Krishna Path

No matter how expert a swimmer a person may be, he can not survive of his own in the rough and vast expanses of the ocean. So our attempt to swim the ocean of the material life on our strength, encouraged by our body, family and friend, is as futile as the attempt of the lone swimmer at sea we should return to our only redeemer the lord Krishna and with utmost sincerity thanks him for coming to save us.

Hare Krishna

Once our savior has been seen, the whole earth becomes no greater than a speck of dust, all the waters of the ocean become mere droplets, the totality of fire becomes a minute spark, the winds become just a faint sigh, and the expanse of space becomes a tiny hole. Great lords like Rudra and Grandfather Brahmā become insignificant, and all the demigods become like small insects. Indeed, even one particle of dust from our Lord's feet conquers all.

Lord Krishna is unlimited: no one is greater than or equal to Him. Therefore it is impossible to compare Him with anyone else, even if we wish to make a favorable comparison. He is unique. Everything depends on Him, and He is the only provider (eko bahūnāḿ yo vidadhāti kāmān). Therefore to say that God is greater than all others is insufficient praise.

But to bring the reality of the Godhead more vividly to focus in our limited minds (which are always prone to making compar isons), King Kulaśekhara here gives us metaphors that stress the supreme greatness of the Lord. He compares the Supreme Lord to persons and things we might think are the very greatest. Those who reject the personal conception of God, such as pantheists, think that the earth itself is God. Some impersonalists think that the sky is the greatest manifestation, and so they consider it to be God. Demigod-worshipers consider Rudra or Brahmā the supreme person, or they think all gods are equal. Thus Kulaśekhara's metaphors serve to dismantle all these misconceptions.

This verse expresses King Kulaśekhara's mood of awe and reverence as he contemplates the Supreme Lord's magnificent power and opulence. Many pure bhaktas go beyond this appreciation of the Lord in His opulent majesty and come to enjoy intimate loving exchanges with Him. But regardless of one's ultimate relationship with the Lord, when one starts one's devotional career, one must be trained to appreciate the greatness of the Supreme Lord. Therefore in the Bhagavad-Gita(9.8) Krishna teaches His friend Arjuna, "The whole cosmic order is under Me. Under My will it is automatically manifested again and again, and under My will it is annihilated at the end."

Because the Supreme Lord's potencies are unlimited, they are also inconceivable. For example, Kṛṣṇa creates all the species of life and yet He has no connection with them. The jīva souls have no awareness of how the cosmic process is taking place, yet by the will of the Lord they are sometimes supplied bodies, allowed to maintain themselves for awhile, and then, without their knowledge or control, they are annihilated. But He whose will directs all these changes is not involved with it.

Glorifying the Lord as King Kulaśekhara does in this prayer awakens in us the proper mood of appreciation for the Lord's greatness and also helps us understand our position as His insignificant servants.

·         Krishna consciousness is the process of eternal life. The process is simple and the results are sublime. You follow it and you will be happy in this life as well as in the next.

·         The success of human life is considered when one fully surrenders his life, his wealth, his intelligence and his words for the benefit of the Lord.

·         If we supply nice nutritious foodstuff to the stomach, it is better for all the senses. Similarly, to serve Krishna more nicely is better for our own interests. Krishna is not in need of our service but if we sacrifice everything for Krishna, that is for our good. You should always remember this maxim.

·         A devotee always accepts his distress as minimized by God’s Mercy, although he would have to suffer many more times the suffering. Any one who accepts this philosophy of God’s Mercy in suffering conditions, and still makes progress in Krishna Consciousness, it is said that he is sure to go back to Home, Back to Godhead.

·         A school life isn’t an impediment for becoming full time devotee, it is the question of devoting oneself sincerely to Krishna Consciousness. To prosecute Krishna Consciousness there is no limitation, no material impediment can stop progress of Krishna Consciousness. That is the symptom of spiritual life. Spiritual life doesn’t depend on material conditions.

·         In the material world, the gold box and the gold plated box may be different in price, but in spiritual world there is no such distinction. There the gold box and the gold plated box are the same. In material world there is difference between a sweeper and a cook; in the spiritual world a person who sweeps the temple and a person who worships in the temple are all the same. That is absolute knowledge.

·         Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu represented Himself as a very foolish disciple even though He proved Himself as the greatest scholar and was actually Krishna Himself. So one who feels humble and meek has the door for the Kingdom of God opened for him or her.

·         We should never sit idly and ask Krishna to do everything. That is the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita. It is clearly said in the Gita: “Yuddhasya ca mam anusmara [Bg. 8.7].” So ordinarily, we have to try our best to our best capacity to achieve something, and by Krishna’s Grace, all of a sudden we shall see everything is there. This sort of help from Krishna is transcendental happiness.

·         The faith increases in Krishna Consciousness by our voluntary increase of serving Krishna. Serving Krishna is unlimited and he can accept our unlimited service, and award us unlimited transcendental pleasure in the unlimited service of the Lord. That is the meaning of unlimited.

·         Maya will attack the body always, because the body itself is the source of all troubles. We try to make a solution of our misfortunes, but at the same time we want to keep this body. People do not understand the simple truth that if anyone wants real happiness, he has to get out of the entanglements of this material body,which is only possible by practice of Krishna Consciousness.

·         The real purpose of married life is to live together peacefully, execute Krishna Consciousness, bring up children in Krishna Consciousness, so they will not again have to enter into this world of birth and death.

·         Practical devotion is the secret to understanding the Sastras. My Guru Maharaja used to say that for one who is not engaged in devotional service, reading all the books is simply like licking the outside of the honey jar. One who thinks the books are the thing is content in this way. But we should learn the secret to open the jar and taste the honey. In this way, if we can simply understand one book, or one sloka, the perfection is there.