Srimad Bhagavatam 11-06-09- Mercy of devotees is our only qualification-17 Dec’17

By Radhanath Swami

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

suddhir nrnam na tu tathedya durasayanam

vidya-srutadhyayana-dana-tapah-kriyabhih

sattvatmanam rsabha te yasasi pravrddha-

sac-chraddhaya sravana-sambhrtaya yatha syat

suddhih — purification; nrinam — of persons; na — is not; tu — but; tatha — in such a way; idya — O
worshipable one; durasayanam — of those whose consciousness is contaminated; vidya — by ordinary
worship; sruta — hearing and obeying the injunctions of the Vedas; adhyayana — study of various
sastras; dana — charity; tapah — austere penances; kriyabhih — and ritual activities; sattva-atmanam —
of those who are situated in pure goodness; rishabha — O greatest of all; te — Your; yasasi — in the
glories; pravriddha — fully matured; sat — transcendental; sraddhaya — by faith; sravana-sambhritaya
— which is reinforced by the process of hearing; yatha — as; syat — there is.

O greatest of all, those whose consciousness is polluted by illusion cannot purify themselves merely by
ordinary worship, study of the Vedas, charity, austerity and ritual activities. Our Lord, those pure souls
who have developed a powerful transcendental faith in Your glories achieve a purified state of existence
that can never be attained by those lacking such faith.

Purport:

Even if a pure devotee is lacking the above qualifications, such as Vedic study and austerity, if he has
unflinching faith in Lord Krishna the Lord will save him because of his devotion. On the other hand, if
one becomes falsely proud of one’s material qualifications, including ordinary piety, but does not devote
himself to hearing and chanting the glories of Krishna, the result will ultimately be nil. The
transcendental spirit soul cannot be purified by any amount of material piety, charity or scholarship.
Only the transcendental Supreme Lord can purify the transcendental living entity by bestowing His
mercy within the heart. The demigods were astonished at their good fortune. Even by hearing about
Krishna, one achieves all perfection, but they had entered the Lord’s own city and were seeing Him
standing before them.

Oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā

cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai Srī-Gurave namaḥ

Srī-Caitanya-mano-‘bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale

Svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam

Vande ‘ham Sri-Guroh Sri-yuta-pada-kamalam Sri-Gurun Vaisnavams’ ca

Sri-Rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-Raghunathanvitam tam sa Jivam

sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam Krsna-Caitanya-Devam

Sri-Radha-Krsna-padan saha-gana-Lalita-Sri-Visakhanvitams’ ca

Hey Krishna Karuna Sindhu dina bandhu Jagat Pathe, Gopesha Gopikakanta Radha Kanta namostute,
Tapta Kanchan Gaurangi Radhe Vrindavaneshwari, Vrishabhanu Sute Devi Prana mami Hari Priye

Vancha-kalpatarubhyash cha kripa-sindhubhya eva cha patitanam pavanebhyo vaishnavebhyo namo

namaha

Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu Nityananda Sri Adwaita Gadadhara Srivasadi Gaur Bhakta vrinda

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

I offer my sincere gratitude for each and every one of you who have chosen to spend your Sunday
morning at Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Mandir. We, in the association, so many sincere devotees to hear the
words of Srimad Bhagavatam. Today we are reading from the Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 11, Chapter 6
text number 9. In this place in Srimad Bhagavatam we find, Lord Sri Krishna,

Krishnas tu Bhagawan Swayam,

who is the source of all incarnations of Godhead,

janmady asya yatah

aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate

, who is the source, the creator, the maintainer, the ultimate destroyer of the entire cosmic creation.

Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese ‘rjuna tisthati

, who is personally seated in the heart of every living entity.

Suhrd sarva bhutanam

, who is forever unconditionally the most intimate benefactor and friend for all beings. These are eternal
truths, nothing can change that. Whether one is Ravana, Hiranyakashipu, or anyone else, still Krishna
remains. He may be very displeased with us; He may arrange some purification or even punishment for
our purification. But Krishna’s motive in every situation is He is the intimate loving well wisher and
friend of all living beings.

Samo ‘ham sarva-bhutesu,

He is equal to everyone,
ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham

but reciprocates according to our devotion, our surrender. In the first nine cantos of Srimad
Bhagavatam, we learn the philosophy of the highest truth and how to gradually approach that highest
truth.

Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje ahaituky apratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati,

this verse cannot be stressed enough.

Parikshit Maharaj with only seven days to live, less than seven days because after he had this, received
this curse from Shringi, the son of Samik Rishi, you know the news had to come to him, then he had to
leave his home, and he had to walk in the clothes of a beggar to Shutala, which is on the banks of the
Ganga, and then a little bit of time, had to come for all the Sages and Rishis from throughout the world
and the universe to assemble. And after everyone was there, discussing who is going to answer Parikshit
Maharaj’s questions- what is the prime duty for every human being? What is at the heart and essence of
all scriptures and all dharmas? What is the prime duty of a person that is about to die? The Srimad
Bhagavatam, Vyasdev tells us, some of the people who were there. Vyasdev was one of them so he was
an eye witness to the whole event. He knows past, present and future. He didn’t need to be but he was
there. The greatest Yogis, the greatest Pandits, the greatest Rishis, they all assembled.

Every twelve years at Prayag, there is Kumbh Mela, where so many leaders of spiritual organisations
come but this was the concentrated essence of that principle of great souls coming together because
there was such a need. The sixteen year old Shukadev arrived. Everyone without any argumentation,
without any hesitation from anyone, they wanted to hear Shukadev Goswami speak. Such great sages.
Some of them were hundreds and thousands of times his age, literally, people like Vishwamitra,
Vashishta, they were the Gurus of Ramachandra in previous Yugas. There were people there like
Kashyap who was, you know in Satya Yuga, father of Devatas. They didn’t have cell phones then so
please turn your cell phones off. Why they wanted to hear from a little boy like Shukadev? Because, a
qualification they all had, a qualification to actually hear the Srimad Bhagavatam, not just listen, not just
study, not just memorise, but hear, is that they had no envy. Krishna tells Arjuna this in Bhagavad Gita
that you are qualified to hear this message because you have no envy. You are My devotee and My
friend.

Shukadev Gswami describes so many great devotees of so many different Avatars, Narayan,
Padmanabha, describes the whole creation from Brahma to Dhruva to Prahlada, the Pandavas, Kunti,
Ambarisha, Prachetas, Arantideva, Hanuman. In the tenth canto the crescendo of the Srimad
Bhagavatam, he describes the appearance of Krishna, in that prison cell of Kamsa in Mathura, in Gokul.
He explains Krishna’s pastimes from the time he was just an infant child, how there was a great
ceremony celebration in Gokul when little infant Gopal just began to slant Himself. So He was just
making those attempts to get up from the laying position. They called Brahmans to chant mantras and
do Yagyas and they had kirtans and musicians. Nanda Maharaj and the other Gopas were giving in
charity; they were serving cows in special ways to invoke blessings upon the child. And when He was
hardly a day or so old, Putana, the great Rakshasi, she came, the cruellest intentions, such deception.
Her heart was passionate to drink Krishna’s blood and eat His flesh, to kill Him with poison and she
disguised herself as the most well wishing motherly friend and Krishna reciprocated. Somehow or other
the last moment, just before her death she felt some, she felt some motherly affection for Krishna and
Krishna drank her milk and drank the poison, and drank her life, because she approached Him as a
mother, Krishna gave Putana the liberation of being an eternal motherly nurse for Him in the spiritual
world.

Shukadev Goswami describes Krishna and Balaram learning to walk together being dragged while
holding on to the tails of the calves, through the dung and the urine of the cows and bulls mixed with
the dirt of Vrindavan and how Krishna enjoyed. The Absolute truth the Supreme Father of all living
beings who has revealed such

aishwarya

, such opulence, power, majesty in previous incarnations, He is taking so much joy being dragged by a
tiny little calf through the dung, the urine and the dirt of Vrindavan. That’s why even here in some of our
places in Radha Gopinath Temple, our walls are covered with cow dung and urine with the dirt of
Vrindavan mixed in it. And if we think that any marble or gold or jewels are more valuable than that,
that’s because we just don’t understand Krishna didn’t want to be dragged in that stuff. He enjoyed
being dragged through the dung and the urine and the dirt of Sri Vraj Bhumi. If we want to understand
what pleases Krishna we cannot do it by our own speculative processes. Krishna reveals Himself.

So these Leelas are so nicely described. Krishna’s ‘Sakhya ras’ pastimes with His friends, they play, they
joke, they fight while they are herding the calves and later the cows. Krishna’s loving pastimes in
‘Vatsalya Ras’ with Yashoda Mai, Nanda Maharaj. For one year during the Brahma Vimohana Leela, He
shared the relationship of a child for mothers and fathers with all the cows and bulls and all the elderly
Gopas and Gopis of Vrindavan. And during the Ras leela, especially in five chapters Shukadev Goswami
explains the ultimate loving exchanges between Krishna and the Gopis, the cowherd ladies of Vrindavan,
cowherd girls. In Vrindavan many asuras, demoniac people came to destroy Krishna, to destroy all of His
devotees, to pollute His abode and Krishna without the help of any weapon, He didn’t even call for His
Sudarshan Chakra once. He killed all of the demons in such playful ways. Yeah sometimes He just, His
little soft hand, He would just hit them, sometimes with His little lotus feet, which were softer than
freshly budded lotuses, He would dance on their heads; sometimes He would drink their milk.
Sometimes with His little arm He would squeeze them and choke them to death, Trnavarta. In this way,
Aghasura, He just danced in this giant serpent’s mouth; He saw all His friends were dead inside. He just
expanded His body and came back out as a little cowherd boy.

To Indra, Indra tried to destroy all of Vrindavan and everyone in Vrindavan, and Krishna is so playful, He
is the Paramatma in Indra’s heart, He could have just cut him off, and killed him in a second with His
sudarshan chakra, with any weapon, with His fingers He could have killed Indra but instead with His little
finger He lifted Govardhan Hill, seven days, seven nights. It killed Indra’s ego and Indra surrendered to
Him. Brahma surrendered Him. By His own will, Akrura His uncle brought Him to Mathura, and there
with His little fist He killed, with Balaram, Chanura Mushtika, He killed Kamsa, killed all Kamsa’s soldiers.
Later He moved to Dwarka. As we discussed yesterday He married 16,108 queens, some people ask, if
Krishna is teaching us by His example, why He? Because Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
I haven’t yet to meet one man who could satisfy fully one wife. And one wife who could fully satisfy one
husband. But every one of the queens fully satisfied Krishna and Krishna fully satisfied each one of them,
simultaneously. They didn’t have to wait in a queue.

Krishna expanded Himself in all the forms and like the Gopis in Vrindavan during Ras Leela, when they
were with Krishna in their palace; they weren’t thinking Krishna is in every other palace. They were
thinking Krishna is just here with me, His full attention, His full affection is with me. And as spoken
yesterday, these princesses, they were in the most desperate condition we can imagine, they were
taken as prisoners, hostages, their lives were hopeless, they turned to Krishna in complete helplessness.
There is no one else in the entire creation of Brahma that can help us. We have given our hearts our
lives to You. To the rest of the world, we are just waste. Krishna is Deena-bandhu the friend of those in
the most distress, when those people come to Him for shelter. And He took these girls who were really
from a Kshatriya perspective in the lowest condition and He put them for the rest of history to come in
the highest position, of being His queens. Of course they had descended, they were all expansions of
Lakshmi Devi, of Sri Radha, of Rukmini, from the spiritual world of Sri Dwarka, but still there’s a lesson
He gave us this, whatever our condition, if we take shelter of Krishna, He can put us in the highest place
of His eternal loving servant.

So where we are reading today, Krishna has been performing His leela for one hundred and twenty five
years in this world. The tenth canto begins with Bhumi, Mother Earth, taking the form of a cow, the
most helpless creature, not creature, the most helpless person, who is completely dependent on
compassion of the human beings. She was not, she was not being respected, she was being exploited,
she was being abused. All the gifts she was giving on behalf of Krishna to the world were being
manipulated and exploited by people with greed, with envy with limitless thirst for power. Brahma
brought Bhumi Devi along with Shiva and all the principal Demigods, the Devatas to the shore of the
ocean of milk because neither Brahma or Shiva or any of the Demigods or any of the Rishis, or any of the
sages or any of the kings could do anything about this. They approached Vishnu, prayed through the
Purusha Shukta prayers and Brahma got the message to share with all the others that He is coming and
they should come also, take their birth in the Yadu and Vrshni and other such dynasties.

Paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge,

in Krishna’s Leela, in Kurukshetra, just before the great war of the Mahabharata, Krishna spoke the
Bhagavad Gita and He revealed this truth. He descends to this world again and again to res-establish the
principles of religion, to annihilate those who are exploiting, manipulating in a demoniac way and to give
protection, encouragement to His devotees and to the pious and ultimately He appears to reveal such
beautiful pastimes that people throughout history could attain the ultimate perfection of Prema Bhakti,
ecstatic love, simply by hearing about them and following in the footsteps of those who follow them.

So Krishna has done everything He came to do but there was one problem. He came to relieve the
burden of the earth but now if He leaves, the Yadu dynasty was so powerful, more powerful than all the
Demigods, they were His associates, they were His family, they were so undefeatable and in separation
if He was ready to leave the world, they would be in so much separation, they could go mad. Somehow
or other, He had to remove the Yadu dynasty and He does so in such instructive wonderful ways that
only He could do to teach the whole world, the highest truths but if we read about these pastimes from
the scriptures, we cannot really understand. We can even become bewildered. Therefore, Krishna has
given us the instruction,

evam parampara praptam, tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum
evābhigacchet

, unless we hear from Gurus, who have received and who are representing the true Paramparas or
devotional lineages, we cannot get the proper understanding, because these proper understandings do
not come by our intellectual prowess. They come by Grace, by the Lord’s mercy and Krishna explains to
whom and why He gives that mercy.

So the Demigods, they are all now assembled in Dwarka having the wonderful Darshan of Lord Sri
Krishna, offering prayers, essentially telling Krishna that everything that we prayed for, You have
fulfilled. But before the Demigods came, Krishna arranged, great instructive way, to remove the Yadu
dynasty from this world, because there was no power in the universe that could overcome them. The
only people that could overcome the Yadu dynasty was the Yadu dynasty itself. So He turned them
against each other, not for philosophical reasons. There was no reason for them to fight. But somehow
or other they drank some stuff and they became bewildered and they offended great Vaishnavas, like
Narada Muni. Somehow or other the Yadu dynasty tried to play a trick and Narada and the other great
saints, they understood Krishna’s will. It wasn’t that they were just angry.

When Narada Muni cursed Nalakuvera, Manigriva, it seemed like a very angry curse, for the sons of
Kuvera, Demigods, so beautiful, so strong, so wealthy, so full of knowledge, to take birth as trees, for
thousands of celestial years to just stand there. Seems like a serious curse, but they got to see Krishna,
they got purified over those thousands of years. They definitely lost their false egos and when they saw
Krishna performing His little leelas in Gokul, their hearts were enchanted, they fell in love with Him.
They understood what true wealth is, the mercy of Krishna. You see, we cannot get love for Krishna,
without the mercy of Krishna. So the mercy of Krishna which comes through the mercy of Krishna’s
devotees, is the highest, most precious of all wealth, it’s the only real wealth.

And similarly, Narada cursed, all the members of the Yadu dynasty. You are as….they dressed Samba up
as a young girl and they, just like in our drama, they put all sorts of, our drama festival, they dress up
people and they have all sorts of special effects, well they made him look like he was pregnant and just
about to have a baby. Will it be a boy or a girl? Whatever they said, it was going to be neither one, so
they were trying to trick them. They were thinking they were so intelligent they could trick the great
sages. They were told, “Ahh you want to know what Samba’s child will be? Will be the cause of the
destruction of the entire Yadu dynasty” and suddenly they lifted up Samba’s saree or whatever he was
wearing and there was this lump of iron, what to do with it? They ground it but then one little piece was
left, they threw it all in the ocean. So this had already happened and now the Demigods understood,
Krishna has made all the arrangements for His departure and they all assembled to extend their prayers,
their gratitude and knowing Krishna’s nature, He came as the servant of the Devatas to this world and
they knew Krishna’s heart that He would leave the world as the servant of the Devatas. So they actually
told Him, with all humility, if it is Your wish, please go back to Godhead. He is Godhead. But now You
could leave this world.

In this particular prayer, the Demigods with their experience, their personal experience, Brahma, Shiva,
as well as their observation of the whole universe, the only way that anyone could ever, receive the real
perfection of life, love for Krishna, one must get the mercy of Krishna, through our faith, through our
faith in Krishna’s mercy, through our faith that if we please Krishna, Krishna will give us everything,

samsiddhir Hari toshanam, ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭha varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ svanuṣṭhitasya

dharmasya, samsiddhir Hari toshanam

, success of all of our efforts, our life, whatever role we may be playing, is that the sincere intent of our
efforts, of our wishes to please Krishna.

Shushrusoh shraddhanasya Vasudeva katha ruchih, San mahatsevaya viprah punyatirtha nesevana

śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

, just by hearing Srimad Bhagavatam, with faith, Krishna within the heart is so pleased that He removes
all the obstacles to pure devotion. But to get that faith, to get that taste,

Shushrusoh shraddhanasya Vasudeva katha ruchih, San mahatsevaya viprah punyatirtha nesevana,

only possible when we hear from and render service to great souls.

The Demigods in their beautiful prayer are emphasizing this principle, that however people know, even
if they memorise all the scriptures and can teach them to others in a spell binding way, however many
austerities may perform, however much piety or charity one may give, it’s not possible to get love for
Krishna by any of these means. It’s only by having faith in Krishna. Such faith that we are eager to hear
about Him, eager to chant His glories, eager to please Him through our service.

Raga-dvesa-vimuktais tu visayan indriyais caran atma-vasyair vidheyatma prasadam adhigacchati

, Krishna tells in Gita, by following all these rules and regulations of freedom, one can get the mercy of
the Lord, Prasadam and through that mercy only can we transcend lust, anger, envy, greed, illusion.
Only by such mercy can love for Krishna, Prema, awaken in our heart. It’s a sublime concept,

nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya, prema pumartho mahan

. Prema is within the heart of every being. It’s who we are. It’s what we are, it’s how we are. But we
can’t find it unless it’s awakened and there is nothing we can do to awaken it. Even we gain all the eight
mystic siddhis of being supernatural yogis or any other means, it doesn’t awaken.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told Sanatan Goswami, that, love for Krishna is very rare because one who
loves Krishna, Krishna becomes subordinate to that love. He becomes indebted forever to one who has
that love and who serves in that love. But it can be easily achieved by one who is sincere, serious and
has no ulterior motives and that sincerity is in how we,

adosha tatata sadhu sango ta bhajan kriya

, in this verse by Sri Rupa Goswami, in the beginning there’s just a little faith, that faith brings us to the
capacity where we can appreciate the association of devotees. When we hear in the association of
devotees, we render little service, we appreciate, then Krishna, He nourishes that faith for us and then
we have enough faith for Bhajan Kriya, enough faith to actually practice the principles of devotional
service. Shravan, Kirtan, Smaran, Vandan, Padsevan, Dasya re, Pujan sakhi jana, Atmanivedan, we have
faith that if I engage in these nine processes of devotional service, under the order, direction, inspiration
of our gurus, then I will achieve that perfection, Krishna will be pleased upon me.

Na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād
bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi

, what is perfection? This verse of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu makes it very clear. For a true devotee the
perfection of life is to please Krishna, to serve Krishna, Krishna if You want. Vritrasura was pleased to
become a demon and go to hell if that pleases Krishna. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu praised Him so much
as being such a great soul.

To serve Krishna, to please Krishna in whatever situation He puts us in. That’s the goal of a devotee’s
life. I don’t want wealth, I do not want beautiful opposite sex, I do not want to be famous as a scholar, I
do not even want liberation, the cessation of suffering. I just want to serve You and I want to please You.
Queen Kunti prayed,

vipadah santu tah sasvat tatra tatra jagad-guro bhavato darsanam yat syad apunar bhava-darsanam

, her and her children, the Pandavas were put through so many difficulties, she didn’t pray to Krishna
that we gave our lives to You, why did we have to suffer for so many years? She prayed; let those
calamities come again and again and again, for in the face of these calamities I remember You. Not just
passively, not just formally but from the core of heart, Krishna I am Yours, and when I remember You I
see You and when I see You, I transcend all the obstacles of birth and death. And the next verse Kunti
Devi prays,
janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrībhir edhamāna-madaḥ pumān naivārhaty abhidhātuṁ vai tvām akiñcana-gocaram

, what materialistic people strive with all their hearts and souls to achieve are the greatest obstacles to
get Krishna’s mercy- wealth, beauty, high birth, fame, great knowledge, these things make people
proud, give people that type of arrogance where they think they are better than others. They cannot
with feeling call out Your Holy Names.

In this spirit, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu staged a wonderful pastime in Sri Navadwip Dham. When He
returned from Gaya, He established the Sankirtan Movement. But He would only dance among His most
intimate associates. What is Mahaprabhu’s dance?

Radha bhava duti subalitam,

Lord Chaitanya is Krishna experiencing the love of Sri Radha. The Kirtans at the house of Srivasa are
considered non-different than the Ras Leela in Vrindavan, because Lord Chaitanya is Krishna and Radha
in one form dancing and so many of His most intimate personal associates from Vrindavan are there.
The ecstasies that they were revealing could not be understood properly by common people so Lord
Chaitanya only performed His Kirtan in the association of these most intimate purified associates. He
was very strict about that.

Every day one brahmachari who is Brahman, he would come to Srivas, pleading, please allow me just
one time, just for a moment let me come in your house to see Sri Gaur Sundar dance. Srivas would say
it’s beyond my power, Lord Chaitanya, He would not even allow my mother in law to be there. He didn’t
say that, but that happened. I cannot allow anyone. Only those people Lord Chaitanya personally select
can come into these Kirtans and the Brahman he was very, he wasn’t arguing, he was begging, please
everyday he would come just one time and Srivas understood this Brahmachari was very austere. He
had a faultless life, he was completely pious. He was very austere. He would not eat any cooked food.
He only drank milk. According to Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, it was raw milk, because he
wouldn’t cook it. He was very austere and he was very learned in the scriptures.

So Srivas said you are so pious and you are so austere, I’ll, I’ll hide you, that’s the only way I can fulfil
your desire. I’ll just hide you and you can stay for just a very short time. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came
to Srivas’s house. He induced the devotees to begin the Kirtan. He was dancing, ecstatically dancing and
all the devotees were dancing and that brahmachari was just looking. But how can you trick the
omniscient Lord who is in the heart of the brahmachari, how can you trick the Lord? So Sri Gauranga, He
stopped the Kirtan. He said, “I am not feeling ecstatic love for Krishna, why is this?” And the Kirtan
would begin again, He’d stop it, “there is no love for Krishna awakening in My heart. Is there someone in
this room that is not supposed to be here?” and He looked at Srivas. You cannot tell a lie to the Absolute
Truth. The Absolute truth could tell lie but that lie is the Absolute Truth. So Srivas said, “There are no
atheists here. There are no people trying to enjoy sense gratification here but there is one brahmachari
who is a Brahman, he only drinks milk, he is very austere, he is very pious, he really wanted to see Your
dancing.”
Lord Chaitanya, out of His mercy to all of us, what to speak of that brahmachari, He became angry, very
angry, He raised both of His hands with his index fingers pointed up. He said, “Get him out of here, he
has no right, he has no qualification to be here to see My dancing. It is not by drinking milk that one
could see Me, it is not by austerities, it is not by cultivation of knowledge, it is not by perfecting of the
yogic processes, it is only by pleasing Me through devotion that one could see Me. Get him out before I
destroy him and destroy the whole world.” Now I am speaking but Lord Chaitanya was like thunder. He
was angry, because He really wanted to make an impression. So the brahmachari who was hiding behind
something, he stood up and everyone could see him and he, very humble, he walked out. As he was
walking out, in his heart he was grateful, for a moment I got to see the Lord dance but the Lord is so
merciful, so kind He punished me because I am offensive, I am disqualified. Usually austere
brahmacharis don’t like to be chastised like this but he liked it even though he was totally humiliated in
front of everybody. He understood the Lord’s mercy is always perfect; it’s always for our well being.

So he walked out, chastised and grateful, he was humbled. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in His
chastisement He said, “What was the qualification of Gajendra? What was the qualification of Hanuman
and Sugriva? What was the qualification of the Gopis to see the Supreme Lord?” Sri Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu upon seeing the gratitude within the heart of this brahmachari, He called him back. Lord
Chaitanya placed His lotus feet on top of the brahmachari’s head and gave him ecstatic love for Krishna.
He was totally unqualified until that point. Lord Chaitanya made Him qualified and why did Lord
Chaitanya make him qualified? Even though he had no qualifications, somehow he was dear to Srivas, a
devotee. By pleasing a devotee Lord Chaitanya ultimately gave him the chance. Lord Chaitanya told him,
after giving him Prema Bhakti, “It is not by your austerities or your knowledge or your high birth that
you can love Me. It is only by Bhakti, devotional service.” Then Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, ecstatic love
awakened in His heart, all the devotees chanted and not only was the brahmachari seeing Lord
Chaitanya dance in ecstasy, he was part of the Kirtan.

So let us end class by briefly analysing this principle of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. What is the
qualification? Queen Kunti said it’s not by beauty, Kubja was really ugly. She was a hunchback. Yet she
was given ecstatic love because of her eagerness to serve the Lord with faith. Kubja is quite incredible.
What was her faith? She was a personal associate of Kamsa, in the sense that she used to make that
sandalwood paste and provide it to Kamsa. Now the garland maker, he also used to make garlands for
Kamsa, when Krishna walked in he understood this is the enemy of Kamsa. Kamsa is going to kill me if I
do something for Him. But Kubja, unhesitatingly went right against her master Kamsa and gave the
Chandan to Krishna. She had no beauty, she had no qualification, she wasn’t a Yogi but she had an
eagerness to serve Krishna with so much faith. Krishna lifted her up, and made her beautiful, not just
physically, but her heart, He gave her Prema Bhakti. As far as high birth, Prahlada was born in a family of
demons, Asuras. He is forever famous as the son of Hiranyakashipu, the nephew of Hiranyaksha and his
grandson was Bali Maharaj. Gajendra was born in a family of elephants. Krishna tells Uddhava that there
is no way to approach me except through loving devotion, through Bhakti, through faith in this process
of Bhakti.
Gajendra was an elephant, he had no knowledge. Elephants don’t study the Vedas. He definitely was not
austere. He was enjoying all kinds of you know, elephants, female elephants and he had so many
children and he was bringing them to nice heavenly places to bathe and smell the lotus flowers. What
was Gajendra’s qualification? Jatayu, he was old, he wasn’t beautiful, he had no wealth, he was born in a
family of vultures. But yet because of his service, because of his faith willing to even, willing to risk his
life to serve the servant of Sri Ram, Sita. Not only risk his life, give his life. And as he was dying, he was
not thinking, I did all this for Mother Sita, now I am laying here bleeding with my wings cut off, my legs
cut off. Why didn’t Ram save me? He didn’t think like that. Devotees never think like that when they are
properly situated in their consciousness.

Jatayu was just chanting the names of Ram with gratitude and love. I was given this blessing to give my
life for Ram’s beloved. Kaliya, Kaliya was a snake who tried to kill Krishna in so many ways. He tried to
squeeze Him to death, he tried to bite Him, he tried to submerge Him in poisonous waters and he killed
so many others. But when the Nagapatnis prayed for his, for the Lord to be merciful to him and when he
was humbled by the Lord ’s dancing upon his hoods, Kaliya took shelter, he surrendered and now he is
eternally glorified as a pure devotee and one of the intimate associates of Krishna. What was his
qualification? Devotion, faith awakened in his heart. Vidura was from a social position that disqualified
him from everything else. He was disqualified from any real government position. He should have been
king but he was disqualified because of his birth. But his qualification was his devotion, his willingness to
serve, his faith in the process of devotional service.

Dhruva was only five years old. Prahlada was only five years old. Usually the qualification is you see the
world a lot and you are getting older, even the most ancient great Rishis worship little five year old
Prahlada. Sudama, how much wealth did Sudama have? He was in total poverty but yet, because he
wanted to serve Krishna, he wanted to please Krishna, he had faith in hearing the glories of Krishna. He
was given the highest perfection. So this was Lord Chaitanya’s message to this brahmachari. Its only
devotion, there is no other qualification. Vibhishan was born in a demon family, he was the brother of
Ravana but he was given the highest perfection. And we also find great kings like Ambarish who had
wealth, who had fame, who had power, they were given devotion because they wanted to please the
Lord,

akinchana gochara

, nothing was theirs. Everything was Krishna’s property to be used in Krishna’s service.

Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and Prakashananda Saraswati, they were the most profound scholars in the
entire world. Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was a, he was an incarnation of Brihaspati, the Guru of the
Devatas. The greatest scholars, the greatest Sanyasis from all over the world, were coming to learn from
him. Yet none of that scholarship could give him the faith in devotional service. But Gopinath Acharya
prayed for him, his brother in law. Gopinath Acharya said, “all your knowledge, all your learning, all your
fame, being the Guru of the king and all the scholars, your heart is just like a dry rice cake therefore love
for Krishna cannot enter, therefore you cannot understand Krishna as He is.” We can only understand
Krishna by the mercy of Krishna. Prakashananda Saraswati had no appreciation for Sri Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu, no appreciation for the pastimes, the form or the name of the Lord in truth. Although he
had tens and thousands of Sanyasi disciples. But when they actually appreciated devotion, when
Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya developed faith, in the service of the Lord, when Prakashananda Saraswati
developed faith in pleasing the Lord, even these greatest of scholars who had no drop of love for Krishna
attained full love for Krishna.

So any material resources we have, any material abilities we have are niether qualifications or
disqualifications. Whether we have or don’t have. Shabari had nothing, but she had faith in her Guru, to
stay here in this little cave on the banks of the lake, Pampa sarovar and Ram will come and deliver you,
she had faith. This is the humility that Vaishnavas must have. Then in the association of devotees, by
pleasing Krishna, by serving Krishna,

prasadam adhigacchate

, we can attract Krishna’s mercy because there is no other way of attracting Krishna’s mercy.

Tat te ’nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇo, bhunjana evatma krtan vibhagam,

a devotee who patiently passes through even many years of difficulties, but has this faith that if I please
Krishna, with a grateful heart, then, then that’s the perfection of my life. That person alone, who goes
through the troubles of life with this faith in Krishna, with his humble disposition in Krishna, only, no one
else does Krishna give the mercy of Prema.

In this beautiful verse spoken by the Devatas in Srimad Bhagavatam, we are given, the proper attitude
with which we come together to hear about Krishna and chant His Holy Names, Hare Krishna Hare
Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare and Lord Chaitanya taught
us how to enter into the Ras of Vrindavan through this chanting. And of all the great eternal associates
who had descended from Goloka with Him, He proclaimed Haridas Thakura to be the Nama Acharya.
What was his qualification? How many troubles he was put through? How many times he was
misunderstood and accused of things? But he had faith, he had humility and he was grateful that Krishna
had come in this world in the Holy Name and it’s accessible to everyone. Thank you very much!

This faith is especially accessible to those who hear from great souls. Srila Prabhupada personally, he
infused his compassion, the compassion of all the previous Acharyas, the compassion of the Pancha
Tattva and Sri Sri Radha Gopinath in his books, and how many thousands, millions of lives have been
transformed by coming in connection with these sacred books. To share Srila Prabhuada and all of our
Parampara Acharya’s compassion with others we are very excited to participate in this year’s marathon
of book distribution. In giving, we do receive. So please let us, individually and collectively, it’s not the
rainy season now. But recently we, personally witnessed all of us, it doesn’t have to be the rainy season
to flood. Let us flood Mumbai, Maharashtra, India and the whole world, with Prasadam, with Krishna’s
mercy, thank you very much!