Sri Krishna Madbhagavatam
70. Lord
Kṛṣṇa in Indraprastha City
In the presence
of the great sage Nārada and all the other associates of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Uddhava considered the situation and
then spoke as follows: "My dear Lord, first of all let me say that the
great sage Nārada Muni has requested You to go to Hastināpura to satisfy King
Yudhiṣṭhira, Your cousin, who is making
arrangements to perform the great sacrifice known as Rājasūya. I think,
therefore, that Your Lordship should immediately go there to help the King in
this great adventure. However, although to accept the invitation offered by the
sage Nārada Muni as primary is quite appropriate, at the same time, my Lord, it
is Your duty to give protection to the surrendered souls. Both purposes can be
served if we understand the whole situation. Unless we are victorious over all
the kings, no one can perform this Rājasūya sacrifice. In other words, it is to
be understood that King Yudhiṣṭhira cannot perform this great sacrifice without gaining victory
over the belligerent King Jarāsandha. The Rājasūya sacrifice can only be
performed by one who has gained victory over all directions. Therefore, to
execute both purposes, we first of all have to kill Jarāsandha. I think that if
we can somehow or other gain victory over Jarāsandha, then automatically all
our purposes will be served. The imprisoned kings will be released, and with
great pleasure we shall enjoy the spread of Your transcendental fame at having
saved the innocent kings whom Jarāsandha has imprisoned.
|
"But King Jarāsandha is not an
ordinary man. He has proved a stumbling block even to great warriors because
his bodily strength is equal to the strength of 10,000 elephants. If there is
anyone who can conquer this king, he is none other than Bhīmasena because he
also possesses the strength of 10,000 elephants. The best thing would be for
Bhīmasena to fight alone with him. Then there would be no unnecessary killing
of many soldiers. In fact, it will be very difficult to conquer Jarāsandha
when he stands with his akṣauhiṇī divisions of soldiers. We may therefore adopt a
policy more favorable to the situation. We know that King Jarāsandha is very
much devoted to the brāhmaṇas. He is very charitably disposed towards them;
he never refuses any request from a brāhmaṇa. I think, therefore, that Bhīmasena should
approach Jarāsandha in the dress of a brāhmaṇa, beg charity from him, and then personally
engage in fighting him. And in order to assure Bhīmasena's victory, I think
that Your Lordship should also accompany him. If the fighting takes place in
Your presence, I am sure Bhīmasena will emerge victorious because simply by
Your presence everything impossible is made possible, just as Lord Brahmā
creates this universe and Lord Śiva destroys it simply through Your
influence.
"Actually, You are creating and
destroying the entire cosmic manifestation; Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva are
only the superficially visible causes. Creation and destruction are actually
being performed by the invisible time factor, which is Your impersonal
representation. Everything is under the control of this time factor. If Your
invisible time factor can perform such wonderful acts through Lord Brahmā and
Lord Śiva, will not Your personal presence help Bhīmasena to conquer
Jarāsandha? My dear Lord, when Jarāsandha is killed, then the queens of all
the imprisoned kings will be so joyful at their husbands' being released by
Your mercy that they will all begin to sing Your glories. They will be as
pleased as the gopīs were when they were released from the hands of Śaṅkhāsura. All the great sages, the King of the
elephants, Gajendra, the goddess of fortune, Sītā, and even Your father and
mother, were all delivered by Your causeless mercy. We also have been thus
delivered, and we are always singing the transcendental glories of Your
activities."Therefore, I think that if the killing of Jarāsandha is undertaken first, that will automatically solve many other problems. As for the Rājasūya sacrifice arranged in Hastināpura, it will be held, either because of the pious activities of the imprisoned kings or the impious activities of Jarāsandha. "My Lord, it appears that You are also personally to go to Hastināpura to perform this great sacrifice so that demoniac kings like Jarāsandha and Śiśupāla may be conquered, the pious imprisoned kings released, and at the same time the great Rājasūya sacrifice performed. Considering all these points, I think that Your Lordship should immediately proceed to Hastināpura."
This advice of Uddhava's was
appreciated by all who were present in the assembly, and everyone considered
that Lord Kṛṣṇa's
going to Hastināpura would be beneficial from all points of view. The great
sage Nārada, the elderly personalities of the Yadu dynasty, and the Supreme
Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa Himself all supported the statement of Uddhava.
Lord Kṛṣṇa
then took permission from His father Vasudeva and grandfather Ugrasena, and
He immediately ordered His servants Dāruka and Jaitra to arrange for travel
to Hastināpura. When everything was prepared, Lord Kṛṣṇa
especially bid farewell to Lord Balarāma and the King of the Yadus, Ugrasena,
and after dispatching His queens along with their children and sending their
necessary luggage ahead, He mounted His chariot, which bore the flag marked
with the symbol of Garuḍa.
Before starting the procession, Lord
Kṛṣṇa
satisfied the great sage Nārada by offering him different kinds of
worshipable articles. Nāradajī wanted to fall at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa,
but because the Lord was playing the part of a human being, he simply offered
his respects within his mind, and fixing the transcendental form of the Lord
within his heart, he left the assembly house by the airways. Usually the sage
Nārada never walks on the surface of the globe, but travels in outer space.
After the departure of Nārada, Lord Kṛṣṇa addressed the messenger who had come from the
imprisoned kings. He told him that they should not be worried. He would very
soon arrange to kill the King of Magadha, Jarāsandha. Thus He wished good
fortune to all the imprisoned kings and the messenger. After receiving this
assurance from Lord Kṛṣṇa,
the messenger returned to the imprisoned kings and informed them of the happy
news of the Lord's forthcoming visit. All the kings became joyful at the news
and began to wait very anxiously for the Lord's arrival.
The chariot of Lord Kṛṣṇa
began to proceed, accompanied by many other chariots, along with elephants,
cavalry, infantry and similar royal paraphernalia. Bugles, drums, trumpets,
conchshells, horns and coronets all began to produce a loud auspicious sound
which vibrated in all directions. The 16,000 queens, headed by the goddess of
fortune Rukmiṇīdevī,
the ideal wife of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and accompanied by their respective sons, all
followed behind Lord Kṛṣṇa.
They were dressed in costly garments decorated with ornaments, and their
bodies were smeared with sandalwood pulp and garlanded with fragrant flowers.
Riding on palanquins which were nicely decorated with silks, flags and golden
lace, they followed their exalted husband, Lord Kṛṣṇa.
The infantry soldiers carried shields, swords and lances in their hands and
acted as royal bodyguards to all the queens. In the rear of the procession
were the wives and children of all the other followers, and there were many
society girls also following. Many beasts of burden like bulls, buffaloes,
mules, and asses carried the camps, bedding and carpets, and the women who
were following were seated in separate palanquins on the backs of camels.
This panoramic procession was accompanied by the shouts of the people and was
full with the display of different colored flags, umbrellas and whisks and different
varieties of weapons, dress, ornaments, helmets and armaments. The
procession, being reflected in the sunshine, appeared just like an ocean with
high waves and sharks.
|
The audience of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is not very commonplace. Therefore, when King Yudhiṣṭhira heard that Lord Kṛṣṇa had already arrived in his capital city, Hastināpura, he became so joyful that all his bodily hairs stood on end in great ecstasy, and he immediately came out of the city to properly receive Him. He ordered the musical vibration of different instruments and songs, and the learned brāhmaṇas of the city began to chant the hymns of the Vedas very loudly. Lord Kṛṣṇa is known as Hṛṣīkeśa, the master of the senses, and King Yudhiṣṭhira went forward to receive Him exactly as the senses meet the consciousness of life. King Yudhiṣṭhira was the elderly cousin of Kṛṣṇa. Naturally he had great affection for the Lord, and as soon as he saw Him, his heart became filled with great love and affection. He had not seen the Lord for many days, and therefore he thought himself most fortunate to see Him present before him. The King therefore began to embrace Lord Kṛṣṇa again and again in great affection.
The eternal form of Lord Kṛṣṇa is the
everlasting residence of the goddess of fortune. As soon as King Yudhiṣṭhira embraced
Him, he became free from all the contamination of material existence. He
immediately felt transcendental bliss, and he merged in an ocean of happiness.
There were tears in his eyes, and his body shook in ecstasy. He completely
forgot that he was living in the material world. After this, Bhīmasena, the
second brother of the Pāṇḍavas,
smiled and embraced Lord Kṛṣṇa, thinking of Him as his own maternal cousin, and
thus he was merged in great ecstasy. Bhīmasena also was so filled with ecstasy
that for the time being he forgot his material existence. Then Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself
embraced the other three Pāṇḍavas, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. The eyes of all
three brothers were inundated with tears, and Arjuna began to embrace Kṛṣṇa again and
again because they were intimate friends. The two younger Pāṇḍava brothers,
after being embraced by Lord Kṛṣṇa, fell down at His lotus feet to offer their
respects. Lord Kṛṣṇa
thereafter offered His obeisances to the brāhmaṇas present there, as well as to the elderly members
of the Kuru dynasty, like Bhīṣma, Droṇa and Dhṛtarāṣṭra. There were many kings of different provinces
such as Kuru, Sṛñjaya
and Kekaya, and Lord Kṛṣṇa
duly reciprocated greetings and respects with them. The professional reciters
like the sūtas, māgadhas and vandinas, accompanied by the brāhmaṇas, began to
offer their respectful prayers to the Lord. Artists and musicians like the
Gandharvas, as well as the royal jokers, began to play their drums,
conchshells, kettledrums, vīṇās, mṛdaṅgas, and bugles, and they exhibited their dancing
art in order to please the Lord. Thus the all-famous Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa,
entered the great city of Hastināpura, which was opulent in every respect.
While Lord Kṛṣṇa
was entering the city, everyone was talking amongst themselves about the
glories of the Lord, praising His transcendental name, quality, form, etc.
The roads, streets and lanes of
Hastināpura were all sprinkled with fragrant water through the trunks of
intoxicated elephants. In different places of the city there were colorful
festoons and flags decorating the houses and streets. At important road crossings
there were gates with golden decorations, and at the two sides of the gates
there were golden water jugs. These beautiful decorations glorified the
opulence of the city. Participating in this great ceremony, all the citizens of
the city gathered here and there, dressed in colorful new clothing, decorated
with ornaments, flower garlands, and fragrant scents. Each and every house was
illuminated by hundreds and thousands of lamps placed in different corners of
the cornices, walls, columns, bases and architraves, and from far away the rays
of the lamps resembled the festival of Dīpāvalī (a particular festival observed
on the New Year's Day of the Hindu calendar). Within the walls of the houses,
fragrant incense was burning, and smoke rose through the windows, making the
entire atmosphere very pleasing. On the top of every house flags were flapping,
and the gold waterpots kept on the roofs shone very brilliantly.
Lord Kṛṣṇa thus entered the city of the Pāṇḍavas, enjoyed
the beautiful atmosphere and slowly proceeded ahead. When the young girls in
every house heard that Lord Kṛṣṇa, the only object worth seeing, was passing on the
road, they became very anxious to see this all-famous personality. Their hair
loosened, and their tightened saris became slack due to their hastily rushing
to see Him. They gave up their household engagements, and those who were lying
in bed with their husbands immediately left them and came directly down onto
the street to see Lord Kṛṣṇa.
The procession of elephants, horses, chariots, and infantry was very crowded;
some, being unable to see properly in the crowd, got up on the roofs of the
houses. They were pleased to see Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa passing with His thousands of queens. They began
to shower flowers on the procession, and they embraced Lord Kṛṣṇa within their
minds and gave Him a hearty reception. When they saw Him in the midst of His
many queens, like the full moon situated amidst many luminaries, they began to
talk amongst themselves.
One girl said to another, "My dear
friend, it is very difficult to guess what kind of pious activities these
queens might have performed, for they are always enjoying the smiling face and
loving glances of Kṛṣṇa."
While Lord Kṛṣṇa
was thus passing on the road, at intervals some of the citizens, who were all
rich, respectable and freed from sinful activities presented auspicious
articles to the Lord, just to offer Him a reception to the city. Thus they
worshiped Him as humble servitors.
When Lord Kṛṣṇa entered the
palace, all the ladies there became overwhelmed with affection just upon seeing
Him. They immediately received Lord Kṛṣṇa with glittering eyes expressing their love and
affection for Him, and Lord Kṛṣṇa smiled and accepted their feelings and gestures
of reception. When Kuntī, the mother of the Pāṇḍavas, saw her nephew Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, she became overpowered with love and affection. She at
once got up from her bedstead and appeared before Him with her daughter-in-law,
Draupadī, and in maternal love and affection she embraced Him. As he brought Kṛṣṇa within the
palace, King Yudhiṣṭhira
became so confused in his jubilation that he practically forgot what he was to
do at that time in order to receive Kṛṣṇa and worship Him properly. Lord Kṛṣṇa delightfully
offered His respects and obeisances to Kuntī and other elderly ladies of the
palace. His younger sister, Subhadrā, was also standing there with Draupadī,
and both offered their respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of the Lord.
At the indication of her mother-in-law, Draupadī brought clothing, ornaments
and garlands, and with this paraphernalia they received the queens Rukmiṇī, Satyabhāmā,
Bhadrā, Jāmbavatī, Kālindī, Mitravindā, Lakṣmaṇā and the devoted Satyā. These principal queens of
Lord Kṛṣṇa
were first received, and then the remaining queens were also offered a proper
reception. King Yudhiṣṭhira
arranged for Kṛṣṇa's
rest and saw that all who came along with Him--namely His queens, His soldiers,
His ministers and His secretaries--were comfortably situated. He had arranged
that they would experience a new feature of reception everyday while staying as
guests of the Pāṇḍavas.
It was during this time that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, with the help of Arjuna, for the
satisfaction of the fire-god, Agni, allowed Agni to devour the Khāṇḍava Forest. During the forest fire, Kṛṣṇa saved the demon Mayāsura, who was
hiding in the forest. Upon being saved, Mayāsura felt obliged to the Pāṇḍavas and Lord Kṛṣṇa, and he constructed a wonderful
assembly house within the city of Hastināpura. In this way, Lord Kṛṣṇa, in order to please King Yudhiṣṭhira, remained in the city of
Hastināpura for several months. During His stay, He enjoyed strolling here and
there. He used to drive on chariots along with Arjuna, and many warriors and
soldiers used to follow them.
71. The
Liberation of King Jarāsandha
In the great
assembly of respectable persons, citizens, friends, relatives, brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas, King Yudhiṣṭhira, in the presence of all, including
his brothers, directly addressed Lord Kṛṣṇa as follows: "My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, the sacrifice known as the Rājasūya
yajña is to be performed by the emperor, and it is considered to be the king of
all sacrifices. By performing this sacrifice, I wish to satisfy all the
demigods, who are Your empowered representatives within this material world,
and I wish that You will kindly help me in this great adventure so that it may
be successfully executed. As far as the Pāṇḍavas are concerned, we have nothing to ask from the demigods. We
are personally fully satisfied by being Your devotees. As You say in the
Bhagavad-gītā, "Persons who are bewildered by material desires worship the
demigods," but our purpose is different. I want to perform this Rājasūya
sacrifice and invite the demigods to show them that they have no power
independent of You. They are all Your servants, and You are the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. Foolish persons with a poor fund of knowledge consider
Your Lordship an ordinary human being. Sometimes they try to find fault in You,
and sometimes they defame You. Therefore I wish to perform this Rājasūya yajña.
I wish to invite all the demigods, beginning from Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and
other exalted chiefs of the heavenly planets, and in that great assembly of
demigods from all parts of the universe, I want to substantiate that You are
the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that everyone is Your servant.
|
"My dear Lord, those who are
constantly in Kṛṣṇa
consciousness and who think of Your lotus feet or of Your shoes certainly
become free from all contamination of material life. Persons who are engaged
in Your service in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, who meditate upon You only or
who offer prayers unto You, are purified souls. Being constantly engaged in Kṛṣṇa
conscious service, such persons become freed from the cycle of repeated birth
and death. They do not even desire to become freed from this material
existence or to enjoy material opulences; their desires are fulfilled by Kṛṣṇa
conscious activities. As far as we are concerned, we are fully surrendered
unto Your lotus feet, and by Your grace we are so fortunate to see You
personally. Therefore, naturally we have no desire for material opulences.
The verdict of the Vedic wisdom is that You are the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. I want to establish this fact, and I also want to show the world the
difference between accepting You as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and
accepting You as an ordinary powerful historical person. I wish to show the
world that one can attain the highest perfection of life simply by taking
shelter at Your lotus feet, exactly as one can satisfy the branches, twigs,
leaves and flowers of an entire tree simply by watering the root. Thus, if
one takes to Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, his life becomes fulfilled both materially and spiritually.
"This does not mean that You are
partial to the Kṛṣṇa conscious person and are
indifferent to the non-Kṛṣṇa conscious person. You are equal to everyone;
that is Your declaration. You cannot be partial to one and not interested in
others because You are sitting in everyone's heart as the Supersoul and
giving everyone the respective results of his fruitive activities. You give
every living entity the chance to enjoy this material world as he desires. As
Supersoul, You are sitting in the body along with the living entity, giving
him the results of his own actions as well as opportunities to turn toward
Your devotional service by developing Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You openly declare that one
should surrender unto You, giving up all other engagements, and that You will
take charge of him, giving him relief from the reactions of all sins. You are
like the desire tree in the heavenly planets, which awards benedictions
according to one's desires. Everyone is free to achieve the highest
perfection, but if one does not so desire, then Your awarding of lesser
benediction is not due to partiality."
On hearing this statement of King
Yudhiṣṭhira,
Lord Kṛṣṇa
replied as follows: "My dear King Yudhiṣṭhira, O killer of enemies, O ideal justice
personified, I completely support your decision to perform the Rājasūya
sacrifice. By performing this great sacrifice, your good name will remain
well established forever in the history of human civilization. My dear King,
may I inform you that it is the desire of all great sages, your forefathers,
the demigods, and your relatives and friends, including Myself, that you
perform this sacrifice, and I think that it will satisfy every living entity.
But, because it is necessary, I request that you first of all conquer all the
kings of the world and collect all requisite paraphernalia for executing this
great sacrifice. My dear King Yudhiṣṭhira, your four brothers are direct
representatives of important demigods like Varuṇa, Indra, etc. [It is said that Bhīma was born of
the demigod Varuṇa,
and Arjuna was born of the demigod Indra, whereas King Yudhiṣṭhira
himself was born of the demigod Yamarāja.] Your brothers are great heroes,
and you are the most pious and self-controlled king and are therefore known
as Dharmarāja. All of you are so qualified in devotional service unto Me that
automatically I have become rivalled by you."
Lord Kṛṣṇa told King Yudhiṣṭhira that He becomes conquered by the love of one
who has conquered his senses. One who has not conquered his senses cannot
conquer the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the secret of devotional
service. To conquer the senses means to engage them constantly in the service
of the Lord. The specific qualification of all the Pāṇḍava
brothers was that they always engaged their senses in the service of the
Lord. One who thus engages his senses becomes purified, and with purified
senses one can actually render service to the Lord. The Lord can thus be
conquered by the devotee by loving transcendental service.
Lord Kṛṣṇa continued: "There is no one in the three
worlds of the universe, including the powerful demigods, who can surpass My
devotees in any of the six opulences, namely wealth, strength, reputation,
beauty, knowledge and renunciation. Therefore, if you want to conquer the
worldly kings, there is no possibility of their emerging victorious."
When Lord Kṛṣṇa
thus encouraged King Yudhiṣṭhira, the King's face brightened like a
blossoming flower because of transcendental happiness, and thus he ordered
his younger brothers to conquer all the worldly kings in all directions. Lord
Kṛṣṇa
empowered the Pāṇḍavas
to execute His great mission of chastising the infidel miscreants of the
world and giving protection to His faithful devotees. In His Viṣṇu
form, the Lord therefore carries four kinds of weapons in His four hands. He
carries a lotus flower and a conchshell in two hands, and in the other two
hands He carries a club and a disc. The club and disc are meant for the
nondevotees, but because the Lord is the Supreme Absolute, the resultant
action of all His weapons is one and the same. With the club and the disc He
chastises the miscreants so that they may come to their senses and know that
they are not all in all. Over them there is the Supreme Lord. And by bugling
with the conchshell and offering blessings with the lotus flower, He always
assures the devotees that no one can vanquish them, even in the greatest
calamity. King Yudhiṣṭhira,
being thus assured by the indication of Lord Kṛṣṇa, ordered his youngest brother, Sahadeva,
accompanied by soldiers of the Sṛñjaya tribe, to conquer the southern countries.
Similarly, he ordered Nakula, accompanied by the soldiers of Matsyadeśa, to
conquer the kings of the western side. He sent Arjuna, accompanied by the
soldiers of Kekayadeśa, to conquer the kings of the northern side, and
Bhīmasena, accompanied by the soldiers of Madradeśa (Madras), was ordered to
conquer the kings on the eastern side.
|
King Yudhiṣṭhira was very anxious, however, when he heard that King Jarāsandha of Magadha did not accept his sovereignty. Seeing King Yudhiṣṭhira's anxiety, Lord Kṛṣṇa informed him of the plan explained by Uddhava for conquering King Jarāsandha. Bhīmasena, Arjuna and Lord Kṛṣṇa then started together for Girivraja, the capital city of Jarāsandha, dressing themselves in the garb of brāhmaṇas. This was the plan devised by Uddhava before Lord Kṛṣṇa started for Hastināpura, and now it was given practical application.
King Jarāsandha was a very dutiful householder, and he had great respect for the brāhmaṇas. He was a great fighter, a kṣatriya king, but he was never neglectful of the Vedic injunctions. According to Vedic injunctions, the brāhmaṇas are considered to be the spiritual masters of all other castes. Lord Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna and Bhīmasena were actually kṣatriyas, but they dressed themselves as brāhmaṇas, and at the time when King Jarāsandha was to give charity to the brāhmaṇas and receive them as guests, they approached him.
Lord Kṛṣṇa, in the dress of a brāhmaṇa, said to the King: "We wish all glories to Your Majesty. We are three guests at your royal palace, and we are coming from a great distance. We have come to ask you for charity, and we hope that you will kindly bestow upon us whatever we ask from you. We know about your good qualities. A person who is tolerant is always prepared to tolerate everything, even though distressful. Just as a criminal can perform the most abominable acts, so a greatly charitable person like you can give anything and everything he is asked for. For a great personality like you, there is no distinction between relatives and outsiders. A famous man lives forever, even after his death; therefore, any person who is completely fit and able to execute acts which will perpetuate his good name and fame and yet does not do so becomes abominable in the eyes of great persons. Such a person cannot be condemned enough, and his refusal to give charity is lamentable throughout his whole life. Your Majesty must have heard the glorious names of charitable personalities such as Hariścandra, Rantideva and Mudgala, who used to live only on grains picked up from the paddy field, and the great Mahārāja Śibi, who saved the life of a pigeon by supplying flesh from his own body. These great personalities have attained immortal fame simply by sacrificing this temporary and perishable body." Lord Kṛṣṇa, in the garb of a brāhmaṇa, thus informed Jarāsandha that fame is imperishable, but the body is perishable. If one can attain imperishable name and fame by sacrificing his perishable body, he becomes a very respectable figure in the history of human civilization.
|
While Lord Kṛṣṇa
was speaking in the garb of a brāhmaṇa along with Arjuna and Bhīma, Jarāsandha marked
that the three of them did not appear to be actual brāhmaṇas. There were
signs on their bodies by which Jarāsandha could understand that they were kṣatriyas. Their
shoulders were marked with an impression due to carrying bows; they had
beautiful bodily structure, and their voices were grave and commanding. Thus
he definitely concluded that they were not brāhmaṇas, but kṣatriyas. He
was also thinking that he had seen them somewhere before. Although these
three persons were kṣatriyas,
they had come to his door begging alms like brāhmaṇas. Therefore
he decided that he would fulfill their desires, in spite of their being kṣatriyas. He
thought in this way because their position had already been diminished by
their appearing before him as beggars. "Under the circumstances,"
he thought, "I am prepared to give them anything. Even if they ask for
my body, I shall not hesitate to offer it to them." In this regard, he
began to think of Bali Mahārāja. Lord Viṣṇu in the dress of a brāhmaṇa appeared as
a beggar before Bali, and in that way He snatched away all of his opulence
and kingdom. He did this for the benefit of Indra, who, having been defeated
by Bali Mahārāja, was bereft of his kingdom. Although Bali Mahārāja was
cheated, his reputation as a great devotee who was able to give anything and
everything in charity is still glorified throughout the three worlds. Bali
Mahārāja could guess that the brāhmaṇa was Lord Viṣṇu Himself and that He had come to him just to
take away his opulent kingdom on behalf of Indra. Bali's spiritual master and
family priest, Śukrācārya, repeatedly warned him about this, and yet Bali did
not hesitate to give in charity whatever the brāhmaṇa wanted, and
at last he gave up everything to that brāhmaṇa. "It is my strong determination,"
thought Jarāsandha, "that if I can achieve immortal reputation by
sacrificing this perishable body, I must act for that purpose; the life of a
kṣatriya
who does not live for the benefit of the brāhmaṇa is certainly condemned."
Actually King Jarāsandha was very
liberal in giving charity to the brāhmaṇas, and thus he informed Lord Kṛṣṇa,
Bhīma and Arjuna: "My dear brāhmaṇas, you can ask from me whatever you like. If you
so desire, you can take my head also. I am prepared to give it."
After this, Lord Kṛṣṇa
addressed Jarāsandha as follows: "My dear King, please note that we are
not actually brāhmaṇas,
nor have we come to ask for foodstuffs or grains. We are all kṣatriyas, and
we have come to beg a duel with you. We hope that you will agree to this
proposal. You may note that here is the second son of King Pāṇḍu,
Bhīmasena, and the third son of Pāṇḍu, Arjuna. As for Myself, you may know that I am
your old enemy, Kṛṣṇa,
the cousin of the Pāṇḍavas."
When Lord Kṛṣṇa
disclosed their disguise, King Jarāsandha began to laugh very loudly, and
then in great anger and in a grave voice he exclaimed, "You fools! If
you want to fight with me, I immediately grant your request. But, Kṛṣṇa,
I know that You are a coward. I refuse to fight with You because You become
very confused when You face me in fighting. Out of fear of me You left Your
own city, Mathurā, and now You have taken shelter within the sea; therefore I
must refuse to fight with You. As far as Arjuna is concerned, I know that he
is younger than me and is not an equal fighter. I refuse to fight with him
because he is not in any way an equal competitor. But as far as Bhīmasena is
concerned, I think he is a suitable competitor to fight with me." After
speaking in this way, King Jarāsandha immediately handed a very heavy club to
Bhīmasena, and he himself took another, and thus all of them went outside the
city walls to fight.
Bhīmasena and King Jarāsandha engaged
themselves in fighting, and with their respective clubs, which were as strong
as thunderbolts, they began to strike one another very severely, both of them
being eager to fight. They were both expert fighters with clubs, and their
techniques of striking one another were so beautiful that they appeared to be
two dramatic artists dancing on a stage. When the clubs of Jarāsandha and
Bhīmasena loudly collided, they sounded like the impact of the big tusks of
two fighting elephants or like a thunderbolt in a flashing electrical storm.
When two elephants fight together in a sugarcane field, each of them snatches
a stick of sugarcane and, by catching it tightly in its trunk, strikes the
other. Each elephant heavily strikes his enemy's shoulders, arms,
collarbones, chest, thighs, waist, and legs, and in this way the sticks of
sugarcane are smashed. Similarly, all the clubs used by Jarāsandha and
Bhīmasena were broken, and so the two enemies prepared to fight with their
strong fisted hands.
|
Jarāsandha and
Bhīmasena were very angry, and they began to smash each other with their fists.
The striking of their fists sounded like the striking of iron bars or like the
sound of thunderbolts, and they appeared to be like two elephants fighting.
Unfortunately, however, neither was able to defeat the other because both were
very expert in fighting, both were of equal strength, and their fighting
techniques were equal also. Neither Jarāsandha nor Bhīmasena became fatigued or
defeated in the fighting, although they struck each other continually. At the
end of a day's fighting, both lived at night as friends in Jarāsandha's palace,
and the next day they fought again. In this way they passed twenty-seven days
in fighting.
On the twenty-eighth day, Bhīmasena
told Kṛṣṇa,
"My dear Kṛṣṇa, I
must frankly admit that I cannot conquer Jarāsandha." Lord Kṛṣṇa, however, knew
the mystery of the birth of Jarāsandha. Jarāsandha was born in two different
parts from two different mothers. When his father saw that the baby was
useless, he threw the two parts in the forest, where they were later found by a
black-hearted witch named Jarā. She managed to join the two parts of the baby
from top to bottom. Knowing this, Lord Kṛṣṇa therefore also knew how to kill him. He gave
hints to Bhīmasena that since Jarāsandha was brought to life by the joining of
the two parts of his body, he could be killed by the separation of these two
parts. Thus Lord Kṛṣṇa
transferred His power into the body of Bhīmasena and informed him of the device
by which Jarāsandha could be killed. Lord Kṛṣṇa immediately picked up a twig from a tree and,
taking it in His hand, bifurcated it. In this way He hinted to Bhīmasena how
Jarāsandha could be killed. Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is
omnipotent, and if He wants to kill someone, no one can save that person.
Similarly, if He wants to save someone, no one can kill him.
Informed by the hints of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Bhīmasena
immediately took hold of the legs of Jarāsandha and threw him to the ground.
When Jarāsandha fell to the ground, Bhīmasena immediately pressed one of
Jarāsandha's legs to the ground and took hold of the other leg with his two
hands. Catching Jarāsandha in this way, he tore his body in two, beginning from
the anus up to the head. As an elephant breaks the branches of a tree in two,
so Bhīmasena separated the body of Jarāsandha. The audience standing nearby saw
that the body of Jarāsandha was now divided into two halves, so that each half
had one leg, one thigh, one testicle, one breast, half a backbone, half a
chest, one collarbone, one arm, one eye, one ear and half a face.
As soon as the news of Jarāsandha's
death was announced, all the citizens of Magadha began to cry, "Alas,
alas," while Lord Kṛṣṇa
and Arjuna embraced Bhīmasena to congratulate him. Although Jarāsandha was
killed, neither Kṛṣṇa
nor the two Pāṇḍava
brothers made a claim to the throne. Their purpose in killing Jarāsandha was to
stop him from creating a disturbance against the proper discharge of world
peace. A demon always creates disturbances, whereas a demigod always tries to
keep peace in the world. The mission of Lord Kṛṣṇa is to give protection the righteous persons and
to kill the demons who disturb a peaceful situation. Therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa immediately
called for the son of Jarāsandha, whose name was Sahadeva, and with due
ritualistic ceremonies He asked him to occupy the seat of his father and reign
over the kingdom peacefully. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the master of the whole cosmic creation, and
He wants everyone to live peacefully and execute Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
After installing Sahadeva on the throne, He released all the kings and princes
who had been imprisoned unnecessarily by Jarāsandha.
72. Lord
Kṛṣṇa Returns to the City of Hastināpura
Now before them they saw the color of the transcendental body of Lord Kṛṣṇa, exactly like the hue of a newly arrived cloud in the sky. He appeared before them nicely covered by yellow colored silken garments, with four hands like Viṣṇu, and carrying the different symbols of the club, the conchshell, the disc and the lotus flower. There were marks of golden lines on His chest, and the nipples of His breast appeared to be like the whorl of a lotus flower. His eyes appeared to be spread like the petals of a lotus flower, and His smiling face exhibited the symbol of eternal peace and prosperity. His glittering earrings were set beautifully, and His helmet was bedecked with valuable jewels. The Lord's necklace of pearls and the bangles and bracelets nicely situated on His body all shone with a transcendental beauty. The Kaustubha jewel hanging on His chest glittered with great luster, and the Lord wore a beautiful flower garland. After so much distress, when the kings and princes saw Lord Kṛṣṇa, with His beautiful transcendental features, they looked upon Him to their hearts' content, as if they were drinking nectar through their eyes, licking His body with their tongues, smelling the aroma of His body with their noses, and embracing Him with their arms. Just by dint of their being in front of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all reactions to their sinful activities were washed away. Therefore, without reservation, they surrendered themselves at the lotus feet of the Lord. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that unless one is freed from all kinds of sinful reactions, one cannot fully surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord. All the princes who saw Lord Kṛṣṇa forgot all their past tribulations. With folded hands and with great devotion, they began to offer prayers to Lord Kṛṣṇa, as follows.
"Dear Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead,
master of all demigods, You can immediately remove all Your devotees' pangs
because Your devotees are fully surrendered unto You. O dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, O eternal
Deity of transcendental bliss and knowledge, You are imperishable, and we offer
our respectful obeisances unto Your lotus feet. It is by Your causeless mercy
that we have been released from the imprisonment of Jarāsandha, but now we pray
unto You to release us from the imprisonment with the illusory energy of this
material existence. Please, therefore, stop our continuous cycle of birth and
death. We now have sufficient experience of the miserable material condition of
life in which we are fully absorbed, and having tasted its bitterness, we have
come to take shelter under Your lotus feet. Dear Lord, O killer of the demon
Madhu, we can now clearly see that Jarāsandha was not at fault in the least; it
is actually by Your causeless mercy that we were bereft of our kingdoms because
we were very proud of calling ourselves rulers and kings. Any ruler or king who
becomes too puffed up with false prestige and power does not get the
opportunity to understand his real constitutional position and eternal life.
Such foolish so-called rulers and kings become falsely proud of there position
under the influence of Your illusory energy; they are just like a foolish
person who considers a mirage in the desert to be a reservoir of water. Foolish
persons think that their material possessions will give them protection, and
those who are engaged in sense gratification falsely accept this material world
as a place of eternal enjoyment. O Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, we
must admit that, before this, we were puffed up with our material opulences.
Because we were all envious of each other and wanted to conquer one another, we
all engaged in fighting for supremacy, even at the cost of sacrificing the
lives of many citizens."
This is the disease of political power. As soon as a king or a nation becomes rich in material opulences, he wants to dominate other nations by military aggression. Similarly, mercantile men want to monopolize a certain type of business and control other mercantile groups. Degraded by false prestige and infatuated by material opulences, human society, instead of striving for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, creates havoc and disrupts peaceful living. Thus men naturally forget the real purpose of life: to attain the favor of Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The kings continued: "O Lord, we were simply engaged in the abominable task of killing citizens and alluring them to be unnecessarily killed, just to satisfy our political whims. We did not consider that Your Lordship is always present before us in the form of cruel death. We were so fooled that we became the cause of death for others, forgetting our own impending death. But, dear Lord, the retaliation of the time element, which is Your representative, is certainly insurmountable. The time element is so strong that no one can escape its influence; therefore we have received the reactions of our atrocious activities, and we are now bereft of all opulences and stand before You like street beggars. We consider our position to be Your causeless, unalloyed mercy upon us because now we can understand that we were falsely proud and that our material opulences could be withdrawn from us within a second by Your will. By Your causeless mercy only, we are now able to think of Your lotus feet. This is our greatest gain. Dear Lord, it is known to everyone that the body is a breeding ground of diseases. Now we are sufficiently aged, and instead of being proud of our bodily strength, we are getting weaker day by day. We are no longer interested in sense gratification or the false happiness derived through the material body. By Your grace, we have now come to the conclusion that hankering after such material happiness is just like searching for water in a desert mirage. We are no longer interested in the results of our pious activities, such as performing great sacrifices in order to be elevated to the heavenly planets. We now understand that such elevation to a higher material standard of life in the heavenly planets may sound very relishable, but actually there cannot be any happiness within this material world. We pray for Your Lordship to favor us by instructing us how to engage in the transcendental loving service of Your lotus feet so that we may never forget our eternal relationship with Your Lordship. We do not want liberation from the entanglement of material existence. By Your will we may take birth in any species of life; it does not matter. We simply pray that we may never forget Your lotus feet under any circumstances. Dear Lord, we now surrender unto Your lotus feet by offering our respectful obeisances unto You because You are the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, the son of Vasudeva. You are the Supersoul in everyone's heart, and You are Lord Hari, who can take away all miserable conditions of material existence. Dear Lord, Your name is Govinda, the reservoir of all pleasure. One who is engaged in satisfying Your senses automatically satisfies his own senses also, and therefore You are known as Govinda. Dear Lord, You are ever famous, for You can put an end to all the miseries of Your devotees. Please, therefore, accept us as Your surrendered servants."
This is the disease of political power. As soon as a king or a nation becomes rich in material opulences, he wants to dominate other nations by military aggression. Similarly, mercantile men want to monopolize a certain type of business and control other mercantile groups. Degraded by false prestige and infatuated by material opulences, human society, instead of striving for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, creates havoc and disrupts peaceful living. Thus men naturally forget the real purpose of life: to attain the favor of Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The kings continued: "O Lord, we were simply engaged in the abominable task of killing citizens and alluring them to be unnecessarily killed, just to satisfy our political whims. We did not consider that Your Lordship is always present before us in the form of cruel death. We were so fooled that we became the cause of death for others, forgetting our own impending death. But, dear Lord, the retaliation of the time element, which is Your representative, is certainly insurmountable. The time element is so strong that no one can escape its influence; therefore we have received the reactions of our atrocious activities, and we are now bereft of all opulences and stand before You like street beggars. We consider our position to be Your causeless, unalloyed mercy upon us because now we can understand that we were falsely proud and that our material opulences could be withdrawn from us within a second by Your will. By Your causeless mercy only, we are now able to think of Your lotus feet. This is our greatest gain. Dear Lord, it is known to everyone that the body is a breeding ground of diseases. Now we are sufficiently aged, and instead of being proud of our bodily strength, we are getting weaker day by day. We are no longer interested in sense gratification or the false happiness derived through the material body. By Your grace, we have now come to the conclusion that hankering after such material happiness is just like searching for water in a desert mirage. We are no longer interested in the results of our pious activities, such as performing great sacrifices in order to be elevated to the heavenly planets. We now understand that such elevation to a higher material standard of life in the heavenly planets may sound very relishable, but actually there cannot be any happiness within this material world. We pray for Your Lordship to favor us by instructing us how to engage in the transcendental loving service of Your lotus feet so that we may never forget our eternal relationship with Your Lordship. We do not want liberation from the entanglement of material existence. By Your will we may take birth in any species of life; it does not matter. We simply pray that we may never forget Your lotus feet under any circumstances. Dear Lord, we now surrender unto Your lotus feet by offering our respectful obeisances unto You because You are the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, the son of Vasudeva. You are the Supersoul in everyone's heart, and You are Lord Hari, who can take away all miserable conditions of material existence. Dear Lord, Your name is Govinda, the reservoir of all pleasure. One who is engaged in satisfying Your senses automatically satisfies his own senses also, and therefore You are known as Govinda. Dear Lord, You are ever famous, for You can put an end to all the miseries of Your devotees. Please, therefore, accept us as Your surrendered servants."
After hearing the prayers of the kings
released from the prison of Jarāsandha, Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is always the protector of surrendered souls
and the ocean of mercy for the devotees, replied to them as follows in His
sweetly transcendental voice, which was grave and full of meaning. "My
dear kings," He said, "I bestow upon you My blessings. From this day
forth you will be attached to My devotional service without fail. I give you this
benediction, as you have desired. You may know from Me that I am always sitting
within your hearts as Supersoul, and because you have now turned your faces
towards Me, I, as master of everyone, shall always give you good counsel so
that you may never forget Me and so that gradually you will come back home,
back to Godhead. My dear kings, your decision to give up all conceptions of
material enjoyment and turn instead toward My devotional service is factually
the symptom of your good fortune. Henceforward you will always be blessed with
blissful life. I confirm that all you have spoken about Me in your prayers is
factual. It is a fact that the materially opulent position of one who is not
fully Kṛṣṇa
conscious is the cause of his downfall and of his becoming a victim of the
illusory energy. In the past, there were many rebellious kings, such as
Haihaya, Nahuṣa,
Vena, Rāvaṇa
and Narakāsura. Some of them were demigods, and some of them were demons, but
because of their false perception of their positions, they fell from their
exalted posts, and thus they no longer remained the kings of their respective
kingdoms.
"While lost in the violence of conditional life, every one of
you must understand that anything material has its starting point, growth,
expansion, deterioration, and, finally, disappearance. All material bodies are
subjected to these six conditions, and any relative acquisitions which are
accumulated by this body are definitely subject to final destruction.
Therefore, no one should be attached to perishable things. As long as one is
within this material body, he should be very cautious in worldly dealings. The
most perfect way of life in this material world is simply to be devoted to My
transcendental loving service and to honestly execute the prescribed duties of
one's particular position of life. As far as you are concerned, you all belong
to kṣatriya families. Therefore, you should
live honestly, according to the prescribed duties befitting the royal order,
and you should make your citizens happy in all respects. Keep to the standard
of kṣatriya life. Do not beget children out
of sense gratification, but simply take charge of the welfare of the people in
general. Everyone takes birth in this material world because of the
contaminated desires of his previous life, and thus he is subjected to the
stringent laws of nature, such as birth and death, distress and happiness,
profit and loss. One should not be disturbed by duality, but should always be
fixed in My service and thus remain balanced in mind and satisfied in all
circumstances, considering all things to be given by Me, and one should remain
undeviated from engagement in devotional service. Thus one can live a very
happy and peaceful life, even within this material condition. In other words,
one should actually be callous to this material body and its by-products and
should remain unaffected by them. He should remain fully satisfied in the
interests of the spirit soul and be engaged in the service of the Supersoul.
One should engage his mind only on Me, one should simply become My devotee, one
should simply Worship Me, and one should offer his respectful obeisances unto
Me alone. In this way, one can cross over this ocean of nescience very easily
and at the end come back to Me. In conclusion, your lives should constantly be
engaged in My service."
After delivering His instructions to the kings and princes, Lord Kṛṣṇa immediately arranged for their comfort and asked many servants and maidservants to take care of them. Lord Kṛṣṇa requested Sahadeva, the son of King Jarāsandha, to supply all necessities to the kings and also asked him to show them all respect and honor. In pursuance of the order of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Sahadeva offered them all honor, and presented them with ornaments, garments, garlands, and other paraphernalia. After taking their baths and dressing very nicely, the kings appeared happy and gentle. Then they were supplied nice foodstuffs. Lord Kṛṣṇa supplied everything for their comfort, as was befitting their royal positions. Since the kings were so mercifully treated by Lord Kṛṣṇa, they felt great happiness, and all their bright faces appeared just like the stars in the sky after the end of the rainy season. They were all nicely dressed and ornamented, and their earrings glittered. Each one was then seated on a chariot bedecked with gold and jewels and drawn by decorated horses. After seeing that each was taken care of, Lord Kṛṣṇa, in a sweet voice, asked them to return to their respective kingdoms. By His very liberal behavior, unparalleled in the history of the world, Lord Kṛṣṇa released all the kings who had been in the clutches of Jarāsandha, and being fully satisfied, the kings began to engage in chanting His holy name, thinking of His holy form, and glorifying His transcendental pastimes as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So engaged, they returned to their respective kingdoms. The citizens of their kingdoms were very greatly pleased to see them return, and when they heard of the kind dealings of Lord Kṛṣṇa, they all became very happy. The kings began to manage the affairs of their kingdoms in accordance with the instructions of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and all those kings and their subjects passed their days very happily. This is the vivid example of the Kṛṣṇa conscious society. If the people of the world divide the whole society, in terms of their respective material qualities, into four orders for material and spiritual progress, centering around Kṛṣṇa and following the instructions of Kṛṣṇa as stated in Bhagavad-gītā, the entire human society will undoubtedly be happy. This is the lesson that we have to take from this incident.
After thus causing the annihilation of Jarāsandha by Bhīmasena and after being properly honored by Sahadeva, the son of Jarāsandha, Lord Kṛṣṇa, accompanied by Bhīmasena and Arjuna, returned to the city of Hastināpura. When they reached the precincts of Hastināpura, they blew their respective conchshells, and by hearing the sound vibrations and understanding who was arriving, everyone immediately became cheerful. But upon hearing the conchshells, the enemies of Kṛṣṇa became very sorry. The citizens of Indraprastha felt their hearts become joyful simply by hearing the vibration of Kṛṣṇa's conchshell because they could understand that Jarāsandha had been killed. Now the performance of the Rājasūya sacrifice by King Yudhiṣṭhira was almost certain. Bhīmasena, Arjuna, and Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, arrived before King Yudhiṣṭhira and offered their respects to the King. King Yudhiṣṭhira attentively heard the narration of the killing of Jarāsandha and the setting free of the kings. He also heard of the tactics which were adopted by Kṛṣṇa to kill Jarāsandha. The King was naturally affectionate toward Kṛṣṇa, but after hearing the story, he became even more bound in love for Kṛṣṇa; tears of ecstasy glided from his eyes, and he became so stunned that he was almost unable to speak.
After delivering His instructions to the kings and princes, Lord Kṛṣṇa immediately arranged for their comfort and asked many servants and maidservants to take care of them. Lord Kṛṣṇa requested Sahadeva, the son of King Jarāsandha, to supply all necessities to the kings and also asked him to show them all respect and honor. In pursuance of the order of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Sahadeva offered them all honor, and presented them with ornaments, garments, garlands, and other paraphernalia. After taking their baths and dressing very nicely, the kings appeared happy and gentle. Then they were supplied nice foodstuffs. Lord Kṛṣṇa supplied everything for their comfort, as was befitting their royal positions. Since the kings were so mercifully treated by Lord Kṛṣṇa, they felt great happiness, and all their bright faces appeared just like the stars in the sky after the end of the rainy season. They were all nicely dressed and ornamented, and their earrings glittered. Each one was then seated on a chariot bedecked with gold and jewels and drawn by decorated horses. After seeing that each was taken care of, Lord Kṛṣṇa, in a sweet voice, asked them to return to their respective kingdoms. By His very liberal behavior, unparalleled in the history of the world, Lord Kṛṣṇa released all the kings who had been in the clutches of Jarāsandha, and being fully satisfied, the kings began to engage in chanting His holy name, thinking of His holy form, and glorifying His transcendental pastimes as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So engaged, they returned to their respective kingdoms. The citizens of their kingdoms were very greatly pleased to see them return, and when they heard of the kind dealings of Lord Kṛṣṇa, they all became very happy. The kings began to manage the affairs of their kingdoms in accordance with the instructions of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and all those kings and their subjects passed their days very happily. This is the vivid example of the Kṛṣṇa conscious society. If the people of the world divide the whole society, in terms of their respective material qualities, into four orders for material and spiritual progress, centering around Kṛṣṇa and following the instructions of Kṛṣṇa as stated in Bhagavad-gītā, the entire human society will undoubtedly be happy. This is the lesson that we have to take from this incident.
After thus causing the annihilation of Jarāsandha by Bhīmasena and after being properly honored by Sahadeva, the son of Jarāsandha, Lord Kṛṣṇa, accompanied by Bhīmasena and Arjuna, returned to the city of Hastināpura. When they reached the precincts of Hastināpura, they blew their respective conchshells, and by hearing the sound vibrations and understanding who was arriving, everyone immediately became cheerful. But upon hearing the conchshells, the enemies of Kṛṣṇa became very sorry. The citizens of Indraprastha felt their hearts become joyful simply by hearing the vibration of Kṛṣṇa's conchshell because they could understand that Jarāsandha had been killed. Now the performance of the Rājasūya sacrifice by King Yudhiṣṭhira was almost certain. Bhīmasena, Arjuna, and Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, arrived before King Yudhiṣṭhira and offered their respects to the King. King Yudhiṣṭhira attentively heard the narration of the killing of Jarāsandha and the setting free of the kings. He also heard of the tactics which were adopted by Kṛṣṇa to kill Jarāsandha. The King was naturally affectionate toward Kṛṣṇa, but after hearing the story, he became even more bound in love for Kṛṣṇa; tears of ecstasy glided from his eyes, and he became so stunned that he was almost unable to speak.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My humble salutations H H Swami Sri Prabhupada ji, Sri Krishnalilas
dot com and Hinduism online dot com for
the collection)
(The Blog is reverently for all the seekers of truth,
lovers of wisdom and to share the Hindu Dharma, Bhakti, Jnana and Vairagya with others on the
spiritual path and also this is purely a non-commercial)
0 comments:
Post a Comment