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KB 1970-2-15 / Lord Krsna's Daily Activities
15 / Lord Krsna's Daily Activities
From the Vedic mantras we learn that the Supreme Personality of
Godhead has nothing to do: na tasya karyam kranam ca vidyate.
If the Supreme Lord has nothing to do, then how can we
speak of the activities of the Supreme Lord? From the previous
chapter it is clear that no one can act in the way that Lord
Krsna does. We should clearly note this fact: the activities of
the Lord should be followed, but they cannot be imitated. For
example, Krsna's ideal life as a householder can be followed,
but if one wants to imitate Krsna by expanding into many forms,
that is not possible. We should always remember, therefore,
that Lord Krsna, although playing the part of a human being,
nevertheless simultaneously maintains the position of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. We can follow Lord Krsna's
dealing with His wives as an ordinary human being, but His
dealing with more than sixteen thousand wives at one time
cannot be imitated. The conclusion is that to become ideal
householders we should follow in the footsteps of Lord Krsna as
He displayed His daily activities, but we cannot imitate Him at
any stage of our life.
Lord Krsna used to lie down with His sixteen thousand wives,
but also He would rise up from bed very early in the morning,
three hours before sunrise. By nature's arrangement the crowing
of the cocks warns of the brahma-muhurta hour. There is no need
of alarm clocks; as soon as the cocks crow early in the morning,
it is to be understood that it is time to rise from bed.
Hearing that sound, Krsna would get up from bed, but His rising
early was not very much to the liking of His wives. The wives
of Krsna were so much attached to Him that they would lie in
bed embracing Him, but as soon as the cocks crowed, Krsna's
wives would be very sorry and would immediately condemn the
crowing.
In the garden within the compound of each palace there were
parijata flowers. Parijata is not an artificial flower.
We remember that Krsna brought the parijata trees from heaven
and implanted them in all His palaces. Early in the morning, a
mild breeze would carry the aroma of the parijata flower, and
Krsna would smell it just after rising from bed. Due to this
aroma, the honeybees would begin their humming vibration, and
the birds also would begin their sweet chirping sounds. All
together it would sound like the singing of professional
chanters engaged in offering prayers to Krsna. Although Srimati
Rukminidevi, the first queen of Lord Krsna, knew that brahma-
muhurta is the most auspicious time in the entire day, she
would feel disgusted at the appearance of brahma-muhurta
because she was not very happy to have Krsna leave her side in
bed. Despite Srimati Rukminidevi's disgust, Lord Krsna would
immediately get up from bed exactly on the appearance of brahma-
muhurta. An ideal householder should learn from the behavior of
Lord Krsna how to rise early in the morning, however
comfortably he may be lying in bed embraced by his wife.
After rising from bed, Lord Krsna would wash His mouth, hands
and feet and would immediately sit down and meditate on Himself.
This does not mean, however, that we should also sit down and
meditate on ourselves. We have to meditate upon Krsna, Radha-
Krsna. That is real meditation, Krsna is Krsna Himself;
therefore He was teaching us that brahma-muhurta should be
utilized for meditation on Radha-Krsna. By doing so,
Krsna would feel very much satisfied, and similarly we will
also feel transcendentally pleased and satisfied if we utilize
the brahma-muhurta period to meditate on Radha and Krsna and if
we think of how Sri Rukminidevi and Krsna acted as ideal
householders to teach the whole human society to rise early in
the morning and immediately engage in Krsna consciousness.
There is no difference between meditating on the eternal forms
of Radha-Krsna and chanting the mahamantra, Hare Krsna.
As for Krsna's meditation, He had no alternative but to
meditate on Himself. The object of meditation is Brahman,
Paramatma or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but Krsna
Himself is all three: He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Bhagavan; the localized Paramatma is His plenary partial
expansion; and the all-pervading Brahman effulgence is the
personal rays of His transcendental body. Therefore Krsna is
always one, and for Him there is no differentiation. That is
the difference between an ordinary living being and Krsna. For
an ordinary living being there are many distinctions. An
ordinary living being is different from his body, and he is
different from other species of living entities. A human being
is different from other human beings and different from the
animals. Even in his own body, there are different bodily limbs.
We have our hands and legs, but our hands are different from
our legs. The hand cannot act like the leg, nor can the leg act
like the hand. The eyes cannot hear like the ears, nor can
the ears see like the eyes. All these differences
are technically called svajtiya-vijtiya.
The bodily limitation whereby one part of the body cannot act
as another part is totally absent in the Supreme Personality
of Godhead. There is no difference between His body and Himself.
He is completely spiritual, and therefore there is no material
difference between His body and His soul. Similarly, He is not
different from His millions of incarnations and plenary
expansions. Baladeva is the first expansion of Krsna, and from
Baladeva expand Sankarsana, Vasudeva, Pradyumna and Aniruddha.
From Sankarsana there is again an expansion of Narayana, and
from Narayana there is a second quadruple expansion of
Sankarsana, Vasudeva, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. Similarly there
are innumerable expansions of Krsna, but all of them are
one. Krsna has many incarnations, such as Lord Nrsimha, Lord
Boar, Lord Fish and Lord Tortoise, but there is no difference
between Krsna's original two-handed form, like that of a human
being, and these incarnations of gigantic animal forms. Nor is
there any difference between the action of one part of His body
and that of another. His hands can act as His legs, His eyes
can act as His ears, or His nose can act as another part of His
body. Krsna's smelling and eating and hearing are all the same.
We limited living entities have to use a particular part of our
body for a particular purpose, but there is no such distinction
for Krsna. In the Brahma-samhita it is said, angani yasya
sakalendriya-vrtti: He can perform the activities of
one limb with any other limb. So by analytical study of Krsna
and His person, it is concluded that He is the complete whole.
When He meditates, therefore, He meditates on Himself. The
self-meditation by ordinary men, designated in Sanskrit as so '
ham, is simply imitation. Krsna may meditate on Himself because
He is the complete whole, but we cannot imitate Him and
meditate on ourselves. Our body is a designation;
Krsna's body is not a designation.
Krsna's body is also Krsna. There is no existence of anything
foreign in Krsna. Whatever there is in Krsna is also Krsna. He
is therefore the supreme, indestructible, complete existence,
or the supreme truth.
Krsna's existence is not relative existence. Everything else
but Krsna is a relative truth, but Krsna is the Supreme
Absolute Truth. Krsna does not depend on anything but Himself
for His existence. Our existence, however is relative. For
example, only when there is the light of the sun, the moon or
electricity are we able to see. Our seeing, therefore, is
relative, and the light of the sun and moon and electricity is
also relative; they are called illuminating only because we see
them as such. Dependence and relativity do not exist
in Krsna. His activities are not dependent on anyone else's
appreciation, nor does He depend on anyone else's help. He is
beyond the existence of limited time and space, and because He
is transcendental to time and space, He cannot be covered by
the illusion of maya, whose activities are limited. In the
Vedic literature we find that the Supreme Personality of
Godhead has multi-potencies. Since all such potencies
are emanations from Him, there is no difference between Him and
His potencies. Certain philosophers say, however, that when
Krsna comes He accepts a material body. But even if it is
accepted that when He comes to the material world He accepts a
material body, it should be concluded also that because the
material energy is not different from Him, this body does not
act materially. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said, therefore,
that He appears by His own internal potency, atma-maya.
Krsna is called the Supreme Brahman because He is the cause of
creation, the cause of maintenance and the cause of
dissolution. Lord Brahma, Lord Visnu and Lord Siva are
different expansions of these material qualities. All these
material qualities can act upon the conditioned souls, but
there is no such action and reaction upon Krsna because these
qualities are all simultaneously one with and different from
Him. Krsna Himself is simply sac-cid-ananda-vigraha,
the eternal form of bliss and knowledge, and because of His
inconceivable greatness, He is called the Supreme Brahman. His
meditation on Brahman or Paramatma or Bhagavan is on Himself
only and not on anything else beyond Himself. This meditation
cannot be imitated by the ordinary living entity.
After His meditation, the Lord would regularly bathe early in
the morning with clear sanctified water. Then He would change
into fresh clothing, cover Himself with a wrapper and then
engage Himself in His daily religious functions. Out of His
many religious duties, the first was to offer oblations into
the sacrificial fire and silently chant the Gayatri mantra.
Lord Krsna, as the ideal householder, executed all the
religious functions of a householder without deviation. When
the sunrise became visible, the Lord would offer specific
prayers to the sun-god. The sun-god and other demigods
mentioned in the Vedic scriptures are described as different
limbs of the body of Lord Krsna, and it is the duty of the
householder to offer respects to the demigods and great sages,
as well as the forefathers.
As it is said in the Bhagavad-gita, the Lord has no specific
duty to perform in this world, and yet He acts just like an
ordinary man living an ideal life within this material world.
In accordance with Vedic ritualistic principles, the Lord would
offer respects to the demigods. The regulative principle by
which the demigods and forefathers are worshiped is called
tarpana, which means pleasing. One's forefathers might have
to take a body on another planet, but by performance of this
tarpana system, they become very happy wherever they may be. It
is the duty of the householder to make his family members happy,
and by following this tarpana system he can make his
forefathers happy also. As the perfect exemplary householder,
Lord Sri Krsna followed this tarpana system and offered
respectful obeisances to the elderly, superior members of His
family.
His next duty was to give cows in charity to the brahmanas.
Lord Krsna used to give as many as 13,084 cows.
Each of them was decorated with a silken cover and pearl
necklace, their horns were covered with gold plating, and their
hooves were silver-plated. All of them were full of milk, due
to having their first-born calves with them, and they were very
tame and peaceful. When the cows were given in charity to the
brahmanas, the brahmanas also were given nice silken garments,
and each was given a deerskin and sufficient quantity of sesame
grains. The Lord is generally known as go-brahmana-hitaya ca,
which means that His first duty is to see to the welfare of the
cows and the brahmanas. Thus He used to give cows in charity to
the brahmanas, with opulent decorations and paraphernalia. Then,
wishing for the welfare of all living entities, He would touch
auspicious articles such as milk, fire, honey, ghee (clarified
butter), gold, jewels and fire. Although the Lord is by nature
very beautiful due to the perfect figure of His transcendental
body, still He would dress Himself in yellow colored garments
and put on His necklace of Kaustubha jewels. He would wear
flower garlands, smear His body with the pulp of sandalwood and
decorate Himself with other similar cosmetics and ornaments. It
is said that the ornaments themselves became beautiful upon
being placed on the transcendental body of the Lord. After
decorating Himself in this way, the Lord would then look at
marble statues of the cow and calf and visit temples of God or
demigods like Lord Siva. There were many brahmanas who would
come daily to see the Supreme Lord before taking their
breakfast; they were anxious to see Him, and He welcomed them.
His next duty was to please all kinds of men belonging to the
different castes, both in the city and within the palace
compound. He made them happy by fulfilling their different
desires, and when the Lord saw them happy He also became very
much pleased. The flower garlands, betel nuts, sandalwood pulp
and other fragrant cosmetic articles which were offered to the
Lord would be distributed by Him, first to the brahmanas and
elderly members of the family, then to the queens, then to
the ministers, and if there were still some balance He would
utilize it for His own personal use. By the time the Lord
finished all these daily duties and activities, His charioteer
Daruka would come with His wonderful chariot to stand before
the Lord with folded hands, intimating that the chariot was
ready, and the Lord would come out of the palace to travel.
Then the Lord, accompanied by Uddhava and Satyaki, would ride
on the chariot just as the sun-god rides on his chariot in the
morning, appearing with his blazing rays on the surface of the
world. When the Lord was about to leave His palaces, all the
queens would look at Him with feminine gestures. The Lord would
respond to their greetings with smiles, attracting their hearts
so much so that they would feel intense separation from the
Lord.
Then the Lord would go to the assembly house known as Sudharma.
It may be remembered that the Sudharma assembly house was taken
away from the heavenly planet and was reestablished in
the city of Dvaraka. The specific significance of the assembly
house was that anyone who entered it would be freed from the
six kinds of material pangs, namely hunger, thirst, lamentation,
illusion, old age and death. These are the webs of material
existence, and as long as one remained in that
assembly house of Sudharma he would not be infected by these
six material webs. The Lord would say good-bye in all the
sixteen thousand palaces, and again He would become one and
enter the Sudharma assembly house in procession with other
members of the Yadu dynasty. After entering the assembly house,
He used to sit on the exalted royal throne and would be seen to
emanate glaring rays of transcendental effulgence. In the midst
of all the great heroes of the Yadu dynasty, Krsna resembled
the full moon in the sky, surrounded by multi-
luminaries. In the assembly house there were professional
jokers, dancers, musicians and ballet girls, and as soon as the
Lord sat on His throne they would begin their respective
functions in order to please the Lord and put Him in a happy
mood. First of all the jokers would talk in such a way that the
Lord and His associates would enjoy their humor which would
refresh the morning mood. The dramatic actors would then play
their parts, and the dancing ballet girls would separately
display their artistic movements. All these functions would be
accompanied by the beating of mrdanga drums and the sounds of
the vina and flutes and bells, followed by the sound of the
pakhvaj, another type of drum. Along with these musical
vibrations, the auspicious sound of the conchshell would also
be added. The professional singers called sutas and magadhas
would sing, and others would perform their dancing art. In this
way, as devotees, they would offer respectful prayers to the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sometimes the learned brahmanas
present in that assembly would chant Vedic hymns and explain
them to the audience to their best knowledge, and
sometimes some of them would recite old historical accounts of
the activities of prominent kings. The Lord, accompanied by His
associates, would be very much pleased to hear them.
Once upon a time, a person arrived at the gateway of the
assembly house who was unknown to all the members of the
assembly, and with the permission of Lord Krsna he was admitted
into the assembly by the doorkeeper. The doorkeeper was ordered
to present him before the Lord, and the man appeared and
offered his respectful obeisances unto the Lord with folded
hands. It had happened that when King Jarasandha conquered all
other kingdoms many kings did not bow their heads before
Jarasandha, and as a result of this all of them,
numbering twenty thousand, were arrested and made his prisoners.
The man who was brought before Lord Krsna by the doorkeeper
was a representative messenger from all these imprisoned kings.
Being duly presented before the Lord, the man began to explain
the actual situation as follows:
"My dear Lord, You are the eternal form of transcendental
bliss and knowledge. As such, You are beyond the reach of the
mental speculation or vocal description of any materialistic
man within this world. A slight portion of Your glories can be
known by persons who are fully surrendered unto Your lotus feet,
and by Your grace only such persons become freed from all
material anxieties. My dear Lord, I am not one of these
surrendered souls; I am still within the duality and illusion
of this material existence. I have therefore come to take
shelter of Your lotus feet, for I am afraid of the cycle of
birth and death. My dear Lord, I think that there are many
living entities like me who are eternally entangled in fruitive
activities and their resultant reactions. They are never
inclined to follow Your instructions by performance of
devotional service, although it is pleasing to the heart and
most auspicious for one's existence. On the contrary, they are
against the path of Krsna conscious life, and they are
wandering within the three worlds impelled by the illusory
energy of material existence.
"My dear Lord, who can estimate Your mercy and Your
powerful activities? You are present always as the
insurmountable force of eternal time, engaged in baffling the
indefatigable desires of the materialists, who are thus
repeatedly becoming confused and frustrated. I therefore offer
my respectful obeisances unto You in Your form of eternal time.
My dear Lord, You are the proprietor of all the worlds, and
You have incarnated Yourself along with Your plenary expansion
Lord Balarama. It is said that Your appearance in this
incarnation is for the purpose of protecting the faithful and
destroying the miscreants. Under the circumstances, how is it
possible that miscreants like Jarasandha can put us into such
deplorable conditions of life against Your authority? We are
puzzled at the situation and cannot understand how it is
possible. It may be that Jarasandha has been deputed to give us
such trouble because of our past misdeeds, but we have heard
from revealed scriptures that anyone who surrenders unto Your
lotus feet immediately becomes immuned to the reactions of
sinful life. I have therefore been deputed by all the
imprisoned kings to whole-heartedly offer ourselves
unto Your shelter, and we hope that Your
Lordship will now give us full protection. We have now come to
the real conclusion of our lives. Our kingly positions are
nothing but the reward of our past pious activities, just as
our suffering imprisonment by Jarasandha is the result of our
past impious activities. We realize now that the resultant
reactions of both pious and impious activities are temporary
and that we can never be happy in this conditioned life. This
material body is awarded to us by the modes of material nature,
and on account of this we are full of anxieties. The material
condition of life simply involves bearing the burden of this
dead body. As a result of fruitive activities we have thus
been subjected to being beasts of burden for these bodies, and
being forced by conditional life, we have given up the pleasing
life of Krsna consciousness. Now we realize that we are the
most foolish persons. We have been entangled in the network of
material reaction due to our ignorance. We have therefore come
to the shelter of Your lotus feet, which can immediately
eradicate all the results of fruitive action and thus free us
from the contamination of material pains and pleasures.
"Dear Lord, because we are now surrendered souls at Your
lotus feet, You can give us relief from the entrapment of
fruitive action made possible by the form of Jarasandha. Dear
Lord, it is known to You that Jarasandha possesses the power of
ten thousand elephants, and with this power he has imprisoned
us, just as a lion hypnotizes a flock of sheep. My dear Lord,
You have already fought with Jarasandha eighteen times
consecutively, out of which You have defeated him seventeen
times by surpassing his extraordinarily powerful position. But
in Your eighteenth fight, You exhibited Your human behavior,
and thus it appeared that You were defeated. My dear Lord, we
know very well that Jarasandha cannot defeat You at any time
because Your power, strength, resources and authority are all
unlimited. No one can equal You or surpass You. The appearance
of defeat by Jarasandha in the eighteenth engagement is
nothing but an exhibition of human behavior. Unfortunately,
foolish Jarasandha could not understand Your tricks, and he has
since then become puffed up over his material power and
prestige. Specifically, he has arrested us and imprisoned us,
knowing fully that as Your devotees, we are subordinate to Your
sovereignty.
"Now I have explained the awful
position, and Your Lordship can consider and do
whatever You like. As the messenger and representative of all
those imprisoned kings, I have submitted my words before Your
Lordship and presented our prayers to You. All the kings are
very anxious to see You so that they can all personally
surrender at Your lotus feet. My dear Lord, be merciful upon
them and act for their good fortune."
At the very moment the messenger of the imprisoned kings was
presenting his appeal before the Lord, the great sage Narada
also arrived. Because he was a great saint, his hair was
dazzling like gold, and when he entered the assembly house it
appeared that the sun-god was personally present in the midst
of the assembly. Lord Krsna is the worshipable master of even
Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, yet as soon as He saw that the sage
Narada had arrived, He immediately stood up along with His
ministers and secretaries to receive the great sage and offer
His respectful obeisances by bowing His head. The great sage
Narada took a comfortable seat, and Lord Krsna worshiped him
with all paraphernalia, as required for the regular reception
of a saintly person. While He was trying to satisfy Naradaji,
Lord Krsna spoke the following words in His sweet and natural
voice.
"My dear great sage among the demigods, I think that now
everything is well within the three worlds. You are perfectly
eligible to travel everywhere in space in the upper, middle
and lower planetary systems of this universe. Fortunately, when
we meet you we can very easily take information from your
holiness of all the news of the three worlds; within this
cosmic manifestation of the Supreme Lord, there is nothing
concealed from your knowledge. You know everything, and so I
wish to question you. Are the Pandavas doing well, and what is
the present plan of King Yudhisthira? Will you kindly let Me
know what they want to do at present?"
The great sage Narada spoke as follows: "My dear Lord, You have
spoken about the cosmic manifestation created by the Supreme
Lord, but I know that You are the all-pervading creator. Your
energies are so extensive and inconceivable that even powerful
personalities like Brahma, the lord of this particular universe,
cannot measure Your inconceivable power. My dear Lord, You are
present as the Supersoul in everyone's heart by Your
inconceivable potency, exactly like the fire which is present
in everyone but which no one can see directly. In conditioned
life, every living entity is within the jurisdiction of the
three modes of material nature. As such, they are unable to see
Your presence everywhere with their material eyes. By Your
grace, however, I have seen many times the action of Your
inconceivable potency, and therefore when You ask me for
news of the Pandavas, which is not at all unknown to You, I am
not surprised at Your inquiry. My dear Lord, by Your
inconceivable potencies You create this cosmic manifestation,
maintain it and again dissolve it. It is by dint of Your
inconceivable potency only that this material world, although a
shadow representation of the spiritual world, appears to be
factual. No one can understand what You plan to do in the
future. Your transcendental position is always inconceivable to
everyone. As far as I am concerned, I can simply offer my
respectful obeisances unto You again and again. In the bodily
concept of knowledge, everyone is driven by material desires,
and thus everyone develops new material bodies one after
another in the cycle of birth and death. Being absorbed in such
a concept of existence, one does not know how to get out of
this encagement of the material body. Out of Your causeless
mercy, my Lord, You descend to exhibit Your different
transcendental pastimes, which are illuminating and full of
glory. Therefore I have no alternative but to offer my
respectful obeisances unto You. My dear Lord, You are the
Supreme Parambrahman, and Your pastimes as an ordinary human
are another tactical resource, exactly like a play on the stage
in which the actor plays parts different from his own identity.
You have inquired about Your cousins the Pandavas in the role
of their well-wisher, and therefore I shall let You know about
their intentions. Now please hear me. First of all may I inform
You that King Yudhisthira has all material opulences which are
possible to achieve in the highest planetary system, Brahmaloka.
He has no material opulence for which to aspire, and yet he
wants to perform the Rajasuya sacrifices only to get Your
association and please You.
Narada
informed Lord Krsna
, "
King Yudhisthira is so opulent that he has attained all the
opulences of Brahmaloka even on this earthly planet. He is
fully satisfied, and he does not need anything more. He is full
in everything, but now he wants to worship You in order to
achieve Your causeless mercy, and I beg to request You to
fulfill his desires. My dear Lord, in these great sacrificial
performances by King Yudhisthira there will be an assembly of
all the demigods and all the famous kings of the world.
"My dear Lord, You are the Supreme Brahman, the Personality of
Godhead. One who engages himself in Your devotional service by
the prescribed methods of hearing, chanting and remembering
certainly becomes purified from the contamination of the modes
of material nature, and what to speak of those who have the
opportunity to see You and touch You directly. My dear Lord,
You are the symbol of everything auspicious. Your
transcendental name and fame have spread all over the universe,
including the higher, middle and lower planetary systems. The
transcendental water which washes Your lotus feet is known in
the higher planetary system as Mandakini, in the lower
planetary system as Bhogavati, and in this earthly planetary
system as the Ganges. This sacred, transcendental water flows
throughout the entire universe, purifying wherever it flows."
Just before the great sage Narada arrived in the Sudharma
assembly house of Dvaraka, Lord Krsna and His ministers and
secretaries had been considering how to attack the kingdom of
Jarasandha. Because they were seriously considering this
subject, Narada's proposal that Lord Krsna go to Hastinapura
for Maharaja Yudhisthira's great Rajasuya sacrifice did not
much appeal to them. Lord Krsna could understand the intentions
of His associates because He is the ruler of even Lord Brahma.
Therefore, in order to pacify them, He smilingly said to
Uddhava, "My dear Uddhava, you are always My well-wishing
confidential friend. I therefore wish to see everything through
you because I believe that your counsel is always right. I
believe that you understand the whole situation perfectly.
Therefore I am asking your opinion. What should I do? I have
faith in you, and therefore I shall do whatever you advise." It
was known to Uddhava that although Lord Krsna was acting like
an ordinary man, He knew everything -- past, present and future.
However, because the Lord was trying to consult with him,
Uddhava, in order to render service to the Lord, began to speak.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume,
Fifteenth Chapter, of Krsna, "Lord Krsna's Daily Activities."
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KB 70: Lord Krsna's Daily Activities
CHAPTER SEVENTY
Lord Krsna's Daily Activities
From the Vedic mantras we learn that the Supreme Personality of
Godhead has nothing to do: na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate.
But if the Supreme Lord has nothing to do, how can we
speak of the activities of the Supreme Lord? From the previous
chapter it is clear that no one can act the way Lord
Krsna does. We should clearly note this fact: the activities of
the Lord should be followed, but they cannot be imitated. For
example, Krsna's ideal life as a householder can be followed,
but if one wants to imitate Krsna by expanding into many forms,
that is not possible. We should always remember, therefore,
that Lord Krsna, although playing the part of a human being,
simultaneously maintains the position of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. We can follow Lord Krsna's
dealings with His wives as an ordinary human being, but His
dealings with more than sixteen thousand wives at one time
cannot be imitated. The conclusion is that to become ideal
householders we should follow in the footsteps of Lord Krsna as
He displayed His daily activities, but we cannot imitate Him at
any stage of our life.
Lord Krsna used to lie down with His sixteen thousand wives,
but He would also rise from bed very early in the morning,
three hours before sunrise. By nature's arrangement the crowing
of the cocks warns of the brahma-muhurta hour. There is no need
of alarm clocks: as soon as the cocks crow early in the morning,
it is to be understood that it is time to rise from bed.
Hearing that sound, Krsna would get up from bed, but His rising
early was not very much to the liking of His wives. The wives
of Krsna were so much attached to Him that they would lie in
bed embracing Him, and as soon as the cocks crowed, Krsna's
wives would be very sorry and would immediately condemn the
crowing.
In the garden within the compound of each palace there were
parijata flowers. The parijata is not an artificial flower.
We remember that Krsna brought the parijata trees from heaven
and planted them in all His palaces. Early in the morning, a
mild breeze would carry the aroma of the parijata flower, and
Krsna would smell it just after rising from bed. Due to this
aroma, the honeybees would begin their humming vibration, and
the birds also would begin their sweet chirping sounds. All
together it would sound like the singing of professional
chanters engaged in offering prayers to Krsna. Although Srimati
Rukminidevi, the first queen of Lord Krsna, knew that brahma-
muhurta is the most auspicious time in the entire day, she
would feel disgusted at the appearance of brahma-muhurta
because she was not very happy to have Krsna leave her side in
bed. Despite Srimati Rukminidevi's disgust, Lord Krsna would
immediately get up from bed exactly on the appearance of brahma-
muhurta. An ideal householder should learn from the behavior of
Lord Krsna how to rise early in the morning, however
comfortably he may be lying in bed embraced by his wife.
After rising from bed, Lord Krsna would wash His mouth, hands
and feet and would immediately sit down and meditate on Himself.
This does not mean, however, that we should also sit down and
meditate on ourselves. We have to meditate upon Krsna, Radha-
Krsna. That is real meditation. Krsna is Krsna Himself;
therefore He was teaching us that brahma-muhurta should be
utilized for meditation on Radha-Krsna. By such meditation
Krsna would feel very much satisfied, and similarly we will
also feel transcendentally pleased and satisfied if we utilize
the brahma-muhurta period to meditate on Radha and Krsna and if
we think of how Sri Rukminidevi and Krsna acted as ideal
householders to teach the whole human society to rise early in
the morning and immediately engage in Krsna consciousness.
There is no difference between meditating on the eternal forms
of Radha-Krsna and chanting the maha-mantra, Hare Krsna.
As for Krsna's meditation, He had no alternative but to
meditate on Himself. The object of meditation is Brahman,
Paramatma or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but Krsna
Himself is all three: He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Bhagavan; the localized Paramatma is His plenary partial
expansion; and the all-pervading Brahman effulgence is the
personal rays of His transcendental body. Therefore Krsna is
always one, and for Him there is no differentiation. That is
the difference between an ordinary living being and Krsna. For
an ordinary living being there are many distinctions. An
ordinary living being is different from his body, and he is
different from other species of living entities. A human being
is different from other human beings and different from the
animals. Even in his own body, there are different bodily limbs.
We have our hands and legs, but our hands are different from
our legs. The hand cannot act like the leg, nor can the leg act
like the hand. The ears can hear but the eyes cannot, and
the eyes can see but the ears cannot. All these differences
are technically called svajatiya-vijatiya.
The bodily limitation whereby one part of the body cannot act
as another part is totally absent from the Supreme Personality
of Godhead. There is no difference between His body and Himself.
He is completely spiritual, and therefore there is no
difference between His body and His soul. Similarly, He is not
different from His millions of incarnations and plenary
expansions. Baladeva is the first expansion of Krsna, and from
Baladeva expand Sankarsana, Vasudeva, Pradyumna and Aniruddha.
From Sankarsana there is an expansion of Narayana, and
from Narayana there is a second quadruple expansion of
Sankarsana, Vasudeva, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. Similarly, there
are innumerable other expansions of Krsna, but all of them are
one. Krsna has many incarnations, such as Lord Nrsimha, Lord
Boar, Lord Fish and Lord Tortoise, but there is no difference
between Krsna's original two-handed form, like that of a human
being, and these incarnations of gigantic animal forms. Nor is
there any difference between the action of one part of His body
and that of another. His hands can act as His legs, His eyes
can act as His ears, or His nose can act as another part of His
body. Krsna's smelling and eating and hearing are all the same.
We limited living entities have to use a particular part of the
body for a particular purpose, but there is no such distinction
for Krsna. In the Brahma-samhita it is said, angani yasya
sakalendriya-vrttimanti: Krsna can perform the activities of
one limb with any other limb. So by analytical study of Krsna
and His person, it is concluded that He is the complete whole.
When He meditates, therefore, He meditates on Himself. Self
-meditation by ordinary men, designated in Sanskrit as so '
ham, is simply imitation. Krsna may meditate on Himself because
He is the complete whole, but we cannot imitate Him and
meditate on ourselves. Our body is a designation superimposed
upon our self, the soul. Krsna's body is not a designation:
Krsna's body is also Krsna. There is no existence of anything
foreign in Krsna. Whatever there is in Krsna is also Krsna. He
is therefore the supreme, indestructible, complete existence,
or the Supreme Truth.
Krsna's existence is not relative existence. Everything else
but Krsna is a relative truth, but Krsna is the Supreme
Absolute Truth. Krsna does not depend on anything but Himself
for His existence. Our existence, however, is relative. For
example, only when there is the light of the sun, the moon or
electricity are we able to see. Our seeing, therefore, is
relative, and the light of the sun and moon and electricity is
also relative; they are called illuminating only because we see
them as such. But dependence and relativity do not exist
in Krsna. His activities are not dependent on anyone else's
appreciation, nor does He depend on anyone else's help. He is
beyond the existence of limited time and space, and because He
is transcendental to time and space He cannot be covered by
the illusion of maya, whose activities are limited. In the
Vedic literature we find that the Supreme Personality of
Godhead has multipotencies. Since all such potencies
are emanations from Him, there is no difference between Him and
His potencies. Certain philosophers say, however, that when
Krsna comes He accepts a material body. But even if it is
accepted that when He comes to the material world He accepts a
material body, it should be concluded also that because the
material energy is not different from Him, this body does not
act materially. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said, therefore,
that He appears by His own internal potency, atma-maya.
Krsna is called the Supreme Brahman because He is the cause of
creation, the cause of maintenance, and the cause of
dissolution. Lord Brahma, Lord Visnu and Lord Siva are
different expansions of these material qualities. All these
material qualities can act upon the conditioned souls, but
there is no such action and reaction upon Krsna because these
qualities are all simultaneously one with and different from
Him. Krsna Himself is simply sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1],
the eternal form of bliss and knowledge, and because of His
inconceivable greatness, He is called the Supreme Brahman. His
meditation on Brahman or Paramatma or Bhagavan is on Himself
only and not on anything else beyond Himself. This meditation
cannot be imitated by the ordinary living entity.
After His meditation, the Lord would regularly bathe early in
the morning with clear, sanctified water. Then He would change
into fresh clothing, cover Himself with a wrapper and
engage in His daily religious functions. Out of His
many religious duties, the first was to offer oblations into
the sacrificial fire and silently chant the Gayatri mantra.
Lord Krsna, as the ideal householder, executed all the
religious functions of a householder without deviation. When
the sunrise became visible, the Lord would offer specific
prayers to the sun-god. The sun-god and other demigods
mentioned in the Vedic scriptures are described as different
limbs of the body of Lord Krsna, and it is the duty of the
householder to offer respects to the demigods and great sages,
as well as the forefathers.
As it is said in the Bhagavad-gita, the Lord has no specific
duty to perform in this world, and yet He acts just like an
ordinary man living an ideal life within this material world.
In accordance with Vedic ritualistic principles, the Lord would
offer respects to the demigods. The regulative principle by
which the demigods and forefathers are worshiped is called
tarpana, which means "pleasing." One's forefathers may have
to take a body on another planet, but by performance of this
tarpana system they become very happy wherever they may be. It
is the duty of the householder to make his family members happy,
and by following this tarpana system he can make his
forefathers happy also. As the perfect exemplary householder,
Lord Sri Krsna followed this tarpana system and offered
respectful obeisances to the elderly, superior members of His
family.
His next duty was to give cows in charity to the brahmanas.
Every day Lord Krsna used to give many groups of 13,084 cows.
Each of the cows was decorated with a silken cover and pearl
necklace, their horns were covered with gold plating, and their
hooves were silver-plated. All of them were full of milk, due
to having their first-born calves with them, and they were very
tame and peaceful. When the cows were given in charity to the
brahmanas, the brahmanas also were given nice silken garments,
and each was given a deerskin and sufficient quantity of sesame
seeds. The Lord is generally known as go-brahmana-hitaya ca,
which means that His first duty is to see to the welfare of the
cows and the brahmanas. Thus He used to give cows in charity to
the brahmanas, with opulent decorations and paraphernalia. Then,
wishing for the welfare of all living entities, He would touch
auspicious articles such as milk, honey, ghee (clarified
butter), gold, jewels and fire. Although the Lord is by nature
very beautiful due to the perfect figure of His transcendental
body, He would dress Himself in yellow garments
and put on His necklace of Kaustubha jewels. He would wear
flower garlands, smear His body with the pulp of sandalwood and
decorate Himself with similar cosmetics and ornaments. It
is said that the ornaments themselves became beautiful upon
being placed on the transcendental body of the Lord. After
decorating Himself in this way, the Lord would then look at
marble statues of the cow and calf and visit temples of God or
demigods like Lord Siva. There were many brahmanas who would
come daily to see the Supreme Lord before taking their
breakfast; they were anxious to see Him, and He welcomed them.
His next duty was to please all kinds of men belonging to the
different castes, both in the city and within the palace
compound. He made them happy by fulfilling their different
desires, and when the Lord saw them happy He also became very
much pleased. The flower garlands, betel nuts, sandalwood pulp
and other fragrant cosmetic articles offered to the
Lord would be distributed by Him, first to the brahmanas and
elderly members of the family, then to the queens, and then to
the ministers, and if there were still some balance He would
engage it for His own personal use. By the time the Lord
finished all these daily duties and activities, His charioteer
Daruka would come with His wonderful chariot to stand before
the Lord with folded hands, intimating that the chariot was
ready, and the Lord would come out of the palace to travel.
Then the Lord, accompanied by Uddhava and Satyaki, would ride
on the chariot just as the sun-god rides on his chariot in the
morning, appearing with his blazing rays on the surface of the
world. When the Lord was about to leave His palaces, all the
queens would look at Him with feminine gestures. The Lord would
respond to their greetings with smiles, attracting their hearts
so much that they would feel intense separation from Him
.
Then the Lord would go to the assembly house known as Sudharma.
It may be remembered that the Sudharma assembly house was taken
away from the heavenly planets and established in
the city of Dvaraka. The specific significance of the assembly
house was that anyone who entered it would be freed from the
six kinds of material pangs, namely hunger, thirst, lamentation,
illusion, old age and death. These are the waves of material
existence, and as long as one remained in that Sudharma
assembly house he would not be affected by these
six material waves. The Lord would say good-bye in all the
sixteen thousand palaces, and again He would become one and
enter the Sudharma assembly house in procession with other
members of the Yadu dynasty. After entering the assembly house,
He used to sit on the exalted royal throne and would be seen to
emanate glaring rays of transcendental effulgence. In the midst
of all the great heroes of the Yadu dynasty, Krsna resembled
the full moon in the sky surrounded by
multiluminaries. In the assembly house were
professional jokers, dancers, musicians and ballet girls, and
as soon as the Lord sat on His throne they would begin their
respective functions to please the Lord and put Him in
a happy mood. First of all the jokers would talk in such a way
that the Lord and His associates would enjoy their humor, which
would refresh the morning mood. The dramatic actors would then
play their parts, and the dancing ballet girls would separately
display their artistic movements. All these functions would be
accompanied by the beating of mrdanga drums and the sounds of
the vina, flutes and bells, followed by the sound of the
muraja, another type of drum. To these musical
vibrations, the auspicious sound of the conchshell would
be added. The professional singers called sutas and magadhas
would sing, and others would perform their dancing art. In this
way, as devotees, they would offer respectful prayers to the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sometimes the learned brahmanas
present in that assembly would chant Vedic hymns and explain
them to the audience to the best of their knowledge, and
sometimes some of them would recite old historical accounts of
the activities of prominent kings. The Lord, accompanied by His
associates, would be very much pleased to hear them.
Once upon a time, a person arrived at the gateway of the
assembly house who was unknown to all the members of the
assembly, and with the permission of Lord Krsna he was admitted
into the assembly by the doorkeeper. The doorkeeper was ordered
to present him before the Lord, and the man appeared and
offered his respectful obeisances unto the Lord with folded
hands. It had happened that when King Jarasandha conquered all
other kingdoms, many kings did not bow their heads before
Jarasandha, and consequently all of them,
numbering twenty thousand, were arrested and made his prisoners.
The man brought before Lord Krsna by the doorkeeper
was a messenger from all these imprisoned kings.
Being duly presented before the Lord, the man began to relay
a message from the kings, as follows.
" ‘Dear Lord, You are the eternal form of transcendental
bliss and knowledge. As such, You are beyond the reach of the
mental speculation or vocal description of any materialistic
man within this world. A slight portion of Your glories can be
known by persons fully surrendered unto Your lotus feet,
and, by Your grace only, such persons become freed from all
material anxieties. Dear Lord, we are not among these
surrendered souls; we are still within the duality and illusion
of this material existence. We therefore take
shelter of Your lotus feet, for we are afraid of the cycle of
birth and death. Dear Lord, we think that there are many
living entities like us who are eternally entangled in fruitive
activities and their reactions. They are never
inclined to follow Your instructions by performing
devotional service, although it is pleasing to the heart and
most auspicious for one's existence. On the contrary, they are
against the path of Krsna conscious life, and they are
wandering within the three worlds, impelled by the illusory
energy of material existence.
" ‘Dear Lord, who can estimate Your mercy and Your
powerful activities? You are present always as the
insurmountable force of eternal time, baffling the
indefatigable desires of the materialists, who are thus
repeatedly confused and frustrated. We therefore offer
our respectful obeisances unto You in Your form of eternal time.
Dear Lord, You are the proprietor of all the worlds, and
You have incarnated Yourself with Your plenary expansion
Lord Balarama. It is said that Your appearance in this
incarnation is for the purpose of protecting the faithful and
destroying the miscreants. Under the circumstances, how is it
possible that miscreants like Jarasandha can put us into such
deplorable conditions of life against Your authority? We are
puzzled at the situation and cannot understand how it is
possible. It may be that Jarasandha has been deputed to give us
such trouble because of our past misdeeds, but we have heard
from revealed scriptures that anyone who surrenders unto Your
lotus feet is immediately immune to the reactions of
sinful life. We therefore
offer ourselves
wholeheartedly unto Your shelter, and we hope that Your
Lordship will now give us full protection. We have now come to
the real conclusion of our lives. Our kingly positions were
nothing but the reward of our past pious activities, just as
our suffering imprisonment by Jarasandha is the result of our
past impious activities. We realize now that the
reactions of both pious and impious activities are temporary
and that we can never be happy in this conditioned life. The
material body is awarded to us by the modes of material nature,
and on account of this we are full of anxieties. The material
condition of life simply involves bearing the burden of this
dead body. As a result of fruitive activities, we have thus
been subjected to being beasts of burden for these bodies, and,
being forced by conditioned life, we have given up the pleasing
life of Krsna consciousness. Now we realize that we are the
most foolish persons. We have been entangled in the network of
material reactions due to our ignorance. We have therefore come
to the shelter of Your lotus feet, which can immediately
eradicate all the results of fruitive action and thus free us
from the contamination of material pains and pleasures.
" ‘Dear Lord, because we are now surrendered souls at Your
lotus feet, You can give us relief from the entrapment of
fruitive action made possible by Jarasandha. Dear
Lord, it is known to You that Jarasandha possesses the power of
ten thousand elephants, and with this power he has imprisoned
us, just as a lion hypnotizes a flock of sheep. Dear Lord,
You have already fought with Jarasandha eighteen times
consecutively, out of which You have defeated him seventeen
times by surpassing his extraordinarily powerful position. But
in Your eighteenth fight You exhibited Your human behavior,
and thus it appeared that You were defeated. Dear Lord, we
know very well that Jarasandha cannot defeat You at any time,
for Your power, strength, resources and authority are all
unlimited. No one can equal You or surpass You. Your
apparent defeat by Jarasandha in the eighteenth engagement was
nothing but an exhibition of human behavior. Unfortunately,
foolish Jarasandha could not understand Your tricks, and he has
since then become puffed up over his material power and
prestige. Specifically, he has arrested and imprisoned us,
knowing fully that as Your devotees we are subordinate to Your
sovereignty.' "
The messenger concluded, "Now I have explained the awful
position of the kings, and Your Lordship can consider and do
whatever You like. As the messenger and representative of all
those imprisoned kings, I have submitted my words before Your
Lordship and presented their prayers to You. All the kings are
very anxious to see You so that they can all personally
surrender at Your lotus feet. My dear Lord, be merciful upon
them and act for their good fortune."
At the very moment the messenger of the imprisoned kings was
presenting their appeal before the Lord, the great sage Narada
arrived. Because he was a great saint, his hair was
dazzling like gold, and when he entered the assembly house it
appeared that the sun-god was personally present in the midst
of the assembly. Lord Krsna is the worshipable master of even
Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, yet as soon as He saw that the sage
Narada had arrived, He immediately stood up with His
ministers and secretaries to receive the great sage and offer
His respectful obeisances by bowing His head. The great sage
Narada took a comfortable seat, and Lord Krsna worshiped him
with all paraphernalia, as required for the regular reception
of a saintly person. While trying to satisfy Naradaji,
Lord Krsna spoke the following words in His sweet and natural
voice.
"My dear great sage among the demigods, I think that now
everything is well within the three worlds. You are perfectly
eligible to travel everywhere in space -- in the upper, middle
and lower planetary systems of this universe. Fortunately, when
we meet you we can very easily take information from Your
Holiness of all the news of the three worlds, for within this
cosmic manifestation of the Supreme Lord there is nothing
concealed from your knowledge. You know everything, and so I
wish to question you. Are the Pandavas doing well, and what is
the present plan of King Yudhisthira? Will you kindly let Me
know what they want to do at present?"
The great sage Narada spoke as follows: "My dear Lord, You have
spoken about the cosmic manifestation created by the Supreme
Lord, but I know that You are the all-pervading creator. Your
energies are so extensive and inconceivable that even powerful
personalities like Brahma, the lord of this particular universe,
cannot measure Your inconceivable power. My dear Lord, You are
present as the Supersoul in everyone's heart by Your
inconceivable potency, exactly like the fire which is present
in everyone but which no one can see directly. In conditioned
life, all living entities are within the jurisdiction of the
three modes of material nature. As such, they are unable to see
Your presence everywhere with their material eyes. By Your
grace, however, I have seen many times the action of Your
inconceivable potency, and therefore when You ask me for the
news of the Pandavas, which is not at all unknown to You, I am
not surprised at Your inquiry.
"My dear Lord, by Your inconceivable potencies You create this
cosmic manifestation, maintain it and again dissolve it. Only
by dint of Your inconceivable potency does this material world,
although a shadow representation of the spiritual world, appear
to be factual. No one can understand what You plan to do in the
future. Your transcendental position is always inconceivable to
everyone. As far as I am concerned, I can simply offer my
respectful obeisances unto You again and again. In the bodily
concept of existence, everyone is driven by material desires,
and thus everyone develops new material bodies one after
another in the cycle of birth and death. Being absorbed in such
a concept of existence, one does not know how to get out of
this encagement of the material body. By Your causeless mercy,
my Lord, You descend to exhibit Your various transcendental
pastimes, which are illuminating and full of glory. Therefore I
have no alternative but to offer my respectful obeisances unto
You.
"My dear Lord, You are the Supreme, Para-brahman, and Your
pastimes as an ordinary human are another tactical resource,
exactly like a play on the stage in which the actor plays parts
different from his own identity. Because the Pandavas are Your
cousins, You have inquired about them in the role of their well-
wisher, and therefore I shall let You know about their
intentions. Now please hear me.
"First I may inform You that King Yudhisthira has all
material opulences which are possible to achieve in the
highest planetary system, Brahmaloka. He has no material
opulence for which to aspire, and yet he wants to perform the
Rajasuya sacrifice only to get Your association and please You.
King Yudhisthira is so opulent that he has attained all the
opulences of Brahmaloka even on this earthly planet. He is
fully satisfied, and he does not need anything more. He is full
in everything, but now he wants to worship You to
achieve Your causeless mercy, and I beg to request You to
fulfill his desires. My dear Lord, in these great sacrificial
performances by King Yudhisthira there will be an assembly of
all the demigods and all the famous kings of the world.
"My dear Lord, You are the Supreme Brahman, the Personality of
Godhead. One who engages himself in Your devotional service by
the prescribed methods of hearing, chanting and remembering
certainly becomes purified from the contamination of the modes
of material nature, and what to speak of those who have the
opportunity to see You and touch You directly. My dear Lord,
You are the symbol of everything auspicious. Your
transcendental name and fame have spread all over the universe,
including the higher, middle and lower planetary systems. The
transcendental water which washes Your lotus feet is known in
the higher planetary system as Mandakini, in the lower
planetary system as Bhogavati, and in this earthly planetary
system as the Ganges. This sacred, transcendental water flows
throughout the entire universe, purifying wherever it flows."
Just before the great sage Narada arrived in the Sudharma
assembly house of Dvaraka, Lord Krsna and His ministers and
secretaries had been considering how to attack the kingdom of
Jarasandha. Because they were seriously considering this
subject, Narada's proposal that Lord Krsna go to Hastinapura
for Maharaja Yudhisthira's great Rajasuya sacrifice did not
much appeal to them. Lord Krsna could understand the intentions
of His associates because He is the ruler of even Lord Brahma.
Therefore, in order to pacify them, He smilingly said to
Uddhava, "My dear Uddhava, you are always My well-wishing
confidential friend. I therefore wish to see everything through
you because I believe that your counsel is always right. I
believe that you understand the whole situation perfectly.
Therefore I am asking your opinion. What should I do? I have
faith in you, and therefore I shall do whatever you advise." It
was known to Uddhava that although Lord Krsna was acting like
an ordinary man, He knew everything -- past, present and future.
However, because the Lord wanted to consult with him,
Uddhava, in order to render service to the Lord, began to speak.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Seventieth
Chapter of Krsna, "Lord Krsna's Daily Activities."
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