ERROR: Your browser does not support scripts.

sva-nigamam—own truthfulness; apahaya—for nullifying; mat-pratijnam—my own promise; rtam—factual; adhi—more; kartum—for doing it; avaplutah—getting down; ratha-sthah—from the chariot; dhrta—taking up; ratha—chariot; caranah—wheel; abhyayat—went hurriedly; caladguh—trampling the earth; harih—lion; iva—like; hantum—to kill; ibham—elephant; gata—leaving aside; uttariyah—covering cloth.

Fulfilling my desire and sacrificing His own promise, He got down from the chariot, took up its wheel, and ran towards me hurriedly, just as a lion goes to kill an elephant. He even dropped His outer garment on the way.

The Battle of Kuruksetra was fought on military principles but at the same time in a sporting spirit, like a friend’s fight with another friend. Duryodhana criticized Bhismadeva, alleging that he was reluctant to kill Arjuna because of paternal affection. A ksatriya cannot tolerate insults on the principle of fighting. Bhismadeva therefore promised that the next day he would kill all five Pandavas with special weapons made for the purpose. Duryodhana was satisfied, and he kept the arrows with him to be delivered the next day during the fight. By tricks Arjuna took the arrows from Duryodhana, and Bhismadeva could understand that this was the trick of Lord Krsna. So he took a vow that the next day Krsna would have to take up weapons Himself, otherwise His friend Arjuna would die. In the next day’s fighting Bhismadeva fought so violently that both Arjuna and Krsna were in trouble. Arjuna was almost defeated; the situation was so tense that he was about to be killed by Bhismadeva the very next moment. At that time Lord Krsna wanted to please His devotee, Bhisma, by keeping Bhisma’s promise, which was more important than His own. Seemingly He broke His own promise. He promised before the beginning of the Battle of Kuruksetra that He would remain without weapons and would not use His strength for either of the parties. But to protect Arjuna He got down from the chariot, took up the wheel of the chariot and hurriedly rushed at Bhismadeva in an angry mood, as a lion goes to kill an elephant. He dropped His covering cloth on the way, and out of great anger He did not know that He had dropped it. Bhismadeva at once gave up his weapons and stood to be killed by Krsna, his beloved Lord. The fighting of the day was thus ended at that very moment, and Arjuna was saved. Of course there was no possibility of Arjuna’s death because the Lord Himself was on the chariot, but because Bhismadeva wanted to see Lord Krsna take up some weapon to save His friend, the Lord created this situation, making Arjuna’s death imminent. He stood before Bhismadeva to show him that his promise was fulfilled and that He had taken up the wheel.

SB1.9.38

TEXT 38

sita-visikha-hato visirna-damsah

ksataja-paripluta atatayino me

prasabham abhisasara mad-vadhartham

sa bhavatu me bhagavan gatir mukundah

sita—sharp; visikha—arrows; hatah—wounded by; visirna-damsah—scattered shield; ksataja—by wounds; pariplutah—smeared with blood; atatayinah—the great aggressor; me—my; prasabham—in an angry mood; abhisasara—began to move on; mat-vadha-artham—for the purpose of killing me; sah—He; bhavatu—may become; me—my; bhagavan—the Personality of Godhead; gatih—destination; mukundah—who awards salvation.

May He, Lord Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who awards salvation, be my ultimate destination. On the battlefield He charged me, as if angry because of the wounds dealt by my sharp arrows. His shield was scattered, and His body was smeared with blood due to the wounds.

The dealings of Lord Krsna and Bhismadeva on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra are interesting because the activities of Lord Sri Krsna appeared to be partial to Arjuna and at enmity with Bhismadeva; but factually all this was especially meant to show special favor to Bhismadeva, a great devotee of the Lord. The astounding feature of such dealings is that a devotee can please the Lord by playing the part of an enemy. The Lord, being absolute, can accept service from His pure devotee even in the garb of an enemy. The Supreme Lord cannot have any enemy, nor can a so-called enemy harm Him because He is ajita, or unconquerable. But still He takes pleasure when His pure devotee beats Him like an enemy or rebukes Him from a superior position, although no one can be superior to the Lord. These are some of the transcendental reciprocatory dealings of the devotee with the Lord. And those who have no information of pure devotional service cannot penetrate into the mystery of such dealings. Bhismadeva played the part of a valiant warrior, and he purposely pierced the body of the Lord so that to the common eyes it appeared that the Lord was wounded, but factually all this was to bewilder the nondevotees. The all-spiritual body cannot be wounded, and a devotee cannot become the enemy of the Lord. Had it been so, Bhismadeva would not have desired to have the very same Lord as the ultimate destination of his life. Had Bhismadeva been an enemy of the Lord, Lord Krsna could have annihilated him without even moving. There was no need to come before Bhismadeva with blood and wounds. But He did so because the warrior devotee wanted to see the transcendental beauty of the Lord decorated with wounds created by a pure devotee. This is the way of exchanging transcendental rasa, or relations between the Lord and the servitor. By such dealings both the Lord and the devotee become glorified in their respective positions. The Lord was so angry that Arjuna checked Him when He was moving towards Bhismadeva, but in spite of Arjuna’s checking, He proceeded towards Bhismadeva as a lover goes to a lover, without caring for hindrances. Apparently His determination was to kill Bhismadeva, but factually it was to please him as a great devotee of the Lord. The Lord is undoubtedly the deliverer of all conditioned souls. The impersonalists desire salvation from Him, and He always awards them according to their aspiration, but here Bhismadeva aspires to see the Lord in His personal feature. All pure devotees aspire for this.

SB1.9.39

TEXT 39

vijaya-ratha-kutumba atta-totre

dhrta-haya-rasmini tac-chriyeksaniye

bhagavati ratir astu me mumursor

yam iha niriksya hata gatah sva-rupam

vijaya—Arjuna; ratha—chariot; kutumbe—the object of protection at all risk; atta-totre—with a whip in the right hand; dhrta-haya—controlling the horses; rasmini—ropes; tat-sriya—beautifully standing; iksaniye—to look at; bhagavati—unto the Personality of Godhead; ratih astu—let my attraction be; me—my; mumursoh—one who is about to die; yam—upon whom; iha—in this world; niriksya—by looking; hatah—those who died; gatah—attained; sva-rupam—original form.

At the moment of death, let my ultimate attraction be to Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead. I concentrate my mind upon the chariot driver of Arjuna who stood with a whip in His right hand and a bridle rope in His left, who was very careful to give protection to Arjuna’s chariot by all means. Those who saw Him on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra attained their original forms after death.

A pure devotee of the Lord constantly sees the presence of the Lord within himself because of being transcendentally related by loving service. Such a pure devotee cannot forget the Lord for a moment. This is called trance. The mystic (yogi) tries to concentrate upon the Supersoul by controlling the senses from all other engagements, and thus he ultimately attains samadhi. A devotee more easily attains samadhi, or trance, by constantly remembering the Lord’s personal feature along with His holy name, fame, pastimes, etc. Therefore, the concentration of the mystic yogi and that of the devotee are not on the same level. The concentration of the mystic is mechanical, whereas that of the pure devotee is natural in pure love and spontaneous affection. Bhismadeva was a pure devotee, and as a military marshal he constantly remembered the battlefield feature of the Lord as Partha-sarathi, the chariot driver of Arjuna. Therefore, the Lord’s pastime as Partha-sarathi is also eternal. The pastimes of the Lord, beginning from His birth at the prison house of Kamsa up to the mausala-lila at the end, all move one after another in all the universes, just as the clock hand moves from one point to another. And in such pastimes His associates like the Pandavas and Bhisma are constant eternal companions. So Bhismadeva never forgot the beautiful feature of the Lord as Partha-sarathi, which even Arjuna could not see. Arjuna was behind the beautiful Partha-sarathi while Bhismadeva was just in front of the Lord. As far as the military feature of the Lord is concerned, Bhismadeva observed this with more relish than Arjuna.

All the soldiers and persons on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra attained their original spiritual form like the Lord after their death because by the causeless mercy of the Lord they were able to see Him face to face on that occasion. The conditioned souls rotating in the evolutionary cycle from the aquatics up to the form of Brahma are all in the form of maya, or the form obtained by one’s own actions and awarded by material nature. The material forms of the conditioned souls are all foreign dresses, and when the conditioned soul becomes liberated from the clutches of material energy, he attains his original form. The impersonalist wants to attain the impersonal Brahman effulgence of the Lord, but that is not at all congenial to the living sparks, parts and parcels of the Lord. Therefore, the impersonalists again fall down and get material forms, which are all false to the spirit soul. A spiritual form like the Lord’s, either two-handed or four-handed, is attained by the devotees of the Lord either in the Vaikunthas or in the Goloka planet, according to the original nature of the soul. This form, which is cent percent spiritual, is the svarupa of the living being, and all the living beings who participated on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, on both sides, attained their svarupa, as confirmed by Bhismadeva. So Lord Sri Krsna was not merciful only to the Pandavas; He was also merciful to the other parties because all of them attained the same result. Bhismadeva wanted the same facility also, and that was his prayer to the Lord, although his position as an associate of the Lord is assured in all circumstances. The conclusion is that whoever dies looking on the Personality of Godhead within or without attains his svarupa, which is the highest perfection of life.

SB1.9.40

TEXT 40

lalita-gati-vilasa-valguhasa-

pranaya-niriksana-kalpitorumanah

krta-manu-krta-vatya unmadandhah

prakrtim agan kila yasya gopa-vadhvah

lalita—attractive; gati—movements; vilasa—fascinating acts; valguhasa—sweet smiling; pranaya—loving; niriksana—looking upon; kalpita—mentality; urumanah—highly glorified; krta-manu-krta-vatyah—in the act of copying the movements; unmada-andhah—gone mad in ecstasy; prakrtim—characteristics; agan—underwent; kila—certainly; yasya—whose; gopa-vadhvah—the cowherd damsels.

Let my mind be fixed upon Lord Sri Krsna, whose motions and smiles of love attracted the damsels of Vrajadhama [the gopis]. The damsels imitated the characteristic movements of the Lord [after His disappearance from the rasa dance].

By intense ecstasy in loving service, the damsels of Vrajabhumi attained qualitative oneness with the Lord by dancing with Him on an equal level, embracing Him in nuptial love, smiling at Him in joke, and looking at Him with a loving attitude. The relation of the Lord with Arjuna is undoubtedly praiseworthy for devotees like Bhismadeva, but the relation of the gopis with the Lord is still more praiseworthy because of their still more purified loving service. By the grace of the Lord, Arjuna was fortunate enough to have the fraternal service of the Lord as chariot driver, but the Lord did not award Arjuna with equal strength. The gopis, however, practically became one with the Lord by attainment of equal footing with the Lord. Bhisma’s aspiration to remember the gopis is a prayer to have their mercy also at the last stage of his life. The Lord is satisfied more when His pure devotees are glorified, and therefore Bhismadeva has not only glorified the acts of Arjuna, his immediate object of attraction, but has also remembered the gopis, who were endowed with unrivalled opportunities by rendering loving service to the Lord. The gopis’ equality with the Lord should never be misunderstood to be like the sayujya liberation of the impersonalist. The equality is one of perfect ecstasy where the differential conception is completely eradicated, for the interests of the lover and the beloved become identical.

SB1.9.41

TEXT 41

muni-gana-nrpa-varya-sankule ’ntah-

sadasi yudhisthira-rajasuya esam

arhanam upapeda iksaniyo

mama drsi-gocara esa avir atma

muni-gana—the great learned sages; nrpa-varya—the great ruling kings; sankule—in the great assembly of; antah-sadasi—conference; yudhisthira—of Emperor Yudhisthira; raja-suye—a royal performance of sacrifice; esam—of all the great elites; arhanam—respectful worship; upapeda—received; iksaniyah—the object of attraction; mama—my; drsi—sight; gocarah—within the view of; esah avih—personally present; atma—the soul.

At the Rajasuya-yajna [sacrifice] performed by Maharaja Yudhisthira, there was the greatest assembly of all the elite men of the world, the royal and learned orders, and in that great assembly Lord Sri Krsna was worshiped by one and all as the most exalted Personality of Godhead. This happened during my presence, and I remembered the incident in order to keep my mind upon the Lord.

After gaining victory in the Battle of Kuruksetra, Maharaja Yudhisthira, the Emperor of the world, performed the Rajasuya sacrificial ceremony. The emperor, in those days, upon his ascendance to the throne, would send a challenge horse all over the world to declare his supremacy, and any ruling prince or king was at liberty to accept the challenge and express his tacit willingness either to obey or to disobey the supremacy of the particular emperor. One who accepted the challenge had to fight with the emperor and establish his own supremacy by victory. The defeated challenger would have to sacrifice his life, making a place for another king or ruler. So Maharaja Yudhisthira also dispatched such challenging horses all over the world, and every ruling prince and king all over the world accepted Maharaja Yudhisthira’s leadership as the Emperor of the world. After this, all rulers of the world under the regime of Maharaja Yudhisthira were invited to participate in the great sacrificial ceremony of Rajasuya. Such performances required hundreds of millions of dollars, and it was not an easy job for a petty king. Such a sacrificial ceremony, being too expensive and also difficult to perform under present circumstances, is now impossible in this age of Kali. Nor can anyone secure the required expert priesthood to take charge of the ceremony.

So, after being invited, all the kings and great learned sages of the world assembled in the capital of Maharaja Yudhisthira. The learned society, including the great philosophers, religionists, physicians, scientists and all great sages, was invited. That is to say, the brahmanas and the ksatriyas were the topmost leading men in society, and they were all invited to participate in the assembly. The vaisyas and sudras were unimportant elements in society, and they are not mentioned herein. Due to the change of social activities in the modern age, the importance of men has also changed in terms of occupational positions.

So in that great assembly, Lord Sri Krsna was the cynosure of neighboring eyes. Everyone wanted to see Lord Krsna, and everyone wanted to pay his humble respects to the Lord. Bhismadeva remembered all this and was glad that his worshipful Lord, the Personality of Godhead, was present before him in His actual formal presence. So to meditate on the Supreme Lord is to meditate on the activities, form, pastimes, name and fame of the Lord. That is easier than what is imagined as meditation on the impersonal feature of the Supreme. In the Bhagavad-gita (12.5) it is clearly stated that to meditate upon the impersonal feature of the Supreme is very difficult. It is practically no meditation or simply a waste of time because very seldom is the desired result obtained. The devotees, however, meditate upon the Lord’s factual form and pastimes, and therefore the Lord is easily approachable by the devotees. This is also stated in the Bhagavad-gita (12.9). The Lord is nondifferent from His transcendental activities. It is indicated also in this sloka that Lord Sri Krsna, while actually present before human society, especially in connection with the Battle of Kuruksetra, was accepted as the greatest personality of the time, although He might not have been recognized as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The propaganda that a very great man is worshiped as God after his death is misleading because a man after his death cannot be made into God. Nor can the Personality of Godhead be a human being, even when He is personally present. Both ideas are misconceptions. The idea of anthropomorphism cannot be applicable in the case of Lord Krsna.

SB1.9.42

TEXT 42

tam imam aham ajam sarira-bhajam

hrdi hrdi dhisthitam atma-kalpitanam

pratidrsam iva naikadharkam ekam

samadhi-gato ’smi vidhuta-bheda-mohah

tam—that Personality of Godhead; imam—now present before me; aham—I; ajam—the unborn; sarira-bhajam—of the conditioned soul; hrdi—in the heart; hrdi—in the heart; dhisthitam—situated; atma—the Supersoul; kalpitanam—of the speculators; pratidrsam—in every direction; iva—like; na ekadha—not one; arkam—the sun; ekam—one only; samadhi-gatah asmi—I have undergone trance in meditation; vidhuta—being freed from; bheda-mohah—misconception of duality.

Now I can meditate with full concentration upon that one Lord, Sri Krsna, now present before me because now I have transcended the misconceptions of duality in regard to His presence in everyone’s heart, even in the hearts of the mental speculators. He is in everyone’s heart. The sun may be perceived differently, but the sun is one.

Lord Sri Krsna is the one Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He has expanded Himself into His multiplenary portions by His inconceivable energy. The conception of duality is due to ignorance of His inconceivable energy. In the Bhagavad-gita (9.11) the Lord says that only the foolish take Him to be a mere human being. Such foolish men are not aware of His inconceivable energies. By His inconceivable energy He is present in everyone’s heart, as the sun is present before everyone all over the world. The Paramatma feature of the Lord is an expansion of His plenary portions. He expands Himself as Paramatma in everyone’s heart by His inconceivable energy, and He also expands Himself as the glowing effulgence of brahmajyoti by expansion of His personal glow. It is stated in the Brahma-samhita that the brahmajyoti is His personal glow. Therefore, there is no difference between Him and His personal glow, brahmajyoti, or His plenary portions as Paramatma. Less intelligent persons who are not aware of this fact consider brahmajyoti and Paramatma to be different from Sri Krsna. This misconception of duality is completely removed from the mind of Bhismadeva, and he is now satisfied that it is Lord Sri Krsna only who is all in all in everything. This enlightenment is attained by the great mahatmas or devotees, as it is stated in Bhagavad-gita (7.19) that Vasudeva is all in all in everything and that there is no existence of anything without Vasudeva. Vasudeva, or Lord Sri Krsna, is the original Supreme Person, as now confirmed by a mahajana, and therefore both the neophytes and the pure devotees must try to follow in his footsteps. That is the way of the devotional line.

The worshipable object of Bhismadeva is Lord Sri Krsna as Partha-sarathi, and that of the gopis is the same Krsna in Vrndavana as the most attractive Syamasundara. Sometimes less intelligent scholars make a mistake and think that the Krsna of Vrndavana and that of the Battle of Kuruksetra are different personalities. But for Bhismadeva this misconception is completely removed. Even the impersonalist’s object of destination is Krsna as the impersonal jyoti, and the yogi’s destination of Paramatma is also Krsna. Krsna is both brahmajyoti and localized Paramatma, but in brahmajyoti or Paramatma there is no Krsna or sweet relations with Krsna. In His personal feature Krsna is both Partha-sarathi and Syamasundara of Vrndavana, but in His impersonal feature He is neither in the brahmajyoti nor in the Paramatma. Great mahatmas like Bhismadeva realize all these different features of Lord Sri Krsna, and therefore they worship Lord Krsna, knowing Him as the origin of all features.

mano-vag-drsti-vrttibhih

atmany atmanam avesya

so ’ntahsvasa uparamat