Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.15.20 Los Angeles, November 30, 1973 Please Listen HARE KRSNA

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"Again Become A Mouse!"

Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.15.20

Los Angeles, November 30, 1973

 

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Pradyumna: (leads chanting, etc.)

 

so 'ham nrpendra rahitah purusottamena

sakhya priyena suhrda hrdayena sunyah

adhvany urukrama-parigraham anga raksan

gopair asadbhir abaleva vinirjito 'smi

 

Translation: "O Emperor, now I am separated from my friend and dearmost

well-wisher, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore my heart appears

to be void of everything. In His absence I have been defeated by a number of

infidel cowherd men while I was guarding the bodies of all the wives of Krsna."

 

Prabhupada: So after departure of Krsna, Krsna's all the wives, 16,108,

they were being taken care of by Arjuna. But some cowherdsmen, they plundered

all the queens, and Arjuna could not protect them.

 

So this is the instance, that we may be very powerful so long Krsna keeps

us powerful. We are not independently powerful, even in the case of Arjuna. We

are very much proud of our janmaisvarya-sruta-srih. The material world, everyone

is very much proud of his birth, riches, education and beauty. Beauty. These

four things are obtained as result of pious activities. And as a result of

impious activities, the opposite number. Not birth in a very nice family or

nation, no wealth, poverty, no education and no beauty. But one should know that

these assets, material assets... Just like you American people. You have got

nice assets. You are born of a very respectful nation -- American nations are

still honored all over the world. So that's a good opportunity for you, janma.

You are born in... Every American is... In comparison to India, every American

is rich man, because any ordinary man earns here at least four thousand, five

thousand rupees. And in India, even the high court judge, he cannot earn so.

Utmost four thousand. So you should be conscious that by the grace of Krsna, you

have got all these things. There is no poverty, there is no scarcity, there is

good chance of education, and you are wealthy, beautiful, everything.

Janmaisvarya-sruta-srih. But if you do not become Krsna conscious, if you misuse

these assets, then again punar musiko bhava.

 

You know the story, punar musiko bhava? Anyone knows? Punar musiko bhava

means "Again you become a mouse." (laughter) A mouse came to a saintly person:

"Sir, I am very much troubled.What is that?" People generally go to saintly

persons for some material profit. That is the nature, animalistic nature. Why

you should go to a saintly person for some material benefit? No. You go there to

learn what is God. That is real business. Anyway, saintly persons sometimes

receive. "So what do you want?" Just like Lord Siva, his devotees are all like

that mouse, want something. "Sir, this cat troubles me very much.So what you

want?Let me become a cat.All right, you become a cat." So he became a cat.

Then after few days, he came back. "Sir, still I am in trouble.What is that?"

"The dogs, (laughter) they trouble us very much.So what you want?Now I

want to become a dog.All right, you become." Then after few days... One

after..., there is nature's arrangement. One is weak, one is strong. That is

nature's arrangement. So after all, he wanted to become a tiger. So by the grace

of the saintly person, he became a tiger. And when he became a tiger, he was

staring on the saintly person like, oh. (Prabhupada makes a face -- devotees

laugh) So the saintly person asked him, "You want to eat me?Yes.Oh, then

you may again become a mouse. (laughter) If by my grace, by my favor, you have

become tiger, so I will again condemn you to become a mouse."

 

So you American people, you have become tiger now, Nixon tiger. But if you

don't behave obligely, if you don't feel obliged, if the tiger feels obliged

that "By the grace of the saintly person, I have come to the stage of becoming a

tiger, I must be very much obliged to him..." But instead of becoming obliged,

if you want to eat, then again become a mouse. If the saintly person has got the

power to make you from mouse to tiger, then he can convert you again from tiger

to mouse. You must always remember this. So by the grace of God, Krsna, you have

become so powerful nation, rich, beautiful, educated. By grace of Krsna you have

become, but if you forget Krsna, then you are again going to be mouse. Remember

that. Nobody will care for you. Just like Englishmen. Englishmen, they

established the British Empire, great, powerful, most powerful nation in the

world. Now they are not so. Because they misused their power. So you get power,

opulence, by the grace of Lord, Krsna. And if you misuse it, then you become

again... That is happening. That is the nature's law. Nature's law.

 

So here, Arjuna, by his personal behavior, he is showing that "Without

Krsna... I was so great fighter that I took charge of the sixteen thousand wives

of Krsna to take them safely. Because Krsna passed away, so they must be given

protection." He was Krsna's friend, but he could not do so. All the queens were

plundered by cowherdsmen. Therefore he says that gopair asadbhih. Cowherdsmen,

they are not very powerful. They are ordinary men, cowherdsmen. But Arjuna was

ksatriya, so powerful. So he was defeated by them. Therefore he is regretting

that asadbhih: "If I would have been defeated by another powerful person, that

would have been glory, but I have been defeated by the cowherdsmen." Just see.

Asadbhih. They are not counted amongst gentlemen. Asadbhir abaleva.

 

Abaleva. Abala, another name of the woman. Just like if somebody attacks

woman... Any young man, when he has got sixteen years old, he can attack any

woman. But a woman, even though she is sixteen years or eighteen years or twenty

years, she becomes immediately victim. So abaleva. Even the woman is higher in

age, still, she cannot protect. Therefore woman requires protection. Woman

requires protection. According to Vedic culture, woman has no independence,

because they cannot keep their independence. It is not possible. A

sixteen-year-old boy can go safely all over the world, but a sixteen-year girl

cannot. That is not possible. By nature, they are weak. So they require

protection. And until she reaches youthhood, she is protected by the father. As

soon as she reaches youthhood, she is given to a young man, her husband, to give

protection. And in old age, she is protected by the elderly sons. This is the

Vedic culture. They have three phases of life: childhood, youthhood, and old

age. So... Because they are weak. In the Western countries, the women are given

freedom like man, but that is unnatural. Unnatural. Therefore these poor souls

are being exploited by the other section. It is a great deficiency of the

Western sociology.

 

But the Vedic culture is different from this. Woman is not given

independence. And generally one man marries more than one wife. That is Vedic

culture. Just like see Krsna. Krsna has 16,108. That is allowed. Krsna was

Personality of Godhead. He could maintain... Why sixteen? Sixteen millions wife.

That is not difficult for Him. But even ordinary man, ksatriyas especially, they

used to marry more than one wife. Still. Not only wife, but one wife, one

princess is married, and along with her, hundred, two hundred maidservants, they

will go with the king. Just like when Vasudeva was married to Devaki, some

hundreds of maidservant was given with. So women... The conclusion is that women

are weak. They should be given protection. They should not be ill-treated. Just

like a father gives protection to the children. It does not mean it is

ill-treatment. There is no question of. But protection. Otherwise, abaleva, they

can be victimized by any man, powerful, because man is powerful.

 

So so 'ham nrpendra rahitah purusottamena. We also require. Don't be

proud, "Because I am man, I don't require protection." Here it is said, Krsna

said, er Arjuna said, purusottamena so 'ham rahitah: "Now I have no protection."

Arjuna was so great hero. Still, he required protection. Purusottamena. Purusa,

purusa means enjoyer. The supreme enjoyer is Krsna. If He does not give

protection, you cannot enjoy your life. That is not possible. Therefore Krsna

says... Krsna is giving protection, but not as much as He wants to give you

protection, because you deny to accept it. Because you deny to accept His

protection, therefore He is giving protection to you as much as you want. And if

you want full protection, then the condition is sarva-dharman parityajya mam

ekam saranam vraja: [bg. 18.66] "Give up your own manufactured, concocted means

of protection. You just surrender unto Me, and I will give you protection."

Protection for what? "Protection from sinful activities." We are victimized by

our sinful activities due to ignorance. We do not know what to do, what not to

do. Out of ignorance we do something, and we become victimized by the laws of

nature. But if you surrender to Krsna, He will give you protection. You will

never be victimized. You will never be victimized. Because Krsna says,

 

tesam satata-yuktanam

bhajatam priti-purvakam

dadami buddhi-yogam tam

yena mam upayanti te

[bg. 10.10]

 

Krsna will guide you. Krsna is within yourself, and He can speak to you.

You can hear Him also, provided you are fully surrendered.

 

So it does not mean that Arjuna was not fully surrendered. Arjuna was

fully surrendered, and Arjuna was fully protected by Krsna. Neither these

queens, sixteen thousand queens could be plundered away by some cowherdsmen. But

the... It is an instance, that even a person like Arjuna, he will be helpless

without Krsna. He will be helpless, what to speak of ourselves? He will be

helpless. That is his... He is showing that example. Krsna was... So so 'ham

nrpendra rahitah purusottamena: "Now I am bereft of the association of my

dearest friend, Krsna." Sakhya, sakha means friend. Sakhya priyena. Not only

friend, very dear friend, priyena. Suhrda. Suhrda means... Suhrt. There are

different kinds of friends. But suhrt is a friend who always thinks of his

friend, how he will be happy. That is called suhrt. That is... This description

is given about the devotees also. Suhrdam sarva-bhutanam. A devotee is always

thinking how whole world will be happy. Suhrdam sarva... Not only human being,

but animals, birds, trees, beasts, everyone. A devotee does not like to see even

a grass is unreasonably cut. That is devotee vision. That is the...

 

Therefore Vaisnava... What is that? Vaisnavanam? Vaisnava is happy. Just

like, take Prahlada Maharaja. Prahlada Maharaja said... Prahlada Maharaja was

praying Lord Nrsimhadeva to pacify Him. So the commentator says that Prahlada

Maharaja might have been very much afraid of this ferocious feature of the Lord,

Nrsimhadeva. So he assured Nrsimhadeva, "My dear Lord, don't think that I am

afraid of Your this feature. No, no." Naivodvije. "Neither I am afraid of this

materialistic existence." Naivodvije para duratyaya-vaitaranyas

tvad-virya-gayana-mahamrta-magna-cittah. "I am quite confident that I have no

fear." And he has practically seen that his father teased him in so many ways,

but at last he was protected. So why he should not believe? He knows that "I am

(have) dedicated my life to Krsna, and Krsna is not so ungrateful that He will

not give me protection. How it is possible?" But one who does not believe in

Krsna, he thinks that he will protect himself. Apasyatam atma-tattvam grhesu

grha-medhinam [sB 2.1.2]. Those who are not God-realized, they think that they

will be protected by their society, friendship, love, country, nation, like

that. But that is not possible. Just like you are flying in the sky, so many

aeroplanes at a time. Sometimes in a bunch, a group they fly. But if one of the

aeroplane is in danger, no other aeroplane can help him. He'll finish. So

similarly, we are also flying as aeroplane in the open sky. The protection...

You don't expect protection from your so-called society, friendship and love,

materially. When there is question of danger, you have to protect with your own

strength.

 

Therefore if we want actually protection, we should take protection of the

Supreme, Krsna, or His devotee. Krsna is suhrdam sarva-bhutanam. Krsna says in

the Bhagavad-gita, bhoktaram yajna-tapasam sarva-loka-mahesvaram, suhrdam

sarva-bhutanam: [bg. 5.29] "I am the friend of everyone." He can become friend.

He is living within our heart as friend. But we refuse the guidance of such a

nice friend. That is our misfortune. Krsna is so kind, so friendly, that you

are... Just like one bird is flying from one tree to another, and another bird

is following him. So similarly we are flying from one body to another. Tatha

dehantara-praptih. But Krsna does not leave us. He's also going with you just to

give you guidance. But we won't give Him. Just like father... It is very

natural. Father naturally wants to guide the son without any motive. That is

father's nature. Similarly, Krsna, or God, the supreme father, is naturally

inclined to give us protection, naturally. Therefore He comes, Krsna comes. Yada

yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati [bg. 4.7]. Paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca

duskrtam [bg. 4.8]. Krsna's two business. First of all, preaching, these rascals

who have forgotten Krsna, that "We are very intimately related. I am the father

of all living entities. So you come to Me, come to home. You will be happy. I am

not poor. I can provide you with all necessities." Eko yo bahunam vidadhati

kaman. That one can provide everyone with necessities of life, actually He is

doing. What government is doing for the cats and dogs and the ants and the

trees? They are not doing anything. Rather, they are cutting. When there is

jungle, for their paper mill, they are cutting all the trees. No protection for

the trees. They are all cutting all the throats of the cows and animals for

eating. So the government cannot give protection. Nobody can give protection.

Only Krsna can give you protection. Therefore we should always seek the

protection of Krsna. That is our security, not any other thing.

 

So suhrt means... Krsna is suhrt, suhrt means who always, I mean to say,

trying for our welfare. He comes Himself. And even though we do not accept...

Krsna says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [bg. 18.66].

Man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru [bg. 18.65]. He gives plain

advice that "You always think of Me, become My devotee, offer your respectful

obeisances unto Me. That will make your life perfect." But we shall not do that.

We shall not do that. We shall think of so many other things, but we will never

accept thinking of Krsna. We shall become devotees of so many rascals, even of a

dog also, but we shall never become devotee of Krsna. This is the position. We

are devotee or master to our wife, to our children, to our country, to our

society, but as soon as you say that "You become devotee of Krsna," oh, he is

enraged immediately: "What nonsense you are speaking? I have got so many work to

do. Why shall I become devotee of Krsna?" This is the disease. This is the

disease. Therefore Krsna ultimately says that "You give up all this nonsense,

and if you surrender unto Me, then I shall give you protection."

 

Naturally... Just like we are preaching Krsna consciousness. We are not

devotee to the people in general. Then why we are preaching? We are devotee. We

are actually devotee, without any motive. Any so-called political leader, he has

got some motive. When he becomes devotee of the nation, he has got some motive.

But we have no such motive. We simply say plainly that "You become happy by

becoming devotee of Krsna. You are now devotee of your lust, anger, and

illusion. You have become devotee of so many things, rascaldom. You simply

become devotee of Krsna. Then your problems will be solved." Kamadinam kati na

katidha palita durnidesah. We are devotee, somebody. But we are not devotee of

somebody. We are... We have got some motive. Just like now it is coming to

exposure. So many leaders, they got election, pretending themselves devotee of

the nation. In everywhere, not only in your country. But actually, they were not

devotee of the nation. They were devotee of their own lusty desires. That's all.

That "If I occupy this post, then I shall be able to fulfill my lusty desires."

Nobody is devotee. Devotion is only applicable to Krsna. If somebody is

proclaiming himself that "I am devotee, servant of my nation, of my society, of

my wife, of my children" -- all false. Here nobody is devotee. Everyone has got

some motive. Even the intimate relationship between husband and wife, there is

some motive. The husband has got some motive and the wife has got... As soon as

the motive is not fulfilled, divorce: "Ah, no more now. Take another chapter."

 

So this is going on. You see? This is going on, and therefore in the name

of devotion, in the name of love, in the name of faith, they are trying to

satisfy their own senses. This is called illusion. And he will never be happy so

long he will try to satisfy his senses. And that is the truth. They will never

be happy. Because... I have given this example. The parts and parcel of your

body. If separately the part and parcel of the body wants to satisfy itself, it

will never be satisfied. The only means of satisfaction is that the part and

parcel conjointly work and satisfy the stomach, and then it will be satisfied.

Similarly, we are part and parcel of Krsna. If we want to satisfy ourself, our

senses, independently, we shall never be satisfied. This is the fact. You have

to satisfy Krsna. Then you will be satisfied. This is the process. Hrsikena

hrsikesa-sevanam bhaktir ucyate [Cc. Madhya 19.170].

 

Because actually the owner is Krsna. I am claiming, "This is my hand." It

is not my hand. It is Krsna's hand. He has given us to use it. So if I don't use

it for Krsna, then it will be criminal. It will be criminal. Yajnarthe karmano

'nyatra loko 'yam karma-bandhanah [bg. 3.9]. Simply for Krsna you have to work.

And if you work for your sense gratification, then you will be entangled. This

is called karma-bandhana. You will be entangled more and more. Yavan mano vai

karmane saktam tavat na muncante deha-bandhat(?). So long we will be, I mean to

say, sense-gratifying minded... Because everyone's mind is absorbed in the

thought of gratifying his own senses. So so long we shall be absorbed in this

type of thoughts, then we have to accept a body, either human body or other

body. There are 8,400,000 different types of forms and body. So we have got

different types of desires also, because we are prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih

karmani sarvasah [bg. 3.27]. We are under the modes of material nature, and the

material nature has got the modes, different modes: goodness, passion and

ignorance. You mix up these three; three into three, it becomes nine. Nine into

nine, it becomes eighty-one. Eighty-one into eight..., it increases. It

increases. Therefore we see so many varieties of life, according to the

mentality.

 

So if we work on our, according to the dictation of the mind, then we

become entangled. And if we work under the dictation of Krsna, then we become

free. This is the process of Krsna consciousness.

 

Thank you very much. (end)

Please look at Wonders Of Krsna-- http://www.geocities.com/krsnajoe

And to know more about Srila Prabhupada ---

http://www.geocities.com/jayakesava2001

All Respects and Obiesances to Pragosh Das who's Causless Mercy, Allows me

to do this service,All glories unto all the Vaisnava Devotees of Lord Krsna

HARE KRSNA! Your

Servant,Jaya Kesava Dasa

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.15.20 -- Los Angeles, November

30, 1973

 

 

 

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© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with permission.