(no subject)

[Guest guest]

"Krsna's Devotion To His Devotee"

66/12/20 New York, Bhagavad-gita 9.29-32

 

listen

 

 

 

Prabhupada:

 

samo 'ham sarva-bhutesu

na me dvesyo 'sti na priyah

ye bhajanti tu mam bhaktya

mayi te tesu capy aham

 

The Lord says that "I am... Although I am equal to everyone..." God is

nobody's enemy and nobody's special friend, just like the king, the government,

 

nobody's enemy, nobody's friend. As you act, so you get result. Similarly, for

common man, there is no special favor from God. Ye tu bhajanti mam bhaktya. Ye

tu. This tu means "but." Here is a word, but. But means just like we sometimes

say that "I am such and such, but...But" means there is something special.

So this word is used here, tu. Tu means "but." What is that "but?" Ye tu

bhajanti mam pritya: "Anyone who is engaged in devotional service of Me, so for

him

I have got special attention." Ye tu mam..., ye bhajanti tu mam bhaktya mayi

te tesu capy aham: "As he is always, constantly engaged in My service,

similarly, I am also engaged always in his service," the Lord says.

 

Here one passage is quoted by a great commentator, Baladeva Vidyabhusana,

that bhagavan bhakta-bhaktiman. Just like we become devoted, similarly, God

also

becomes devoted to us. You don't think that one-sided devotion. No. Just like

love is never one-sided. Love is reciprocation, reciprocation. Similarly,

although God is great, He becomes a devotee of the devotee. He takes pleasure

in

that way. It is clearly stated that "I also try to devote Myself for his

service." As we take pleasure in serving God, similarly, God also takes

pleasure by

serving the devotee. That is reciprocation. Now, this sloka we have already

discussed last day. Next sloka is

 

api cet su-duracaro

bhajate mam ananya-bhak

sadhur eva sa mantavyah

samyag vyavasito hi sah

[bg. 9.30]

 

So now, somebody may say that "If a devotee is engaged in the service of the

Lord, that's all right, but if his behavior is not up to the standard, then

what happens to him?" Of course, a devotee is naturally developed, developing

the twenty-six good qualities, but even if he does not develop those

qualities... Of course, that very quality, that he is a devotee of Krsna, that

is

sufficient. But still, if somebody is not up to the point, but he is

unflinching, not

moving, he is perfect devotee of Krsna, then Lord Krsna says, api cet

su-duracarah. Api cet su-duracarah. Duracarah means his conduct is not good,

and

su-duracarah means still further. So api cet su-duracaro bhajate mam

ananya-bhak.

Ananya-bhak means "Without deviating his attention to any other demigod or any

other business, if one is simply cent percent engaged in My service, but his

character is, general activities are not so to the point, still," the Lord

says, sadhur eva sa mantavyah [bg. 9.30]. Sadhu means a pious man or a

religious

man. Sadhu means the honest man and all good qualities. Still, although he is

found that he is not to the standard, but his only qualification is that he is

acting in Krsna consciousness sincerely... It may be...

 

Suppose I have got some bad character from the beginning of my life, but I

have understood that "Krsna consciousness is very nice. I shall take to it." So

 

I am trying, trying my best. But at the same time, because I am habituated to

something, I cannot give it up. Although I know that this, my habit, is not

good, but still, habit is the second nature. I cannot give it up. So Lord Krsna

 

recommends that "Still, he is good. There is no question that he is not a

sadhu or he is not an honest, he is not religious man. That simple one

qualification, that he is Krsna conscious, and he is acting sincerely, but

failing

sometime, but still, he is to be taken as sadhu." Sadhu means honest,

religious,

pious. Sadhur eva sa mantavyah [bg. 9.30]. And one may say that "Yes, because

he

is devotee of God, devotee of Krsna, we may call him sadhu, but not cent

percent." But Krsna says, "No, cent percent sadhu. In spite of his bad

character,

he is cent percent sadhu."

 

So this is the recommendation. Why? Why is Krsna stressing on this point,

that "whatever he may be, still he is honest, he is sadhu, he is religious, he

is

pious"? Why? That is to be understood in the next... So this su-duracarah...

Su-duracarah means that according to time, according to circumstances,

according to so many... There are influences. Just like I have come to your

country.

So so far rigid regulation and rules are concerned, in the beginning, of

course, we do not find such opportunities to strictly follow. But still, we

should

not give so much attention for the regulation or strict rules and regulation.

But we must see how much a person is advanced in Krsna consciousness. That we

have to see. And if we go on criticizing everyone, "Oh, you are not doing

this. You are not doing this," so many things according to Vedic culture...

There

may be so many things, but we are not concerned. As far as possible, people

should be given chance to develop Krsna consciousness. Rupa Gosvami, one of the

 

big acaryas, he says, yena tena prakarena manah krsne nivesayet: "The first

business is somehow or other people should be Krsna conscious." So far rules

and

regulations are concerned...

 

yena tena prakarena

manah krsne nivesayet

sarve vidhi-nisedha syur

etayor eva kinkarah

 

If one takes to that line of activities, Krsna consciousness, then all

things, all regulation, will follow just like a servant follows a master. If

the

master starts, the servant follows. Similarly, these things, rules and

regulation, that will follow automatically. In the next sloka the Lord says,

ksipram

dharma: "Because he has taken to that Krsna consciousness, very soon he will be

 

perfect pious man." This process will help him. Don't be too much anxious, "Oh,

 

I am not in such a way. I am not in such way." Whatever way you may be, you

just take to this Krsna consciousness, very easy thing. If you take this Krsna

consciousness, chanting Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama

Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare very sincerely and regularly as far as possible

by following the rules and regulation, this Krsna consciousness will help you

to become a perfect and pious man very soon. Ksipram. Ksipram means very soon.

 

Just like in the material world, suppose if you want to sit on the bench of a

high court judge, you will have to acquire so many qualifications. You have

to be a very big lawyer, and government must recognize that you are good

lawyer. Then there will be so many recommendation by the Bar Association, by

the

lawyers. Then you can be recommended. But here the process is just that any way

 

you sit down on the high court judge, then all education will come to you.

Don't you see how nice it is? Any way, if somebody takes to Krsna

consciousness,

naturally and generally it will be found that he is becoming gradually a

perfect pious man, perfect honest man. That is the thing. Ksipram bhavati

dharmatma

sasvac-chantim nigacchati.

 

Sasvac-chanti. Because he will relish. He will relish this Krsna

consciousness so nicely that he will give up all nonsense automatically: "I

don't like it,

don't like it." This is the process. He will give up automatically. Param

drstva nivartate. Param drstva nivartate. The whole world is after sense

gratification, but a Krsna conscious person, just very soon he will find that

"All

these nonsense, oh, there is no happiness." He will give it up. He will give it

 

up. It is so nice thing. Some way or other, if you take to Krsna consciousness,

 

your reluctance for sense gratification will automatically come, automatic...

You haven't got to train yourself that "How to stop my sense gratification?"

If you simply go on chanting Hare Krsna sincerely. And what is that process?

Chanting and hearing. When you chant, you hear, and you will enjoy. And you

will enjoy so nicely that you will give up all that is not wanted in the

advancement of his spiritual life. Ksipram. This is recommendation by Krsna

Himself,

not that I am advertising. Because I am preaching here Krsna consciousness,

therefore I am advertising, "The candidate may take it." But Krsna Himself

says.

Ksipram bhavati dharmatma sasvac-chantim nigacchati. Santi means very soon he

attains that perfect eternal happiness. Perfect peaceful life, eternal life,

blissful life, he very soon attains.

 

And why? Kaunteya pratijanihi. Pratijanihi: "My dear Arjuna, you can declare

this to the world. You declare." Why Krsna is not declaring? Krsna is

declaring through His devotee because Krsna has a promise that "I shall protect

My

devotee." If a promise is there by the devotee, that cannot be violated. Krsna

can... Because He is God, He can violate His own promise because He is supreme.

 

But He wants to protect His devotee; therefore He is trying to give the

declaration through His devotee that "It will be protected."

 

I will give you one example how Krsna sometimes break His promise. It is very

nice story. Krsna, when He joined Arjuna, He promised from His own side that

"Because the fight is between your brothers, so it is not My duty... Because

both of you are My relatives, so it is not My duty to join one party and not to

 

join another. But because I have divided Myself -- Myself, one side, and

other side, My soldiers -- but Duryodhana has decided to take My soldiers, not

Me,

so I shall join you. But I shall not fight. I shall not fight. I may take

some work which may assist you." So Arjuna offered, "Whatever work You like,

You

can take." So He said, "All right. I shall drive your chariot." So Krsna's

promise was that He will not fight. But at a time when Arjuna was perplexed by

fighting with Bhisma... Bhisma was the greatest fighter, although he was very

old man. Duryodhana incited him that "Because the other side are your very pet

grandsons, you are not fighting fully." That was the complaint of Duryodhana.

So in order to encourage him, Bhisma said to Duryodhana, "All right, tomorrow I

 

shall finish all these five brothers. Tomorrow I shall finish. And I have got

now special arrows for killing these five chivalrous brothers."

 

So Duryodhana was very intelligent. He told, "All right, please keep these

five arrows with me for the night. I shall deliver you tomorrow in the

morning."

"All right, you take it." And Krsna understood. Krsna is, everything knows,

past, present and future. Krsna knew it that "Bhisma has now promised. He will

kill." So He asked Arjuna -- this is also politics -- that "You go to

Duryodhana. Do you remember that Duryodhana" -- Duryodhana is elderly than

Arjuna --

"that he would keep some promise which was offered to you?" Duryodhana told

him, "Arjuna, whenever you want something, I shall give you.Now this is the

time. You can go.And what is that?Now, he has got five arrows for killing

 

you. You should take and come to Me." So after fight, they were friends. So

Arjuna went to the camp of Duryodhana, and he was well received. "Well Arjuna,

come on. What do you want? Come on. Sit down. Do you want anything from me? If

you want, I can stop this fight. I can return you this..." Arjuna said, "No. I

have not come to you for begging my kingdom. Fighting will go on. But I

want... You promised something.Yes. I know. I offer you. What do you want?"

"Now, I want those five arrows." At once he delivered.

 

And this information was carried to, I mean to say, Bhisma. Bhisma knew that

"Krsna is very cunning also. He will save His devotee. So He has done this.

All right, in spite of Krsna... He has broken my promise, and tomorrow I shall

see. If Krsna does not break His promise, then His friend will be killed. I

will fight in such a way." So he was fighting in such a way that Arjuna became

almost dead. Then at that time, Krsna... The chariot was torn into pieces, and

Arjuna fell down. And then Krsna took up one of the wheel of the chariot and

came before: "Now, Bhisma, you stop this fighting; otherwise I will kill you."

Bhisma at once gave up his arrow, and he offered, "All right. Kill me." So

thing is that because Bhisma promised that "I shall kill Arjuna tomorrow," and

Krsna also promised not to fight, just to save these two devotees, Arjuna and

Bhisma -- Bhisma also was a great devotee -- just to show him that "I am

breaking

My promise. Please stop..." He wanted that "Either I shall break My promise

or you shall kill Arjuna. So better see that I have broken My promise." So in

this way, sometimes, for devotee, He sometimes breaks His own promise.

 

So here Krsna says, kaunteya pratijanihi. "You promise so I shall protect

your promise." And what is that? Na me bhaktah pranasyati: "Anyone who has

taken

to Krsna consciousness, he will be never destroyed. He will never be

destroyed." Na me bhaktah pranasyati. What is that destruction? The destruction

is...

Of course, a living entity is never destroyed so far his constitution is

concerned. Na hanyate hanyamane [bg. 2.20]. The destruction of this body is not

his

destruction. The real destruction is that when we lose our spiritual

consciousness, we lose our identity, that is destruction. That is destruction,

that

now, in our material conception of life, we are practically destroyed because,

destroyed in this way, because as spiritual being, I have got my eternal life,

I

have got my blissful life, I have got my knowledge, full knowledge, but here

I am living in a wretched condition that my life is not eternal, I am not

blissful, and I am not in full knowledge. So don't you think that we are

already

destroyed? We are thinking that "I am very much advancing in civilization," but

 

unless you revive your original life of eternity and full knowledge and

bliss, you should know that you are not advancing; you are being defeated by

the

illusory energy. This is destruction. Destruction of my real life is

materialism.

 

So here Krsna says, kaunteya pratijanihi: "Please declare in the world that

anyone who has taken to this Krsna consciousness will never be destroyed. He

will never go back again to that material life of sense gratification and pull

on this material existence full of miseries. He will be taken out. He will be

taken out sooner or later. As he has taken to this Krsna consciousness, he will

 

be never destroyed." Our destruction is... You always remember: our

destruction means material existence is the destruction of our spiritual

existence.

Because destroyed does not mean that as spiritual being, I will be nowhere, no.

 

This is my position, nowhere. I do not know. Just like I am being kicked like a

 

football. I have no place. You have seen football playing. The football has

no place. As soon as comes, somebody's feet, he kicks. He goes to another body.

 

He kicks. He's another body -- kicking. His only situation is being kicked,

football. So we are just like football. We are being kicked up. Now I am

American. Next time I shall be kicked up to China. Maybe. And from China, I

will be

kicked up to India. And from India, I shall be kicked up to Burma or kicked up

to another place. This is going on. We do not know how we are being kicked up

like a football from one place to another, one place to another. This is all

false notion. How long I shall remain here?

 

Therefore this is the only way, Krsna consciousness, to become perfect.

Perfection means to attain spiritual life, eternity, blissful, and full of

knowledge. That is waiting us. That is waiting us. Why should we refuse it? It

is not

a theory. Don't think that Bhagavad-gita is something, imaginary thing. No.

People have taken to it. They have practiced. They have attained success. It is

 

coming on since a very, very long time. It was first advised to the sun-god.

Then, after many, many millions of years, again, five thousand years before, it

 

was advised to Arjuna. So it is coming down. It is accepted by all great

acaryas of India, and it is being followed, still being followed. So take it.

Don't be destroyed. Take to Krsna consciousness, and you will be saved. You

will

be saved from this destruction in the material...

 

Suppose if I am thrown into the ocean, that is practically my destruction. I

may be very good swimmer, but that is no hope. That is no hope of my life. Any

moment, I can go down into the depth of the ocean. Similarly, we are

struggling very hard in this material ocean of existence, simply struggling.

Just like

a man is trying to save himself in the Atlantic Ocean, similarly, we are also

trying here. This is not the process of getting yourself from the

struggle-for-existence ocean. The thing is one must get you out from the ocean.

Tesam

aham samuddharta mrtyu-samsara-sagarat. So Krsna promises -- you will find in

the

later, tenth, chapter, that "Those who are in Krsna consciousness, I promise

I shall take him from this ocean of birth and death."

 

mam hi partha vyapasritya

ye 'pi syuh papa-yonayah

striyo vaisyas tatha sudras

te 'pi yanti param gatim

[bg. 9.32]

 

Now, somebody may inquire, "Now, to become a Krsna conscious person, is

there any qualification required? Bhagavad-gita was spoken by Lord Krsna. He

appeared to be a Hindu, and it was spoken in India, and all the acaryas, they

are

very learned men. They have adopted. But how we can take to this Krsna

consciousness? I am not... I do not belong to such particular creed or, say,

particular country." Now Krsna says, "No, that is not disqualification." Mam hi

partha

vyapasritya ye 'pi syuh papa-yonayah. Papa-yonayah... Of course, according to

Vedic literature, there are mentions of papa-yoni. Yoni means species.

Papa-yoni. Just like it is mentioned here, striyah sudrah, striyo vaisyas tatha

 

sudras te 'pi yanti param gatim. Even the striyah, even women, they are also

classified amongst the papa-yoni. Papa-yoni means those who have got little

facility

for advancing themselves in spiritual life. So it is particularly mentioned

here, striyah, the woman class, sudra -- sudra means the laborer class -- and

the vaisya, mercantile class. Or less than that.

 

Because in India, according to the caste system, or varnasrama-dharma, the

brahmana and ksatriyas are considered to be the highest in the society, and the

 

vaisyas, a little less than them, and sudras, they are not taken into account.

In the similarly, woman class, they are taken as sudra, sudra. Just like the

thread ceremony is given to the brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, but there is no

thread ceremony for the woman class. Although the woman is born in the brahmana

 

family, she has no that reformation. Because striyah, woman class, are taken

less intelligent, they should be given protection, but they cannot be elevated.

 

But here in the Bhagavad-gita, He surpasses all these formalities. Lord Krsna

surpasses all these formalities. He is giving facility to everyone. Never

mind what he is. In the social structure, you may consider that woman is less

intelligent or sudra or less purified, but in spiritual consciousness there is

no

such bar. Here Krsna accepts everyone. Either you become woman or you are

sudra or a vaisya or whatever you may be, that doesn't matter. If you simply

take

to Krsna consciousness, the Lord is there. He will give you all protection,

all protection, and gradually He will help you. You are already...

 

One who is in the Krsna consciousness platform, he is already in the libe

rated platform. Simply ksipram: it will take some time only, ksipram, but very

soon he will be all right. So this is the proposal of Lord Krsna, and this is

the

facility of Krsna consciousness. So we should take this advantage of being

Krsna conscious. Never mind what we are. And that will help us in attaining the

 

perfection of life. Mam hi partha vyapasritya ye 'pi syuh papa-yonayah [bg.

9.32]. It is very clearly declared here. Never mind what here he is or she is.

Just take to this process of Krsna consciousness and your progress and

advancement of spiritual life is guaranteed. Thank you very much. Any question?

(end)

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Bhagavad-gita 9.29-32 -- New York, December 20, 1966

 

HOME

 

© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with permission.