tat-prasaṅgānubhāvena
rantidevānuvartinaḥ
abhavan yoginaḥ sarve
nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇāḥ

[SB 9.21.18]

[All those who followed the principles of King Rantideva were totally favored by his mercy and became pure devotees, attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa. Thus they all became the best of yogīs.]

Purport by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivendanta Swami Prabhupada

The best yogīs or mystics are the devotees, as confirmed by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gītā (6.47):

yoginām api sarveṣāṁ

mad-gatenāntarātmanā

śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ

sa me yuktatamo mataḥ

“Of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.” The best yogī is he who constantly thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead within the core of the heart. Because Rantideva was the king, the chief executive in the state, all the residents of the state became devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, by the king’s transcendental association. This is the influence of a pure devotee. If there is one pure devotee, his association can create hundreds and thousands of pure devotees. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has said that a Vaiṣṇava is meritorious in proportion to the number of devotees he has created. A Vaiṣṇava becomes superior not simply by jugglery of words but by the number of devotees he has created for the Lord. Here the word rantidevānuvartinaḥ indicates that Rantideva’s officers, friends, relatives and subjects all became first-class Vaiṣṇavas by his association. In other words, Rantideva is confirmed herein to be a first-class devotee, or mahā-bhāgavata. Mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ: one should render service to such mahātmās, for then one will automatically achieve the goal of liberation. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has also said, chāḍiyā vaiṣṇava-sevā nistāra pāyeche kebā: one cannot be liberated by his own effort, but if one becomes subordinate to a pure Vaiṣṇava, the door to liberation is open.

Lecture Transcription

Canto nine of Srimad-Bhagavatam, chapter twenty-one, entitled, ‘The Dynasty of Bharata’, text number eighteen. In this purport, Srila Prabhupada is giving his profound appreciation for the leadership quality of a king named Rantideva and the background to this story is so important. Srila Prabhupada is telling that, because he was the leader, everyone in the kingdom, the citizens, the ministers, and in certain ways even more inconceivable, the family members [Maharaj chuckles], they were all pure devotees. By his example, certainly as a king, he administrated everything with super excellent systems and he used every facility that was possible within his kingdom. Whatever technologies were available at the time, to uplift his…his citizens, to protect them, to empower them. But the spirit of why, is what is emphasized in this chapter. Srila Prabhupada defines it as selfless love.

King Rantideva’ s compassion for all living beings

Rantideva, with his whole family with him, they went to a secluded place, a distant place, to fast, I believe it was forty days, with no food and no water. Why? Because as the leader, not only to purify himself, not only to set an example for others, but also for the benefits of everyone. He was doing this tapasya, offering the benefits of whatever he was doing to everyone who was under his charge. A brief summary, after he fasted, he and his family were at the…at the very borderline of what is possible, to continue their lives and from a distant place, somebody came with a wonderful feast of food. They were just about to eat, honor the prasada and then a brahmin came, and the brahmin said, “I’m very hungry, do you have anything?” So Rantideva fully serve the brahmin when he was satisfied, they all sat down to take what was left and then just a[an] ordinary kind of person, without any high caste or anything, he came and said, “I’m hungry!” Rantideva, fed his whole family along with this person and whatever was left, he sat down and then this man came with the pack of hungry dogs. He said, “I’m really hungry, and my dogs are starving. Please feed us.” Rantideva, all…when dogs are hungry, they can eat a lot. He gave all the rest of the food to this man and the dogs and then there was just one cup of water left. It was just enough so that he could survive, till more food could be there and just when he was about to drink that cup of water, a candala, a person who was totally rejected by society said, “I’m thirsty. Do you have any water?” At that point, Rantideva folded his hands and offered a prayer. He prayed, “My dear Supreme Personality of Godhead. I do not pray to you for the eight mystic perfections of yoga. I do not pray to you from[for] liberation or salvation from suffering. I only pray, let me take birth among living beings who are suffering, so that I could give my life to help them. In giving this person, my water, my life…my life, I am no longer ever again subject to thirst or hunger or moroseness or anxiety.” He didn’t just say it, but he gave the water to this man. At that moment all those people that he gave his food and water to, returned and they all transformed into demigods, Brahma, Shiva, Indra, Vayu, because this is the very heart of what Srimad-Bhagavatam is. They did this to show what a vaishnava is, one who is truly willing to make sacrifice for the well-being of others, karuna – compassion. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, here in Navadwipa dham, he taught us, premā pumartho mahān [Caitanya Manjusa, Viswanath Cakavarti Takur], that the highest goal of religion, of dharma, of life, is to love Krishna. The expression of that love, as well as the means of achieving that love is to always remember Krishna and live as the servant of the servant in compassion for others.

Agony of mother Sachi

I was listening to a recording of Srila Prabhupada, here in Mayapur dham, at this time of the year, when devotees from all over the world would come to be with him. “What should I do? Where should I go?” As he was speaking this, Lord Caitanya was crying. Sachi mata out of her selfless affection, she replied, “My dear son, why are you impatient? Everything will be alright in due course of time.” Srila Prabhupada explains, Lord Caitanya was indicating to his mother that he was about to leave home forever to take sannyasa and his mother was fully aware of what he was indicating. Her heart was crushed, broken. In her heart, she was feeling more distress, perhaps than even Nimai, who was crying for Krishna in separation because she understood, she’s gonna live the rest of her life in separation from him. But still she concealed her own grief to pacify him. “Please my son, be patient. Everything will be all right.”

In Sri Caitanya Bhagavat, there’s a beautiful story, when Sachi devi is so much grief stricken by hearing the rumors about her son, leaving home to take sannyasa. She was not praying about herself. She was so concerned with him, more than herself. She’s a mother, “Nimai! Don’t leave home. It’s so difficult, walking bare feet, everywhere through jungles and forests and towns and villages. You’re enjoying so much your life. You love your wife, Vishnu Priya. You love her dearly and you love to be with your friends, Srivas and Nityananda and Haridas and Advaita, and you love to have kirtan here in your house and at Srivas angan. How you will suffer if you leave?” But ultimately Sachi mata, when she understood the lord’s will, she hid her grief, “Whatever you decide my son, that is the best thing. You have descended in this world to liberate the conditioned souls.” When Nityananda Prabhu was told by Lord Caitanya, that he was about to take sannyasa. He hid his own grief from Lord Caitanya and then went to a secluded place, and continuously wept bitterly, thinking how this will affect Sachi mata, who was widowed and had nothing but Nimai in her life. When Vishnu Priya, the lord’s beloved wife saw Sachi mata’s condition, she approached Lord Caitanya and she pleaded, and she cried, and Lord Caitanya cried, and said, “Please, know that whenever you think of me, I will come. I will be there.” This selfless love, of thinking of each other, of thinking, what is pleasing to the lord.

In Ramayana, and we find the same thing when Lord Ramchandra was to be banished from the kingdom for fourteen years, his mother Kaushalya, when he went to…to ask her permission to leave, she was weeping and crying and begging him not to go but when she saw that he was gonna go, he had a higher purpose, she refrained. She restrained her emotions, and became very strong, and said, “Yes, my son, what you are doing is right. Please go with a happy heart.”

Selfless love

Srila Prabhupada, here in Mayapur, he was speaking on this subject of selfless love, from a verse from the first canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, where Krishna is about to leave Hastinapur, to go back to Dwarka. All the citizens were coming out in such separation from Krishna. They actually didn’t know if they would ever see him again. They were crying, but this was the perplexity. Srila Prabhupada said the perplexity of Sachi mata, she was crying herself, but she did not want to, in any way disturb her son. All the residents of Hastinapur, they were broken-hearted and weeping but they were all thinking, ‘If I cry, when Krishna leaves, it will be inauspicious for Krishna. It might bring misfortune to Krishna if we’re crying and exhibiting being upset when he leaves.’ Srila Prabhupada is giving these examples for selfless love where we take ourself[ourselves] out of the center.

I can think of no greater person in the history of the world who exhibited selfless love more than our beloved founder acharya, Srila Prabhupada. What he endured when he was on Jaladuta? He wasn’t expecting to go to America and become a millionaire. He just wanted to fulfill the desire of his spiritual master, to give the message of Lord Caitanya to the west. What is that message? That Krishna is a person and to love him, as an eternal servant is the highest perfection of life. We are not these bodies. We are eternal, loving servants of the all beautiful, all attractive, supreme truth who is the cause of all causes, Krishna. Through the process of bhakti, especially hearing about the lord, and chanting the…the names and glories of the lord in the association of devotees, this love can be awakened. Srila Prabhupada, he…he wrote, “Krishna, I don’t know why you’ve sending me here from Vrindavan, my home but my Guru Maharaj has given me this instruction. Now, if you give me the words, to speak your message, and you give these people the ability to understand your message, then they will all be happy. Those are, Prabhupada’ s words, he wanted everyone to be happy in Krishna conscious. But yet, he’s using examples of how much devotees sometimes have to suffer in the pursuit of happiness. When we actually focus on putting Krishna in the center, putting the will of Srila Prabhupada and our acharyas in the center of our life, then our sufferings in pursuit of their will, trying to represent their will in our lives, however small or big we may be, that is an expression of love. That is the means of achieving love and it is that connection of love that is happiness.

yugāyitaṁ nimeṣeṇa
cakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam
śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ
govinda-viraheṇa me

[Sri Sikshashtaka 7]

[O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence.]

That suffering for the well-being of others on behalf of Krishna, is actually a greater form of happiness when we come to the spiritual platform, but any type of so-called peace or happiness of this world. In making Krishna happy, in making devotees happy, that’s the true happiness of the heart of a devotee.

Ishwara Puri’s menial service to his Guru

Today is the disappearance day of Srila Ishwara Puri, and this principle of selfless love is so much integrated in every aspect of the stories of his life that has been revealed to us in the scriptures. Ishwara Puri was a disciple of Srila Madhvendra Puri. He traveled with his guru to so many places. We read, when Nityananda Prabhu met Madhvendra Puri in the western provinces of India, Ishwara Puri was so happy, so ecstatically happy to see his guru so happy in the association of Nityananda Prabhu. His whole life was making his guru happy. So now it’s the last stage of Madhvendra Puri’s life. He’s an invalid. He’s on what we would call in this world, his deathbed. Can you imagine the pain in the heart of Ishwara puri seeing this situation his guru Maharaj is in such a state? He can’t, he can’t stand up, he can’t sit up. He’s crying in separation from Krishna. Ishwara Puri, although a great scholar, a brahmin, you know he had all qualifications, he was expressing his love with such menial service, a service that actually anyone can do. He was cleaning from the body of Madhvendra Puri, his urine and stool, because his guru could not get out and seeing his guru in feelings of separation from Krishna, he was constantly chanting Krishna’s names and chanting Krishna’s pastimes and glories to his guru. Although he himself was in such a state, that his guru was about to leave him and because in such a simple way with such genuine sincerity, he served his Guru Maharaj as a servant of the servant. Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami, he emphasizes how he cleaned the stool and urine of his guru’s body with his own hands. In those days, they didn’t have rubber gloves or anything like that. He did it with his own hands, and he was grateful to do so and the spiritual master embraced him. He was so pleased, “May Krishna bestow upon you my child, the great treasure of ecstatic love for him.” That was the last words and blessings that his Guru Maharaj gave him, as he was crying in separation from Krishna, who had left from Mathura.

Ishwara Puri arrives in Navadwipa

Here in Navadweep, Shri Advaita Acharya, whose house is very close by, in the compound near Srivas angan. He was worshipping his deity of Krishna, devotees would come there and one day, he saw a very simple looking sadhu. He just looked so totally ordinary. He was just alone, roaming the streets, just happy to be doing that and he sat outside Advaita’s temple as Advaita prabhu was doing puja and Advaita prabhu felt something very powerful, and he looked over, and he saw this completely unassuming, simple, humble person in rags, just sitting there. Advaita prabhu was thinking, ‘Who is this? There’s something happening to my heart in his presence.’ Then Mukunda Dutt started singing beautiful prayers in kirtan about Krishna, and that person began to exhibit symptoms of love and then everyone understood, this is Ishwara Puri. Now Advaita Acharya is Madhvendra Puri’s disciple and Ishwara Puri, because of his service to his Guru Maharaj at the end and throughout his life, he was so exalted, but he didn’t in any way, advertised himself. Then everybody recognized him. One day when Ishwara Puri was walking, he came across Nimai Pandit, who at that time was a great grammar teacher, the greatest scholar in Navadwip, but not exhibiting any symptoms of devotion. They happened to meet while walking near the Ganga, and Ishwara Puri was thinking, ‘This person is something special.’ He asked, “Who are you and what do you do?” One of Nimai’s students said, “This is Nimai Pandit”, and Ishwara Puri said, “O! You are the famous scholar Nimai Pandit” and Nimai said, “Please come to my house for prasad.” Sachi mata cooked a wonderful feast for him and they sat and Ishwara Puri was speaking about Krishna. After that at Gopinath Acharya’s house, Ishwara Puri was staying and Gadadhar Pandit was a brahmachari, very simple heart[ed], who just didn’t have any concerns with material life, he was so attracted to Ishwara Puri, and he was studying.

Supreme Lord is conquered by the love of his devotees

Lord Caitanya would come to offer his obeisances and hear this[his] poetry in a way that’s not at all poetic [chuckles]. Krishna is completely pleased because of the love in which it’s written. It would be a great offense to edit the writings of one who was glorifying Krishna with love. Ishwara Puri was very happy to hear this from Nimai, what he said, “Whatever you’re saying, still, it will be good for the world to be able to appreciate and understand this book, if it’s edited properly, so please do this for me.” So, we’re seeing here the dynamics, that he wanted things to be very professionally done. But at the same time, it was the love, it was devotion, it was the compassion of the heart, and the sincerity of the intent that was the power behind it. So, Nimai said, “Alright!” One day Nimai said, “Actually this particular word that you are using, atmanebadhi, is not grammatically correct. It should be parasmebadhi.” Ishwara Puri heard it, and then Nimai went home and the next day when Nimai returned, Ishwara Puri said, “I’ve been thinking about this all day and all night, and I’ve done research in the scriptures and everything and actually, atmanebadhi, is the correct word. Nimai Pandit happily accepted that. This is something impossible. He accepted defeat from Ishwara Puri. Nobody could defeat Ishw…Nimai Pandit the greatest scholars and pandits of Navadwip were challenging him, they could not defeat him. Even Keshava Kashmiri, the Digvijay Pandit was defeated by Ish…Nimai Pandit. But here Nimai was happily accepting defeat from a devotee. This is the principle of Srimad-Bhagavatam that Caitanya Mahaprabhu is teaching.

Krishna would wrestle the gopas in Vrindavan, and when the gopas would defeat him and celebrate and spread news all over Vraj bhumi that, “I defeated Krishna,” Krishna was happy. He was more happy than if he won and Yashoda mai, when she defeated Krishna by tying him with a rope of her love, Krishna was very happy. In fact, for all time to come, Sukadev Goswami, by the arrangement of Krishna, glorified Yashoda as conquering Krishna. The gopis, Krishna told them that, “Your service has completely conquered me. Even in a lifetime of Brahma, I could never repay you.” Then in Vrindavan, there are so many stories of how Krishna begs for Shri Radha’s love conquered by that love. This is the great treasure of the mysteries of all the Vedic literatures that the Supreme Absolute Truth, that controller of all controllers, finds the greatest joy in being conquered by the love of his devotee.

Srila Prabhupada meets Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati

Srila Prabhupada, when he would speak about the first meeting, he had with Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada at Ultadunga junction road in Calcutta, which was just a very simple rented house, it’s all they had. Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur was living here in Mayapur, he had a little place, he wanted to establish his movement on the order of his Guru Maharaj and father Bhaktivinoda Thakur but he prepared himself in Mayapur by chanting one billion names of Krishna. After that, he moved to Calcutta and the history of that little house, Ultadunga junction road, when he first moved in, on rent, it was him…Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur and three grihastha couples, there were no brahmacharis, there were no sannyasis, these were just living with three men and three women, husbands and wives. He established his mission to preach Lord Caintanya’ s message all over the world there and gradually more and more people started coming, brahmacharis, sannyasis, started developing, and in 1922, when Srila Prabhupada came to see him, he was given this message, “Take Lord Caitanya’ s teachings to the western world in the English language.” Srila Prabhupada actually presented arguments, “Who will listen to India’s message when we’re still subordinate to the British? This is our first priority. We have to get the national dignity [chuckles].” We want to be defeated by the Vaishnava’s love. It’s interesting, Srila Prabhupada was nama…he was…whenever he would do prema-dhvani, he would say, “Namacharya Srila Haridas Thakur.”

Namacharya Srila Haridas Thakur

Thakur Haridas, he was the acharya who taught us how to perform the yuga dharma of chanting the holy names and what was it about Haridas Thakur’s character that Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and our whole parampara gives him this most honorary worshipable title of being the Namacharya. One of the things is close by in Kuliya-gram, he was willing to be beaten in twenty-two marketplaces, just chanting Krishna’s names, is everyone’s well-wisher, such tolerance, such humility, such forgiveness such compassion and Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu himself with tears would glorify that pastime of Haridas Thakur. Twenty-two marketplaces, this number is very interesting. Srila Prabhupada met Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, and the seed of the instruction, which was the cause of the whole International Society for Krishna Consciousness was placed in his heart in 1922 and Twenty-two years later, in 1944, Srila Prabhupada established the first issue of ‘Back to Godhead’ magazine to pursue that instruction. Twenty-two years later, in 1966, [devotees chuckles] Srila Prabhupada established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in New York. In 2022, we’re very hopeful that his dream will be [devotees roars and claps loudly] Temple of Vedic Planetarium ([devotees:] laughs). I might be twenty-two minutes late [Maharaj chuckles] [devotees laugh]. But very quickly, I’d like to say a few more things.

Lord Caitanya meets Ishwara Puri in Gaya and Inaugurate sankirtan movement

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he left Navadwipa to go to Gaya. Until this point, he didn’t outwardly reveal his ecstatic Radha-bhav, his love of Krishna in the mood of Shri Radha. But it was there. In the presence of Ishwara Puri, at the Vishnupad temple in Gaya, that Lord Caitanya exhibited the rādhā-bhāva-dyuti-suvalitaṁ naumi kṛṣṇa-svarūpam [Cc. Adi 4.55]. When he saw Ishwara Puri there, he said, “I have traveled to this holy place of Gaya on pilgrimage, but now, the real fulfillment of my pilgrimage is in meeting with you. Please give me the wealth, the treasure of love for Krishna.” Ishwara Puri at that time could recognize who Lord Caitanya was, he was Krishna. He said, “I had a dream last night where I saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and now my dream is fulfilled because I’m seeing you.” After Lord Chaitanya did all the shrarda ceremonies, he went back to his little room where he was staying, and he cooked. He cooked prasad for himself. He just made enough for himself because there was no one else there and just when he was about to eat it, Ishwara Puri came in and Lord Caitanya said, “Please take prasad.” Ishwara Puri said, “It appears I have come at the right time [devotees laugh]. But you only made enough for one. So, you should take.” Lord Caitanya said, “No, you take.” Ishwara Puri said, “Let us…let us make it half and half and we’ll both take together.” Lord Caitanya said, “No, no, I can easily cook again, you take.” Lord Caitanya personally, the prasad that he made for himself, he lovingly, humbly served his guru maharaj and after that he didn’t rush to eat and cook more. After he served his guru maharaj, he gave him a place to lay down and rest. He humbly massaged his legs and his feet and his body. Lord Caitanya begged him, “Please liberate me from this material world. Give me love for Krishna. Give me initiation.” Ishwara Puri, he said, “You want me to initiate you [chuckles], if that’s what you want, I’ll give you my body, my mind, my words, I’ll give you my very life and also give you initiation [Maharaj chuckles] ([devotees:] laugh].” He gave him initiation, Lord Caitanya in parampara, and he also gave him the instruction, that you should take this Harinaam sankirtan, the chanting of the holy names and you spread it throughout the world, it’s the greatest benediction and it was when he received that instruction that the sankirtan movement began. He came back here to Navadwipa and established. Later, as was spoken, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to reach people who were rejecting him and people throughout India and throughout the world and for this purpose, Lord Caitanya himself, and Srila Prabhupada explains from Lord Caitanya’s perspective, out of his compassion for us, he left his beloved mother. Prabhupada, when he would describe this, he would describe the nature of his mother’s selfless love, and his beloved wife and his beloved Navadwipa, and the devotees, out of compassion for us.

Lord Chaitanya accepts devotees from all backgrounds irrespective of their social position

Eventually he came to Puri, and after his South Indian tour, Lord Caitanya, when he was in Puri, so many people were coming to meet him and one person, and I’ll end his class with this little pastime. This devotee approached Lord Caitanya at the Gambhira. His name was Govinda. He was the personal servant of Ishwara Puri. He said, “Ishwara Puri has disappeared from this world and I was at his bedside, I was his personal servant, along with Kashiswara Pandit and our guru maharaj, he gave me the instruction, that I should come and personally render service to you.” Lord Caitanya was very moved. He embraced, he embraced Govinda and said, “My beloved spiritual master Ishwara Puri, in his vatsalya bhava, in his parental love, he has sent you to me.”

Then Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya who was now, very great vaishnava, but was still seeing things according to Vedic traditions and cultures and everything. He said, “How is it possible? Govinda is a sudra by birth. How could he be initiated by Ishwara Puri and given the such an exalted post of his personal servant?” Lord Caitanya with great happiness, he said, “This is the power of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and this is the power of a pure devotee who loves him. That power of Krishna comes through his devotee and the power of that love is beyond all these rules and regulations. If it is his will, then Govinda, he is most exalted.” This was so much the message of Lord Caitanya. Haridas Thakur was a mlechha and yavana and he’s Namacharya and Govinda is Lord Caitanya’s personal assistant, twenty-four hours a day practically during the last eighteen years of Lord Caitanya’s pastimes. But then, Lord Caitanya had a dilemma and he asked Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, “That Govinda is my god brother. Not only he is my god brother but he’s like such an exalted position. He was the personal assistant and servant of my Guru Maharaj, he’s worshipable. I can’t accept him as my servant.” Srila Prabhupada explains in purport that one should not expect god-brothers, god sisters to be doing…to be servants of each other, in the sense of that we’re all servant of the servant of the servant, but we should not expect that. So, Lord Caitanya said, “I cannot allow him to do this. But at the same time, Ishwara Puri gave him the order to do it. So, what am I supposed to do? “Ishwara Puri [Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya] responded, ‘the order of the spiritual master takes precedent over all other things’ [devotees applaud]. Lord…Lord Chaitanya then accepted Govinda as his personal assistant who would massage him every day and bring him food and Lord Caitanya, so many predicaments Govinda was in [Maharaj laughs], because of Lord Caitanya’s transcendental behavior. So, on this day of the disappearance day of Shri Ishwara Puri, we understand how Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu put in the most exalted position, the spirit of being the servant of the servant of the servant with selfless love. It is that selfless love that is the goal of our sadhana, the goal of our service, and it is that selfless love, that Srila Prabhupada gave us to share with each other as a society and as a society to share with the whole world. Our founder acharya, Srila Prabhupada, he taught us this principle with his life, with his words, and whatever may be, because in this material world there are always so many complications and perplexities. Prabhupada used this word, perplexities. We must, we must remain united in the spirit of being the servant of the servant of the selfless love. Thank you very much. [devotees clap] ([devotees:] “Haribol!”)