'Beg, Borrow or Steal Krsna'

[krsna]

(by Aniha das)

 

 

New Vraja Dhama

 

Some time in early 1974, I spotted a beautiful two-part hard cover edition of Srila Prabhupada’s ‘Krishna Book’ in a shop on Kensington Church St., off Notting Hill Gate in West London. Everything about those books was attractive; the silver cover with the red lettering, the amazing colour paintings of Lord Krishna’s activities, playing with His friends and cows in the forests of Vrindavana and killing demons and receiving worship from demigods, and the stories themselves, with their promise of something far beyond the confines of anything I had previously experienced. At the time I was just becoming interested in Krishna consciousness, and having read a cartoon strip of one of Lord Krishna’s pastimes in a ‘Back to Godhead’ magazine (Akrura’s vision of Maha-Vishnu in the Yamuna River as he took Krishna and Balarama on his chariot to Mathura), I had become hooked. I wanted those books badly, but as a hippy I had no money. I considered stealing them, and walked past the shelf several times with the thought of doing so, but in the end I walked out of the shop empty handed. As it happens, it wasn’t long before I legitimately came into possession of Srila Prabhupada’s ‘Krishna Book’ in a three volume paperback edition, and I still have those books to this day.

 

Srila Prabhupada sometimes made reference to a materialistic philosopher from India named Charvaka Muni, who summed up his view of life in these words: “If you have no money then beg, borrow or steal, but in some way secure ghee and enjoy life. You will not be held responsible. As soon as your body is burned to ashes after death, everything is finished.”

 

Of course Vedic philosophy totally refutes this materialistic concept. The Bhagavad-gita explains that the soul is eternal and so survives the demise of the body. As for our being held responsible for our actions, the Bhagavad-gita explains how, according to the law of karma, every action taken by us has an appropriate reaction, and our present activities will determine the type of body we receive in the next life.

 

Since the desire to ‘beg, borrow or steal’ is generally associated with greed, and since one would normally expect greed to be renounced by those who consider spiritual rather than material endeavours to be their goal in life, it may come as a surprise to learn that greed actually has a part to play in Krishna consciousness. The great medieval Vaisnava saint, Srila Rupa Gosvami, wrote, “Pure devotional service in Krishna consciousness cannot be had even by pious activity in hundreds and thousands of lives. It can be attained only by paying one price – that is intense greed to obtain it. If it is available somewhere, one must purchase it without delay.” (Padyavali 14).

 

How is it that a renounced mendicant such as Rupa Gosvami, who left vast wealth and a powerful position in government to adopt the simple life of devotion to Lord Krishna, is extolling the virtue of greed? Such a conviction cannot be easily understood unless one has firm faith in Krishna consciousness.

 

The story of Dhruva Maharaja is instructive in this regard. Dhruva was the son of a king, and he desired a kingdom to rule over. With great determination Dhruva worshipped the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and after some time the Lord, feeling compassionate, appeared before the small boy. At this point Dhruva experienced ecstatic emotions, and his heart became transformed. He prayed: “My dear Lord, I came to worship You because I desired some land on this earth, but fortunately I have attained You, who are beyond even the perception of great sages and saintly persons. I came to search out some particles of coloured glass, but instead I have found a very valuable gem like You. I am satisfied, and I do not desire to ask anything of You.” (Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya 7.28).

 

Dry renunciation has no place in Krishna consciousness. The Bhagavad-gita (Bg.2.59) states: “The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.” This means that a devotee of Lord Krishna easily abandons attachment for material enjoyment because he, or she, has found something of infinitely higher quality.

 

The conclusive evidence of the Vedic scriptures is that Lord Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and because the Lord is Absolute, He is therefore non-different from His holy names. The word ‘Krishna’ means ‘He who is all-attractive’, and anyone who takes to the chanting of this name with any degree of faith can easily perceive this attraction. If we desire to taste something of the ecstasy experienced by Dhruva Maharaja, or the ardent longing felt by Srila Rupa Gosvami, we should begin by seeking out the association of the devotees of Lord Krishna, and in their company take up the process of chanting Lord Krishna’s holy names, as found in the Hare Krishna mantra, ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.’ Great devotees have told that there is only one price needed to purchase this Hare Krishna mantra, and that price is our faith.

 

Srila Rupa Gosvami has written, “When one is not attached to anything but at the same time accepts anything in relation to Krishna, one is rightly situated above possessiveness. On the other hand, one who rejects everything without knowledge of its relationship to Krishna is not as complete in his renunciation.” (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.255-6).

 

Following in the mood of Srila Rupa Gosvami, the Vaisnava saint Srila Narottama das Thakura has explained how any tendency that is an obstruction to our spiritual advancement can be transformed by relating it to Lord Krishna. He specifically describes how the ‘six enemies’ of lust, anger, greed, illusion, envy and pride can be conquered: “I will engage lust, anger, greed, illusion, envy and pride in their proper places. In this way, I will defeat the enemies and with ecstasy in my heart, I will worship Govinda without difficulty. I will engage my lust in eagerness to serve Krishna and I will use my anger against those who are envious of the devotees.

I will be greedy to hear the topics of Hari in the association of the devotees. I will be illusioned if I fail to achieve my worshipable Lord and I will feel proud to chant the glories of Krishna. In this way, I will engage them in their respective duties.” (Prema Bhakti-candrika 2.9-10).

 

This is the process of bhakti yoga, or Krishna consciousness, by which the practitioner endeavours to dovetail everything he does, whether physical, mental or spiritual, for the higher purpose of Krishna consciousness. A very nice description of how all our bodily activities can be employed in this way is given in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (S.B.9.4.18-20): “King Ambarish first of all engaged his mind on the lotus feet of Lord Krishna; then, one after another, he engaged his words in describing the transcendental qualities of the Lord, his hands in mopping the temple of the Lord, his ears in hearing of the activities of the Lord, his eyes in seeing the transcendental forms of the Lord, his body in touching the bodies of the devotees, his sense of smell in smelling the scents of the lotus flower offered to the Lord, his tongue in tasting the tulasi leaf offered at the lotus feet of the Lord, his legs in going to places of pilgrimage and the temple of the Lord, his head in offering obeisances unto the Lord and his desires in executing the mission of the Lord. All these transcendental activities are quite befitting a pure devotee.”

 

Srila Prabhupada’s ‘Krishna Book’ is a summary study of the lengthy tenth canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, a scripture that describes the transcendental activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna. From this book one will learn that since the Supreme Lord is the original person, all traits of personality also have their origin in Him alone. As a reflection in a lake has its origin on the shore, so the many activities of this world are but reflections of the unlimitedly variegated activities of the Absolute World. Here, everything is temporary. All relationships, however satisfying they may seem, will sooner or later come to an end. Disease, old age and death come to everyone. We may not care for such thoughts when we are young, but only the most selfish are blind to the suffering that abounds everywhere in this world. That other world, however, is a place that is free of anxiety, where all opposites are harmonised, and where all desires for relationship are fulfilled by our being connected to the reservoir of all pleasure, Lord Sri Krishna.

 

Those traits of personality that are often condemned here, such as lust and greed, are found in their original perfectional state in the transcendental personality of Lord Sri Krishna. For instance, the Lord is worshipped by names such as ‘Gopinatha’ and ‘Gopi-jana-vallabha’, in glorification of His amorous pastimes with the young cowherd damsels of Vraja. Similarly, although stealing is rightly condemned here, Lord Krishna is famous for being a thief. In glorification of His childhood pranks of stealing butter and yoghurt, which He would eat or share with monkeys, the Lord is known by such names as ‘Makhana-chora’ and ‘Navanita-chora’. Krishna is also known as ‘Hari’, or one who steals away all inauspicious things from the heart of His devotee, and such a thief is He that as ‘Madana-manohara’, He will even steal away one’s heart itself.

 

Lord Sri Krishna is known as ‘pavitram’, meaning ‘the purifier’, and the scriptures describe that hearing topics concerning the Lord, when spoken by the Lord’s unalloyed devotee, will serve to purify us of all mundane contaminations. Anyone desiring freedom from the bondage of karma in this world should take advantage of such purifying topics. At the start of the preface to his ‘Krishna Book’, Srila Prabhupada quoted one verse from the Srimad-Bhagavatam (S.B.10.1.4): “Glorification of the Supreme Personality is performed in the parampara system; that is, it is conveyed from spiritual master to disciple. Such glorification is relished by those no longer interested in the false, temporary glorification of this cosmic manifestation. Descriptions of the Lord are the right medicine for the conditioned soul undergoing repeated birth and death. Therefore, who will cease hearing such glorification of the Lord except a butcher or one who is killing his own self.”

 

However, as we see from the lives of great saints like Srila Rupa Gosvami, there is something of far greater value to be attained than mere freedom from the bondage of this material world. Lord Krishna Himself describes this in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (S.B.3.25.25): “As a result of full-hearted association with pure devotees, one will get an opportunity to hear descriptions of My heroic deeds, which are like a nectarean tonic for the ears and the heart. By repeatedly relishing those topics through hearing and contemplation, one quickly and successively attains faith, attachment to Me, and pure loving devotional service to Me, the ultimate end of the path along which liberation is incidental.”

 

Thus Srila Rupa Gosvami tells us: “The essence of all advice is that one should utilize one’s full time – twenty-four hours a day – in nicely chanting and remembering the Lord’s divine name, transcendental form, qualities and eternal pastimes, thereby gradually engaging one’s tongue and mind. In this way one should reside in Vraja (Goloka Vrindavana) and serve Krishna under the guidance of devotees. One should follow in the footsteps of the Lord’s beloved devotees, who are deeply attached to His devotional service.” (Sri Upadesamrta 8).

 

The ‘Krishna Book’ is full of the most wonderful pastimes of Lord Krishna, which have become even sweeter for having been described by Lord Krishna’s pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada. Reading or hearing the ‘Krishna Book’ will certainly help us to attain the goal of life, as explained above by Srila Rupa Gosvami. I would not suggest that anyone steal a set of these books, but by every possible means we should beg, borrow or buy Srila Prabhupada’s ‘Krishna Book’, and thus attempt to make our life successful.

 

 

‘Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead’, (the ‘Krishna Book’), by His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, is published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.

 

Please see the ‘Sri Cauragraganya-Purusastakam’, a beautiful prayer glorifying Lord Krishna as the foremost of thieves.