Krsna Book Audio Dictation - Chapter 38
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter Thirty-eight. Subject: "Akrūra's Arrival in Vṛndāvana."
In the statement of Nārada Muni there was no mention of the incidence of killing the sky demon, which means the sky demon was also killed on the same day as that of the Keśī demon. The Keśī demon was killed in the morning, and after that they went for tending the cows on the hill of Govardhana, and there the sky demon was also killed. It is suggested that in the morning the killing business of these two demons was finished, and the evening, as Akrūra was requested by Kaṁsa, he arrived in Vṛndāvana. Akrūra, after receiving instruction from Kaṁsa, lived that night in Mathurā and next morning he started on the chariot for Vṛndāvana, the place of Nanda Mahārāja. Akrūra himself was a great devotee of the Lord; therefore, while starting for Vṛndāvana he began to pray to the Lord as follows. As devotees are always absorbed in the thought of Kṛṣṇa, similarly, Akrūra also constantly thinking of the face of Lord Kṛṣṇa with His lotus eyes.
He began to think within himself that he did not know what sort of pious activities he might have done previously or what sort of penance and austerities he might have executed previously so that he was going to see Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma in Vṛndāvana on that day. As pure Vaiṣṇava always thinks unfit for the service of Kṛṣṇa, similarly, Akrūra also began to think within himself that he was unfit for such transcendental opportunity of seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead, exactly a materialistic person is unfit for understanding the science of God or the śūdra, or the fourth-class human being, is unable to enter into the study of the Vedas.
Akrūra also began to think that "By the grace of Kṛṣṇa, everything is possible. If He likes, I may be able to see Him exactly like a small piece of cloth, although floating in the waves of the river, by chance may come near the shore and thereby it is protected. Similarly, a conditioned soul carried away by the waves of material existence may sometimes be saved by the grace of Kṛṣṇa." So Akrūra thought that if Kṛṣṇa liked, he would be able to see Him.
Thus Akrūra began to feel himself too much fortunate, that he was going to see Kṛṣṇa, who is to be seen by great mystic yogīs, but still by His grace Akrūra himself was going to see Him. He was confident therefore that on that day all his sinful reaction of past life will be finished, and his fortunate human form of life will be successful. Akrūra continued to think that he was very much favored by Kaṁsa, that he sent him to bring Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma to Mathurā, and in this connection it will be a great opportunity for him to see the Lord. Akrūra continued to think that formerly great sages and saintly persons were liberated from this material world simply by experiencing the vision of the shining on the nails of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa.
"That Supreme Personality of Godhead has now advented Himself just like ordinary human being, and it is my great fortune that I would be able to see Him face to face." Akrūra continued to think that he would be able to see the same lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa which is worshiped by great demigods like Brahmā and Nārada and Lord Śiva. And the lotus feet which traverse over the ground of the Vṛndāvana and the lotus feet which is put on the breast of the gopīs to be colored with the tinges of kuṅkuma, he thought himself so much fortunate that he would be able to see those very lotus feet on that day.
Akrūra further began to speculate as follows: "Certainly I shall be able to see the beautiful face of Kṛṣṇa, which is spotted with tilaka all over the forehead and His sharp nose, as well as His smiling face and the decorated with curling hairs—black hairs. And I can be sure of this opportunity because practically I see that the deers are passing on my right side. It will be possible for me to see today actually what is the beauty of the spiritual kingdom of Viṣṇuloka, because Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Viṣṇu, and He has advented Himself out of His own good will, and He is the reservoir of all beauty. And because it will be my great fortune to see Him, therefore the success of my seeing capacity will be fulfilled today."
Akrūra contemplated within himself to refute the doubtfulness of people how he accepted Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Viṣṇu. In support of his view he thought it that Lord Viṣṇu glances over the material energy, and thus the cosmic manifestation comes into being. And although Lord Viṣṇu is the creator of this material world, by His own energy He is freed from the influence of material energy. By His internal potency He can pierce through the darkness of material energy. Similarly Kṛṣṇa, the original Viṣṇu, by expansion of His internal potency, has created the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is also confirmed that the paraphernalia and the abode of Kṛṣṇa are expansion of His internal potency. And the same internal potency is exhibited in the worldly Vṛndāvana also, and by doing so Kṛṣṇa resides with His parents and enjoys in company with His friends, cowherds boy and the gopīs. In other words, by the statement of Akrūra it is clear that as Kṛṣṇa is transcendental to the modes of material nature, similarly, the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, who are always engaged in loving service of the Lord, are also transcendental to the influence of the modes of material nature.
Uddhava also considered the necessity of the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. He thought it that the transcendental activities, instruction, qualities and pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, they are all for auspiciousness of the people in general. The people in general remain constantly in Kṛṣṇa consciousness by discussing the Lord's transcendental form, quality, pastimes and paraphernalia, and by doing so the whole cosmic manifestation, universe, actually lives in auspiciousness and advances in all peaceful condition of life. And without such Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the society is considered to be a decorated dead body. In other words, a dead body may be decorated very nicely, but without consciousness, as such decoration becomes useless, similarly, in the human society without Kṛṣṇa consciousness everything is useless and without any life.
"That Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, has now appeared as one of the descendants of the Yadu dynasty. Principles of religiosity is His enacted laws, and those who are abiding by such laws are the demigods, and those who are not abiding by such laws are demons. So He has advented Himself to give protection to the demigods, who are very much obedient to the laws of the Supreme Lord. The demigods and the devotees of the Lord take pleasure in abiding by the laws of Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa also takes pleasure in giving them all sorts of protection. These activities of Kṛṣṇa, namely giving protection to the devotees and killing the demons, as it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, such narration will always be auspicious to the human society, to hear them and to narrate them. And such glorious activities of the Lord will ever-increasingly be chanted by the devotees and the demigods.
"Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the spiritual master of all spiritual masters; He is the deliverer of all fallen souls. He is the proprietor of the three worlds. Anyone who is able to see Him by the eyes smeared with love of Godhead actually performs the ceremony of observation. So today I shall be able to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who by His transcendental beauty has attracted the goddess of fortune to live with Him perpetually. As soon as I shall arrive in Vṛndāvana, immediately I shall get down from the chariot and fall prostrate to offer my obeisances to the Supreme Lord, the master of the material nature and the living entities. The lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa is always worshiped by great mystic yogīs, so I shall also worship His lotus feet, just becoming one of His friends in Vṛndāvana like the cowherds boys. When I shall bow down before Lord Kṛṣṇa in that way, certainly He shall place on my head His fearless lotus hand, which He offers to all conditioned souls who takes shelter under His lotus feet.
"Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate goal of life for all people who are very much afraid of material existence, and certainly when I am going there He would give me the shelter of His lotus feet to me. I am aspiring after the touch of His lotus-like hands on my head, because by touching the presentation given by King Indra and King Ambarīṣa, both of them became the lords of the universe. And when the gopīs were dancing with Kṛṣṇa in the rāsa dance, Kṛṣṇa simply by touching them by His hand..."
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Chapter Thirty-eight continued.
Akrūra expected blessings from the hand of Kṛṣṇa which (indistinct) He blesses Indra the king of heaven for becoming the master of the three worlds, namely the upper planetary system, the middle planetary system, the lower planetary system, simply by offering a little water which was accepted by Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, Bali Mahārāja also gave in charity to Vāmanadeva three feet land only and offered a little water, which Lord Vāmanadeva accepted, and thereby Bali Mahārāja also became as good as Indra. Similarly, the gopīs, when they were dancing with Kṛṣṇa in rāsa, They became fatigued, and Kṛṣṇa's hand being as fragrant as the lotus flower in the Mānasa-sarovara, so immediately Kṛṣṇa smeared over their perspiration and the pearl-like drops on the face of the gopīs, and therefore they immediately became refreshed. So Uddhava was expecting benediction from that supreme hand of Kṛṣṇa.
In other words, Kṛṣṇa's hand is capable of bestowing benediction to all kinds of men if they take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If somebody wants material happiness like the king of heaven, he can also derive benediction from the hand of Kṛṣṇa. If anyone wants liberation from the pangs of material existence, he can also have benediction from the hands of Kṛṣṇa. And if anyone, in pure transcendental love for Kṛṣṇa, wants personal association and touch of His transcendental body, he can also have the benediction from His hand.
Akrūra, however, was afraid of his being deputed by Kaṁsa, the enemy of Kṛṣṇa. He therefore thought that he was going to see Kṛṣṇa as a messenger of the enemy, but at the same time he hoped that Kṛṣṇa lives in everyone's heart as the Supersoul, so He must know actually the heart of Akrūra. Although he was representative of the enemy of Kṛṣṇa, his heart was clear. He was pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. He took the chance of Kaṁsa's deputation to meet Kṛṣṇa. Therefore he became sure and certain that although he was going as representative of the Kaṁsa, He would not accept him as on the same level of enemy.
"Even though I have got some sinful intention on account of being deputed by Kaṁsa, still, when I approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I shall stand before Him with all humbleness and folded hands, and at that time He must be pleased on my devotional attitude and may smilingly look upon me, and thereby I shall be freed from all kinds of sinful reaction. And certainly at that time I shall be on the platform of transcendental bliss and knowledge. As Kṛṣṇa knows my heart, certainly when I approach Him, He will embrace me with His long hands because I am not only His one of the members of the family, Yadu dynasty, but I am his relative and unalloyed pure devotee. And by His merciful embracing, surely my body, mind and soul will be immediately purified. And being purified by His touch, I shall be completely uncontaminated from the action and reaction of my past life.
"In this way, when there will be touching of our bodies, I will immediately stand up with folded hands, with all humility. At that time certainly Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma will call me as 'Akrūra, uncle,' and at that time my whole life will be glorious because without being recognized by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, nobody's life is successful."
In this statement of Akrūra, it is clear that one should try to be recognized by the Supreme Personality of Godhead by his service and devotion, without which everyone's human form of life is condemned. As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that the Supreme Lord, Personality of Godhead, is equal to everyone. He has no friend, no enemy, but a devotee who renders Him service in devotional love, He is inclined to him.
There is another statement in the Bhagavad-gītā that the Supreme Lord is responsive in proportion to the service rendered by the devotee. Akrūra therefore thought that Kṛṣṇa must be like the desire tree in the heavenly planets, which gives fruit according to the desire of the worshiper. The Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa is also reservoir source of everything. A devotee must know how to render service unto Him and thus become recognized proportionately by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is therefore explained that one should serve both the spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa simultaneously for making progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Service rendered to Kṛṣṇa under the direction of the spiritual master is bona fide service, because the spiritual master is the manifested representative of Kṛṣṇa.
Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura therefore says that satisfaction of the spiritual master is satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. It is exactly like service in a big government office. One has to work under the superintendent of the department, and if the superintendent of the department is satisfied with the service of a particular person, his promotion and increase of pay, everything will automatically come in.
Akrūra then thought within himself that "Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, when They will be pleased with my behavior, certainly They will shake hands with me and receive me within the house and thus offer me all kinds of respectable hospitalities. After this, They will be inclined to ask me about the activities of Kaṁsa, along with his friends."
In this way Akrūra, who is the son of Śvaphalka, contemplated the whole way starting from Mathurā, and at the end he reached Gokula by the end of the day when the sun was setting. In other words, Akrūra passed the whole way without knowing how much time it took. But when he reached Gokula, the sun was setting.
Akrūra thus, as soon as he entered the boundary of Gokula, he began to see the footprints of the cows as well as Lord Kṛṣṇa because the footprints are impressed with the signs of His foot, namely the flag, the trident, and the flag and the lotus flower, which are the symbols of the transcendental lotus feet of the Lord, the lotus feet which is worshiped and adored by the helmets of all demigods and great personalities of the three worlds. Afterwards, looking on the footprints of Kṛṣṇa, he immediately jumped down of the chariot out of respect and became overwhelmed with all the symptoms of ecstatic love, namely pouring down of tears, shivering of the body out of extreme jubilation, and taking advantage of the dust touched by the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, immediately he fell flat on it and began to roll over it.
Next paragraph.
The example of Akrūra's activities in the matter of going to Vṛndāvana is ideal. Anyone who intends to visit Vṛndāvana should follow the footsteps of Akrūra. That means on the way to Vṛndāvana one should always think of the transcendental pastimes and activities of the Lord, and as soon as one reaches the boundary of Vṛndāvana, he should immediately smear over his body the dust of Vṛndāvana, without any thought of his material position and prestige. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura therefore sung in his celebrated song (Lālasā-mayī), viṣaya-chāriyā kave śuddha habe mana: "When my mind will be purified after giving up the contamination of material sense enjoyment, at that time I shall be able to visit Vṛndāvana." Actually, one cannot go to Vṛndāvana by purchasing some transport ticket. Actually this is the process of going to Vṛndāvana, as actually shown by Akrūra in his activities.
Next paragraph.
Thus Akrūra reached Vṛndāvana and saw Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma engaged in the matter of supervising milking of the cows. He saw Kṛṣṇa was dressed in yellow garments and Balarāma was dressed in bluish garments, and Akrūra also saw Their eyes were exactly like the lotus flower grown beautifully during the autumn season. Akrūra saw both Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma just on the verge of youthhood, and although both of Them were equal in Their bodily features, one of Them, namely Kṛṣṇa, was blackish in complexion, whereas Balarāma was whitish in complexion. Both of Them were the shelter of goddess of fortune, having well-constructed body and beautiful hands and pleasing face, with strength as strong as of the elephant.
He had already seen that the Vṛndāvana was impressed with the footprints of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, wherein he found the symbols: flag, thunderbolt, lotus flower and trident. Now actually Akrūra, when saw Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma face to face, he saw Them as most influential personalities, but at the same time glancing over him with smiling face. Akrūra also could understand that both Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, after coming back from tending of cows from the forest, took Their bath and were dressed with fresh clothings, garlanded with nice flowers as well as with necklace of valuable jewels, smeared all over the body with the pulp of sandalwood. As such, the flavor of the flowers and sandalwood and Their bodily presence were quite appreciable. In this way, Akrūra was fortunate enough to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa, along with His plenary expansion Balarāma, face to face, who are the original personalities of all creation.
As stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā, Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead and the cause of all causes. He could understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, simply for the welfare of His creation, had appeared personally to re-establish the principles of religion and to annihilate the demoniac disturbance of the world. Both the brothers, by Their bodily effulgence, were dissipating all darkness of the world, as if the mountain of sapphire stone and silver. Akrūra, thus without waiting further on his chariot, immediately got down and fell flat, just like a rod, before Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, touching Their lotus feet. On account of his visiting the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he become so much overwhelmed with transcendental bliss that his voice choked up, he could not speak, but due to His transcendental pleasure, incessant torrents of tears were gliding down from the eyes. Thus he remained stunted in ecstasy, as if devoid of all powers to see and speak.
Lord Kṛṣṇa immediately, as He is usually very kind upon His devotee, raised Akrūra by His hand and embraced him. It appeared that Lord Kṛṣṇa was very, very pleased on Akrūra. After this, Balarāma also embraced Akrūra and, touching his hand to hand, both Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma received him and brought him within Their sitting room. In this way both Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma welcomed Akrūra, offered him a very nice sitting place and offered also water for washing his feet and worshiped him with suitable presentation of honey and other ingredients.
When Arjuna (Akrūra) was thus comfortably seated, both Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma offered him a cow in charity, and after this He brought very palatable dishes of eatables, and Akrūra also accepted them. When Akrūra finished his eating, immediately Balarāma greeted him with betel nuts and spices, as well as pulp of sandalwood, just to make him further pleased and comfortably seated. The Vedic system of receiving a guest was completely observed by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself to teach all others how to receive a guest at home. It is Vedic injunction that even a guest is an enemy, he should be received so well that he could not apprehend any kind of danger from the host. If the host is a poor man, he should at least offer a straw as the sitting place and a glass of water to drink. Thus Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma welcomed Akrūra just befitting his exalted position.
When Akrūra was thus properly received and seated, at that time Nanda Mahārāja, the foster father of Kṛṣṇa, inquired from him, "My dear Akrūra, what shall I inquire from you? I know that you are all being protected by Kaṁsa, who is the most cruel and demoniac, and I know that your protection means just like the slaughterhouse keeper protects the animals for being killed in the future. I know Kaṁsa is so selfish that he has killed the sons of his own sister, and how I can expect good protection from him of the citizens of Mathurā?" In this statement of Nanda Mahārāja there is great significance. The purport is that the political or executive head over the state, if he is simply personally interested, he can never look after the welfare of the citizens.
In this way, when Nanda Mahārāja was talking with Akrūra in great pleasing words, at that time Akrūra forgot all the fatigue of his coming from Mathurā to Vṛndāvana the whole day.
Next paragraph.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Thirty-eighth Chapter Kṛṣṇa in the matter of "Akrūra's Arrival in Vṛndāvana."