Krsna Book Audio Dictation - Chapter 28
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Next, Twenty-eighth Chapter. Subject heading: "Releasing Nanda Mahārāja from the Clutches of Varuṇa."
The Govardhana-pūjā ceremony took place on the new moon day, and after this there was torrents of rain and hailstorm imposed by King Indra for seven days. So nine days of the waxing moon being passed, on the tenth day King Indra worshiped Lord Kṛṣṇa, and the whole business was satisfactory settled up. After this, on the eleventh day of full moon, that is Ekādaśī, Mahārāja Nanda observed fasti ng the whole day, and just early in the morning of the Dvādaśī, the next day after Ekādaśī, he went to take bath in the river Yamunā.
He entered deep into the water of the river, and immediately he was arrested by one of the servant of Varuṇadeva, and he brought Nanda Mahārāja before the demigod Varuṇa because Nanda Mahārāja was taking bath in the river in odd time. According to astronomical calculation, that time is considered as demoniac. The fact is that Nanda Mahārāja wanted to take bath in the river Yamunā early in the morning, before the sunrise. But somehow or other he was little earlier than the time and that time was not auspicious, and as such he was arrested by the servant of Varuṇa.
Nanda Mahārāja thus being taken away by the servant of Varuṇa, his companion cowherds men began to call for Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma very loudly. Immediately Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma could understand that Nanda Mahārāja was taken by the servant of Varuṇa. Thus They went to the place of Varuṇa because Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are pledged to give protection to Their men. The inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, the unalloyed devotees of the Lord, devotees having no other shelter than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, naturally they cried for help from the Supreme Personality of Godhead exactly like children, who do not know except the protection of their parents, cry for help whenever they are in danger.
Demigod Varuṇa immediately received Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma with great respect and began to say, "My dear Lords, actually just now this day, on account of Your presence, my body known as the demigod Varuṇa has become successful. Although I was the proprietor of all the treasures in the water, they are not the causes of my successful life. But this moment, as soon as I see You, it is completely successful because by seeing You I will have no more to accept a material body even though it is of a demigod. Therefore, my Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Brahma and the Supersoul of everything, let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You. You are the supreme transcendental personality, and there is no possibility of imposing the influence of material nature unto You.
"I am very, very sorry that my men, being foolish and without any knowledge what to do and what not to do, have mistakenly arrested Your father, Mahārāja Nanda. So I beg Your pardon on account of the offense of my servant. I think it was Your plan to show me Your mercy by Your personal presence here. My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, be merciful upon me, and here is Your father. You can take him back immediately."
In this way Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, took back His father and presented him before his friends with great jubilation. Nanda Mahārāja, however, after visiting the place of the demigod Varuṇa, although he was so opulent, he offered so much respect to Kṛṣṇa, that was very much astonishment to him, and he began to describe the incidence to his friends and relatives with great wonder.
The fact is that although Kṛṣṇa was acting so wonderfully, Mahārāja Nanda and mother Yaśodā never could think of Him as Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but they were always accepting Him as their beloved child; just as Nanda Mahārāja did not accept the fact that Varuṇa worshiped Kṛṣṇa because Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but he took it that Kṛṣṇa, his wonderful child, was respected even by the Varuṇa also.
The friends of Nanda Mahārāja, all the cowherds men, became too much eager to consult whether Kṛṣṇa was actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead and whether He was going to give them salvation altogether. When all the cowherds men were thus consulting amongst themself, Kṛṣṇa could understand their mind; and in order to assure them of their future destiny in the spiritual kingdom, He concluded to show them immediately the spiritual sky.
Generally, ordinary persons who are simply engaged in the business of working hard to elevate their position in the material world has no information that there is another kingdom, or another sky, which is known as spiritual sky, where life is eternal, blissful and full of knowledge. And as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, a person returning to that spiritual sky never comes back to this…
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Chapter Twenty-eight continued. Tape number twenty-eight, Kṛṣṇa.
Next paragraph.
Kṛṣṇa, being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is always anxious to give information to the conditioned soul that there is another spiritual sky far, far beyond this material sky, transcendental to the innumerable universes created within the total material energy. Kṛṣṇa is of course always very kind to every conditioned soul, but as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, He is especially inclined to such persons who are pure devotees. As such, Kṛṣṇa immediately thought that His devotees in Vṛndāvana should be informed of the spiritual sky and the Vaikuṇṭha planets therein immediately.
Within the material world, every conditioned soul is in the darkness of knowledge. Darkness of knowledge means all conditioned souls are under the concept of this bodily existence. Every one of the conditioned soul is under the impression that he is this material world, and with this concept of life they are working in ignorance in different forms of life. The activities of the particular type of body is called karma, or fruitive action. So all conditioned souls under the impression of bodily concept, they are working according to the particular type of body one has got. These activities are creating one's future conditional life. And because they have very little information of the spiritual world, they do not generally take to spiritual activities, which are called bhakti-yoga, so that one may, after giving up this present body, go directly to the spiritual world and be situated in one of the Vaikuṇṭha planets therein. The inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, they are all pure devotees. Their destination after quitting the body was directly to the Kṛṣṇaloka, even transcending or surpassing the Vaikuṇṭhalokas.
The fact is, those who are engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, pure devotional service, when they are actually mature or fully always in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, such persons after death are given to get the chance of Kṛṣṇa's association in some of the universes within the material world. Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are going on either in this universe or in other universe continually. Just like the sun globe is passing through many states of this earthly planet, similarly kṛṣṇa-līlā, or transcendental advent and pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, is also going on continually, either in this universe or in other universe.
For the mature devotees, who have completely executed the business of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they are immediately transferred to the universe where Kṛṣṇa is still there. In such universe, the devotees get the first opportunity of associating with Kṛṣṇa personally and directly, and training goes on, as we see in the picture of Vṛndāvana līlā of Kṛṣṇa within this planet. Kṛṣṇa therefore wanted to show the actual feature of the Vaikuṇṭha planets so that the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana could know where is their destination.
Next paragraph.
Thus Kṛṣṇa showed them the eternal, ever-existing spiritual sky, which is unlimited and full of knowledge. Within this material world there are different grades of forms, and according to the grades of forms, the knowledge is also manifested proportionately. Just like the knowledge in the body of a child is not as perfect as the knowledge in the body of a grown-up man, similarly, although there are different grades of living entities—sometimes as in the aquatic animals, sometimes in the plants and trees, sometimes in the reptiles and insects and sometimes in birds and beasts, and later on in the human form of life, in different grades of civilization and noncivilization, and above the human form of life there are demigods, just like the Cāraṇas, the Siddhas in higher planetary system, and up to the Brahmaloka, where Lord Brahmā lives—they are of different grades of knowledge. But when one passes this material world and reaches the Vaikuṇṭha sky, there everyone is in full knowledge, and because all of them are in full knowledge, all living entities are there engaged in devotional service of the Lord, either in the Vaikuṇṭha planet or in the Kṛṣṇaloka planet.
In other words, it may be noted, as it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, full knowledge means to know Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the Vedas and Bhagavad-gītā also it is stated that in the brahmajyoti, or in the spiritual sky, there is no need of sunlight or there is no need of moonlight or there is no need of electricity. All those planets are self-illuminating, and all of them are eternally situated. There is no question of creation and annihilation in the brahmajyoti, the spiritual sky. Bhagavad-gītā also confirms this, that beyond this material sky there is another eternal spiritual sky where everything is eternally existing. Information of the spiritual sky can be had only by great sages and saintly persons who have already surpassed the influence of three material modes of nature. Unless one is constantly situated in that transcendental platform, it is not possible for anyone to understand what is that spiritual nature.
In the Bhagavad-gītā we see that a person who is engaged in devotional service of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he immediately transcends the modes of material nature. Therefore it is recommended that one should take to bhakti-yoga and keep himself twenty-four hours engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which means that he is already beyond the reach of the modes of material nature. Such persons can easily understand what is spiritual sky, what is Vaikuṇṭhaloka and the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana on account of their being engaged always in Kṛṣṇa consciousness—can therefore very easily understand the transcendental nature of Vaikuṇṭhalokas.
Thus Kṛṣṇa led all the gopas, headed by Nanda Mahārāja, to the lake where formerly Akrūra also was shown the Vaikuṇṭha planetary system, and they took their bath immediately and saw the real nature of the Vaikuṇṭhalokas, exactly like Akrūra, as it was shown to him by Lord Kṛṣṇa. After seeing the spiritual sky and Vaikuṇṭhalokas, all the gopas, headed by Mahārāja Nanda, felt wonderfully blissful and, getting out of the river, immediately they also saw Kṛṣṇa, who was being worshiped by excellent prayers.
Next paragraph.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Twenty-eighth Chapter in the matter of "Releasing Nanda Mahārāja from the Clutches of Varuṇa."