- Srimad Bhagavatam Class: SB 11.3.33
- Chapter Name: Liberation from the Illusory Energy
- Venue: Iskcon Newtown, Kolkata
- Day/Date: Tuesday,27th May 2025
- Speaker: HG Mukund Kirtan Prabhu
In today’s Srimad Bhagavatam class, HG Mukund Kirtan Prabhu said that if we have faith in Krishna then we will be free from all fear. Also, devotees should have complete in Krishna’s protection. Prabhuji was speaking on the verse SB 11.3.33.
iti bhāgavatān dharmān
śikṣan bhaktyā tad-utthayā
nārāyaṇa-paro māyām
añjas tarati dustarām
Translation
“Thus learning the science of devotional service and practically engaging in the devotional service of the Lord, the devotee comes to the stage of love of Godhead. And by complete devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, the devotee easily crosses over the illusory energy, māyā, which is extremely difficult to cross.”
Important points from the purport of this verse SB 11.3.33
- One should not approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead for liberation, since one is automatically liberated by obeying the order of the Lord.
- Kṛṣṇa’s order is given at the end of Bhagavad-gītā: sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja.
- Actual happiness comes from loving God without any tinge of mental speculation or fruitive desire.
Below article is based on the Srimad Bhagavatam class given by HG Mukund Kirtan Prabhu.
After Krishna fulfils his mission
In 10th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, the topic of ashray is discussed. Now in this 11th canto, liberation is being discussed. In this 11th canto, in the last two chapters, how Yadu dynasty and Krishna disappears is discussed.
Chapter 1 of this canto discusses, why Yadu dynasty disappears. Krishna stayed in Vrindavan for around 11 years and then he went to Mathura and then to Dwarka. In Dwarka he stayed for more than 100 years. Why Krishna appears in this world is answered by Krishna himself in Bhagavad Gita – paritranayam..
Krishna thinks that the purpose for which he came here is now fulfilled. He killed many demons in Vrindavan, and then many demoniac rules were killed by him through Pandavas. So, Krishna thinks that since his purpose of appearing in this world is now fulfilled so he should now leave from here.
And he then thinks that the Yadus have also become a burden. They were very large in numbers. For example, Krishna had 16,108 wives. And each wife had 10 children. Then these children had their own children.
And similarly other members of the Yadus had many children and grandchildren. In Dwarka, there were 38 million teachers to teach Yadu children. From this we can understand how big the Yadu dynasty was.
Krishna plans to disappear with Yadu dynasty
Jiva Goswami explains that the Yadus loved Lord. So, when Lord would have disappeared from the earth planet then Yadus would have not been able to tolerate it. Overwhelmed by emotion and in separation from Krishna, they would have destroyed the whole world.
So, Yadus were “Burden of love.”
So, there are external reasons for their disappearance like the sages cursed them, Gandhari cursed Krishna and so on. But the internal reason is actually different.
When Krishna was to appear in this world, then he had come with his associates, and he had also instructed some demigods also to appear. So, when Krishna had to go back to his kingdom, then his personal associates had to return with him to the spiritual abode and the demigods had to be reinstated to their positions in the heavenly kingdoms.
In Dwarka, we see that Samba makes fun of the sages and in turn gets cursed. So, Parikshit Maharaj asks how sages can curse the Yadus. This happens because the Lord want us to teach that we should not misbehave with the vaisnavas.
Narada Muni answers to Vasudeva
Now later we see in this canto, that Vasudeva ask questions to Narada Muni. Narada Muni had great love for Vasudeva, so he was happy when Vasudev asks questions from him. To answer him, Narada Muni speaks about the conversation between nava yogendriyas and Nimi Maharaja. Nimi Maharaj asks nine questions and each Yogendriyas answers each question.
Four questions of Nimi Maharaja and the answer
Till today’s verse of this canto, following four questions have been discussed.
Q1. What is Bhagavat Dharma i.e. what is the ultimate good for people?
Answer is given that Bhagavad Bhakti does ultimate good to the people. We see, same question was asked in first canto also. It is explained that Bhakti is so pure that if one practices it even by closing his eyes, he will reach the ultimate destination.
Bhakti should be performed by – kaya, manasa and vacah – body, mind and words.
We are always fearful in this world. And the root cause of fear is our misidentification. Bhakti uproots that misidentification, and it can completely satisfy the soul.
Q2. Second question is about the qualities of the devotee’s doing bhakti. Like, what they do, their nature, their symptoms and so on.
Its answer is given by the yogendriya – Havi. He explains that the devotees are of three types – uttama, madhyam, kanista.
- Uttama Adhikari devotees make no discrimination, considers everyone devotee.
- Madhyam Adhikari has prema (love) for the Lord, matri (friendship) with the devotees, shows kripa (mercy) to the ignorant and innocent, upeksha to the envious.
- Kanista Adhikari, sees the Lord in the temple but does not deal properly with the devotees.
Q3. Third question is about the activities of maya?
It is explained how Lord creates samsara and destroys it. How paramatma is there within the heart of everyone. It further explains that we suffer because of material desires.
Since we are addicted to material desires, so lord sanctions it and facilitates it.
Q4. Fourth question is how to overcome maya?
In answer to this question, it is explained that there is no happiness in this material world. Money is not the source of happiness.
In this section, it talks about the necessity of approaching a bonafide guru and inquiring from him about the highest truth. Then it further talks about the vaisnava qualities.
Faith in Krishna’s protection
We see that in answer to all the questions, the importance of having faith in Krishna and taking his shelter is emphasised.
Jivas like us are suffering because we are still not convinced that Lord is our ultimate protector and maintainer. We have more faith on our mind, intelligence and we think that we can protect ourselves.
Fear is because of absence of faith just like darkness is because of absence of light.
We see that great devotees had always great faith in Lord. In case of any situation, they always took shelter of the Lord. We have the example of Uttara, Kunti, brajvasi, Pandavas.
We see Krishna’s cowherd friends in Vrindavan were not traumatized in front of the demons also because they had complete faith in Krishna. If we observe, we will see that Krishna is always protecting us. He is our topmost well-wisher.
We should think that we belong to Krishna, if we do not have that feeling then we will look someone else for shelter. We should have gratitude for what Krishna has done for us and should have complete faith in him.
