Learn to be sober and well behaved towards the Vaishnavas

From Srila Prabhupada's purport to SB 8.5.15-16
It is described that while Durvāsā Muni was passing on the road, he saw Indra on the back of his elephant and was pleased to offer Indra a garland from his own neck. Indra, however, being too puffed up, took the garland, and without respect for Durvāsā Muni, he placed it on the trunk of his carrier elephant. The elephant, being an animal, could not understand the value of the garland, and thus the elephant threw the garland between its legs and smashed it. Seeing this insulting behavior, Durvāsā Muni immediately cursed Indra to be poverty-stricken, bereft of all material opulence. Thus the demigods, afflicted on one side by the fighting demons and on the other by the curse of Durvāsā Muni, lost all the material opulences in the three worlds.

To be extremely opulent in materialistic advancement is sometimes very risky.

The materially opulent person does not care about anyone, and thus he commits offenses to great personalities, such as devotees and great saints. This is the way of material opulence. As described by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, dhana-durmadāndha: too much wealth makes one blind. This happens even to Indra in his heavenly kingdom, and what to speak of others in this material world? When one is materially opulent, he should learn to be sober and well-behaved toward Vaiṣṇavas and saintly persons; otherwise he will fall down.

The four internal subtle senses and their relationship

From Text SB 3.26.14

mano buddhir ahaṅkāraś  cittam ity antar-ātmakam
caturdhā lakṣyate bhedo  vṛttyā lakṣaṇa-rūpayā

Word for word: 

manaḥ — the mind; buddhiḥ — intelligence; ahaṅkāraḥ — ego; cittam — consciousness; iti — thus; antaḥ-ātmakam — the internal, subtle senses; catuḥ-dhā — having four aspects; lakṣyate — is observed; bhedaḥ — the distinction; vṛttyā — by their functions; lakṣaṇa-rūpayā — representing different characteristics.

Translation: 

The internal, subtle senses are experienced as having four aspects, in the shape of mind, intelligence, ego and contaminated consciousness. Distinctions between them can be made only by different functions, since they represent different characteristics.

The four internal subtle senses as explained in Text 14 are:

1. citta - a sense of awareness or consciousness
2. ahankara- a false sense of self ,false ego
3. manah- the accepting and rejecting function known as the mind
4. buddhih- the discriminating function known as the intelligence

False ego is the cause of the material creation

From Srila Prabhupada's purport to SB 2.25.25

"The five elements, namely sky, air, fire, water and earth, are all but different qualities of the darkness of false ego. This means that the false ego in the sum total form of mahat-tattva is generated from the marginal potency of the Lord, and due to this false ego of lording it over the material creation, ingredients are generated for the false enjoyment of the living being. The living being is practically the dominating factor over the material elements as the enjoyer, though the background is the Supreme Lord. Factually, save and except the Lord, no one can be called the enjoyer, but the living entity falsely desires to become the enjoyer. This is the origin of false ego. When the bewildered living being desires this, the shadow elements are generated by the will of the Lord, and the living entities are allowed to run after them as after a phantasmagoria."

Thus:

• With the glance of Mahavishnu which comprises of the living entities, time and karma the agitation in the mahat tattva starts as we read in this post From Pradhana to Mahat Tattva - Characteristics, differences and Transformation.

• Further transformation occurs because of the presence of the false ego- As Srila Prabhupada explains in this purport that "This means that the false ego in the sum total form of mahat-tattva is generated from the marginal potency of the Lord, and due to this false ego of lording it over the material creation, ingredients are generated for the false enjoyment of the living being."

• Thus the false ego in the mahat tattva is that of the marginal potency - the jiva who has desired to enjoy separately from the Lord.
• Thus due to the agitation of the glance of Maha Vishnu false ego is produced(from UHLF -Page 352 Navakishori dd - but it has already with the living entity??) and manifests in the three modes, goodness, passion and ignorance.
• Gradually those forms of false ego transform further.
• From False Ego in the mode of ignorance(tamas- full display of material creation under the spell of darkness of ignorance.Verses 2.5.26-29)
• Sky (ether) is generated along with sense object sound
• From Sky the Air element is generated along with sense object touch
• From Air the Fire element is generated along with the sense object shape
• From Fire the Water element is generated along with the sense object taste
• From Water the Earth elements is generated along with the sense object taste
• Each element contains within it all the sense objects previously generated
• From False ego in the mode of goodness(Vaikarika- the neutral stage of creation) Verse 2.5.30:
• The mind is generated along with the 10 demigods who control the bodily movements.e.g controller of directions, air, sun-God, father of Daksha prajapati,the Asvini Kumars, the fire God,the King of heaven, the worshipable deity in heaven, the chief of the Adityas and Brahmaji, the Prajapati.All come into existence.
• Same is mentioned in verse 3.5.30:"The false ego is transformed into mind by interaction with the mode of goodness. All the demigods who control the phenomenal world are also products of the same principle, namely the interaction of false ego and the mode of goodness."
• From False Ego in the mode of passion(tejas - the initiative of creation) From 2.5.31:
• intelligence, prana(the life force)
• five knowledge acquiring senses- eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin
• five working senses - voice, legs, hands, genitals, anus
• Also mentioned in 3.5.31: "The senses are certainly products of the mode of passion in false ego, and therefore philosophical speculative knowledge and fruitive activities are predominantly products of the mode of passion."

Its interesting to note that Srimad Bhagavatam says that the false ego is the cause of this false material creation  and it also explains in the 12th canto that the death of the false ego is the Ultimate Annihilation of the material creation. See the link below for the post on this topic.

Death of the false ego - the Ultimate Annihilation

Having understood this how should we move about in this material world:

can be read here as explained by Suta goswami

Accumulation,Artificial needs take us away from Krishna

From Srila Prabhupada's purport to SB 2.5.24
Materialistic ego, or the sense of identification with matter, is grossly self-centered, devoid of clear knowledge of the existence of God. And this self-centered egoism of the materialistic living entities is the cause of their being conditioned by the other paraphernalia and continuing their bondage of material existence.

By the will of the Lord, therefore, the impersonalist, even after knowing the Brahman and Paramātmā features of the Lord, remains ignorant of His eternal personal feature as ever-existent Nārāyaṇa, transcendental to all material creation.

The cause of such gross ignorance is constant engagement by the materialistic man in the matter of artificially increasing material demands. To realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one has to purify the materialistic senses by devotional service. 

dravya sakti, kriya sakti and jnana sakti

The mode of goodness, or the brahminical culture recommended in the Vedic literatures, is helpful to such spiritual realization, and thus the jñāna-śakti stage of the conditioned soul is comparatively better than the other two stages, namely dravya-śakti and kriyā-śakti. 

 The whole material civilization is manifested by a huge accumulation of materials, or in other words, raw materials for industrial purposes, and the industrial enterprises (kriyā-śakti) are all due to gross ignorance of spiritual life.

 In order to rectify this great anomaly of materialistic civilization, based on the principles of dravya-śakti and kriyā-śakti, one has to adopt the process of devotional service of the Lord by adoption of the principles of karma-yoga, mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.27) as follows:

yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi
 yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
 tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam

“O son of Kuntī, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.”

From Srila Prabhupada's purport to SB 2.5.30

tamas is the full display of material creation under the spell of the darkness of ignorance. Manufacture of the “necessities of life” in factories and workshops, excessively prominent in the Age of Kali, or in the age of the machine, is the summit stage of the quality of darkness.

 Such manufacturing enterprises by human society are in the mode of darkness because factually there is no necessity for the commodities manufactured. Human society primarily requires food for subsistence, shelter for sleeping, defense for protection, and commodities for satisfaction of the senses.

Human civilization is meant for purifying the senses, and objects of sense satisfaction should be supplied as much as absolutely required, but not for aggravating artificial sensory needs. Food, shelter, defense and sense gratification are all needs in material existence. Otherwise, in his pure, uncontaminated state of original life, the living entity has no such needs.

The needs are therefore artificial, and in the pure state of life there are no such needs. As such, increasing the artificial needs, as is the standard of material civilization, or advancing the economic development of human society, is a sort of engagement in darkness, without knowledge. By such engagement, human energy is spoiled, because human energy is primarily meant for purifying the senses in order to engage them in satisfying the senses of the Supreme Lord
The Vedas instruct us to get out of the existence of darkness and go forward on the path of light (tamasi mā jyotir gama). The path of light is therefore to satisfy the senses of the Lord.

1.2.16 How to get affinity for hearing the Lord's message?

śuśrūṣoḥ śraddadhānasya

vāsudeva-kathā-ruciḥ

syān mahat-sevayā viprāḥ

puṇya-tīrtha-niṣevaṇāt

SB 1.2.16: O twice-born sages, by serving those devotees who are completely freed from all vice, great service is done. By such service, one gains affinity for hearing the messages of Vāsudeva.

Some important points from Srila Prabhupada's purport

1.  The servants of God come to propagate God consciousness, and intelligent people should cooperate with them in every respect.
2. By serving the servant of God, one can please God more than by directly serving the Lord. The Lord is more pleased when He sees that His servants are properly respected because such servants risk everything for the service of the Lord and so are very dear to the Lord.
3. By serving the servants of the Lord, one gradually gets the quality of such servants, and thus one becomes qualified to hear the glories of God. The eagerness to hear about God is the first qualification of a devotee eligible for entering the kingdom of God. 

HG Radha Krishna Prabhu also mentioned in his class that we not only get affinity to hear the messages of Vasudeva but we also get the strength to act on what we have heard.

From Sivarama Swami's book "Suddha Bhakti Cintamani" Chapter entitled Eligibility for Devotion One", Pg 85:

"Rendering service to liberated devotees gives neopyhtes the strength to resist their lower conditioned nature and to stick to the higher, pure ideal of pleasing the Lord. Devotees who neglcet to keep the company with superior Vaishnavas , however, are unable to control their lower nature, and their impure faith leads them away from the path of pure devotion to the path of semblance of devotion. In this regard Caitanya Mahaprabhu quotes the following verse to Sanatana Goswami:

SB 5.12.12: My dear King Rahūgaṇa, unless one has the opportunity to smear his entire body with the dust of the lotus feet of great devotees, one cannot realize the Absolute Truth. One cannot realize the Absolute Truth simply by observing celibacy [brahmacarya], strictly following the rules and regulations of householder life, leaving home as a vānaprastha, accepting sannyāsa, or undergoing severe penances in winter by keeping oneself submerged in water or surrounding oneself in summer by fire and the scorching heat of the sun. There are many other processes to understand the Absolute Truth, but the Absolute Truth is only revealed to one who has attained the mercy of a great devotee.

The message of tolerance given by Suta Goswami after Maharaj Pariksit leaves his body

Identification with the body leads to despair

SB 12.6.32: Those who desire to give up all that is not essentially real move systematically, by negative discrimination of the extraneous, to the supreme position of Lord Viṣṇu. Giving up petty materialism, they offer their love exclusively to the Absolute Truth within their hearts and embrace that highest truth in fixed meditation.

SB 12.6.33: Such devotees come to understand the supreme transcendental situation of the Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu, because they are no longer polluted by the concepts of "I" and "my," which are based on body and home.

SB 12.6.34: One should tolerate all insults and never fail to show proper respect to any person. Avoiding identification with the material body, one should not create enmity with anyone.

We just read about tolerance in the previous post Tolerate where Lord Krishna concludes the pastime of the Avanti Brahmana and mentions that one must just toleate the externals and remained fixed and safe in their spiritual position.

In the verses above we see a similar message being said by Suta Goswami. He says this after he narrates the pastime of Maharaj Pariksit leaving his body.Thus those who understand transcendental knowledge and the impermanence of the material retrain their minds very systematically and carefully giving up petty materialism and reposing their love in Lord Sri Krsna.

Once they are successful in giving up the concepts of "I" and "Mine" they can clearly understand the Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krishna. They are not attracted to matter any more because of their careful cultivation. Also they do not entangle themselves in matter and thus tolerate all types of insults because they do not identify with the material body. They are not affected by the insults at all.

Since they are situated in the spiritual conception and act on the platform of the soul they offer respect to everyone around them as they see everyone as a part of parcel of their most lovable Lord.

Practical application:

I am not this body made of flesh, pus, stool, and urine.

• I am the soul - I am not this body
• I heard Jaya Jagannath Prabhu say in Chicago that our vision of the world and of people is autobiographical - we follow the principle " atmavan Manyate jagat".
• Thus if we consider ourselves as matter we will view others also as matter , but when we understand ourselves as a soul , as a part and parcel of Krishna then we will be able to see others also as parts and parcels of Krishna.

 Thus by careful cultivation we must try to situate ourselves in our eternal identity as a spirit soul and stop identifying with our body. Srila Prabhupada in most of his lectures emphasizes this very fact the application of which is fundamental to our Krishna Consciousness.

Tolerate

As an aspiring devotee when I am faced with a provoking situation or a material disturbance - I usually react as if it were an assault to my very existence and being. I take it very personally and react accordingly to stand up for myself or if its a material situation I try my best to bring things back on track.

However as I read Srimad Bhagavatam the message of tolerance is repeatedly stressed upon as the response to a difficult situation or a difficult person by one who is a devotee of the Lord acting on the platform of the soul.The Avadhuta Brahmana and the Avanti Brahmana also teach the same thing by their example.The message of tolerance is also given by Suta Goswami after Maharaj Pariksit leaves his body.You can read the post here.
The essence is that we must tolerate all types of difficult people and situations and not use in our energy in brooding or retaliating as that will keep us in the material conception of life.Instead we must use our intelligence to remain fixed on the Lotus Feet of the Lord fixed in Service to Him and his devotees.


Lord Krishna says in the 11th Canto:

SB 11.22.54-55: The soul's material life, his experience of sense gratification, is actually false, O descendant of Daśārha, just like trees' appearance of quivering when the trees are reflected in agitated water, or like the earth's appearance of spinning due to one's spinning his eyes around, or like the world of a fantasy or dream.

SB 11.22.56: For one who is meditating on sense gratification, material life, although lacking factual existence, does not go away, just as the unpleasant experiences of a dream do not.

SB 11.22.57: Therefore, O Uddhava, do not try to enjoy sense gratification with the material senses. See how illusion based on material dualities prevents one from realizing the self.

He says that illusion based on material dualities prevents us from realizing the self. The life that we think is ours is based on illusion, its based on a false reality - everything that we aspire for in the material world is temporary. If everything is temporary then why cry over something that we did not receive, over some respect that someone did not give us, over some pain someone inflicted upon us. If we identify with the body and the mind all these will seem very hurtful. Then our mind gets engrossed in the pain and in plans about retaliting to those who have caused us pain - thus taking time away from Krishna.

However if we realize that everything that is happening to me is my own karma coming back and everything that is happening to me is destroying the plans of enjoyment of my body and senses - if I waste time brooding over it- it is time away from Krishna.If I do not understand this and stay in the material conception I will further entangle myself in the material conception of life and go deeper in the material pool. Instead let me just tolerate these dualities like how I tolerate the summer and winter months without getting disturbed and let me keep my mind focussed on serving Lord Sri Krishna who is my eternal master and serving His servants just as Lord Sri Krishna instructs Uddhava in the following verse:

SB 11.22.58-59: Even though neglected, insulted, ridiculed or envied by bad men, or even though repeatedly agitated by being beaten, tied up or deprived of one's occupation, spat upon or polluted with urine by ignorant people, one who desires the highest goal in life should in spite of all these difficulties use his intelligence to keep himself safe on the spiritual platform.

Maya can only dominate the decietful

SB 12.6.29: This is indeed the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu's illusory energy, which is unstoppable and difficult to perceive. Although the individual spirit souls are part and parcel of the Lord, through the influence of this illusory energy they are bewildered by their identification with various material bodies.

SB 12.6.30-31: But there exists a supreme reality, in which the illusory energy cannot fearlessly dominate, thinking, "I can control this person because he is deceitful." In that highest reality there are no illusory argumentative philosophies. Rather, there the true students of spiritual science constantly engage in authorized spiritual investigation. In that supreme reality there is no manifestation of the material mind, which functions in terms of alternating decision and doubt. Created material products, their subtle causes and the goals of enjoyment attained by their utilization do not exist there. Furthermore, in that supreme reality there is no conditioned spirit, covered by false ego and the three modes of nature. That reality excludes everything limited or limiting. One who is wise should therefore stop the waves of material life and enjoy within that Supreme Truth.

Death of the false ego - the Ultimate Annihilation

While reading Srila Prabhupada's translations of Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad Gita we learn about the temporary nature of the material world. There are detailed descriptions of the creation of the material world, the gross and subtle bodies of the jivas and creation of related paraphernalia. Also there are detailed descriptions of how the creation is annihilated at the end of Brahma's day and at the end of Brahma's life.
In the 12th canto we see that just before Maharaj Pariksit is about to leave his body Sukadeva Goswami explains the 4 categories of Annihilation - An entire chapter is devoted to this topic just before Maharaj Pariksit leaves his body. 

While reading this chapter I was wondering that if Sukadeva Goswami considers this topic pertinent just before Maharaj Pariksit is leaving his body- it must be very important for us in the preparation for our final test.

Sukadeva Goswami describes in detail the annihilation at the end of Brahma's day , during which all the threee planetary systems are subject to destruction. He also describes the annihilation at the end of Brahma's life during which the seven basic elements of creation are annihilated during which the energies belonging to the Supreme Person and His unmanifest material nature, merge together totally becoming pradana. He also describes continuous transformation that living entities undergoes as another type of annihilation.
These descriptions help us understand the temporary nature of the world we are in.

Following such descriptions Sukadeva Goswami says the following verse to Maharaj Pariksit:




SB 12.4.34: My dear Parīkṣit, when the illusory false ego that binds the soul has been cut off with the sword of discriminating knowledge and one has developed realization of Lord Acyuta, the Supreme Soul, this is called the ātyantika, or ultimate, annihilation of material existence.


In this verse Sukadeva Goswami describes that the death of the false ego as the ultimate annhilation of material existence.

• Since the creation is temporary and our bodies our temporary- all the things and desires we attach ourselves too are also temporary - they have no basis and contribution in our eternal relationship with the Lord.
• All the emotions we feel on the mental plane of happiness , sadness, anger, distress, melancholy owing to our attachment to matter have no meaning because the same matter will be wrapped up into pradhan at annihilation.
• All the disagreements,fear, feelings, strong emotions like envy and hatred are a total time waster because they are based on matter and matter will be merged together totall into pradana and will have no qualities.
• All the things that make me happy like gadgets, clothes, furniture my house and my body will eventually be wrapped up in the annihilation.

If this is so, then it is foolish on my part to identify myself with the false ego that attaches itself to temporary matter.Instead I need to situate myself in my real ego- my real identity of being a servant of Krishna. Thus every action of mine must be governed by this real identity -everything must be done while staying in the relationship with Krishna.I need to give up the past, give up the feelings that are on the mental plane, give up the so called feelings of pain and so called feelings of hurt.They have no basis in my relationship with Krishna. As a true servant- I must just tolerate things that happen to me thinking that it is Krishna's will - I must tolerate things that are happening to me thinking that thpose are the doings of material nature- I should not identify with what is affecting my body or  my false ego because I am not the body and I am not my mind.

It is important for me to practice this now so that I do not have to deal with the pangs of my false ego at death.Its thus important for me to understand this and apply this in my life starting today.

Therefore these instructions of Sukadeva Goswami to Maharaj Pariksit just before his passing are an important instance for us to meditate upon.We need to throw out this weight of the false ego from our existence. Only then we can go deeper in ou relationship with Krishna.

SB 11.14.20: 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, Sāńkhya philosophy, pious work, Vedic study, austerity or renunciation.

SB 11.14.21: Only by practicing unalloyed devotional service with full faith in Me can one obtain Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I am naturally dear to My devotees, who take Me as the only goal of their loving service. By engaging in such pure devotional service, even the dog-eaters can purify themselves from the contamination of their low birth.

SB 11.14.22: Neither religious activities endowed with honesty and mercy nor knowledge obtained with great penance can completely purify one's consciousness if they are bereft of loving service to Me.

The Path to unlimited happiness:Detachment, A Lesson from the Hawk

In SB 11.9 " Detachment From All that is Material" the Avadhuta Brahmin speaks at length about how one can detach oneself from all that is material so that one can endeavor towards the highest perfection of life. He begins with what he learns from the hawk.

SB 11.9.1: The saintly brahmana said: Everyone considers certain things within the material world to be most dear to him, and because of attachment to such things one eventually becomes miserable. One who understands this gives up material possessiveness and attachment and thus achieves unlimited happiness.

SB 11.9.2:Once a group of large hawks who were unable to find any prey attacked another, weaker hawk who was holding some meat. At that time, being in danger of his life, the hawk gave up his meat and experienced actual happiness. 

Purport: Incited by the modes of nature, birds become violent and kill other birds to eat them or to steal meat captured by them. Hawks, vultures and eagles are in this category. However, one should give up the envious propensity to commit violence against others and should take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, whereby one sees every living entity as equal to oneself. On this platform of actual happiness one does not envy anyone and thus sees no one as his enemy.

The Purport to the verse above is very instructive - it exhorts us to give up the envious propensity to commit violence to others and see every living entity equal to oneself. If I hate and berate the instruments of my karma - its because

• I do not have the humility to accept that everything that happened to me is my karma coming back to me .
• I fail to see the instrument of karma also as a soul who is part and parcel of Krishna
• I am envious of them being in a better and calmer position than me in spite of  them "harming" me
• I fail to see Krishna's will in whatever has happened in my life.

By continually remaining in such a consciousness I am actually committing violence to them in my mind and through my words and actions.Interestingly I am committing violence to myself also by wanting to hold on to such burning coals of my incorrect view of the situation and of them.

The hawk in the above verse could continue fighting for the meat in a losing battle which would eventually consume the hawk's life. However the hawk chose to give up its attachment towards the meat and thus experienced true happiness.

Similarly I can continue fighting a losing battle while holding onto such personally debilitating thought processes and never be able to grow as a devotee and also never receive the love, mercy and blessings of the persons who I think have "harmed" me. Instead I must learn from the hawk and give up the attachment to such a thought process. I must bring my consciousness to the point mentioned in the purport to the verse: "However, one should give up the envious propensity to commit violence against others and should take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, whereby one sees every living entity as equal to oneself. On this platform of actual happiness one does not envy anyone and thus sees no one as his enemy."

I must see that I am a servant of Krishna and my job is to serve Lord Krishna and His parts and parcels.I must accept what is happening to me as a token of the reactions I deserve. As a servant I must cultivate my relationship with Krishna through connecting with His parts and parcels. If I cannot connect with that which is KRISHNA'S how will I connect with Krishna.

The success of my devotional service depends upon the depth of my relationships with Krishna nd His devotees. Why is that? To have deep relationships based on service with devotees I will have to work on my false ego. Thus deep relationships with devotees are possible only when one is situated in the real ego- I am Krishna's servant , He is my master, they are His parts and parcels and my duty to is to serve them favorably with love.
I must respect and love the individual because they are a part of Krishna by separating the act from the person. The act was ordained by the Lord.

SB 10.81.40: Thus seeing how the unconquerable Supreme Lord is nonetheless conquered by His own servants, the Lord's dear brahmana friend felt the remaining knots of material attachment within his heart being cut by the force of his constant meditation on the Lord. In a short time he attained Lord Krsna's supreme abode, the destination of great saints.

From the purport:

Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī mentions that Sudāmā's last trace of illusion lay in the subtle pride of being a renounced brāhmaṇa. This trace was also destroyed by his contemplating the Supreme Lord's submission to His devotees.

Real Surrender by HH Radhanath Swami

Real Surrender
By H.H. Radhanath Swami Maharaj

The frustrations, the disappointments, the pains, the sufferings that come into our life is the love of God upon us, to purify our hearts, to bring us closer to the real standard of selfless service. We shouldn't react. When Krishna either does it through material nature or does it through another devotee or another living being, we should not respond by throwing thunderbolts upon Him. We should respond by bowing at the lotus feet in the presence of Krishna's mercy and by surrendering. Ultimately surrender means to surrender that ego. You can surrender all your material possessions, all your money. You can surrender your physical form to do whatever you are asked, but it is all incomplete until we surrender our ego to Krishna. And what does it mean to surrender our ego to Krishna? It means, "Krishna. You are enjoyer. I am meant for your enjoyment." We are striving sincerely to be the servant of the servant of the servant of our Guru and Sri Krishna. When Krishna sees our honest endeavor in this way, by His Grace, He frees us. And He will make so many wonderful divine arrangements to increase our sincerity, our humility, if we accept it with a grateful heart. There is no doubt that Krishna will lift us beyond this realm of Maya into the eternal realm of loving service.

The Lord's Response to Indra's prayers

SB 10.27.15:
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Indra, it was out of mercy that I stopped the sacrifice meant for you. You were greatly intoxicated by your opulence as King of heaven, and I wanted you to always remember Me.

SB 10.27.16:
A man blinded by intoxication with his power and opulence cannot see Me nearby with the rod of punishment in My hand. If I desire his real welfare, I drag him down from his materially fortunate position.


Earlier before lifting the Govardhan Hill tha Lord had expressed transcendental anger over Indra :


SB 10.25.17:
Since the demigods are endowed with the mode of goodness, the false pride of considering oneself the Lord should certainly not affect them. When I break the false prestige of those bereft of goodness, My purpose is to bring them relief.



Inspite of the purification given by the Lord and Indra's understanding of his fallen condition Indra still acts out of pride when the Lord comes to get the Parijata Flower for Satyabhama.

Oh Lord, I pray sincerely : inspite of all the mercy and chances to improve You have given to me- I remain stuck with my anarthas and I repeat the same mistakes. I cannot overcome my conditioning without your help and protection. Please help me to overcome these anarthas and develop Love for you- my Lord.