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KB 1970-2-31 / The Kidnapping of Subhadra and Lord Krsna's
Visiting Srutadeva and Bahulasva
31 / The Kidnapping of Subhadra and Lord Krsna's Visiting
Srutadeva and Bahulasva
After hearing this incident
, King Pariksit became more inquisitive to hear about
Krsna and His pastimes, and thus he inquired from Sukadeva
Gosvami how his grandmother Subhadra was kidnapped by his
grandfather Arjuna at the instigation of Lord Krsna. King
Pariksit was very much eager to learn about his grandfather's
kidnapping and marriage of his grandmother.
Thus Sukadeva Gosvami began to narrate the story as follows: "
Once upon a time, your grandfather Arjuna, the great
hero, was visiting several holy places of pilgrimage, and while
he was thus traveling all over he happened to come to
Prabhasaksetra. In the Prabhasaksetra he
heard the news that Lord Balarama was negotiating the marriage
of Subhadra, the daughter of Arjuna's maternal uncle, Vasudeva.
Although her father, Vasudeva, and her brother, Krsna, were not
in agreement with Him, Balarama was in favor of marrying
Subhadra to Duryodhana. Arjuna, however, desired to gain
the hand of Subhadra."
As he thought of Subhadra and her beauty, Arjuna became more
and more captivated with the idea of marrying her, and with a
plan in mind he dressed himself like a Vaisnava sannyasi,
carrying a tridanda in his hand. The Mayavadi sannyasis take
one danda, or one rod, whereas the Vaisnava sannyasis take
three danda, or three rods. The three rods, or tridanda,
indicate that a Vaisnava sannyasi vows to render service to the
Supreme Personality of Godhead by his body, mind and words.
The system of tridanda-sannyasa has been in existence for a
long time, and the Vaisnava sannyasis are called tridandis, or
sometimes tridandi-svamis or tridandi-gosvamis.
Sannyasis are generally meant to travel all over the country
for preaching work, but during the four months of the rainy
season in India, from September through December, they do not
travel, but take shelter in one place and remain there without
moving. This non-movement of the sannyasi is called
Caturmasya-vrata. When a sannyasi stays in a place for
four months, the local inhabitants of that place take advantage
of his presence to become spiritually advanced.
Arjuna, in the dress of a tridandi-sannyasi, remained in the
city of Dvaraka four months,
devising a plan whereby he could get Subhadra as his wife. The
inhabitants of Dvaraka as well as Lord Balarama
could not recognize the sannyasi to be Arjuna; therefore all of
them offered their respect and obeisances to the sannyasi
without knowing the actual situation.
One day Lord Balarama invited this particular sannyasi to lunch
at His home. Balaramaji very respectfully offered him all kinds
of palatable dishes, and the so-called sannyasi was eating
sumptuously. While eating at the home of Balaramaji, Arjuna was
simply looking over beautiful Subhadra, who was very enchanting
even to the great heroes and kings. Out of love for her, Arjuna'
s eyes brightened, and he began to see her with glittering
eyes. Arjuna decided that somehow or other he would achieve
Subhadra as his wife, and his mind became agitated on account
of this strong desire.
Arjuna, the grandfather of Maharaja Pariksit, was himself
extraordinarily beautiful, and his bodily structure was very
much attractive to Subhadra. Subhadra also decided within her
mind that she would accept only Arjuna as her husband. As a
simple girl, she was smiling with great pleasure, looking at
Arjuna. Thus Arjuna also became more and more attracted by her.
In this way, Subhadra dedicated herself to Arjuna, and he
resolved to marry her by any means. He then became absorbed
twenty-four hours a day in the thought of how he could get
Subhadra as his wife. He was afflicted with the thought of
getting Subhadra, and he had not a moment's peace of mind.
Once upon a time, Subhadra, seated on a chariot, came out of
the palace fort to see the gods in the temple. Arjuna took this
opportunity, and with the permission of Vasudeva and Devaki, he
kidnapped her. After getting on Subhadra's chariot, he prepared
himself for a fight. Taking up his bow and holding off with his
arrows the soldiers ordered to check him, Arjuna took Subhadra
away. While Subhadra was being thus kidnapped by Arjuna,
her relatives and family members began to cry, but still he
took her, just as a lion takes his share and departs. When it
was disclosed to Lord Balarama that the so-called sannyasi was
Arjuna, and that he had planned such a device simply to take
away Subhadra and that he had actually taken her, He became
very angry. Just as the waves of the ocean become agitated on a
full moon day, Lord Balarama became greatly disturbed.
Lord Krsna was in favor of Arjuna; therefore, along with other
members of the family, He tried to pacify Balarama by falling
at His feet and begging Him to pardon Arjuna. Lord Balarama
was then convinced that Subhadra was attached to Arjuna,
and He became pleased to know that she wanted Arjuna
as her husband. The matter was settled, and in order to please
the newly married couple, Lord Balarama arranged to send a
dowry, consisting of an abundance of riches,
elephants, chariots, horses, servants and maidservants.
Maharaja Pariksit was very anxious to hear more about Krsna,
and so, after finishing the narration of Arjuna's kidnapping
Subhadra, Sukadeva Gosvami began to narrate another story, as
follows.
There was a householder brahmana in the city of Mithila, the
capital of the kingdom of Videha. This brahmana, whose name was
Srutadeva, was a great devotee of Lord Krsna. Due to his
being fully Krsna conscious and always engaged in the service
of the Lord, he was completely peaceful in mind and detached
from all material attraction. He was very learned and had no
other desire than to be fully situated in Krsna
consciousness. Although in the order of householder life, he
never took great pains to earn anything for his livelihood; he
was satisfied with whatever he could achieve without much
endeavor, and somehow or other he lived in that way. Every day
he would get necessities for life in just the quantity
required, and not more. That was his destiny. The brahmana had
no desire to get more than what he needed, and thus he was
peacefully executing the regulative principles of a brahmana's
life, as enjoined in the revealed scriptures.
Fortunately, the King of Mithila was as good a devotee as the
brahmana. The name of this famous King was Bahulasva. He was
very well established in his reputation as a good king, and he
was not at all ambitious to extend his kingdom for the sake of
sense gratification. As such, both the brahmana and King
Bahulasva remained pure devotees of Lord Krsna in Mithila.
Since Lord Krsna was very merciful upon these two devotees,
King Bahulasva and the brahmana, Srutadeva, He one day asked
His driver, Daruka, to take His chariot into the capital city
of Mithila. Lord Krsna was accompanied by the great sages
Narada, Vamadeva, Atri, Vyasadeva, Parasurama, Asita, Aruni,
Brhaspati, Kanva, Maitreya, Cyavana and others. Lord
Krsna and the sages were passing through many villages and
towns, and everywhere the citizens would receive them with
great respect and offer them articles in worship. When the
citizens came to see the Lord and all of them assembled
together in one place, it seemed that the sun was
present along with his various satellite planets. In that
journey, Lord Krsna and the sages passed through the kingdoms
of Anarta, Dhanva, Kuru-jangala, Kanka, Matsya, Pancala, Kunti,
Madhu, Kekaya, Kosala and Arna, and thus all the citizens of
these places, both men and women, could see Lord Krsna eye to
eye. In this way they enjoyed celestial happiness, with open
hearts full of love and affection for the Lord, and when they
saw the face of the Lord, it seemed to them that they were
drinking nectar through their eyes. When they saw Krsna, all
the ignorant misconceptions of their lives dissipated. When the
Lord passed through the various countries and the people came
to visit Him, simply by glancing over them the Lord would
bestow all good fortune upon them and liberate them from all
kinds of ignorance. In some places, the demigods also would
join with the human beings, and their glorification of the Lord
would cleanse all directions of all inauspicious things. In
this way, Lord Krsna slowly and gradually reached the kingdom
of Videha.
When the news of the Lord's arrival was
received by the citizens, they all felt unlimited happiness and
came to welcome Him, taking gifts in their hands to offer. As
soon as they saw Lord Krsna, their hearts immediately blossomed
in transcendental bliss, just as a lotus flower blooms on
the rising of the sun. Previously they had simply heard the
names of the great sages, but had never seen them. Now, by the
mercy of Lord Krsna, they had the opportunity of seeing both
the great sages and the Lord Himself.
King Bahulasva, as well as the brahmana, Srutadeva, knowing
well that the Lord had come there just to grace them with favor,
immediately fell at the Lord's lotus feet and offered their
respects. With folded hands, the King and the brahmana each
simultaneously invited Lord Krsna and all the sages to his home.
In order to please both of them, Lord Krsna expanded Himself
into two and went to the houses of each one of them; yet
neither the King nor the brahmana could understand that the
Lord had gone to the house of the other. Both thought that the
Lord had gone only to his own house. That He and His companions
were present in both houses, although both the brahmana and the
King thought He was present in his house only, is another
opulence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This opulence
is described in the revealed scriptures as vaibhava-prakasa.
Similarly, when Lord Krsna married sixteen thousand wives, He
also expanded Himself into sixteen thousand forms, each one of
them as powerful as He Himself. Similarly, in Vrndavana, when
Brahma stole away Krsna's cows, calves and cowherd boys, Krsna
expanded Himself into many new cows, calves and cowherd boys.
Bahulasva, the King of Videha, was very intelligent and was a
perfect gentleman. He was astonished that so many great sages,
along with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, were personally
present in his home. He knew perfectly well that the
conditioned soul, especially when engaged in worldly affairs,
cannot be a hundred percent pure, whereas the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and His pure devotees are always
transcendental to worldly contamination. Therefore, when he
found that the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna and all
the great sages were at his home, he was astonished, and he
began to thank Lord Krsna for His causeless mercy.
Feeling very much obliged and wanting to receive his guests to
the best of his capacity, he called for nice chairs and
cushions, and Lord Krsna, along with all the sages, sat down
very comfortably. At that time, King Bahulasva's mind was very
restless, not because of any problems, but because of great
ecstasy of love and devotion. His heart was filled with love
and affection for the Lord and His associates, and his eyes
were filled with tears of ecstasy. He arranged to wash the feet
of his divine guests, and after washing them he and his
family members sprinkled the water on their own heads. After
this, he offered to the guests nice flower garlands, sandalwood
pulp, incense, new garments, ornaments, lamps, cows and bulls.
In a manner just befitting his royal position, he worshiped
each one of them in this way. When all had been fed sumptuously
and were sitting very comfortably, Bahulasva came before Lord
Krsna and caught His lotus feet. He placed them on his lap and,
while massaging the feet with his hands, began to speak about
the glories of the Lord in a sweet voice.
"My dear Lord, You are the Supersoul of all living entities
and as witness within the heart are cognizant of
everyone's activities. As such, being duty-bound, we always
think of Your lotus feet so that we can remain in a secure
position without deviating from Your eternal service. As a
result of our continuous remembrance of Your lotus feet, You
have kindly visited my place personally to favor me with Your
causeless mercy. We have heard, my dear Lord, that by Your
various statements You confirm Your pure devotees to be more
dear to You than Lord Balarama or Your constant servitor the
goddess of fortune. Your devotees are dearer to You than Your
first son, Lord Brahma, and I am sure that You have so kindly
visited my place in order to prove Your divine statement. I
cannot imagine how people can be godless and demoniac even
after knowing of Your causeless mercy and affection for Your
devotees who are constantly engaged in Krsna consciousness. How
can they forget Your lotus feet?
"My dear Lord, it is known to us that You are so kind and
liberal that when a person leaves everything just to engage in
Krsna consciousness, You sometimes give Yourself in exchange
for that unalloyed service. You have appeared in the Yadu
dynasty to fulfill Your mission of reclaiming all conditioned
souls rotting in the sinful activities of material existence,
and this appearance is already famous all over the world. My
dear Lord, You are the ocean of unlimited mercy, love and
affection. Your transcendental form is full of bliss, knowledge
and eternity. You can attract everyone's heart by Your
beautiful form as Syamasundara, Krsna. Your knowledge is
unlimited, and to teach all people how to execute devotional
service You have sent Your incarnation Nara-Narayana, who is
engaged in severe austerities and penances at Badarinarayana.
Kindly, therefore, accept my humble obeisances at Your lotus
feet. My dear Lord, I beg to request You and Your companions,
the great sages and brahmanas, to remain at my place
so that this family of the famous King Nimi may
be sanctified by the dust of Your lotus feet at least for a few
days." Lord Krsna could not refuse the request of His devotee,
and thus He remained there for a few days along with the sages
in order to sanctify the city of Mithila and all its citizens.
Meanwhile, the brahmana, simultaneously receiving
Lord Krsna and His associates at his home, became
transcendentally overwhelmed with joy. After offering his
guests nice sitting places, the brahmana began to dance,
throwing his wrap around his body. Srutadeva, being not at all
rich, offered only mattresses, wooden planks, straw carpets,
etc., to his distinguished guests, Lord Krsna and the
sages, but he welcomed them to his best capacity. He began
to speak very highly of the Lord and the sages, and he and his
wife washed the feet of each one of them. After this, he took
the water and sprinkled it over all the members of his family,
and although it appeared that the brahmana was very poor,
he was at that time most fortunate. While Srutadeva was
welcoming Lord Krsna and His associates, he simply forgot
himself in transcendental joy. After welcoming the Lord and His
companions, according to his capacity he brought fruits,
incense, scented water, scented clay, tulasi leaves, kusa straw
and lotus flowers. They were not very costly items and could be
secured very easily, but because they were offered with
devotional love, Lord Krsna and His associates accepted them
very gladly. The brahmana's wife cooked very simple foods like
rice and dhal, and Lord Krsna and His followers were very
pleased to accept them because they were offered in devotional
love. When Lord Krsna and His associates were fed in this way,
the brahmana Srutadeva was thinking thus: "I am fallen into
the deep, dark well of householder life and am the most
unfortunate person. How has it become possible that Lord Krsna,
who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His associates,
the great sages, whose very presence makes a place as
sanctified as a pilgrimage site, have agreed to come to my
place?" While the brahmana was thinking in this way, the guests
finished their lunch and sat back very comfortably. At that
time, the brahmana, Srutadeva, and his wife, children and other
relatives, appeared there to render service to the
distinguished guests. While touching the lotus feet of Lord
Krsna, the brahmana began to speak.
"My dear Lord," he said, "You are the Supreme Person,
Purusottama, situated transcendentally to the
manifested and unmanifested material creation. The activities
of this material world and of the conditioned souls have
nothing to do with Your position. We can appreciate that it is
not only today You have given me Your audience. You are
associating with all the living entities as Paramatma since the
beginning of creation."
This statement of the brahmana is very instructive. It is a
fact that the Supreme Lord Personality of Godhead in His
Paramatma feature entered the creation of this material world
as Maha-Visnu, Garbhodakasayi Visnu and Ksirodakasayi Visnu,
and in a very friendly attitude the Lord is sitting along
with the conditioned soul in the body. Therefore, every living
entity has the Lord with him from the very beginning, but due
to his mistaken consciousness of life, the living entity cannot
understand this. When his consciousness is, however, changed
into Krsna consciousness, he can immediately understand how
Krsna is trying to assist the conditioned souls to get out of
the material entanglement.
Srutadeva continued, "My dear Lord, You have entered this
material world as if in a sleeping condition. A conditioned
soul, while sleeping, creates false or temporary worlds in his
mind; he becomes busy in many illusory activities -- sometimes
becoming a king, sometimes being murdered or sometimes going to
an unknown city -- and all these are simply temporary affairs.
Similarly, Your Lordship, apparently also in a sleeping
condition, enters this material world to create a temporary
manifestation, not for Your personal necessities, but for the
conditioned soul who wants to imitate Your Lordship as enjoyer.
The conditioned soul's enjoyment in the material world is
temporary and illusory. And yet the conditioned soul is by
himself unable to create such a temporary situation for his
illusory enjoyment. In order to fulfill his desires, although
they are temporary and illusory, You enter in this temporary
manifestation to help him. Thus, from the beginning of the
conditioned soul's entering into the material world, You are
his constant companion. When, therefore, the conditioned soul
comes in contact with a pure devotee and takes to devotional
service, beginning from the process of hearing Your
transcendental pastimes, glorifying Your transcendental
activities, worshiping Your eternal form in the temple,
offering prayers to You and engaging in discussion to
understand Your transcendental position, he then gradually
becomes freed from the contamination of material existence. His
heart becomes cleansed of all material dust, and thus
gradually You become visible in the heart of the devotee.
Although You are constantly with the conditioned soul, only
when he becomes purified by devotional service do You become
revealed to him. Others, who are bewildered by fruitive
activities, either by Vedic injunction or customary dealings,
and who do not take to devotional service, become captivated
by the external happiness of the bodily concept of life. You
are not revealed to such persons. Rather, You remain far, far
away from them. But for one who, being engaged in Your
devotional service, has purified his heart by constant chanting
of Your holy name, You become very easily understood as his
eternal constant companion.
"It is said that Your Lordship, sitting in the heart of a
devotee, gives him direction by which he can very quickly come
back to home, back to You. This direct dictation by You reveals
Your existence within the heart of the devotee. Only a devotee
can immediately appreciate Your existence within his heart,
whereas for a person who has only a bodily conception of life
and is engaged in sense gratification You always remain
covered by the curtain of yogamaya. Such a person cannot
realize that You are very near, sitting within his heart. For a
nondevotee, You are appreciated only as ultimate death. The
difference is like the difference between a cat's carrying its
kittens in its mouth and cat's carrying a rat in its mouth. In
the mouth of the cat, the rat feels its death, whereas the
kittens in the mouth of the cat feel motherly affection.
Similarly, You are present to everyone, but the nondevotee
feels You as ultimate cruel death, whereas for a devotee You
are the supreme instructor and philosopher. The atheist,
therefore, understands the presence of God as death, but the
devotee understands the presence of God always within his heart,
takes dictation from You and lives transcendentally,
not being affected by the contamination of the material
world.
"You are the supreme controller and superintendent of the
material nature's activities. The atheistic class of men simply
observe the activities of material nature, but cannot find You
as the original background. A devotee, however, can immediately
see Your hand in every movement of material nature. The curtain
of yogamaya cannot cover the eyes of the devotee of Your
Lordship, but it can cover the eyes of the nondevotee. The
nondevotee is unable to see You eye to eye, just as a person
whose eyes are interrupted by the covering of a cloud cannot
see the sun, although persons who are flying above the cloud
can see the sunshine brilliantly, as it is. My dear Lord, I
offer my respectful obeisances unto You. My dear self-effulgent
Lord, I am Your eternal servitor. Therefore, kindly order me --
what can I do for You? The conditioned soul feels the pangs of
material contamination as threefold miseries as long as You
are not visible to him. And as soon as You are visible by
development of Krsna consciousness, all miseries of material
existence simultaneously become vanquished."
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is naturally very
much affectionately inclined to His devotees. When He heard
Srutadeva's prayers of pure devotion, He was very much pleased
and immediately caught his hands and began to address him
thus: "My dear Srutadeva, all these great sages and
saintly persons have been very kind to you by personally coming
here to see you. You should consider this opportunity to be a
great fortune for you. They are so kind that they are traveling
with Me, and wherever they go they immediately make the whole
atmosphere as pure as transcendence simply by the touch of the
dust of their feet. People are accustomed to go to the temples
of God. They also visit holy places of pilgrimage, and after
prolonged association with such activities, for many days by
touch and by worship, gradually they become purified.
But the influence of great sages and saintly persons is so
great that by seeing them one immediately becomes completely
purified.
"Moreover, the very purifying potency of pilgrimages or worship
of different demigods is also achieved by the grace of saintly
persons. A pilgrimage site becomes a holy place because of the
presence of the saintly persons there. My dear Srutadeva, when
a person is born as a brahmana, he immediately becomes the best
of all human beings. And if such a brahmana, remaining self-
satisfied, practices austerities, studies the Vedas and engages
in My devotional service, as is the duty of the brahmana -- or
in other words, if a brahmana becomes a Vaisnava -- how
wonderful is his greatness! My feature of four-handed Narayana
is not so pleasing or dear to Me as is a brahmana Vaisnava.
Brahmana means 'one well conversant with Vedic knowledge'; a
brahmana is the insignia of perfect knowledge, and I am the
full-fledged manifestation of all gods. The less intelligent
class of men do not understand Me as the highest knowledge, nor
do they understand the influence of the brahmana Vaisnava. They
are influenced by the three modes of material nature and thus
dare to criticize Me and My pure devotees. A brahmana Vaisnava,
or a devotee already on the brahminical platform, can realize
Me within his heart, and therefore he definitely concludes that
the whole cosmic manifestation and its different features are
effects of different energies of the Lord. Thus he has a clear
conception of the whole material nature and the total material
energy, and in every action such a devotee sees Me only, and
nothing else.
"My dear Srutadeva, you may therefore accept all these great
saintly persons, brahmanas and sages as My bona fide
representatives. By worshiping them faithfully, you will be
worshiping Me more diligently. I consider worship of My
devotees to be better than direct worship of Me. If someone
attempts to worship Me directly without worshiping My devotees,
I do not accept such worship, even though it may be presented
with great opulence."
In this way both the brahmana, Srutadeva, and the King of
Mithila, under the direction of the Lord, worshiped both Krsna
and His followers, the great sages and saintly brahmanas, on an
equal level of spiritual importance. Both brahmana and King
ultimately achieved the supreme goal of being transferred to
the spiritual world. The devotee does not know anyone except
Lord Krsna, and Krsna is most affectionate to His devotee. Lord
Krsna remained in Mithila both at the house of the brahmana
Srutadeva and at the palace of King Bahulasva. And after
favoring them lavishly by His transcendental instructions, He
went back to His capital city, Dvaraka.
The instruction we receive from this incident is that King
Bahulasva and Srutadeva the brahmana were accepted by the Lord
on the same level because both were pure devotees. This is the
real qualification for being recognized by the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. Because it has become the fashion of
this age to become falsely proud of having taken birth in the
family of a ksatriya or of a brahmana, we see persons without
any qualification other than birth claiming to be a brahmana or
ksatriya or vaisya. But as it is stated in the scriptures,
kalau sudra- sambhava: "In this age of Kali, everyone
is a sudra." This is because there is no performance of
the purificatory processes known as samskaras, which begin from
the time of the mother's pregnancy and continue up to the point
of the individual's death. No one can be classified as a member
of a particular caste, especially of a higher caste -- brahmana,
ksatriya or vaisya -- simply by birthright. If one is not
purified by the process of the seed-giving ceremony, or
Garbhadhana-samskara, he is immediately classified amongst the
sudras, because only the sudras do not undergo this
purificatory process. Sex life without the purificatory process
of Krsna consciousness is merely the seed-giving process of the
sudras or the animals. But Krsna consciousness is the
highest perfection, by which everyone
can come to the platform of a Vaisnava. This includes having
all the qualifications of a brahmana. The Vaisnavas are trained
to become freed from the four kinds of sinful activities --
illicit sex, indulgence in intoxicants, gambling, and eating
animal foodstuffs. No one can be on the brahminical
platform without having these preliminary qualifications, and
without becoming a qualified brahmana, one cannot become a pure
devotee.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume,
Thirty-first Chapter, of Krsna, "The Kidnapping of Subhadra
and Lord Krsna's Visiting Srutadeva and Bahulasva."
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KB 86: The Kidnapping of Subhadra, and Lord Krsna's
Visiting Srutadeva and Bahulasva
CHAPTER EIGHTY–SIX
The Kidnapping of Subhadra, and Lord Krsna's Visiting
Srutadeva and Bahulasva
After hearing of the incidents described in the last
chapter, King Pariksit became more inquisitive to hear about
Krsna and His pastimes, and thus he inquired from Sukadeva
Gosvami how his grandmother Subhadra was kidnapped by his
grandfather Arjuna at the instigation of Lord Krsna. King
Pariksit was very eager to learn how his grandfather
kidnapped and married his grandmother.
Thus Sukadeva Gosvami began to narrate the story as follows:
Once upon a time, King Pariksit's grandfather Arjuna, the
great hero, was visiting several holy places of pilgrimage, and
while thus traveling all over he happened to come to
Prabhasa-ksetra. In Prabhasa-ksetra he
heard the news that Lord Balarama was negotiating the marriage
of Subhadra, the daughter of Arjuna's maternal uncle, Vasudeva.
Although her father, Vasudeva, and her brother Krsna were not
in agreement with Him, Balarama was in favor of marrying
Subhadra to Duryodhana. Arjuna, however, desired to gain
Subhadra's hand himself. As he thought of Subhadra and her
beauty, Arjuna became more and more captivated with the idea of
marrying her, and with a plan in mind he dressed himself like a
Vaisnava sannyasi, carrying a tridanda in his hand.
The Mayavadi sannyasis take
one danda, or one rod, whereas the Vaisnava sannyasis take
three dandas, or three rods. The three rods, or tridanda,
indicate that a Vaisnava sannyasi vows to render service to the
Supreme Personality of Godhead with his body, mind and words.
The system of tridanda-sannyasa has been in existence for a
long time, and the Vaisnava sannyasis are called tridandis, or
sometimes tridandi-svamis or tridandi-gosvamis.
Sannyasis are generally meant to travel all over the country
for preaching work, but during the four months of the rainy
season in India, from July through October, they do not
travel but take shelter in one place and remain there without
moving. This nonmovement of the sannyasi is called
Caturmasya-vrata. When a sannyasi stays in one place for these
four months, the local inhabitants of that place take advantage
of his presence to become spiritually advanced.
Arjuna, in the dress of a tridandi-sannyasi, remained in the
city of Dvaraka for the four months of the rainy season,
devising a plan whereby he could get Subhadra as his wife. None
of the inhabitants of Dvaraka, including Lord Balarama,
could recognize the sannyasi to be Arjuna; therefore all of
them offered their respects and obeisances to the sannyasi
without knowing the actual situation.
One day Lord Balarama invited this particular sannyasi to lunch
at His home. Balaramaji very respectfully offered him all kinds
of palatable dishes, and the so-called sannyasi was eating
sumptuously. While eating at the home of Balaramaji, Arjuna was
simply looking at beautiful Subhadra, who was very enchanting
to great heroes and kings. Out of love for her, Arjuna'
s eyes brightened, and he looked at her with glittering
eyes. Arjuna decided that somehow or other he would achieve
Subhadra as his wife, and his mind became agitated on account
of this strong desire.
Arjuna, the grandfather of Maharaja Pariksit, was himself
extraordinarily beautiful, and his bodily structure was very
attractive to Subhadra, who decided within her
mind that she would accept only Arjuna as her husband. As a
simple girl, she was smiling with great pleasure, looking at
Arjuna. Thus Arjuna also became more and more attracted by her.
In this way, Subhadra dedicated herself to Arjuna, and he
resolved to marry her by any means. He then became absorbed
twenty-four hours a day in thought of how he could get
Subhadra as his wife. He was afflicted with the thought of
getting Subhadra and had not a moment's peace of mind.
Once upon a time, Subhadra, seated on a chariot, came out of
the palace fort to see the gods in the temple. Arjuna took this
opportunity, and with the permission of Vasudeva and Devaki he
kidnapped her. After getting on Subhadra's chariot, he prepared
himself for a fight. Taking up his bow and holding off with his
arrows the soldiers ordered to check him, Arjuna took Subhadra
away. While Subhadra was thus being kidnapped by Arjuna,
her relatives and family members began to cry, but still he
took her, just as a lion takes his prey and departs. When it
was disclosed to Lord Balarama that the so-called sannyasi was
Arjuna, who had planned such a device simply to take
away Subhadra, and that he had actually taken her, He became
very angry. Just as the waves of the ocean become agitated on a
full-moon day, Lord Balarama became greatly disturbed.
Lord Krsna was in favor of Arjuna; therefore, along with other
members of the family, He tried to pacify Balarama by falling
at His feet and begging Him to pardon Arjuna. Krsna
convinced Lord Balarama that Subhadra was attached to Arjuna,
and thus Balarama became pleased to know that she wanted Arjuna
as her husband. The matter was settled, and to please
the newly married couple Lord Balarama arranged to send a
dowry consisting of an abundance of riches, including
elephants, chariots, horses, menservants and maidservants.
Maharaja Pariksit was very eager to hear more about Krsna,
and so, after finishing the narration of Arjuna's kidnapping
Subhadra, Sukadeva Gosvami began to narrate another story, as
follows.
There was a householder brahmana in the city of Mithila, the
capital of the kingdom of Videha. This brahmana, whose name was
Srutadeva, was a great devotee of Lord Krsna. Because he
was fully Krsna conscious and always engaged in the service
of the Lord, he was completely peaceful in mind and detached
from all material attraction. He was very learned and had no
desire other than to be fully situated in Krsna
consciousness. Although in the order of householder life, he
never took great pains to earn anything for his livelihood; he
was satisfied with whatever he could achieve without much
endeavor, and somehow or other he lived in that way. Every day
he would get the necessities of life in just the quantity
required, and not more. That was his destiny. The brahmana had
no desire to get more than what he needed, and thus he was
peacefully executing the regulative principles of a brahmana's
life, as enjoined in the revealed scriptures.
Fortunately, the King of Mithila was as good a devotee as the
brahmana. The name of this famous king was Bahulasva. He was
very well established in his reputation as a good king, and he
was not at all ambitious to extend his kingdom for the sake of
sense gratification. As such, both the brahmana and King
Bahulasva remained pure devotees of Lord Krsna in Mithila.
Since Lord Krsna was very merciful toward these two devotees,
King Bahulasva and the brahmana Srutadeva, He one day asked
His driver, Daruka, to take His chariot into the capital city
of Mithila. Lord Krsna was accompanied by the great sages
Narada, Vamadeva, Atri, Vyasadeva, Parasurama, Asita, Aruni,
Sukadeva, Brhaspati, Kanva, Maitreya, Cyavana and others. Lord
Krsna and the sages passed through many villages and
towns, and everywhere the citizens would receive them with
great respect and offer them articles in worship. To the
citizens who came to see the Lord and all the assembled
sages, it seemed as though the sun were
present along with his various satellite planets. In that
journey, Lord Krsna and the sages passed through the kingdoms
of Anarta, Dhanva, Kuru-jangala, Kanka, Matsya, Pancala, Kunti,
Madhu, Kekaya, Kosala and Arna, and thus all the citizens of
these places, both men and women, could see Lord Krsna face to
face. In this way they enjoyed celestial happiness, with open
hearts full of love and affection for the Lord, and when they
saw the face of the Lord, it seemed to them that they were
drinking nectar through their eyes. When they saw Krsna, all
the ignorant misconceptions of their lives dissipated. When the
Lord passed through the various countries and the people came
to visit Him, simply by glancing over them the Lord would
bestow all good fortune upon them and liberate them from all
kinds of ignorance. In some places the demigods would
join with the human beings, and their glorification of the Lord
would cleanse all directions of all inauspicious things. In
this way, Lord Krsna gradually reached the kingdom
of Videha.
When the citizens received the news of the Lord's arrival
, they all felt unlimited happiness and
came to welcome Him, taking gifts in their hands to offer. As
soon as they saw Lord Krsna, their hearts immediately blossomed
in transcendental bliss, just like lotus flowers upon
the rising of the sun. Previously they had simply heard the
names of the great sages but had never seen them. Now, by the
mercy of Lord Krsna, they had the opportunity of seeing both
the great sages and the Lord Himself.
King Bahulasva and the brahmana Srutadeva, knowing
well that the Lord had come there just to grace them with favor,
immediately fell at the Lord's lotus feet and offered their
respects. With folded hands, the King and the brahmana each
simultaneously invited Lord Krsna and all the sages to his home.
In order to please both of them, Lord Krsna expanded Himself
into two and went to the houses of each one of them; yet
neither the King nor the brahmana could understand that the
Lord had gone to the house of the other. Both thought that the
Lord had gone only to his own house. That He and His companions
were present in both houses, although both the brahmana and the
King thought He was present in one house only, is another
opulence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This opulence
is described in the revealed scriptures as vaibhava-prakasa.
When Lord Krsna married sixteen thousand wives, He
expanded Himself into sixteen thousand forms, each one of
them as powerful as He Himself. Similarly, in Vrndavana, when
Brahma stole Krsna's calves and cowherd boys, Krsna
expanded Himself into many new calves and boys.
Bahulasva, the King of Videha, was very intelligent and was a
perfect gentleman. He was astonished that so many great sages,
along with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, were personally
present in his home. He knew perfectly well that
conditioned souls engaged in worldly affairs
cannot be one hundred percent pure whereas the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and His pure devotees are always
transcendental to worldly contamination. Therefore, when he
found that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, and all
the great sages were at his home, he was astonished, and he
began to thank Lord Krsna for His causeless mercy.
Feeling very much obliged and wanting to receive his guests to
the best of his ability, he called for nice chairs and
cushions, and Lord Krsna, along with all the sages, sat down
very comfortably. At that time, King Bahulasva's mind was very
restless, not because of any problems but because of great
ecstasy of love and devotion. His heart was filled with love
and affection for the Lord and His associates, and his eyes
were filled with tears of ecstasy. He washed the feet
of his divine guests, and afterward he and his
family members sprinkled the water on their own heads. After
this, he offered the guests nice flower garlands, sandalwood
pulp, incense, new garments, ornaments, lamps, cows and bulls.
In a manner just befitting his royal position, he worshiped
each one of them in this way. When all had been fed sumptuously
and were sitting very comfortably, Bahulasva came before Lord
Krsna and caught His lotus feet. He placed them on his lap and,
while massaging the feet with his hands, began to speak about
the glories of the Lord in a sweet voice.
"My dear Lord, You are the Supersoul of all living entities,
and as the witness within the heart You are cognizant of
everyone's activities. Thus we are duty-bound to always
think of Your lotus feet so that we can remain in a secure
position and not deviate from Your eternal service. As a
result of our continuous remembrance of Your lotus feet, You
have kindly visited my place personally to favor me with Your
causeless mercy. We have heard, my dear Lord, that by Your
various statements You confirm Your pure devotees to be more
dear to You than Lord Balarama or Your constant servitor the
goddess of fortune. Your devotees are dearer to You than Your
first son, Lord Brahma, and I am sure that You have so kindly
visited my place in order to prove Your divine statement. I
cannot imagine how people can be godless and demoniac even
after knowing of Your causeless mercy and affection for Your
devotees who are constantly engaged in Krsna consciousness. How
can people who know of these things forget Your lotus feet?
"My dear Lord, it is known to us that You are so kind and
liberal that when a person leaves everything just to engage in
Krsna consciousness, You sometimes give Yourself in exchange
for that unalloyed service. You have appeared in the Yadu
dynasty to fulfill Your mission of reclaiming all conditioned
souls rotting in the sinful activities of material existence,
and this appearance is already famous all over the world. My
dear Lord, You are the ocean of unlimited mercy, love and
affection. Your transcendental form is full of bliss, knowledge
and eternity. You can attract everyone's heart by Your
beautiful form as Syamasundara, Krsna. Your knowledge is
unlimited, and to teach all people how to execute devotional
service You have sent Your incarnation Nara-Narayana, who is
engaged in severe austerities and penances at Badarinarayana.
Kindly, therefore, accept my humble obeisances at Your lotus
feet. My dear Lord, I beg to request You and Your companions,
the great sages and brahmanas, to remain at my place at least
for a few days so that this family of the famous King Nimi may
be sanctified by the dust of Your lotus feet
." Lord Krsna could not refuse the request of His devotee,
and thus He remained there for a few days with the sages
to sanctify the city of Mithila and all its citizens.
Meanwhile, the brahmana Srutadeva, simultaneously receiving
Lord Krsna and His associates at his home, was
transcendentally overwhelmed with joy. After offering his
guests nice sitting places, the brahmana began to dance,
waving around his wrap. Srutadeva, being not at all
rich, offered only mattresses, wooden planks, straw carpets
and so on to his distinguished guests, Lord Krsna and the
sages, but he welcomed them to the best of his ability.
He spoke very highly of the Lord and the sages, and he and his
wife washed the feet of each one of them. After this, he took
the water and sprinkled it over all the members of his family,
and although the brahmana appeared very poor,
he was at that time most fortunate. While Srutadeva was
welcoming Lord Krsna and His associates, he simply forgot
himself in transcendental joy. After welcoming the Lord and His
companions, according to his ability he brought fruits,
incense, scented water, scented clay, tulasi leaves, kusa straw
and lotus flowers. They were not costly items and could be
secured very easily, but because they were offered with
devotional love, Lord Krsna and His associates accepted them
gladly. The brahmana's wife cooked simple foods like
rice and dal, and Lord Krsna and His followers were very much
pleased to accept them because they were offered in devotional
love. When Lord Krsna and His associates were fed in this way,
the brahmana Srutadeva was thinking thus: "I have fallen into
the deep, dark well of householder life and am the most
unfortunate person. How has it become possible that Lord Krsna,
who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His associates,
the great sages, whose very presence makes a place as
sanctified as a pilgrimage site, have agreed to come to my
place?" While the brahmana was thinking in this way, the guests
finished their lunch and sat back very comfortably. At that
time, the brahmana Srutadeva and his wife, children and other
relatives appeared there to render service to the
distinguished guests. While touching the lotus feet of Lord
Krsna, the brahmana began to speak.
"My dear Lord," he said, "You are the Supreme Person,
Purusottama, transcendentally situated beyond the
manifested and unmanifested material creation. The activities
of this material world and of the conditioned souls have
nothing to do with Your position. We can appreciate that
not only today have You given me Your audience, but You are
associating with all the living entities as Paramatma since the
beginning of creation."
This statement by the brahmana is very instructive. It is a
fact that the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, in His
Paramatma feature, enters the creation of this material world
as Maha-Visnu, Garbhodakasayi Visnu and Ksirodakasayi Visnu,
and in a very friendly attitude the Lord sits along
with the conditioned soul in the body. Therefore, every living
entity has the Lord with him from the very beginning, but due
to his mistaken consciousness of life, the living entity cannot
understand this. When his consciousness, however, is changed
into Krsna consciousness, he can immediately understand how
Krsna is trying to assist the conditioned souls to get out of
the material entanglement.
Srutadeva continued: "My dear Lord, You have entered this
material world as if sleeping. A conditioned
soul, while sleeping, creates false or temporary worlds in his
mind; he becomes busy in many illusory activities -- sometimes
becoming a king, sometimes being murdered or sometimes going to
an unknown city -- and all these are simply temporary affairs.
Similarly, Your Lordship, apparently also in a sleeping
condition, enters this material world to create a temporary
manifestation, not for Your personal necessities but for the
conditioned soul who wants to imitate Your Lordship as enjoyer.
The conditioned soul's enjoyment in the material world is
temporary and illusory. And yet the conditioned soul is by
himself unable to create such a temporary situation for his
illusory enjoyment. To fulfill his desires, although
they are temporary and illusory, You enter this temporary
manifestation to help him. Thus from the beginning of the
conditioned soul's entering into the material world, You are
his constant companion. When, therefore, the conditioned soul
comes in contact with a pure devotee and takes to devotional
service, beginning with the process of hearing Your
transcendental pastimes, glorifying Your transcendental
activities, worshiping Your eternal form in the temple,
offering prayers to You and engaging in discussion to
understand Your transcendental position, he gradually
becomes freed from the contamination of material existence. And
as his heart becomes cleansed of all material dust, You
gradually become visible there.
Although You are constantly with the conditioned soul, only
when he becomes purified by devotional service do You become
revealed to him. Others, who are bewildered by fruitive
activities, either by Vedic injunction or by customary dealings,
and who do not take to devotional service, are captivated
by the external happiness of the bodily concept of life. You
are not revealed to such persons. Rather, You remain far, far
away from them. But for one who engages in Your
devotional service and purifies his heart by constant chanting
of Your holy name, You are very easily understood as his
eternal, constant companion.
"It is said that Your Lordship, sitting in the heart of a
devotee, gives him direction by which he can very quickly come
back home, back to You. This direct dictation by You reveals
Your existence within the heart of the devotee. Only a devotee
can immediately appreciate Your existence within his heart,
whereas for a person who has only a bodily concept of life
and is engaged in sense gratification, You always remain
covered by the curtain of yogamaya. Such a person cannot
realize that You are very near, sitting within his heart. For a
nondevotee, You are appreciated only as ultimate death. The
difference is like the difference between a cat's carrying its
kittens in its mouth and carrying a rat in its mouth. In
the mouth of the cat, the rat feels its death, whereas the
kittens in the mouth of the cat feel motherly affection.
Similarly, You are present to everyone, but the nondevotee
feels You as ultimate cruel death, whereas for a devotee You
are the supreme instructor and philosopher. The atheist,
therefore, understands the presence of God as death, but the
devotee understands the presence of God always within his heart,
takes dictation from You and lives transcendentally,
unaffected by the contamination of the material
world.
"You are the supreme controller and superintendent of the
material nature's activities. The atheistic class of men simply
observe the activities of material nature but cannot find You
as the original background. A devotee, however, can immediately
see Your hand in every movement of material nature. The curtain
of yogamaya cannot cover the eyes of the devotee of Your
Lordship, but it can cover the eyes of the nondevotee. The
nondevotee is unable to see You face to face, just as a person
whose eyes are blocked by the covering of a cloud cannot
see the sun, although persons flying above the cloud
can see the sunshine brilliantly, as it is. My dear Lord, I
offer my respectful obeisances unto You. My dear self-effulgent
Lord, I am Your eternal servitor. Therefore, kindly order me --
what can I do for You? The conditioned soul feels the pangs of
material contamination as the threefold miseries as long as You
are not visible to him. And as soon as You are visible by
development of Krsna consciousness, all miseries of material
existence are simultaneously vanquished."
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is naturally very
much affectionately inclined to His devotees. When He heard
Srutadeva's prayers of pure devotion, He was very much pleased
and immediately caught his hands and addressed him
thus: "My dear Srutadeva, all these great sages, brahmanas and
saintly persons have been very kind to you by personally coming
here to see you. You should consider this opportunity to be a
great fortune for you. They are so kind that they are traveling
with Me, and wherever they go they immediately make the whole
atmosphere as pure as transcendence simply by the touch of the
dust of their feet. People are accustomed to go to the temples
of God. They also visit holy places of pilgrimage, and after
prolonged association with such activities for many days by
touch and by worship, they gradually become purified.
But the influence of great sages and saintly persons is so
great that by seeing them one immediately becomes completely
purified.
"Moreover, the very purifying potency of pilgrimages or worship
of different demigods is also achieved by the grace of saintly
persons. A pilgrimage site becomes a holy place because of the
presence of the saintly persons. My dear Srutadeva, when
a person is born as a brahmana, he immediately becomes the best
of all human beings. And if such a brahmana, remaining self-
satisfied, practices austerities, studies the Vedas and engages
in My devotional service, as is the duty of the brahmana -- or
in other words, if a brahmana becomes a Vaisnava -- how
wonderful is his greatness! My feature of four-handed Narayana
is not so pleasing or dear to Me as is a brahmana Vaisnava.
Brahmana means ‘one well conversant with Vedic knowledge.' A
brahmana is the insignia of perfect knowledge, and I am the
full-fledged manifestation of all gods. Less intelligent
men do not understand Me, nor
do they understand the influence of the brahmana Vaisnava. They
are influenced by the three modes of material nature and thus
dare to criticize Me and My pure devotees. A brahmana Vaisnava,
or a devotee already on the brahminical platform, can realize
Me within his heart, and therefore he definitely concludes that
the whole cosmic manifestation and its different features are
effects of different energies of the Lord. Thus he has a clear
conception of the whole material nature and the total material
energy, and in every action such a devotee sees Me only, and
nothing else.
"My dear Srutadeva, you may therefore accept all these great
saintly persons, brahmanas and sages as My bona fide
representatives. By worshiping them faithfully, you will be
worshiping Me more diligently. I consider worship of My
devotees to be better than direct worship of Me. If someone
attempts to worship Me directly without worshiping My devotees,
I do not accept such worship, even though it may be presented
with great opulence."
In this way both the brahmana Srutadeva and the King of
Mithila, under the direction of the Lord, worshiped both Krsna
and His followers, the great sages and saintly brahmanas, on an
equal level of spiritual importance. Both brahmana and King
ultimately achieved the supreme goal of being transferred to
the spiritual world. The devotee does not know anyone except
Lord Krsna, and Krsna is most affectionate to His devotee. Lord
Krsna remained in Mithila both at the house of the brahmana
Srutadeva and at the palace of King Bahulasva. And after
favoring them lavishly by His transcendental instructions, He
went back to His capital city, Dvaraka.
The instruction we receive from this incident is that King
Bahulasva and Srutadeva the brahmana were accepted by the Lord
on the same level because both were pure devotees. This is the
real qualification for being recognized by the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. Because it has become the fashion of
this age to be falsely proud of having taken birth in the
family of a ksatriya or a brahmana, we see persons without
any qualification other than birth claiming to be a brahmana or
ksatriya or vaisya. But as stated in the scriptures,
kalau sudra-sambhavah: "In this Age of Kali, everyone
is born a sudra." This is because there is no performance of
the purificatory processes known as samskaras, which begin from
the time of the mother's pregnancy and continue up to the point
of the individual's death. No one can be classified as a member
of a particular caste, especially of a higher caste -- brahmana,
ksatriya or vaisya -- simply by birthright. If one is not
purified by the process of the seed-giving ceremony, or
garbhadhana-samskara, he is immediately classified amongst the
sudras because only the sudras do not undergo this
purificatory process. Sex life without the purificatory process
of Krsna consciousness is merely the seed-giving process of the
sudras or the animals. Krsna consciousness is therefore the
best process of purification. By this process everyone
can come to the platform of a Vaisnava, which includes having
all the qualifications of a brahmana. The Vaisnavas are trained
to become freed from the four kinds of sinful activities --
illicit sex, indulgence in intoxicants, gambling and eating
animal foods. One cannot be on the brahminical
platform without having these preliminary qualifications, and
without becoming a qualified brahmana, one cannot become a pure
devotee.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Eighty
-sixth Chapter of Krsna, "The Kidnapping of Subhadra,
and Lord Krsna's Visiting Srutadeva and Bahulasva."
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