. And he was saying that if you are on a ship, and

there's someone on the ship that you don't get along with, still you don't

jump off the ship if you're in the middle of the sea. You tolerate, after

all it's only for some time and then we'll arrive on the shore and

everything will be all right.

 

It's not acceptable to say "I don't get along with this person, I don't like

that person". It's not acceptable to leave the movement that Srila

Prabhupada so painstakingly established and is a continuation of the mission

of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur, Sril Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, Rupa

Goswami, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This is not such a light thing.

 

One of my Godbrothers, I heard him also speaking on this point once about

the ship. I really love this example he gave. So he gave the example that if

you're on the ship then you don't jump overboard. So everyone accepted that.

But then someone raised their hand and said "But what if you're on the ship

and people are pushing you off?" (laughter) This was a good question. And

what did he answer? He said, "Well, you fight to stay on board the ship."

It's obvious but somehow or other we become bewildered sometimes. Someone's

trying to push you off the ship, what do you do? You fight to stay on the

ship, you do whatever you have to do, you don't let them push you off. So

there's no excuse.

 

yasya deve para bhaktir yatha deve tatha gurau

tasyaite kathita hy arthah prakasante mahatmanah

 

One who has implicit faith in both guru and Krsna--for such a person all the

imports of the Vedic knowledge are automactically revealed. What does

implicit mean? Dravida Prabhu? . . . He said without thinking about it, it's

automatically assumed, without doubting, without any further consideration.

So this is required if we're going to understand the Vedas.

 

Thefore there are many scholars who are very intelligent, but if they don't

have implicit in the guru and Krsna then they will never understand the

Vedas. All the imports of Vedic knowledge will not be revealed to them.

Whereas a person who may not be so materially qualified, but if he has

implicit faith in the guru and Krsna then all the imports of the Vedic

knowledge will be revealed to him. So we should be careful because simply

having academic degrees is not the qualification for being able to explain

the Vedas.

 

vedesu durlabham adurlabham atma-bhaktau

 

Unless one is completely faithful in devotional service, he may go on

studying the Vedas for millions of lifetimes; he won't understand anything.

When Prabhupada speaks something, that should be the end, the end of

discussion. In other words it's not that we should debate whether that was

correct, or whether there is something other, some other alternative idea.

No, at least we who are Prabhupadanugas, we are following in his footsteps,

and Prabhupada taught us this when he was present. We cannot tolerate any

slighting of the spiritual master, we cannot tolerate other opinions. He

said "If you hear from even other Gaudiya Vaisnavas, if they say one thing

different than I'm telling you, you'll all become confused, and everyone

will become bewildered. How many times have we seen that? So it doesn't mean

that we're becoming narrow-minded and we're not being respectful to other

Vaisnavas. We respect all the Vaisnavas, anyone who's engaged in devotional

service. In fact, we should respect even the ant; he has the Supersoul

within his heart. But as far as what we do and and what we accept as

siddhanta, and how we execute devotional service, [for] that we take Srila

Prabhupada as our lord and master.

 

So thank you for hearing, if there are any questions. Is there a microphone.

Maharaja, you speak, I'll repeat it.

 

 

Yes, that's the point. The question is there any sin coming to Yudhisthira

and the Pandavas for apparently murdering. And I say no. Because they were

following the instructions of Vidura, there's no sin. There's no sin for one

who's engaged in pure devotional service. Did Arjuna have sin? How many

persons did he kill? Millions. No sin, when one acts on the order of the

Lord there's no sin. So someone like Vidura he would never ever ask anyone

to engage in sinful activity; the pure devotee never asks anyone to engage

in sinful activity. He only engages them in the purest moral principles of

devotional service. Thank you. . . .

 

Oh, I see. (chuckles) The point is being made that Vidura just told them to

watch out for fire, he didn't tell it. . . so that was the realisation of

Yudhisthira Maharaja that this was the best means to accomplish that. So

yes, he acted under the direction of his spiritual master and Krsna also

gave him guidance, perfect guidance.

 

We should accept, can we give her the microphone? It was just there.

 

Question by Paurnamasi DD: Hare Krsna. You said we that we should accept

Srila Prabhupada's statement as final and that's the end of the discussion,

but often we see very sincere devotees apparently getting very different

ideas. And Prabhupada did say apparently contradictory statements about

various things. So how do we understand "Oh, Prabhupada said this, that's

it, Prabhu, finished. But someone else says "But he says this, that's it".

So sometimes there seems to be non-communication. . . .

 

Answer: If we're confused about understanding the conclusion, both of them

apparently. . . then there can be some discussion, according to time and

circumstance. That's all right. But when something is very clear then there

is no need for giving the gauna. If something is very clear we accept the

direct explanation. If something is not clear then there may be some room

for trying to understand further.

 

Paurnamasi DD: Well, the point is, that I'm sort of trying to get to, is

that both devotees are totally convinced that they really understand what

Prabhupada is saying, but they have totally different understandings. And

Prabhupada is saying both things, so. . . .

 

Maharaja: Sometimes there may be disagreements even between Vaisnavas. That

doesn't mean that either side is necessarily wrong, there may be some times

when they're both right. And in that case we don't take sides. We can accept

that, that there may be transcendental differences of opinion between

Vaisnavas.

 

Paurnamasi DD: So how to get us to what Prabhupada does want us to do?

Obviously he wants the movement to go on, he wants us to work together, he

wants us to have the real understanding and study from various angles of

vision. So how do we understand what Prabhupada actually wants us to do?

 

Maharaja: Well, we also have a system set up by Krsna and also by Srila

Prabhupada that we consult with higher authorites. And within ISKCON we have

a practical example of that. The Governing Body Commission has been

commissioned by Srila Prabhupada to give us guidance on these issues that

may be difficult to understand. After all, if we have faith that Srila

Prabhupada was intelligent and he had a good plan how to spread Krsna

consciousness, then part of that plan is to work within the system that he

established.

 

So I think we've exhausted our time, thank you very much. Srimad Bhagavatam

ki jai!