Srimad Bhagavatam, tells the story of an ape named Dvivida Gorilla, who was slayed by Lord Balarama. Dvivida Gorilla was not an ordinary ape. He was an associate of Lord Rama. But unfortunately, he became proud of his immense power and started disrespecting Lakshman.
Dvivida Gorilla disrespects Lakshman, so he falls down
And since he dishonored Lord Lakshman, so, as a punishment he fell down from his high spiritual position and began associating with demons like Narakasura. And because of such bad association he started behaving in a very abominable way.
When Lord Krishna killed Narakasura who had abducted 16,100 princesses then Dvivida started thinking that Krishna is my enemy because he killed my best friend.
We can see that how his consciousness had got corrupted. In Treta Yuga he was assisting Lord Rama in his war against Ravana. But now when same Lord Rama as Lord Krishna is performing his pastime in Dvapara Yuga, he is not even able to recognize that he is the same Supreme Lord.
In contrast, we see that when Lord Krishna, while looking for Syamantaka Jewel goes inside a cave where Jambavan was living then soon Jambavan recognizes that Krishna is Lord Rama, the Supreme Lord. So, we can understand that how wrong association corrupts us.
Lord Balarama kills Dvivida Gorilla
Srimad Bhagavatam narrates that how after the death of Narakarsura, Dvivida became extremely angry, and he started creating havoc at many places. He would attack cities and villages, torture people, pollute women, destroy flora and fauna.
Once he saw that in a garden Lord Balaram was enjoying with gopis. Seeing the young girls in the garden, he began misbehaving with them. In fact, he started acting in a vulgar way. This infuriated Balarama.
“Angered, Lord Balarāma, the best of fighters, hurled a rock at him, but the cunning ape dodged the rock and grabbed the Lord’s pot of liquor. Further infuriating Lord Balarāma by laughing and by ridiculing Him, wicked Dvivida then broke the pot and offended the Lord even more by pulling at the girls’ clothing. Thus the powerful ape, puffed up with false pride, continued to insult Śrī Balarāma.” Srimad Bhagavatam 10.67.14-15
Lord Balarama also started contemplating that this ape, Dvivida Gorilla, has been creating so many disturbances, so he needs to be punished. And finally, Lord Balarama ended the terror of Dvivida Gorilla by killing him with his bare hands.
“The furious Lord of the Yādavas then threw aside His club and plow and with His bare hands hammered a blow upon Dvivida’s collarbone. The ape collapsed, vomiting blood.” Srimad Bhagavatam 10.67.25
Glories of Lord Balarama
We see that Dvivida Gorilla had a glorious past. He was in the company of Lord Rama, Hanuman, Vibhisana, Sugriva but still his end was so bad. It happened only because he dishonored & disrespected Lakshman.
Lord Balarama and Lord Lakshman are the same. Balarama is the first expansion of Krishna and later on all the expansions comes from Lord Balarama. He always assists Krishna in his pastime. Similarly, Lakshman assists Lord Rama in his pastime. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Balarama, is the Servitor Godhead.
Balarama serves Krishna in following ways.
- When Krishna wants to create this material world, Balarama expands as Kāraṇābdhiśāyī Vishnu (Maha Vishnu), Garbhodakaśāyī Vishnu, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Vishnu to create the material world.
- He creates the spiritual world by the mercy of Krishna. “That original Saṅkarṣaṇa [Lord Balarāma] is the cause of both the material and the spiritual creation. He is the predominating Deity of egotism, and by the will of Kṛṣṇa and the power of the spiritual energy, He creates the spiritual world, which consists of the planet Goloka Vṛndāvana and the Vaikuṇṭha planets.” Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 20.256
- He expands as Krishna’s garments, ornaments, flutes etc to serve Krishna.
- He becomes the bed of Krishna by expanding as Anant Sesa.
- The paraphernalia used in the service of Krishna like mridange, kartal, bells etc are expansion of Lord Balarama.
Srila Prabhupada explains, “According to expert opinion, Balarāma, as the chief of the original quadruple forms, is also the original Saṅkarṣaṇa. Balarāma, the first expansion of Kṛṣṇa, expands Himself in five forms: (1) Mahā-saṅkarṣaṇa, (2) Kāraṇābdhiśāyī, (3) Garbhodakaśāyī, (4) Kṣīrodakaśāyī, and (5) Śeṣa. These five plenary portions are responsible for both the spiritual and material cosmic manifestations. In these five forms Lord Balarāma assists Lord Kṛṣṇa in His activities…Śrī Balarāma is the servitor Godhead who serves Lord Kṛṣṇa in all affairs of existence and knowledge.” Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, 5.10
He is always in the mood of serving Krishna. He is the original spiritual master who teaches all the living entities how to serve the Supreme Lord. When the Supreme Lord Krishna appears as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu then Lord Balarama appears as Nityananda Prabhu.
Without the mercy of Balarama, we cannot go to the kingdom of Krishna
One of the reasons why Chaitanya Mahaprabhu comes in this world is to take us back to the spiritual world. And to assist him in this glorious mission Lord Nityananda Prabhu also comes. We cannot get entry into the kingdom of God without the sanction of Nityananda Prabhu.
So, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says,
“brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja”
Translation by Srila Prabhupada
“According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. By the mercy of both Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.” Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 19.151
So, we can understand that without the mercy of guru, it is not possible to attain the mercy of the Supreme Lord. Balarama is the Adi guru, the original guru, and all the gurus are representative of Balarama.
Nityananda Prabhu is begging us to return back to the spiritual world
Seeing us suffering, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asks Nityananda Prabhu to go and bring the suffering souls back to him.
And Nityananda Prabhu along with Haridas Thakura immediately takes up the mission of liberating the unfortunate living entities from this ephemeral world. They both knock at the door of each house and as soon as the door opens they fall down on the ground begging them to chant the names of Krishna, so that they can elevate their consciousness and perfect their lives.
We see that more than us he wants us to come back to the spiritual abode.
Without the mercy of Lakshman or Balarama or Nityananda Prabhu it is not possible to live in the spiritual world. We see Dvivida Gorilla was with Lord Rama but he could not continue to be with the Supreme Lord because he disrespected Lakshman.
And later Balarama who is non different from Lakshman had to crush his pride and arrogance by his mighty club. Lord Balarama had no choice but to slay Dvivida Gorilla and get the earth rid of the notorious ape.
Lesson we learn from this pastime of Lord Balarama
This is an important lesson for all those who want to practice devotion to Krishna. If we fail to show respect to our spiritual master who is always praying to Krishna for our spiritual elevation then we will also suffer the destiny of Dvivida Gorilla. Just as Lord Balarama had to reluctantly kill Dvivida Gorilla, similarly we may also have a terrible future. Our spiritual master teach us how to take shelter of Balaram and attain love of Krishna.
To advance in our spiritual life, we should always be subservient to our spiritual master and take his guidance and practice devotion to Krishna. The bona fide spiritual master knows how to purify our heart and how to engage us 24 hours a day in the service of Krishna.
In Bhagavad Gita Krishna also teaches us the importance of serving the spiritual master and taking instruction from him.
tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ
“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.” Bhagavad Gita 4.34
