Sri Narsimha Chaturdashi

The principle of Sri Guru and Guru Seva is my first PhD. I did three PhDs from America. The second is titled “Srila Gurudev: The Supreme Treasure,” and the third is “Jaya Jagannatha,” which is about Jagannath Dev. The principle of Sri Guru and Guru Seva has been translated into Portuguese, and its printing is ongoing. It’s a very nice book. If you want to know about Guru Tattva, the symptoms of a bona fide guru, the symptoms of a bona fide disciple, and how to serve the guru, you can find everything in that book. Now, coming to the main topic.

Once, Narada Rishi was telling Yudhisthira Maharaj that Bhagavan has no partiality. It is true that from Bhagavan’s lotus navel came Brahmaji. And Brahma has a son named Kashyap Rishi. Kashyap had many wives, such as Diti, Aditi, Vinata, and Kadru, among others. They had the same father but different mothers. For example, with Diti as the mother and Kashyapa as the father, their children became demons. With Kashyapa as the father and Aditi as the mother, their children became “Adityas,” meaning demigods. With Kashyapa as the father and Vinata as the mother, their sons were born like Garuda and Sampati. With Kashyapa as the father and Kadru as the mother, their children became snakes.

So, Bhagavan has equal love for all, but due to their own specialty and qualities, they attract and draw Bhagavan’s attention. Bhagavan has no fault. Narada Rishi told Yudhisthira, “Bona fide Guru and loving father have no partiality among their disciples and among their children. But special disciples and special children have special qualities. Whether they want to or not, they capture the attention of their Guru or father. Listen, all of you are going to the same Gurukul to learn archery from Dronacharya. Arjuna took so much of Dronacharya’s attention; none of you could draw the same attention from him. Dronacharya was giving special techniques and everything to Arjuna, not to others, not even to his own son, Ashwatthama. Is this the fault of Dronacharya? He had love equally, but Arjuna, due to his special capacity and quality, was taking and drawing all the attention and affection towards him. Not only that, Grandfather Bhishma, the grandfather of you five brothers and Duryodhana’s one hundred brothers, loved all of you equally, but Arjuna was drawing all his attention. Why? It is not the fault of Grandfather Bhishma, neither the fault of Dronacharya. In the same way, Bhagavan has all His children. Tvameva Mata Cha Pita Twameva. But the devotee or disciple, with his own capacity, can draw the attention of his Guru or Bhagavan.”

Then Narada Rishi told, “Maharaj Yudhisthira, once I had the same doubt. I asked my father, Brahmaji, ‘My dear Father, Bhagavan is equal to all, with equal vision. Even Krishna told in Bhagavad Gita:

samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣuna me dveṣyo ’sti na, priyaḥye bhajanti tu māṁ, bhaktyāmayi te teṣu cāpy aham (Bg. 9.29)

O Arjuna, I am equal to all. I have no enemies, no friends. But why does Bhagavan give so much attention to demigods, and not to demons?'”

Narada continued, “When I asked this question to my Father, Brahmaji told, ‘Narada, I will give you one practical example, then you will understand.'” Narada said, “Okay Father, what practical example?”

Brahmaji told, “Listen, tomorrow I will have a grand feast at my home. I will invite all the demons and demigods.”

Narada said, “Okay Father, very good.”

The cosmic hierarchy includes Bhūr, Bhuvar-loka, Svarg-loka, Mahar-loka, Jana-loka, Tapah-loka, and Satya-loka. So demigods are living in Svarg-loka – Bhūr, Bhuvar-loka, Svarg-loka – the 3rd floor. Demons, in the same way, are living on the bottom 3rd floor – Atala, Vital, Sutala-loka. So both demons and demigods were invited. Very nice prasad had been arranged; Brahma himself offered it to Krishna.

Now Brahma asked, “Who will take prasad first?”

Narada told, “My dear Father, to whom you will order, they will take first, or they can take together?”

Brahma told, “No. Although they are brothers, they have the same father but different mothers. And the demigods’ mother is junior to the demons’ mother. The demons’ mother is Diti; she is senior, and Aditi is junior. So Diti’s sons, meaning the demons, will take prasad first.”

Narada said, “Okay Father, whatever you like.”

Then Brahma told, “You can line up.” All the demons lined up. Now serving prasad was going on. When it was complete, Brahmaji told, “My dear grandsons, attention please! I have one condition. Look how many preparations I have arranged. But one condition is you can eat, but when you eat, you are not allowed to bend your elbow.”

Without bending your elbow, can you eat?

So all the demons were in a dilemma. “What to do?” They were trying to take the prasad to their mouths like animals. Prasad was getting scattered here and there.

Now all the sons of Diti had gone. Now it was the turn of the sons of Aditi, the mother of Indra and other demigods. So they lined up, and the service was going on. Brahma said, “Attention! Look, so many preparations have been served for Krishna’s Mahaprasad. But my condition is that none of you can bend your elbows and take prasad.”

The demigods looked at each other. They broke the line and formed a formation where each demigod was not bending their elbow, keeping their hand straight and feeding another demigod, and in turn, the other demigod, with straight hands, was feeding the other demigod. They were helping each other to feed, and in turn, that demigod was helping them to feed. They were helping each other.

When they had finished, Brahma told Narada, “Look, Narada! I didn’t tell them to break the line and eat in this formation. This is their special quality. Through this quality, they attracted the attention of Bhagavan. Bhagavan has no partiality at all.”

So, Narada told this to Yudhisthira Maharaj: that Bhagavan has equal vision, but fie on those who cannot attract the attention of guru or Bhagavan. Narada was telling this to Yudhisthira Maharaj: that he asked his father about this, and his father answered in this way. When Brahmaji told the demigods to take the offering without bending their hands, they had no problem; without bending their hands, they took prasad.

So, Narada now says to Yudhisthira Maharaj that Bhagavan told in Bhagavad Gita:

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante

tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham

mama vartmānuvartante

manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ

Bg. 4.11

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante – In whichever way someone is doing bhajan of Me, I reciprocate the same way. So, if someone has love and affection for Bhagavan and guru, Bhagavan exchanges the same way. Demigods also have so much love and affection for Bhagavan, so Bhagavan also has so much love and affection for them. Bhagavan is not partial at all.

Bhagavan, being in Vaikuntha, one day thought, “I have to taste veer rasa.” Veer rasa means fighting mood. But who can fight with Bhagavan? It is mentioned in the shastra:

na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate

na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate

parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate

svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca

(Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8)

na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate – It means that in this world everyone depends on the cause and action theory. Sometimes the cause is invisible; by action, you have to infer and guess the cause. Everything in this world is like this. But Bhagavan is beyond cause and action theory. na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate – In this world, people make records, and after some time, records are broken. Why? When someone makes a record, then no one is greater than him, but later someone breaks his record, then he is no longer the greatest. But for Bhagavan, no one is equal to Him, what to say about greater than Him.

So, who can fight with Bhagavan? Bhagavan has two security guards: Jaya and Vijaya. They understood, “Oh, Prabhu desires to enjoy veer rasa, wants to fight? If we fight with Prabhu, then it will be a mock fight, a fake fight, not a real fight. So, being on friendly terms, it’s not possible to fight with Prabhu. We have to adopt some antagonistic mood, then we can fight with Prabhu.” They were thinking like this. So, Bhagavan has the desire, and Yogamaya is arranging like this. Bhagavan never does anything Himself, only desires – ichha sakti, and Yogamaya arranges everything.

Yogamaya has two forms – one is murtya pratik, and another one is amurtya pratik. Murtya pratik means a manifest form, and amurtya pratik means an unmanifest form. When Yogamaya is in physical form, that is called Murtya pratik. When Lord Krishna performed His pastimes, at that time Paurnamasi was Yogamaya Devi. At the time of Lord Rama and Mahaprabhu, Yogamaya had no manifested form. To clear this point, I am giving this example: Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, after sannyasa, had a desire to go to Jagannath Puri, but first, He was saying He would go to Vrindavan. By the influence of Vrindavan Bhumi, He would develop the mood that He is Krishna. So, then He cannot relish Radhika’s three moods. So, He remembered Yogamaya, and then Yogamaya spoke through Sachi Devi, “My dear son Nimai, don’t go to Vrindavan. Vrindavan is so far, far away. I cannot bear your separation, so better to stay in Jagannath Puri. So, devotees who go to attend Jagannath Rath Yatra, I can get your good news. Sometime you may come to bathe in the Ganges, and I can get your good news.” So, Bhagavan told, “What can I do? My mother has told me to stay in Jagannath Puri, so I have to stay there.”

Mahaprabhu said, “My mother ordered me to be in Jagannath Puri, so I have to stay there.” This is what Yogamaya spoke through Shachi Devi.

At the time of Lord Ram, He went into exile for 14 years. This was His own desire, to go and kill the demons. But He had a desire. When His coronation ceremony was about to start, His stepmother, Kaikeyi, told that Ram had to go into exile for 14 years, and in exchange for Ram, Bharat would be the King. Kaikeyi was not saying this; Kaikeyi had so much love and affection for Lord Ram. Here also, Yogamaya spoke through the lips of Kaikeyi Devi. Why is that so? Because it was Lord Ram’s desire. Whatever Bhagavan desires, Yogamaya does accordingly. This is the Amurtiya form or unmanifested form.

At the time of Lord Krishna, Paurnmasi Devi was Yogamaya. Sometimes she is doing everything; by her order, everybody follows. Sometimes she acts in an unmanifested form, and no one can understand what is going on. You know Lord Krishna; He is famous in Braj as the Butter Thief.

vraje prasiddhaḿ navanīta-cauraḿ

gopāńganānāḿ ca dukūla-cauram

aneka-janmārjita-pāpa-cauraḿ

caurāgragaṇyaḿ puruṣaḿ namāmi

Corastakam (1)

He is famous in Braj as the Butter Thief. He is so expert and has such a special technique in stealing that no one can catch Him red-handed. So many complaints came, and when Krishna was with His mother, He was so, so, so innocent, just like Krishna does not know how to open a ripe banana. So mother Yashoda never believed that her son was a thief. She was wondering, “Why are they doing this (complaining)? I have to do something. Maybe, in my house, there are so many servants and maidservants, they are doing all the activities, they don’t allow me to do anything. And in others’ houses, the Gopis, they are themselves milking cows, making yogurt, churning yogurt, and their butter is probably tastier, more fresh, and sweeter. While they are chanting, Govinda Damodar Madhaveti, Govinda Damodar Madhaveti, Govinda Damodar Madhaveti, Govinda Damodar Madhaveti.” Their butter must be sweet and more tasty, otherwise why is my son going? I am Queen, my husband is King, plenty of cows and everything is here, then why does Krishna go to steal?

One day, Krishna was stealing butter in His own house, and Mother Yashoda saw it and thought, “Oh, my son is stealing butter.” Mother Yashoda cried loudly, “Gopal, are you stealing butter?” Hearing which, Krishna became ALERT!! and wiped His lips with His hands quickly and replied, “Mother, No.” Krishna thought, “If I admit, Mother will tell me, ‘You are a butter thief’.” Mother Yashoda replied, “Why is everyone complaining? So I caught you red-handed.”

Krishna still said, “No, No.” Then Mother Yashoda came close and said, “Krishna, now you are in your growing stages, don’t tell a lie, speak the truth, that you ate the butter. I will not chastise you, but you have to admit.” Krishna thought, “If I admit, then Mother Yashoda and everyone else will accuse me that I am a butter thief. When I have said ‘No’ once, it is a ‘No’ itself.”

Krishna then replied: “No, mother, I didn’t eat butter.”

Mother told Him: “Krishna, in the future, you will be the King, in place of your father. If you do not give up these bad habits, like telling a lie, then in the future, how can you prosper? And bad habits cannot be quit easily, so you have to get rid of them now, in this age itself.”

Mother asked again: “So Krishna, do you admit that you ate butter?”

Krishna still replied: “Mother, No!!”

Mother Yashoda is caressing him and saying,

Mother Yashoda: “My dear son, admit that you’ve eaten butter.”

Krishna thinking: “No, no.”

Then Krishna is telling, “Oh, today mother has become very heavy, what to do?”

Then Krishna is telling:

Krishna: “Maiya meri mai nahi makhan khayo, maiya meri mai nahi makhan khayo… maiya meri mai kab makhan khayo.”

Krishna is telling to his mother: “No, no, mother, I’ve not eaten butter. When do I have time to eat butter? Mother, when it became dawn, before sunrise, you’re sending me for cow grazing in Madhuban, and I’m going there, so mother, where is the time to eat butter?”

Mother asked Krishna: “You’ve no time?”

Krishna said: “No.”

Then mother told: “Why not?”

Krishna is telling: “4 prahar gauan ke pacche madhuban bhatko, sanjh par ghar ayo, sanjh bhayo ghaar ayo. Maiya mori mai kab makhan khayo? maiya meri mai nahi makhan khayo?”

Krishna is saying: “Mother, 4 prahar means 12 hours, I’m grazing cows, dawn to dusk. When sunset, I came back home. Mother, when do I have time to eat butter? You’re accusing me without any cause.”

So mother is telling: “Krishna, you’re here now, you’ve not gone for cow grazing at this time. Other day, other time, this day, you’re here. Now you’ve taken?”

Krishna said: “No.”

Mother asked: “Why not?”

Krishna is telling: “Mother, you’ve kept butter hung on a rope against the ceiling. I’m a small boy, how can I reach there?”

Krishna is telling: “Mother, you’ve kept butter so high, I’m a small boy. How can I reach there? You’re forcibly accusing me. I’ve eaten butter? No, no, mother! I’ve not eaten butter.”

So, any thief may steal in a very expert way, but unknowingly they leave some clues behind. Later the police or CID can catch them, maybe after some time. So Krishna, being Bhagavan, wiped the butter from one side, but on the other side, it’s still there.

Mother told, “Kanha, if you have taken butter, why is butter here?”

Krishna is thinking: “Oh my gosh, she is very clever.”

Krishna said: ” Mother, in Braja, the monkeys and my sakhas (friends) are very naughty. Mother, you love me so much that my sakhas (freinds) cannot digest this. They want you to beat and chastise me. Mother, I want to show that my sakhas have kept butter by force; otherwise, I can remove it. To show you, I have kept it here.”

Krishna continued, singing:

“_Gwaal baal sab bair pado hai,

Gwaal baal sab bair pado hai, barhas mukh laptayo,

Oo maiya mori, main nahi maakhan khayo,

maiya mori, main kab maakhan khayo“.

But still, mother Yashoda’s heart didn’t melt, and she says, “Kanha, admit only once, you have eaten butter.”

Krishna thinks: “When I have told no, that’s a no. I should not admit. Oh, my mother is so strict today.”

Krishna says: “Le le teri lakuti kamaliya, Le le teri lakuti kamaliya, bahut nach nachayo.. maiya mori, main nahi maakhan khayo.. maiya mori, main kab maakhan khayo..”

“Mother, what do you give to me for myself? You have millions of cows. Everyday, I am grazing the cows. If you have to keep servants, then you have to give them salary, but I am doing this alone. Have you ever given me one pair of shoes or an umbrella? In the forest, there are so many thorns and pebbles. You never thought that oh, all of these pinch my son’s feet. You have never given me a pair of shoes. Sometime the sun hits, sometime heavy showers of rain, sometime a downfall, you never give any umbrella. What do you give? To graze the cows, only one stick and one blanket. You never pay me any salary. Instead of me, if you had to keep so many servants, you would have to give salary, bonus, this, that.”

“_Lele teri lakutiya kamaliya,……”

“You have given me a blanket, and take your stick and blanket. You always accuse me. I am a friend of monkeys and go to the forest and stay there. I will not stay here.”

“Mother, once my Sakhas (friends) were telling me that actually I am not your son and Nand Baba’s. Some gave me birth and kept me in the hole of a tamarind tree. I was weeping; father went to take a bath early morning in Yamuna, seeing me, brought me here, and you nourished me. Now I understand, if I were your biological son, you could not accuse me like this way.”

“Mother, now I understand I am not your son” (Mata Mata ab mai samjhayau tune parayo jayau).”

“Now I understand I am the son of others.”

Krishna told this to his mother. Mother could not check her emotion. She grabbed Krishna.

Mother: “(Tai nahi makhan khayo) No, no, no, you have not eaten butter.”

Krishna was telling: “(Main nahi makhan khayo) I have never eaten butter.”

Now the same Krishna is telling [look how the Indian language is so rich]: “(Maine hi makhan khayo) Surely I have eaten butter.”

And Soordas, one poet, sang this pastime weeping bitterly. Mother weeping bitterly, Krishna weeping bitterly, and Soordas weeping bitterly.

Another day, Krishna was stealing butter, eating it himself and feeding the monkeys and crows. Mother had seen Krishna when in Dam Bandhan Lila, mother seeing Krishna eating and coming with a stick. Krishna is facing back, and the monkeys and crows are facing Krishna. Seeing mother, the crows and monkeys run away. Krishna thought, “Why are the monkeys and crows going away? Something dangerous maybe?” Krishna turned back, “Oh my gosh. Mother is coming!” Krishna jumped and ran away. Mother was running after Him and caught Him.

So, mother told, “This grinder or mortar has helped you to steal butter and commit a crime. This mortar also helped you to do the crime, so it is also guilty. So, I will bind both of you with the same rope.” Mother Yashoda took a silk rope and began to bind Krishna. Then Krishna was thinking, “Oh, my mother is binding me, how would I play with my sakhas (friends) or do this or do that?”

So, Yogamaya appeared there in unmanifest form. Mother Yashoda was trying her level best to bind Krishna. Krishna’s waist is only like 16 fingers and the grinder mortar also, and the rope of Mother Yashoda can bind the mortar and Krishna twice, but it is 2 fingers short. But Mother Yashoda asked for more rope, and the rope became lengthy and lengthy, but still 2 fingers short. Why? This is the activity of Yogamaya. So, Yogamaya, knowing the desire of Krishna – that He doesn’t want to be bound – Yogamaya is coming and entering into Krishna’s waist.

In the same way, Narayana has the desire to relish veer rasa. Jaya and Vijaya were thinking how they can fulfill Prabhu’s desire, and they were thinking. Yogamaya’s desire is also to taste the veer rasa. Yogamaya Devi is arranging it.

Yogmaya Devi arranged all the necessary steps and the four Kumaras, Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana, and Sanatkumara, who were the sons of Brahma and around five years old, appeared. When the four Kumaras reached the gates of Vaikuntha, Jaya and Vijaya, the gatekeepers, checked them, noting that they were clad only in lower garments.

Jaya and Vijaya said: “You boys, do you know where you are? This is Vaikuntha! You’re not even properly dressed. You should wear nice, civil attire. Almost naked, you shouldn’t be here. Leave!”

The four Kumaras became furious, which was unusual for them, due to Yogamaya’s arrangement. The four Kumaras said: “Who are you to question us? Do you know what Vaikuntha means? It signifies eternal bliss and freedom from fear. So, Lord Narayana has no fear. Why are you checking us? Do you think you’re supreme? Do you know who we are?”

The four Kumaras cursed Jaya and Vijaya, saying, “You are not qualified to be here; you must go to the mundane world.” As soon as the curse was uttered, Jaya and Vijaya realized these weren’t ordinary individuals and immediately asked for forgiveness. Meanwhile, Bhagavan Vishnu himself appeared and addressed the four Kumaras, saying, “They didn’t recognize your greatness; please forgive their offense. They’re my sevaks.”

The four Kumaras said: “Alright, we’ll offer a concession. What I told shall happen but if they choose to be friends, they’ll go to the mundane world for 7 lifetimes. If they choose to be enemies, they’ll go for 3 lifetimes. The choice is theirs.”

Jaya and Vijaya thought that “seven lifetimes was too long.” They decided, “If we go as enemies for three lifetimes, we’ll return sooner, and through enmity, we can still fulfill Lord Vishnu’s desires.” They chose the path of enmity and took birth in the mundane world for three lifetimes:

1. Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu in the first lifetime (Satya Yuga).
2. Ravana and Kumbhakarna in the second (Treta Yuga).
3. Shishupala and Dantavakra in the third (Dvapara Yuga).

First in Satya Yuga, Hiranyaksha was killed by Varaha Dev, and Hiranyakashipu was killed by Narasimha Dev. Today is the appearance of Narasimha Dev.

Narasimha Dev ki Jay!