Text 21
nāyaṁ sukhāpo bhagavān
dehināṁ gopikā-sutaḥ
jñānināṁ cātma-bhūtānāṁ
yathā bhaktimatām iha
Translation
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, the son of mother Yaśodā, is accessible to devotees engaged in spontaneous loving service, but He is not as easily accessible to mental speculators, to those striving for self-realization by severe austerities and penances, or to those who consider the body the same as the self.
Purport
Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the son of mother Yaśodā, is very easily available to devotees, but not to tapasvīs, yogīs, jñānīs and others who have a bodily concept of life. Although they may sometimes be called śānta-bhaktas, real bhakti begins with dāsya-rasa. Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.11):
ye yathā māṁ prapadyante
tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham
mama vartmānuvartante
manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ
“As living entities surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.” Everyone is seeking Kṛṣṇa, for He is the Supersoul of all individual souls. Everyone loves his body and wants to protect it because he is within the body as the soul, and everyone loves the soul because the soul is part and parcel of the Supersoul. Therefore, everyone is actually seeking to achieve happiness by reviving his relationship with the Supersoul. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: “By all the Vedas, it is I who am to be known.” Therefore, the karmīs, jñānīs, yogīs and saintly persons are all seeking Kṛṣṇa. But by following in the footsteps of devotees who are in a direct relationship with Kṛṣṇa, especially the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, one can reach the supreme position of associating with Kṛṣṇa. As it is said, vṛndāvanaṁ parityajya padam ekaṁ na gacchati: Kṛṣṇa does not leave Vṛndāvana even for a moment. The vṛndāvana-vāsīs — mother Yaśodā, Kṛṣṇa’s friends and Kṛṣṇa’s conjugal lovers, the younger gopīs with whom He dances — have very intimate relationships with Kṛṣṇa, and if one follows in the footsteps of these devotees, Kṛṣṇa is available. Although the nitya-siddha expansions of Kṛṣṇa always remain with Kṛṣṇa, if those engaged in sādhana-siddhi follow in the footsteps of Kṛṣṇa’s nitya-siddha associates, such sādhana-siddhas also can easily attain Kṛṣṇa without difficulty. But there are those who are attached to bodily concepts of life. Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, for example, have very prestigious positions, and thus they have the sense of being very exalted īśvaras. In other words, because Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva are guṇa-avatāras and have exalted positions, they have some small sense of being like Kṛṣṇa. But the pure devotees who inhabit Vṛndāvana do not possess any bodily conception. They are fully dedicated to the service of the Lord in sublime affection, premā. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has therefore recommended, premā pum-artho mahān: the highest perfection of life is premā, pure love in relationship with Kṛṣṇa. And mother Yaśodā appears to be the topmost of devotees who have attained this perfection.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj :
So, this is a very nice summary of the pastime of Yasoda and Krishna in a Damodar pastime. So, this verse states that the Lord is available to those who have Bhakti, Bhakti Mataam. He is very easily obtainable by them. But He is not easily attainable by others. That is the Jnanis, the Yogis and those involved with the material body. So of course, this is also stated in other places like Nectar of devotion. The third quality of Bhakti that distinguishes it from other processes like Jnana and Karma is “it is very difficult to attain, Sudurlaba.” Of course, what is difficult to attain, one is “the process of Bhakti”, second is “Krishna” and as repeatedly stated in the Srimad Bhagavatam, you cannot see and serve Krishna by other processes. Of course, as Prabhupada states in the purport, everybody is serving Krishna anyway. So, the Jnanis and Yogis attain Brahman. This is also Krishna, but in an inferior way.
How do the Karmis attain Krishna?
If they do lots of Punyas, they can go to Svarga Loka and they can experience Sattva Guna aspect of the Lord and people who don’t follow Karma Yoga at all, they just try to be happy on their own, they get a little bit of happiness out of something in the material world. This is also Krishna, but negatively, this is Maya, the material happiness.
Those who want the highest spiritual happiness must perform Bhakti and worship Bhagavan. Of course, Bhagavan comes in many forms, but they all have common characteristics, and this distinguishes Bhagavan from Paramatma and Brahman. So, we are familiar with the verse that tells us that Bhagavan has six qualities like Jnana, Aishwarya, etc. Of course, these qualities are also applicable to Paramatma. But Brahman does not manifest any qualities. So, we cannot say Brahman manifests Sarvajna, Omniscience, Knowledge. That’s a quality, so Brahman cannot manifest any qualities.
Why do we distinguish Paramatma from Bhagavan since they both have similar qualities?
So, the answer is made clear by giving another definition of Bhagavan, which of course can be taken in both ways for Paramatma and Bhagavan also, but also implies a more intimate relationship with the Lord.
So, the definition is given according to the syllables Ba, Ga, and Va.
Anyway, Ba stands for Bhatra, one who supports. Of course, Paramatma supports the Jivas also in general, but of course, Bhagavan supports the Jiva by encouraging their Bhakti to become Prema and He responds to them in many ways to keep increasing their Prema.
So, Ga stands for Gam or Gamayata. Gam means to go. So Gamayata means he makes them go or makes them attain. So, what does he make them attain? Spiritual world, spiritual body, Prema.
Va stands for Vaas. Vaas means to live or dwell in. So, the Lord lives in the devotee. This means the devotee is always thinking of the Lord and it also means the devotee lives in the Lord. This means the Lord is always thinking of the devotee. So, this shows the great exchange of love between the Lord and the devotee and this is manifested in Bhagavan forms, not in Paramatma forms. So, though the yogi can realize Paramatma to some degree, usually they end up merging into Paramatma.
But one who worships Bhagavan, even it’s the same form of Vishnu with the four arms, except it’s exactly alike. He never wants to merge. Because he sees Bhagavan as the object of love and the Lord wants to respond to that love. So, in this way, Bhagavan is distinct from the other forms of God, that is Brahman and Paramatma. So, all the forms of Bhagavan manifest this exchange of Prema and to attain that, we have to perform Sadhana Bhakti.
Krishna, of course, is Svayam bhagavan. So, He is also Bhagavan, but special form. So, what makes Krishna special?
Of course, Rupa Goswami explains in Nectar Devotion Part 2, that Krishna has four extra qualities and what is the nature of these qualities, they all are Madhurya, very sweet. Madhurya here does not mean conjugal rasa, it means simply the intimacy in the loving relationship. Intimacy, such that the devotee does not see Krishna as Bhagavan. So here in this verse, Krishna is also called Gopika Suta, the son of a Gopi.
So, all the people of Vrindavan in their Prema see Krishna as the son of Yasoda. They don’t see Krishna as Bhagavan. So, this can only be attained, one, by Bhakti, but also special Bhakti. So Prabhupada also mentions this in the purport, you have to have this same mood as the people of Vrindavan to attain that realization of Krishna and what is that mood? We do not see Krishna as God. We see Krishna as the son of the Gopi, and if we do Bhakti, but we don’t do that, we don’t see Krishna in this way. So, what this means is that if you do Raganuga Bhakti, then you attain that Krishna, if you do Vaidya Bhakti, you don’t see this Krishna. So that is also made clear in Nectar of Devotion. Of course, most devotees feel themselves fortunate if they can realize Krishna in any form, doesn’t matter.
But those who are more enthusiastic want to have darshan of the Vrindavan Krishna and therefore they practice Raganuga. Of course, it is also explained in Nectar of Devotion that it is a quicker process. Why? because more spontaneous eagerness to attain the goal and of course, Krishnaalso responds to that eagerness. So, in this way, we can say Krishna in Vrindavan is the most merciful also. So, in this way, only through Bhakti and only a special type of Bhakti, we actually realize Krishna in Vrindavan. So definitely the jnanis, the yogis and the karmis cannot realize Krishna and even the jnanis and the yogis, if they manage to get out of the material world, they still don’t realize Krishna.They don’t even realize Vishnu. All they realize is Brahman, which is like a ray of light from the toenail of the Supreme Lord. So, therefore, we have to do Bhakti in order to realize Bhagavan and if we want to realize Krishna, then we have to do Raganuga Bhakti.
So, according to the sadhana, we get the result. If you study law, you get a law degree. After studying law for four years, you cannot say, give me a medical degree. So similarly, you practice Jnana, you get the promised result. You can get liberation that’s all Mukti. It does not promise Prema. If you do Karma Yoga, you can get Svarga Loka or Brahma Loka.
So, each process gives a particular result. Which should we choose?
In the material world, you could choose law, you could choose medicine, you could choose business administration, whatever. So, some people will say, yes, Vedas say everything, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, yeah, we can choose anything and that is true. That’s why the Vedas offer different processes, because people like to choose.
Most people don’t even want to get out of the material world, so give them Karma Yoga. Scriptures glorify the results for them, and they get very attracted to this, so let them follow. For those who want to get out of the world, then there is liberation and scriptures advise you to follow Jnana Yoga or Ashtanga Yoga.
Very few people are there who want Prema, and for those people, we have process of Bhakti Yoga. So, as Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita, very rare, out of thousands and thousands of people, hardly one knows me. So, though the Vedas supply us choices, we should also not think they’re all equal in the result. It is like thinking, okay, I get a degree, that’s success. So, I graduate from 12th standard, that’s my degree, I’m successful. But it’s not equal to a BSc and the BSc is not equal to the PhD. They’re all, it’s a hierarchy, one is superior to the other.
So, the results of Karma, Jnana, Yoga, and Bhakti are different, and they’re not equal. So, the intelligent people will go for the highest result. But, of course, not all people are so intelligent or qualified. So, they are given other options also. Of course, even if they choose other options, they can also change their mind later on, and they can progress. So, you can go from Karma Yoga to Jnana Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, and then Bhakti Yoga also.
So, in this way, the Vedas accommodate all people, but ultimately, they give us highest goal, that should be the final result. So, that is what is presented in the scriptures. Bhagavatam goes one step further. And it says, all of this is useless. Just do Bhakti Yoga. Whoever you are, don’t do Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, even though they are recommended in scripture, even though you’re attracted to it, don’t do it. You cannot be successful at these processes in Kali Yoga. In other words, you cannot get Svarga Loka by Karma Yoga or Liberation by Jnana or Ashtanga Yoga. It’s not going to work in Kali Yoga and thus, trying to gradually progress from Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, then Bhakti Yoga, it’s not going to work also and therefore, Krishna advises in Bhagavad Gita chapter 12, just do Bhakti Yoga. Easier and quicker.
Only problem is, nobody qualified. However, Bhakti is also special. Because everybody can become qualified. But people may argue, well, Kali Yoga, everybody is in Tamoguna, and how can they become qualified for the highest thing in Bhakti? People are so fallen in Kali Yoga, so first we have to do Karma Yoga and Varnashramaa. We have to purify people first. But Bhagavatam says the opposite. Forget about all of this. Just do Bhakti Yoga. So, this, of course, is what Lord Caitanya also teaches. But even Bhakti Yoga becomes simpler with Lord Caitanya. Also becomes more powerful. So not only Bhakti Yoga is the only process, but Nama Sankirtana is the only process. And Nama Sankirtana is the quickest way to raise the person in the lowest level to the highest level of Prema. So that is what Lord Caitanya has given to us. And therefore, we cannot get too distracted by other processes.
Of course, Bhakti Yoga is flexible. We can use anything and adapt it to the process of Bhakti. But it should never act as an obstacle to our progress in Bhakti.
So, though Bhagavan is difficult to achieve, He is attainable by Bhakti. Krishna is more difficult to achieve than the other forms of Bhagavan. He is also attainable by Bhakti of Raganuga type. But the basis of this is Nama Sankirtana of Lord Caitanya. So therefore, Krishna is advised to chant the name of Radha and Krishna and Hare Krishna and this way we get that highest goal.
Q & A
1) In the verse, Bhagavan is described as Gopika suta, Can we say that Krishna is the eternally, the eternal son of Gopika, Yasoda?
Krishna and Vrindavan is simultaneously Bhagavan and Paramatma and Brahman.So naturally He is eternal, he has all knowledge and He has all bliss. However, the people of Vrindavan do not think of Him as Bhagavan, as being full of all knowledge. They think of Him as ignorant boy, needs to get educated, we have to discipline Him, whatever. If mother Yasoda had known Krishna was Bhagavan, she would never try to punish Him, but nevertheless Krishna is Bhagavan also and has all the powers. This is what he showed to Brahma. Brahma thought He is a cowherd boy and not Bhagavan but then Krishna showed that He is the source of all the Vishnu forms, who create all the universes, who create all the Brahmas, but the people of Vrindavan did not get that realization. They did not see what Brahma saw.
2) When a Sadhaka starts his devotional service in the beginning, we see that normally he tries to know the Aishvarya aspect of the Supreme Lord and then when he advances slowly slowly and if he wants to get Krishna in Vrindavan, he has to forget this Aishvarya aspect and accept the Madhurya aspect.
So, the question is that forgetting the Aishvarya aspects and accepting the Madhurya aspects is quite challenging. Do you know how many lifetimes it might take? So how this transition takes place here of accepting the Madhurya aspects and forgetting the aishvarya aspects.? Sadhaka has the knowledge of Krishna as the Supreme Lord, and it is imbued in him right now and how this forgetting Krishna as the Supreme Lord will take place?
Well, for some people, it may never take place. They will worship Vishnu instead, like the people in Srirangam. They heard how Lord Chaitanya, he spoke about Krishna.
They weren’t attracted at all. However, others, by hearing the pastimes of Krishna from Bhagavatam, developed that attraction. So, if one hears Bhagavatam from a devotee who also has that attraction, then it’s likely that he could develop that attraction. Otherwise, no. He will instead gravitate towards the Aishvarya aspect of the Lord.
3) We also emphasize on the study of the scriptures. Normally, only in tenth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam there is much explanation of so much about Madhurya Lila and other aspects (of Srimad Bhagavatam from 1-9) are almost like Aishvarya only. So ultimately, he will be landed in the Dwaraka, not in Vrindavan. (So how to go to Vrindavan?)
If he concentrates on the other aspects of Bhagavatam.That’s why we see that our Acharyas mainly concentrate on the tenth canto.
4) When we came initially to Krishna consciousness, they said that you chant sixteen rounds, follow four regulative principles, and you will go back home, back to God Head, but after some time, we understand that we have to develop Prema to go back home, back to God Head. The question is do we in the sadhana stage, if one is less than or equal to Nistha, like Bhajanakriya, Anartha Nivrutti, nishta can they also go back home, back to God Head like Sarupya, Sayujya? Not Sayujya, Salokya, other types of four liberations to get into the resident of Vrindavan?
So, everything requires qualification. So, qualification for spiritual world is Prema and qualification for Vrindavan in the spiritual world is Madhurya Prema. So, according to our sadhana and our particular goal, then we get different results. If we choose Vrindavan and that Madhurya Prema, we practice in one way and if we want other things, we practice in different way. If we practice bhakti but we don’t get Prema, then we continue next life, next life, until we attain the result. Those who don’t want Prema but want salokya or sarupya or sarsti, they can also attain that by doing bhakti. They cannot get it by yoga or jnana, but they do it by mixed bhakti. If they practice pure bhakti, then they get Prema beyond that.
Of course, if one has Prema in the spiritual world, we are in the spiritual world, we have a spiritual body, we’ve got spiritual powers anyway. But that’s not our goal. But if we attain Prema, then we get the fruits to go to the spiritual world, we get spiritual powers, we get to be near Bhagavan, we get the spiritual body, we get everything.
But that’s not our goal. So, the person practicing pure bhakti does not make his goal sarupya or sarsti or salokya. His goal is simply serve the Lord in Prema. And therefore, he gets Prema.
5) As we see in the story of Gopakumara, he also had a Prema but his Prema was for Vrindavan Krishna. But he had to undergo different planets as well as in Vaikuntha also and after going to Vaikuntha and again he came back, and he went to Goloka. So, my question is that when Sadhaka performs the devotional service, he might have love for Krishna, Vrindavan Krishna. But he is not that much qualified to go to the Goloka.
So, will he again come back to this material world and continue this devotional service so that he can achieve that much love or Prema for Krishna to go to Goloka Vrindavan?
So, Prema is the result of our sadhana. And once we got the result, we don’t change it.
So, you plant a mango tree, you get a mango, you don’t get an orange or an apple. So, once you’ve done your sadhana and you attain Prema in the spiritual world, wherever you are, it’s fixed, sthayi bhava. And then, one is perfectly satisfied and full of bliss with that particular form of the Lord and one’s service. So, we don’t move around. That would mean we are dissatisfied with Prema.
So, Gopakumara was dissatisfied because his Prema was not suitable for Vaikuntha or Ayodhya or anywhere else. It was different. His Prema was suitable for Vrindavan or Goloka.
6) I’m saying that for Gopakumara, he has a love for Krishna only. But if Sadhaka also has the same love for Krishna in Vrindavan, but he’ll not go to Vaikuntha like Gopakumara, but Gopakumara went to Vaikuntha?
So, this is a special case to show the different types of Prema and according to your sadhana, you get different results. Interesting in that story because he was chanting Krishna mantra and was expecting Krishna at Vrindavan. That’s what he finally got. But he became a Gopa, not a Manjari or a Gopi. That was his desire and expectation, that’s what he got.
Even though the whole book is actually to show that highest is Madurya rasa and love of Radha and Krishna. So, when doing sadhana in the material world one goes to bhava and Prema and through that, then we develop our sthayi bhava and we realize the relationship with the Lord, and we get our spiritual body, that becomes permanent.
7) We hear from Prabhupada’s books that although material world and spiritual world both are infinite, but there is a proportion of 25% and 75% manifestation of the supreme energy of the Lord. Is it the same, Maharaj, some proportion is there for the souls present in the spiritual world and material world?
Although Prabhupada says that majority of the souls are with Krishna and very few, like give example of prison house where only few are in the prison house and most of the people are outside. But just like infinite energy of the Lord is still 25% and 75%, similarly for souls also there is some bifurcation like this?
So, when we have this example of one quarter and three quarters, we should not think in terms of numerical standards or dimensions. So, spiritual world is infinite. Material world for us looks infinite, but actually it is very small. So, the idea is there to show that the spiritual realm predominates over the material realm. That’s all.
8) Will there any be time where there are no living entities in the material world? Everyone is liberated and everyone goes back to spiritual world?
Well, by definition it is said that Prakriti has no beginning, no end. So, if there are no more Jivas in the material world, Prakriti would have to disappear. It wouldn’t be useful anymore.
So, what this means is there is always enough Jivas to support the material world. And even if all the Jivas in the material world end up in the spiritual world, there are other Jivas sitting in Mahavishnu who will take their place.
9) How to understand that even after taking caranamritam, pure devotees die suddenly. As per NOD one who takes caranamrita, one is protected from this untimely or sudden death (Akala Mrithyu Haranam Sarva vyadi vinashanam.) How to understand this?
So, the devotees are under the protection of the Lord and generally their karmas are all gone. So, and if one is in Bhava or Prema, then we don’t expect to have, well zero karmas. Nevertheless, they have a body which is material, which will have to end sometime. So, it’s up to the Supreme Lord when he wants to take that body away.
So, the devotee himself has no problem, because he is not attached to the body and he accepts whatever arrangement Krishnamakes. So, for the devotee there is no Akala Mrithyu or whatever.
10) At what stage a practicing devotee can aspire for a particular rasa and want to be fixed. At what stage he will attain that rasa.?
There is no scriptural prescription of when this should take place. Of course, particular rasas you can’t really choose with other forms of the Lord, only with Krishna and some people may choose from the very beginning of their sadhana. Others may choose much later.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam Ki.. Jai ! Srila Prabhupad Ki.. Jai !!