SRILA BV NARAYANA MAHARAJAS VISIT TO MALAYSIA 3

2- 11 December 1998

(by Sridam Sakha dasa)

Evening Class, 5 December 1998

During the days that we had been staying in Malaysia, our host Bala Singam prabhu had
produced a very melodious recording of Krsna dasa brahmacari's beautiful singing, accompanied
by various musical instruments. However, this evening before he gave his class, Srila Gurudeva
reminded us that the purpose of these bhajanas was not for our enjoyment, but rather to give us a
stimulus for our spiritual lives, by being sung in a mood of separation.

"We should sing the words 'karunam kuru mayiO Srimati Radharani You are so merciful, I am
covered in maya, please save me' from our heart, then tears will come. But if we sing this prayer
by raga and ragini, with mrdanga, dolaka and tabla, with the conception 'I should make this
perfect so that everyone will be happy' thinking only of the tune, then the mood will not be there.
It will be covered. So try to use instruments in such a way that the mood is not covered. If there
are no instruments but we are singing in so much separation: 'O Srimati Radharani be merciful to
me. I'm so wretched and fallen,' then it is very good. The mood, the life and soul of kirtana,
vaisnava kirtana, should not be covered. There is so much difference between this and music,
between bhajana and sangeet. Try to realize the mood, the life and soul of kirtana. If it is
covered, then it is useless. But if our attention is on the mood, then our heart will melt and tears
will come. In this mood one will be very humble 'trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna amanina
manadena kirtanaiyah sada harih.' Otherwise, if one sings just for performance, one will become
proud. Try to learn everyday something I'm telling, otherwise no benefit."

Srila Gurudeva now started his class, by talking about the appearance of Devaki-nandana Krsna
in Mathura and the simultaneous birth of Brajendra-nandana in Gokula from Yasoda.

"When Yasoda-nandana Krsna had taken birth in Gokula, Nanda Maharaja arranged a very big
festival for the nabhi chedan, the cutting of Krsna's umbilical cord. This was witnessed by all the
ladies of Gokula, so this is the proof. 'A very beautiful baby has been born.' But there were no
Mathuravasis present to witness the appearance of Devaki-nandana Krsna, so why should we
believe them? Instead we should believe the Vrajabasis.

(When Visnu, or Krsna, took birth from Devaki, He must have simultaneously taken birth from
Yasoda also. Otherwise how could Yogamaya have been anuja, the Lord's younger sister? Srila
Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada's purport SB 10.4.9)

"But it is stated by Sukadeva Gosvami that Krsna took birth in Mathura. So why is this? The
reason is that Sukadeva Gosvami wanted to please Pariksit Maharaja. Who was he? By family
Pariksit Maharaja was connected with Mathuresa Krsna. Krsna's sister Subhadra was married to
the grandfather of Pariksit Maharaja, Arjuna, and their son Abhimanyu was the father of Pariksit
Maharaja. So in this way Pariksit Maharaja became happy to hear Sukadeva Gosvami talking
about the Krsna who was in his dynasty. But really, if the Vrajabasis had been there, then
Sukadeva Gosvami would have told differently. Even though they were not, still by chance
Sukadeva Gosvami has said: nandas tv atmaja utpanne jatahlado maha-manah"Nanda became
so happy when a son came to him from the womb of Yasoda." (SB 10.5.1). Brahma also prays:
laksma sriye mrdu pade pasu pangajaya"O Krsna, You've come from the womb of Yasoda."
(SB 10.14.1). And at the end of the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam this sloka is given:
jayati jananivaso devaki janma vado, which is the essence of all. Some people claim that Krsna
is the son of Devaki, but it is untrue. He is the son of Yasoda. Ignorant people who don't know
tattva will say this. But sometimes to taunt Him, when the gopis are angry, they may also say
this: na khalu gopika nandano bhavan"You are so cruel, how can you be the son of Yasoda? It
is not possible. So you must be the son of Devaki!" (SB 10.31.4).

Srila Gurudeva then surprised us with the question: "Those who want to be a Mathuravasi, raise
your hand."

"Dhira Krsna prabhu is a Mathuravasi!" Govinda bhakata prabhu then called out. (Dhira Krsna
prabhu is from Mathura.) As all eyes turned on him expectantly, he replied hesitantly "I was...
but I don't want to be..."

After this little interlude, Srila Gurudeva continued with his class:

"When Kamsa realized that Krsna had somehow avoided his clutches, and was living somewhere
unknown, he called all of his demonic allies together, and urged them to find Krsna and kill him.
In particular he wanted to take help from Putana. While conquering the world, he had not been
able to defeat her, so instead he had made a compromise with her: 'You are like my sister, and I
am like your brother, so let us help each other.' So now she was very willing to help Kamsa by
killing Krsna, knowing so many tricks and magic. She then transformed herself to a very
beautiful young mother, took vina and, going to every village, she murdered all the baby boys.
At last she came to Gokula.

"So many siddha-yogis who cannot give up the influence of maya are unable to go there. What to
speak of them, even those who have become free from maya like Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana
and Sanat-kumara are also unable to enter Vraja. If one performs bhajana under the guidance of a
resident of Vraja, then by this means only can one go there, otherwise not.

"So it is quite impossible for Putana to go there, but she was allowed to enter by the influence of
Yogamaya. Yogamaya wanted to make a situation so that the love and affection of the
Vrajabasis could be renewed. If there is no current, then that love becomes stagnant, frozen. It
becomes feeble, and cannot therefore please Krsna. After some time Krsna felt that Yasoda was
not as attentive to Him as she was when He born and that her mood was now somewhat far
away.

"When Vamanadeva went to see Bali He was very beautiful, although very short. When Bali's
daughter Ratnamala saw him, she thought: 'I wish that Vamanadeva could be my son.' But when
she saw Him cover all the universe in three steps, and then put His foot on Bali's head, and bind
him, she thought: 'If He becomes my son then I'll give him poison.'

"So in her next life Ratnamala became Putana. She came to kill Krsna as a mother, with strong
poison. She had no milk to give Him, so when she held Krsna she squeezed her breast to make
him take poison. Krsna made that poison into nectar, and took out her life. She cried: Leave me!
Leave me! but even with the power of 10,000 elephants she could not do anything. She thought
that she would get help from Kamsa, and started to try and fly in the direction of Mathura. But
Krsna thought: 'You've come to me as mother so I'll not let you go.' When she fell down her
body covered twelve miles, also smashing Kamsa's garden. All of the villages in the place where
her body fell were named after her different body parts. The place where her arm fell was called
Hatarasa, and the place where her head lay was called Mudsan. But through the ages, these
names have become gradually changed.
"The next demon whom Kamsa sent to kill Krsna was Sakatasura. Sakatasura was like a ghost,
he could enter into anything. He was given this name because he entered a bullock cart (sakata).
Kamsa advised him to enter Vraja in a hidden way, because Putana had been destroyed by going
there in a gross form.

"When Krsna was thirty days old Yasoda saw that He was now able to turn over by Himself. In
celebration she wanted to hold a festival. So she started to make a big feast, and gave so much
charity to brahmanas. While she was working hard to prepare it, Krsna had been left underneath
the bullock cart which Sakatasura had entered. Sakatasura wanted to crush Krsna. He made the
cart become so heavy that the wheels were being driven into the earth, making the cart sink
closer and closer to baby Krsna. Krsna was happily kicking His legs when His lotus foot by
chance touched the cart. Immediately the cart violently collapsed, and all the wheels were
broken. The many pots of yogurt and utensils which were previously on the cart were scattered
here and there. When all of the adults came running, the young boys tried to explain to Nanda
Baba how Krsna had made the cart collapse "O B-b-baba, K-K-K-Krsna t-t-touched it with his
foot and it f-f-fell down." Of course, nobody took them seriously. When the Vrajabasis saw the
body of the demon they consulted the brahmanas about what to do. The brahmanas then
performed a ceremony in which the dung and urine of a black cow should be mixed into a paste,
and applied like tilaka on the twelve different places on Krsna's body with the cow's tail by the
mantra:

lalate kesavam dhyayen

narayanam athodare

vaksah-sthale madhavam tu

govindam kantha-kupake etc.

"In this way the brahmanas blessed Krsna and assured Yasodamaiya and Nanda Baba that Krsna
was now safe.

"After the death of Sataka, Kamsa asked Trnavarta to go and kill Krsna. Trnavarta vowed to
Kamsa that he would not return until he had accomplished this, and Kamsa embraced him. Krsna
was now 90 days old. After singing Him to sleep and giving Him some toys to play with, Yasoda
would go to churn yogurt, but Krsna would still cry for her. So Yogamaya had arranged for
another demon to come so that Yasoda's love for Krsna and the love of the inhabitants of Vraja
would become rejuvenated. There was also one other reason why Trnavarta came to Vraja.
Krsna had seen birds flying around, and he wanted to be able to fly like them. So Yogamaya
arranged for Trnavarta to come so that Krsna would be able to have a ride in the sky.

"Trnavarta came in the form of a whirlwind. The sky became black. No one could see anything
because of the dust storm. Many trees were uprooted and scattered. Because Trnavarta was
coming, Krsna had to some how separate Himself from Yasoda so that she would not come in
harm's way. Krsna became very heavy and she was forced to put him down. When Trnavarta
came Yasoda being unable to see Krsna because of the dust storm, began to cry piteously.
Trnavarta seized Krsna and took him high into the sky at a great speed. As any small child would
naturally do when picked up by someone, Krsna held tightly onto the neck of Trnavarta. After
flying around for some time, when Krsna's desire had been fulfilled then Trnavarta felt Krsna to
be heavier than a mountain. His eyes began to bulge out of their sockets. Krsna thought: 'Oh, I
wanted to play with you, but now your eyes have popped out like rasagullas! What can I do?'
"The demon Trnavarta represents those persons who use the Vedas to try to show that God and
the jiva are nirvisesa, nirakara, and nirguna. As Trnavarta caused everyone to become blind by
making a dust storm covering Vrndavana, the adherents of impersonalism try to make everyone
blind by covering the personal features of God and the jiva by misinterpreting the Vedic
scriptures.

"When Yasoda and Nanda found Krsna on top of this gigantic demon whose body had been
smashed to pieces on a stone, they were astonished. 'How miraculous it is that Krsna is
completely unharmed.' Gargacarya informed them that Krsna had been protected by the grace of
Bhagavan Sri Narayana. So they called that black cow again, and the brahmanas performed the
same ceremony for Krsna's protection and gave Him their blessings."

Sunday Morning, 6 December 1998

The next day, Srila Gurudeva took the 45 minute drive to the apartment of one of his disciples
Lalita-devi for a lunch program. Lalita-devi, who is a barrister, lives some way out of Kuala
Lumpur in a very elegant apartment. It is situated at the foot of a fenced off tropical forest with a
spectacular view of some nearby wooded hills.

When Srila Gurudeva arrived, his feet were bathed to the accompaniment of the guru-vandana
prayers and kirtana. As many devotees crowded around to get some of his foot bathing water
Srila Gurudeva asked humorously: "What are they doing?"

Srila Gurudeva then spoke very powerfully and movingly about the diametrically opposite
effects of being controlled by others in either the material or spiritual worlds.

"In this world to be controlled is very painful. We don't want it, we want to be free. But it is a
very wonderful thing that whether we want it or not, we are all under maya's control. We are
bound to die, and to take birth. We don't want old age, but it comes. While we are still young,
and we see our first white hair, 'Oh, take it out.' But when it has all become white, then what to
do? When we are young our teeth are so beautiful, but when we become old, they all fall out.
When young, our eyes are so beautiful and powerful, but after some time we'll have to take help
of glasses. But ultimately, even glasses are no good anymore. A boy does not want to be
controlled by his parents. When he's finished his studies, he moves out of their house. Ladies
don't want to marry because they know that if they do, they will be controlled by men. And men
also don't want to marry because they'll have to support their wife and children and also be
controlled by them. But there is a wonderful place where to be controlled is very good. Even
here we see that children want to be with their parents, especially their mother. They always
want to go with her, and will cry if they are not allowed. So there is a place where to be
controlled is blissful. There, even the Supreme Personality of Godhead wants to be controlled by
love and affection. All want love and affection, because it is the nature of the soul to feel
happiness. In this world there is no happiness. When taking some tasteful preparation, or by
taking some wine we may feel happiness, but it is not real happiness. Why? If you take wine all
the time, then you'll die very soon. And if you eat meat and rich food then it will also kill you.
There is a reaction for everything. If you are eating other animals then you will be eaten by them.
If you give pain to others, it will come back to you. But in Goloka it is so blissful that in this
world you cannot imagine it. It is always full of love and affection. Krsna is the supreme
personality of Godhead, but He wants to be defeated and controlled by Srimati Radharani. She is
the embodiment of love and affection. If a man is not on good terms with you, can you accept
something from him? No. but if he loves you, then even if he slaps you, then you won't mind. So
Krsna wants to be controlled by love and affection. He and Srimati Radharani were playing a
game, and the loser would have to pay something. What was that payment? Love and affection.
Krsna gets defeated by His friends in wrestling. In India, if one puts one's opponent's back on the
earth, then that person is defeated. While wrestling once, Sridama defeated Krsna, yet Krsna
denied it. Sridama then pointed out to Krsna that 'You are lying on the ground, on your back, and
I am on top of you, so how could you have won?' Krsna answered that because Sridama's nose
was pointing towards the earth, whereas His was facing the sky, it meant that He, Krsna had
won. So to be defeated is so blissful that you cannot imagine in this world. It begins with guru-
tattva. The principle of being controlled descends to this world as guru-tattva. A person takes
shelter of guru, and the guru controls them by his love and affection. But the disciple does not
resist, because it is so blissful. First one must learn from the guru. There is no love and affection
in this world, so everyone is suffering. But there, eternally, all have a beautiful shape, everyone
has love and affection for everyone else, and there are no cheaters or liars. This begins when the
disciple gives all to his guru, and the guru gives all his transcendental wealth to the disciple.
Don't fear to do this. I also used to be afraid of being controlled by others but when I met my
gurudeva and was controlled by him I was changed, totally. Now I also want to be controlled by
Rupa-manjari, and Lalita-sakhi."

Srila Gurudeva then turned to his disciple Lalita saying:

"That is why I gave this name to you. Lalita controls Krsna. Do you want to control Krsna?"

Lalita laughed but did not answer, so Srila Gurudeva went on.

"Sraddha is the first symptom of saranagati. To have faith in guru, Krsna, and devotees. From
here, bliss begins. Then nistha, ruci, asakti, bhava and then love. The desire to serve Krsna, this
is the seed of bhakti. Saranagati takes you to the door of bhakti. sravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam arcanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam To serve guru,
how blissful it is."

Turning to Lalita again he asked:

"Why did you want to take me here in your car? Why couldn't you send anyone else to bring
me?"

Lalita replied: "I wanted to be your driver!" at which we all laughed.

Srila Gurudeva continued:

"So if you like to render service personally here, then how much you will like it there. You will
be able to massage the feet of Krsna. If you touch, then your life will be successful. So anyone
who wants this should chant Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare
Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, and then automatically love and affection will come.

"What is the definition of 'song'? When the heart is full of joy and is overflowing, then that mood
comes out in the form of song. If there is suffering and sorrows then you will not sing at that
time. When Srimati Radharani feels ecstatic joy, then she sings 'Krsna, Krsna' and the gopis also
sing like this: 'mero radha-ramana giridhari, giridhari syama banawari...'"

All the devotees began to sing this bhajana, followed by a blissful kirtana. Then very delicious
prasada of the Divine Couple was served to the visiting devotees on the lawn behind the ground
floor apartment. All of the local devotees had been there to help by cooking and then serving
afterwards.