The Exalted State of being Ignorant of Krishna's Opulences

2011-11-23
Srimad Bhagavatam 10.03.52-53 - The Exalted State of being Ignorant of Krishna's Opulences (download mp3)
by Akincana Krishna Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty
www.iskcondesiretree.net




SB 10.3.52
devakyah sayane nyasya
vasudevo 'tha darikam
pratimucya pador loham
aste purvavad avrtah

Translation: 
Vasudeva placed the female child on the bed of Devaki, bound his legs with the iron shackles, and thus remained there as before.

SB 10.3.53
yasoda nanda-patni ca
jatam param abudhyata
na tal-lingam parisranta
nidrayapagata-smrtih

Translation: 
Exhausted by the labor of childbirth, Yasoda was overwhelmed with sleep and unable to understand what kind of child had been born to her.

Purport: 
Nanda Maharaja and Vasudeva were intimate friends, and so were their wives, Yasoda and Devaki. Although their names were different, they were practically nondifferent personalities. The only difference is that Devaki was able to understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead had been born to her and had now changed into Krsna, whereas Yasoda was not able to understand what kind of child had been born to her. Yasoda was such an advanced devotee that she never regarded Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but simply loved Him as her own child. Devaki, however, knew from the very beginning that although Krsna was her son, He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In Vrndavana, no one regarded Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When something very wonderful happened because of Krsna's activities, the inhabitants of Vrndavana—the cowherd men, the cowherd boys, Nanda Maharaja, Yasoda and the others—were surprised, but they never considered their son Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sometimes they suggested that some great demigod had appeared there as Krsna. In such an exalted status of devotional service, a devotee forgets the position of Krsna and intensely loves the Supreme Personality of Godhead without understanding His position. This is called kevala-bhakti and is distinct from the stages of jñana and jñanamayi bhakti.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Tenth Canto, Third Chapter, of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, entitled "The Birth of Lord Krsna."