English
25 May 2024
How Krsna reciprocates with his devotees
Speaker: HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj
Hare Krsna. Instantaneously I am instructed to deliver today's Japa Talk. I was not prepared. How is the climate?Everyone is talking about the rise in the temperature. I was thinking about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's pastime. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu never took a leave from performing his pastimes.
tṛṇād api su-nīcena
taror iva sahiṣṇunā
amāninā māna-dena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31)
Translation: One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor yet is always prepared to give all respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.
Once Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was returning from his quarters. It was very hot and he was very thirsty. While passing by the market he saw a dairy shop. He stood by the shop, the shopkeeper understood that he wanted something to drink. So he offered a glass of buttermilk. But Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's focus was on the big pot of butter milk.
The shopkeeper understood that he wanted that pot, so he permitted him to go ahead. Then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took that pot and drank the complete pot of butter milk. And once finished he started to move ahead. The shopkeeper stopped him and asked for the payment.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu replied, I don't have any money, I can't make any payment. My followers are coming and there are some Grashtha’s also amongst them. You can ask them for the payment. The shopkeeper followed, as soon as followers passed by, he asked them for the payment.
But they also replied, we have nothing with us. We have been out for sankirtan for many days now. The shopkeeper then replied, tell your leader that I sponsored this pot of butter milk for him. Then he began to wonder, what would I tell my wife that how much did I earn today? Still he went on to close the shop and return back.
As soon as he went ahead to lift the empty pot of butter milk, he realized it was full of gems, gold coins, jewellery etc. Immediately he could realize this miracle was the mercy of that leader. So he immediately went to see Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and offered his obeisances unto his Lotus feet. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu lifted him and embraced him.
Earlier he had filled his empty pot with wealth. And now he filled his heart with Krsna prema. There is a song which says, when will that day be mine, when I'll get a taste for Harinaam. Also he expressed this in Shikshastakam.
nayanam galad-ashru-dharaya
vadanam gadgada-ruddhaya gira
pulakair nichitam vapuh kada
tava nama-grahane bhavishyati (Shikshastakam 6)
Translation: O my Lord, when will my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing constantly when I chant Your holy name? When will my voice choke up, and when will the hairs of my body stand on end at the recitation of Your name?
ashlishya va pada-ratam pinashtu mam
adarshanan marma-hatam karotu va
yatha tatha va vidadhatu lampato
mat-prana-nathas tu sa eva naparaha (Shikshastakam 8)
Translation: I know no one but Krishna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord, unconditionally.
Either you accept me or reject. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Krsna himself. So he gave his own prema to the shopkeeper. That shopkeeper was experiencing all the eight bodily transformations. Sometimes he would stand and dance and sometimes he would fall down. Now he wanted to go ahead with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. But Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had this policy.
On his way South India, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would embrace people, bless them with Krsna Prema and then they would want to travel with him.
kabe ha'be bolo se-dina āmār
(āmār) aparādha ghuci', śuddha nāme ruci,
kṛpā-bale ha'be hṛdoye sañcār (Kabe Ha’be Bolo 1)
Translation: When, O when, will that day be mine? When will you give me your blessings, erase all my offences and give my heart a taste [ruci] for chanting the Holy Name in purity?
There were other followers heading towards Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. They had noticed this shopkeeper running towards Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and now he was returning back. They could feel the difference in his consciousness and they rejoiced.
Hari Haribol Haribol! They are associates of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu so they had an idea of what has happened and who Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is.
ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ
kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam
indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ
mṛḍayanti yuge yuge (SB 1.3.28)
Translation: All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.
Raya Ramananda had his darshans also as Supreme personality of Godhead. Thus the shopkeeper returned back to his shop. He was rich now both with material as well as spiritual wealth. Also he had a similar pastime at Nandagram. When that lady fruit seller had kept her basket full of fruits in front of Nanda Bhavan.
Krsna had given just handful of grains to her. But in exchange the fruit seller gave Krsna the entire fruit basket gradually. Though she should have just given a single banana ideally. And when she was going back, she could see that the entire basket was full of gold coins and gems etc.
Similarly though Sudama Brahmin was not personally willing to do this. But his wife pushed him to go to Krsna saying you may be poor but your friend is Dwarkadhish. She asked him to go to Dwarka and ask him to help.
Sudama took some chipped rice for Krsna. He was reluctant to offer that to Krsna, but Krsna knew he should have definitely brought something for him. Krsna snatched that cloth bag with chipped rice from him forcefully and he honored it.
Similarly Shabri offered Jujube fruit to Lord Rama. So such pastimes continue to repeat. Rukmini devi stopped Krsna from finishing all the chipped rice, she said these rice are very expensive, you will find it very difficult to pay back.
Recently I was in Ujjain, there we discussed these pastimes of Sudama and Krsna. They spent the entire night discussing their different childhood memories.
mach-chittā mad-gata-prāṇā bodhayantaḥ parasparam
kathayantaśh cha māṁ nityaṁ tuṣhyanti cha ramanti cha (BG 10.9)
Translation: With their minds fixed on Me and their lives surrendered to Me, My devotees remain ever content in Me. They derive great satisfaction and bliss in enlightening one another about Me and in conversing about My glories.
In the morning Sudama returned back. While returning back, Sudama immediately remembered, my wife had asked me to ask for Alms. Then he thought, it's good that I didn’t ask anything from Krsna and neither did he give me anything in return.
I might have misused my accumulated wealth in unnecessary expenses and wasted my time. Sometimes, Krsna gives the fruits immediately, and sometimes he gives in subtle manner. To the Shopkeeper he gave immediately but to Sudama, he made a home delivery.
He gave him an extension of Dwarkapuri. Krsna can give and he can take away everything too. He is our father.
sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya
mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ
tāsāṁ brahma mahad yonir
ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā (BG 14.4)
Translation: It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kuntī, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.
There is a verse in Shrimad Bhagavatam.
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi
hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ
tato ’dhanaṁ tyajanty asya
svajanā duḥkha-duḥkhitam (SB 10.88.8)
Translation: The Personality of Godhead said: If I especially favor someone, I gradually deprive him of his wealth. Then the relatives and friends of such a poverty-stricken man abandon him. In this way he suffers one distress after another.
Krsna was not giving anything, instead he takes everything away. When Shrila Prabhupada was in Jhansi, Srila Prabhupada's first disciples Prabhat Mishra received a telegram. Even when Srila Prabhupada was running his pharmacy in Prayagraj, he lost everything.
Prabhakar Mishra thought Srila Prabhupada will be sad to hear this. But Srila Prabhupada was smiling instead. He said, Krsna is being merciful towards me.
Similarly even Radharani is saying in this verse of Sri Shikshstakam (ashlishya va pada-ratam pinashtu mam adarshanan marma-hatam karotu va yatha tatha va vidadhatu lampato mat-prana-nathas tu sa eva naparaha (Shikshastakam 8)).
Accept me or reject. Real wealth is Krsna Prema. Real success of life is to accumulate and make fixed deposits of this wealth. A devotee of the Lord remains satisfied with Krsna's wealth. They remain aloof from the material wealth of this world.
prema-dhana vinā vyartha daridra jīvana
‘dāsa’ kari’ vetana more deha prema-dhana (CC Antya 20.37)
Translation: Without love of Godhead, My life is useless. Therefore I pray that You accept Me as Your servant and give Me the salary of ecstatic love of God.
yadṛcchā-lābha-santuṣṭo
dvandvātīto vimatsaraḥ
samaḥ siddhāv asiddhau ca
kṛtvāpi na nibadhyate (BG 4.22)
Translation: He who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady in both success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions.
sukha-duḥkhe same kṛtvā
lābhālābhau jayājayau
tato yuddhāya yujyasva
naivaṁ pāpam avāpsyasi (BG 2.38)
Translation: Do thou fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat – and by so doing you shall never incur sin.
He remains satisfied with the Lord's name, form, pastimes and qualities. He has no other reason for satisfaction except the Lord. We also need to get over the effects of heat and cold. This material world is full of suffering and it's temporary.
bhajahū re mana śrī-nanda-nandana
abhaya-caraṇāravinda re
durlabha mānava-janama sat-sańge
taroho e bhava-sindhu re (Bhaja Hu Re Mana 1)
Translation: O mind just worship the lotus feet of the son of Nanda, which make one fearless. Having obtained this rare human birth, cross over this ocean of worldly existence through the association of saintly persons.
śīta ātapa bāta bariṣaṇa
e dina jāminī jāgi re
biphale sevinu kṛpaṇa durajana
capala sukha-laba lāgi' re (Bhaja Hu Re Mana 2)
Translation: Both in the day and at night I remain sleepless, suffering the pains of the heat and cold, the wind and the rain. For a fraction of flickering happiness I have uselessly served wicked and miserly men.
e dhana, yaubana, putra, parijana
ithe ki āche paratīti re
kamala-dala-jala, jīvana ṭalamala
bhajahū hari-pada nīti re (Bhaja Hu Re Mana 3)
Translation: What assurance of real happiness is there in all of one's wealth, youthfulness, sons, and family members? This life is tottering like a drop of water on a lotus petal; therefore you should always serve and worship the divine feet of Lord Hari.
śravaṇa, kīrtana, smaraṇa, vandana,
pāda-sevana, dāsya re
pūjana, sakhī-jana, ātma-nivedana
govinda-dāsa-abhilāṣa re (Bhaja Hu Re Mana 4)
Translation: It is the desire and great longing of Govinda Dasa to engage himself in the nine processes of bhakti, namely hearing the glories of Lord Hari and chanting those glories, constantly remembering Him and offering prayers to Him, serving the Lord's lotus feet, serving the Supreme Lord as a servant, worshiping Him with flowers and incense and so forth, serving Him as a friend, and completely offering the Lord one's very self.
We are dependent on the Lord.
arjuna uvāca
naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir labdhā
tvat-prasādān mayācyuta
sthito ’smi gata-sandehaḥ
kariṣye vacanaṁ tava (BG 18.73)
Translation: Arjuna said: My dear Kṛṣṇa, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions.
Gaur Premanande Hari Bol.
