Krsna Book Audio Dictation - Chapter 78
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Next, Seventy-eighth Chapter. Subject: "Killing of Dantavakra, Vidūratha and Romaharṣaṇī."
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After the demise of Śiśupāla, Śālva and Pauṇḍraka, another foolish demoniac king of the name Dantavakra wanted to take revenge by killing Kṛṣṇa on account of his friend Śālva's death. He became so much agitated that without equipping himself with proper arms and ammunition, he personally appeared on the battlefield without even a chariot even. His only weapon was his great anger with which he was red-hot. So far weapon is concerned, he had only one club in his hand. But it was practically experienced by everyone that this Dantavakra was so powerful that when he was moving, it appeared that there was a great trembling of the earth.
When Lord Kṛṣṇa saw him appearing in such heroic mood, He immediately got down from His chariot, because that was the rule of military etiquette that fighting should take place between the equals. So knowing that Dantavakra was alone only with a club, Lord Kṛṣṇa also responded similarly, and therefore He also prepared Himself, taking His club in the hand. When Kṛṣṇa appeared before him, his heroic march was stopped immediately, as much as the furious great waves of the ocean becomes subsided on the beach.
At that time Dantavakra, who was the king of Karūṣa, stood up firmly with his club and began to address Lord Kṛṣṇa as follows: (within quotation) "It is a great pleasure and fortunate opportunity, Kṛṣṇa, that You have standing before me eye to eye. My dear Kṛṣṇa, after all, You are my maternal cousin-brother. As such, I should not have killed You in this way, but unfortunately You have done a great mistake by killing my friend Śālva. Not only that You are satisfied by killing my friend, but I know that You want to kill me also. Because of Your ill determination like this, today I must kill You by tearing You into pieces with my club. Kṛṣṇa, although You are my relative, You foolish, You are the greatest enemy of us, (within bracket) (Śiśupāla and Dantavakra) so I must kill You today exactly like a person removes a boil on his body by surgical operation. I am always very much obliging to my friends. I therefore consider that I am indebted to my dear friend Śālva. Now I can only liquidate my indebtedness to my friend by killing You."
As a caretaker of the elephant tries to control the animal by striking it with his trident, similarly, Dantavakra wanted to control over Kṛṣṇa only by speaking some strong words, and immediately after finishing his vituperation, he struck with his club on the head of Kṛṣṇa very severely and made a roaring sound like a lion. Lord Kṛṣṇa, even though struck by the club of Dantavakra so strongly, He did not move even an inch, neither He felt any pain because of such striking. Now Kṛṣṇa also, taking His Kaumodakī club and just properly situating Himself, very skillfully struck the club on the chest of Dantavakra so much fiercefully that within the chest the heart of Dantavakra became split up.
As a result of this, Dantavakra began to vomit blood out of his mouth, his hairs became scattered, and fell down on the ground, spreading his hands and legs. In a few minutes only he remained a dead body on the ground. After the death of Dantavakra, exactly the same incident took place as it was at the time of Śiśupāla. In the presence of all persons standing there, a small particle of spiritual effulgence came out of his body, very wonderfully merged into the body of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
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Dantavakra had another brother, whose name was Vidūratha. He also became overwhelmed with grief on account of the death of his brother Dantavakra. Now after the death of Dantavakra this Vidūratha, out of grief and anger, was breathing very heavily, and just to revenge the death of his brother he also appeared before Lord Kṛṣṇa with a sword and a shield in the hands. He wanted to kill Kṛṣṇa immediately. Lord Kṛṣṇa, when He understood that Vidūratha was just looking after the opportunity to strike Him with the sword, He immediately employed His disc of the name Sudarśana cakra, which was as sharpened as the razor, and without delay cut off the head of Vidūratha, with the helmet and earrings, separated from his body.
In this way Lord Kṛṣṇa, after killing Śālva and destroying his wonderful aeroplane and then killing Dantavakra and Vidūratha, entered His city Dvārakā. Such actions in the matter of killing the great heroes were not possible by anyone else except Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, all the demigods from the heaven and human being on the surface of the globe were glorifying Him. Great sages and ascetics, the denizens of the Siddha and Gandharva planets, the denizens known as Vidyādharas, Vāsuki, Mahānāgas, the beautiful angels, the inhabitants of Pitṛloka, Yakṣas, Kinnaras and the Cāraṇas—all of them in great jubilation began to shower upon Him flowers and sang the songs of His victory.
A great celebration took place within the city of Dvārakā by decorating the whole town very jubilantly, and when Lord Kṛṣṇa was passing through the city, all the members of Vṛṣṇi dynasty and the heroes of the Yadu dynasty were following Him with great respect. These are some of the transcendental pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is the master of all mystic power and the Lord of all cosmic manifestation. Those who are fools like animals sometimes see that Kṛṣṇa is defeated, but factually He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and nobody can defeat. He remains always victorious over everyone. He is the only one God, and all other are His subservient order-carrier.
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Once upon a time Lord Balarāma, when he heard that there was arrangement being made for fighting between the two rival parties in the Kuru dynasty, headed by Duryodhana and the Pāṇḍavas respectively, He did not like the idea, and He was mediatator to stop the fighting. But when he found it impossible without taking any active part in either of the parties, He left Dvārakā on the plea of visiting various holy places of pilgrimage. In this way, He first of all visited the pilgrimage known as Prabhāsa-kṣetra. In that holy place He first of all took His bath, then according to the Vedic ritualistic ceremony He pacified the local brāhmaṇas and offered oblations to the demigods, pitṛs, great sages and people in general. That is the Vedic system of visiting holy places.
After this, accompanied by some respectable brāhmaṇas, He wanted to visit different places on the bank of the river Sarasvatī. Then He gradually visited such places like Pṛthūdaka, Bindusara, Tritakūpa, Sudarśana-tīrtha, Viśāla-tīrtha, Brahma-tīrtha, Cakra-tīrtha. Besides these, He also visited the holy places on the bank of Sarasvatī River running towards the east. He visited all the holy places on that side also. After this, He visited all the principal holy places on the bank of Yamunā and on the bank of the Ganges. Thus He gradually came to the holy place known as Naimiṣāraṇya.
This holy place of the name Naimiṣāraṇya is still existing in India. It was especially meant for holding meetings of great sages and saintly person for understanding spiritual life and self-realization. When Lord Balarāma visited that place, there was a great assembly of transcendentalists and a great sacrifice was being performed there. Such meeting of the transcendentalists were planned for thousands of years, and when Lord Balarāma entered the place, all the participants of the meeting, namely great sages, ascetics, brāhmaṇas, learned scholars, immediately got up from their respective seats and welcomed Lord Balarāma with great honor and respect. Some of them offered Him respectful obeisances, and those who were elderly great sages and brāhmaṇas offered Him blessing by standing up.
After this formality, Lord Balarāma was offered a suitable seat, and thus all of them worshiped Him. Every one of them in the assembly stood up on the presence of Balarāma because all of them knew Balarāma as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Educational learning means to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore Lord Balarāma, although He appeared on the scene as a kṣatriya, still all the brāhmaṇas and sages stood up because they knew what Lord Balarāma was.
Unfortunately, Lord Balarāma, after being worshiped and seated on His place, saw that Romaharṣaṇa, the disciple of Vyāsadeva (incarnation of Godhead), was still sitting on the vyāsāsana. He neither got up from his seat nor offered Him any respect. Because he was seated on the vyāsāsana, he thought himself greater than the Lord. Out of this foolishness he did not get down from his seat and bow down before the Lord. Lord Balarāma then considered that history of Romaharṣaṇa, that although he was born in family known as sūta, or a mixed family, born of brāhmaṇa woman and kṣatriya man, as such Romaharṣaṇa, even though he considered Balarāma as kṣatriya, still he should not have remained sitting on higher seat than Lord Balarāma.
Lord Balarāma considered that by his birthright position Romaharṣaṇa should not have accepted the higher sitting position, because there were many learned brāhmaṇas and sages present. He also observed it particularly that Romaharṣaṇa not only came down from his exalted seat, but he did not even stand up and offer his respects to Balarāmajī when He entered the assembly. Lord Balarāma did not like the audacity of Romaharṣaṇa in that way, and He became very much angry on the attitude of Romaharṣaṇa. He therefore began to declare from His seat that "This man, Romaharṣaṇa, is very much impudent that he has accepted higher seat than all the respectable brāhmaṇas present here, although he was born of a degraded pratiloma family."
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When a person is seated on the vyāsāsana, generally he does not require to stand up and receive a particular person entering the assembly. But here in this case the situation is different, because Lord Baladeva is not an ordinary human being. Therefore, Romaharṣaṇa Sūta, although he was voted to the vyāsāsana by all the brāhmaṇas, he should have followed the behavior of other learned sages and brāhmaṇas who were present there and should have known it perfectly that Lord Balarāma was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, therefore his respects are always due to Him, even though such respects could be avoided in case of ordinary man. The incarnation of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma is especially meant for reestablishment of the religious principles. As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, the highest religious principle is to surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is also confirmed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that the topmost perfection of religiosity is to be engaged in the devotional service of the Lord.
Considering all these points, when Lord Balarāma saw that Romaharṣaṇa Sūta did not understand the highest principle of religiosity in spite of his studying all the Vedas, certainly He could not support his position. Romaharṣaṇa Sūta was given the chance of becoming a perfect brāhmaṇa. But because of his ill behavior in the matter of his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his low-birth heritage was immediately called for. Romaharṣaṇa Sūta was given the position of a brāhmaṇa, but actually he was not born in the family of a brāhmaṇa; he was born in a pratiloma family. According to Vedic concept, there are two kinds of family heritage: they are called anuloma and pratiloma. When a high-caste male is united with low-caste female, the offspring is called anuloma; but when a low-caste male unites with a high-caste woman, then the offspring is called pratiloma.
Romaharṣaṇa Sūta belonged to the pratiloma family because his father was a kṣatriya and his mother belonged to the brāhmaṇa family, and because his transcendental realization was not perfect, therefore Lord Balarāma remembered about his pratiloma heritage. The idea is that any man can be given the chance of becoming a brāhmaṇa, but if the man improperly uses the position of a brāhmaṇa without actual realization, then his elevation to the brahminical position is not valid.
Lord Balarāma, after seeing the deficiency of realization in Romaharṣaṇa Sūta, He wanted to chastise him because he was falsely puffed up. Lord Balarāma therefore said that "This man is liable to be awarded the death punishment, because although he has the good certificate of becoming the disciple of Lord Vyāsadeva, and although he had studied all the Vedic literature from such a exalted personality, he was not submissive in the presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead."
As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, a person who is actually a brāhmaṇa and at the same time very learned must automatically become very gentle also. In the case of Romaharṣaṇa Sūta, although he was very learned and was given the chance of becoming a brāhmaṇa, he could not become gentle in his behavior. When one is therefore falsely puffed up by material acquisitions and did not acquire the gentle behavior befitting a brāhmaṇa, such person's decorations of learning is as good as the decoration of a serpent having a valuable jewel on the hood. Despite a valuable jewel on the hood, a serpent is always a serpent, which is equally fearful like an ordinary serpent. If a person therefore does not become meek and humble in his behavior, his studies of the Vedas and the Purāṇas and vast knowledge in the śāstras all become simply outward dress, exactly like that of a theatrical artist dancing on the stage.
Lord Balarāma thus began to consider, (within quotation) "I have incarnated in order to chastise a false persons who are internally impure but externally pose themselves as very much learned and religious. Killing of such persons by Me is a proper action, so that such persons may be checked from his progressive sinful activities."
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Although Lord Balarāma avoided to take part in the Battle of Kurukṣetra, still, because of His position as incarnation, reestablishment of religious principles was His prime duty. Considering all these points, Lord Baladeva immediately killed Romaharṣaṇa Sūta simply by striking him with a kuśa straw, which was nothing but a blade of grass only. If somebody questions, however, how Lord Balarāma could kill Romaharṣaṇa Sūta simply by striking him with a kuśa grass, the answer is given in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by the word prabhu. The idea is the Lord's position is always transcendental, and because He is omnipotent He can act as He likes, without any obligation to the material laws and principles. As such, it was possible for Him to kill Romaharṣaṇa Sūta simply by striking him with a kuśa grass blade.
As soon as Romaharṣaṇa Sūta was killed like that, everyone present became very much aggrieved, and there was a roaring, and everyone cried, "Alas! Alas!" Although all the brāhmaṇas and sages present there knew Lord Balarāma the Supreme Personality of Godhead, still they did not hesitate to protest the action of the Lord. They humbly submitted, "My dear Lord, we think that You have...,Your action is not on the religious principle. My Lord Yadunandana, we may inform You that we all brāhmaṇas posted Romaharṣaṇa Sūta on that exalted position until this great sacrifice is finished. He was seated on that exalted position of vyāsāsana by our election, and when one is seated on the vyāsāsana, it is improper for him to stand up to receive a person. Not only this, we awarded this Romaharṣaṇa Sūta an undisturbed duration of life. Under the circumstances, as Your Lordship has killed him without knowing all these facts, we think that Your action has been equal to that of killing a brāhmaṇa.
"My dear Lord, the deliverer of all fallen souls, we know it certainly that You are the knower of all Vedic principles, You are the master of all mystic powers; therefore, ordinarily the Vedic injunctions cannot be applied on Your personality. But still, we shall advise that in order to show Your causeless mercy upon others You should kindly compensate this action of killing Romaharṣaṇa Sūta by performing some sort of atonement so that others may follow Your action. We do not, however, suggest what kind of atonement You should do, but we simply suggest that some sort of such atonement may be adopted by You for others’ benefit. What is done by a great personality is followed by the ordinary men."
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The Lord replied, "Yes, I must execute some sort of atonement for this action, which may be proper for Me but it is improper for others. Therefore, I think it is My duty to execute a suitable atonement as they may be enjoined in the authorized scriptures. Simultaneously I can also give this Romaharṣaṇa Sūta life again, with a span of long duration, sufficient strength and power of the senses. Not only this; if you desire, I shall be glad to award him anything more which you may ask from Me. I shall be very glad to execute all these for fulfillment of your desire." (quotation close)
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This statement of Lord Balarāma definitely confirms it that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is free to act any way. Although it may be considered that His killing of Romaharṣaṇa Sūta was improper, He could immediately counteract the action with greater profit. As such, one should not imitate the action of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but one should simply follow the instruction of the Lord.
Now all the great learned sages present there could immediately realize that the action of Lord Balarāma, although considered by them was improper, the Lord was able to compensate that immediately with greater profit. Therefore, they did not like to distract the mission of the Lord for killing Romaharṣaṇa Sūta. All of them therefore prayed, "My dear Lord, the uncommon use of Your kuśa weapon for killing Romaharṣaṇa Sūta may be maintained as it is. Because You desired to kill him, he may not be brought into life again. At the same time, Your Lordship may remember that we all great sages and brāhmaṇas voluntarily gave him long life; therefore, such benediction may not be also nullified."
The request of all the learned brāhmaṇas in the assembly thus became a dilemma for an ordinary man, because they wanted to keep intact the benediction given by them that Romaharṣaṇa Sūta should continue to live till the end of the great sacrifice; at the same time, they did not like to nullify the action of Balarāma by killing him.
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The Supreme Personality of Godhead therefore solved the problem befitting His exalted position and said, (within quotation) "The son is the representative of the father. That is the injunction of the Vedas, because the son is produced from the body of the father. Therefore, I say that Ugraśravā Sūta, the son of Romaharṣaṇa Sūta, henceforward shall take his position for continuing the discourses on the Purāṇas. And because you wanted Romaharṣaṇa to have a long duration of life, this benediction should be transferred to his son. The son, Ugraśravā, will have therefore all the facilities you offered—a long duration of life in good and healthy body, without any disturbances and with full strength of all the senses."
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After this, Lord Balarāma implored all the sages and brāhmaṇas that besides the benediction offered to the son of Romaharṣaṇa, they could ask from Him any other benediction, which He would be prepared to fulfill immediately. The Lord thus placed Himself as an ordinary kṣatriya and informed the sages that He did not know what kind of atonement was suitable for His killing Romaharṣaṇa, but anything they would suggest, He would be glad to accept that.
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The brāhmaṇas could understand the purpose of the Lord, and thus they suggested a sort of an atonement which was for their own benefit. They said, (within quotation) "My dear Lord, there is a demon of the name Balvala. He is the son of Ilvala, but he is a great, powerful demon, and he visits this sacred place of sacrifice every fortnightly on the full moon and dark moon days and creates a great disturbance to the discharge of our duties in this sacrifice. O the descendant of the Daśārha family, we all request You to kill this demon. We think that if You kindly kill this demon, that will be Your atonement on our behalf. This demons occasionally come here and profusely throw upon us all contaminated, impure things like pusses, blood, stool, urine, wine, and immediately pollutes this sacred place by showering upon us such untouchable articles. After executing this killing of Balvala, You may have a continued touring over all the sacred places and pilgrimages for twelve months, and by that way You shall be completely freed from all contamination. That is our prescription." (quotation close)
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Seventy-eighth Chapter Kṛṣṇa in the matter of "Killing Dantavakra, Vidūratha and Romaharṣaṇa."