Prabhupāda gave the example that the painful part is that you force pride, force ego, to try to be something which you are not. You try to take up some special role, and you are yourself thinking you are that. In the association of devotees, it becomes exposed, and that is the pain. But it is very helpful. Because these loving exchanges between devotees—actually, Prabhupāda said that he started this society, this ISKCON, just to make arrangements that devotees can have these six loving exchanges between themselves:
dadāti pratigṛhṇāti guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati
bhuṅkte bhojayate caiva ṣaḍ-vidhaṁ prīti-lakṣaṇam
Rūpa Gosvāmī says that loving exchanges between devotees is giving gifts in charity, or accepting charity gifts, and revealing one's mind in confidence, or inquiring confidentially, and distributing prasāda and receiving prasāda. In this kind of program, in this kind of environment, Svarūpa Dāmodara Prabhu kindly invited us here, back, and it is so nice to see this yajña going on in Köpenhamn. From different places, the devotees come together, and they try to support each other, help each other to rise to higher and higher levels of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I would like to read from Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, ninth chapter, "The Most Confidential Knowledge," and here is text 13. I will read the Sanskrit myself.
Q: 9.13?
A: 13.
mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha
daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam
Kṛṣṇa is speaking to Arjuna. Translation: "O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible." And then we have the purport by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda kī jaya. "In this verse the description of the mahātmā is clearly given. The first sign of the mahātmā is that he is already situated in the divine nature. He is not under the control of material nature. And how is this effected? That is explained in the seventh chapter: one who surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, at once becomes free from the control of the material nature. That is the qualification. One can become free from the control of material nature as soon as his surrender is so to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the preliminary formula. Being marginal potency, as soon as the living entity is free from the control of material nature, he is put under the guidance of the spiritual nature. The guidance of the spiritual nature is called daivī prakṛti, the divine nature. So, when one is promoted in that way by surrendering to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one attains to the stage of a great soul, mahātmā. The mahātmā does not divert his attention to anything outside Kṛṣṇa, because he knows perfectly well that Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes. There is no doubt about it. Such a mahātmā, or great soul, develops through association with other mahātmās, pure devotees. Pure devotees are not even attracted by Kṛṣṇa's other features, such as the four-armed Mahā-Viṣṇu. They are simply attracted by the two-armed form of Kṛṣṇa. They are not attracted to other features of Kṛṣṇa, nor are they concerned with any form of demigods, or of a human being. They meditate only upon Kṛṣṇa in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They are always engaged in the unswerving service of the Lord in Kṛṣṇa consciousness."
The verse again:
mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha
daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam
"O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible."
Śrīla Prabhupāda here speaks about how we belong to the marginal energy of the Lord, or taṭastha-śakti. And antarāṅga-śakti is the internal potency of the Lord, and bahirāṅga-śakti is the external energy of the Lord. We have all the time, in a very practical way, in our daily life, the choice to take shelter of the daivī prakṛti, as it is explained here, and become a mahātmā, a great soul, fully engaged in devotional service. But we can also make the choice to take shelter of bahirāṅga-śakti, material nature, and immediately we come under the dualities of this material world, all the time struggling with heat and cold, happiness and distress, fame and infamy, and so on, up and down, up and down. But when you surrender to Kṛṣṇa, as Prabhupāda recommends here, and fully take shelter in devotional service, we can experience that we can go beyond the material nature, beyond the three modes of material nature, and come to the transcendental platform. It is like an airplane lifting from the airport, going through the clouds, and then after some time breaking through the clouds. Suddenly, on a cloudy day, the sun comes, and it is a beautiful, blue sky. It is just like this. One can compare that to when one just breaks through the three modes of material nature, and is not under the control anymore of the lower energy, material nature. That is the opportunity, and as we said in the beginning, in the association of devotees. This is, haribol, Anatoly? Haribol. This is such a wonderful opportunity. We saw Śrīla Prabhupāda when he arrived in New York City in 1965, and he was struggling alone. It is so heartbreaking when you read Śrīla Prabhupāda's Līlāmṛta, what Prabhupāda had to go through in his life, beginning from the very beginning in the 1920s when he met Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Mahārāja at the Ultadanga Junction Road temple in Calcutta and got that mission: "You are an educated young man, why don't you preach Caitanya Mahāprabhu's message to the English-speaking people?"
After that, he was struggling, and he was working so hard for many, many years, and then, at his old age, he came to New York. He stayed for some time at the Bowery, and the audience was mainly hippies coming and listening. But Prabhupāda was always so eager to engage them, some way or other, to involve them in devotional service. I remember when he was staying there at the loft, some devotee was interested in cooking, so Prabhupāda immediately started a cooking course. Some other was interested in Sanskrit, so Prabhupāda immediately started a Sanskrit course, just to involve them, to engage them. And in prasāda distribution, as soon as someone tried to assist him, immediately he gave them responsibilities and engaged them in service. In the beginning, Prabhupāda did everything himself, and he was just so humble, accepting that role. He was cooking, and he was also cleaning up afterwards, washing the dishes. Then, when one guest asked, "Can we assist, can we help you clean?" Prabhupāda was very happy with that. Prabhupāda was expert in engaging others in devotional service, because that is the practical way how we can break through the clouds, as we spoke about, the three modes of material nature, and come to the transcendental platform under the shelter of the daivī prakṛti, the divine energy. I was reading the other day about the Kāliya serpent, Kṛṣṇa's līlā, and such a wonderful pastime. It is actually the only demon that Kṛṣṇa didn't ultimately kill. Kāliya surrendered to the Lord and went through really difficult, heavy purification, really severe purification, but became completely humble and surrendered completely to Kṛṣṇa at that point. I also want to say something about that. This is from the chapter called "Subduing Kāliya," chapter 16 in the Kṛṣṇa Book, where Śukadeva Gosvāmī is speaking to Mahārāja Parīkṣit. In the middle of the Yamunā river was a very big lake, and Kāliya, the serpent, had taken shelter in that lake. He was very poisonous, with very concentrated poison, which meant the whole lake became full of poison. It was concentrated poison, so much so that it is described that even if a bird flew over that lake, it fell dead because of the fumes coming up from the poisonous lake. He was a black serpent, and the trees and grass around the lake were also just dried out and dead. There was one kadamba tree, explained there, that was the only tree that was alive. Kadamba trees have beautiful yellow flowers. Kṛṣṇa saw this situation, and He wanted to help. It is described how Kṛṣṇa climbed up this kadamba tree which was bending over the Yamunā river, and He was tightening His belt, and then He was ready to jump into the lake. When He jumped in, it is described it was a very big splash, although Kṛṣṇa had a seemingly fragile body, like a little innocent boy. But the effect of His entering and jumping into the lake was that the water was overflowing. Kāliya immediately understood, "I am under attack," and he came out furious, attacking. It is described that when Kāliya saw Kṛṣṇa, although being completely angry and furious—"You are entering my home, my abode, get out!"—there was also some short appreciation for Kṛṣṇa's beauty. That was, of course, auspicious, and that is why he also got mercy later on. He appreciated Kṛṣṇa's lotus eyes, His Śyāmasundara, beautiful, transcendental body. But still, what he did, he attacked Kṛṣṇa with his coils, wrapping Kṛṣṇa around with his coils. The cowherd boys saw the situation, and they were just stunned with fear. Because the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana are so attached to Kṛṣṇa—He is their life and soul, He is everything for them—when they saw Kṛṣṇa in that situation, wrapped in the coils of Kāliya, they fell on the ground, stunned with fear. They could only cry and cry, and they thought that now Kṛṣṇa would leave them. At the same time, there were bad omens visible. The earth was trembling, meteors fell from the sky, and there were different indications of immediate danger. Nanda Mahārāja, Yaśodā, and the other inhabitants of Vṛndāvana were on another side, and when they saw these omens, they became full of anxiety and fear, thinking that maybe something had happened to Kṛṣṇa. On this day Balarāma had not come with Kṛṣṇa to the forest, so they immediately thought, "Balarāma is not there, Kṛṣṇa is in danger, He is not protected as He should be."
It is described how they followed the path to the lake, and they saw Kṛṣṇa's lotus footprints with the symbols. When they arrived there and saw Kṛṣṇa in the coils of Kāliya, Mother Yaśodā immediately wanted to run out and save Kṛṣṇa, but they stopped her. Balarāma was now present, and He was actually smiling because He knew that it was nothing. But because of the pastime, He let it go on for some time, with this intense anxiety from the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana. Mother Yaśodā tried to reach out to Kṛṣṇa, but they stopped her, and then she fainted. Do you know how they woke her up? The method they used was they spoke and repeated the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa very loudly in her ear, and then she woke up. Nanda Mahārāja and the other cowherd men also wanted to go in, but Balarāma stopped them. It was such an intense scene. And the wonderful thing is that Kṛṣṇa, in the coils of Kāliya, was glancing over the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana so lovingly that their hearts melted. You can just imagine this feeling: you think you are dying at any moment, and He is just glancing towards you and smiling so lovingly. That just increased their attachment, love, and devotion for the Lord. This was going on for two hours—a long time. These are transcendental emotions, transcendental feelings. These are the real feelings. The feelings of this world are coming and going, but transcendental feelings, from those who are mahātmās, who are liberated souls like the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana—they are always fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just by seeing Kṛṣṇa smiling towards them, they remember how kind Kṛṣṇa has been to them, how Kṛṣṇa has been speaking to them so sweetly, and what pastimes of Kṛṣṇa they were experiencing. They were experiencing these intense emotions. When Kṛṣṇa saw that they were on the border of death because of being so full of anxiety, He started expanding Himself. Kāliya desperately tried to wrap Kṛṣṇa, but as Kṛṣṇa expanded Himself, Kāliya couldn't control the situation. He became very frustrated. Kāliya became angry and tried to grab Kṛṣṇa, but Kṛṣṇa became looser and looser. It is described how Kāliya at this point exhaled poisonous fumes from his nostrils, and his eyes were blazing like fire. But he became more and more tired trying to control Kṛṣṇa, working so hard, trying to finish Him off, so he became more and more tired. It is also very beautifully described that Kṛṣṇa at this point jumped up on one of the hoods of Kāliya. Kāliya had very valuable jewels on his heads—there were one hundred heads—and Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet are a beautiful, reddish color. When Kṛṣṇa was on the heads of Kāliya, the jewels were shining so beautifully, and Kṛṣṇa started to dance from head to head. It was a beautiful scene. His lotus feet tinged with red, and the jewels shining. The denizens of the heavenly planets observed this, and the devas, the demigods, were watching this in amazement. It was a wonderful, beautiful scene, with the anxiety of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, while Kṛṣṇa was just having His wonderful pastime. They started to shower flowers, the devas, over Kṛṣṇa when He was dancing on the Kāliya serpent. We can just imagine the scene, how beautiful it was and how dramatic it was, with such transcendental emotions and feelings going on. They were also beating drums, and it is described they were playing on different flutes—very, very beautiful music—and they started to chant mantras and hymns, and different kinds of prayers. This was going on while this dancing was going on on the hoods of Kāliya. Kāliya struggled, and he tried to bite Kṛṣṇa with his heads, again and again, with his mouth. He tried to kill Him by biting Him, but Kṛṣṇa, expertly and innocently, jumped aside to the next head, the next, and the next. It was just so playful for Him. He continued to look at the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana—Nanda, Yaśodā, the other cowherd men, cowherd girls, and so on—smiling. It was a very special scene. Now, Kāliya started to throw up. That is a part of the purification; he started to throw up all kinds of poison. By throwing up, he became more and more purified. Maybe we experience this when we go through something difficult in devotional service. Due to external circumstances, we are all put into tests, different situations, all of us, without exception. When we are in the middle of it, it is generally very painful, very painful. The other day I actually had something in my elbow. It became frozen, and it was extremely painful, extremely painful. I could not sleep for three days. I could not lie down. It was, one can say, minor hellish. But when you go through it, and now, a few days later, first of all, you feel so grateful that it is some better now, and you can feel the effect of how purifying it is. I was crying for Kṛṣṇa's mercy. I thought, "I cannot go to Köpenhamn in this situation." I was crying for mercy. I think we will have that experience when we go through some difficulties in our spiritual life: when we get some distance from it, we can also feel, "It was good for me. I needed that. It helped me to wake up, helped me to come to a higher understanding, or become more sincere."
Kāliya started vomiting, and he became purified gradually, gradually. After some time, the poison was not there anymore, and blood started to come instead. He was vomiting blood more and more, and he was very close to death. His wives, the Nāgapatnīs, saw the situation, and they understood Kṛṣṇa's position; they understood He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So they immediately offered obeisances, and they offered beautiful prayers to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa became very pleased by this. They were praying for him. That is also very significant and important, if we have devotee friends, if we have well-wishers who are praying for us. It is very important. Kṛṣṇa notices when someone is praying for us. Sometimes we might say, "You should pray for me." But if you really get the prayers from devotees, it is very, very powerful. So, for Kāliya, this happened. Kṛṣṇa was very merciful to the wives who were supporting their demoniac husband. Kṛṣṇa saw their hearts. Ultimately, this is what is important: Kṛṣṇa is bhāva-grāhī janārdanaḥ. He sees our intention; He sees what we want, how we approach Him. He saw their hearts. At this point, Kāliya was unconscious, but by the purification and by the mercy of the Lord to the wives, He woke up, and then he offered prayers to the Lord. I will read briefly what he said. Kāliya humbly prayed: "My dear Lord, I have been born in such a species that by nature I am angry and envious, being in the darkest region of the mode of ignorance, tamo-guṇa. I am born as a serpent; by nature, I am very angry. It is very difficult to get out of the clutches of Your māyā. By Your māyā we remain enslaved."
As we all experience, we are enslaved in different degrees by māyā, and it is not easy to come out. "My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, kindly excuse me for my demoniac activities. I surrender unto You completely."
And then he expresses beautifully: "Now You can punish me or save me as You desire. It is up to You, my Lord."
Kṛṣṇa responded in a very merciful way. He was firm, very clear, and He said, "You must immediately leave this place and go to the ocean." He came from the ocean, where he had his place of living, so, "Go back there, and you should leave now without delay. You should take your offspring, your wives, and all your belongings, and do not pollute the Yamunā." These were firm, clear instructions. Kṛṣṇa said, "No one should fear Kāliya any longer." Kṛṣṇa also assured Kāliya—knowing he came to this lake in the Yamunā out of fear of Garuḍa—"You came here out of fear of Garuḍa. After seeing the marks where I have touched your head with My feet, Garuḍa will not disturb you."
He was dancing, and by His mercy, these marks were still there for his whole existence, and Garuḍa would see that and would not touch him. Kṛṣṇa was very pleased with Kāliya, very pleased with the wives. It is explained in the Kṛṣṇa Book that Kāliya and his wives worshipped Kṛṣṇa. They offered different things, like nice garments, flower garlands, jewels, ornaments, sandalwood pulp, lotus flowers, and nice fruits. They were offered with so much love and devotion, because at this point they were just so grateful. They understood that Kṛṣṇa was so kind to them, and after this painful purification that Kāliya went through, and the wives having to experience all of this, seeing their husband in this situation, they were now completely relieved. They thought, "Kṛṣṇa is wonderful. Kṛṣṇa is so kind. He is our Lord, He is our master, and we are His servants." Then they just left and went back. We know that the demons in Kṛṣṇa-līlā represent different kinds of anarthas. Kāliya represents a few things, and it is interesting, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura describes that hearing these pastimes is so powerful; just by hearing these līlās, it can help us be free from these anarthas. Kāliya represents first of all pride. I guess we are struggling with that, to different degrees. Pride can really block our progress sometimes. Pride can go away if we just take shelter of Kṛṣṇa. Here, Kāliya was getting the mercy. He also represents deceit—in Swedish we say svek—and brutality, and also cruelty. It is so special to be among devotees. As we said in the beginning, that is our greatest fortune, to be in the association of devotees. Svarūpa Dāmodara Prabhu kindly invited us all here. Beautiful kīrtana first. It is so simple, such a wonderful culture. Kali-yuga is such a complicated time, and the process is so simple: just sitting down, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, with a beautiful melody, so attractive. And hearing it. Sometimes we have to struggle a little, but gradually, just being in the association of devotees, our minds become more and more purified, and we can appreciate the devotees. Being grateful that we have devotee friends, we can try to develop more and more of these loving exchanges with each other in the service of the devotees. Thank you very much. Maybe there is something we can discuss about this, or reflections, thoughts, comments?
Q: I was wondering, from your experience working with children, can you recommend something that would benefit preschool-aged children in the kindergarten? I am working in a kindergarten. What could I do working with them in a subtle way? Of course, I cannot sing the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. What could be done that would help them spiritually? I do some sneaky things, like sometimes I offer prasāda and give that to them. They eat the prasāda, but I do not always have that chance. Generally, in such daily work, what can we do?
A: Actually, most of the students I meet are around eighteen or nineteen years old, in their last year of gymnasium. I do not have so much experience with younger children, though I have children myself, so I have some experience from that. But just by you being a well-wisher, giving