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KB 1970-2-25 / Meeting of Lord Krsna with Sudama Brahmana
25 / Meeting of Lord Krsna with Sudama Brahmana
King Pariksit was hearing the narrations of the pastimes of
Lord Krsna and Lord Balarama from Sukadeva Gosvami. These
pastimes are all transcendentally pleasurable to hear, and
Maharaja Pariksit addressed Sukadeva Gosvami as follows: "My
dear lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna is the
bestower of both liberation and love of God simultaneously.
Anyone who becomes a devotee of the Lord automatically attains
liberation without having to make a separate attempt. The
Lord is unlimited, and as such, His pastimes and activities
for creating, maintaining and destroying the whole cosmic
manifestation are unlimited. I therefore wish to hear
about His other pastimes of which you may not have
spoken as yet. My dear master, the conditioned souls within
this material world have been frustrated by searching out the
pleasure of happiness derived from sense gratification. Such
desires for material enjoyment are always piercing the heart
of conditioned souls. But I am actually experiencing how the
transcendental topics of Lord Krsna's pastimes can relieve one
from the state of being affected by such sense gratificatory
material activities. I think that no
intelligent person can reject this method of hearing the
transcendental pastimes of the Lord again and again; simply by
hearing, one can remain always steeped in transcendental
pleasure. Thus one will not be attracted by material sense
gratification."
In this statement, Maharaja Pariksit has used two important
words: visannah and visesajnah: visannah means "morose."
The materialistic persons are inventing many ways
and means to become fully satisfied, but actually they remain
morose. The point may be raised that sometimes those who are
transcendentalists also remain morose. Pariksit Maharaja has
used, however, the word visesajnah. There are two
kinds of transcendentalists, namely the impersonalists and the
personalists. Visesajnah refers to the personalists, who
are interested in transcendental variegatedness. The devotees
become jubilant by hearing the descriptions of the personal
activities of the Supreme Lord, whereas the impersonalists, who
are actually more attracted by the impersonal feature of the
Lord, are only superficially attracted by the personal
activities of the Lord. As such, in spite of coming in contact
with the pastimes of the Lord, the impersonalists do not fully
realize the benefit to be derived, and thus they remain in
exactly the same morose position, due to fruitive
activity, with the materialists.
King Pariksit continued: "The capacity for talking can be
perfected only by describing the transcendental qualities of
the Lord. The capacity for working with one's hands can be
successful only when one engages himself in the service of the
Lord with those hands. Similarly, one's mind can be pacified
only when he simply thinks of Krsna in full Krsna
consciousness. This does not mean that one has to be very
thoughtful, but one simply has to understand
that Krsna, the Absolute Truth, is all-pervasive, by His
localized aspect as Paramatma. If only one can think
that Krsna, as Paramatma, is everywhere, even within the atom,
then one can perfect the thinking, feeling and willing
function of his mind. The perfect devotee does not see the
material world as it appears to material eyes, but he sees
everywhere the presence of his worshipable Lord in His
Paramatma feature."
Maharaja Pariksit continued to say that the function of the
ear can be perfected simply by engagement in hearing the
transcendental activities of the Lord. He said further that the
function of the head can be fully utilized when the head is
engaged in bowing down before the Lord and His representative.
That the Lord is represented in everyone's heart is a fact, and
therefore the highly advanced devotee offers his respects to
every living entity, considering that the body is the temple of
the Lord. But it is not possible for all men to come to that
stage of life immediately, because that stage is for the first-
class devotee. The second-class devotee can consider the
Vaisnavas, or the devotees of the Lord, to be representatives
of Krsna, and the devotee who is just beginning, the neophyte
or third-class devotee, can bow his head before the Deity in
the temple and before the spiritual master, who is the direct
manifestation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In
the neophyte stage, in the intermediate stage, or in the
fully advanced perfected stage, one can make the function of
the head perfect by bowing down before the Lord or His
representative. Similarly, he can perfect the function of the
eyes by seeing the Lord and His representative. In this way,
everyone can elevate the functions of the different parts of
his body to the highest perfectional stage simply by engaging
them in the service of the Lord or His representative. If one
is able to do nothing more, he can simply bow down before the
Lord and His representative and drink the caranamrta, the water
which has washed the lotus feet of the Lord or His devotee.
On hearing these statements of Maharaja Pariksit, Sukadeva
Gosvami became overwhelmed with devotional ecstasy because of
King Pariksit's advanced understanding of the Vaisnava
philosophy. Sukadeva Gosvami was already engaged in describing
the activities of the Lord, and when he was asked by Maharaja
Pariksit to describe them further, he continued with great
pleasure to narrate Srimad-Bhagavatam.
There was a very nice brahmana friend of Lord Krsna. As a
perfect brahmana, he was very elevated in transcendental
knowledge, and because of his advanced knowledge, he was not at
all attached to material enjoyment. Therefore he was very
peaceful and had achieved supreme control over his senses. This
means that the brahmana was a perfect devotee because unless
one is a perfect devotee, he cannot achieve the highest
standard of knowledge. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita that a
person who has come to the point of perfection of knowledge
surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other
words, any person who has surrendered his life for the service
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead has come to the point of
perfect knowledge. The result of perfect knowledge is that one
becomes detached from the materialistic way of life. This
detachment means complete control of the senses, which are
always attracted by material enjoyment. The senses of the
devotee become purified, and in that stage the senses are
engaged in the service of the Lord. That is the complete field
of devotional service.
Although the brahmana friend of Lord Krsna was a householder,
he was not busy accumulating wealth for very comfortable living;
therefore he was satisfied by the income which automatically
came to him according to his destiny. This is the sign of
perfect knowledge. A man who is in perfect knowledge knows that
one cannot be happier than he is destined to be. In this
material world, everyone is destined to suffer a certain amount
of distress and to enjoy a certain amount of happiness. The
amount of happiness and distress is already predestined for
every living entity. No one can increase or decrease the
happiness of the materialistic way of life. The brahmana,
therefore, did not exert himself for more material happiness,
but he used his time for advancement of Krsna
consciousness. Externally he appeared to be very poor because
he had no rich dress and could not provide a very rich
dress for his wife, and because their material condition
was not very opulent they were not even eating sufficiently,
and thus both he and his wife appeared to be very thin. The
wife was not very anxious for her personal comfort, but she
felt very concerned for her husband, who was such a pious
brahmana. She was trembling due to her weak health, and
although she did not like to dictate to her husband, she spoke
as follows:
"My dear lord, I know that Lord Krsna, who is the husband of
the goddess of fortune, is your personal friend. You are also a
devotee of Lord Krsna, and He is always ready to help His
devotee. Even if you think that you are not rendering any
devotional service to the Lord, still you are surrendered to
Him, and the Lord is the protector of the surrendered soul.
Moreover, I know that Lord Krsna is the ideal personality of
Vedic culture. He is always in favor of brahminical culture and
is very kind to the qualified brahmanas. You are the most
fortunate person because you have as your friend the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. Lord Krsna is the only shelter for
personalities like you because you are fully surrendered unto
Him. You are saintly, learned and fully in control of your
senses. Under the circumstances, Lord Krsna is your only
shelter. Please, therefore, go to Him. I am sure that He will
immediately understand your impoverished position. You are a
householder; therefore without any money you are in a
distressed condition. But as soon as He understands your
position, He will certainly give you sufficient riches so that
you can live very comfortably. Lord Krsna is now the King of
the Bhoja, Vrsni and Andhaka dynasties, and I have heard that
He never leaves His capital city, Dvaraka. He is living there
without outside engagements. He is so kind and liberal that He
immediately gives everything, even His personal self, to any
person who surrenders unto Him. When He is prepared to give
Himself personally to His devotee, then there is nothing
wonderful in giving some material riches. Of course, He does
not give much material wealth to His devotee if the devotee is
not very fixed, but I think in your case He knows
perfectly well how much you are fixed in devotional service.
Therefore He will not hesitate to award you some material
benefit for the bare necessities of life."
In this way, the wife of the brahmana again and again requested,
in great humility and submission, that he go to Lord Krsna.
The brahmana thought that there was no need to ask any material
benefit from Lord Sri Krsna, but he was induced by the repeated
requests of his wife. Moreover, he thought, "If I go there I
shall be able to see the Lord personally. That will be a great
opportunity, even if I don't ask any material benefit from Him."
When he had decided to go to Krsna, he asked his wife if she
had anything in the home that he could offer to Krsna, because
he must take some presentation for his friend. The wife
immediately collected four palmsful of chipped rice from her
neighboring friends and tied it in a small cloth, like a
handkerchief, and gave it to her husband to present to Krsna.
Without waiting any longer, the brahmana took the presentation
and began to proceed toward Dvaraka to see his Lord. While
he was proceeding toward Dvaraka He was absorbed in the thought
of how he could be able to see Lord Krsna. He had no thought
within his heart other than Krsna.
It was of course very difficult to reach the palaces of the
kings of the Yadu dynasty, but brahmanas were allowed to visit,
and when the brahmana friend of Lord Krsna went there, he,
along with other brahmanas, had to pass through three military
encampments. In each camp there were very big gates, and he
also had to pass through them. After the gates and the camps,
there were sixteen thousand big palaces, the residential
quarters of the sixteen thousand queens of Lord Krsna. The
brahmana entered one palace which was very gorgeously decorated.
When he entered this beautiful palace, he felt that he was
swimming in the ocean of transcendental pleasure. He felt
himself constantly diving and surfacing in that transcendental
ocean.
At that time, Lord Krsna was sitting on the bedstead of Queen
Rukmini. Even from a considerable distance He could see the
brahmana coming to His home, and He could recognize him as His
friend. Lord Krsna immediately left His seat and came forward
to receive His brahmana friend and, upon reaching him, embraced
the brahmana with His two arms. Lord Krsna is the reservoir of
all transcendental pleasure, and yet He Himself felt great
pleasure upon embracing the poor brahmana because He was
meeting His very dear friend. Lord Krsna had him seated on His
own bedstead and personally brought him all kinds of fruits and
drinks to offer him, as is proper in receiving a worshipable
guest. Lord Sri Krsna is the supreme pure, but because He was
playing the role of an ordinary human being, He immediately
washed the brahmana's feet and, for His own purification,
sprinkled the water onto His head. After this the Lord smeared
the body of the brahmana with different kinds of scented pulp,
such as sandalwood, aguru and saffron. He immediately burned
several kinds of scented incense, and, as is usual, He offered
him aratrika with burning lamps. After thus offering him an
adequate welcome and after the brahmana had taken food and
drink, Lord Krsna said, "My dear friend, it is a great fortune
that you have come here."
The brahmana, being very poor, was not dressed nicely; his
clothing was torn and dirty, and his body was also very lean
and thin. He appeared not to be very clean, and because of his
weak body, his bones were distinctly visible. The goddess of
fortune, Rukminidevi personally began to fan him with the
camara fan, but the other women in the palace became astonished
at Lord Krsna's behavior in receiving the brahmana in that way.
They were surprised to see how eager Lord Krsna was to welcome
this particular brahmana. They began to wonder how Lord
Krsna could personally receive a brahmana who was poor, not
very neat or clean, and poorly dressed; but at the same time
they could realize that the brahmana was not an ordinary living
being. They knew that he must have performed great pious
activities; otherwise why was Lord Krsna, the husband of the
goddess of fortune, taking so much care for him? They
were still more surprised to see that the brahmana was seated
on the bedstead of Lord Krsna. They were especially surprised
to see that Lord Krsna had embraced him exactly as He embraced
His elder brother, Balaramaji, because Lord Krsna used to
embrace only Rukmini or Balarama, and no one else.
After receiving the brahmana nicely, and
seating him on His own cushioned bed,
Lord Krsna said, "My dear
brahmana friend, you are a most intelligent personality, and
you know very well the principles of religious life. I believe
that after you finished your education at the house of our
teacher and after you sufficiently remunerated him, you must
have gone back to your home and accepted a suitable wife. I
know very well that from the beginning you were not at all
attached to the materialistic way of life, nor did you desire
to be very opulent materially, and therefore you are in need of
money. In this material world, persons who are not attached to
material opulence are very rarely found. Such unattached
persons haven't the least desire to accumulate wealth and
prosperity for sense gratification, but sometimes they are
found to collect money just to exhibit the exemplary life of a
householder. They show how by proper distribution of wealth one
can become an ideal householder and at the same time become a
great devotee. Such ideal householders are to be considered
followers of My footsteps. I hope, My dear brahmana friend,
you remember all those days of our school life when both
you and I were living together at the boarding house. Actually,
whatever knowledge both you and I received in our life was
accumulated in our student life.
"If a man is sufficiently educated in student life under the
guidance of a proper teacher, then his life becomes successful
in the future. He can very easily cross over the ocean of
nescience, and he is not subjected to the influence of
illusory energy. My dear friend, everyone should consider his
father to be his first teacher because by the mercy of one's
father one gets this body. The father is therefore the natural
spiritual master. Our next spiritual master is he who initiates
us into transcendental knowledge, and he is to be worshiped as
much as I am. The spiritual master may be more than one. The
spiritual master who instructs the disciples about spiritual
matters is called siksa-guru, and the spiritual master who
initiates the disciple is called diksa-guru. Both of them
are My representatives. There may be many spiritual masters who
instruct, but the initiator spiritual master is one. A human
being who takes advantage of these spiritual masters and,
receiving proper knowledge from them, crosses the ocean of
material existence, is to be understood as having properly
utilized his human form of life. He has practical knowledge
that the ultimate interest of life, which is to be gained only
in this human form, is to achieve spiritual perfection and thus
be transferred back home, back to Godhead.
"My dear friend, I am Paramatma, the Supersoul present in
everyone's heart, and it is My direct order that human society
must follow the principles of varna and asrama. As I have
stated in the Bhagavad-gita, the human society should be
divided, according to quality and action, into
four varnas. Similarly, everyone should divide his life into
four parts. One should utilize the first part of life in
becoming a bona fide student, receiving adequate knowledge and
keeping oneself in the vow of brahmacarya, so that one may
completely devote his life for the service of the spiritual
master without indulging in sense gratification. A brahmacari
is meant to lead a life of austerities and penance. The
householder is meant to live a regulated life of sense
gratification, but no one should remain a householder for the
third stage of life. In that stage, one has to return to the
austerities and penances formerly practiced in brahmacari life
and thus relieve himself of the attachment to household life.
After being relieved of his attachments to the materialistic
way of life, one may accept the order of sannyasa.
"As the Supersoul of the living entities, sitting in
everyone's heart, I observe everyone's activity in every
stage and order of life. Regardless of which stage one is in,
when I see that one is engaged seriously and sincerely in
discharging the duties ordered by the spiritual master, and is
thus dedicating his life to the service of the spiritual master,
that person becomes most dear to Me. As far as the life of
brahmacarya is concerned, if one can continue the life of a
brahmacari under the direction of a spiritual master, that is
extremely good; but if in brahmacari life one feels sex
impulses, then he should take leave of his spiritual master,
satisfying him according to the guru's desire. According to the
Vedic system, a gift is offered to the spiritual master, which
is called guru-daksina. Then the disciple should take to
householder life and accept a wife according to religious rites.
"
These instructions given by Lord Krsna while talking with His
friend the learned brahmana are very good for the guidance of
human society. A system of human civilization that does not
promote varna and asrama is nothing but polished animal
society. Indulgence in sex life by a man or woman living single
is never acceptable in human society. A man should either
strictly follow the principles of brahmacari life or, with the
permission of the spiritual master, should get married. Single
life with illicit sex is animal life. For the animals there is
no marriage institution.
Modern society does not aim at fulfilling the mission of human
life. The mission of human life is to go back home, back to
Godhead. To fulfill this mission, the system of varna and
asrama must be followed. When the system is followed rigidly
and consciously, it fulfills this mission of life. When it
is followed indirectly, without guidance of superior
order, it simply creates a disturbing condition in human
society, and there is no peace and prosperity.
Krsna continued to talk with His brahmana friend: "My dear
friend, I think you remember our activities during the days
when we were living as students. You may remember that once we
went to collect fuel from the forest on the order of the guru's
wife. While we were collecting the dried wood, we by chance
entered the dense forest and became lost. There was
an unexpected dust storm and then clouds and lightning in the
sky and the explosive sound of thunder. Then sunset came, and
we were lost in the dark jungle. After this, there was severe
rainfall; the whole ground was overflooded with water, and we
could not trace out the way to return to our guru's asrama. You
may remember that the heavy rainfall -- it was not actually
rainfall but a sort of devastation. On account of the dust
storm and the heavy rain, we began to feel greatly pained, and
in whichever direction we turned we were bewildered. In that
distressed condition, we took each other's hand and tried to
find our way out. We passed the whole night in that way, and
early in the morning when our absence became known to our
gurudeva, he sent his other disciples to search us out. He also
came with them, and when they reached us in the jungle they
found us to be very distressed.
"With great compassion our gurudeva said, 'My dear boys, it is
very wonderful that you have suffered so much trouble for me.
Everyone likes to take care of his body as the first
consideration, but you are so good and faithful to your guru
that without caring for bodily comforts you have taken so much
trouble for me. I am also glad to see that bona fide students
like you will undergo any kind of trouble for the satisfaction
of the spiritual master. That is the way for a bona fide
disciple to become free from his debt to the spiritual master.
It is the duty of the disciple to dedicate his life to the
service of the spiritual master. My dear best of the twice-born,
I am greatly pleased by your action, and I bless you: May all
your desires and ambitions be fulfilled. May the understanding
of the Vedas which you have learned from me always continue to
remain within your memory, so that at every moment you can
remember the teachings of the Vedas and quote their
instructions without difficulty. Thus you will never be
disappointed in this life or in the next.'"
Krsna continued: "My dear friend, you may remember that many
such incidents occurred while we were in the asrama of our
spiritual master. Both of us can realize that without the
blessings of the spiritual master no one can be happy. By the
mercy of the spiritual master and by his blessings, one can
achieve peace and prosperity and be able to fulfill the mission
of human life."
On hearing this, the learned brahmana replied, "My dear Krsna,
You are the Supreme Lord and the supreme spiritual master of
everyone, and since I was fortunate enough to live with You in
the house of our guru, I think I have nothing more to do in the
matter of prescribed Vedic duties. My dear Lord, the Vedic
hymns, ritualistic ceremonies, religious activities and all
other necessities for the perfection of human life, including
economic development, sense gratification and liberation, are
all derived from one source: Your supreme personality. All the
different processes of life are ultimately meant for the
understanding of Your personality. In other words, they are the
different parts of Your transcendental form. And yet You played
the role of a student and lived with us in the house of the
guru. This means that You adopted all these pastimes for Your
pleasure only; otherwise there was no need for Your playing the
role of a human being."
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume,
Twenty-fifth Chapter, of Krsna, "The Meeting of Lord Krsna with
Sudama Brahmana."
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KB 80: The Meeting of Lord Krsna with Sudama Brahmana
CHAPTER EIGHTY
The Meeting of Lord Krsna with Sudama Brahmana
King Pariksit was hearing the narrations of the pastimes of
Lord Krsna and Lord Balarama from Sukadeva Gosvami. These
pastimes are all transcendentally pleasurable to hear, and
Maharaja Pariksit addressed Sukadeva Gosvami as follows: "My
dear lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is the
bestower of both liberation and love of God simultaneously.
Anyone who becomes a devotee of the Lord automatically attains
liberation without having to make a separate attempt. Because
the Lord is unlimited, His pastimes and activities
for creating, maintaining and destroying the whole cosmic
manifestation are also unlimited. I therefore wish to hear
about other pastimes of His which you may not have
described as yet. My dear master, the conditioned souls within
this material world are frustrated by searching out the
pleasure of happiness derived from sense gratification. Such
desires for material enjoyment are always piercing the hearts
of conditioned souls. But I am actually experiencing how the
transcendental topics of Lord Krsna's pastimes can relieve one
from being affected by such
material activities of sense gratification. I think that no
intelligent person can reject this method of hearing the
transcendental pastimes of the Lord again and again; simply by
hearing, one can remain always steeped in transcendental
pleasure. Thus one will not be attracted by material sense
gratification."
In this statement, Maharaja Pariksit has used two important
words: visanna and visesa-jna. Visanna means "morose."
Materialistic people invent many ways
and means to become fully satisfied, but actually they remain
morose. The point may be raised that sometimes
transcendentalists also remain morose. Pariksit Maharaja
, however, has used the word visesa-jna. There are two
kinds of transcendentalists, namely the impersonalists and the
personalists. Visesa-jna refers to the personalists, who
are interested in transcendental variegatedness. The devotees
become jubilant by hearing the descriptions of the personal
activities of the Supreme Lord, whereas the impersonalists, who
are actually more attracted by the impersonal feature of the
Lord, are only superficially attracted by the Lord's personal
activities. As such, in spite of coming in contact
with the pastimes of the Lord, the impersonalists do not fully
realize the benefit to be derived, and thus they become
just as morose as the materialists do
in pursuing their fruitive activities.
King Pariksit continued: "The ability to talk can be
perfected only by describing the transcendental qualities of
the Lord. The ability to work with one's hands can be
successful only when one engages himself in the service of the
Lord with those hands. Similarly, one's mind can be peaceful
only when one simply thinks of Krsna in full Krsna
consciousness. This does not mean that one has to have very
great thinking power: one has to understand simply
that Krsna, the Absolute Truth, is all-pervasive by His
localized aspect of Paramatma. If one can simply think
that Krsna, as Paramatma, is everywhere, even within the atom,
then one can perfect the thinking, feeling and willing
functions of his mind. The perfect devotee does not see the
material world as it appears to material eyes, for he sees
everywhere the presence of his worshipable Lord in His
Paramatma feature."
Maharaja Pariksit continued by saying that the function of the
ear can be perfected simply by engagement in hearing the
transcendental activities of the Lord, and the
function of the head can be fully utilized when the head is
engaged in bowing down before the Lord and His representative.
That the Lord is represented in everyone's heart is a fact, and
therefore the highly advanced devotee offers his respects to
every living entity, considering that the body is the temple of
the Lord. But it is not possible for all men to come to that
stage of life immediately, because that stage is for the first-
class devotee. The second-class devotee can consider the
Vaisnavas, or the devotees of the Lord, to be representatives
of Krsna, and the devotee who is just beginning, the neophyte
or third-class devotee, can bow his head before the Deity in
the temple and before the spiritual master, who is the direct
manifestation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore,
in the neophyte stage, in the intermediate stage or in the
fully advanced, perfected stage, one can make the function of
the head perfect by bowing down before the Lord or His
representative. Similarly, one can perfect the function of the
eyes by seeing the Lord and His representative. In this way,
everyone can elevate the functions of the different parts of
his body to the highest perfectional stage simply by engaging
them in the service of the Lord or His representative. If one
is able to do nothing more, he can simply bow down before the
Lord and His representative and drink the caranamrta, the water
which has washed the lotus feet of the Lord or His devotee.
On hearing these statements of Maharaja Pariksit's, Sukadeva
Gosvami was overwhelmed with devotional ecstasy because of
King Pariksit's advanced understanding of the Vaisnava
philosophy. Sukadeva Gosvami was already engaged in describing
the activities of the Lord, and when asked by Maharaja
Pariksit to describe them further, he continued
to narrate Srimad-Bhagavatam with great pleasure.
There was a very nice brahmana friend of Lord Krsna. As a
perfect brahmana, he was very elevated in transcendental
knowledge, and because of his advanced knowledge, he was not at
all attached to material enjoyment. Therefore he was very
peaceful and had achieved supreme control over his senses. This
means that the brahmana was a perfect devotee, because unless
one is a perfect devotee he cannot achieve the highest
standard of knowledge. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita that a
person who has come to the perfection of knowledge
surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other
words, any person who has surrendered his life for the service
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead has come to the point of
perfect knowledge. The result of perfect knowledge is that one
becomes detached from the materialistic way of life. This
detachment means complete control of the senses, which are
always attracted by material enjoyment. The senses of the
devotee become purified, and in that stage the senses are
engaged in the service of the Lord. That is the complete field
of devotional service.
Although the brahmana friend of Lord Krsna was a householder,
he was not busy accumulating wealth for very comfortable living;
therefore he was satisfied by the income which automatically
came to him according to his destiny. This is the sign of
perfect knowledge. A man in perfect knowledge knows that
one cannot be happier than he is destined to be. In this
material world, everyone is destined to suffer a certain amount
of distress and enjoy a certain amount of happiness. The
amount of happiness and distress is already predestined for
every living entity. No one can increase or decrease the
happiness of the materialistic way of life. The brahmana,
therefore, did not exert himself for more material happiness;
instead, he used his time for advancement of Krsna
consciousness. Externally he appeared very poor because
he had no rich clothes and could not provide rich
clothes for his wife. Because their material condition
was not very opulent, they were not even eating sufficiently,
and thus both he and his wife appeared very thin. The
wife was not anxious for her personal comfort, but she
felt concerned for her husband, who was such a pious
brahmana. She trembled due to her weak health, and
although she did not like to dictate to her husband, she spoke
as follows.
"My dear lord, I know that Lord Krsna, the husband of
the goddess of fortune, is your personal friend. You are also a
devotee of Lord Krsna, and He is always ready to help His
devotee. Even if you think that you are not rendering any
devotional service to the Lord, still you are surrendered to
Him, and the Lord is the protector of the surrendered soul.
Moreover, I know that Lord Krsna is the ideal personality of
Vedic culture. He is always in favor of brahminical culture and
is very kind to the qualified brahmanas. You are the most
fortunate person because you have as your friend the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. Lord Krsna is the only shelter for
personalities like you because you are fully surrendered unto
Him. You are saintly, learned and fully in control of your
senses. Under the circumstances, Lord Krsna is your only
shelter. Please, therefore, go to Him. I am sure that He will
immediately understand your impoverished position. You are a
householder; therefore without money you are in distress
. But as soon as He understands your
position, He will certainly give you sufficient riches so that
you can live very comfortably. Lord Krsna is now the King of
the Bhoja, Vrsni and Andhaka dynasties, and I have heard that
He never leaves His capital city, Dvaraka. He is living there
without outside engagements. He is so kind and liberal that He
immediately gives everything, even His personal self, to any
person who surrenders unto Him. Since He is prepared to give
Himself personally to His devotee, there is nothing
wonderful in giving some material riches. Of course, He does
not give much material wealth to His devotee if the devotee is
not very much fixed, but I think that in your case He knows
perfectly well how much you are fixed in devotional service.
Therefore He will not hesitate to award you some material
benefit for the bare necessities of life."
In this way, the wife of the brahmana again and again requested,
in great humility and submission, that he go to Lord Krsna.
The brahmana thought that there was no need to ask any material
benefit from Lord Sri Krsna, but he was induced by the repeated
requests of his wife. Moreover, he thought, "If I go there I
shall be able to see the Lord personally. That will be a great
opportunity, even if I don't ask any material benefit from Him."
When he had decided to go to Krsna, he asked his wife if she
had anything in the home that he could offer to Krsna, because
he must take some presentation for his friend. The wife
immediately collected four palmfuls of chipped rice from her
neighborhood friends and tied it in a small cloth, like a
handkerchief, and gave it to her husband to present to Krsna.
Without waiting any longer, the brahmana took the presentation
and proceeded toward Dvaraka to see his Lord.
He was absorbed in the thought
of how he would be able to see Lord Krsna. He had no thought
within his heart other than Krsna.
It was of course very difficult to reach the palaces of the
kings of the Yadu dynasty, but brahmanas were allowed to visit.
When the brahmana friend of Lord Krsna went there, he,
along with other brahmanas, had to pass through three military
encampments. In each camp there were very big gates, and he
also had to pass through them. After the gates and the camps,
there were sixteen thousand big palaces, the residential
quarters of the sixteen thousand queens of Lord Krsna. The
brahmana entered one palace which was very gorgeously decorated.
When he entered this beautiful palace, he felt that he was
swimming in the ocean of transcendental pleasure. He felt
himself constantly diving and surfacing in that transcendental
ocean.
At that time, Lord Krsna was sitting on the bedstead of Queen
Rukmini. Even from a considerable distance He could see the
brahmana coming to His home, and He could recognize him as His
friend. Lord Krsna immediately left His seat and came forward
to receive His brahmana friend and, upon reaching him, embraced
the brahmana with His two arms. Lord Krsna is the reservoir of
all transcendental pleasure, yet He Himself felt great
pleasure upon embracing the poor brahmana because He was
meeting His very dear friend. Lord Krsna had him seated on His
own bedstead and personally brought all kinds of fruits and
drinks to offer him, as is proper in receiving a worshipable
guest. Lord Sri Krsna is the supreme pure, but because He was
playing the role of an ordinary human being, He immediately
washed the brahmana's feet and, for His own purification,
sprinkled the water onto His head. After this the Lord smeared
the body of the brahmana with different kinds of scented pulp,
such as sandalwood, aguru and saffron. He immediately burned
several kinds of scented incense and, as is usual, offered
him arati with burning lamps. After thus offering him an
adequate welcome and after the brahmana had taken food and
drink, Lord Krsna said, "My dear friend, it is a great fortune
that you have come here."
The brahmana, being very poor, was not dressed nicely; his
clothing was torn and dirty, and his body was very lean
and thin. He appeared not very clean, and because of his
weak body, his bones were distinctly visible. The goddess of
fortune Rukminidevi personally began to fan him with the
camara fan, but the other women in the palace were astonished
at Lord Krsna's behavior in receiving the brahmana in that way.
They were surprised to see how eager Lord Krsna was to welcome
this particular brahmana. They wondered how Lord
Krsna could personally receive a brahmana who was poor, not
very neat or clean, and poorly dressed; but at the same time
they could realize that the brahmana was not an ordinary living
being. They knew that he must have performed great pious
activities; otherwise why was Lord Krsna, the husband of the
goddess of fortune, taking care of him so much? They
were still more surprised to see that the brahmana was seated
on the bedstead of Lord Krsna. They were especially surprised
to see that Lord Krsna had embraced him exactly as He embraced
His elder brother, Balaramaji, because Lord Krsna used to
embrace only Rukmini or Balarama, and no one else.
After the brahmana had been received nicely and
seated on Lord Krsna's own cushioned bed, he and Krsna
took each other's hands and began to talk about their early
life, when they had both lived under the protection of the
gurukula (a boarding school). Lord Krsna said, "My dear
brahmana friend, you are a most intelligent personality, and
you know very well the principles of religious life. I believe
that after you finished your education at the house of our
teacher and after you sufficiently remunerated him, you must
have gone back to your home and accepted a suitable wife. I
know very well that from the beginning you were not at all
attached to the materialistic way of life, nor did you desire
to be very opulent materially, and therefore you are in need of
money. In this material world, persons who are not attached to
material opulence are very rarely found. Such unattached
persons haven't the least desire to accumulate wealth and
prosperity for sense gratification, but sometimes they are
found to collect money just to exhibit the exemplary life of a
householder. They show how by proper distribution of wealth one
can become an ideal householder and at the same time a
great devotee. Such ideal householders are to be considered
followers of My footsteps. I hope, My dear brahmana friend,
that you remember all those days of our school life when
you and I were living together at the boarding school. Actually,
whatever knowledge you and I received in life was
accumulated in our student life.
"If a man is sufficiently educated in student life under the
guidance of a proper teacher, his life becomes successful
in the future. He can very easily cross over the ocean of
nescience, and he is not subject to the influence of the
illusory energy. My dear friend, everyone should consider his
father to be his first teacher because by the mercy of one's
father one gets this body. The father is therefore the natural
spiritual master. Our next spiritual master is he who initiates
us into transcendental knowledge, and he is to be worshiped as
much as I am. The spiritual master may be more than one. The
spiritual master who instructs the disciple about spiritual
matters is called the siksa-guru, and the spiritual master who
initiates the disciple is called the diksa-guru. Both of them
are My representatives. There may be many spiritual masters who
instruct, but the initiator spiritual master is one. A human
being who takes advantage of these spiritual masters and,
receiving proper knowledge from them, crosses the ocean of
material existence is to be understood as having properly
utilized his human form of life. He has practical knowledge
that the ultimate interest of life, which is to be gained only
in this human form, is to achieve spiritual perfection and thus
be transferred back home, back to Godhead.
"My dear friend, I am Paramatma, the Supersoul present in
everyone's heart, and it is My direct order that human society
follow the principles of varna and asrama. As I have
stated in the Bhagavad-gita, human society should be
divided into four varnas, according to quality and action
. Similarly, everyone should divide his life into
four parts. One should utilize the first part of life in
becoming a bona fide student, receiving adequate knowledge and
keeping oneself in the vow of brahmacarya, so that one may
completely devote his life for the service of the spiritual
master without indulging in sense gratification. A brahmacari
is meant to lead a life of austerities and penance. The
householder is meant to live a regulated life of sense
gratification, but no one should remain a householder for the
third stage of life. In that stage, one has to return to the
austerities and penances formerly practiced in brahmacari life
and thus relieve himself of the attachment to household life.
After being relieved of his attachments to the materialistic
way of life, one may accept the order of sannyasa.
"As the Supersoul of the living entities, I sit in
everyone's heart and observe everyone's activity in every
stage and order of life. Regardless of which stage one is in,
when I see that one is engaged seriously and sincerely in
discharging the duties ordered by the spiritual master and is
thus dedicating his life to the service of the spiritual master,
that person becomes most dear to Me. As far as the life of
brahmacarya is concerned, if one can continue the life of a
brahmacari under the direction of a spiritual master, that is
extremely good; but if in brahmacari life one feels sex
impulses, he should take leave of his spiritual master,
satisfying him according to the guru's desire. According to the
Vedic system, a gift is offered to the spiritual master, which
is called guru-daksina. Then the disciple should take to
householder life and accept a wife according to religious rites.
"
These instructions given by Lord Krsna while talking with His
friend the learned brahmana are very good for the guidance of
human society. A system of human civilization that does not
promote varna and asrama is nothing but a polished animal
society. Indulgence in sex life by a man or woman living single
is never acceptable in human society. A man should
strictly follow the principles of brahmacari life or, with the
permission of the spiritual master, should get married. Single
life with illicit sex is animal life, for the animals have
no such institution as marriage.
Modern society does not aim at fulfilling the mission of human
life, which is to go back home, back to
Godhead. To fulfill this mission, the system of varna and
asrama must be followed. When the system is followed rigidly
and consciously, it fulfills this mission, but
when followed indirectly, without the guidance of superior
authority, it simply creates a disturbing condition in human
society, and there is no peace and prosperity.
Krsna continued to talk with His brahmana friend: "My dear
friend, I think you remember our activities during the days
when we were living as students. You may remember that once we
went to collect fuel from the forest on the order of the guru's
wife. While collecting the dried wood, we
entered the dense forest and by chance became lost. There was
an unexpected dust storm and then clouds and lightning in the
sky and the explosive sound of thunder. Then sunset came, and
we were lost in the dark jungle. After this, there was severe
rainfall; the whole ground was overflooded with water, and we
could not trace out the way to return to our guru's asrama. You
may remember that heavy rainfall -- it was not actually
rainfall but a sort of devastation. On account of the dust
storm and the heavy rain, we began to feel greatly pained, and
in whichever direction we turned we were bewildered. In that
distressed condition, we took each other's hand and tried to
find our way out. We passed the whole night in that way, and
early in the morning, when our absence became known to our
gurudeva, he sent his other disciples to search us out. He also
came with them, and when they reached us in the jungle they
found us very much distressed.
"With great compassion our gurudeva said, "My dear boys, it is
very wonderful that you have suffered so much trouble for me.
Everyone likes to take care of his body as the first
consideration, but you are so good and faithful to your guru
that without caring for bodily comforts you have taken so much
trouble for me. I am glad to see that bona fide students
like you will undergo any kind of trouble for the satisfaction
of the spiritual master. That is the way for a bona fide
disciple to become free from his debt to the spiritual master.
It is the duty of the disciple to dedicate his life to the
service of the spiritual master. My dear best of the twice-born,
I am greatly pleased by your acts, and I bless you: May all
your desires and ambitions be fulfilled. May the understanding
of the Vedas which you have learned from me always continue to
remain within your memory, so that at every moment you can
remember the teachings of the Vedas and quote their
instructions without difficulty. Thus you will never be
disappointed in this life or the next.'"
Krsna continued: "My dear friend, you may remember that many
such incidents occurred while we were in the asrama of our
spiritual master. Both of us can realize that without the
blessings of the spiritual master no one can be happy. By the
mercy of the spiritual master and by his blessings, one can
achieve peace and prosperity and be able to fulfill the mission
of human life."
On hearing this, the learned brahmana replied, "My dear Krsna,
You are the Supreme Lord and the supreme spiritual master of
everyone, and since I was fortunate enough to live with You in
the house of our guru, I think I have nothing more to do in the
matter of prescribed Vedic duties. My dear Lord, the Vedic
hymns, ritualistic ceremonies, religious activities and all
other necessities for the perfection of human life, including
economic development, sense gratification and liberation, are
all derived from one source: Your supreme personality. All the
different processes of life are ultimately meant for
understanding Your personality. In other words, they are the
different parts of Your transcendental form. And yet You played
the role of a student and lived with us in the house of the
guru. This means that You adopted all these pastimes for Your
pleasure only; otherwise there was no need for Your playing the
role of a human being."
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Eightieth
Chapter of Krsna, "The Meeting of Lord Krsna with
Sudama Brahmana."
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