Kasyap Rishi's Advice to Aditi Mata

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Appearance of Lord Vamanadev, Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu
Kolkata-Worldwide, 30 August 2020, part 2

Kasyap Rishi and his wife Aditi were very sad because demons had ousted all demigods' sons from heaven. Mother Aditi cried to Kasyap Rishi, "All my sons have been ousted from the heaven by demons. I am praying to you—please, make so that my sons get back their place in heaven! I will cry and feel miserable until my sons have got the heaven back." When Kasyap Rishi heard her words, he told her, "If you say, 'The demigods are my friends, and the demons are my enemies, this is a mentality of a common human.' It is wrong to think like that."

There lies some deviation. Krishna has created everything—Krishna created Hiranyakasipu, and Krishna also created Prahlad Maharaj. Both exist in this world. It is necessary to understand this. Krishna has created everything for His pastimes. There is somebody who glorifies you, and there is somebody who criticises you—both are necessary, both should exist in this world. Do you understand what I am saying? If I say, "Oh, he criticises me, so I will kick him out of the temple," then who will be there to criticise me? It is necessary to have at least one person who will criticise me. Such people are also necessary.

That is why, Kasyap Rishi said, "Only common humans say, 'Demigods are my friends, and demons are my enemies.'" Only those who forgot Krishna have this kind of intelligence, this kind of sense that they will think, "He is bad, he is good." If we think about the Lord, if we have any relation with the Lord, then we will have no enemies. Your enemies are inside you. There are so many enemies inside us—kanak, kamini, pratistha (desire for money, women, and fame); kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya (lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness, envy); rupa, rasa, gandha, sabda, sparsa (desire for enjoyment through eyes, tongue, nose, ears, and skin)...

So, then, Kasyap Rishi advised his wife Aditi, "Reject that which is imaginary, which is lies, and worship the Lord." What did Aditi Mata think? Hearing so much advice from her husband, she still thought, "How will my sons get their kingdom back? Unless they come back, no amount of advice will give any peace to my heart."

We see that those who are covered by the illusory environment have much affection for their children—this is what material people are like, and this is the mood that Aditi showed. Yet this mood is wrong.

Seeing that his wife was inconsolable, Kasyap Rishi gave her some inspiration, "If you want your sons to get the kingdom back, then you must observe strict austerity (payo-vrata) for twelve days. Fast (you can only drink a little bit water; otherwise, nothing else) and worship the Lord. Only Keshav can fulfil your desire." Mother Aditi did what Kasyap Rishi had told her—she had fasted for twelve days observing very severe renunciation, and after twelve days, when the payo-vrata was over, the Lord Himself came in front of her and showered His mercy on Kasyap Rishi and Aditi Mata (Mother Aditi). The Lord Himself told, "I will come at a proper time as your son."

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