Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.14.4

New Delhi
4 June 1994

prayo mumuksavas tesam
kecanaiva dvijottama
mumuksunam sahasresu
kascin mucyeta sidhyati

O best of the brahmanas, Sukadeva Gosvami, out of many persons who follow religious principles, only a few desire liberation from the material world. Among many thousands who desire liberation, one may actually achieve liberation, giving up material attachment to society, friendship, love, country, home, wife and children. And among many thousands of such liberated persons, one who can understand the true meaning of liberation is very rare.

LECTURE

So, in this chapter we see that Pariksit Maharaja is inquiring from his spiritual master. Who is his spiritual master? Srila Sukadeva Gosvami. He is inquiring about the demon Vrtrasura. How this demon was able to develop love for the Supreme Lord. In this chapter we will see and hear the history of the King Citraketu and tomorrow I will explain to you this history in more details. Anyway we will discuss a little  bit of it today. Pariksit Maharaja was very surprised to see how a demon like Vrtrasura  had become a devotee. Similarly, in the seventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatam we also see Yudhisthira Maharaja inquiring from Narada Muni, how a demon like Sisupala was able to merge in the body of Lord Krishna. So, we can see that very exalted devotees of the Lord need clarification and for this clarification they do not just turn to anyone on the street. But, they turn to very exalted authorised personalities for answers. Sukadeva Gosvami is beginning to relate the history of a King, namely Citraketu. We can see in this verse Maharaja Pariksit is saying that there are many people who follow religious principles, but actually, only few attain liberation. Just like we see many people who go on pilgrimage. Now another Kumbha Mela  is coming up in January. You will see thousands  of people going over there. But, do all these people, who go to different religious functions, want liberation. Pariksit Maharaja is saying, "no." Many of them want to follow religion, but very few want liberation. Why do they follow religious principles? Because they want economic benefits. So, they follow religious principles because they want some kinds of economic benefits. They feel that material facilities are the goal of life. Now, forget those who do not want liberation. Pariksit Maharaja said that even among those who want liberation only very few are able to give up material attachments. What are those material attachments? Attachment to society, friends, country, home, wife and children. To give up these attachments are not easy. When Lord Brahma created this universe, he created five different aspects of ignorance. One is false identification with the body, anger after frustration. When does a child become angry? It becomes angry when it is unable to get what it wants.

Fear of death, nobody wants to die. You can ask doctors from any part of the world. They will all reply that the patients hold their hands and request them to please save their lives. Just one more months, two more months. So, this is fear of death. Devotees don't have this fear. Devotees are supposed to be fearless. Then the sense of false proprietorship, I am the owner of this land, my country, my factory, my possessions, my, my, my. Ask them where is my in your body. They do not know where it is. Then the sense of false deception. So, these five types of ignorance were created by Lord Brahma. Why did he create these five types of ignorance? Because, the material world was created to give the living entities an opportunity to enjoy separately from God as they want it. Lord Brahma had to create such an environment to easily facilitate those who want to forget God. However, Brahmaji did not feel satisfied after the creation of these different aspects of ignorance. Therefore, he also proceeded to establish the four paths of religious knowledge. So, over here we see that among those who want liberation, to give up attachments to the body, family, country, possessions are very difficult. These attachments can only be given up if you develop positive attachment. Detachment from material things is only possible if you are attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, Pariksit Maharaja is saying, even among those who have achieved liberation, the real meaning of liberation is understood by very few. What Pariksit Maharaja is trying to establish is that a person who understands the pure meaning of bhakti is very rare. To help us to understand this certain lilas are created in which the devotees of the Lord appear in different roles. This is confirmed in Brahma-Samhita ( 5.42 ):

ananda-cinmaya-rasatmataya manahsu
yah praninam pratiphalan smaratam upetya
lilayitena bhuvanani jayaty ajasram
govindam adi-purusam tarn aham bhajami

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who perpetually dominates the mundane worlds by displaying pastimes and who is reflected in the minds of recollecting souls as the embodiment of everlasting cognitive rasa."

Actually, if you very carefully read the Srimad Bhagavatam you will see that even the demons, who were created, were all very exalted devotees of the Lord. But, by the will of the Lord they have to take their births as demons. Just like I was mentioning in this canto Yudhisthira Maharaja also got bewildered on how Sisupala merge into the body of Lord Sri Krishna. So, he was asking from Narada Muni, "How could a demon like Sisupala merge into the body of the Lord?" This was again by the will of the Lord. Just like the four Kumaras, the sons of the Lord Brahma. The four Kumaras were called Kumaras, because of their mystic power, they controlled their growth and they looked like young children of five years of age. Why did they stop? Because Lord Brahma, their father, wanted them to marry and hence  expand population. However, the Kumaras did not want to get entangled in grhastha life. Therefore, they rejected the advice of their father. Lord Brahma became very angry. Who was created from his anger? Lord Siva. So, the Kumaras were just roaming everywhere naked, travelling everywhere in all the different planets. By their yogic mystic powers they can go anywhere. Once they went to the Vaikuntha planet. There were two doorkeepers over there who said, "Hey! you naked children, you can't go in. However, this made the Kumaras very angry and they said, "You are stopping us, therefore, we curse you. You will take birth as demons." At that particular moment Lord Visnu came over there. On His arrival the Kumaras recognised that actually these doorkeepers are very exalted devotees, they are not ordinary devotees.

So, the Kumaras told the Lord that we have made a mistake by cursing these two doorkeepers. Now we want to withdraw this curse. But, the Lord said, "NO. By My will you have cursed them. It was My will for them to be cursed and appear in the material world and think of Me." Bhakti yoga can also be executed in Krodha Bhava, but not by people like us. In the Nectar of Devotion there is a description of five direct rasas and seven indirect rasas. Anger is one of the seven indirect rasas. Lord Visnu explained to the four Kumaras to not feel sorry for having cursed these two doorkeepers. Lord Krishna likes to fight, He likes to prove that He is there to protect His devotees. In order to fight, somebody has to play the role of an enemy. Who can play the role of an enemy better than a devotee? Hence, by the arrangement of the Lord, Jaya and Vijaya played the role of two very powerful enemies, Hiranyaksa and Hiranyakasipu, Ravana and Kumbhakarana, Sisupala and Dantavakra. By the arrangement of the Lord they took birth and played the role of very powerful demons. Just like in a theatre, one performs a drama. When you perform a drama, one devotee plays the role of Prahlada Maharaja, another will play the role of Hiranyakasipu and another one will play the role of Lord Narasimhadeva. On the stage they act like enemies, but, behind the stage they are all friends. When the devotees of the Lord appear as demons, they become more powerful than even the demigods. When Hiranyakasipu was on this planet all the demigods were scared of him. In fact when Hiranyakasipu was performing austerities and Prahlada Maharaja was in the womb of his mother, Kayadhu, Indra and all the demigods caught Prahlada Maharaja's mother with the intension of killing the child as soon as it would be born. They wanted to kill it because they did not want to have another Hiranyakasipu on this planet.  At that time Narada Muni arrived on the spot and stopped them. He brought Kayadhu to his asrama and taught her Bhagavat Dharma. We see that even the demons about whom we read in the Bhagavatam are not like modern day demons. They come here to fulfill the Lord's desire and to prove the Lord's fighting ability. When they appear as demons, they even strike the Lord, just like a child may sometimes slap his father, but the father don't take it seriously. So, to give up these attachments of possessions, family, children and country are not easy. These attachments keep us entangled birth after birth. The nature of the material world is so strong that even if you have the body of an animal, you don't want to give up the attachment of your family. Just like we have the history of how Indra, the King of Heaven became a hog. Due to an offence at the lotus feet of his spiritual master, Brhaspati, Indra had to take his birth as a hog. Naturally, in this body he had a pig wife and many many children. Apparently, he was very very happy.

After sometimes Lord Brahma went there and said that Indra, now your period of punishment is over. Come back and take charge of the administration of rain. King Indra said, "No, no, now I don't want to come, I am very happy over here. I have such a nice wife, sweet children, how can I give them up. Now I do not want to come back. Wait for some more time. Then, Lord Brahma had to show him a butcher's knife. Immediately he agreed to give  up  his body and return. If you lift your stick then naturally the dog will run away. These attachments to the body are very very strong. We underestimate these attachments and we don't know how deep rooted these attachments are. Spiritual life means giving up these attachments. This is what we are going to see in the next few months as we discussed the history of King Citraketu in the next four chapters of the Bhagavatam. You will see that how King Citraketu was also very attached to his son. The king had ten million wives. He was very handsome, very very rich and no money problem.

Once a great sage visited the palace of King Citraketu and he told him that you don't look very happy. The king said, "What can I hide from a great sage like you." Prabhupada used to say that the face is the index of the mind. This is true. So, the king explained, yes, no doubt, I have everything but I don't have a child. I must have a child. The sage said, "OK, you will have a son from your wife." By the arrangement of the great sage, Angira rsi and his blessings a son was born whose name was Harsasoka. Harsasoka in Sanskrit is composed of two words, harsa and soka. Harsa means happiness and soka means lamentation. When the sage blessed the king he said, "You will have a son but this son will be the cause of happiness as well as pain. The king was very much absorbed in thoughts of having a son. The idea of lamentation did not strike him. In Bengali they say a blind uncle is better than no uncle. So, the king was saying all right, my son will be spoiled because he will be the only son of a rich father. Let him be spoiled, at least I will have a son. In due course of time the son was born then the king's attention was only to his wife and child. Thus, the other co-wives were just ignored. As a matter of fact they became very very envious. It is not difficult to make a woman envious. It is very easy according to Srimad Bhagavatam. So, the other co-wives became envious of king Citraketu's son and his wife. They were saying, "Now we have become maid servants, the king doesn't even look at us." On the occasion of the child's first anniversary they gave him poison, which resulted in the latter's death. So, when the king and his wife found out what had happened they became mad with lamentation. Then Angira risi again showed up. This time he was not alone, but was accompanied by someone else. Who was he? At first he came alone because he knew that king Citraketu was not ready for complete detachment. Now Angira risi knew that king Citraketu is ready for detachment. This detachment sometimes comes in shock. Therefore, you see in the Srimad Bhagavatam histories of so many great devotees who were very much attached to so many things but then by the will of the Lord a situation of frustration was created and then they got completely detached.

Once there was a prostitute who was very beautifully dressed up and she was standing on the balcony all day looking for a customer. With anyone passing by she would think, "Oh! may be this man would become my customer." But, all day and night went by without her having a customer. She was frustrated. After frustration she went to her room, took off all of her expensive jewelleries, wore a simple saree and went to the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna. There she found a new feeling of happiness. So, Prabhupada explained in the purport in this section how frustration leads to detachment from everything material to attachment to Lord Sri Krishna. In the case of king Citraketu we follow a similar pattern. Angira risi came back along with Narada Muni because he knew that now king Citraketu is ready for detachment. When he came with him to the king's palace they saw the king crying. So, they asked that why he was crying. Angira risi said, "When I came last time you were smiling, but what has happened now?" They knew everything but they wanted the king to reveal the incidence to them. Later on by the power of Narada Muni the dead son was brought back to life. Then Narada Muni asked, "Why did you leave your father and go away? Go back to your father." At that time Harsasoka replied, "Which father and mother do you want me to go back to?" After a short while the son started preaching to his parents. He said, "How long do you know me? One year. That's all. In such a short lapse of time you got so attached." So, the son was brought back to life by Narada Muni then he began to preach real philosophy. As result of which king Citraketu developed detachment. The point is that in this material world all of our relationships are of harsasoka. Today they will make you smile and tomorrow they will make you cry. Therefore, don't be attached to anything in this material world. That is the sum and substance. Whichever things give you happiness today will make you cry tomorrow. In the fourth canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam Lord Sri Krishna told the Kumaras, "I am creating this material world where everybody must suffer. There is no happiness anywhere here." This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (8.16):

abrahma-bhuvanal lokah
punar avartino 'rjuna
mam upetya tu kaunteya
punar janma na vidyate

"From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again."

Srila Prabhupada used to say this is mrtyu loka. Sanskrit is a very sophisticated language. Now this material world is mrtyu loka, you understand mrtyu. If you add one alphabet to mrtyu everything changes. If you add a to mrtyu it becomes amrt. This is mrtyu loka, but if you take shelter of the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna it becomes amrt loka. It is mrtyu loka without Krishna but with Krishna it is amrta loka. What is amrta, nectar. If you take shelter of Lord Krishna and get attached to Him then you can experience real happiness. When you experience real happiness then you understand that this so called pleasure of family life, women and property are all illusory. As a matter of fact it will be clear to you that what is false happiness and what is real happiness. You cannot understand the difference between false happiness and real happiness unless you experience real happiness. So, in the absence of spiritual knowledge we think that these family attachments are our sources of happiness. Therefore, we have to preach. We must preach to ourselves as well as to others. We have to preach to ourselves on the importance of breaking these attachments. Even if you are in the grhastha asrama it doesn't matter. The real purpose is that we have to develop these attachments. As we develop these attachments we become more and more attached to spiritual life. As we get attached we will gradually develop 'ruci.' Right now we have no ruci, taste, at least for the holy name. So, Srila Rupa Goswami says, "When will that day come when I will have thousands and thousands and thousands of ears and tongues." He doesn't want one tongue and two ears. He says, "One tongue and two ears are not enough." He needs thousands and thousands of ears and tongues to glorify the Lord, because the Lord's qualities are unlimited. So, that is ruci, when you want to engage in Krishna katha all the time. That is the standard to which we have to come. To get attached to the holy name. Right now zero attachment, may be one percent. So, even during japa time our mind says let us do prajalpa. During class time we find it very difficult to stay awake. This is our problem. We have to be attached, attached to real purpose of the Krishna conscious movement. You get attached to the holy name. By being attached to the holy name you get attached to Lord Sri Krishna. This is how Srila Rupa Goswami explains the processes of devotional service in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.4.15-16):

adau- sraddha tatah sadhu-
sango 'tha bhajana-kriya
tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat
tato nistha rucis tatah

athasaktis tato bhavas
tatah premabhyudancati
sadhakanam ayam premnah
pradurbhave bhavet kramah

"In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees. There after one is initiated by the spiritual master and executes regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sadhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to regulative principles. Gradually emotions intensify, and finally there is an awakening of love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotees interested in Krishna consciousness."

But how to get attached. You have to make an effort. Without hard endeavour it won't be possible. Krishna gives nothing cheaply. Lord Krishna sees how hard you are labouring then He will reciprocate accordingly. In Bhagavad-gita (4.11) the Lord says:

ye yatha mam prapadyante
tarns tathaiva bhajamy aham
mama vartmanuvartante
manusyah partha sarvasah

"As devotees surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Prtha."

Because we endeavour to purify our hearts from material dirt Lord Sri Krishna who is situated in every one's heart understands our desires and mercifully helps us. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita (15.15):

sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto
mattah smrtirjnanam apohanam ca
vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham

"I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas."

Material impurities are taking us away from Sri Krishna. We have to destroy these impurities by surrendering unto guru and Krishna and constantly chanting the holy name attentively and sincerely. So, please take to this Krishna consciousness seriously.

Hare Krishna!