SB 8.9.23
tasyām krtātipranayāh
pranayāpāya-kātarāh
bahu-mānena cābaddhā
nocuh kiñcana vipriyam
Translation
The demons had developed affection for Mohini murti and a kind of faith in Her, and they were afraid of disturbing their relationship. Therefore they showed respect and honor to Her words and did not say anything that might disturb their friendship with Her.
PURPORT by H.D.G.A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
The demons were so captivated by the tricks and friendly words of Mohini murti that although the demigods were served first, the demons were pacified merely by sweet words. The Lord said to the demons, “The demigods are very miserly and are excessively anxious to take the nectar first. So let them have it first. Since you are not like them, you can wait a little longer. You are all heroes and are so pleased with Me. It is better for you to wait until after the demigods drink.”
Radhanath Swami starts speaking here
We all know by our personal experience, the magnanimity of the power of maya. So how much is the inconceivable potency of He who is the controller of maya? Krsna says in Gita ‘mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram’ that this illusory energy is working under My direction. In fact everyone is under the influence of maya. No one can escape for even a second. In the purified condition, one is under the influence of yoga maya. And in the rebellious, impure condition, we are controlled by maha maya. Maya means the energy of God. Everything is working under the direction of the energy of the Lord ‘nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam eko bahunaam yo viddadhati kaman’. That there is one supreme eternal Personality. That is Narayan. And all other personalities who are infinitesimal, who are infinite in number; they are eternally subordinate to that one Supreme Personality.
Who is the object and subject of love?
The greatest illusion, the greatest disgrace is when we want to consider ourselves to be the center, to be the object of affection or love. When we want to be the controller, this is the source of all misery, frustration and disharmony within this whole creation. Because there is only one object and all others are subject. That one object is Krsna. ‘eko bahunaam yo vidhadhati kaman’. He is the only object of love; He is the only object of affection; He is the only object of worship and adoration. He is the only object of pleasure. He is the center of all that exists. He is the central pivot of all intimate relationships. We are all meant for His pleasure. We are all meant for His glorification. We are all meant for His worship. And all our problems in life stem from the seed contamination that we want to be the object. We want to be the object of love. We want to be the object of affection. We want to be the object of recognition or honour. We want to be the object of pleasure. But we never were, we are not, and we never will be. It is impossible. It is an utter impossibility. Our constitutional nature is eternally servant. ‘jivera swarup hoi, krsnera nitya das’. We are eternally Krsna’s servant.
Who is a servant?
What does servant mean? That we are simply subjective eternally. Subject means we are meant for his pleasure. We never expect anything for ourselves. As soon as you expect anything from yourself, you are taking the position of God. This is an envious position. It is a grossly contaminated position. It is shameful condition for the soul. When we expect something, that means we feel we deserve something. And to think that you deserve anything, is a transgression against the principle, the most sacred of all principles, that of humility. Therefore a sincere devotee, he feels he deserves nothing but suffering. And anything that good comes into his life is only by the causeless mercy of Guru and sadhu and Govinda; causeless mercy. Any opportunity for me to engage in devotional service; I do not deserve it. It is the causeless mercy of the sadhus. I deserve to suffer in hell. That is the mentality of a sincere devotee. And when you have that mentality, you can be peaceful. Otherwise you are constantly in anxiety because you think you deserve something, you think you deserve someone. And sometimes you get and sometimes you do not get. ‘Sankalpa vikalpa’, ‘na sochati na kankshati’. Simply hankering and lamenting, accepting and rejecting. This is the dilemma of one who thinks that I am the object; I am the center.
Therefore Krsna Consciousness is very simple. It is the solution to all problems. It is the only solution; to put Krsna in the center. To simply take yourself out of the center and replace with Krsna. Can you do that? Then all your problems in life are solved. But a neophyte devotee is constantly in battle. When we accept Krsna Consciousness, we put Krsna in the center. But we are still fighting, trying to keep our position in the center. Surrender in essence means to surrender to the fact that Krsna is the center, I am not. I never will be and I never was. That Krsna is the object of love. I am not and I never will be. Krsna is the supreme enjoyer. I never was and I never will be. I am His servant. I am the servant of His servant. That is the constitutional position of the subject. To serve the Supreme object of love, Govinda. That is surrender. Is it so difficult? Surrender is not some external form of giving money or giving some tapasya. The essence of surrender is to simply surrender the position that you have been artificially trying to keep that I am the enjoyer, I am the center, I am the object and let Krsna remain there alone, where He belongs. That is all.
But the unfortunate condition of the conditioned soul is he is trying to cling, he is trying to grasp on to an illusion that is not even real. We never were the enjoyer and yet we are thinking that I have to protect my position as the enjoyer. Simply admit it, accept it, surrender. That is the goal of the human form of life. That is the only purpose of this human form of life.
Examine all the anxieties and problems you have in life and you will find it is all because you want to be the center of the universe. Every single problem you have, it is only because you want to be the center of the universe. You want to be recognized, you want to be loved, you want to enjoy. Give it up. It is the only hope. Give it up.
This whole world, people are fighting, they are declaring war on one another. They are having great quarrel even amongst family members and friends, even God brothers and God sisters. Because they will not give up the illusory position that I am the center, I am the enjoyer, I am the one. So here we find that the creator of this wonderful illusory energy that is keeping us bound to this great, great illusion of false ego, ahankar, that divine source of all creation from whom all truths are emanating has incarnated in the beautiful form of a woman, of the name Mohini Murti. And the demons who are all very anxious to enjoy their senses, the Lord understands exactly how to keep everyone under the bondage of illusion. So therefore she came in such a form that as she looked at each and everyone of them with her beautiful eyes, each demon was thinking that she loves only me. That of everyone in this assembly she is only attracted to me. My qualities have captured her mind and she wants to enjoy with me. See the difference between yogamaya and mahamaya.
Transcendental lust and Material lust
During the rasa lila, the gopis of Vrndavan, they were dancing with Sri Krsna. But their only desire was not to enjoy Krsna, was to be enjoyed by Krsna. They did not have even the slightest trace of personal desire in their heart. Sometimes it is said that the gopis, they had transcendental lust. But the difference between transcendental lust and material degraded lust is, the gopis, their lust, their burning desire was to be enjoyed by Krsna. They didn’t have the slightest conception in their heart to enjoy Krsna. They simply wanted Krsna to enjoy them. They wanted to give Him pleasure. But in this material world, lust, we want to take that place of Krsna. We want to be the object of pleasure and enjoyment. So the gopis had this pure divine lila with Sri Krsna and as He was dancing with them, He was looking at each one of them in the eyes and each one was thinking that Krsna is only being enjoyed by me. I am sorry. He is only enjoying me, not enjoyed by me. He is only enjoying me. He is so kind, He is so causelessly merciful that of all the gopis here, me, who am the most fallen, the most nothing, He has come only to me, to enjoy my service, to enjoy my humble offerings. In this way by Krsna’s yogamaya potency, He was giving all the gopis the highest pleasure by thinking how much He is enjoying my loving service. That of everyone else here, He is only with me.
And similarly Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu during the rath yatra, there were seven parties of sankirtan. And Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu expanded himself into each and every one of the seven parties. And each one was thinking that Sri Gaura Sundar, how merciful He is. He has left all these other wonderful sankirtan parties just to dance with us. Because the love of God for His devotees is so intimate and so personal that He creates the intoxicated ecstasy that He is so causelessly merciful, He has agreed to only come to me, to accept my service.
Try to understand. This is a very difficult thing to comprehend because in the material world one would become very proud that I am such a wonderful devotee that Krsna has left everyone just for me. But in the transcendental world it is not like that. One is so utterly decorated with the jewel of humility that one is thinking great pride for Krsna, not for me. That I am nothing, that I am insignificant. My service is so useless but Sri Krsna is so kind that He has abandoned everyone to causelessly accept whatever little I have. How infinitely merciful is that Sri Krsna and how I am so proud that I am His servant.
And here He is doing the same thing to the demons in the form of Mohini Murti. But the difference is the way they approach Him. Because the gopis and the sankirtanias of Nabadwip, because they were approaching Sri Gauranga that I am your servant, He was giving them the idea that you only are serving me and I am only accepting your service with great pleasure. So Mohini murti with that same divine potency was giving the demons the conception that she only loves me, she is only looking at me, she is so attracted to me. But they all simply wanted to exploit her and enjoy her. They wanted to give nothing from her. A devotee wants to give. A demon wants to take. That is the difference. A demon will sacrifice some temporary pleasure because he wants to take something very, very big from God. A devotee is willing to sacrifice everything to be enjoyed by God, to give something to Krsna. to give something to Gurudev. That is the difference. So each demon is thinking that she loves me. And as she is giving the nectar to the demigods, the nectar that they struggled and strived, practically gave their lives to attain, how much we can imagine how dear that nectar was to them, right in front of their eyes, pouring this nectar in the mouths of the demigods, their enemies. They were afraid to disappoint Mohini murti. If they were to say anything, they would think ‘No, no, no. How could I say anything? She loves me so much. She loves me so much; I am the object of her love. If I stand up she may not love me so much anymore. If I say anything, she may not love me so much anymore.’ Therefore they were all utterly silent. In this way try to understand, Krsna knows how to keep everyone in illusion. Through the energy of maya, He works in a very thorough and very complete way. Whatever slight little weakness we have, maya knows exactly how to manipulate and exploit that weakness to steal your heart away from Krsna. Krsna is like the supreme nectar. Bhakti rasamrta sindhu, the Nectar of Devotion. That nectar of devotion, it is maya’s duty to always keep your heart away from it. And she is very expert. She will find whatever excuse to give you to give some other alternative for the time being to the Nectar of Devotion. Just like the demons, to keep them away from the nectar, how expertly she handled the situation, Mohini murti. There was no other way. They had already lifted mountains, crushed their limbs, dislocated all their limbs and were screaming in agony for long, long time in the process of churning the ocean. It was the hardest tapasya they ever performed in their lives but they were so lusty for this nectar and finally they got it.
You think it’s an easy thing, these monsterous rakshasha demons, to take this nectar away from them? Even the powerful demigods, they had no power to take it away. They could only stand and watch. But how expert is Krsna! He knew that there is, that why did they want this nectar, because they want to enjoy. But my glance will appear to them even more necterean than the nectar. So for her glance, they were willing to give up all the nectar. This is the power of the illusion of the opposite sex. ‘Pumsah striya mithuni-bhavam’. This whole material existence is keeping everyone bound to the illusion that I am the enjoyer of the opposite sex. This is the basic principle of the entire material creation. The desire to enjoy the opposite sex and it is said that this enjoyment creates a hard knot in the heart that is almost impossible to cut. And from this knot of material bondage due to this is sex desire, our attachments are constantly expanding and expanding and expanding to all the paraphernelias that is required for enjoyment. We become intensely attached to those things as well. So therefore Mohini murti was simply the ultimate personification of this principle standing right before the demons. They were willing to give up this one nectar, pot of nectar, for the higher nectar, of the pleasure of the beauty of Mohini Murti. So how are we to understand and learn from this?
Lessons from Mohini-murti pastime
Two things we should meditate on to bring a conclusion to this class.
One is understand the power of maya. She knows your weakness and she is on a subtle and on a gross and on every level she is working to steal your heart away from the nectar of Krsna. To keep yu captured, to keep you in the bondage of illusion. Therefore never trust your mind, never trust your senses, always remain faithful to the divine order of Sri Gurudev. That is our only protection against the illusion of maya. One who is faithful, obedient, servant of the order of Gurudev, such a person can never fall victim to the illusions of maya. But to the degree we take our life in our own hands, we accept the authority of our own mind and senses, to that very extent we are slave of the illusory energy. We are being exploited and manipulated, just as the demons were and our hearts will be taken away from the real nectar.
And the second thing we should meditate on is the principle ‘param drstva nivartate’. From the other point of view that if you attach yourself to the higher taste of the beauty and glory of Govinda, then naturally you lose all your desire for the lower so called nectar of this world. Krsna says in the Gita that unless one experiences the higher taste of the nectar of devotion, one cannot for long refrain from seeking out the nectar of material enjoyment. Therefore we must replace all our desires with desire for service to Krsna. We must constantly be seeking the nectar of devotion to the lotus feet of Sri Krsna. And as long as we are seeking that, then the so called pleasures of this world will no longer attract us, will no longer attract our mind or senses. So therefore we must struggle, we must strive to always remember Krsna. That remembrance of Sri Krsna will keep us immune from the influence of the forms of the nectar of this material world because He is the supreme nectar. And the transcendental means of always remembering Krsna as taught by Sriman Mahaprabhu is to always chant His Holy names.
How the name of Krsna manifests
Therefore Sri Rupa Goswami has prayed that I do not know, I cannot understand, I cannot conceive, I cannot express or explain how much nectar the two syllables Krsna have produced. The name of Krsna cannot be vibrated by the manipulation of the tongue; nothing material can produce transcendental sound. The name of Krsna is heard by the sadhus. It is springing from the core of their hearts. It is not simply coming from their tongues. It is springing from the core of their hearts and it is manifesting upon their tongue and it comes into our ears. And from our ears, it goes deeply into our heart. And the real chanting of the holy name is inspired chanting. Simply the mechanical chanting ‘Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare’, Krsna’s name is not fully manifest in that. You cannot produce Krsna by your tongue. Krsna is only gotten through the hearts of the sadhus, the pure devotees. They have implanted the Name within our heart. That’s where the Name actually is. And when we are sincere and when we are struggling with dedication in the service of Gurudev, in the service of the vaisnavas to chant the name, with that sincerity, when we chant, the Name actually springs from our heart, into our mind, onto our lips and then the name of God manifests.
Rupa Goswami explains that the two syllables Krsna, I cannot explain, I do not understand how much nectar they have produced. When the name of Krsna dances upon my tongue, it is so sweet that I desire thousands and thousands of tongues. One tongue is not enough to taste all the sweetness of Krsna’s name. And when that name enters into my ears, like a flow, like a flooding river, flowing with nectar into my ears, what can these two little holes, how much can enter through them? There is a torrential flood of nectar coming in the name of Krsna and I have only these little two holes to receive it. Therefore Rupa Goswami desires millions and millions and millions of ears. And when that flow of nectar through our ears, comes into our hearts, it paralyzes our mind, it paralyzes our senses. We no longer have any attraction for any of the poison which is an illusion of nectar in this material world. Narottam Das Thakur has prayed
“ samsara visanale, diva-nisi hiya jvale,
judaite na kainu upaya.”
That although I am so fortunate that I have taken this human form of life, I willingly drunk poison in the form of enjoying sense gratification. Sense gratification is like poison. It is poison. But we are thinking it is nectar. Therefore Rupa Goswami explains that when the nectar of the holy name enters into my heart, then it is revealed that all other forms of enjoyment are simply poison. Not only are not we attracted, not only are we not attached. Yamunacharya spits at the thought of sense enjoyment after tasting the sweetness of devotional service. So let us always seek the nectar of devotion.
Thank you very much. Hare Krsna. Is there any questions?
Question and Answer session
Question: Hare Krsna Maharaj. I would like to appreciate today’s discussion. It is mentioned that sense gratification, although everything is created by God why God created sense gratification? And God is residing in everyone’s heart. So God in our heart, no sense gratification, no sense gratification. So is it that this is creation of God?
Answer: “janmadya asya yatah” Everything is the creation of God. He is from whom everything emanates. “anadamayo bhysat”. He has created us in His image. Therefore the desire for pleasure is inherent within every living being. It is the nature of the soul. But in the pure state, the soul’s pleasure is in giving pleasure to Krsna. But in the conditioned state, because we are in his image, abhijyna swarat, we also have independence as he has independence. When we misuse our independence, when we no longer want to be enjoyed, we want to enjoy, then Krsna, that same yogamaya simply transforms herself for us in the form of mahamaya. Yogamaya is constantly making newer and sweeter arrangements for us to be enjoyed by God, by more and more wonderful varieties of service to Him. But that same yogamaya changes her form to mahamaya when we become envious of Krsna. And she is constantly creating newer and newer ways for us to enjoy our own senses. Why? Krsna is fulfilling everyone’s desire since time immemorial. But ultimately through the process of enjoying the senses and mahamaya, the conditioned souls becomes frustrated because the eternal can never be satisfied in this temporary existence. So ultimately maya is meant to rehabilitate us, bring us back to the point of throwing up our arms into the air and admitting, I am not the enjoyer, I am not the center, I am not the object. I am your eternal servant Krsna, I surrender. I am tired of this suffering. I am tired of this illusion. I am tired of the pains I am bringing on myself. I surrender. My only aspiration is to be the servant of the servant of the servant.
Question: There are times when one loves Krishna very much. But to follow the instructions… (not clear)
Answer: The price of Krsna Consciousness is sincerity. A sincere person does not consider difficult or easy. A sincere person considers whether it is right or wrong. When a mother is sleeping in the middle of night and the baby is crying, is it easy for her to get up and take care of the baby. Is it easy? Very difficult. But does she do it? Does she say “No, it is difficult. I will not do it. Let it cry. Let it die. It is too difficult for me to get up and take care of it. Let it die.” Every mother who has some sincerity of being a mother, even if its the most difficult thing in the world, she will get up and take care of the child, right? There is no consideration of easy or difficult. There is only one consideration, whether it is right or wrong. Right? Do you go to work everyday? Do you love your work everyday? Is there a day sometimes when you wake up and you don’t want to go to work? When people you have to deal with, you don’t even like to see. Your boss, the children that you have to deal with everyday. Sometimes it is the last thing in the world you want to do is face these people. Does that mean you do not go? Do you even consider whether you like it or don’t like it? Whether it is easy or difficult? You only consider one thing. It is my duty. I must do it. It is correct. The children who you are teaching in school, do you think they love to go to school? Most of them hate school. Most of them hate their teachers. Why do you think they face you everyday? You think they love you, they want to be chastised by you everyday? No. They hate it but they do it because it is right. They do not even consider whether it is right or wrong, whether it is easy or difficult. They have to do it because it is correct. It is truth for them. So in the most common matters of just survival in this material existence, we are constantly doing things we don’t like to do. We are constantly accepting difficult things because it is correct. So in the spiritual realm, we are not following Guru’s orders because we like it. We are not following Guru’s order because it is easy. We are following Guru’s orders because it is truth. And if it is truth, we must do it. And as long as you are thinking in terms of I like or I don’t like, this is easier this is not easy, that means we are not very sincere. Sincerity means is it correct or is it not? Is it the truth or is it not the truth? Is this my duty and responsibility as a human being to follow these instructions or is it not? If it is, I do it under any condition of my mind or senses. I do it. I must do it. Spiritual life is a responsibility. It is not a hobby. A hobby you do when you like, a responsibility you do it no matter what. Right? Do you pay your taxes? Do you like to pay your taxes? Why do you do it? Why don’t you tell the government, I do not like it, I am not going to pay it. It is difficult to pay taxes. Forget it. I am never going to pay again. Why do you not tell them like that? Why you tell your Guru that but you won’t tell the government that? Because it is not your hobby to pay taxes, it is your duty. Spiritual life is not a hobby. It is the sacred duty of the soul. The government does not give a damn whether you like it or not. They do not care whether it is difficult or not. It is your responsibility as a citizen of this country that you must pay. So it is our sacred duty to God to surrender to Him. And we surrender by following the order of Gurudev. It is the only way. There is no other process of surrender. Just like when you pay your taxes, its not that you go to V P Singh and say, “Here is my money.” You have to pay through the respectful agent that he has given. He gives you the bill and you have to give the money to him. Then it goes to the King’s treasury. We cannot approach Krsna directly. We cannot serve Him directly. Therefore His all-merciful manifestation in this world is through the Spiritual Master. And it is the duty of every human being to surrender to the order of Guru. And a sincere person who accepts it as his responsibility does not consider it as easy or difficult. Get this nonsense out of your mind. If it is right you do it, even if it means your life. Does that answer your question?
