Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is a devotee of His devotees

By Tulsi Dasa

This essay is meant to show how Srimad-Bhagavatam, the emperor among all pramanas, establishes that Krishna is the highest manifestation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and that Krishna’s greatest pleasure is to serve and worship His devotees.

1.    Srimad-Bhagavatam is the highest pramana

There are three main pramanas – pratyaksa (sense perception), anumana (logic), and sabda (revealed scriptures). Sense perception is an imperfect way of gathering knowledge because of the imperfect nature of the senses. Imperfect senses (karana patava) is one of the defects of the conditioned soul. Logic is also an imperfect proof because it is based on the imperfect information gathered through the imperfect senses which is then processed and analyzed by an imperfect mind and intelligence under the influence of the false ego. Thus only sabda, submissive hearing from the revealed scriptures, can be accepted as a perfect source of knowledge. This is so because it comes from the perfect source (Krishna) through the medium of the disciplic succession – a chain of perfect personalities. All other pramanas have meaning and usage only if they comply with and support sabda.

Srila Jiva Goswami in his Tattva-sandarbha explains that the meaning of the Vedas is difficult to ascertain, especially in Kali Yuga. Therefore, the essence of the Vedas is presented in the Upanisads and they are summarized in the Brahma-sutras. The natural commentary of the Brahma-Sutra, given by the author Himself, is Srimad-Bhagavatam. Thus, Bhagavatam is considered to be the highest pramana.

As it is stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam:

kṛṣṇe sva-dhāmopagate
 dharma-jñānādibhiḥ saha
kalau naṣṭa-dṛśām eṣa
 purāṇārko ’dhunoditaḥ

“This Bhāgavata Purāṇa is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Kṛṣṇa to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the Age of Kali shall get light from this Purāṇa.” (SB 1.3.43)

idaṁ bhāgavataṁ nāma
 purāṇaṁ brahma-sammitam
uttama-śloka-caritaṁ
 cakāra bhagavān ṛṣiḥ
niḥśreyasāya lokasya
 dhanyaṁ svasty-ayanaṁ mahat

“This Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the literary incarnation of God, and it is compiled by Śrīla Vyāsadeva, the incarnation of God. It is meant for the ultimate good of all people, and it is all-successful, all-blissful and all-perfect.” (SB 1.3.40)

An example of this is the appearance of Srimad-Bhagavatam. In the first Canto there is a description of how the compiler of the Vedas, Srila Vyasadeva, was not satisfied even after writing such great literary works as the Mahabharata and Vedanta-sutra. Srila Vyasadeva’s Guru, Narada Muni, told him that the reason for his unhappiness was that he did not sufficiently and directly describe the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. Then he gave him the instruction to write a work that will directly describe the glories of the Supreme Lord; that is the spotless Purana, Srimad-Bhagavatam. In his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.8 Srila Prabhupada writes:

Such a scholar as Vyāsadeva has completed many expansions of the Vedic literatures, ending with the Vedānta philosophy, but none of them have been written directly glorifying the Personality of Godhead. Dry philosophical speculations even on the transcendental subject of the Absolute have very little attraction without directly dealing with the glorification of the Lord. The Personality of Godhead is the last word in transcendental realization. The Absolute realized as impersonal Brahman or localized Supersoul, Paramātmā, is less productive of transcendental bliss than the supreme personal realization of His glories.

The compiler of the Vedānta-darśana is Vyāsadeva himself. Yet he is troubled, although he is the author. So what sort of transcendental bliss can be derived by the readers and listeners of Vedānta which is not explained directly by Vyāsadeva, the author? Herein arises the necessity of explaining Vedānta-sūtra in the form of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by the self-same author.

 Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Takura comments on this pastime as follows:

[Narada:] You have not described well enough the spotless glories of the Lord — the superior position of Bhagavan’s forms above all other forms, and the supreme attractiveness of His pastimes and bhakti.”   

[Vyasa:] “But I have produced the brahma-mimamsa scripture, the vedanta-darsana.”

[Narada:] “I consider that darsana scripture to be deficient. You are the writer of Vedanta and if your mind is dissatisfied with it, then how will those who continually study that darsana be satisfied? You are the proof that that darsana is insufficient.”

[Vyasa:] “But I have described the wonderful qualities and pastimes of Krishna in the Padma Purana as well as in others.”

[Narada:] “You have not described the glories of Vasudeva as much as you have described artha, dharma, kama and moksa as the goals of human life even though they are much inferior to the glories of Vasudeva. Though Vasudeva is the crest jewel of human goals, you have not described Him as the goal of human endeavor. Though you have described the glories of Krishna abundantly in many places, they have been described only as a means of getting moksa. How can your mind be satisfied when there is a lack of regard for that which should have been given the most regard?” 

  [Vyasa:] “But I have described bhakti as being higher than liberation in many places in other scriptures:   

Liberation is the highest goal in visiting other holy places, but devotion to the Lord, prayed for by the liberated souls, can be obtained at Mathura. (Padma Purana)

One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have anything. He is equally disposed toward every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me. (BG 18.54) 

[Narada:] “But you have not done so repeatedly. You must do so, because it is said that the meaning of the scriptures is revealed by repetition as in anandamayo ’bhyasat: the anandamaya-purusa is the supreme Lord because of repetition of words to indicate this (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.13). Your mind will be satisfied only when you describe the glories of the Lord very clearly and with due repetition, since those glories alone are ultimately the most excellent.” (Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, commentary to SB 1.5.8-9)

In his Tattva-sandarbha, Annucheda 18 Srila Jiva Goswami writes that the meaning of the Vedas is explained not only in the Upanisads and Brahma-sutra, but also in the Puranas and the Itihasas, which complement the Vedas:

One should clarify the meaning of the Vedas by the Itihasas and Puranas.  (Mahabharata 1.1.267)

It is also said that a purana is thus called because it completes (purana) the meaning of the Vedas. It is not possible to complete the Vedas with something which is not equal to the Vedas.  It is not possible to complete a gold bracelet with a piece of lead.

If one classifies the Puranas according to guna, this means that the sattvika Puranas are stronger for giving spiritual knowledge.

Even accepting the superiority of sattvika Puranas, how can one solve conflicting ideas concerning the ultimate spiritual goal made by logicians using various devices?  It is said that, since the Lord in the form of Vyasa wrote the Brahma-sutras in order to explain the meaning of all the Vedas and Puranas, by consulting it one can discern the meaning of all scriptures. However, that is not understood by the followers of various other sages who wrote other sutras.  Some will explain opposite meaning in the sutras which are sparse in syllables and extremely deep in meaning. What is the solution?

The problem will be solved if there is one apauruseya, well-accepted, complete scripture manifest on earth, which explains the Brahma-sutras and which contains the essential meaning of all the Vedas, Itihasas and Puranas.  [This scripture is Srimad-Bhagavatam]

Vyasa was unsatisfied with the Puranas and the Brahma-sutras because the sweetness and highest powers of the Supreme Lord (Krishna) were unclear and secret in the manifested Puranans and the Brahma-sutras.  He was satisfied with Bhagavatam because in that work there are statements showing the Lord’s exceptional powers and sweetness.

Some people express their doubt that Srimad-Bhagavatam was written only around 1000 years ago by someone known as Vopadeva. The Vaisnavas do not accept that because it is said in the Bhagavatam itself, that He appeared when Lord Krishna left this world and that was some 5000 years ago. Also, in some of the oldest Puranas there are references to Srimad-Bhagavatam. Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana completely refutes all these false claims in his book Siddhanta Darpana. Thus, we accept the truth as given in the sastra and confirmed by the acaryas.

Srimad-Bhagavatam is like a sweet. Every word, every verse, every chapter is full of nectar. And the more we read, the sweeter it becomes. Actually, Srimad-Bhagavatam creates a spiritual revolution in our hearts and in the whole human civilization. All dirtiness in the heart will be destroyed. After spending a few years of regular associating with Bhagavatam, our concept of life starts changing from ego-centric to Krishna-centric. Krishna, His desires and His happiness become more and more important while our selfish interests and desires fall behind. If we spend every day some time to read at least one verse of Bhagavatam, this will build up and the result will be that we will develop a relationship with Him who is non-different from Krishna.

In a lecture given on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.16.8 in Los Angeles on 5 January 1974, Srila Prabhupada says:

There is no literature throughout the universe like Srimad-Bhagavatam. There is no comparison. There is no competition. Every word is for the good of the human society. Every word, each and every word. Therefore, we stress so much in the book distribution. Somehow or other, if the book goes in one’s hand, he will be benefited. At least he will see, "Oh, they have taken so much price. Let me see what is there." If he reads one sloka, his life will be successful. If one sloka, one word. This is such nice things. Therefore, we are stressing so much, "Please distribute book, distribute book, distribute book." A greater mridanga. We are chanting, playing our mridanga. It is heard within this room or little more. But this mridanga will go home to home, country to country, community to community, this mridanga.

The conclusion is that amongst all pramanas only sabda (revealed scriptures) gives perfect knowledge about the Absolute Reality. And amongst all revealed scriptures Srimad-Bhagavatam is the best. He is the emperor among all pramanas.

2.    Sri Krishna is the highest form of God

The Absolute Truth is one but can be realized in its three different aspects – as Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan:

vadanti tat tattva-vidas
 tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam
brahmeti paramātmeti
 bhagavān iti śabdyate

Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān. (SB 1.2.11)

The Bhagavan aspect of the Absolute Truth or God has many different manifestations:

advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam…

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without a beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning, and the eternal purusa; yet He is a person possessing the beauty of blooming youth. (Brahma-samhita 5.33)

All the forms of God are perfect, but some of them are more perfect and some of them are most perfect. The most perfect form of God is Vraja Krishna. In other words, from the point of view of tattva, all the forms of the Supreme Lord are equal, but from the point of rasa, Vraja Krishna is the Supreme manifestation of God.

Krishna is superior to all the demigods, even Brahma and Shiva, and even to Vishnu. That is confirmed in many places in Bhagavatam. The best proof of that is the famous kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam verse (SB 1.3.28). There it is explained that all incarnations of God listed on the pages of Bhagavatam are amsa, kala, or pumsa (expansions of God or parts of the expansions of God), but Krishna is the original manifestation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead:

ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ
 kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam
indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ
 mṛḍayanti yuge yuge

All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists. (SB 1.3.28)

In the Gopala Tapani Upanisad it is also said:

Sac-cid-ananda-rupaya krsneya: "I offer my obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, who is the eternal blissful form of knowledge." (Gopala-tapani Upanisad 1.1)

Tam ekam govindam: "You are Govinda, the pleasure of the senses and the cows." Sac-cid-ananda-vigraham: "And Your form is transcendental, full of knowledge, bliss and eternality." (Gopala-tapani Upanisad 1.35)

It is not only the revealed scriptures that accept Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead – all the trustworthy saintly personalities confirm the same. In the Bhagavad-gita Arjuna states (10.12-13):

paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān …

Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala and Vyāsa confirm this truth about You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.

One of Krishna’s names is asamaurdva – no one is equal to Him and no one is greater than Him. Indra, Brahma, Shiva and even Vishnu cannot achieve His Glory. Here are some examples in this regard.

In chapters 24-27 of the Tenth Canto of Bhagavatam there is a description of the Govardhana-puja pastime. The king of heaven, Indra, was infuriated by the Vrajabasis when they decided to worship Govardhana hill instead of him. Being influenced by his pride, Indra decided to kill all the villagers in Vraja together with their cows. Krishna, however, rescued them, diminished Indra’s pride and showed him who his Supreme Master is:

Indra was very ashamed of having offended the Lord. Approaching Him in a solitary place, Indra fell down and lay his helmet, whose effulgence was as brilliant as the sun, upon the Lord's lotus feet. Indra had now heard of and seen the transcendental power of omnipotent Krishna, and his false pride in being the lord of the three worlds was thus defeated. Holding his hands together in supplication, he addressed the Lord as follows.

King Indra said: …Even fools like me, who proudly think themselves universal lords, quickly give up their conceit and directly take to the path of the spiritually progressive when they see You are fearless even in the face of time. Thus You punish the mischievous only to instruct them. Engrossed in pride over my ruling power, ignorant of Your majesty, I offended You. O Lord, may You forgive me. My intelligence was bewildered, but let my consciousness never again be so impure. You descend into this world, O transcendent Lord, to destroy the warlords who burden the earth and create many terrible disturbances. O Lord, you simultaneously act for the welfare of those who faithfully serve Your lotus feet. Obeisances unto You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the great Soul, who are all-pervading and who reside in the hearts of all. My obeisances unto You, Krishna, the chief of the Yadu dynasty. (SB 10.27.2-3 and 10.27.7-10)

In the same way Brahma, the first living entity in the universe, became bewildered thinking that Krishna is an ordinary boy. Wishing to show off his greatness, Brahma stole Krishna’s cowherd boy friends and His calves and put them to sleep in a mountain cave. Understanding what had happened, Krishna expanded from His body replicas of all the cowherd boys and calves. Seeing how they are simultaneously present in two places, Brahma was bewildered. He surrendered to Krishna and offered very beautiful prayers taking again his natural subordinate position. Some of those prayers are:

Lord Brahmā said: My dear Lord, You are the only worshipable Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore I offer my humble obeisances and prayers just to please You. O son of the king of the cowherds, Your transcendental body is dark blue like a new cloud, Your garment is brilliant like lightning, and the beauty of Your face is enhanced by Your guñjā earrings and the peacock feather on Your head. Wearing garlands of various forest flowers and leaves, and equipped with a herding stick, a buffalo horn and a flute, You stand beautifully with a morsel of food in Your hand. My dear Lord, neither I nor anyone else can estimate the potency of this transcendental body of Yours, which has shown such mercy to me and which appears just to fulfill the desires of Your pure devotees. Although my mind is completely withdrawn from material affairs, I cannot understand Your personal form. How, then, could I possibly understand the happiness You experience within Yourself? Those who, even while remaining situated in their established social positions, throw away the process of speculative knowledge and with their body, words and mind offer all respects to descriptions of Your personality and activities, dedicating their lives to these narrations, which are vibrated by You personally and by Your pure devotees, certainly conquer Your Lordship, although You are otherwise unconquerable by anyone within the three worlds… (SB 10.14.1-3)

The interesting detail here is that actually there were three sets of cowherd boys and calves. One was the original cowherd boys, the eternal associates of the Lord. The second one was expanded from the external potency of Krishna to replace the original cowherd boys before their stealing (thus, Brahma actually stole them instead of the original cowherd boys) and the third set expanded directly from Krishna’s body. This is confirmed by Srila Prabhupada in his purport to SB 10.13.15:

Brahmā wanted to take away Kṛṣṇa’s associates, but instead he took away some other boys and calves. Rāvaṇa wanted to take away Sītā, but that was impossible, and instead he took away a māyā Sītā. Similarly, Brahmā took away māyārbhakāḥ: boys manifested by Kṛṣṇa’s māyā. Brahmā could show some extraordinary opulence to the māyārbhakāḥ; but he could not show any extraordinary potency to Kṛṣṇa’s associates. That he would see in the very near future. Māyārbhakasya īśituḥ. This bewilderment, this māyā, was caused by the supreme controller, prabhavataḥ — the all-potent Supreme Person, Kṛṣṇa — and we shall see the result. Anyone materially born is subject to bewilderment. This pastime is therefore called brahma-vimohana-līlā, the pastime of bewildering Brahmā. (SB 10.13.15, purp.)

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says the following in this regard:

Thus, when Brahma desired to steal the boys and calves, yogamaya hid the real boys and calves and at that instant mahamaya produced some exact replicas to show to Brahma for stealing.

Lord Shiva also takes shelter in Krishna and accepts Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead on several occasions described in Srimad-Bhagavatam. For example, when Shiva tried to protect his devotee Banasura, he had to fight against Krishna and Krishna was victorious in this battle; Krishna’s weapon was also victorious against Shiva’s weapon.

The Tenth Canto of Bhagavatam, 88 chapter, also describes how Shiva gave his blessing to the demon Vrikasura to enable him to kill anyone just by touching his head. As a result,  the demon wanted to touch Shiva’s head to check whether the blessing was working. However, Shiva was saved by Krishna. The Lord tricked the demon to touch his own head and in this way he was killed. In many places in Bhagavatam, in his prayers,  Shiva addresses Krishna as his master and the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In Bhagavatam, Tenth Canto, chapter 89, there is also the story where Vishnu, attracted by Krishna’s unprecedented sweetness, made a special arrangement to have His darsan. This proves that Krishna is the highest manifestation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Doubt: Some people say that Shiva is the Supreme because he drank the halahala poison that came out from the churning of the milk ocean. There are other people who say that Vishnu is the origin of Krishna.

The truth, however, is that Krishna is the origin of everything (janmady asya yatah) including the tree Vishnu incarnations. This is described in the beginning of Bhagavatam:

Suta said: In the beginning of the creation, the Lord first expanded Himself in the universal form of the purusa incarnation and manifested all the ingredients for the material creation. And thus at first there was the creation of the sixteen principles of material action. This was for the purpose of creating the material universe.” (SB 1.3.1)

In the Brahma-samhita also it is said:

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

“Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda, is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.” (Brahma-samhita 5.1)

In the same chapter, in the purport to the verse kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam Srila Prabhupada also explains:

According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī’s statement, in accordance with authoritative sources, Lord Kṛṣṇa is the source of all other incarnations. It is not that Lord Kṛishna has any source of incarnation. All the symptoms of the Supreme Truth in full are present in the person of Lord Śrī Kṛishna, and in the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord emphatically declares that there is no truth greater than or equal to Himself. In this stanza the word svayam is particularly mentioned to confirm that Lord Kṛishna has no other source than Himself. Although in other places the incarnations are described as bhagavān because of their specific functions, nowhere are they declared to be the Supreme Personality. In this stanza the word svayam signifies the supremacy as the summum bonum. (SB 1.3.28, purp.)

Later in the same purport Srila Prabhupada explains how Krishna is one without a second and how  He expands Himself in various parts, portions and particles. Learned scholars have carefully analyzed that Krishna has sixty-four principal attributes. All the expansions or categories of the Lord possess only some percentages of these attributes. But Sri Krishna is the possessor of these attributes cent percent. His personal expansions are all visnu-tattva and they possess up to ninety-three percent of these transcendental attributes. Lord Shiva, who is neither avatara nor avesa, nor in-between them, possesses almost eighty-four percent of the attributes. And the jivas, or the individual living beings possess up to the limit of seventy-eight percent of the attributes. In the conditioned state of material existence, the living being possesses these attributes in a very minute quantity, varying in terms of the pious life of the living being. The most perfect of living beings is Brahma, the supreme administrator of one universe and he possesses seventy-eight percent of the attributes in full.

In addition to that, in the Nectar of Devotion it is described that the jivas have fifty of the sixty-four qualities of the Supreme, Shiva has fifty-five of them, and Vishnu has sixty of those qualities. But it is only Krishna who has all the sixty-four qualities in full.

As parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, the individual living entities can also possess some of these qualities in minute quantities, provided they become pure devotees of the Lord. All of these fifty transcendental qualities can be present in the devotees in minute quantity, whereas the qualities in fullness are always present in the Supreme Lord. Besides all these fifty qualities, Lord Krishna possesses five more, which are sometimes partially manifested in the persons of Lord Brahma or Lord Shiva. These transcendental qualities are as follows: (51) changeless; (52) all-cognizant; (53) ever fresh; (54) sac-cid-ananda (possessing an eternal blissful body); (55) possessing all mystic perfections.

Krishna also possesses five other qualities, which are manifest in the body of Narayana, and they are listed as follows. (56) He has inconceivable potency. (57) Uncountable universes generate from His body. (58) He is the original source of all incarnations. (59) He is the giver of salvation to the enemies whom He kills. (60) He is the attractor of liberated souls. All these qualities are manifest in Lord Krishna . But besides these sixty transcendental qualities, Krishna has four more, which are not manifest even in the Narayana form of Godhead, neither in the demigods or living entities. They are as follows. (61) He is the performer of wonderful varieties of pastimes (especially His childhood pastimes). (62) He is surrounded by devotees endowed with wonderful love of Godhead. (63) He can attract all living entities all over the universes by playing on His flute. (64) He has a wonderful excellence of beauty which cannot be rivaled anywhere in the creation.

How can we be not attracted to Krishna if He has all these amazing qualities? The more we understand Krishna’s greatness, the more we realize how much He does for us, how He always takes care and protects His devotees, the more we are attracted to Him. Everything that we are attracted to now in this world looks somehow of other attractive only because of Krishna’s potency being present in it (BG 10.41). Then how much more attractive must be Krishna himself?

The conclusion is that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the highest manifestation of God and everyone else is subordinate to Him.

3.    Krishna’s greatest pleasure is to give pleasure to His devotees.

Krishna is always ready to serve His devotees

Bhagavan bhakta-bhaktiman – this is a phrase from Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.86.59 that describes the Lord as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is devoted to His own devotees.

Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead (purna bhagavan). He is completely self-satisfied (atmarama). He does not depend on anyone (svarat), rather, everyone depends on Him (ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya). And still His greatest pleasure is to take a position that is subordinate to His pure devotees and serve them.

In the Bhagavad-Gita Krishna takes the role of Arjuna’s charioteer, thus ignoring the fact that He is the Supreme Lord. He takes greater pleasure playing the role of a chariot’s driver of His devotee than being served by him. Srila Prabhupada elaborates:

Although Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, out of His causeless mercy He was engaged in the service of His friend. He never fails in His affection for His devotees, and thus He is addressed herein as infallible. As charioteer, He had to carry out the orders of Arjuna, and since He did not hesitate to do so, He is addressed as infallible. Although He had accepted the position of a charioteer for His devotee, His supreme position was not challenged. In all circumstances, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hṛṣīkeśa, the Lord of the total senses. The relationship between the Lord and His servitor is very sweet and transcendental. The servitor is always ready to render service to the Lord, and, similarly, the Lord is always seeking an opportunity to render some service to the devotee. He takes greater pleasure in His pure devotee’s assuming the advantageous position of ordering Him than He does in being the giver of orders. Since He is master, everyone is under His orders, and no one is above Him to order Him. But when He finds that a pure devotee is ordering Him, He obtains transcendental pleasure, although He is the infallible master in all circumstances. (BG 1.21-22 purp.)

The Lord has unlimited potencies which automatically fulfill all His desires (satya sankalpa), in this way there is no specific work for the Lord to perform (na mam karmani limpanti). Still, He always acts in a way that is very pleasing to them. For instance, when Krishna and the cowherd boys were taking their lunch on the bank of Yamuna and their calves disappeared somewhere deep in the forest, Krishna personally went to find them. In this regard Srila Prabhupada comments:

The Vedas (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8) assert that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has nothing to do personally (na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate) because He is doing everything through His energies and potencies (parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate). Nonetheless, here we see that He took personal care to find the calves of His friends. This was Kṛṣṇa’s causeless mercy. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram: all the affairs of the entire world and the entire cosmic manifestation are working under His direction, through His different energies. Still, when there is a need to take care of His friends, He does this personally. Kṛṣṇa assured His friends, “Don’t be afraid. I am going personally to search for your calves.” This was Kṛṣṇa’s causeless mercy. (SB 10.13.14, purport)

Krishna takes care of everyone according to their surrender

Krishna is the only master and everyone else is His servant:

ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya
yāre yaiche nācāya, se taiche kare nṛtya

“Lord Kṛṣṇa alone is the supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so. (C.c.Adi-lila 5.142)

Still, although He is the master of everyone, He is fulfilling the needs and the desires of everyone since time immemorial:

nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam

eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman

“The Supreme Lord is eternal and the living beings are eternal. The Supreme Lord is cognizant and the living beings are cognizant. The difference is that the Supreme Lord is supplying all the necessities of life for the many other living entities.’’ (Katha Upanishad 2.2.13)

Krishna already takes care and serves all living entities. However, for most of them He is doing this through His energies and expansions. As Paramatma, Krishna sanctions and His external energy supplies the living entities with their needs according to their karma. However, for His devotees Krishna sometimes makes personal arrangements and He always looks for opportunities to serve His pure devotees.

In the Bhagavad-Gita Krishna describes four kinds of pious people who approach Him:

catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ
janāḥ su-kṛtino ’rjuna
ārto jijñāsur arthārthī
jñānī ca bharatarṣabha

“O best among the Bhāratas, four kinds of pious men begin to render devotional service unto Me — the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.’’ (BG, 7.16)

Krishna fulfills the desires of those persons because they are approaching Him for help, but He does that trough His external energy. In the purport to this verse Srila Prabhupada writes:

Unlike the miscreants, these are adherents of the regulative principles of the scriptures, and they are called su-kṛtinaḥ, or those who obey the rules and regulations of scriptures, the moral and social laws, and are, more or less, devoted to the Supreme Lord. Out of these there are four classes of men – those who are sometimes distressed, those who are in need of money, those who are sometimes inquisitive, and those who are sometimes searching after knowledge of the Absolute Truth. These persons come to the Supreme Lord for devotional service under different conditions. These are not pure devotees, because they have some aspiration to fulfill in exchange for devotional service.

This other aspiration prevents them from rendering devotional service with such intensity and sincerity that would oblige the Lord to personally appear in front of them. Rather, He just fulfills their material desires. Srila Prabhupada explains:

Being materially advanced means taking birth in an aristocratic family and possessing great wealth, an education and attractive personal beauty. All materialistic men are mad after possessing all these material opulences, and this is known as the advancement of material civilization. But the result is that by possessing all these material assets one becomes artificially puffed up, intoxicated by such temporary possessions. Consequently, such materially puffed up persons are incapable of uttering the holy name of the Lord by addressing Him feelingly, “O Govinda, O Kṛṣṇa.” (SB 1.8.26, purp.)

The mercy of the pure devotee

Sometimes the Lord may appear personally in front of these devotees because they have attained the mercy of a pure devotee. Krishna very rarely bestows His mercy in this world personally. Normally, He empowers His representatives, the preachers, and His mercy follows their mercy. If the preachers decide to bestow their mercy to someone, then Krishna is also favorable to that person. A devotee who takes the sweet burden of bringing Krishna to others, of explaining the knowledge of Krishna to others, of accepting the role of a spiritual master, and helping other devotees to grow spiritually, is very dear to Krishna. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-Gita:

For one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me. There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear. (BG 18.68-69)

Dhruva Maharaja is an example of a devotee who has attained the personal darsan of the Lord because of having received the mercy of His pure devotee, although his motivation in devotional service was mixed with a material desire. His aspiration in devotional service was instigated by the desire to attain riches and a kingdom like those of Brahma. However, by the mercy of Narada Muni, Krishna personally appeared to him. Not only did He fulfil his desire, but He assured him that he will soon be promoted to the spiritual world. To Dhruva’s words: “Since I was so foolish to desire worldly riches now You will give me only wealth but not prema-bhakti”, the Lord replied, “No, I will give you both wealth and prema.” Thus, Krishna shows that He knows how to reciprocate in a perfect manner with all His devotees, including those who approach Him with material desires.

How Krishna reciprocates with His pure devotees

Prahlada Maharaja, however, is another example. He was serving Krishna with pure devotion without asking anything in return. Therefore, the Lord came personally to reciprocate with his love, being attracted by Prahlada’s pure devotion. He came personally and accepted a special form that was never seen before (Nara-Hari rupa), to protect His devotee. Prompted by Lord Nrisimhadeva to choose a boon, Prahlada Maharaja replied:

A servant who desires material profits from his master is certainly not a qualified servant or pure devotee. Similarly, a master who bestows benedictions upon his servant because of a desire to maintain a prestigious position as master is also not a pure master. O my Lord, I am Your unmotivated servant, and You are my eternal master. There is no need of our being anything other than master and servant. You are naturally my master, and I am naturally Your servant. We have no other relationship. (SB 7.10.5-6)

Everything in this world is subordinate to Krishna because He is the Supreme Controller and Enjoyer. However, there is one thing that controls Him; that is the pure love of His devotees. An example of this is the story of Maharaja Ambarisha. He was a completely surrendered devotee of the Lord. When attacked by the demon created by the wrath of the sage Durvasa, he was immediately protected by the Sudarshana-cakra. The Sudarshana not only protected Ambarisha Maharaja but also began chasing after the great risi in order to punish him for his offence. Durvasa wanted to take shelter in Vishnu but Vishnu himself said “I cannot give shelter to someone who has offended My devotee.” The Lord then sent Durvasa to seek refuge at the lotus feet of Ambarisha Maharaja. At that moment the Lord spoke several exceptionally beautiful verses revealing His hearth and His feelings toward His pure devotees:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said to the brāhmaṇa: I am completely under the control of My devotees. Indeed, I am not at all independent. Because My devotees are completely devoid of material desires, I sit only within the cores of their hearts. What to speak of My devotee, even those who are devotees of My devotee are very dear to Me. O best of the brāhmaṇas, without saintly persons for whom I am the only destination, I do not desire to enjoy My transcendental bliss and My supreme opulences. Since pure devotees give up their homes, wives, children, relatives, riches and even their lives simply to serve Me, without any desire for material improvement in this life or in the next, how can I give up such devotees at any time? As chaste women bring their gentle husbands under control by service, the pure devotees, who are equal to everyone and completely attached to Me in the core of the heart, bring Me under their full control. My devotees, who are always satisfied to be engaged in My loving service, are not interested even in the four principles of liberation [sālokya, sārūpya, sāmīpya and sārṣṭi], although these are automatically achieved by their service. What then is to be said of such perishable happiness as elevation to the higher planetary systems? The pure devotee is always within the core of My heart, and I am always in the heart of the pure devotee. My devotees do not know anything else but Me, and I do not know anyone else but them. (SB 9.4.63-68)

How is it that Krishna who is completely independent becomes so much controlled and dependent on His devotees? How is this possible? This is because of the complete surrender of those pure devotees. They have no other shelter than the Lord, and He reciprocates in the same way. In his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 9.4.63, Srila Prabhupada writes:

All the great stalwart personalities in the universe, including Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, are fully under the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead is fully under the control of His devotee. Why is this? Because the devotee is anyābhilāṣitā-śūnya; in other words, he has no material desires in his heart. His only desire is to think always of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and how to serve Him best. Because of this transcendental qualification, the Supreme Lord is extremely favorable to the devotees — indeed, not only the devotees, but also the devotees of the devotees. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, chāḍiyā vaiṣṇava-sevā nistāra pāyeche kebā: without being a devotee of a devotee, one cannot be released from material entanglement. Therefore, Caitanya Mahāprabhu identified Himself as gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ. Thus, he instructed us to become not directly servants of Kṛṣṇa but servants of the servant of Kṛṣṇa. Devotees like Brahmā, Nārada, Vyāsadeva and Śukadeva Gosvāmī are directly servants of Kṛṣṇa, and one who becomes a servant of Nārada, Vyāsadeva and Śukadeva, like the Six Gosvāmīs, is still more devoted. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura therefore says, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ: if one very sincerely serves the spiritual master, Kṛṣṇa certainly becomes favorable to such a devotee. Following the instructions of a devotee is more valuable than following the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly.

What is presented here is the shortcut in the spiritual path, that is to take the humble position of a servant of the servant of Krishna. This is like a test. Are we really ready to surrender to Krishna’s desire? If we are, then why not try to satisfy those who are very dear to Krishna? The best example of this is Srila Prabhupada. He taught us by his personal example what it means to be a servant of the servant and what it means to completely surrender to the desire of the Guru.

Srila Prabhupada, a pure devotee of the Lord

Here we find an opportunity to say something regarding the mood and mission of Srila Prabhupada. He was always teaching that a true Guru never says that he is God; rather, he is a servant of God and can make others also servants of God. Srila Prabhupada never wanted to show himself off, to put himself in the center; rather, he always put his Guru’s instructions and desires in the center. His life was totally surrendered to the desire of his Guru-Maharaja. In ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada reserved a special place to Guru’s worship. He established a daily guru-puja in all our centers and temples. This is something that truly emphasizes the Guru-disciple relationship and the Guru’s desire. In the Gaudia Math, for example, there is only one annual Guru worship, and that is on the Vyasa-puja Day. But in ISKCON we are reminded of the importance of the Guru’s mercy in our spiritual advancement every day. In his purport to Bhagavad-Gita 4.34, Srila Prabhupada writes: “Satisfaction of the self-realized spiritual master is the secret of advancement in spiritual life.” 

There is another important aspect of Srila Prabhupada’s mood revealed in his purport to verse 65 from chapter 4 of Canto Nine:

Another point in this verse is that attachment to dārāgāra-putrāpta — home, wife, children, friendship, society and love — is not the way to achieve the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who is attached to hearth and home for material pleasure cannot become a pure devotee. Sometimes a pure devotee may have a habit or attraction for wife, children and home but at the same time want to serve the Supreme Lord to the best of his ability. For such a devotee, the Lord makes a special arrangement to take away the objects of his false attachment and thus free him from attachment to wife, home, children, friends and so on. This is special mercy bestowed upon the devotee to bring him back home, back to Godhead.

Here Srila Prabhupada is sharing his own experience. Initially, he wanted to become an established householder, to earn a great deal of money through his business and then to use it for spreading Krishna consciousness. But Krishna had another plan. Srila Prabhupada explains:

Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja indirectly inquired from Kṛṣṇa that "We are completely dependent on You, and still we are suffering materially so much that our kingdom is taken away, our wife is insulted, we were attempted to be burned in a house." So Kṛṣṇa said, "Yes, that is My first business." Yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad dhanaṁ śanaiḥ. "If I specially favor anybody, then I take away all his sources of income." Very dangerous. Yes. I have got my practical experience in this connection. Yes. That is Kṛṣṇa's special favor. I do not wish to narrate, but it is a fact. [laughs] It is a fact.

My Guru Mahārāja ordered me when I was twenty-five years old that "You go and preach." But I thought, "First of all, I shall become a rich man, and I shall use that money for preaching work." So that's a long history. I got good opportunity for becoming very rich man in business. And some astrologer told me that "You should have become like Birla." So there was some chances, very good chances. I was manager in a big chemical factory. I started my own factory, the business was very successful. But everything was dismantled. I was forced to come to this position to carry out my order of my Guru Mahārāja. Akiñcana-vittāya. When everything was finished, then I took Kṛṣṇa, that "You are the only..." Therefore Kṛṣṇa is akiñcana-vitta. When one becomes finished of all his material opulences... And now I am realizing that I have not lost; I've gained. I've gained. That's a fact. (SB 1.8.27, LA 1973 19 April).

Ambarisa Maharaja had the same strong conviction that by surrendering to the Lord he will attain all perfection. Therefore, he did not move and inch and did not attempt to protect himself by superficial means when the demon created by Durvasa approached him. By trying to attack and injure Maharaja Ambarisha, Durvasa Muni was actually attacking Krishna Himself. In his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 9.4.68, Srila Prabhupada writes:

Since Durvāsā Muni wanted to chastise Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, it is to be understood that he wanted to give pain to the heart of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for the Lord says, sādhavo hṛdayaṁ mahyam: “The pure devotee is always within the core of My heart.” The Lord’s feelings are like those of a father, who feels pain when his child is in pain. Therefore, offenses at the lotus feet of a devotee are serious.

In his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 9.4.64, Srila Prabhupada shows us yet another way by which we can become controllers of God – by helping as many conditioned souls as possible to go back to Him and thus  expand His pleasure:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is self-sufficient, but to enjoy His transcendental bliss He requires the cooperation of His devotees. In Vṛndāvana, for example, although Lord Kṛṣṇa is full in Himself, He wants the cooperation of His devotees like the cowherd boys and the gopīs to increase His transcendental bliss. Such pure devotees, who can increase the pleasure potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are certainly most dear to Him. Not only does the Supreme Personality of Godhead enjoy the company of His devotees, but because He is unlimited He wants to increase His devotees unlimitedly. Thus, He descends to the material world to induce the nondevotees and rebellious living entities to return home, back to Godhead. He requests them to surrender unto Him because, unlimited as He is, He wants to increase His devotees unlimitedly. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is an attempt to increase the number of pure devotees of the Supreme Lord more and more. It is certain that a devotee who helps in this endeavor to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes indirectly a controller of the Supreme Lord. Although the Supreme Lord is full in six opulences, He does not feel transcendental bliss without His devotees. An example that may be cited in this regard is that if a very rich man does not have sons in a family he does not feel happiness. Indeed, sometimes a rich man adopts a son to complete his happiness. The science of transcendental bliss is known to the pure devotee. Therefore the pure devotee is always engaged in increasing the transcendental happiness of the Lord. (SB 9.4.64)

Sri Uddhava – the best devotee of the Lord outside of Vrindavan

Another great devotee of the Lord is Sri Uddhava. His meditation on the Lord was so intense that he even looked like the Lord – the color of his body was blue like Krishna’s body, he was wearing the same clothes, etc. He understood the mood of his master so well that Krishna always shared His confidential thoughts with him and took his advice on important state and personal affairs. Krishna trusted Uddhava so much that He sent him to Vrindavana to deliver His message of love to the Vrajavasis. In Dvaraka no one could understand Krishna’s mind so well as Uddhava could. That’s why Krishna personally said that there is no one else who is as dear to Him as Uddhava: 

My dear Uddhava, neither Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa, the goddess of fortune nor indeed My own self are as dear to Me as you are. (SB 11.14.15)

In the purport to the same verse, Srila Prabhupada writes:

The Lord has described in the previous verses the unalloyed love of His pure devotees for Him, and now the Lord describes His love for His devotees. Ātma-yoni means Lord Brahmā, who is born directly from the Lord’s body. Lord Śiva always gives great pleasure to Lord Kṛṣṇa by his constant meditation upon Him, and Saṅkarṣaṇa, or Balarāma, is the Lord’s brother in kṛṣṇa-līlā. The goddess of fortune is the Lord’s wife, and the word ātmā here indicates the Lord’s own self as the Deity. None of these personalities — even the Lord’s own self — are as dear to Him as His pure devotee Uddhava, an akiñcana devotee of the Lord. Śrīla Madhvācārya cites from Vedic literature the example that a gentleman sometimes neglects his own interest and that of his children to give charity to a poor beggar. Similarly, the Lord gives preference to a helpless devotee who depends completely on His mercy. The only way to obtain the Lord’s mercy is through His causeless love, and the Lord is most lovingly inclined toward those devotees who are most dependent on Him, just as ordinary mothers and fathers worry more about their helpless children than about those who are self-sufficient. Thus even if one lacks any material qualification, one should simply depend upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without any other interest, and surely one will achieve the highest perfection of life.

Krishna is so merciful to devotees like Uddhava, that He follows in their footsteps just as if He was an ordinary person. Simply because Krishna established the rule that bhakti can be received by association with bhaktas, He acts accordingly, following the procedure:

With the dust of My devotees’ lotus feet I desire to purify the material worlds, which are situated within Me. Thus, I always follow the footsteps of My pure devotees, who are free from all personal desire, rapt in thought of My pastimes, peaceful, without any feelings of enmity, and of equal disposition everywhere. (SB 11.14.16)

The BBT purport states:

Just as the devotees always follow the footsteps of Lord Kṛṣṇa, similarly Lord Kṛṣṇa, being a devotee of His devotees, follows the footsteps of His devotees. A pure servitor of the Lord is always meditating on the pastimes of the Lord and considering how to assist the Lord in His mission. All the material universes are situated in Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s body, as demonstrated to Arjuna, mother Yaśodā and others. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore there is no question of impurity in the Lord. Still, the Lord desires to purify the universes situated within Him by taking the dust of the lotus feet of His pure devotees. Without the dust of the lotus feet of the devotees, it is not possible to engage in pure devotional service, without which one cannot directly experience transcendental bliss. Lord Kṛṣṇa thought, “I have established this strict rule that one can enjoy My transcendental bliss only through devotional service obtained from the dust of the lotus feet of My devotees. Since I also desire to experience My own bliss, I will observe the standard procedure and accept the dust of My devotees’ feet.” Śrīla Madhvācārya points out that Lord Kṛṣṇa follows the footsteps of His devotees in order to purify them. As the Lord walks along behind His pure devotees, the wind blows the dust of the Lord’s feet in the front of His devotees, who then become purified by contact with such transcendental dust. One should not foolishly look for material logic in these transcendental pastimes of the Lord. It is simply a question of love between the Lord and His devotees.

Without the association of devotees, we cannot really make any spiritual advancement. We will become either avowed atheists, or impersonalists, sahajiyas, or just ordinary materialists. Srila Prabhupada said that to think that we can make spiritual progress outside the devotees’ association is just a hallucination. In other words, it is impossible. Everything comes from the devotees’ association – taste in spiritual life, detachment from bad habits, skills how to properly perform devotional service, blessings… Devotees can bestow genuine blessings because they have credit with Krishna, because they have done so much service for Him. So, if they sincerely wish us luck, our advancement will be very easy.

Rupa Goswami says that we have to associate with likeminded, more advanced devotees who are affectionate towards us. The same principle is followed by Krishna – He is looking for likeminded souls who value the relationship with Him and His devotees above anything else. And, He accepts them as more advanced than He Himself. The whole world, all the people who are striving for perfection, meditate on Krishna. However, He meditates on His devotees.

Krishna’s two main qualities

Further on this topic, Srila Jiva Gosvami explains that because of the love of His devotees, the Lord manifests two qualities that are superior to all His other qualities – 1) He melts with prema, and 2) He is controlled by His devotees.  (According to Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu, these are the two qualities that a prema-bhakta manifests: sandrananda visesatma and sri krisna akarsani). In other words, Krishna will always manifest these two qualities even if this means to break His normal ways of behavior and manifestation of His other qualities.

We can see this on many occasions. One of the examples is the cursing of Jaya and Vijaya in the Third Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. After the conflict between the four Kumaras and Jaya and Vijaya, the Lord personally appeared to resolve the situation. Apparently, He took the side of the Kumaras and criticized His servants for the offense they committed against the great sages. However, by carefully examining the commentaries of the acaryas, we can understand the actual mood of the Lord. He simply showed some respect to the sages whereas He considered Jaya and Vijaya to be non-different from Himself.  In his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.16.7, Srila Prabhupada writes:

The relationship between the Lord and His devotee is transcendentally beautiful. As the devotee thinks that it is due to being a devotee of the Lord that he is elevated in all good qualities, so the Lord also thinks that it is because of His devotion to the servitor that all His transcendental glories have increased. In other words, as the devotee is always anxious to render service to the Lord, so the Lord is ever anxious to render service to the devotee. The Lord admits herein that although He certainly has the quality that anyone who receives a slight particle of the dust of His lotus feet becomes at once a great personality, this greatness is due to His affection for His devotee. It is because of this affection that the goddess of fortune does not leave Him and that not only one but many thousands of goddesses of fortune engage in His service. In the material world, simply to get a little favor from the goddess of fortune, people observe many rigid regulations of austerity and penance. The Lord cannot tolerate any inconvenience on the part of the devotee. He is therefore famous as bhakta-vatsala.

In his commentary to Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.16.14, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Takura writes:

“[The Lord says:] Therefore (tat) not seeing the intention of their master by the will of providence, these two should quickly go to a place suitable for the offense they committed to you and then return to me (itam).  This is My request. “O master! You say that those who commit offense to the brahmanas commit offense to You.  Why do you again show affection for those two?”  I cannot control Myself.  It is not possible to give up My natural qualities. Since this punishment is also My mercy to them, not punishment, may the two servants quickly live (viùasaù) with Me again.

“The punishment is permitted by me.”  If I had not given my permission, then the punishment ordered by you would not take place at all since it is later said: “Though I am capable of nullifying the curse, I do not desire to do so.”  (3.16.29)

The reason is that you would feel worthless if I cancelled the curse.  My respect for brahmanas intoxicates you. 

“I consider that I have committed the offense.” This shows the Lord’s great love for the door keepers, taking them as his very self. 

“I have attained fame as a tirtha because of you.” These are just words of respect for the sages.

“I should cut off my own arm [if it commits an offence against you].”  Since the Lord identifies the door keepers as his arms, the statement shows his great attachment to them.”

  Srila Jiva Gosvami explains in his Priti-sandarba:

There are two types of devotees: those situated at a distance and the parikaras or associates. For the devotees at a distance the Lord shows a covering of affection for brahmanas etc. with very strong qualities of friendliness to those devotees…For the associates, the Lord does not show this, as in the case of Jaya and Vijaya getting cursed. Skanda Purana, Dvaraka-mahatmya, shows the qualities of friendship to both types in describing the bad character of Durvasa. The first type (distant devotees) belong to the Lord (atmiyatva) and the second type (his associates) are the Lord himself (atmaikatva). These are described in Bhagavatam.

In other words, in the case of the four Kumaras the Lord shows His great affection and respect to them. But devotees like Jaya and Vijaya are so much closer to the Lord that He knows that even if He externally acts in an apparently unfavorable way, that would still not harm their relationship. He is not so confident of that with regards to the brahmanas (“you would feel worthless if I cancelled the curse.  My respect for brahmanas intoxicates you”). Just like the occasional fights between very close people does not break their relationship because it is very deep and strong. 

Now we will give some examples of how the Lord melts with prema in the association of His devotees. In his Priti-sandarbha Jiva Goswami writes:

When the Lord reveals Himself in front of Kardama Muni, tears started falling from His eyes and this is a symptom of bhava that indicates that the Lord is melting with love for His devotee. That was in Satya-yuga and the Lord’s avatara is called Sukla.

The holy Lake Bindu-sarovara, flooded by the waters of the river Sarasvatī, was resorted to by hosts of eminent sages. Its holy water was not only auspicious but as sweet as nectar. It was called Bindu-sarovara because drops of tears had fallen there from the eyes of the Lord, who was overwhelmed by extreme compassion for the sage who had sought His protection. (SB 3.21.38-39)

In this case the heart of the Lord was melted by a dasya relationship.

 Next is an example of how the Lord’s heart was melted by sakhya-bhava. This a quote from the story about the brahmana Sudama:

At that time Acyuta was seated on His consort’s bed. Spotting the brāhmaṇa at some distance, the Lord immediately stood up, went forward to meet him and with great pleasure embraced him.

The lotus-eyed Supreme Lord felt intense ecstasy upon touching the body of His dear friend, the wise brāhmaṇa, and thus He shed tears of love. (SB 10.80.18-19)

Next is an example of how the Lord’s heart was melted by prema in vatsalya-rasa. This happened when Nanda and Yashoda met Krishna and Balarama at Kuruksetra.

O hero of the Kurus, Krishna and Balarama embraced Their parents and bowed down to them, but Their throats were so choked up with tears of love that the two Lords could say nothing. (SB 10.82.34)

Next is shown how Krishna melts by prema manifested because of the Gopi’s love for Him (madhyrya-rasa).

Seeing that the gopīs were fatigued from conjugal enjoyment, my dear King, merciful Krishna lovingly wiped their faces with His comforting hand. (SB 10.33.20)

The Lord became merciful out of prema for the gopis (täsäm ). This means He had tears in His eyes. Other sattvika-bhävas are mentioned in Vishnu Purana:

The arms of the Lord on contacting the foreheads of the gopis began perspiring and with hairs standing on end. (Vishnu Purana 5.13.55)

So far we have shown how the Lord melts with love out of affection for His devotees (sandrananda visesatma) and now we will show how He is controlled by the love of His devotees (sri krsna akarsini):

“My dear Uddhava, the unalloyed devotional service rendered to Me by My devotees brings Me under their control. I cannot be thus controlled by those engaged in mystic yoga, Sāṅkhya philosophy, pious work, Vedic study, austerity or renunciation.” (SB 11.14.20)

The Lord is controlled by prema in dasya-rasa.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of the three worlds, who is most compassionate to His own devotee, stands with club in hand at Bali Mahārāja’s door. When Rāvaṇa, the powerful demon, came to gain victory over Bali Mahārāja, Vāmanadeva kicked him a distance of eighty thousand miles with His big toe. (SB 5.24.27)

Next is an example how the Lord was controlled by the love of the Pandavas in sakya-rasa:

Mahārāja Parīkṣit heard that out of His causeless mercy Lord Kṛṣṇa [Viṣṇu], who is universally obeyed, rendered all kinds of service to the malleable sons of Pāṇḍu by accepting posts ranging from chariot driver to president to messenger, friend, night watchman, etc., according to the will of the Pāṇḍavas, obeying them like a servant and offering obeisances like one younger in years. When he heard this, Mahārāja Parīkṣit became overwhelmed with devotion to the lotus feet of the Lord. (SB 1.16.16)

Srila Jiva Gosvami explains:

Hearing of all the actions of Krishna that He performed on behalf of the dear Pandavas and hearing that Vishnu was respected as the creator of the universes, King Pariksit developed bhakti for the lotus feet of the Lord. Parsada means He acted as a member of their assembly. Sevana means He satisfied their wishes. Virasanam means He stood awake at night with a sword in His hand.

Next is an example of the Lord being controlled by vatsalya-rasa:

The gopīs would say, “If You dance, my dear Kṛṣṇa, then I shall give You half a sweetmeat.” By saying these words or by clapping their hands, all the gopīs encouraged Kṛṣṇa in different ways. At such times, although He was the supremely powerful Personality of Godhead, He would smile and dance according to their desire, as if He were a wooden doll in their hands. Sometimes He would sing very loudly, at their bidding. In this way, Kṛṣṇa came completely under the control of the gopīs. (SB 10.11.7)

And here is an example of how the Lord can be controlled by the gopis’ feelings of love:

I am not able to repay my debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahma. Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshipped Me, cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore, please let your own glorious deeds be your compensation. (SB 10.32.22)

Srila Jiva Gosvami elaborates on this point:

You have a pure relation (niravadya saàyujäm) because you act with only the highest pure bhava. I cannot repay (paraye) your pure service which gives Me the highest pleasure (sva-sadhu-krtyam), by any means, by a lifetime beyond counting (vibudha), even by eternal life. He states the correctness of their anuraga, since it went beyond considerations of dharma. Let the payment be your good conduct. This means “I am indebted to you.” Sukadeva speaks.

Normally, the Lord reciprocates in proportion to the surrender of the devotee, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante
tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham but in the case of the gopis, their love is so pure and unconditional that the Lord fails to reciprocate equally!   

Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura comments:

“I, however, am worshipping you without giving up affection for father, mother, brother and friends. Though I promise ye yathā māṁ prapadyante … I have failed in this promise in regards to you, for I did not give up My father, mother, brother and friends as you did. (This meaning is obtained from the same phrase saàvåçcya mäbhajan) as you gave up family, I did not respond in the same way… Therefore, it is impossible for Me to repay what you have done. Therefore, let your own pure character be the payment. That is, your good character makes you forgive Me for My fault, and that way I have no debt. But still, I remain indebted to you.”

Krishna enjoys being a puppet in the hands of His devotees

How to attain this supreme position of conquering the heart of the Supreme Lord by our pure devotion? In Brihad-Bagavatamrita Narada Muni gives us a hint. He says that people usually think that Krishna gives prema to His devotee very rarely because prema can control Him. But Narada Muni goes on to explain that this is not a problem because, as we saw, Krishna enjoys being controlled by His pure devotees. Why is prema so rare then?  Because Krishna becomes controlled only by those devotees that are completely callous of the opinions of the materialists.

It was shown above how the Lord is controlled by the love of His devotees and how His heart is melted by prema because of their love for Him. The Lord is devoted to His devotees to such an extend that sometimes He brakes His normal conduct and way of behavior because of this relationship. Although He is the Personification of truthfulness, sometimes He acts contrary to truthfulness for the sake of His devotee. Or, sometimes He acts contrary to qualities like purity, or tolerance, or satisfaction. Although these qualities are the eternal possession of the Lord, sometimes He breaks them because of His two main qualities mentioned above: He is controlled by the love of His devotees and His heart melts with love for His devotees.

When Krishna was on the battle field of Kurukshetra, He broke His own vow in order to protect His dear devotee Arjuna from the angry grandfather Bhisma. That is an example of how Krishna can act contrary to truthfulness because of being controlled by the strong love for His devotees.

Fulfilling my vow and sacrificing His own promise, He got down from the chariot, took up its wheel, and ran towards me hurriedly, just as a lion goes to kill an elephant. He even dropped His outer garment on the way. (SB 1.9.37)

Krishna protected His devotee Arjuna and, breaking His own vow, He simultaneously kept the vow of His devotee Bhismadeva intact. Out of love for His devotees, Krishna broke His own vow of truthfulness just to keep the word of His devotee Mother Yaśodā then embraced Kṛṣṇa, allowed Him to sit down on her lap, and began to look upon the face of the Lord with great love and affection. Because of her intense affection, milk was flowing from her breast. But when she saw that the milk pan on the oven was boiling over, she immediately left her son to take care of the overflowing milk, although the child was not yet fully satisfied with drinking the milk of His mother’s breast..

Sometimes Krishna acts contrary to purity (sauca):

Leaving the dead elephant aside, Krishna held on to the tusk and entered the wrestling arena. With the tusk resting on his shoulder, drops of the elephant’s blood and sweat sprinkled all over him, and his lotus face covered with fine drops of his own perspiration, the Lord shone with great beauty. (SB 10.43.15)

Sometimes He acts contrary to tolerance (ksanti):

He who hates the devotee hates Me. He who obeys the devotees obeys Me. (Mahabharata)

As Kamsa thus raved so audaciously, the infallible Krishna, intensely angry, quickly and forcefully leaped onto the high royal dais. (SB 10.44.34)

Sometimes He acts contrary to satisfaction (santoña).

The devotee who, out of affection, sees Me and speaks to Me without fear becomes dearer and dearer to Me, though I am fully satisfied. (Bhakti-sudhodaya)

Mother Yaśodā then embraced Kṛṣṇa, allowed Him to sit down on her lap, and began to look upon the face of the Lord with great love and affection. Because of her intense affection, milk was flowing from her breast. But when she saw that the milk pan on the oven was boiling over, she immediately left her son to take care of the overflowing milk, although the child was not yet fully satisfied with drinking the milk of His mother’s breast.

Being very angry and biting His reddish lips with His teeth, Kṛṣṇa, with false tears in His eyes, broke the container of yogurt with a piece of stone. Then He entered a room and began to eat the freshly churned butter in a solitary place. (SB 10.9.5-6)

The conclusion is that sometimes Krishna may act contrary to some of His qualities, but He never acts contrary to the above mentioned two qualities: controlled by His devotees and melted by the prema for His devotees.

A few more examples

Now we will give two more examples of how the desire of the devotee prevails over the desire of the Lord. The first one is when Krishna failed to make Rukmini angry:

[The Supreme Lord continued:] “I also wanted to see your face with lips trembling in loving anger, the reddish corners of your eyes throwing sidelong glances and the line of your beautiful eyebrows knit in a frown.” (SB 10.60.30)

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura comments:

In this verse He gives other reasons for joking with her. "I wanted to see your face with lips trembling with the anger of love (prema samrambha), with reddened eyes throwing angry glances, and eye brows frowning."

But if that was the Lord’s desire then why did Rukmini not comply and show anger?

The Lord’s iccha sakti is under His control, but prema controls the Lord. Next to prema, the iccha sakti has no power. Prema, in order to give even more pleasure to the Lord, sometimes goes against the desire of the Lord. That is the situation here.

The other example is from the Damodara-lila, when mother Yasoda was trying so hard to bind Krishna and at the end she was successful. In this regard, Srila Visvanatha Chakravarti Takura’s commentary on 10.9.18 says:

[The older gopis said:] “As you cannot tie up His waist even with all the ropes of the house, then it must be concluded that it is His good fortune that it should not be. Listen Yasoda, give up this attempt!” Though the village women advised in this way, Yasoda was insistent. [Thus, she said:] “Even if evening comes, and I tie together the ropes of the whole village, I must find out just once the extent of my son’s waist.”

If Yasoda, wishing to do good to her son, and being stubborn, would not give up her attempt to bind the Lord, then between the Lord and the devotee, the devotee’s stubbornness prevails. Thus, seeing His mother becoming tired, the Lord gave up His own stubbornness, and by His mercy allowed Himself to be tied. His mercy is the king of all saktis, illuminating everything else. It melts the heart of the Lord as if it were butter. Mercy’s appearance made the satya-sankalpa and vibhuta-saktis suddenly disappear. The shortage of two fingers was filled by effort (parisrama) and mercy (kripa). The effort and fatigue due to service and worship (the steady faith of the devotee –bhakti-niñöhä), and the mercy of the Lord arising from seeing that effort and fatigue (the steady quality in the Lord - sva-niñöha) – these two [endeavor and mercy] caused the Lord to be bound. As long as these are not there, the rope remains two fingers too short. When these two are there, the Lord is bound. The Lord himself showed to His mother how only love can bind Him. This is what the pastime illustrates.

Doubt: Someone may say that the love and attachment that Krishna expresses for His devotees is material and selfish just like the love in this world.

It was already established in the second part of this essay that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that He is completely transcendental to the influence of the modes of material nature. It was also established that His body is not material but rather sac-cit-ananda vigraha (eternal form full of bliss and knowledge). How it is possible then for such a personality to exhibit ordinary lust coming from the influence of the mode of passion?

Srila Jiva Gosvami writes in this regard:

Some do not understand His real nature:

Ignorant people think of the Lord, though uncontaminated by matter, as a human being, one of themselves, contaminated by matter because of seeing unappealing behavior such as his compliance with Satyabhama’s attachment to getting the Parijata tree. (SB 1.11.37)

Ordinary people (ayam) think that Krishna, though unattached to the gunas of matter, is attached, because they think He is endowed with material desire (vyäpåëvänam) like humans, by comparing Him to themselves (ätmaupamyena). “Just as I am a material person, so is the Lord.” These people are unintelligent.

I remember that when reading the first book of Srila Prabhupada’s I got hold of, this feature of his mood struck me deeply. I thaught, “Why is he speaking so strongly against these people?” But everything that he was saying was logical and true. Now after some years I gradually come to understand.

This is one of the greatest contaminations of the people in Kali-Yuga; they want to kill the personal characteristics of God, to make Him zero, to make Him void. Srila Prabhupada was fighting very strongly to uproot all these wrong ideas. That was his mood and his mission that he inherited from his Lion Guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. Srila Prabhupada was using every possible opportunity to smash the concepts of impersonalism and voidism. It is not by chance that his pranama-mantra is saying: nirvisesa sunyavadi pascatya desa tarine (you are delivering the Western countries from the wrong philosophies of impersonalism and voidism). Here are a few quotes that illustrate his mood:

From the other explanations of the previous verses in this chapter, it is clear that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although appearing like a human being, is not a common man. The Personality of Godhead, who conducts the creation, maintenance and annihilation of the complete cosmic manifestation, cannot be a human being. Yet there are many foolish men who consider Kṛṣṇa to be merely a powerful man and nothing more. Actually, He is the original Supreme Personality, as is confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā (īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ); He is the Supreme Lord. (BG 9.11)

Despite the transcendental qualities of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s body, its full bliss and knowledge, there are many so-called scholars and commentators of Bhagavad-gītā who deride Kṛṣṇa as an ordinary man. The scholar may be born an extraordinary man due to his previous good work, but this conception of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is due to a poor fund of knowledge. Therefore he is called mūḍha, for only foolish persons consider Kṛṣṇa to be an ordinary human being. The foolish consider Kṛṣṇa an ordinary human being because they do not know the confidential activities of the Supreme Lord and His different energies. They do not know that Kṛṣṇa’s body is a symbol of complete knowledge and bliss, that He is the proprietor of everything that be and that He can award liberation to anyone. Because they do not know that Kṛṣṇa has so many transcendental qualifications, they deride Him. (BG 9.11)

The impersonalist philosophers, who wish to maintain that the Absolute Truth is without senses, cannot comprehend this verse of Bhagavad-gītā. To them, it is either a metaphor or proof of the mundane character of Kṛṣṇa, the speaker of the Bhagavad-gītā. But, in actuality, Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Godhead, has senses, and it is stated that His senses are interchangeable; in other words, one sense can perform the function of any other. This is what it means to say that Kṛṣṇa is absolute. Lacking senses, He could hardly be considered full in all opulences. In the Seventh Chapter, Kṛṣṇa has explained that He impregnates the living entities into material nature. This is done by His looking upon material nature. And so in this instance, Kṛṣṇa’s hearing the devotee’s words of love in offering foodstuffs is wholly identical with His eating and actually tasting. This point should be emphasized: because of His absolute position, His hearing is wholly identical with His eating and tasting. Only the devotee, who accepts Kṛṣṇa as He describes Himself, without interpretation, can understand that the Supreme Absolute Truth can eat food and enjoy it. (BG 9.26)

I also remember a story with Srila Prabhupada where an Indian gentleman was explaining to him that everything is one, we can follow any path and reach the same goal and so on mayavada nonsense. Srila Prabhupada was getting more and more serious and then his lips started trembling with anger. He caught the man by his shirt and told him, “Is your shirt and the ball of cotton the same? Why don’t you wear a ball of cotton instead of your shirt then?”

This is Srila Prabhupada! A true representative of our Guru parampara.

Something about Mahaprabhu

There are also two nice stories from the Caitanya-Bhagavata that describe how Krishna personally takes care of His devotees. When Mahaprabhu sat down on the altar in Srivas Thakur’s house, at one point He began calling the devotees one by one telling them something intimate about their life that nobody else new, showing them how actually because of His extreme love for them He took the role of their servant. He called for Ganga Das Pandit and told him:

Do you remember how once you, together with your wife and daughter, were coming late from somewhere, and suddenly a group of Muslim soldiers started following you? You became afraid and started waking faster but you reached the river and because it was late there were no boats there, but then suddenly a boat with a boatmen appeared out of nowhere and you managed to safely cross the river and escape from the soldiers. You know that this boatman was Me.

Then He did the same with Haridas Thakur. Mahaprabhu said, “Do you remember when you were brought to 22 market places and you were beaten there with a stick, but in spite of the beating you didn’t feel any pain, do you remember that?” Haridas Thakur said, “Yes my Lord, I remember.” Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Do you know why you were not feeling any pain? Because I was lying on your back and they were beating Me!!!” And then Mahaprabhu showed the marks from the beating on His back to all the devotees.

This is Krishna’s love for His devotees!

Going back home

When Gopa Kumara reached Vaikuntha, Lord Narayana welcomed him and said that He was eager to see him after such a long time! He said that you have passed many lifetimes without paying any attention to Me at all. So long I was thinking, “Perhaps in this lifetime, or this, or this, or this, he will finally turn his face towards Me.” But I could find no pretext on which to bring you to My abode. You showed Me no mercy, and as I considered this, I grew impatient, full of anxiety to receive your favor. So, I transgressed My eternal code of conduct and arranged for you to take your current birth. Dear boy, in that divine district of Govardhana, My most beloved abode, I Myself became your Guru, known by the name Jayanta. Today you have at last fulfilled the desire I have harbored for so long. Please nourish your happiness and Mine by staying here forever.

After Gopa Kumara attained Goloka, his final destination, and received Krishna’s darsan, they embraced each other and Gopa Kumara fainted due to intense ecstasy. But what is even more astonishing is that Krishna also fell unconscious due to the ecstasy from the meeting with His dear devotee Gopa Kumara. Krishna was so happy to see His devotee again. Some details from Brihad-Bhagavatamrita:

Then from a distance I saw Him, His charming flute in hand. Running quickly, He emerged from among His friends and animals and approached me, saying in a sweet voice, “Look, Sridama! Here is My dear friend Sarupa, the sun who shines on the lotus of your family!” He leaped forward and came close to me, compelled by the affection of His helpless devotee. I fainted with love at seeing Him. He caught hold of me by the neck. And suddenly He too fell to the ground. A moment later I reawoke and carefully freed my neck from His grasp. I stood up and saw Him on the ground, unconscious. Covered with dust, He was moistening the path with His tears. Suddenly Krishna opened His eyes, sealed till then by a flood of tears. Seeing me, He joyfully embraced and kissed me. But then He looked around and became embarrassed. That best of Lords took my hand in His own — His own left lotus hand — and received me as a long-lost bosom friend. He asked me various questions. Then He greeted all the people of Vraja and entered the best of cowherd villages with the gait of an elephant.” (BB 3.6)

This is Krishna, our worshipable Lord. He loves us so much that He wants us to go back to Him much more than we do. And He is ready to help us with everything. We can go to that beautiful place Goloka Vrindavana, and enjoy there with Him eternally. But instead we are trying to exist in this temporary place full of miseries and suffering. A place where you lose your closest people, where there are no permanent situations, where our body is constantly breaking down, where there are dangers at every step. Let’s go through this life as vaisnavas, servants of Krishna, and everyone else, and not like kripanas. Let’s not become attached to the petty things of this world. Let’s go back home, back to Krishna!

CONCLUSION:

evaṁ sva-bhaktayo rājan
bhagavān bhakta-bhaktimān
uṣitvādiśya san-mārgaṁ
punar dvāravatīm agāt

“O King, thus the Personality of Godhead, who is devoted to His own devotees, stayed for some time with His two great devotees Srutadeva and Bahulasva, teaching them the behavior of perfect saints. Then the Lord returned to Dvaraka.” (SB 10.86.59)

The Vedas are the only perfect evidence regarding all spiritual and materials matters. Srimad-Bhagavatam is the ripened fruit of the tree of the Vedic literature because it directly establishes Sri Krishna’s glory, the highest and original form of the Lord. The most important thing for Krishna, however, is not that He is God; it is His intimate relationships with His pure devotees. The Supreme Lord’s favorite pastime is to enjoy being conquered by their intense love. Desiring to taste the maddening prema of His devotees for Himself, He comes as Lord Caitanya.

Hari om tat sat

Hare Krishna