While Kṛṣṇa was engaged in tending the cows in the forest of Vṛndāvana or on Govardhana Hill, the gopīs in the village were always absorbed in thinking of Him and discussing His different pastimes. This is the perfect example of Kṛṣṇa consciousness: to somehow or other remain always engrossed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa. The vivid example is always present in the behavior of the gopīs; therefore Lord Caitanya declared that no one can worship the Supreme Lord by any method which is better than the method of the gopīs. The gopīs were not born in very high brāhmaṇa or kṣatriya families; they were born in the families of vaiśyas, and not in big mercantile communities but in the families of cowherd men. They were not very well educated, although they heard all sorts of knowledge from the brāhmaṇas, the authorities of Vedic knowledge. The gopīs’ only purpose was to remain always absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa.

http://www.theharekrishnamovement.com/krishna

We should simply depend on Krishna consciousness, because if we live Krishna consciously under all circumstances, we shall not return to this material world (apunar bhava-darsanam). If we repeatedly think of Krishna, see Krishna, read of Krishna, work for Krishna, and somehow or other remain in Krishna consciousness, we benefit in such a way that we shall be saved from taking birth again in the material world. That is true benefit. But if we become a little comfortable because of other, materialistic engagements and we forget Krishna and have to take birth again, then what is our benefit? We should be very careful about this. We should act in such a way that our Krishna consciousness can under no circumstances be disturbed, even if there is heavy suffering. That is the instruction of Kuntidevi.

Before winning the Battle of Kuruksetra, all the Pandavas were put into many dangers, as already described in the previous verses. They were given poison, they were put into a house of lac that was later set afire, and sometimes they were even confronted with great man-eating demons. They lost their kingdom, they lost their wife, they lost their prestige, and they were exiled to the forest. But throughout all those dangers, Krishna was there. When the Kauravas were trying to strip Draupadi naked, Krishna was there supplying cloth to protect her honor. Krishna was always there.

Therefore, when the Pandavas went to see their grandfather, Bhismadeva, on his deathbed, Bhismadeva began to cry. “These boys, my grandsons, are all very pious,” he said. “Maharaja Yudhisthira, the oldest of the brothers, is the most pious person. He is even called Dharmaraja, the king of religion. Bhima and Arjuna are both devotees, and they are such powerful heroes that they can kill thousands of men. Their wife, Draupadi, is directly the goddess of fortune, and it has been enjoined that wherever she is, there will be no scarcity of food. Thus they all form a wonderful combination, and moreover, Lord Krishna is always with them. But still they are suffering.” Thus he began to cry, saying, “I do not know what is Krishna’s arrangement, because such pious devotees are also suffering.”

Therefore, we should not think, “Because I have become a devotee, there will be no danger or suffering.” Prahlada Maharaja suffered greatly, and so did other devotees like the Pandavas and Haridasa Thakura. But we should not be disturbed by such sufferings. We must have firm faith, firm conviction, knowing, “Krishna is present, and He will give me protection.” Don’t try to take the benefit of any shelter other than Krishna. Always take to Krishna.

In Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna says, kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati: “My dear Arjuna, you may declare to the world that My devotee is never vanquished.” Now, one may ask, why did Krishna advise Arjuna to declare this? Why did He not declare it Himself? The answer is that if Krishna Himself made this declaration, it might be suspect, because Krishna sometimes violates His own promise. But the promise of a devotee will never be violated. This is Krishna’s concern. “Oh, My devotee has declared this. I must see that his word is kept.” This is Krishna’s position because of His affection for His devotee. Therefore Lord Krishna said, “You declare it. If I declare it, people may not believe it, but if you declare it they will believe you because you are a devotee.” Even though Krishna may break His own promise, He wants to see that the promises of His devotees are fulfilled.

Therefore, we must take to Krishna consciousness and adhere to this consciousness under all circumstances, even in the most dangerous position. We must keep our faith in Krishna’s lotus feet, and then there will be no danger.

Increase Krishna Consciousness and There Will Be No More Anxiety

“So our Krsna consciousness movement is for that purpose. Increase Krsna consciousness and there will be no more kuntha, no more anxiety. People are trying to be anxiety-less, and that is only possible by this movement. Put always in touch with Krsna. And the method is very simple- Hare Krsna. That’s all.”

“I surrender unto the lotus feet of Sri Nityananda Rama, who is known as Sankarsana in the midst of the catur-vyuha consisting of Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. He possesses full opulences and resides in Vaikunthaloka, far beyond the material creation.”

Prabhupada:

mayatite vyapi-vaikuntha-loke
purnaisvarye sri-catur-vyuha-madhye
rupam yasya udbhati sankarsanakhyam
tam sri-nityananda-ramam prapadye

So identification of Nityananda Prabhu. So He is the second Sankarsana also. The first Sankarsana… From Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, four, quadruple expansions of Balarama… Then, from Sankarsana, first Sankarsana, the Narayana, four-handed Narayana, that is the next expansion, and again, from Narayana, there is another quadruple expansion, second Sankarsana, Vasudeva, Pradyumna. So the second Sankarsana also is expansion of Nityananda Rama, Balarama. So where is this Vaikunthaloka? It is rather imprudent to inquire because we cannot calculate even this material world, what is the length and breadth of this universe. This is only one universe. This is called mayika brahmananda. Mayika means shadow. Shadow… Shadow is existing on account of the real. So therefore it is called maya. Just like the example is, in your country, in the window, there are many nice model, beautiful women standing or a man standing, nicely dressed, but that is not real man or woman. That is shadow. That is called maya. This is the example of maya. Maya means it is not fact, but it appears like fact. That is called maya. Another example is… Just like the mirage, water in the desert. Actually there is no water, but it appears that there is water. The foolish animals, they run after this water, but there is no water. Simply running after will o’ the wisp, phantasmagoria.

So every one of us in this material world- hankering after happiness. Everyone is trying to be happy. But it is like the same, that there is no water in the desert, and still, the foolish animal running after it.

So this whole material creation is like that. The creator of this universe, Krsna, He says, duhkhalayam asasvatam: [Bg. 8.15] “This is the place for suffering.” And you are seeking after happiness. Just like in the prison house: it is the place for suffering, and if you want to be comfortable, this is called maya. Maya-sukhaya bharam udvahato vimudhan [SB 7.9.43]. The whole world is running after happiness what is not possible. Therefore they have been described as vimudhan, rascal. We sometimes use this word very frequently, “rascals,” and they become angry. But actually that is the description, “rascals.” All these so-called civilized men, so-called civilized men, they are not men even. They’re all animals. But in the sastra, they have been described as dvi-pada-pasu. They are animals, but they have got two legs. That’s all. That is the difference. Animals, generally, they have four legs, catus-pada, but these animals are two-legged. That is the difference. They’re animals because… The same example: In the desert there is no water, and the animal is running after it. Why he’s called animal? Because he does not understand that “In the desert, how there can be water?”

So Vidyapati has sung a song, tatala saikate, vari-bindu-sama, suta-mitra-ramani-samaje. We are trying to be happy here in this material world- how? Suta-mitra-ramani-samaje. Suta means children. Mitra means friends. Society, friendship and love, wife, children… Tata… So one may say, “Unless there is no happiness, how they are struggling for this suta-mitra-ramani-samaja?” So Vidyapati says, “Yes, there is happiness.” Certainly there is happiness. Otherwise why these vimudhan, foolish people, running after it? So he says that the value of their happiness is a proportion of a drop of water in the desert. Tatala saikate. Tatala means, very hot, and saikate means sand. Those who have seen desert, they have got experience how it is intolerable during sunshine, vast, I mean to say, tract of land with sand. So naturally they require water. So if somebody says, “Yes, I’ll give you water,” and a drop of water… What is called? Proportionate, token. It is called token. “Yes, you want water. Take this water, drop.” “What this water will do? This is desert. I want ocean of water and you are giving me drop of water? What is the value?” So still, we are seeking water there. Therefore it is rightly said, tatala saikate, vari-bindu-sama. Vari-bindu. Suta-mitra-ramani-samaje.

dehapatya-kalatradisu
atma-sainyesu asatsv api
pramattah tasya nidhanam
pasyann api na pasyati

Dehapatya-kalatradisu. This body, deha, apatya, children; kalatra, wife; adisu, with all these things… Then again extend. From children, you get… You get them married. Then again extension- daughter-in-law, son-in-law, grandson. In this way, we are increasing our so-called happiness. Atma-sainyesu. And we are thinking that “These surrounding friends–society, friends and love, nation–will give me protection.” In our country, we have seen. Gandhi struggled so, mean, hard for getting independence, thinking that “We’ll be happy.” But Gandhi himself was killed.

So this is called maya. You try to understand maya. Maya means where there is no happiness, no fact, and still, we are struggling for it. This is called maya. Try to understand what is maya. Maya-sukhaya bharam udvahato vimudhan [SB 7.9.43]. Prahlada Maharaja says. Actually there is no fact, and still, we are struggling for it. The whole universe is like that. Even you are situated as Brahma or you are situated as an ordinary insignificant ant, this struggle for existence is going on. So Prahlada Maharaja says that “These rascals, they are struggling for existence for happiness which is not possible in this material world. And beyond this struggling atmosphere of material world, maya atite…” Atite. Atite means beyond. Mayatite vyapi-vaikuntha-loke. There is another world. That is also informed in the Bhagavad-gita. Parah tasmad tu bhava anyah ‘vyaktavyaktat sanatanah. There is another bhava. Bhava means nature. Just like this is nature. We have got experience, the maya. Maya nature means here our main aim is to find out happiness. That is… Because we are spirit soul, part and parcel of Krsna, sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1] Krsna, so we are also minute sac-cid-ananda. Our existence is like that. But because we are very small, therefore that, I mean to say, quality, sat, becomes sometimes extinguished. The example is just like the spark of the fire. It is fire. A spark from the fire falls on your body. As soon as it falls it will burn that small pointlike place. So it has got the same quality. But as soon as it comes out of the fire, it becomes extinguished–no more fire. It is carbon. Again take it and put it in the fire, then again it is fire. So our position is like that. We are factually of the same quality, sac-cid-ananda. So our falling down in this material world from Krsna means we lose our identity of eternity. It becomes covered. Just like the same small spark. It is fire, but it is now extinguished, cinder, just like coal, cinder. So long it is with the original fire, it is also burning, but if you take it and keep it aside, then it becomes ashes. So this is our position. And we are struggling here. We have lost the fiery quality, and still, we are trying to be fire. This is called maya existence.

So there is another world. That information is given here. Mayatite vyapi. Vyapi means very extensive. This whole material world is one-fourth of Krsna’s expansion, one-fourth. And that Vaikunthaloka is three-fourths. So therefore it is called vyapi. Vyapi means very extensive. We cannot calculate even this material existence. It is only one-fourth. Now, how it will be possible for us to calculate the vyapi vaikuntha-loka? Vyapi-vaikuntha-loka. Vaikuntha means… Vi means without, and kuntha means anxiety. So Vaikunthaloka means there is no anxiety. There is no anxiety. Here we are full of anxieties in this material… Even big, big businessman, who has got enough money, you’ll find he is in anxiety. He’s always thinking, “How this business will go on? How this, maintain so many men?”

I have seen it that our printer, Dai Nippon, the president, when we, for the temporary, we stopped our business, he was full of anxiety. Yes. Now they have agreed to reduce ten percent more than any printer. Why? He was full of anxiety. (laughter) This is the fact. So don’t think that very big, big businessman or one who has got enough money, he has no anxiety. Anxiety there should be. This is the place of anxiety, kuntha. Prahlada Maharaja pointed it out that tat sadhu manye ‘sura-varya dehinam sada samudvigna-dhiyam asad-grahat. Here, in this material world, whoever is there, even Brahma, he is also in anxiety, in full anxiety. Indra… You know. Prthu Maharaja was sacrificing hundred times, and Indra became very much anxious that “If Prthu becomes so great, then he may occupy my seat.” So he wanted to put hindrances so that he may not fulfill the so many yajnas.

So everyone is anxiety in this material world, maya. So our Krsna consciousness movement is to take a person or all of them from this maya to Vaikuntha. That is Krsna consciousness, to save the living entity from anxiety and bring him to the platform of no anxiety. That is the difference, from anxiety to no anxiety. That is the greatest gift to the human society. Everyone is full of anxiety because he is in this material world. He must be full of anxiety. So here the information is given, mayatite vyapi-vaikuntha-loke: “There is another atmosphere, another nature, where there is no anxiety, no anxiety.” Kalpa-vrksa-laksavrtesu surabhir abhipalayanatam. Here we are keeping cows, but no milk–anxiety. Thousands of rupees’ spending, and no milk, powdered milk. You see? This is the position, full of anxiety, always. So you cannot be free from anxiety in this loka.

Therefore in this life, in human form of life, you can understand by cultivating knowledge from the sastra, from guru, from saintly persons, “What is the position? What I want? Why I am full of anxiety? How it can be mitigated?” So therefore this information is given vaikuntha-loka, back to home. Yad gatva na nivartante tad dhamam paramam mama [Bg. 15.6].
So Krsna consciousness movement is the only endeavor where, by becoming Krsna conscious you become transferred from this maya to Vaikuntha. This is the purport. Mayatite, beyond this maya, there is another kingdom where there is no kuntha, vaikuntha-loke. And there is management. As here there is management, the king or president, or ministers and so many things, there is also management. But that management is conducted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead personally. Here the president or king manages whole thing. And therefore the ideal manager or the executive head is a person who is a saintly person and devotee. That is wanted.

In politics also, there is need of devotees. The politicians, they first require to understand Krsna consciousness if they actually want to do good to others. If they remain like animals, it is not possible. Then whole world, the people, will suffer. That is the position now. There is no standard ruler. A ruler must be representative of Krsna. Just like Maharaja Yudhisthira. Maharaja Yudhisthira was representative of Krsna. Or Lord Ramacandra, He was God Himself. Such executive head needed, not these rascals. Then you’ll never be happy. Simply by hook and crook you select some rascal president; you’ll never be happy. He must be Krsna Himself or Krsna’s representative. Then people will be happy. Imam rajarsayoh viduh. They are thinking that “The Bhagavad-gita is meant for some parasites. They are doing nothing, and they are indulging in reading Bhagavad-gita and living at the cost of others.” They are thinking like that. But actually the ruler should be the well-conversant student of Bhagavad-gita. That is the statement in the Bhagavad-gita. Imam rajarsayoh viduh. It is meant for the saintly kings. Because if the king or the president understands Bhagavad-gita, he can make solution of all the problems. But he remains a rascal, and there is no solution. They’re simply fighting with one another. This politician is fighting with another politician. This is going on. This will never make us happy. Therefore it is better to go away from this place and go back to home, back to Godhead.

Devotees: Jaya!

Prabhupada: Don’t try to be happy under these rascals. It will never be possible. That is the instruction of all sastras.

Now, the question was who is to be elected in the…, or accepted as the ideal king. Our Pancadravida Maharaja was asking this question. That is very simple thing. The ksatriyas… There are two ksatriya families, and still they claim, one from the sun-god, and one from the moon-god. Candra-vamsa, surya-vamsa. In this material world, there are two ksatriya families. Ksatriyas are meant for ruling over. So everything is stated in the Bhagavad-gita. So you have to select ruler from these two dynasties. Actually. Imam rajarsayo viduh. You have seen the picture drawn by our artists, that Krsna is instructing the sun-god. Imam vivasvate yogam proktavan aham avyayam [Bg. 4.1].

So Vaikuntha-loka is there. There is no problem. But you can make this maya-loka also Vaikuntha-loka by spreading Krsna consciousness, the same quality. Just like iron is iron, but you can make it fire. How? Simply putting it into the fire. Gradually, warm, warmer, then it becomes red hot. At that time, the iron is no longer iron; it is fire. Similarly, if you can propagate Krsna consciousness constantly, then, by spreading this Krsna consciousness movement, you can make the whole world Krsna conscious, and then it will be Vaikuntha. The same example. You put the iron rod with the fire, and it becomes hot, hotter and then red-hot. When it is red-hot then it is no more iron rod. It is fire. Anywhere you touch, it will burn.

So our Krsna consciousness movement is for that purpose. Increase Krsna consciousness and there will be no more kuntha, no more anxiety. People are trying to be anxiety-less, and that is only possible by this movement. Put always in touch with Krsna. And the method is very simple–Hare Krsna. That all. If you keep yourself in touch with Hare Krsna… We have already been known as Hare Krishna people all over the world, Hare Krishna people. So increase this population, Hare Krishna people, and it will be Vaikuntha.

Thank you very much. (end) (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 1.8 Mayapur, April 1, 1975)