Evening Class, 5 December 1998

	During the days that we had been staying in Malaysia, our 
host Bala Singam prabhu had produced a very melodious recording of 
Krsna dasa brahmacari's beautiful singing, accompanied by various 
musical instruments. However, this evening before he gave his class, 
Srila Gurudeva reminded us that the purpose of these bhajanas was 
not for our enjoyment, but rather to give us a stimulus for our 
spiritual lives, by being sung in a mood of separation.

	"We should sing the words 'karunam kuru mayi, O Srimati 
Radharani You are so merciful, I am covered in maya, please save me' 
from our heart, then tears will come. But if we sing this prayer by 
raga and ragini, with mrdanga, dolaka and tabla, with the conception 
'I should make this perfect so that everyone will be happy' thinking 
only of the tune, then the mood will not be there. It will be 
covered. So try to use instruments in such a way that the mood is 
not covered. If there are no instruments but we are singing in so 
much separation: 'O Srimati Radharani be merciful to me. I'm so 
wretched and fallen,' then it is very good. The mood, the life and 
soul of kirtana, vaisnava kirtana, should not be covered. There is 
so much difference between this and music, between bhajana and 
sangeet. Try to realize the mood, the life and soul of kirtana. If 
it is covered, then it is useless. But if our attention is on the 
mood, then our heart will melt and tears will come. In this mood one 
will be very humble 'trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna amanina 
manadena kirtanaiyah sada harih.' Otherwise, if one sings just for 
performance, one will become proud. Try to learn everyday something 
I'm telling, otherwise no benefit."

	Srila Gurudeva now started his class, by talking about the 
appearance of Devaki-nandana Krsna in Mathura and the simultaneous 
birth of Brajendra-nandana in Gokula from Yasoda. "When 
Yasoda-nandana Krsna had taken birth in Gokula, Nanda Maharaja 
arranged a very big festival for the nabhi chedan, the cutting of 
Krsna's umbilical cord. This was witnessed by all the ladies of 
Gokula, so this is the proof. 'A very beautiful baby has been 
born.' But there were no Mathuravasis present to witness the 
appearance of Devaki-nandana Krsna, so why should we believe them? 
Instead we should believe the Vrajabasis.

	(When Visnu, or Krsna, took birth from Devaki, He must have
simultaneously taken birth from Yasoda also. Otherwise how could 
Yogamaya have been anuja, the Lord's younger sister? Srila 
Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada's purport SB 10.4.9)

	"But it is stated by Sukadeva Gosvami that Krsna took birth 
in Mathura. So why is this? The reason is that Sukadeva Gosvami 
wanted to please Pariksit Maharaja. Who was he? By family Pariksit 
Maharaja was connected with Mathuresa Krsna. Krsna's sister Subhadra 
was married to the grandfather of Pariksit Maharaja, Arjuna, and 
their son Abhimanyu was the father of Pariksit Maharaja. So in this 
way Pariksit Maharaja became happy to hear Sukadeva Gosvami talking 
about the Krsna who was in his dynasty. But really, if the 
Vrajabasis had been there, then Sukadeva Gosvami would have told 
differently. Even though they were not, still by chance Sukadeva 
Gosvami has said: nandas tv atmaja utpanne jatahlado maha-manah"
Nanda became so happy when a son came to him from the womb 
of Yasoda." (SB 10.5.1). Brahma also prays: laksma sriye mrdu pade 
pasu pangajaya "O Krsna, You've come from the womb of Yasoda." 
(SB 10.14.1). And at the end of the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam 
this sloka is given: jayati jananivaso devaki janma vado, which is 
the essence of all. Some people claim that Krsna is the son of 
Devaki, but it is untrue. He is the son of Yasoda. Ignorant people 
who don't know tattva will say this. But sometimes to taunt Him, 
when the gopis are angry, they may also say this: na khalu gopika 
nandano bhavan "You are so cruel, how can you be the son of Yasoda? 
It is not possible. So you must be the son of Devaki!" (SB 10.31.4).

	Srila Gurudeva then surprised us with the question: "Those 
who want to be a Mathuravasi, raise your hand." "Dhira Krsna prabhu 
is a Mathuravasi!" Govinda bhakata prabhu then called out. (Dhira 
Krsna prabhu is from Mathura.) As all eyes turned on him 
expectantly, he replied hesitantly "I was... but I don't 'want' to 
be..." 
	
	After this little interlude, Srila Gurudeva continued with 
his class: 
	
	"When Kamsa realized that Krsna had somehow avoided his 
clutches, and was living somewhere unknown, he called all of his 
demonic allies together, and urged them to find Krsna and kill him. 
In particular he wanted to take help from Putana. While conquering 
the world, he had not been able to defeat her, so instead he had 
made a compromise with her: 'You are like my sister, and I am like 
your brother, so let us help each other.' So now she was very 
willing to help Kamsa by killing Krsna, knowing so many tricks and 
magic. She then transformed herself to a very beautiful young 
mother, took vina and, going to every village, she murdered all the 
baby boys. At last she came to Gokula.

	"So many siddha-yogis who cannot give up the influence of 
maya are unable to go there. What to speak of them, even those who 
have become free from maya like Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana and 
Sanat-kumara are also unable to enter Vraja. If one performs bhajana 
under the guidance of a resident of Vraja, then by this means only 
can one go there, otherwise not. 
	
	"So it is quite impossible for Putana to go there, but she 
was allowed to enter by the influence of Yogamaya. Yogamaya wanted 
to make a situation so that the love and affection of the Vrajabasis 
could be renewed. If there is no current, then that love becomes 
stagnant, frozen. It becomes feeble, and cannot therefore please 
Krsna. After some time Krsna felt that Yasoda was not as attentive 
to Him as she was when He born and that her mood was now somewhat 
far away.
	
	"When Vamanadeva went to see Bali He was very beautiful, 
although very short. When Bali's daughter Ratnamala saw him, she 
thought: 'I wish that Vamanadeva could be my son.' But when she saw 
Him cover all the universe in three steps, and then put His foot on 
Bali's head, and bind him, she thought: 'If He becomes my son then 
I'll give him poison.'

	"So in her next life Ratnamala became Putana. She came to 
kill Krsna as a mother, with strong poison. She had no milk to give 
Him, so when she held Krsna she squeezed her breast to make him take 
poison. Krsna made that poison into nectar, and took out her life. 
She cried: 'Leave me! Leave me!' but even with the power of 10,000 
elephants she could not do anything. She thought that she would get 
help from Kamsa, and started to try and fly in the direction of 
Mathura. But Krsna thought: 'You've come to me as mother so I'll not 
let you go.' When she fell down her body covered twelve miles, also 
smashing Kamsa's garden. All of the villages in the place where her 
body fell were named after her different body parts. The place where 
her arm fell was called Hatarasa, and the place where her head lay 
was called Mudsan. But through the ages, these names have become 
gradually changed.

	"The next demon whom Kamsa sent to kill Krsna was 
Sakatasura. Sakatasura was like a ghost, he could enter into 
anything. He was given this name because he entered a bullock 
cart(sakata). Kamsa advised him to enter Vraja in a hidden way, 
because Putana had been destroyed by going there in a gross form.

	"When Krsna was thirty days old Yasoda saw that He was now 
able to turn over by Himself. In celebration she wanted to hold a 
festival. So she started to make a big feast, and gave so much 
charity to brahmanas. While she was working hard to prepare it, 
Krsna had been left underneath the bullock cart which Sakatasura had 
entered. Sakatasura wanted to crush Krsna. He made the cart become 
so heavy that the wheels were being driven into the earth, making 
the cart sink closer and closer to baby Krsna. Krsna was happily 
kicking His legs when His lotus foot by chance touched the cart. 
Immediately the cart violently collapsed, and all the wheels were 
broken. The many pots of yogurt and utensils which were previously 
on the cart were scattered here and there. When all of the adults 
came running,the young boys tried to explain to Nanda Baba how Krsna 
had made the cart collapse "O B-b-baba, K-K-K-Krsna t-t-touched it 
with his foot and it f-f-fell down." Of course, nobody took them 
seriously. When the Vrajabasis saw the body of the demon they 
consulted the brahmanas about what to do. The brahmanas then 
performed a ceremony in which the dung and urine of a black cow 
should be mixed into a paste, and applied like tilaka on the twelve 
different places on Krsna's body with the cow's tail by the mantra:
                           lalate kesavam dhyayen
                             narayanam athodare
                         vaksah-sthale madhavam tu
                        govindam kantha-kupake etc.
	
	"In this way the brahmanas blessed Krsna and assured 
Yasodamaiya and Nanda Baba that Krsna was now safe. 
	
	"After the death of Sataka, Kamsa asked Trnavarta to go and 
kill Krsna. Trnavarta vowed to Kamsa that he would not return until 
he had accomplished this, and Kamsa embraced him. Krsna was now 90 
days old. After singing Him to sleep and giving Him some toys to 
play with, Yasoda would go to churn yogurt, but Krsna would still 
cry for her. So Yogamaya had arranged for another demon to come so 
that Yasoda's love for Krsna and the love of the inhabitants of 
Vraja would become rejuvenated. There was also one other reason why 
Trnavarta came to Vraja. Krsna had seen birds flying around, and he 
wanted to be able to fly like them. So Yogamaya arranged for 
Trnavarta to come so that Krsna would be able to have a ride in the 
sky.

	"Trnavarta came in the form of a whirlwind. The sky became 
black. No one could see anything because of the dust storm. Many 
trees were uprooted and scattered. Because Trnavarta was coming, 
Krsna had to some how separate Himself from Yasoda so that she 
would not come in harm's way. Krsna became very heavy and she was 
forced to put him down. When Trnavarta came Yasoda being unable to 
see Krsna because of the dust storm, began to cry piteously. 
Trnavarta seized Krsna and took him high into the sky at a great 
speed. As any small child would naturally do when picked up by 
someone, Krsna held tightly onto the neck of Trnavarta. After 
flying around for some time, when Krsna's desire had been fulfilled 
then Trnavarta felt Krsna to be heavier than a mountain. His eyes 
began to bulge out of their sockets.
	
	Krsna thought: 'Oh, I wanted to play with you, but now your 
eyes have popped out like rasagullas! What can I do?'

	"The demon Trnavarta represents those persons who use the 
Vedas to try to show that God and the jiva are nirvisesa, nirakara, 
and nirguna. As Trnavarta caused everyone to become blind by 
making a dust storm covering Vrndavana, the adherents of 
impersonalism try to make everyone blind by covering the personal 
features of God and the jiva by misinterpreting the Vedic scriptures.

	"When Yasoda and Nanda found Krsna on top of this gigantic 
demon whose body had been smashed to pieces on a stone, they were 
astonished. 'How miraculous it is that Krsna is completely unharmed.' 
Gargacarya informed them that Krsna had been protected by the grace 
of Bhagavan Sri Narayana. So they called that black cow again, and 
the brahmanas performed the same ceremony for Krsna's protection and 
gave Him their blessings."

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