Chapter Two
The Environment
“We must try to look deeper and then we will find our friend; if we are liberal in our attitude towards the environment, we cannot but come in connection with the plane which is really liberal. Prahlad saw that Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. And Kṛṣṇa consciousness is commanding the whole. So we must not allow ourselves to be discouraged under any circumstances, however acute they may apparently seem to us. Kṛṣṇa is there. If only we can develop the right vision, the smiling face of the Lord will appear from behind the screen. Kṛṣṇa is beautiful and he is eagerly waiting to accept our services.”
Devotion to Kṛṣṇa means sacrifice – “die to live.” By devotion to Kṛṣṇa, our whole conception of mundane, self-centered, self-interested life will be finished totally.
sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ
tat paratvena nirmalam
hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa-
sevanaṁ bhaktir uchyate
(Nārada Pañcharātra)
“Pure devotion is service to the Supreme Lord which is free from all relative conceptions of self-interest.”
In his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī quotes this verse from the ancient Purāṇas. Upādhi means “all relative conceptions of self-interest.” We must be totally free from all upādhis.
And Rūpa Goswāmī also gives us a parallel verse describing bhakti:
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnya“
jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena-kṛṣṇānu-
śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11)
“Pure devotional service is the favorable cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness free from all traces of ulterior motives, such as karma, self-promoting activities, jñāna, mental achivement, and so on.” Bhakti, devotion, must be free from any fleeting desires (anyābhilāṣa), such as karma – the organized attempt for self-elevation – and jñāna, the attempt to depend on our own ability, knowledge, and consciousness to reach the ultimate goal. To attempt to put one’s own self as the subject, to become the judge of one’s own fate – that is jñāna. Here ādi means yoga and other external things. These are all overcoatings (āvṛtam). In the soul proper, however, these elements are not found. The soul is an eternal slave of Kṛṣṇa (kṛṣṇa-nitya-dāsa).
Mahāprabhu said: jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya – kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’: “Slavery to Kṛṣṇa is the innate nature of the jīva-soul.”
In order to realize the absolute, we must come to the standard of slavery; it will take nothing less than that. We must submit ourselves as slaves to the play of His sweet will.
Once, the British government had to entertain the Persian Shah, the king of Persia. They invited him to England and tried to please him in various ways to gain his sympathy so that he would not be converted to the side of the Russian Czar. They showed him many things, and at one point, he was taken to the place where men condemned to capital punishment were beheaded. There the Shah was shown the place of execution. They explained to him how that was the place where so many great men, including even one king, Charles the First, had been beheaded. When that place was shown to the King of Persia, he asked, “Oh, bring someone there and behead himṣ Let me enjoy how it was done.”
They were astonished. “What is he sayingṣ For his pleasure, we shall have to murder a man? No,” they said. “We cannot allow this; British law cannot allow that a man can be beheaded like this.” The Shah said, “Oh, you do not understand the position of a king? I am a Persian king, and for my satisfaction you cannot sacrifice a human life? This is dishonour. Anyhow, if it is not possible for you, I will supply one of my own men. Take one of my attendants and show me how you execute people here in your country.”
With humility, they submitted to him, “Your Highness, the law of our country cannot allow this. You may do it in your country, but here, your men also cannot be murdered simply for the pleasure of a man.” The Shah replied, “Then you do not know what a king is!” This is the meaning of slavery: A slave has no position; by the sweet will of his master he may be sacrificed. Of course, in the lower material plane such things may be quite abominable and unthinkable, but we should understand that in the higher realm of divinity, in principle, such a degree of sacrifice is shown by the servants of the Lord. The depth of their love is such that they are prepared to sacrifice themselves wholesale, to die to live, for Kṛṣṇa’s slightest satisfaction or whim. But we should remember that whatever is His pleasure, He is the absolute good. So by such sacrifice we do not actually die, but live by gaining entrance into a higher plane of dedication.
In Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (7.5.23-24) it is written:
śravaṇaṁ kīrttanaṁ viṣṇoḥ
smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
archanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ
sakhyam ātma-nivedanam
iti puṁsārpitā viṣṇnau
bhaktis’ chen nava-lakṣaṇā
kriyeta bhagavaty addhā
tan manye ’dhitam utamam
“Hearing, speaking about, and remembering Kṛṣṇa, serving His lotus feet, worshiping His Deity form, praying, becoming His servant, cultivating His friendship, and surrendering to Him utterly are the nine processes of devotion. One who cultivates these nine processes of devotion, offering himself completely to Kṛṣṇa, can easily attain the ultimate goal of life.” What are the forms of sādhana? What are the means to attain kṛṣṇa-bhakti? How can we revive our innate love for Kṛṣṇa? We are told to hear about Him, to praise Him, to meditate upon Him, to praise Him, and so on.
But in his commentary on this verse, Śrīdhar Swāmī has explained that we should not anticipate what benefit we shall derive from śravaṇam, kīrttanam, hearing or talking or thinking about Kṛṣṇa. Rather we should pray, “May whatever service I do go to my Lord. I am not the enjoying party – He is the sole proprietor. All these functions (śravaṇam, kīrttanam etc.) will be considered devotion only if one condition is fulfilled; otherwise they may be karma, jñāna, yoga, or anything else. They may even be vikarma, polluted misdeeds. One condition must be there to insure that all these different forms of devotional activity are actually bhakti: We are His property; we are not owners of any wealth or property. We must think, “My Lord is the possessor and I am in His possesion. Everything is His property.”
Krṛṣṇa says, ahaṁ hi sarva-yajñānāṁ: “I am the only enjoyer of every action. You must be fully conscious of this fact.” The stern reality is that devotion is not a cheap thing. Pure devotional service, śuddha-bhakti, is above mukti, liberation. Above the negative plane of liberation, in the positive side, He is the only master. He is Lord of everything.
He is the Lord of the land of dedication. We must try to obtain a visa to enter there. There, His sweet will is the only law. It is very easy to pronounce the word “absolute.” But if we are to enter into the meaning of the word, then it must be recognized that His sweet will is all in all. To get a visa to the world of reality we must recognize this.
And this is especially true in Goloka, where complete surrender is demanded. In Vaikuṇṭha there is some consideration of justice; for those who are entering there, some sort of lenience is given. But Goloka is very tight. Complete surrender is demanded in that place.
Otherwise, the atmosphere there is very free. After one has been tested and the superiors are satisfied that the souls who have come there are wholly sacrificed, then we gain their confidence. And when it is seen that one is fully surrendered, there is compete freedom; one may do anything.
Whipping Kṛṣṇa
And freedom there is so great that Kṛṣṇa’s mother Yaśoda is whipping Him! If we inquire deeply into where mother Yaśodā is taking her stand, we will come to the “die to live” plane. Yaśodā can embrace death millions of times to remove a bead of sweat from the brow of her son; she has so much affection for Kṛṣṇa that she is ready to die a million times rather than find the sweat of labor on His forehead. And that consciousness is in the background of everything she does. This is why she is given so much independence as to be able to whip Him. Such is the play of the absolute.
If we have an idea of the infinite broadness and depth of the absolute, how can we value anything here? The Himalayas may be very big according to our standard, but from the standard of the infinite, the Himalayas are so small that they can’t even be seen. This world is all relative. We must not allow ourselves to be cowed down by any events here. We must go forward in our march towards the truth. We may fail anytime, anywhere: it does not matter. It may be our master’s will. Still, we have no other alternative than to try for His mercy, His grace.
This is our natural position. Even constitutionally, there is no possibility of living separately from Him. If, in ignorance, we sometimes think that it is possible to live separately from Him, that is only temporary insanity. To attempt to do so is only to create further disturbance, to be covered with ignorance.
While ignorant, we may be concerned for many things that have no value. But actually it is as in play: so many parties are playing – one must win, another must be defeated – but we are told that we must accept victory or defeat in the mood of a player. And everything is the play of Kṛṣṇa. He is playing His līlā . When we think that something is a great loss or gain, we are not seeing the līlā of the Lord. Then we are outside the divine flow, we are not in harmony with the flow of līlā.
Then it appears that reality is not His līlā, and we find some other reason for being, see some other objects, conceive of relative interest, and find loss and gain, victory and defeat, and so many other misconceptions. But everything is His līlā, and that is nirguṇa, without fault. In that plane, everything is all right. Everything is perfect. Every inch of movement there is fully perfect.
“I Shall Curse You”
Once, after the Kurukṣetra war, the brāhmaṇ Utanka came to Kṛṣṇa and said, “Kṛṣṇa, I curse You!” Kṛṣṇa said, “Why, My dear brāhmaṇ, do you want to curse Me?” Utaṇka said, “Because You are the cause of all the disasters of Kurukṣetra. Because of You, so many widows and orphans are crying in distress. The bounds of their sorrow knows no end, and You are the cause.”
Kṛṣṇa answered, “You may have collected some power by you penances in sattva-guṇa, but that will all be finished when you curse Me. It won’t produce any result in Me because I am situated in the nirguṇa plane.” This is the nature of the nirguṇa plane. It is ahaituky apratihatā: it is causeless and cannot be checked – it is irresistable. The wave of the most fundamental plane is bhakti, devotion, where everything follows the sweet will of the center – nirguna. That divine flow is causeless and can never be opposed. We should try to take our stand in that plane. Bhakti is nirguṇa, beyond the influence of material nature, and it is ahaituki, causeless – that divine flow is eternally going on. And it is apratihatā: bhakti can never be checked by anyone. It is irresistable.
This is the nature of the flow of devotion. Anyone who takes their stand in consonance, in harmony with that flow, will find the same thing: it can never be checked or given any successful opposition. This is the nature of bhakti according to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (1.2.6):
sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
ahaituky apratihatā
yayātmā suprasīdati
Bhakti is the highest function of the soul (paro dharmo). Our duty here must have its origin in the plane of bhakti: we must be able to read and catch and utilize that flow. We must dance in the waves of that flow. Everyone’s highest duty will be full submission to the unseen, undetectable causal power, which has no cause, no rhyme, no reason. It is automatic, eternal, and can never be opposed by any forces here.
And then only will we find our soul’s greatest satisfaction. We will feel real satisfaction only when we come in touch with that most fundamental harmonious wave. Then we can feel the highest ecstasy. That is bhakti.
So in coming to such a great idea of life, whatever obstacles we must cross are only small losses and gains, victories and defeats. We should not allow them to disturb our march towards the truth.
Bhagavad-gītā
Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gītā (2.47):
karmaṇy evādhikāras te
mā phaleṣu kadāchana
mā karma-phala-hetur-bhūr
mā te sango ’stu akrarmaṇī
“Give your full concentration to discharging your duty and not to the result of your work. The result is with Me; all responsibility is with Me.” Higher calculation is like that. The generals say, “March! Go forward. Onward! You have to go. You are my soldiers; whatever I shall ask, you must do. You may die and the victory may come afterward; that is not your concern. You are soldiers; many of you may be finished, but the country as a whole will gain.” In this way, so many important lives may be sacrificed.
And as soldiers, we have no right to calculate whether we shall gain or lose in the long run. There are two things we must be very careful about. We shouldn’t think that if we can’t enjoy the fruits of our labor, then there is no reason to work. At the same time, we shouldn’t think that we must get some share of the fruits. Remembering this, we should go on discharging our duty to Kṛṣṇa. That is devotion, and that is the meaning of Bhagavad-gītā.
Bhagavad-gītā says, “You can’t change the environment. If you want peace, you must regulate yourself according to the environment.” The whole gist of Bhagavad-gītā’s advice is found here. Try to adjust yourself with the environment, because you are not the master of the environment. All your energy should be devoted to regulating yourself and not the outside world. This is the key to success in spiritual life.
Bhakti does not depend on the environment or on the dealings of others. It is ahaituky apratihatā. Nothing can obscure that flow except our own ego. I am my own greatest enemy.
uddhared ātmanātmāna
nātmānam avasādayet
ātmaiva hy ātmano bandhur
ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ
“We can elevate ourselves or degrade ourselves. We are our own best friend or worst enemy.” No force outside can check us if we are sincere. Of course for beginners there is some concern about a proper environment for spiritual cultivation, but even that is also dependent on the nature of their sincerity, or sukṛti: na hi kalyāna-kṛt kaśchid durgatiṁ tāta gachchati. The assurance is given here by Kṛṣṇa. He says, “I’ll be there to look after you in any unfavourable circumstance. I am omniscient. And I am omnipotent also. So if anyone is directed towards Me, I’ll look after him.” And it has also been seen in history, in the cases of Dhruva, Prahlāda, and so many others. Sincerity is invincible. Even obstacles may improve our position if we can take them in the right way. From a higher angle of vision it may be seen that everything is coming to help us.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam
tat te ’nukampām susamīkṣamāṇo
bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam
hrḍ-vāg-vapurbhir vidhadhan namas te
jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya bhāk
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.14.8) gives us a most hopeful suggestion for all stages of life: blame yourself and no one else. Maintain your appreciation for the Lord, seeing everything as His grace. At present we think our circumstances undesirable because they do not suit our present taste. But medicine may not always suit the taste of the patient. Still it is conducive to health. This verse is the highest type of regulation given by the sāstra. If you can follow this law, then in no time you will have a very good position. We must be careful not to blame the circumstances, but to appreciate that Kṛṣṇa is behind everything. Everything is passing through His attentive eyes. So there cannot be any defect there.
Even Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī says, “He is not to blame. This long separation from Kṛṣṇa is only the outcome of My fate. He should not be blamed for this.” Although outwardly it is admitted by all that He had cruelly left the gopīs, Rādhārāṇī is not prepared to blame Kṛṣṇa. “No wrong can be found in Him,” She thinks. “There must be something wrong in Me which has brought about this unfortunate situation.” The competition between the groups of gopīs in the service of Kṛṣṇa is also harmonized in this way by Rādhārāṇi.
Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Goswāmī has explained this most important point. According to him, it is not that Rādhārāṇī does not like any other party to serve Kṛṣṇa in competition with Her, but She feels that they cannot satisfy Kṛṣṇa as well as She can. And this should be noted very carefully. She knows that they cannot give proper satisfaction to Kṛṣṇa, so She cannot appreciate their trying to take Her place. That is Her contention. She thinks, “If they could serve Kṛṣṇa well and fully satisfy Him, I would have no complaint. But they can’t. And still, aggressively they come to serve? I can’t tolerate this.”
The Brahmin Leper
Kavirāja Goswāmī has cited as an example of this sort of devotion a historical reference from the Purāṇas. There was once a chaste wife whose brāhmaṇ husband was a leper. She always tried her best to serve Him. One day, while she was bathing her husband at a holy river, he became infatuated with the extraordinary beauty of a prostitute by the name Lakṣahīrā. Her name indicated that she possessed the luster and beauty of a hundred thousand diamonds. The leper brāhmaṇ was irresistibly charmed by her.
Upon returning home, his chaste wife detected some dissatisfaction within her husband, and inquired. “Why are you so unhappy?” Her husband replied, “I felt some attraction for the beauty of that prostitute. And I can’t take my mind off her.”
“Oh, You want her?”
“Yes. I do.”
“Then I shall try to make the arrangement.”
Then, because she was poor, the chaste lady, although a qualified brāhmaṇ, began to go to the house of the prostitute every day and work as a maidservant. Although she was aristocratic by birth, she accepted the work of a maidservant without any remuneration. And she did her duties so diligently that she attracted the attention of the prostitute, the mistress of the house, who began to inquire. “Who cleans everything so neatly and beautifully?” And she came to know that a brāhmaṇ lady was coming every morning and performing many menial tasks. The other attendants said, “We tried to stop her, but she would not hear of it. She wants to meet you.”
The mistress replied, “All right. Tomorrow, you may bring her to me.” Then, the next morning, when she was taken to the prostitute, the brāhmaṇ lady expressed her inner motive. “My husband is so attracted to you that it is my desire that you may satisfy him. It is my concern as his devout wife that he be satisfied, and this is his aspiration. So I want to see him happy.” Then the prostitute understood everything and said, “Yes. Bring him tomorrow. I invite both of you to dine in my house.”
This was intimated to the brāhmaṇ and the following day they came. Many dishes were prepared fitting the occasion. Two entrees were served. One was prāsadam on a plantain leaf accompanied by Ganges water in an earthen pot – all pure vegetarian food. Side by side with that in gold and silver pots were so many meats and rich dishes. They were served with a very nice table arrangement and sitting places. Of the two kinds of foodstuffs, one was sattvik, pure, and the other was rājasik, filled with passion. Then, with folded palms, the prostitute invited the brāhmaṇ and his wife and indicated, “This is bhagavata-prasādam, and those are rich dishes prepared with meat. Whichever you like you may take at your sweet will.”
Immediately the leper brāhmaṇ chose the prasādam, and began to take his meal. After he had finished taking prasādam, the prostitute said, “Your wife is like this prasādam – sattvik – and all these rājasik things – meat, rich dishes, gold, silver – this is like me. I am so low and your wife is the purest of the pure. Your real taste is for this sattvik prasādam. Externally, the meat is very gorgeous, but internally it is very impure, filthy. And therefore you are repulsed by it. So why have you come here to me?”
Then the brāhmaṇ came to his senses. “Yes, I am wrong. God has sent a message to me through you. My fleeting desire has ended and now I am satisfied. You are my guru!”
Kavirāja Goswāmi has quoted this in the Chaitanya-charitamṛta. The chaste lady went to serve the prostitute. Why? For the satisfaction of her husband. So Rādhārāṇī says, “I am ready to serve those in the opposition camp, if they can really satisfy My Lord. I am completely ready to serve them if they can really satisfy Kṛṣṇa. But they can’t. Yet still they have some demand. But I differ on that point. It is not that I am concerned that My share is being lessened. That is not My attitude. Whenever any unfavourable circumstances come, I think it is always coming from within Me (durdaiva vilāsa); I don’t find anything corrupt to be traced outside.”
That should be the attitude of a true devotee of Kṛṣṇa. With this attitude, we shall be able to see within ourselves that everything is ultimately part of the absolute good. Although it is not very easy, still, our energy should be devoted only to collect good will from external circumstances. In this way we should take care to see things in such a way as to purify our own position.
Deep Vision Reality
And so, we are encouraged by Srīmad Bhāgavatam to look deeper. We must try to look deeper and then we will find our friend; if we are liberal in our attitude towards the environment, we cannot but come in connection with the plane which is really liberal. That is Kṛṣṇā consciousness in its ultimate reach. If we look deeply into reality with this sort of vision, we will find our real home. Prahlāda boldly met all adverse circumstances and ultimately he was victorious. The calculation of Prahlāda’s demonic father about the environment was falsified, but Prahlāda’s deeper vision saw reality correctly.
He saw that Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. And Kṛṣṇa consciousness is commanding the whole. So we must not allow ourselves to be discouraged under any circumstances, however acute they may apparently seem to us. Kṛṣṇa is there. As much as the circumstances appear to oppose us, it is really not so. If only we can develop the right vision, the smiling face of the Lord will appear from behind the screen. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa is beautiful, and He is eagerly awaiting to accept our services.
God And His Men
Our inner wealth can be discoveres only by the help of sādhu, guru, and scripture. Our vision should be that it is all nectar, but we have drawn a screen between the nectar and ourselves and are tasting poison, thinking that it is very useful. On the whole, we must think that no blame is to be put on others, and it is actually the truth. We are responsible for our disgrace, our fallen condition. And the path to self-improvement is also similar: we must learn to critique oursleves and appreciate the environment. Our appreciation should especially be for Kṛṣṇa and His devotees, and then gradually everyone else. He has not given anyone the authority to harm us. If it appears that way, it is only superficial and misleading. That anyone can do harm to anyone else is misleading. It is only true on the superficial plane. Of course, this does not condone harming others or ignoring oppression, but from the absolute standpoint there is no harm. When we reach the highest stage of devotion, we shall see that everything is friendly and that our apprehension was wrong. It was a misconception.
Misconception: māyā means “what is not” (mriyate anaya). When everything is measured from the standpoint of selfishness and not the universal interest – that is the cause of all our troubles. We must gradually realize, “My angle of vision was guided by selfish, not absolute, consideration. So I am suffering. But now I have come to understand that my interest is included in the absolute interest.”
To parody an old saying, “A bad workman quarrels with his stools.” According to our karma we produce the environment. What I am blaming was produced by my own karma. When I take food, stool comes as a natural reaction. It would be foolish to blame the stool for appearing. It is the effect of my having eaten. In the same way, I have acted in different ways, and the karmic result is my present environment. So to quarrel with the reaction to our own misdeeds is a useless waste of energy.
The advice of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam should be our guiding principle under all circumstances. Whatever is coming to us is under His sanction, under His eye, so it cannot but be good. Everything is perfect. The only imperfection is within us, and therefore we should try with all our energy to do our duty. In no time, we shall find ourselves released from all troubles. That is the key advice of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.
Our Guardian’s Eye
The environment is not dead – an overseer is there. Just as the sun is over our heads, every action is under our guardian’s eye. This comparison is given in the Ṛg Veda: Oṁ tad viṣṇo paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti suraya divīva chakṣur ātatam. We should approach any duty thinking, “My guardian’s eye is always vigilantly watching over me, seeing everything I am doing, and whatever is happening to me. I need not worry about this environment or circumstance.”
So Bhāgavatam says, “Don’t worry about the environment. Do your duty. Concentrate fully on what you are doing, and in no time, you’ll be relieved of the black box of the ego and will join in the universal flow of dancing and chanting, singing and rejoicing. You will gain entrance into the līlā or Pastimes of the Lord.”
We are all suffering from separate interest, clash and reaction, good and bad, pleasure and pain, happiness and distress, but there in the spiritual domain, everything is conscious and filled with happiness. So not only total self-forgetfulness is required, but the whole good will of the Lord should be invited. We shall merge in the flow of the good will of the Lord. That is Vṛndāvana.
Our guardians say: “Do this,” and according to our capacity we shall try to execute their order. And accepting that what they say is really coming from Kṛṣṇa, the more we are able to follow their instructions, the more benefit we shall accrue. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, the Vedas and Upaniṣads, and so many agents who represent divinity are all helping us go back to our real home. At present we are living in different stages of consciousness of separate interest, but our guardians are all trying to take us into that higher plane of dynamic movement, līlā, to enter in to the Pastimes of Kṛṣṇa.
Enemy Ego \ Real Ego
Here, everything is but a reflection of the perfect world. Originally everything is there, including all types of service, but here we have only a perverted reflection. Leaving this variegated world behind, we should not attempt to merge into nonconsciousness so that we won’t be able to feel any pleasure or pain. At present we are under the influence of our enemy ego. Real ego exists in the spiritual world. All experience is found there, but it is full of beauty and charm.
Kṛṣṇa consciousness means full fledged theism. This means that we can have a relationship with the infinite up to consorthood. Everything that we need to help us and lead us in the right direction is really to be found in the spiritual world in its purest and most desirable position. What we find here is only a shadow, a black imitation. But reality means full-fledged theism – Kṛṣṇa consciousness – where the infinite embraces the whole finite. The infinite comes down to welcome, to fully embrace the finite – that is Vṛndāvana. And this is full-fledged theism: through Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one negligent part of the finite may experience the blissful embrace of the whole infinite. And in Vṛndāvana , not a corner is left neglected. Every grain of sand, every blade of grass, is well-represented there with personality. Here, what to speak of a particle of sand, so many things are insignificant. But in Vṛndāvana, everything is cared for. Nothing is ignored. That is full-fledged theism. This is explained in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.21.15)
varhāpīḍaṁ naṭa-bara-vapuḥ karnayoḥ karnikāraṁ
bibrad vāsaḥ kanaka-kapiśam vaijayantīn cha mālām
randhrān venoradhara-sudhayā purayan gopavṛndair
vṛndāranyaṁ sva-pada-ramanaṁ prāviśad gīta-kīrtiḥ
Śukadeva Goswāmi reveals something astounding to Parīkṣit Mahāraja. When Kṛṣṇa enters the forest of Vṛndāvana by the touch of the soles of His lotus feet, the earth feels the pleasure of His embrace – the personal embrace of the Sweet Absolute (vṛndāranyam svapada-ramanam). This is inconceivable! By the touch of the holy feet of Kṛṣṇa, the sand and the earth feels the pleasure of consorthood! Glorified by His cowherd friends, He enters the forest of Vṛndāvana, and the earth, the forest, and everything that comes in connection with Him feels a higher, closer sense experience of pleasure to the happiest degree.
Consorthood
In Vṛndāvana, the earth feels the mood of consorthood. So, the Vṛndāvana-līlā of Kṛṣṇa is so wonderful that even Brahmā, the creator of the universe, said, “How can we understand You, my Lord? I know something about my Lord Nārāyana, who is near to me. He and I have some direct connection so that I may discharge my official duties. But You have come within my circle and I can’t understand You. What is this?” He tried his best to test Kṛṣṇa by kidnapping His cowherd boyfriends and calves, but he was astounded to find that, “Although I have removed them, everything is as it was before; Kṛṣṇa is still surrounded by His friends and their calves, engaged in their pleasure Pastimes. So He is infinite. Even as the lord of the universe, my interference could not disrupt anything under His control. By His own sweet will He conducts his play. I tried to test Him, but now I am bewildered by His inconceivable potency. I could not understand that although an apparently human cowherd boy, He is nonetheless the supreme-most, higher than even Lord Nārāyaṇa.” He pleaded with Kṛṣṇa, “Now I have come to my senses; please forgive me, my Lord.”
What use is a particle of our intelligence? How much can it measure the infinite? Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu says, “Don’t try to apply your brain to the infinite. The brain is not a unit for measurement in that plane. Your intellect is cancelled by the infinite. Try to measure it only by feeling, by taste, by heart – the brain will be your enemy. It will always deceive you in its measurement, and that will disturb you and limit your progress.”
Only faith can help us. Otherwise nothing can reach that plane. We can reach the sun or moon only with the help of advanced technology. We can’t reach out and touch it with our hand or with a long stick. In the same way, to connect with the highest reality, faith alone can help one. Faith is the most spacious medium. But even that is very meager in consideration of the high thing with which you would like to connect, the supreme cause of all causes.
We are teeny souls. How much can we accomodate with our faith? How wide and how broad is our faith? What can we catch within our faith? What we are seeking is infinite, and we are very much afraid; “Oh, if I rely on faith, something may go wrong. I may be deceived.” But within our teeny hearts, how much faith can we contain? Only by analogy with the sky or the ocean may we understand anything about the infinite, but what is that in comparison? Nothing.
And what is the infinite? That from which everything is coming, by which everything is maintained, and into which everything is ultimately entering; the all-comprehensive, all-permeating, all-controlling, all-attracting, all-feeling Absolute.
So everything is all right with the infinite and the environment. We have only to correct ourselves, to adjust ourselves. This is the conclusion – ”Try to adjust yourself; everything is all right with the environment. We must leave everything to the Supreme Lord and conduct ourselves accordingly.” That will bring us real peace and progressive realization in spiritual life.
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