The Greatness of Lord Vishnu

[निताइ dasa]

Verse 2

śarad-udāśaye sādhu-jāta-sat-
 sarasijodara-śrī-muṣā dṛśā
surata-nātha te ’śulka-dāsikā
 vara-da nighnato neha kiṁ vadhaḥ

""O Lord of love, in beauty Your glance excels the whorl of the finest, most perfectly formed lotus within the autumn pond. O bestower of benedictions, You are killing the maidservants who have given themselves to You freely, without any price. Isn’t this murder?"

In the previous verse, the gopis told Sri Krsna , “We have been searching for You, unable to bear the pain of separation from You and burning in the fire of amorous desires.” He responded by asking, “What unhappiness or calamity have I caused you?” Now, in this verse, the gopis say, “You are not merely making us unhappy; You are killing us. Weapons are not the only means by which one kills. There are other means as well.” The word drsa refers to Krsna's glance. The gopis say, “With the glances of Your lotus eyes, You are killing us.” Krsna may ask, “How am I killing you?” The gopis reply, “You are killing us simply by Your being surata-nätha. (here surata means union or meeting, so Surata natha, means the Lord of meeting).

The Gopis conclude that the fault does not lie with Krsna Himself, but with His beautiful eyes. From where had His eyes obtained their beauty? The gopis express their realization of this with the words sarad udasaye. Vishwanatha Chakravati Thakur has explained that, in their own way, the gopis compare Krsna's eyes with the beautiful petals of the lotus flower. sarad means ‘the autumn season,’ the season in which this pastime took place. Ud means ‘water,’ and asaye means ‘reservoir of water,’ such as a pond, lake, river, or ocean. In this context, udäsaye means ‘lake.’ During sarad, the best of seasons, the water in the lakes is clean and pure. The word sädhu in this verse means ‘pure, sacred, and possessing all kinds of virtue.’ If a man has taken birth in a good family, a family of sädhus, we can generally conclude that a son or daughter born to him will also have a pious nature. The gopis tell Krsna , “The beautiful lotus growing in the vast pond is fragrant, soft, and sweet. In the autumn season the water is pure, and therefore the lotus growing in that water is also pure. The petals on that lotus and the pollen on the petals are also completely pure. Every part of that lotus has manifested with purity, and as a result of purity. Without this purity, the lotus in all of its features would also be without beauty.”

In comparing Krsna's eyes with lotus petals, the gopis say, “Your eyes possess the wealth of beauty that they stole from the petals of the lotus. But Your eyes have an extra magic that make them unique, which is that they can steal the qualities of something just by looking at it. You simply glanced at the lotus, and in doing so You took away its loveliness. In this way You left the lotus reduced in magnificence, while the beauty of Your eyes increased. “Then, after You stole the qualities of the lotus, You cast Your glance at us, and in doing so, You stole the contents of our hearts. You are such an expert thief that You can steal the beauty of the petals of a lotus, even of one that grows far from the water’s edge where it is dangerous to venture and where it is surrounded by other lotuses. “In fact, which of Your possessions have You not stolen? You stole the beauty of a new rain cloud and the dance of the peacock. From this we can easily understand that You are an expert thief. “It is not easy to steal our hearts, because we are always protected by our relatives – our parents, brothers, husbands, sisters-in-law, mothers and fathers-in-law – and also by our shyness, patience, and chastity. Yet, You went straight into our hearts without any consideration, and You captured us. Actually, it was not You who entered our hearts; it was Your eyes. It follows, then, that Your eyes can easily steal the beauty of the lotus flower. “Still, the qualities we see in Your eyes now are not those which we saw before. This is another difference between Your eyes and the lotus. The lotus always looks the same, but when we look into Your eyes, we see that they contain newer and newer allurements at every moment. In this way, through Your eyes You begged us for something, we became maddened, and ever-new waves from the ocean of transcendental prema (love) then arose in our hearts. Simply because of the way You glanced at us and expressed Your desire for surata, we became Your unpaid maidservants (asulka dasika). You accomplished this by glancing at us from the corner of just one of Your lotus eyes. When just one of Your eyes can so expertly express Your intention, what would have happened if You looked at us with two eyes? “Why do we say we are Your unpaid maidservants? First of all, have You ever given us anything for our services? Never. “We have become Your unpaid maidservants because Your eyes begged for our hearts. You have not begged, but Your eyes begged, again and again, and we fell silent.” The word nighnato in this verse means ‘You are killing us.’ The gopis say, “If You do not return our cherished treasure, we will die. It is sinful to kill a man, and it is even more sinful to kill a woman. We gopis are far dearer to You than a wife is to a husband, so if You kill us, You will be performing a most heinous act. Furthermore, You would be responsible for killing not just one gopis , but millions of us. We want to protect You from the suffering that will come from this sinful act, so please come back and return the wealth of surata that You stole from us.”


So we can see the many meaning of Sri Gopi Gita. If the devotees like this, I can continue. The verses only get more and more ecstatic from here. Jaya Nitai!! Jaya Guruvarga! Jaya Radhe!

 

[Terese]

Fantastic Nitai-das ji! I would love to read more! Lord Krsna Is so mischievous

 

[Terese]

Pranama's Terese ji



you have been reading Bhagavatm so you will have seen there is some mention there fortelling the arival of Lord Buddha avatara ...

tataù kalau sampravåtte
sammohäya sura-dviñäm
buddho nämnäïjana-sutaù
kékaöeñu bhaviñyati
tataù—thereafter; kalau—the age of Kali; sampravåtte—having ensued; sammohäya—for the purpose of deluding; sura—the theists; dviñäm—those who are envious; buddhaù—Lord Buddha; nämnä—of the name; aïjana-sutaù—whose mother was Aïjanä; kékaöeñu—in the province of Gayä (Bihar); bhaviñyati—will take place.​

Then, in the beginning of Kali-yuga, the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the son of Aïjanä, in the province of Gayä, just for the purpose of deluding those who are envious of the faithful theist.
​

, .....sometimes it is translated as ''to delude the atheists'' , .....these translations are very dificult to understand , ....

the First clue comes in the previous discriptions of Kaliyuga , ....where it is said that man's memory will be poor , his ability to descriminate will become weak , he will become increasingly more self posessed and concerned with his material life , and that his attraction to the lord and to rightiousness will become diminished , ....

thus to re establish religious principles in the age of Kail lord Visnu must take on the Guise of a ordinary man and teach religious principles without preaching love of Godhead , .....many times it is thought that Lord Buddha supports atheism and that he is against theism , in this instance neither is correct , what had happened is that the Brahminical caste's had become complacent performing sacrifices only for an elite or penances for their own benifit , it is also said that the incidence of animal sacrifice have become rife and the populace had become the enjoyers of sacrifice , such behavior is not in accordance with Sanatana Dharma , ...(eternal religious principles) , ....in Rig Veda and Athara Veda it is said that we should not cause harm to Bhumi Devi or any who reside upon her , that we should not to polute the enviroment or take more from her than we need to support ourselves , .....your picture of Varaha shows beautifuly this earth planet being rescued from distruction by ignorance and upon the earth Gomata sits so peacfully in this picture eating only what she needs to support her life and that of her calf , this is the world in harmony , ....in this Kaliyuga man had through his own desirousness broken this rule , he had abandoned Sanatana Dharma , so lord Visni in the form of Buddha sought to re establish order , this he did by teaching the eightfold path , ... right understanding , right thought , right speach, right action , right livelihood , right effort , right mindfullness and Right Samadhi (Meditation) , ......within this path the same eternal principles are expressed , ...Wisdom, compassion and Knowledge , ... thus ahimsa , so when Lord Buddha taught , he taught without discrimination against Caste and without nececity to perform sacrifice , ...he taught tollerance , fewness of wishes and compassion , ...he did not directly speak of God or did he speak aginst God , ...he would not be drawn on this issue , ..His is primary concern was to liberate beings from the suffering of cyclic existance through renunciation of attachment to self and selfish desire and to raise us to a level of awareness so that we may answer our own questions , ......

Oh i see, so Lord Buddha takes a different approach; but what of Buddhism today? Are they not His teachings? Or is it like Rishabhadeva and Jainism?

 

[Aupmanyav]

Whatever has taken birth in this holy land of Bharat (India) is ours. And best wishes to our brothers who may differ with this. We are still theirs, whether it is Buddha or Rishabha or Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

 

[ratikala]

namaskaram Terese ji

Oh i see, so Lord Buddha takes a different approach; but what of Buddhism today? Are they not His teachings? Or is it like Rishabhadeva and Jainism?

the original life history of Lord Buddha told amongst Vaisnava and amongst Buddhist traditions is much the same , the original Deer park teachings are the same in all traditions , this teaching is the 'Turning of the Wheel of Law' and the 'Noble Eightfold Path' , ..these are the core teachings of Buddhism these teachings are then explained by way of numerous discourses which were written down by his followers after his death , .... Different Buddhist traditions have now come to focus slightly differently on various portions of these discourses and as is natural further discourses and practices have been added , many of these different schools of thought come from the days when the great universities like Nalanda still existed in Bharat , these were great schools of learning where Monks and Pandits from not only modern day India , but all across Asia met , studied and discussed , with the demise of these universities caused by numerous attacks from invading Muslims the centers of Buddhist learning which had remained very close to Lord Buddha's birth place became scattered , great Librarys of ancient works were ransaked and burnt to the ground , ....so we now have a Buddhism that has developed with minute differences in the countries in which it has remained as these are now cut off from contact with each other , and in the countries to which some of the fleeing Monks retreated .
Many learned and realised masters from Bihar migrated into the Hymalayas and into Tibet taking original texts with them thus new centers of learning were established there , ...there has been a longstanding relationship between the Chinese and the Tibetans who constitute the Majority of the Mahayana schools which then traveled from China into Japan where in places it has taken on elements of Shinto allthough Mahayana thought has spread far and wide and occurs in many places , ....the Theravadin traditions now existant in south east Asia differ in one major area in that they reject some of the Mahayana beliefs and focusing mostly on what they regard as the teachings of the elders , this does not by any means mean that the Mahayana schools have dissregarded these teachings as they are still very much a part of a monks training , but for the layity buddhism in these countries has become very different especialy where it has become mingled with existant cultural tradition and beleifs , ....then we have the third wave , that of new Buddhism , where the teachings have come out to the west where again they have met with new cultural chalenges and an element of selection in that the western mind selects eclecticaly from different traditions inturpreting as to their own understanding , ......but still all this said the Core teachings are the 'Four Noble Truth and the 'Noble eight fold path' , .....take these away and it ceases to be Buddhism .

If one were to examine these original core teachings from a Vaisnava perspective compairing the Eight fold path with the Yamas and Niyamas of the early Vedic culture you will find little difference , ....and that the teachings of Lord Buddha were intended to bring one to the level of realisation ,,,,,'Samddhi' by ones own efforts without need for reliance upon Brahmins or upon Sacrifice , ...these are the only difference between earlier Vedic culture and the teachings of Lord Buddha , ..all other arguments and differences are secondary coming later through the ignorance of not knowing .

 

[Terese]

Answering by Citing the Lord's Version This chapter took me forever to find. It was incredibly enchanting to read. As of course, it describes our Lord, Maha-Visnu.

SB 2.9.1: Sri Suka said: "The material self of the illusory energy without, oh King, the transcendental self of pure consciousness, cannot carry any meaning, just like a dream has no meaning without its dreamer.

SB 2.9.8-38:

Endowed with a spotless vision, he (Lord Brahma) controlled his life breath, mind and senses of perception and action for a thousand godly years and thus proceeding in the past enlightened all the worlds by being of all who do penance the one of the severest practice.
The Supreme Lord being pleased about his penance, then manifested His abode for him. That realm is praised by all self-realised souls free from illusion and fear because it is free from the five miseries of a material life [ignorance, selfhood, attachment, hatred and death-fear]. A higher place one cannot attain.
There the Lord is worshiped by both the enlightened and the unenlightened devotees and there the mode of goodness prevails over the other two of passion and ignorance, without ever being mixed with them. Nor is there the influence of time or the external energy, not to speak of [the influence of] all the other matters [like attachment, greed etc.].

As blue as the sky and glowing with lotus like eyes, very attractive and youthful with yellow garments, all inhabitants there are endowed with the four arms [of Vishnu] and the luster and effulgence of pearls and fine ornaments.
Some radiate like coral or diamonds, with heads with earrings and garlands blooming like a celestial lotus.
That place, which radiates with rows of brilliant high rising, excellent buildings [specially designed] for the great devotees and is populated by celestial, flashing beauties with heavenly complexions, is as attractive as a sky decorated with clouds and lightning.
The goddess [Sri] performs there, enraptured together with her personal, singing associates, with the diverse paraphernalia devotional service at the lotus feet of the Lord, surrounded by black bees who busily hum along in the attraction of the [everlasting] spring season.

There he [Brahma] saw the Lord of the entire community of devotees, the Lord of the goddess, of the Universe and the sacrifice, the Almighty One who is being served in transcendental love by foremost associates like Sunanda, Nanda, Prabala and Arhana.

The servants affectionately facing Him are intoxicated by the very pleasing sight of His smile, His reddish eyes, His face with His helmet and earrings, His four hands, His yellow dress, His marked chest and the Goddess of Fortune at His side.
Seated on His highly valuable throne He as the Supreme Lord fully enjoys His abode where He is surrounded by the opulence of His four energies [the principles of matter, original person, intellect and ego], His sixteen energies [the five elements, perceptive and working senses, and mind] His fivefold energies [the sense objects of form, taste, sound, smell and touch], His six energies [of the opulences of knowledge, intelligence, beauty, penance, fame and riches] and the other personal powers He sometimes demonstrates [the eight siddhis or mystic perfections].

The Creator of the Universe, who was overwhelmed by the sight of that audience, with his heart full of ecstasy and his body full of divine love bowed down with tears in his eyes before the lotus feet of the Lord that constitute the path followed by the great liberated souls.
Seeing him present before Him, the Lord deemed the worthy, great scholar suitable for creating - in line with His own control - the lives of all living beings.

Mildly smiling He very pleased shook hands with His partner in divine love and addressed the beloved one with enlightening words.
The Supreme Lord said: 'As opposed to the penance of the ones who are falsely unified [the 'kûtha yogis'], I am most pleased with the prolonged penance, the penance by which the Vedic knowledge has accumulated in you, who desired to create.

Ask Me, the giver of all benediction, whatever favour you wish, oh Brahma, for the ultimate success of everyone's penances is to see Me finally.

You obtained this enviable perception of My abode because you submissively listened when you in seclusion were of the highest penance.

It was Me who told you [to do penance] when you were perplexed in your duty. That penance is My very heart and Soul; that is what I am for the one who is engaged in it, oh sinless one.

I create by that penance, I maintain the cosmos by that penance and withdraw it again by that penance. My power is found in severe penance.'

Brahma said: 'Oh Supreme Lord of all living beings, You are the director seated in the heart who by Your superior intelligence, not to stop by anyone, knows about all endeavours.
Nevertheless I ask You, oh Lord, to please fulfil my desire to know how You, despite being formless, can exist in the beyond on the one hand while You descend in Your form as we may know it on the other hand.
And how do You - from Yourself and by means of Yourself - by uniting Your own material energy, manage to exact Your different potencies in the matter of evolving, maintaining and annihilating?
Oh Madhava [master of all energies], please make me understand how You, just like a spider [weaving its web], with determination infallibly play Your game of investing Your energies in all of that.
I pray that, in learning from You as my teacher of example, by Your mercy acting as Your instrument, I, despite creating the lives of the living beings, that way never may be caught in material attachments.
Oh Lord, like a friend behaves with a friend, You [with Your handshake] have accepted me for creating the different lives of the living entities. Oh Unborn One, I hope that I, because of all who in serving You [through me] undisturbed saw the light of the world, will never be caught in pride and arrogance.'

The Supreme Lord said: 'The knowledge acquired about Me is very confidential and is realised in combination with devotional service and the necessary paraphernalia the way I tell you.

May there be from My mercy with you this factual realization of My eternal form in a transcendental sense and of My form and activities with the basic qualities of nature.

It was I who existed before the creation when there was nothing else, when there was nothing of the cause and effect of the Supreme. And it is also Me who of all that was created remains in the end, that is what I am.

That what appears to be valuable, is not so if it does not relate to Me - know that illusory energy of Mine to be a mere reflection of darkness.

Just like the elements of the universe are there in a very minute size as also in a gigantically big format, it is also with Me [most small] being present in them and [gigantically] existing apart from them.

The student of the Real Self must investigate the true nature of things, both directly [by association] and indirectly [by comparison], irrespective of what it is, when it is or of its circumstance.

When you keep your mind fixed on this conclusion about the Supreme, you will never under any circumstance be bewildered, not during your life [your kalpa], nor when you have reached your end [your vikalpa].

Sri Suka said: "After thus fully having explained everything, the Unborn One disappeared, He, Lord Hari the way He by the leader of the living entities [Brahma] was seen in His transcendental form of the Supreme Self.