(4/7) Approaching Krishna's Pastimes

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Krishna Janmastami Maha-Mahotsav
Kolkata-Worldwide, 12 August 2020, part 4

Now I will tell you something from Srimad Bhagavatam about how Krishna was born. It is nine o'clock in the evening now here, and every year I read this part just before midnight, when Krishna is born, but since you are all here now, I want to read it to you now. I will read from the tenth canto, starting from chapter one, then two and three. It is a very nice part, and it is good to listen to it today.

Question: What do devotees at the temples read in the daytime?

Chaitanya-charitamrita.

Question: From the beginning?

Yes. This is what Param Guru Maharaj told to do. Sripad Bhakti Prajnan Keshav Maharaj (from Devananda Gaudiya Math) wanted to read Krishna-prema-tarangini, but Srila Sridhar Maharaj objected. This was one of the contradictions between Sripad Keshav Maharaj and Srila Sridhar Maharaj.

In this Age of Kali, people cannot understand Krishna-lila properly because Krishna-lila is very deep and hard to understand. Even Nityananda Prabhu did not preach about Krishna. Although Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told Him to preach about Lord Krishna, Nityananda preached about Gauranga.

ভজ গৌরাঙ্গ, কহ গৌরাঙ্গ, লহ গৌরাঙ্গের নাম রে
যে জন গৌরাঙ্গ ভজে, সেই আমার প্রাণ রে

bhaja gauranga, kaha gauranga, laha gaurangera nama re
ye jana gauranga bhaje, sei amara prana re

'Worship Gauranga! Say Gauranga! Take Gauranga's Name! Those who worship Gauranga are My heart and soul!'

Gurudev (Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj) told us to follow the rules set by Srila Sridhar Maharaj, so we read Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita all day on this day. In the evening, after chanting some songs, at 9 or 9.30 p.m., you can read something about the pastime of Krishna's appearance.

Why did Krishna come to Devaki's womb? To kill Kamsa. Devaki is Kamsa's sister, but when Kamsa had arranged his sister's marriage and was taking her in a chariot to the house of her husband, he heard a voice in the sky that said, 'The eighth child will come to your sister's womb, and he will kill you.' You all know what happened after that. Kamsa became very much afraid. On the other hand, he is also fortunate because after that he always thought, 'Who will kill me? Who is that?' In this way, he was always thinking about Krishna, so he was fortunate. There are many verses in Srimad Bhagavatam that describe his prayers to Krishna (his constant thinking about Krishna means that he was praying to Krishna). In the end, he received the mercy of the Lord despite the fact that he killed so many babies.

Actually, it is a bad offence to kill a child, but killing a baby is an even worse offence. But, just as when Krishna killed Putana Raksasi, He said, 'Once I catch anyone, I never leave them.' When Putana took baby Krishna (Gopal) and let Him suck her breast, Krishna grabbed her very tight and started sucking life out of her body. Putana cried in pain, 'Leave me! Leave me! Leave me! No more! No more! No more!' But Krishna thought, 'No, I will not leave you.' Then, He took her a little far from Gokula, and when Putana finally died, she assumed her enormous form of a demoness. How do we know that Krishna gave His mercy to Putana? Because when her body was cut into five pieces and was being burnt on five wooden platforms, the whole of Vrindavan and Gokul was filled with fragrant smell. Everybody wondered, 'What is this nice smell of sandalwood, insence and camphor?' And somebody said, 'Oh, they are burning Putana's body today.' When our bodies are burnt, is there much good smell coming? [Devotees laugh.] So, because when Putana's body was being burnt, the sandalwood smell came, we can understand that Krishna had given His mercy to her.

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Length: 55 min
Language: English

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Prayerful Meditation
2) Misconceptions about Lord Krishna's Appearance
3) Entering Another Plane
4) Approaching Krishna's Pastimes
5) Account of Krishna's Appearance
6) Devotees' Character
7) Always Remember, Always Serve