The Killing of the Demon Naraka

Chapter 59 of Krishna book tells how Lord Krishna killed Narakasura, the son of the earth-goddess, and married the thousands of maidens the demon had kidnapped.
It also describes how the Lord stole the parijata tree from heaven and how He behaved like an ordinary householder in each of His palaces. After Narakasura stole Lord Varuna's umbrella, mother Aditi's earrings, and the playground of the demigods known as Mani-parvata, Indra went to Dvaraka and described the demons transgressions to Lord Krishna.
Together with Queen Satyabhama, the Lord mounted His carrier Garuda and traveled to the capital of Narakasura's kingdom. On a field outside the city He decapitated the demon Mura with His disc. Then He fought Mura's seven sons and sent them all to the abode of death, after which Narakasura himself entered the battlefield on the back of an elephant. Naraka threw his sakti lance at Sri Krishna, but the weapon proved ineffective, and the Lord cut the demon's entire army to pieces. Finally, with His sharp-edged disc Krishna cut off Narakasura's head.
The earth-goddess, Prithivi, then approached Lord Krishna and gave Him the various items Narakasura had stolen. She offered prayers to the Lord and presented Naraka's frightened son at Lord Krishna's lotus feet.
After pacifying the demon's son, Krishna entered Narakasura's palace, where He found sixteen thousand one hundred young women. As soon as they caught sight of the Lord, they all decided to accept Him as their husband. The Lord sent them to Dvaraka along with a great quantity of treasure and then went with Queen Satyabhama to the abode of Indra. There He returned Aditi's earrings, and Indra and his wife, Saci-devi, worshiped Him.
On Satyabhama's request, Lord Krishna uprooted the heavenly parijata tree and put it on the back of Garuda. After defeating Indra and the other demigods who opposed His taking of the tree, Krishna returned with Queen Satyabhama to Dvaraka, where He planted it in a garden adjacent to Satyabhama's palace. Indra had originally come to Lord Krishna offering obeisances and begging Him to kill Narakasura, but afterward, when his business had been accomplished, he quarreled with the Lord.
The demigods are prone to anger because they become intoxicated with pride in their opulences. The infallible Supreme Lord manifested Himself in sixteen thousand one hundred separate forms and married each of the sixteen thousand one hundred brides in a different temple. He took up the required activities of household life just like an ordinary person, accepting various kinds of service from each of His many wives.

Karma Yoga

Engagement in dutiful activity without desire for fruitive result, thus liberating the performer from the reactions to his work.

Sankhya Yoga

Analytical study of nature's elements, with an aim to differentiate the permanent from the impermanent and thus detach the soul from the body.

kshetrajna shakti (jiva shakti)

vishnu-saktih para prokta
kshetra-jnakhya tatha para
avidya-karma-samjnanya
tritiya saktir ishyate

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu, possesses His superior internal potency as well as the potency called kshetrajna sakti. This kshetrajna sakti is also spiritual potency, but it is sometimes covered by the third, or material, potency called ignorance. Thus because of the various stages of covering, the second, or marginal, potency is manifested in different evolutionary phases."

Five kinds of ignorance

Sri Maitreya to Vidura

ससर्जा अग्रे अन्ध तामिस्रं अथ तामिस्रं आदिकृत् |
महामोहं च मोहं च तमस् च अज्ञान वृत्तयः || SB 3.12.2 ||

TRANSLATION
Brahma first created the nescient engagements like self-deception, the sense of death, anger after frustration, the sense of false ownership, and the illusory bodily conception, or forgetfulness of one's real identity.

PURPORT
Before the factual creation of the living entities in different varieties of species, the conditions under which a living being in the material world has to live were created by Brahma. Unless a living entity forgets his real identity, it is impossible for him to live in the material conditions of life. Therefore the first condition of material existence is forgetfulness of one's real identity. And by forgetting one's real identity, one is sure to be afraid of death, although a pure living soul is deathless and birthless. This false identification with material nature is the cause of false ownership of things which are offered by the arrangement of superior control. All material resources are offered to the living entity for his peaceful living and for the discharge of the duties of self-realization in conditioned life. But due to false identification, the conditioned soul becomes entrapped by the sense of false ownership of the property of the Supreme Lord. It is evident from this verse that Brahma himself is a creation of the Supreme Lord, and the five kinds of nescience which condition the living entities in material existence are creations of Brahma. It is simply ludicrous to think the living entity to be equal with the Supreme Being when one can understand that the conditioned souls are under the influence of Brahma's magic wand. Patanjali also accepts that there are five kinds of nescience, as mentioned herein.

Four Categories of Universal Annihilation

SB 12.4: The Four Categories of Universal Annihilation

This chapter discusses the four kinds of annihilation (constant, occasional, material and final) and the chanting of the holy name of Lord Hari, which is the only means of stopping the cycle of material life.

naimittika, or occasional, annihilation
One thousand cycles of four ages constitute one day of Brahmā, and each day of Brahmā, called a kalpa, contains within it the lifetimes of fourteen Manus. The duration of Brahmā’s night is the same as that of his day. During his night Brahmā sleeps, and the three planetary systems meet destruction; this is the naimittika, or occasional, annihilation.

prākṛtika, or total material, annihilation
When Brahmā’s life span of one hundred years is finished, there occurs the prākṛtika, or total material, annihilation. At that time the seven elements of material nature, beginning with the mahat, and the entire universal egg composed of them are destroyed.

ātyantika, or final, annihilation (liberation)
When a person achieves knowledge of the Absolute, he understands factual reality. He perceives the entire created universe as separate from the Absolute and therefore unreal. That is called the ātyantika, or final, annihilation (liberation).

nitya, or constant, annihilation
At every moment time invisibly transforms the bodies of all created beings and all other manifestations of matter. This process of transformation causes the living entity to undergo the constant annihilation of birth and death. Those possessed of subtle vision state that all creatures, including Brahmā himself, are always subject to generation and annihilation.

Material life means subjugation to birth and death, or generation and annihilation. The only boat suitable for crossing the ocean of material existence, which is otherwise impossible to cross, is the boat of submissive hearing of the nectarean pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

24 Gurus

King Yadu learnt about 24 Gurus from Avadhuta Brahmana

From the earth he had learned how to be sober, and from the two manifestations of earth, namely the mountain and the tree, he had learned, respectively, how to serve others and how to dedicate one's whole life to the benefit of others. 

From the wind, manifesting in the form of the vital air within the body, he had learned how to be satisfied with merely keeping oneself alive, and from the external wind he had learned how to remain uncontaminated by the body and the objects of the senses.

From the sky he had learned how the soul, which pervades all material substances, is both indivisible and imperceptible.

From the water he had learned how to be naturally clear and purifying. 

From the fire he had learned how to devour all things without becoming dirtied and how to destroy all the inauspicious desires of those who make offerings to him. He had also learned from fire how the spirit soul enters into every body and gives illumination and how the birth and death of those who are embodied cannot be discerned. 

From the moon he had learned how the material body undergoes growth and dwindling. 

From the sun he had learned how to avoid entanglement even while coming into contact with sense objects, and he had also learned about the two different modes of perception based on seeing the real form of the soul and seeing false designative coverings. 

From the pigeon he had learned how too much affection and excessive attachment are not good for one. This human body is the open door to liberation, but if one becomes attached to family life like the pigeon, one is compared to a person who has climbed up to a high place just to fall down again.

The instruction the avadhuta brahmana received from the python is that an intelligent person should cultivate a mentality of detachment and should maintain his body by accepting whatever comes of its own accord or is easily obtained. In this way, he should remain always engaged in the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even if no food is available, the person who wants to engage fully in the Lord's worship should not beg; rather, he should understand this to be the arrangement of providence, thinking, "Whatever enjoyment is destined for me will automatically come, and thus I should not uselessly waste the remaining duration of my life in worrying about such things." If he does not get any food, he should simply remain lying like the python and patiently fix his mind in meditation upon the Supreme Lord.

The instruction the avadhuta brahmana received from the ocean is that the mind of the sage who is devoted to the Personality of Godhead appears very clear and grave, just like the still ocean waters. The ocean does not overflow during the rainy season, when all the flooded rivers discharge their waters into it, nor does it dry up during the hot season, when the rivers fail to supply it. Similarly, the sage does not become elated when he achieves desirable things, nor does he become distressed in their absence.

The instruction of the moth is that just as he becomes enticed by the fire and gives up his life, the fool who cannot control his senses becomes enchanted by the forms of women decorated with gold ornaments and fine clothing. Chasing after these embodiments of the divine illusory energy of the Lord, he loses his life untimely and falls down into the most horrible hell.

There are two kinds of bees, the bumblebee and the honeybee. The instruction learned from the bumblebee is that a sage should collect only small amounts of food from many different households and thus day after day practice the occupation of madhukari for maintaining his existence. A sage should also collect the essential truths from all scriptures, be they great or insignificant.

The instruction received from the second insect, the honeybee, is that a mendicant sannyasi should not save the food he begs for the sake of having it later that night or the next day, because if he does so, then just like the greedy honeybee he will be destroyed along with his hoard.

From the elephant the avadhuta brahmana received the following instruction. Male elephants are tricked by hunters into moving toward captive female elephants, whereupon they fall into the hunters' ditch and are captured. Similarly, the man who becomes attached to the form of woman falls down into the deep well of material life and is destroyed.

The instruction received from the honey thief is that just as he steals the honey collected with great effort by the honeybee, a person in the renounced order of life has the privilege of enjoying before anyone else the food and other valuable things purchased by the hard-earned money of the householders.

The instruction from the deer is that just as he becomes confused upon hearing the song of the hunter's flute and loses his life, so also does any person who becomes attracted to mundane music and song uselessly waste his life.

The instruction learned from the fish is that because he comes under the sway of attachment to the sense of taste, he is caught on the baited fishhook and must die. Similarly, an unintelligent person who is victimized by his insatiable tongue will also end up losing his life.

The instruction received from prostitute Pingala is that hopes for sense gratification are the root cause of all suffering. Therefore, only one who has given up such hankering can fix himself in meditation upon the Personality of Godhead and achieve transcendental peace.

The instruction received from the kurara bird is that attachment creates misery, but the person who is unattached and has no material possessions is qualified to achieve unlimited happiness.

The avadhuta brahmana learned from the foolish, lazy child that by becoming free from anxiety a person becomes capable of worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead and experiencing supreme ecstasy.

The instruction received from the young girl who kept just one conchshell bracelet on each wrist is that one should remain alone and thus steady one's mind. Then only will it be possible for one to fix one's mind completely on the Personality of Godhead.

The avadhuta brahmana also received instruction from the arrow maker, who was so absorbed in constructing an arrow that he did not even notice that the king was passing right by him on the road. In the same way, one must strictly control one's mind, concentrating it in the worship of Lord Çré Hari.

The avadhuta brahmana learned from the serpent that a sage should wander alone, should not live in any prearranged place, should be always careful and grave, should not reveal his movements, should take assistance from no one and should speak little.

The instruction obtained from the spider, who spins his web from his mouth and then withdraws it, is that the Supreme Personality of Godhead similarly creates from out of Himself the whole universe and then winds it up into Himself.

From the weak insect who assumed the same form as the peshaskrit wasp, the avadhuta brahmana learned that the living entity, under the sway of affection, hatred and fear, attains in his next life the identity of that object upon which he fixes his intelligence.

From Srimad Bhagavatam (11.7, 11.8, 11.9)

The Glories of lighting lamp during the Month of Karttika

In the Skanda Purana it is said:

"By lighting another's lamp during the month of Karttika one attains the same result as if he had offered food on pitru-paksa or water on Jyaistha asadha.

"By serving the Vaishnavas and lighting the lamps they offer during the month of Karttika one attains the result of performing many rajasuya and asvamedha yajnas.

"O tiger of kings, a person who in Lord Krishna's temple lights the lamps that others will offer during the month of Karttika becomes free from the tortures of Yamaraja.

"O king of brahmanas, by lighting the lamps that others will offer during the month of Karttika one attains the result of having performed many great yajnas.

"Somehow or other a mouse once lit a lamp that someone offered on Ekadashi during the month of  Karttika. That mouse attained a rare human birth and then went to the supreme spiritual world.

Smelling the Incense and Flowers Offered to the Deity

In the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya there is a statement about the incense which is offered in the temple: "When the devotees smell the good flavor of the incense which is offered to the Deity, they thus become cured of the poisonous effects of material contamination, as much as one becomes cured of snakebite by smelling the prescribed medicinal herbs." The explanation of this verse is that there is an herb found in the jungles which expert persons know how to use to revive the consciousness of one who is bitten by a snake. Simply by smelling that herb one becomes immediately relieved of the poisonous effects of the snakebite. The same example is applicable: when a person comes to visit the temple and smells the incense offered to the Deity, he is cured at that time from all his material contamination.

It is stated in the Tantra-sastra, "If the smell of the garland which was offered to the Deity in the temple enters into a person's nostrils, immediately his bondage to sinful activities becomes cleared. And even if one has no sinful activities, still, by smelling such remnants of flowers, one can advance from Mayavadi [impersonalist] to devotee." There are several instances of this, a prime one being the advancement of the four Kumaras. They were impersonalist Mayavadis, but after smelling the remnants of flowers and incense in the temple, they turned to become devotees. From the above verse it appears that the Mayavadis, or impersonalists, are more or less contaminated. They are not pure.

It is confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam, "One who has not washed off all reactions of sinful activities cannot be a pure devotee. A pure devotee has no more doubts about the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead, and thus he engages himself in Krishna consciousness and devotional service."

A similar statement is in the Agastya-samhita: just to purify the impurities of our nostrils, we should try to smell the remnants of flowers offered to Krishna in the temple.

Jhulan Yatra 2011

History of Human Races

SB 2.4.18

Kirata: A province of old Bharata-varsha mentioned in the Bhishma-parva of Mahabharata. Generally the Kiratas are known as the aboriginal tribes of India, and in modern days the Santal Parganas in Bihar and Chota Nagpur might comprise the old province named Kirata.

Huna: The area of East Germany and part of Russia is known as the province of the Hunas. Accordingly, sometimes a kind of hill tribe is known as the Hunas.

Andhra: A province in southern India mentioned in the Bhishma-parva of Mahabharata. It is still extant under the same name.

Pulinda: It is mentioned in the Mahabharata (Adi-parva 174.38), viz., the inhabitants of the province of the name Pulinda. This country was conquered by Bhimasena and Sahadeva. The Greeks are known as Pulindas, and it is mentioned in the Vana-parva of Mahabharata that the non-Vedic race of this part of the world would rule over the world. This Pulinda province was also one of the provinces of Bharata, and the inhabitants were classified amongst the kshatriya kings. But later on, due to their giving up the brahminical culture, they were mentioned as mlecchas (just as those who are not followers of the Islamic culture are called kafirs and those who are not followers of the Christian culture are called heathens).

Abhira: This name also appears in the Mahabharata, both in the Sabha-parva and Bhishma-parva. It is mentioned that this province was situated on the River Sarasvati in Sind. The modern Sind province formerly extended on the other side of the Arabian Sea, and all the inhabitants of that province were known as the Abhiras. They were under the domination of Maharaja Yudhishthira, and according to the statements of Markandeya the mlecchas of this part of the world would also rule over Bharata. Later on this proved to be true, as in the case of the Pulindas. On behalf of the Pulindas, Alexander the Great conquered India, and on behalf of the Abhiras, Muhammad Ghori conquered India. These Abhiras were also formerly kshatriyas within the brahminical culture, but they gave up the connection. The kshatriyas who were afraid of Parasurama and had hidden themselves in the Caucasian hilly regions later on became known as the Abhiras, and the place they inhabited was known as Abhiradesa.

Sumbhas or Kankas: The inhabitants of the Kanka province of old Bharata, mentioned in the Mahabharata.

Yavanas: Yavana was the name of one of the sons of Maharaja Yayati who was given the part of the world known as Turkey to rule. Therefore the Turks are Yavanas due to being descendants of Maharaja Yavana. The Yavanas were therefore kshatriyas, and later on, by giving up the brahminical culture, they became mleccha-yavanas. Descriptions of the Yavanas are in the Mahabharata (Adi-parva 85.34). Another prince called Turvasu was also known as Yavana, and his country was conquered by Sahadeva, one of the Pandavas. The western Yavana joined with Duryodhana in the Battle of Kurukshetra under the pressure of Karna. It is also foretold that these Yavanas also would conquer India, and it proved to be true.

Khasa: The inhabitants of the Khasadesa are mentioned in the Mahabharata (Drona-parva). Those who have a stunted growth of hair on the upper lip are generally called Khasas. As such, the Khasa are the Mongolians, the Chinese and others who are so designated.

Killing of the witch Putana

When Lord Krishna was playing the part of a tiny baby of mother Yashoda and Nanda maharaj the demoness Putana one day appeared in the house of Nanda Maharaj, dressed as a beautiful woman. She appeared so very charming, that mother Yashoda had no hesitation in placing Baby Krishna in her lap, to be breastfed. Putana had spread a very powerful poison on her breasts and she was hoping that as soon as He would suck her breast He would die. But Krishna was so merciful that even though He knew Putana was there to kill Him, He took her as his nurse or mother, and along with her milk; sucked out her life air. As she died screaming, she assumed her real fierce form.

Our great Acaryas explain that Putana represents the false or misleading guru. They sometimes possess great material opulence, or a high level of scholarship or some mystic powers.

Such persons sometimes present themselves as our well wisher and as representatives of God. However unless they are properly surrendered to the authorized system that God has given, they are like witches.

Thus Krishna enacted this pastimes to warn us against such witches who bewitch us through their powers, who gain our trust and then steal Krishna from our hearts.

Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Birthday 2010