Srimad Bhagavatam 4.24.26
ISKCON Hyderabad
11-06-2023

So you can get the book in Hindi. It is not required, they have had already. So I was told to read from Srimad Bhagavatam canto four, chapter twenty four and text twenty six, is that right? Someone is getting Hindi Bhagavatam. Please repeat after me.

sa tan prapannarti haro
bhagavan dharma vatsalah
dharma jnan sila sampannan
pritah pritan uvaca ha
(Srimad Bhagavatam 4.24.26)

Translation
Lord Siva became very pleased with the Pracetas because generally Lord Siva is the protector of pious persons and persons of gentle behavior. Being very much pleased with the princes, he began to speak as follows

Maybe some of you could recite. Okay purport by Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada ki jai! I think something is missing here? Something is not on the screen.

Purport
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, or Krsna, is known as bhakta vatsala, and herein we find Lord Siva described as dharma vatsala. Of course, the word dharma vatsala refers to a person who lives according to religious principles. That is understood. Nonetheless, these two words have additional significance. Sometimes Lord Siva has to deal with persons who are in the modes of passion and ignorance. Such persons are not always very much religious and pious in their activities, but since they worship Lord Siva for some material profit, they sometimes obey the religious principles. As soon as Lord Siva sees that his devotees are following religious principles, he blesses them. The Pracetas, sons of Pr?c?nabarhi, were naturally very pious and gentle, and consequently Lord Siva was immediately pleased with them. Lord Siva could understand that the princes were sons of Vaisnavas, and as such Lord Siva offered prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead as follows.

sa tan prapannarti haro
bhagavan dharma vatsalah
dharma jnan sila sampannan
pritah pritan uvaca ha
(Srimad Bhagavatam 4.24.26)

When I read the Sloka only, I had not yet read the translation and I was thinking that the description was about and that it was speaking about Krishna. This is the first time i am reading the translation and purport to this verse so I found out just now that this is not a description of Krishna, but it is in fact a description of lord Siva. He is prapannarti haro, one who drives away all kinds of danger.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, or Krsna, is known as bhakta vatsala, and herein we find Lord Siva described as dharma vatsala
(Purport)

We see here that the qualities of Visnu are seen also in the lord’s devotees and so what is the principle here? Achintya bhedabheda. Bhedabheda refers to the inconceivable oneness (bhed) and difference (abheda) of the Supreme Person and His energies. Therefore there are qualities of the lord that the devotees can attain and there are also qualities that the lord possesses which the devotees can never attain. If other devotees can gain these qualities, then what to speak of lord Siva? He is the topmost devotee and topmost Vaishnava. It is said vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh purananam idam tatha.

nimna ganam yatha ganga
devanam acyuto yatha
vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh
purananam idam tatha
(Srimad bhagavatam 12.13.16)

Translation
Just as the Ganga is the greatest of all rivers, Lord Acyuta the supreme among deities and Lord Sambhu [Siva] the greatest of Vai??avas, so Srimad Bhagavatam is the greatest of all Puranas

Srimad Bhagavatam is the greatest of all Puranas and nimna ganam yatha ganga, nimna ga, nimna means under and ga means to go so that which goes underneath. What goes under the Earth? Rivers go underground so nimna ganam, of all rivers the Ganga is the greatest so in the same way, devanam acyuto yatha. Of all the deities, demigods, Acyuta lord Krishna is the greatest. In this way of all rivers Ganga is the greatest, of all Puranas, Bhagavatam is the greatest and in the same way out of all Vaishnava’s, lord Siva is the greatest.

Lord Siva ki jai! It is also mentioned elsewhere Sambhutam gatah, lord Krishna himself becomes Sambhu, lord Siva and also lord Siva is one of the incarnations of the lord. He is a Guna Avatara, the incarnation of the Tama Guna, mode of ignorance. Who is the incarnation if the mode of goodness? It is Visnu and the incarnation of the mode of passion in Brahma. But although lord Siva is the incarnation of the mode of ignorance, he himself is not in the mode of ignorance.

He is in charge of the mode if ignorance, he is not in the mode of ignorance. There are some sinful people who are in the mode of ignorance, and the go to him to ask for material benediction. This is also the job of the demigods, to fulfil the desires if the materialists.

kamksantah karmanam siddhim
yajanta iha devatah
kaipram hi manuse loke
siddhir bhavati karma ja
(Bhagavad gita 4.12)

Translation
Men in this world desire success in fruitive activities, and therefore they worship the demigods. Quickly, of course, men get results from fruitive work in this world

Krishna has spoken this in the Bhagavad gita and the lord says that those who want success in fruitful activities approach the demigods who quickly give them what they want and so lord Siva did the same for those in the mode of ignorance. Hari Hari. Lord Siva is one of the most misunderstood personalities and most people do not know or recognise him.

Okay so we know that he is in charge of the most of ignorance and so he is the one who destroys the whole cosmos which is his duty. This is called Pralaya, bhutva bhutva praliyate.

bhuta gramah sa evayam
bhutva bhutva praliyate
ratry agame ’vasah partha
prabhavaty ahar agame
(Bhagavad gita 8.19)

Translation
Again and again, when Brahma’s day arrives, all living entities come into being, and with the arrival of Brahma’s night they are helplessly annihilated

These materialists have so many different desires, who was it Vrkasura? There are so many like Vrkasura.

kamais tais tair hrta jnanah
prapadyante ’nya devatah
tam tan niyamam asthaya
prakrtya niyatah svaya
(Bhagavad gita 7.20)

Translation
Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures

Krishna says in the Bhagavad gita that those who are so materialistic, prapadyante ’nya devatah. They worship the demigods and take shelter of these demigods and whilst the lord is speaking this, he is most probably not happy with this fact. ‘What is this? They should not be doing this!’ But they still do this, why? Kamais tais tair hrta jnanah. Because their intelligence has been stolen by material desires. Their intelligence is stolen due to their vast material desires and then these materialistic persons go to the demigods to fulfil their material desires.

This is exactly what Vrkasura was like and to please lord Siva he held a fire sacrifice, ‘swaha swaha.’ We have heard that – actually Radha Govinda Maharaja was saying and it must be true that Vrkasura wanted Parvati but if course he could not get her till lord Siva was still there. That is why he had already devised the plan to kill lord Siva. So he was putting offerings into the fire sacrifice and this offering was none other than the flesh of his own body and he was chanting ‘swaha swaha.’

The whole point in all this was to kill lord Siva and so he wanted the benediction that ‘whoever’s head I put my hand upon, that person’s head will be cut there and then and he shall immediately die.’ Quite some time had passed while he chanted ‘swaha swaha’ but lord Siva was still not pleased with his efforts. But then at some point lord Siva became appeased and appeared on the scene. He asked ‘what do you want?’

‘I want that whoever’s head I touch, that head your break into pieces and he dies. Give me this benediction.’ There is also a problem with lord Siva which is that he is Ashutosh. He is satisfied very quickly and therefore he granted the wish of this demon. As soon as this Vrkasura gets this benediction, what will he do? He wants to trial his benediction, ‘is it actually true or not?’

He wants to test it out but there was nobody else there and so he was just about to test it out on lord Siva. ‘I wish ti touch your head sir,’ he said to lord Siva and lord Siva knew that he had actually granted the wish of the demon and so he knew that it would come to pass if the demon touched his head. ‘If he touches my head, then I will also die.’ So then lord Shiva started to run very fast and this Vrkasura was following him.

This is the character of the devotees of the demigods and lord Siva, just look. So lord Siva was running and Vrkasura was running after him and so lord Visnu or Krishna kahnaiyalal ki jai! The lord noted that lord Siva is in troubled, that there is a problem and lord Visnu also understood what the problem was. Lord Visnu then appeared on the scene and he stopped Vrkasura by saying ’hey what’s happening? Who are you running after.’

So the demon explained that he had gained a benediction from lord Siva and that he wanted to touch the head of lord Siva so that he would die and in this way he would get Parvati and he could become her husband. Then there is some discussion between the lord and Vrkasura and we know that the lord is the most intelligent and so the lord said, ‘lord Siva has given you a benediction? Dont take this benediction seriously because actually he has given no benediction.

This is because he does not have the power to give such a benediction. If you touch anybody’s head, I can assure you that their head will not break at all.’ But he was convinced, ‘no, no he has given me this benediction.’ Then lord Visnu said, ‘okay, if you really think you have got this benediction then try it. On who? Try it on yourself.’ Then this foolish demon did just this and as soon as he did so, his head exploded and he died.

In this way lord Siva’s life was safe and so he who saved lord Siva’s life, he who is lord Siva’s protector is none other than Krishna. Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam.

ete camsa kalah pumsah
krsnas tu bhagavan svayam
indrari vyakulam lokam
mrdayanti yuge yuge
(Srimad bhagavatam 1.3.28)

Translation
All of the above mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Sri Krsna is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists

If someone does recognise lord Siva then it is only the Vaishnava’s who can recognise him as to what his actual identity is and he is also Sadasiva. There is devi dham and then which is the other dham? Mahesh dham and then there is Hari dham. Devi dham is this material world where we are, where Devi is in charge and whoever holds material desires approaches the family of lord Siva for fulfilment of these desires.

Someone may approach Parvati, Durga and someone else may go to Ganesh to aak for a material benediction. In one place, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur writes about the Pancha Upasana, the five deities who are worshipped.

aradhyo bhagavan vrajesa tanayas tad dhama vrndavanam
ramya kacid upasana vrajavadhu vargena ya kalpita
srimad bhagavatam pramanam amalam prema pumartho mahan
sri caitanya mahaprabhur matam idam tatradaro nah parah
(Caitanya matta manjusa commentary on Srimad Bhagavatam by Srinath Chakravarti)

Translation
It is the conclusive opinion of Lord Chaitanya that the most worshipable form of the Lord is that of Sri Krishna, the son of Nanda Maharaja. Vrindavan-dhama is the topmost worshipable abode. The highest and most pleasing type of worship of Krishna is done by the Vraja gopis. Srimad bhagavatam is the spotless authority on everything. And krsna prema is the fifth and highest goal of life

There is the mode of worship which follows the footsteps the gopi’s and then there is the other mode of worship which is the Pancha Upasana. There is worship of the sun, then there is worship of Ganesh and then Parvati, lord Siva and so now who is left? Ganesh, did i miss him? So these are three personalities from the same family, lord Siva, Ganesh and Parvati. Then there is the sun and finally? How can I miss lord Visnu?

But worship of lord Visnu is done by the non devotees with the feeling of material desires and to fulfil them and so this is Pancha Upasana, worship of five personalities. The family of lord Siva is a big part of this but these worshippers do not actually understand lord Siva. So there is one Sadasiva who’s abode is not Mahesh dham because half of lord Siva’s abode is in the material world and that is a part of Devi dham, the lower part, not this higher part.

The higher part if lord Siva’s abode is in Vaikuntha and it is just like Vaikuntha and it is indeed a part of Vaikuntha. There lord Siva is known as Sadasiva and the lower part called Mahesh dham is where is form of Kala Bhairava resides. There is Siva Sivani and Bhava Bhavani, the energy if lord Siva and so the lower part of lord Siva’s abode is where his form of Kala Bhairava resides in Mahesh dham.

He stays in contact with the material nature there but Sadasiva is the one who appeared and Advaita Acharya. Sri Advaita was Maha Visnu and also and Sadasiva because actually Sadasiva is an expansion of Maha Visnu also. We can say Advaita Acharya expanded from Sadasiva or we could say he expanded from Maha Visnu, it is the same thing. So lord Siva is Sadasiva and so Advaita Acharya has appeared do this means that Sadasiva has appeared.

His work was as an advanced party you could say, because he made his appearance before Gauranga Mahaprabhu who had sent him before he took his birth. This is so that Advaita Acharya could do some study of what the situation of the world had come to. Lord Siva studied this situation and what did he find?

yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham

Translation
Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion-at that time I descend Myself

There was such a great decline of religion practice and so Sadasiva as Advaita Acharya cried out to the lord to make his appearance and his cries reached Vaikuntha dham and so the lord appeared, hearing his cries. When someone calls out to the lord in this manner, the lord immediately appears in that place. So Gauranga Mahaprabhu made his appearance and in this way Advaita Acharya became the reason why the lord made his appearance.

So whoever takes shelter of the supreme lord in a distressed condition, lord Siva directly takes away all the distress of the devotee if he does it through Gauranga Mahaprabhu. So that is why the lord is called Hari, he who takes away. Gaurahari! Why is he called Hari? Harati means take away and so he takes away the distress of the devotee who approaches him.

I was listening to Srila Prabhupada and he was saying that the lord’s devotees do the work of the lord. The lord takes away people’s distress and is therefore called Hari and the same work is also done by the lord’s devotees, the Vaishnava’s. The lord’s devotees, the Vaishnava’s give the lord himself to the distressed people of the world and upon getting the lord from the Vaishnava’s, the lord then takes away their distress. Krsna se tomara, krsna dite paro, tomara sakati ache.

krsna se tomara, krsna dite paro,
tomara sakati ache
ami to’ Kamgala, ‘krsna’ ‘krsna’ boli’,?dhai tava pache pache
(Ohe vaishnava thakur 4)

Translation
Krsna is yours. You have the power to give Him to me. I am simply your servant running behind you shouting, “Krsna! Krsna!

‘I am running after you because I have hope that you will give me Krishna! I am penniless, I have nothing. We have empty pockets, we are corrupt, not corrupt, bankrupt. So you can give us the supreme lord.’ So when one is asking like this and then he attains the lord in this way, even if he is bankrupt, he becomes a rich man. What should we do?

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

In this way the Vaishnava’s give the supreme lord to others and then what does the lord do? He does his work of taking away all one’s past sins. And then what does Harinam do? Ceto darpana marjanam bhava maha davagni nirvapanam

Ceto darpana marjanam bhava maha davagni nirvapanam
shreyah kairava chandrika vitaranam vidya vadhu jivanam
anandambudhi vardhanam prati padam purnamritaswadanam
sarvatma snapanam param vijayate sri krishna sankirtanam
(Siksastakam 1)

Glory to the Sri-Krsna-Sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious

What does the holy name do? Ceto darpana marjanam, marjan means to clean, so it cleans our heart of all the dirt in it and then what? Bhava maha davagni nirvapanam. Davagni is the fire of material existence which has spread in the whole world and this Harinam extinguishes this fire of material existence and gives cooling rays. Just like Harinam takes away this fire and gives everyone cooling rays and therefore takes away their distress, the Vaishnava’s act in the same way by taking away the distress of the conditioned soul.

The spiritual master acts in this way and that is why everyday in the morning what do we sing?

samsara davanala lidha loka
tranaya karunya ghanaghanatvam
praptasya kalyana gunarnavasya
vande guroh sri caranaravindam
(Guru astaka 1)

Translation
The spiritual master is receiving benediction from the ocean of mercy. Just as a cloud pours water on a forest fire to extinguish it, so the spiritual master delivers the materially afflicted world by extinguishing the blazing fire of material existence. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master, who is an ocean of auspicious qualities

Just like it is mentioned in Siksastakam that the holy name extinguishes this fire of material existence and gives cooling rays, bhava maha davagni nirvapanam, in the same this dava, fire is mentioned in the forst verse of Guru astaka. Samsara dava nala means as a cloud pours water on a forest fire to extinguish it, so the spiritual master delivers the materially afflicted world by extinguishing the blazing fire of material existence.

The spiritual master does this by his merciful glance and this glance extinguishes the fire of our material existence which is burning us and killing us. By doing this, the spiritual master releases us from the net which has captured us in material existence. This is why the lords work is done by the lord’s devotees. And of all these devotees, the greatest is lord Siva, he is the number one Vaishnava. Lord Siva ki jai.

When the churning of the ocean was going on, before the jewels and other gifts came out, what came first? Poison came out and so now how to be saved from the effects of this poison? The demigods then went to lord Siva, ‘help help help!’ Lord Siva felt great compassion because the gods did not get the nectar they had gone to so much trouble for, instead they only got this poison. This poison would have to be taken away somehow and so what dis lord Siva do?

He drank up the poison and not just a bottle full of it, no. He drank a whole ocean full of poison because this poison had filled up the whole ocean and so he drank it all. Where did he keep this poison? In his neck and that is when he got the name ‘Nil kantha,’ the blue throated one. Lord Siva’s followers drink all sorts of nonsense forbidden drinks and drugs like Ganja but they do not keep this in their throats like lord Siva did.

It reaches their stomachs or hearts and then they die because they try to imitate. Okay then lord Siva became the resting place of the Ganges so that the demigods would then attain nectar at the end. There was a time when Ganga was staying in the heavenly realms only but she was called down by King Bhaghirath for the liberation of his ancestors by their bathing in her waters. Bhagirath tried so hard and nobody in this whole world had tried as hard.

When we mention the names in history of all those persons, who is remembered first? Bhagirath, and that is why Ganga has one more name and what is that? Bhagirathi, and why is that? Because of the efforts of Bhagirath, the Ganges was called and she came on this Earth. Finally Ganga was ready to come, ‘okay I’m coming down but I will come with such quick speed from the heavens that there must be someone who can stop me or slow me down.

Otherwise the Earthly planet could go out of orbit due to my force so please make some arrangement.’ So she was ready to come ‘but first make arrangements.’ Then King Bhagirath approached lord Siva, ‘could you help out?’ And for sure lord Siva was ready and what did he do? He put her on his head whilst she was coming with great force from the heavenly planets to Earth. From there she also flows in different directions and lord Siva then got the name Gangadhar, one who holds Ganga.

So if lord Siva had not agreed to hold her force by taking her upon his head, Ganga would not be able to come on this Earth. And as we know, her waters are in itself nectar and so we would not be able to purify ourselves and and become immortal by bathing in her waters. This is all possible now because of lord Siva. He is one of the factors for sure. Hari Hari.

In this way we see that lord Siva is also taking away the distress of people, Hari. He is the most misunderstood or you could say he is not understood and actually what kind of Vaishnava is lord Siva? He is a Vaishnava in Gopi bhava, the highest bhava. In Vrindavan his bhava is Gopi bhava and that is why in Rasa lila, only two types of personalities are allowed to enter. Two things are for sure.

Do you want to dance in the Rasa lila with Krishna? Okay, yes you could do so but what must there be? One is the bhava of the Gopi’s, their feelings of love for Krishna and secondly, one must have the form of a Gopi. Lakshmi does not like this because she is so attached to her own beauty and form that she has feelings of pride, ‘I am Lakshmi.’ That is why there is a forest in Vrindavan which is called Srivana and she is there since many years and she is performing austerities there but she still is not about to gain entrance in the Rasa lila.

This is because she does not want to take on the feelings of the Gopi’s and nor does she want to take a form like the Gopi’s. So like this at one time lord Siva also wanted to enter the Rasa lila to dance with Krishna and so he reached Vrindavan from his abode Kailash. He found out where the Rasa dance was about to take place soo he went there and he must have rung the bell. Some Gopi’s must have been there as gatekeepers at the door.

‘Hey where are you going? The Rasa lila, in this state? Look at your hair in locks and your drum! You have a trident with you and there are snakes hanging on your neck! Then you are wearing a garland of skulls and there are scorpions on your ears as earring’s. There are ashes all over your whole body.’ Lord Siva is a renunciant and therefore he does not look at his face in the mirror.

You want to go to join in the Rasa dance but you can’t just go there like that! No this is not possible.’ What to do then? Then he was told that there was a kunda, a lake nearby that was called Mansarovar. ‘If you take bath there, you will attain a form like the Gopi’s and the feelings of the Gopi’s and then only you may go to join the Rasa dance, you are welcome.’

Then lord Siva went to take part in the Rasa dance, this is the great position if lord Siva. Ei nivedana dhara, sakh?ra anugata koro.

ei nivedana dhara, sakh?ra anugata koro seva adhikara diye koro nija dasi
(Tulasi kirtan 4)

Translation
I beg you to make me a follower of the cowherd damsels of Vraja. Please give me the privilege of devotional service and make me your own maidservant

This is the feeling of anugata, privilege, which it certainly is to enter in the Rasa lila amongst the Gopi’s to be able to serve them. And another thing is to be a follower and that is what Lakshmi did not want to do, she did not want to follow anyone. That is why lord Siva has another name, Gopeshwar Mahadeva ki jai. He loves Krishna very much and there are many pastimes of his.

Just like when he goes to Nandagram to take darshan of Krishna’s baby form. He went to Nanda bhavan and probably he would have knocked on the door and Yashoda opened the door. Lord Siva was standing there, ‘hey, what are you doing here, what do you want?’ ‘Oh I want to take darshan of Kahnaiya.’ Yashoda answered, ‘if my Lala takes darshan of you he will become afraid. No, no! Go!’ So poor lord Siva has to leave that place and he goes to Nandagram in meditation.

So anyway there is this pastime. From the time mother Yashoda sent lord Siva away, since then lord Krishna started to cry and he is crying and crying, he is not looking to stop crying no matter what. ‘Here take this toy, how about a rasagulla? Have this, lets give you that.’ No, he kept crying and crying and so some older Gopi’s came from the neighbourhood and they are asking, ‘since when has he started to cry?’

‘Some baba came early, he had matted hair. I quickly sent him away but since then my Lala is crying on and on.’ So then they all started to think that there is a connection, ‘if you have sent lord Siva far away then now call him back and see if Lala stops crying, bring him back.’ When lord Siva was called back, Kahnaiya was bought outside to take darshan and immediately his crying stopped.

So we can see that lord Siva has a deep connection with lord Krishna, and not only with lord Krishna. He is a part of Krishna lila but also when lord Rama appeared, even there he is present. And when lord Krishna appeared as Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, lord Siva is present there also. In Mayapur lord Siva is everywhere, in Navadwipa and all the Dwipa’s are connected to lord Siva in some way.

There is one Dwipa, island, what is that, Godrumadwipa? There lord Siva is presiding even now. Godrumadwipa is famous for kirtan because in all nine Dwipa’s, there are none different forms of devotional service in each one. In one Dwipa there may be Sravanam, listening and so like this is Godrumadwipa there is kirtan. It is compared to Varanasi and Varanasi becomes Maha Varanasi and that is part of Godruma. Varanasi is in Godrumadwipa and what does lord Siva do there?

He is constantly performing kirtan and Panchananda Tala is there also. One form of lord Siva has five heads and that is why Pancha ananda. Just like there is Dashananda, do you know anyone like this, with ten heads? Ravan was called Dashananda. So lord Siva has five heads and how many eyes are there on each face? Three, that’s why he is called Trilochan. He has five faces and each face has three eyes each and from each eye he is taking darshan of lord Krishna and Gauranga Mahaprabhu, and from each mouth he is singing the glories of the lord.

brahma bole chatur mukhe krishna krishna hare hare
mahadeva pancha mukhe rama rama hare hare

Translation
Brahma sings “krishna krishna hare hare” with four mouths and Siva ecstatically sings “rama rama hare hare” with five mouths

The first Dwipa is which one? Seimantadwipa, this island was bought down by lord Siva. He was at one time performing a wonderful kirtan in Kailash and he was dancing in such a fascinating way ‘Gaura Gaura Gaura Gaura!’ And lord Siva was dancing also which he is famous for. Krishna is of course famous for his dancing also and therefore he is called Natwara and lord Siva is called Nararaj. So both lords are Nata’s, which means Nata Nati, they are actors.

One is Natwara, the best and Nataraj is also the best. Lord Siva was dancing and then he bought Parvati from Kailash to Simantadwipa and there both of them performed austerities and worship. Then what happened was that Gauranga Mahaprabhu appeared there upon the scene and Parvati took the dust of the lord’s lotus feet upon her head.

That is why the parting of the lady’s hair is called simanta, where there is Kumkum. In this dwipa we have a Jagannath temple and recently Iskcon have installed a deity of mother Parvati. She is called Simantini because she is a resident of Simantadwipa, which is the name of the place. There is also a Rudradwipa, named after lord Siva and this is one of the nine dwipa’s and back to Godrumadwipa, there is a temple of Hara and Hari.

They are both there in one deity form, half in Hara and the other half is Hari, Hari Hara. Lord Siva holds a very high position and he is not an ordinary Jiva, he is Siva. He has own category, he is one of a kind and he is the only one is this category because there is nobody like him. We are all Jiva tattva, the marginal energy of the lord and Visnu tattva is the supreme lord. Included in the Visnu tattva are all the incarnations of the lord.

Lord Siva is not a Jiva so what is he? He is lord Siva, he is Siva tattva, he has his own tattva, principle. He is not full fledged Visnu but he is certainly not an ordinary Jiva also. Having said this, he is not supremely independent also and so to think that he is independent and a competitor of Visnu is a great offence. This is the second offence.

To consider the names of demigods like Lord Shiva or Lord Brahma to be equal to or independent of the name of the Lord Vishnu
(Offences of the holy name 2)

I think this has to be understood clearly by us all otherwise we will definitely commit this offence. Mattah parataram nanyat
kincid asti dhananjaya

mattah parataram nanyat
kincid asti dhananjaya
mayi sarvam idam protam
sutre mani gana iva

Translation
O conquerer of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.

This is certainly true because could be on par with Krishna, on an equal level with him and so they can certainly be nobody who is higher than him. In our country there is always a competition between the followers of Siva and the followers of Krishna or Visnu. They try to prove ‘hey Siva hey Visnu!’ They try to compete and tussle and then there is friction, but this is all out of ignorance.

Visnu has his place but lord Siva is no less! He is somebody who is a very big personality. Lord Siva cannot be independent from the supreme lord. So he has become pleased, upon who has he become pleased? Upon the Praceta’s. Why has he become pleased upon them? Because the Praceta’s were the knowers of Dharma, religious principles.

sa tan prapannarti haro
bhagavan dharma vatsalah
dharma jnan sila sampannan
pritah pritan uvaca ha

Translation
Lord Siva became very pleased with the Pracetas because generally Lord ?iva is the protector of pious persons and persons of gentle behavior. Being very much pleased with the princes, he began to speak as follows.

They were also silavan which means when a person is religious, he or she is a person of character and that is what sila sampannan means. A person is known as having his character when he reads Chaitanya Charitamrita or Ram Charita or Krishna Charita. Now times have changed better one time all mothers and fathers would recite the pastimes of the lord to their son and daughters or to their grandchildren.

Because these children were constantly listening to the pastimes, activities and the character of the Lord himself, they would also become people of good character. Then what? Pritah, the lord would become pleased with all these boys and girls who were of good character. This is what is being said here, that lord Siva was pleased with the Praceta’s and by meeting them. Do we also want the Lord become pleased with us? How many of you want this that the Lord becomes pleased by us?

So what will we have to do? We will have to become religious and knowers of true religion. This means we must discover ourselves and this is to know our selves and to understand ourselves and to understand the lord also. By doing this one automatically becomes a knower of the scriptures also, tasmac chastram pramanam te karyakarya vyavasthitau.

tasmac chastram pramanam te
karyakarya vyavasthitau
jnatva sastra vidhanoktam
karma kartum iharhasi

Translation
One should understand what is duty and what is not duty by the regulations of the scriptures. Knowing such rules and regulations, one should act so that he may gradually be elevated

Bhagavatam and gita are scripures and one who knows these is called a knower of sastra. Normally material people think that one who knows, sastra knows Galileo or this one and that one, Darwin- actually not him (laughter). He’s not on that list. So one who knows sastra is a scientist, sastrajna. This is spiritual science because both are science but out of both sciences, of course the superior science is the spiritual science.

Both constitute knowledge, but one is higher knowledge and one is lower knowledge.

raja vidya raja guhyam
pavitram idam uttamam
pratyaksavagamam dharmyam
su sukham kartum avyayam
(Bhagavad gita 9.2)

Translation
This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed

Whoever has done the Bhakti Sastri course and has taken the knowledge of this course by understanding it has become a knower of the Bhakti Sastras, books of devotion. Our Acharya’s are all knowers of the Sastras, just like Ramanujacharya and Madhvacharya. Then there is Srila Prabhupada. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada ki jai. What was Prabhupada? He was in knowledge of Sastra and if you read his books you can also become a knower of Sastra.

Murari Shyam Prabhu is a knower of Sastra also this can be said so easily. With ease one can say this, there are no if’s and but’s about this statement. And there are so many others, Anandamaya Prabhu is a Sastrajna as is Vedanta Chaitanya. He was here and he is Sastrajna. The Praceta’s were knowers of Sastra and knowers of Dharma. One is knowledhe of Sastra, Jnana and the other is Vijnana which is the practical application of that knowledge.

It is not enough just to be a knower of Sastra, one must be practically applying this spiritual science. First there is knowledge of dharma, religious principles and then one becomes sila sampannan, a person of good character. When we become of good character then Pritah, the lord becomes pleased or here lord Siva has become pleased. Here he is mentioned as the lord and this is a fact because he is also the lord.

He possesses all six opulences although lord possesses these opulences to the greatest degree. The six opulence are

aisvarasya samagrasya
viryasya yasasah sriyah
jnana vairagyayos caiva
sannam bhaga itingana
(Visnu purnana 6.5.47

Translation
Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is defined as one who is full of six opulence, ie, who has full strength, fame, wisdom, wealth, beauty and renunciation

These are the six opulences and Krishna has them to the greatest extent, samagrasya, total, complete. But others also have the six opulences but less is quantity to lord Krishna. Just like the lord’s incarnations have these six opulences because they are the supreme lord and so lord Siva has these sox opulences because he is known as the lord. Sukadeva Goswami is also known as the supreme lord as is Narada Muni.

Also all of you are also the lord to greater or lesser degrees, yes yes. You are the lord because having knowledge means to be the lord. Bhag, whoever has this bhag means he possesses this and that means Wan, to possess. So whoever has knowledge to whatever degree, he is a lord to that degree. If one is renounced he is the lord, if one has some strength he is a
Lord. Hari Hari. So now lord Siva has become pleased, pritah pritan uvaca ha.

Pritan, unto such personalities who were abiders of religion and who were therefore of good character, being pleased with the activities of these great souls, lord Siva was pleased and therefore started to speak as follows. Lord Siva said, what did he say? We will speak on that tomorrow so it is to be continued. Thank you very much.

So now there is one question, when will Prashad be served?

(Audio cut) Sacinanandan Maharaja or Bhurijan Prabhu, I don’t know. Usually on a regular basis we are observing this just like is Somanadwipa Iskcon have installed a deity of Parvati and everyday they perform arati to the deity and there is also a Sivalinga there and they perform arati to this also. The temple is Mayapura in a place called Rajapur and you can do this also, there is no objection.

So your question is that is it true that lord Siva is Hari’s ish, worshipable lord? This talk goes on in Rameswar, ‘who is the supreme lord, lord Rama or lord Siva? Ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham

ye yatha mam prapadyante
tams tathaiva bhajamy aham
mama vartmanuvartante
manusyah partha sarvasah
(Bhagavad gita 4.11)

Translation
All of them- as they surrender unto Me, I reward accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Prtha

These words are very mysterious where the lord is herein saying, ‘ye yatha, whoever surrenders unto me accordingly, I also think of them to tie extent of their surrender to me.’ If you want to take it literally, then this is what the lord is saying. Ye means those people, yatha means accordingly, mam means me and prapadyante means to come to his shelter. ‘Tam bhajami aham, I worship them.’

The lord worships his devotees and of course the lord’s devotees are always worshipping him continuously. This is the relationship of the lord and his devotees, they both worship each other but in Vrindavan nobody worships him. Sadhavo hrdayam mahyam sadhunam hrdayam tv aham

sadhavo hrdayam mahyam
sadhunam hrdayam tv aham
mad anyat te na jananti
naham tebhyo manag api
(Srimad bhagavatam

Translation
The pure devotee is always within the core of My heart, and I am always in the heart of the pure devotee. My devotees do not know anything else but Me, and I do not know anyone else but them

Krishna says that the pure devotee is in his heart and ‘I am always in everyone’s heart.’ The lord is saying here ‘my devotees do not know anything else but me, and my state is the same because I do not think about anything apart from my devotees.’ Hari Hari. That is why we must respect the devotees and treat them with high esteem, even to the point of worshipping them. We must serve the devotees because even the lord worships his devotees.

That is why the lord came as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to know his devotees and he became a devotee also for this same reason. Panca tattvatmakam krsnam
bhakta rupa svarupakam

panca tattvatmakam krsnam
bhakta rupa svarupakam
bhaktavataram bhaktakhyam
namami bhakta saktikam
(Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 7.6)

Translation
Let me offer my obeisances unto Lord Sri Krsna, who has manifested Himself in five as a devotee, expansion of a devotee, incarnation of a devotee, pure devotee and devotional energy

This is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who has taken the mood of Radharani, the devotees and the gopi’s and then the lord has himself become a devotee. We want to become the lord ourselves and in our country there are lords wondering about, this lord and that lord, here and there. He was a Swami yesterday and Narayana today, Swami Narayana. Then someone else becomes some other God and someone else another but Krishna wants to become a devotee and he does become a devotee.

You can call this the glory of a devotee but it is also a special position of the lord’s devotee, a status. The lord has also said, ‘whoever says that they are my devotee are not my devotee, no no. This must be another person, not my devotee. But one who says that he is a devotee of my devotee, aahh then you are my devotee.’ If one says like this that ‘I am a devotee of your devotee, oh lord’ ‘then you are my devotee’ the lord says.

Where is my lord Siva worships the supreme lord and in the same way, the supreme lord worships lord Siva. Okay what else is happening here?