ERROR: Your browser does not support scripts.

atra—in this connection; eva—certainly; udahrtah—was recited; purvam—previously; itihasah—an old story; sura-rsina—by the great sage Narada; pritya—with joy; maha-kratau—at the great Rajasuya sacrifice; rajan—O King; prcchate—to the inquiring; ajata-satrave—Maharaja Yudhisthira, who had no enemy.

Formerly, O King, when Maharaja Yudhisthira was performing the Rajasuya sacrifice, the great sage Narada, responding to his inquiry, recited historical facts showing how the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always impartial, even when killing demons. In this regard he gave a vivid example.

This relates to how the Lord exhibited His impartiality even when killing Sisupala in the arena of the Rajasuya yajna performed by Maharaja Yudhisthira.

SB7.1.14-15

TEXTS 14–15

drstva mahadbhutam raja

rajasuye maha-kratau

vasudeve bhagavati

sayujyam cedibhu-bhujah

tatrasinam sura-rsim

raja pandu-sutah kratau

papraccha vismita-mana

muninam srnvatam idam

drstva—after seeing; maha-adbhutam—greatly wonderful; raja—the King; rajasuye—called Rajasuya; maha-kratau—at the great sacrifice; vasudeve—into Vasudeva; bhagavati—the Personality of Godhead; sayujyam—merging; cedibhu-bhujah—of Sisupala, the King of Cedi; tatra—there; asinam—seated; sura-rsim—Narada Muni; raja—the King; pandu-sutah—Yudhisthira, the son of Pandu; kratau—at the sacrifice; papraccha—asked; vismita-manah—being struck with wonder; muninam—in the presence of the sages; srnvatam—listening; idam—this.

O King, at the Rajasuya sacrifice, Maharaja Yudhisthira, the son of Maharaja Pandu, personally saw Sisupala merge into the body of the Supreme Lord, Krsna. Therefore, struck with wonder, he inquired about the reason for this from the great sage Narada, who was seated there. While he inquired, all the sages present also heard him ask his question.

SB7.1.16

TEXT 16

sri-yudhisthira uvaca

aho aty-adbhutam hy etad

durlabhaikantinam api

vasudeve pare tattve

praptis caidyasya vidvisah

SYNONYMS

sri-yudhisthirah uvaca—Maharaja Yudhisthira said; aho—oh; ati-adbhutam—very wonderful; hi—certainly; etat—this; durlabha—difficult to attain; ekantinam—for the transcendentalists; api—even; vasudeve—in Vasudeva; pare—the supreme; tattve—Absolute Truth; praptih—the attainment; caidyasya—of Sisupala; vidvisah—envious.

TRANSLATION

Maharaja Yudhisthira inquired: It is very wonderful that the demon Sisupala merged into the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead even though extremely envious. This sayujya-mukti is impossible to attain even for great transcendentalists. How then did the enemy of the Lord attain it?

PURPORT

There are two classes of transcendentalists—the jnanis and the bhaktas. The bhaktas do not aspire to merge into the existence of the Lord, but the jnanis do. Sisupala, however, was neither a jnani nor a bhakta, yet simply by envy of the Lord he attained an exalted position by merging into the Lord’s body. Certainly this was astonishing, and therefore Maharaja Yudhisthira inquired about the cause for the Lord’s mysterious mercy to Sisupala.

SB7.1.17

TEXT 17

etad veditum icchamah

sarva eva vayam mune

bhagavan-nindaya veno

dvijais tamasi patitah

etat—this; veditum—to know; icchamah—desire; sarve—all; eva—certainly; vayam—we; mune—O great sage; bhagavat-nindaya—because of blaspheming the Lord; venah—Vena, the father of Prthu Maharaja; dvijaih—by the brahmanas; tamasi—into hell; patitah—was thrown.

O great sage, we are all eager to know the cause for this mercy of the Lord. I have heard that formerly a king named Vena blasphemed the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that all the brahmanas consequently obliged him to go to hell. Sisupala should also have been sent to hell. How then did he merge into the Lord’s existence?

SB7.1.18

TEXT 18

damaghosa-sutah papa

arabhya kala-bhasanat

sampraty amarsi govinde

dantavakras ca durmatih

SYNONYMS

damaghosa-sutah—Sisupala, the son of Damaghosa; papah—sinful; arabhya—beginning; kala-bhasanat—from the unclear speech of a child; samprati—even until now; amarsi—envious; govinde—toward Sri Krsna; dantavakrah—Dantavakra; ca—also; durmatih—evil-minded.

TRANSLATION

From the very beginning of his childhood, when he could not even speak properly, Sisupala, the most sinful son of Damaghosa, began blaspheming the Lord, and he continued to be envious of Sri Krsna until death. Similarly, his brother Dantavakra continued the same habits.

SB7.1.19

TEXT 19

sapator asakrd visnum

yad brahma param avyayam

svitro na jato jihvayam

nandham vivisatus tamah

SYNONYMS

sapatoh—of both Sisupala and Dantavakra, who were blaspheming; asakrt—repeatedly; visnum—Lord Krsna; yat—which; brahma param—the Supreme Brahman; avyayam—without diminution; svitrah—white leprosy; na—not; jatah—appeared; jihvayam—on the tongue; na—not; andham—dark; vivisatuh—they did enter; tamah—hell.

TRANSLATION

Although these two men—Sisupala and Dantavakra—repeatedly blasphemed the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Visnu [Krsna], the Supreme Brahman, they were quite healthy. Indeed, their tongues were not attacked by white leprosy, nor did they enter the darkest region of hellish life. We are certainly most surprised by this.

PURPORT

Krsna is described by Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita (10.12) as follows: param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan. “You are the Supreme Brahman, the supreme abode and purifier.” Herein this is confirmed. Visnum yad brahma param avyayam. The Supreme Visnu is Krsna. Krsna is the cause of Visnu, not vice versa. Similarly, Brahman is not the cause of Krsna; Krsna is the cause of Brahman. Therefore Krsna is the Parabrahman (yad brahma param avyayam).

SB7.1.20

TEXT 20

katham tasmin bhagavati

duravagrahya-dhamani

pasyatam sarva-lokanam

layam iyatur anjasa

katham—how; tasmin—that; bhagavati—in the Supreme Personality of Godhead; duravagrahya—difficult to attain; dhamani—whose nature; pasyatam—looked on; sarva-lokanam—while all the people; layam iyatuh—became absorbed; anjasa—easily.

How was it possible for Sisupala and Dantavakra in the presence of many exalted persons, to enter very easily into the body of Krsna, whose nature is difficult to attain?.

Sisupala and Dantavakra were formerly Jaya and Vijaya, the doorkeepers of Vaikuntha. Merging into the body of Krsna was not their final destination. For some time they remained merged, and later they received the liberations of sarupya and salokya, living on the same planet as the Lord in the same bodily form. The sastras give evidence that if one blasphemes the Supreme Lord, his punishment is to remain in hellish life for many millions of years more than one suffers by killing many brahmanas. Sisupala, however, instead of entering hellish life, immediately and very easily received sayujya-mukti. That such a privilege had been offered to Sisupala was not merely a story. Everyone saw it happen; there was no scarcity of evidence. How did it happen? Maharaja Yudhisthira was very much surprised.

SB7.1.21

TEXT 21

etad bhramyati me buddhir

diparcir iva vayuna

bruhy etad adbhutatamam

bhagavan hy atra karanam

etat—concerning this; bhramyati—is flickering; me—my; buddhih—intelligence; dipa-arcih—the flame of a candle; iva—like; vayuna—by the wind; bruhi—please tell; etat—this; adbhutatamam—most wonderful; bhagavan—possessing all knowledge; hi—indeed; atra—here; karanam—the cause.

This matter is undoubtedly very wonderful. Indeed, my intelligence has become disturbed, just as the flame of a candle is disturbed by a blowing wind. O Narada Muni, you know everything. Kindly let me know the cause of this wonderful event.

The sastras enjoin, tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet: [MU 1.2.12] when one is perplexed by the difficult problems of life, to solve them one must approach a guru like Narada or his representative in the disciplic succession. Maharaja Yudhisthira therefore requested Narada to explain the cause for such a wonderful event.

SB7.1.22

TEXT 22

sri-badarayanir uvaca

rajnas tad vaca akarnya

narado bhagavan rsih

tustah praha tam abhasya

srnvatyas tat-sadah kathah

sri-badarayanih uvaca—Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said; rajnah—of the King (Yudhisthira); tat—those; vacah—words; akarnya—after hearing; naradah—Narada Muni; bhagavan—powerful; rsih—sage; tustah—being satisfied; praha—spoke; tam—him; abhasya—after addressing; srnvatyah tat-sadah—in the presence of the assembly members; kathah—the topics.

Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: After hearing the request of Maharaja Yudhisthira, Narada Muni, the most powerful spiritual master, who knew everything, was very pleased. Thus he replied in the presence of everyone taking part in the yajna.

SB7.1.23

TEXT 23

sri-narada uvaca

nindana-stava-satkara-

nyakkarartham kalevaram

pradhana-parayo rajann

avivekena kalpitam

SYNONYMS

sri-naradah uvaca—Sri Narada Muni said; nindana—blasphemy; stava—praise; satkara—honor; nyakkara—dishonor; artham—for the purpose of; kalevaram—body; pradhana-parayoh—of nature and the Supreme Personality of Godhead; rajan—O King; avivekena—without discrimination; kalpitam—created.

TRANSLATION

The great sage Sri Naradaji said: O King, blasphemy and praise, chastisement and respect, are experienced because of ignorance. The body of the conditioned soul is planned by the Lord for suffering in the material world through the agency of the external energy.

PURPORT

In Bhagavad-gita (18.61) it is said:

isvarah sarva-bhutanam
hrd-dese ’rjuna tisthati
bhramayan sarva-bhutani
yantrarudhani mayaya

“The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of material energy.” A material body is manufactured by the external energy according to the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The conditioned soul, being seated on this machine, wanders throughout the universe, and because of his bodily conception of life he only suffers. Actually the suffering of being blasphemed and the enjoyment of being praised, the acceptance of a good welcome or of chastisement by harsh words, are felt in the material conception of life; but since the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not material but sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1], He is unaffected by insults or greetings, blasphemy or prayers. Being always unaffected and complete, He does not feel extra pleasure when offered nice prayers by the devotee, although the devotee benefits by offering prayers to the Lord. Indeed, the Lord is very kind to His so-called enemy because one who always thinks of the Personality of Godhead as an enemy also benefits, although he thinks of the Lord adversely. If a conditioned soul, thinking of the Lord as an enemy or a friend, somehow or other becomes attached to the Lord, he receives great benefit.

SB7.1.24

TEXT 24

himsa tad-abhimanena

danda-parusyayor yatha

vaisamyam iha bhutanam

mamaham iti parthiva

himsa—suffering; tat—of this; abhimanena—by the false conception; danda-parusyayoh—when there is punishment and chastisement; yatha—just as; vaisamyam—misconception; iha—here (in this body); bhutanam—of the living entities; mama-aham—mine and I; iti—thus; parthiva—O lord of the earth.

My dear King, the conditioned soul, being in the bodily conception of life, considers his body to be his self and considers everything in relationship with the body to be his. Because he has this wrong conception of life, he is subjected to dualities like praise and chastisement.

Only when a conditioned soul accepts the body as himself does he feel the effects of chastisement or praise. Then he determines one person to be his enemy and another his friend and wants to chastise the enemy and welcome the friend. This creation of friends and enemies is a result of one’s bodily conception of life.

SB7.1.25

TEXT 25

yan-nibaddho ’bhimano ’yam

tad-vadhat praninam vadhah

tatha na yasya kaivalyad

abhimano ’khilatmanah

parasya dama-kartur hi

himsa kenasya kalpyate

yat—in which; nibaddhah—bound; abhimanah—false conception; ayam—this; tat—of that (body); vadhat—from the annihilation; praninam—of the living beings; vadhah—annihilation; tatha—similarly; na—not; yasya—of whom; kaivalyat—because of being absolute, one without a second; abhimanah—false conception; akhila-atmanah—of the Supersoul of all living entities; parasya—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; dama-kartuh—the supreme controller; hi—certainly; himsa—harm; kena—how; asya—His; kalpyate—is performed.

Because of the bodily conception of life, the conditioned soul thinks that when the body is annihilated the living being is annihilated. Lord Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the supreme controller, the Supersoul of all living entities. Because He has no material body, He has no false conception of “I and mine.” It is therefore incorrect to think that He feels pleasure or pain when blasphemed or offered prayers. This is impossible for Him. Thus He has no enemy and no friend. When He chastises the demons it is for their good, and when He accepts the prayers of the devotees it is for their good. He is affected neither by prayers nor by blasphemy.

Because of being covered by material bodies, the conditioned souls, including even greatly learned scholars and falsely educated professors, all think that as soon as the body is finished, everything is finished. This is due to their bodily conception of life. Krsna has no such bodily conception, nor is His body different from His self. Therefore, since Krsna has no material conception of life, how can He be affected by material prayers and accusations? Krsna’s body is described herewith as kaivalya, nondifferent from Himself. Since everyone has a material bodily conception of life, if Krsna had such a conception what would be the difference between Krsna and the conditioned soul? Krsna’s instructions in Bhagavad-gita are accepted as final because He does not possess a material body. As soon as one has a material body he has four deficiencies, but since Krsna does not possess a material body, He has no deficiencies. He is always spiritually conscious and blissful. Isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah [Bs. 5.1]: His form is eternal, blissful knowledge. Sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah, ananda-cinmaya-rasa and kaivalya are the same.

Krsna can expand Himself as Paramatma in the core of everyone’s heart. In Bhagavad-gita (13.3) this is confirmed. Ksetrajnam capi mam viddhi sama-ksetresu bharata: the Lord is the Paramatma—the atma or Superself of all individual souls. Therefore it must naturally be concluded that He has no defective bodily conceptions. Although situated in everyone’s body, He has no bodily conception of life. He is always free from such conceptions, and thus He cannot be affected by anything in relation to the material body of the jiva.

Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita (16.19):

tan aham dvisatah kruran
samsaresu naradhaman
ksipamy ajasram asubhan
asurisv eva yonisu

“Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, are cast by Me into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life.” Whenever the Lord punishes persons like demons, however, such punishment is meant for the good of the conditioned soul. The conditioned soul, being envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, may accuse Him, saying, “Krsna is bad, Krsna is a thief” and so on, but Krsna, being kind to all living entities, does not consider such accusations. Instead, He takes account of the conditioned soul’s chanting of “Krsna, Krsna” so many times. He sometimes punishes such demons for one life by putting them in a lower species, but then, when they have stopped accusing Him, they are liberated in the next life because of chanting Krsna’s name constantly. Blaspheming the Supreme Lord or His devotee is not at all good for the conditioned soul, but Krsna, being very kind, punishes the conditioned soul in one life for such sinful activities and then takes him back home, back to Godhead. The vivid example for this is Vrtrasura, who was formerly Citraketu Maharaja, a great devotee. Because he derided Lord Siva, the foremost of all devotees, he had to accept the body of a demon called Vrtra, but then he was taken back to Godhead. Thus when Krsna punishes a demon or conditioned soul, He stops that soul’s habit of blaspheming Him, and when the soul becomes completely pure, the Lord takes him back to Godhead.

SB7.1.26

TEXT 26

tasmad vairanubandhena

nirvairena bhayena va

snehat kamena va yunjyat

kathancin neksate prthak

tasmat—therefore; vaira-anubandhena—by constant enmity; nirvairena—by devotion; bhayena—by fear; va—or; snehat—from affection; kamena—by lusty desires; va—or; yunjyat—one should concentrate; kathancit—somehow or other; na—not; iksate—sees; prthak—something else.

Therefore by enmity or by devotional service, by fear, by affection or by lusty desire—by all of these or any one of them—if a conditioned soul somehow or other concentrates his mind upon the Lord, the result is the same, for the Lord, because of His blissful position, is never affected by enmity or friendship.

From this verse one should not conclude that because Krsna is unaffected by favorable prayers or unfavorable blasphemy one should therefore blaspheme the Supreme Lord. This is not the regulative principle. Bhakti-yoga means anukulyena krsnanusilanam: one should serve Krsna very favorably. This is the real injunction. Here it is said that although an enemy thinks of Krsna unfavorably, the Lord is unaffected by such antidevotional service. Thus He offers His benedictions even to Sisupala and similarly inimical conditioned souls. This does not mean, however, that one should be inimical toward the Lord. The stress is given to the favorable execution of devotional service, not purposeful blasphemy of the Lord. It is said:

nindam bhagavatah srnvams
tat-parasya janasya va
tato napaiti yah so ’pi
yaty adhah sukrtac cyutah

One who hears blasphemy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His devotees should immediately take action or should leave. Otherwise he will be put into hellish life perpetually. There are many such injunctions. Therefore as a regulative principle one should not be unfavorable toward the Lord but always favorably inclined toward Him.

Sisupala’s achievement of oneness with the Supreme Lord was different because Jaya and Vijaya, from the very beginning of their material existence, were ordained to treat the Supreme Lord as an enemy for three lives and then return home, back to Godhead. Jaya and Vijaya inwardly knew that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but they purposely became His enemies to be delivered from material life. From the very beginning of their lives they thought of Lord Krsna as an enemy, and even though blaspheming Lord Krsna, they chanted the holy name of Krsna constantly along with their inimical thoughts. Thus they were purified because of chanting the holy name of Krsna. It is to be understood that even a blasphemer can be freed from sinful activities by chanting the holy name of the Lord. Certainly, therefore, freedom is assured for a devotee who is always favorable to the service of the Lord. This will be clear from the following verse. By rapt attention fixed upon Krsna, one is purified, and thus one is delivered from material life.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has very nicely explained the word bhayena, which means “by fear.” When the gopis went to Krsna in the dead of night, they certainly feared chastisement by their relatives—their husbands, brothers and fathers—but nonetheless, not caring for their relatives, they went to Krsna. There was certainly fear, but this fear could not check their devotional service to Krsna.

One should not mistakenly think that Lord Krsna must be worshiped by an inimical attitude like that of Sisupala. The injunction is anukulyasya grahanam pratikulyasya varjanam: one should give up unfavorable activities and accept only favorable conditions in devotional service. Generally, if one blasphemes the Supreme Personality of Godhead he is punished. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (16.19):

tan aham dvisatah kruran
samsaresu naradhaman
ksipamy ajasram asubhan
asurisv eva yonisu

There are many such injunctions. One should not try to worship Krsna unfavorably; otherwise he must be punished, at least for one life, to be purified. As one should not try to be killed by embracing an enemy, a tiger or a snake, one should not blaspheme the Supreme Personality of Godhead and become His enemy in order to be put into hellish life.

The purpose of this verse is to emphasize that even the enemy of the Lord can be delivered, what to speak of His friend. Srila Madhvacarya also says in many ways that one should not blaspheme Lord Visnu through one’s mind, words or actions, for a blasphemer will go to hellish life along with his forefathers.

karmana manasa vaca
yo dvisyad visnum avyayam
majjanti pitaras tasya
narake sasvatih samah

In Bhagavad-gita (16.19–20) the Lord says:

tan aham dvisatah kruran
samsaresu naradhaman
ksipamy ajasram asubhan
asurisv eva yonisu

asurim yonim apanna
mudha janmani janmani
mam aprapyaiva kaunteya
tato yanty adhamam gatim

“Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, are cast by Me into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life. Attaining repeated birth amongst the species of demoniac life, such persons can never approach Me. Gradually they sink down to the most abominable type of existence.” One who blasphemes the Lord is put into a family of asuras, in which there is every chance of forgetting the service of the Lord. Lord Krsna further states in Bhagavad-gita (9.11–12):

avajananti mam mudha
manusim tanum asritam
param bhavam ajananto
mama bhuta-mahesvaram

Mudhas, rascals, blaspheme the Supreme Lord because He appears exactly like a human being. They do not know the unlimited opulence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

moghasa mogha-karmano
mogha-jnana vicetasah
raksasim asurim caiva
prakrtim mohinim sritah

Anything done by those who have taken the attitude of enemies will be baffled (moghasah). If these enemies try to be liberated or to merge into the existence of Brahman, if they desire to be elevated to the higher planetary systems as karmis, or even if they desire to return home, back to Godhead, they will certainly be baffled.

As for Hiranyakasipu, although he was extremely inimical toward the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he always thought of his son, who was a great devotee. Therefore by the grace of his son, Prahlada Maharaja, Hiranyakasipu was also delivered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

hiranyakasipus capi
bhagavan-nindaya tamah
vivaksur atyagat sunoh
prahladasyanubhavatah

The conclusion is that one should not give up pure devotional service. For one’s own benefit, one should not imitate Hiranyakasipu or Sisupala. This is not the way to achieve success.

SB7.1.27

TEXT 27

yatha vairanubandhena

martyas tan-mayatam iyat

na tatha bhakti-yogena

iti me niscita matih

yatha—as; vaira-anubandhena—by constant enmity; martyah—a person; tat-mayatam—absorption in Him; iyat—may attain; na—not; tatha—in a like manner; bhakti-yogena—by devotional service; iti—thus; me—my; niscita—definite; matih—opinion.

Narada Muni continued: By devotional service one cannot achieve such intense absorption in thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as one can through enmity toward Him. That is my opinion.