Balaram's Character

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
9 October 2019, Kolkata, part 4

In Dvapar-yuga, Laksman came as Baladev and became Krishna's dada, elder brother. Sometimes you can see that the younger brother has to follow the elder son. So, we see that in Krishna-lila, Krishna follows Baladev.

For example, during the Ratha-yatra, the chariot festival, there is Jagannath, Baladev, Subhadra—They think They will go to Their chariots, but Balaram told Them, "Wait here, I will go first!" What kind of servitor is He that master must go behind and the servant goes before! Baladev may be elder, but He is a servitor—He is seva-vigraha, a worshippable embodiment of service. So, why will the servitor go first? Why must the master go behind? What rule is this? But no, Balaram does this for service—He said, "I will go first to see if there is any problem on the road. I will remove all problems—if there is any forest, any jungle, any thorns on the way, I can clear the path, and then My master can come easily." That is why Baladev's chariot always goes first.

Baladev always gives order to Krishna, but this is not like, "Oh, You have to follow My order! You must do what I say! You must follow My instruction!"—He does not do it to show that He is the master, not to exercise mastery (prabhutva, প্রভুত্ব) over Krishna. Rather, He does it for service. A servitor may sometimes for service give an order to his guru, "No, no, Gurudev, please fo not go there. I see some problem is there, please do not go there."

For example, when Krishna decided to kidnap Rukmini, He told about it to Balaram, and Baladev said, "Yes, go, I am with You. Do not worry." In those days, there was a special wedding system, and everybody thought that the music band party was coming, but instead of that a fighting band party came, and Baladev was there too—when the fighting broke out, He too fought and stopped the fighting.

Another time, Kamsa called Krishna to wrestle with him. Baladev told Krishna, "No, You cannot go alone! Whether Kamsa likes me or not, it is not a question—when Kamsa fights with You, I will be there with You." When Balaram says He will go, who will stop Him? No one. Krishna cannot stop Him.

So, whatever problem came up on the way, Balaram removes all problems. He always does everything for the service to Krishna. He always protects Krishna, He is always with Him. That is Balaram's character.

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