Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.16.11

Prabhupāda: So what is the arrangement?

[break] Maṅḍapa, it is being trampled by children and others, with the dust of their feet, and God will come there.

Devotee: [indistinct]

Prabhupāda: But who suggested this? It must be... This carpet is full of dust. Then how did you allow it?

Devotee: [indistinct]

Prabhupāda: Nonsense. [devotees chant japa] Hmm. Then? Go on.

[01:20]

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] [leads chanting of verse, etc.]

valaṅkṛtaṁ śyāma-turaṅga-yojitaṁ rathaṁ mṛgendra-dhvajam āśritaḥ purāt vṛto rathāśva-dvipa-patti-yuktayā sva-senayā digvijayāya nirgataḥ [SB 1.16.11]

[break] [06:22]

Translation: "Mahārāja Parīkṣit sat on a chariot drawn by black horses. His flag was marked with the sign of a lion. Being so decorated and surrounded by charioteers, cavalry, elephants and infantry soldiers, he left the capital to conquer in all directions."

Prabhupāda: So each king had different colored horses and differently marked flag on the top of the chariot. Just like Arjuna's chariot was drawn by white horses. Śveta hayair. Śveta means white. And his grandson, his horses are of blackish. Not... Śyāma is not black. Blackish. Swarthy. No, blackish. Turaṅga, jeweled. They have four horses in chariot, and there is a charioteer and flag marked with lion. This lion is not to be considered an ordinary lion. This lion is Mṛgendra or Narahari, Nṛsiṁhadeva. Arjuna's chariot was with flag marked with Vajrāṅga, Hanumānjī, Hanumānjī. Kṛṣṅa's chariot flag is marked with Garuḍa. So these are the distinctive marks. One will understand immediately, "This is such-and-such king's chariot." That mark is there.

So Arjuna kept upon him Vajrāṅgajī, Hanumān, because he considered Hanumān his guru. Hanumān was servant of Lord Rāmacandra. He fought the battlefield of Laṅkā between Rāma and Rāvaṅa. He could not use any weapon, but he was very strong. He knew how to throw stones. In this way, he fought in the battle and wonned over the Rāvaṅa. Rāvaṅa was killed by Lord Rāmacandra. So Vaiṣṅava does not mean he cannot do anything else except chanting. That is, of course, the supreme objective, śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ [SB 7.5.23],

[Prahlāda Mahārāja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṅu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words)—these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Kṛṣṅa through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.]

to hear about Viṣṅu and chant about Kṛṣṅa. That is very experienced life, experienced Vaiṣṅava. He can concentrate chanting. Just like Haridāsa Ṭhākura. Haridāsa Ṭhākura was chanting, but Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself, Nityānanda Prabhu, they were preaching.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, a very young age, twenty-four years only, He took sannyāsa. Why? Tyaktvā..., rāja-lakṣmī. What is that verse? Vande mahā-puruṣa te caraṅāravindam [SB 11.5.33].

[My dear Lord, You are the Mahā-puruṣa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and I worship Your lotus feet, which are the only eternal object of meditation. Those feet destroy the embarrassing conditions of material life and freely award the greatest desire of the soul, the attainment of pure love of Godhead. My dear Lord, Your lotus feet are the shelter of all holy places and of all saintly authorities in the line of devotional service and are honored by powerful demigods like Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. My Lord, You are so kind that You willingly protect all those who simply bow down to You with respect, and thus You mercifully relieve all the distress of Your servants. In conclusion, my Lord, Your lotus feet are actually the suitable boat for crossing over the ocean of birth and death, and therefore even Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva seek shelter at Your lotus feet.]

That is predicted. "The Lord will give up His Lakṣmī and will take sannyāsa and preach." These are stated in the Vedic literature. So this is Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. There are many evidences in the śāstras about Śrī Caitanya, the Lord, Supreme Lord's taking of sannyāsa and preaching. So we accept Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu not only by His uncommon actions, but also on the evidence of the śāstra. You can accept. Not that any rascal comes, that "I am incarnation of God." No, no. We cannot accept that. We must first of all see that He is mentioned in the śāstra, and He is actually acting uncommonly, which is not possible by any human being. These two things, features, must be... Just like Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu we accept, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There are many instances, He is playing like ordinary man, but at times showing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Just like in Jagannātha Purī, Ratha-yātrā festival, sometimes the ratha, chariot, will be stuck up, will not move. People draw it, but does not move. Even King Pratāparudra engaged some elephants, and the ratha is not moving. And Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would say, "All right, let Me try." So He would go back side of the car and with His head push it, and very easily it will go. This is extraordinary. Even the elephants, big, big elephants, could not draw. But by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's pushing by head, even there was no need of drawing it or catching the rope. Similarly, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when He was performing kīrtana, He used to form four parties, and each party will see that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is present there.

So there are many other things, which is not possible by ordinary human being. These things are to be test. Not very small, insignificant. Just like in India, there are so many so-called incarnation of God or God. They declare themselves God. But that God is for the fools and rascals, not for any intelligent man. Intelligent man will test it by the description of the śāstra. Sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya, tinete koriyā aikya. Anything we shall accept through sādhu, devotees. If devotees accept something, that we shall accept. And śāstra, not only devotee accepts, but it is confirmed in the śāstra, in the revealed scripture. Sādhu-śāstra. And guru. And guru also will say, "Yes, it is all right." So Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is accepted by sādhus like Advaita Ācārya, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa, Haridāsa Ṭhākura, in His own... They are sādhus, accepted. And śāstra also says. In Mahābhārata, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavata, in the Upaniṣads, Purāṅas, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's name and activities are mentioned. Dhyeyaṁ sadā paribhava-ghnam abhīṣṭa-dirham [SB 11.5.33].

This verse, it is mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, also in the Rāmāyaṅa. And,

kṛṣṅa-varṅaṁ tviṣākṛṣṅaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ [SB 11.5.32]

[In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Kṛṣṅa. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṅa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.]

It is mentioned in Bhāgavata, Eleventh Canto, that the Supreme Personality of Godhead in this age, Kali-yuga, will be kṛṣṅa-varṅam, always describing Kṛṣṅa. He is Kṛṣṅa, but kṛṣṅa-varṅaṁ tviṣā akṛṣṅam. Varṅa means also category, just like brāhmaṅa-varṅa, kṣatriya-varṅa, vaiśya-varṅa, śūdra-varṅa. In the horoscope, as we discussed the other day, jāta-karma, after the birth of the child, everything, characteristic, what will be his future, everything is mentioned in the horoscope. So in the horoscope it is stated brāhmaṅa-varṅa, kṣatriya-varṅa, śūdra-varṅa, like that, in which category this child belongs. Even if he is born in a non-brāhmaṅa family, but what will be his characteristic, that is stated. That is called brāhmaṅa-varṅa. Similarly, kṣatriya-varṅa, vaiśya-varṅa. So everything is predicted by astrological calculation.

So Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is predicted in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and other scriptures as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We do not accept Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu simply because He was a saintly person. There is controversy about Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu amongst the Vaiṣṅava community. Just like the Nimbārka-sampradāya, they say that "We accept Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as a great devotee," but we, Gauḍīya-sampradāya, we say that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, because it is stated in the śāstra, kṛṣṅa-varṅaṁ tviṣākṛṣṅam [SB 11.5.32]. He is Kṛṣṅa, in the category of Kṛṣṅa, kṛṣṅa-varṅaṁ... Just like brāhmaṅa-varṅa. Kṛṣṅa-varṅa, same category. But He is, by complexion, yellowish, not kṛṣṅa. Tviṣā akṛṣṅa. Tviṣā means "by the bodily skin." Just like we have different color..., different skin, different color, similarly, tviṣā, by His skin, He is not kṛṣṅa, He is not black. Tviṣā akṛṣṅa. Akṛṣṅa means "not black." So "not black" means you can accept any other color which is not black. So that there is proof in the śāstra that Lord, Kṛṣṅa, has also many colors. Śuklo raktas tathā pītaḥ. When, similarly, when Kṛṣṅa's horoscope was made by Gargamuni, he said that "This child formerly had śuklo raktas tathā pītaḥ. He was white color, He was yellow color and He was red color." So this pīta, yellow color, is also Kṛṣṅa's another color. Kṛṣṅa-varṅaṁ tviṣākṛṣṅam. So here, tviṣākṛṣṅa. Akṛṣṅa means not black. So "not black" means you must take the other three, namely white, red and pīta. So other two colors in the Satya-yuga and Dvāpara-yuga was manifested, red color and white color. Hayagrīva, white color. So the pīta..., kṛṣṅa color is also finished. Therefore pīta, yellowish color. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has very nicely...

So kṛṣṅa-varṅaṁ tviṣākṛṣṅaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam [SB 11.5.32].

And another feature is sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam. Astra-pārṣadam. Astra means weapon. So in the Kali-yuga, Kṛṣṅa does not come with weapon. In other yugas, the Lord comes with weapon. Just like Lord Rāmacandra, He came with bows and arrows to fight with Rāvaṅa. Similarly, Kṛṣṅa also appeared with His sudarśana-cakra. Because in those days, the demons were killed by weapons. Kṛṣṅa killed many demons, because Kṛṣṅa has got two kinds of activities, paritrāṅāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām [Bg 4.8]:

[In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.]

for sādhu, simply to deliver them, and for the demons, to kill them. But the result is the same. That is called Absolute. Whether Kṛṣṅa pats somebody and kills somebody, the result is the same. Therefore Kṛṣṅa is Absolute. It is not ordinary fortune to be killed by God. It is a great fortune.

Just like Rāvaṅa and Hiraṅyakaśipu. They were Kṛṣṅa's personal guards, Jaya-Vijaya. Some way or other, they became offender to the Kumāras. So they cursed him that "You are not well-behaved." They stopped him going in the house of Kṛṣṅa, Nārāyaṅa. So they became very angry. They cursed him that "You do not deserve this place. You must go to the material world. In the material world there is enviousness, jealousy. In the spiritual world you have become envious. So you are not fit. You must go down to the material world." So they became very much disturbed. Lord Nārāyaṅa personally came out to settle up. "So this you have been cursed; it cannot be withdrawn. You have to go. But after going in the material world, if you treat Me as your enemy, then in three births you will be liberated and you will come back. But if you treat Me as My friend, then it will take seven, seven births." So decided, "We shall become Your enemy, Sir." So therefore this Rāvaṅa, Hiraṅyakaśipu, they are Jaya-Vijaya, and they appeared to be very strong enemy. To become enemy of Kṛṣṅa, that is not also joke. He has to fight with Kṛṣṅa. It is not ordinary thing. No ordinary man can fight.

So Vaiṣṅava commentation is that when Kṛṣṅa wants to fight, the fighting is not possible in the spiritual world. And whom with fight? Everyone is engaged in His service. So therefore, to fight, He has to come here to execute His mission. Vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām, to kill the duṣkṛtām, miscreants. So when He personally fights... The duṣkṛtām can be finished simply by indication of Kṛṣṅa. The material energy is so powerful. Yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakraḥ. Even the sun, the most powerful, aśeṣa-tejāḥ, high temperature, aśeṣa-tejāḥ, unlimited temperature, that sun is also moving within it's orbit, yasyājñayā, under the order of Kṛṣṅa. Yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakro govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. So to kill a demon in this material world, the Lord does not require to come Himself. But He comes in special case, just like Kṛṣṅa came to kill Kaṁsa, to kill Rāvaṅa, to kill Hiraṅyakaśipu, like that. So that is also His pastime.

So His devotees are also like that. They have to execute the mission of Kṛṣṅa. Just like here, Parīkṣit Mahārāja, he is a great devotee of Kṛṣṅa. So he is going out with soldier to fight. Similarly, Dhruva Mahārāja also, he fought. Prahlāda Mahārāja fought. Because they were kings, so their duty is to subdue, to conquer over the demons. Not that because one is Kṛṣṅa devotee, he should not do any other thing. If required, a devotee can do anything, as ordered by Kṛṣṅa, as Kṛṣṅa ordered Arjuna to fight. Arjuna personally was not inclined to fight. He is Vaiṣṅava. He, rather, wanted to forgive: "Let them enjoy, Kṛṣṅa. I do not wish to fight with my cousin-brothers. I cannot tolerate their death, my grandfather. So better I will not fight. Let them enjoy the kingdom." So Kṛṣṅa said, "No, that cannot be. It is My plan that they should be killed. So you must fight." So therefore a devotee's duty is to carry out the order of Kṛṣṅa. Therefore he fought. Personally he did not want to fight. But he cannot disobey the order of Kṛṣṅa. That is not possible. Kariṣye vacanaṁ tava [Bg 18.73].

[Arjuna said, My dear Kṛṣṅa, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy, and I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions.]

When Kṛṣṅa inquired, "What is your decision?" he said, "Yes, even though I do not like to fight, still, because it is Your order, I must fight." Kariṣye vacanaṁ tava.

So devotee hasn't got any personal decision. That is the process of Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ [Bg 4.2].

[This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.]

We should decide by the order of Kṛṣṅa through the disciplic succession, via media, the spiritual master. That is required. A devotee cannot decide personally. If Kṛṣṅa desires... If somebody says that "We cannot see Kṛṣṅa personally," then you have to decide by Kṛṣṅa's representative. If your spiritual master, guru, says that "You do this," that is Kṛṣṅa's order. That is Kṛṣṅa's... Therefore it is said, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ. By satisfying the spiritual master, you satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is very natural. Just like when you go to your work, the immediate person who is in charge of your work, he must be satisfied. You don't jump up to the proprietor. The proprietor will be automatically satisfied. If something is done and the proprietor sees that the immediate office superintendent is satisfied, then he accepts, "Yes, that's all right." He hasn't got to inspect personally. If the superintendent of the office says that "Yes, this clerk or this man works nice," then proprietor accepts. Similarly, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ. We have to satisfy our spiritual master, sevayā.

tad viddhi praṅipātena paripraśnena sevayā upadekṣyanti tad jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ [Bg 4.34]

[Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.]

So Parīkṣit Mahārāja is going to conquer over the world. He was appointed by his grandfathers to become the emperor of the world. But he was not a coward. Not that because his grandfathers appointed, he will sit down in the..., comfortably in his capital and let things go on as it is; he doesn't care. No. Personally he wanted to prove himself that he is not a nominated president only. He is actually president. He is not nominated. "Because his grandfather nominated, therefore he has become. He may be a rascal number one." No. The nomination was there, but also on full strength. But if the people are given for nomination, as it is the practice now, by vote, then ordinary people, they are all rascals What is the value of their vote? Therefore another rascal is selected. Because one who is voting, he is a rascal. He does not know whom to give vote. He is not trained up. Simply by number, "Yes, I vote." And that vote you can purchase by bribing, by propaganda. So this kind of democracy is no value. It has no value. If somebody is voted by a number of asses, so what is the value of such vote? Those who elect, they must be very sober. So formerly a king was nominated not only by his father or grandfather, but confirmed by the society of learned brāhmaṅas and saintly person. So... And he must personally prove that he is actually king.

So here Parīkṣit Mahārāja, digvijayāya. Digvijaya. Vijaya means to own victory; conquering. Just like Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu argued with a digvijaya-paṅḍita. There were several kinds of digvijaya. A learned scholar also would travel all over the world and challenge the other scholars about philosophical discussion, literary credit, so many other fields of activities. So one digvijaya-paṅḍita came from Kashmir. He got victory all over India and then came to Navadvīpa, Nadia. Because Nadia, still there are many, many learned scholars, and in those days it was simply full of learned scholars. Some of the Indian cities were famous for learned scholars, like Navadvīpa, Nadia, Vārāṅasī, and there were several places, in Darbhanga, in the southern India also, there is a place. So there were several places where different schools, Māyāvādīs... Chiefly there are two schools of transcendental subject matter, namely the Māyāvādī school and the Vaiṣṅavas. So Māyāvādīs were there in Vārāṅasī, mostly. And Vaiṣṅavas also they have their place, especially in Navadvīpa, Vṛndāvana, like that. So one digvijaya-paṅḍita, Keśava Kāśmīrī, he also came to Navadvīpa. He got victory in all other cities, but when he came to Navadvīpa, he became defeated, because Caitanya Mahāprabhu was there.

At that time Caitanya Mahāprabhu was only sixteen years old. So the learned scholars there first of all decided that "Let now Nimāi Paṅḍita..." Caitanya Mahāprabhu's student life was known as Nimāi Paṅḍita. His mother gave a very beloved name, Nimāi, because He took His birth underneath a tree, nim tree. So His name was Nimāi Paṅḍita. As a student He was known as Nimāi Paṅḍita. So the scholars there first of all decided that "Let this Keśava Kāśmīrī talk with Nimāi Paṅḍita. So if Nimāi Paṅḍita fails to conquer over him, then we should challenge that 'He is a boy. Now let us come. You come to us.' " But even the boy, Nimāi Paṅḍita, He defeated that Keśava Kāśmīrī. That is mentioned in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, how He was digvijaya, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This Keśava Kāśmīrī was a very learned scholar, and he was requested by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu that "You are sitting on the bank of the Ganges. You can compose some prayers for the Mother Ganges." So he was learned scholar. Immediately he composed one hundred ślokas. So out of that one hundred ślokas, He found some fault in the sixty-fourth verse. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that he was such a learned scholar, but "We are simply student, grammarian. We cannot understand your poetic and literary magnitude of knowledge. So will you kindly explain the sixty-fourth verse, which We cannot understand very nicely."

So immediately he was astonished. He thought that "I have composed these hundred ślokas like wind, immediately. And He catch up..., He catches up, with sixty-four, one particular śloka. What kind of boy this is?" Then in that śloka, there were so many literary fault. Literary fault. Formerly, amongst the learned scholar, any nonsense you write will not be accepted as poetry. It must be according to the rules and regulation of literary perfection. So there were some literary imperfection, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu pointed out, and he was also learned scholar. He admitted that "He is a wonderful boy." So therefore it is said that "You make your enemy a learned man, but don't make your friend a fool and rascal." Because an enemy, even though he is enemy, if he is learned, he will not make injustice. That he cannot. Any learned scholar cannot make any injustice. So he admitted his defeat, because he is learned scholar. That is scholarship. Not that... Just like Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya. He argued with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as a scholar. But when he became defeated, he accepted His discipleship. This was the method, that two persons may argue, but one who is defeated, he must become his disciple. Not that simply waste time arguing and no conclusion. Formerly this was the system, to come to a conclusion. If two parties are arguing on a subject matter, the one party will be defeated, he must become his disciple, under control.

So here the same digvijaya. Digvijaya, for learned scholar, by arguing on śāstra, that is another kind of digvijaya. And digvijaya for kṣatriya, by subduing others who do not accept the authority. So here Parīkṣit Mahārāja went for digvijaya just to challenge all over the world, "Now I have been selected by my grandfather as the emperor of the world. If you do not accept my authority, then here is fight. Come on. Here is fight. Let us fight." So if by fight he becomes victorious... Just like in modern sporting also, there are rival parties, and ultimately, the party which defeats all other sportsmen, they get some reward, seal, or some cups. Similarly, this is also another type of digvijaya. Parīkṣit Mahārāja went out of home, not king simply drinking and enjoying the dancing of the young girls just like the Muhammadan kings when they deteriorated. Still there are so many fools. No. King's duty is to subdue the miscreants who will create disturbance. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja was such a nice, what is called, hero, that he got out of his home. Sva-senayā digvijayāya nirgataḥ. Nirgataḥ means went out of home, not simply enjoying comfortably at home. Similarly, for a preacher also, that is digvijaya. Go from country and country, from village to village, town to town, and make digvijaya: "Here is our philosophy. There is God. We can prove there is God. Who are you, you deny God? Come on." That is digvijaya.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya. Haribol. All glories... [break] [end]