Resolving The Paradoxes In Devotion

2013-08-23
Srimad Bhagavatam 10.23.48-52 - Resolving The Paradoxes In Devotion (download mp3)
by Krishna Caitanya Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty
www.iskcondesiretree.net




SB 10.23.48-49

desah kalah prthag dravyam
 mantra-tantrartvijo ’gnayah
devata yajamanas ca
 kratur dharmas ca yan-mayah
sa eva bhagavan saksad
 visnur yogesvaresvarah
jato yadusv ity asrnma
 hy api mudha na vidmahe

Translation: 
All the aspects of sacrifice — the auspicious place and time, the various items of paraphernalia, the Vedic hymns, the prescribed rituals, the priests and sacrificial fires, the demigods, the patron of the sacrifice, the sacrificial offering and the pious results obtained — all are simply manifestations of His opulences. Yet even though we had heard that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, the Lord of all mystic controllers, had taken birth in the Yadu dynasty, we were so foolish that we could not recognize Sri Krsna to be none other than Him.



SB 10.23.50

tasmai namo bhagavate
krsnayakuntha-medhase
yan-maya-mohita-dhiyo
bhramamah karma-vartmasu

Translation: 
Let us offer our obeisances unto Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. His intelligence is never bewildered, whereas we, confused by His power of illusion, are simply wandering about on the paths of fruitive work.



SB 10.23.51

sa vai na adyah purusah
sva-maya-mohitatmanam
avijñatanubhavanam
ksantum arhaty atikramam

Translation: 
We were bewildered by Lord Krsna’s illusory potency and thus could not understand His influence as the original Personality of Godhead. Now we hope He will kindly forgive our offense.



SB 10.23.52

iti svagham anusmrtya
krsne te krta-helanah
didrksavo vrajam atha
kamsad bhita na cacalan

Translation: 
Thus reflecting on the sin they had committed by neglecting Lord Krsna, they became very eager to see Him. But being afraid of King Kamsa, they did not dare go to Vraja.

Purport:
Realizing their offense against Lord Krsna, and finally appreciating His almighty position, the brahmanas naturally wanted to rush to Vraja and surrender at the lotus feet of the Lord. But they were afraid that Kamsa would certainly kill them when his spies reported that they had gone to Krsna. The brahmanas’ wives were absorbed in ecstatic Krsna consciousness and thus went to Krsna anyway, just as the gopis, simply to dance with the Lord, traveled in the dead of night through a forest inhabited by wild animals. But the brahmanas were not on such an advanced platform of Krsna consciousness and thus, overcome by fear of Kamsa, could not see the Lord face to face.


Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to the Tenth Canto, Twenty-third Chapter, of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, entitled “The Brahmanas’ Wives Blessed.”