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Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare,
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare,
Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare,
And now, Chapter
50 / Deliverance of Mucukunda
When Maharaja Pariksit heard this incident of Kalayavana's being burned to
ashes, he inquired about the sleeping man from Sukadeva Gosvami: "Who was
he? Why was he sleeping there? How had he achieved so much power that
instantly, by his glance, Kalayavana was burned to ashes? How did he
happen to be lying down in the cave of the hill?" Many questions were put
before Sukadeva Gosvami, and Sukadeva also answered, as follows.
"My dear King, this person was born in the very great family of King
Iksvaku, in which Lord Ramacandra was also born, and he happened to be the
son of a great king known as Mandhata. He himself was also a great soul
and was known popularly as Mucukunda. King Mucukunda was a very strict
follower of the Vedic principles of brahminical culture, and he was
truthful to his promise. He was so powerful that even demigods like Indra
and others used to ask him to please help in fighting with the demons, and
as such, he often fought against the demons to protect the demigods."
The commander-in-chief of the demigods, known as Karttikeya, was satisfied
with the fighting of King Mucukunda, but once he asked that the King,
having taken too much trouble in fighting with the demons, retire from
fighting and take rest. The commander-in-chief, Karttikeya, addressed King
Mucukunda, "My dear King, you have sacrificed everything for the sake of
the demigods. You had a very nice kingdom undisturbed by any kind of
enemy. You left that kingdom, you neglected your opulence and possessions,
and you never cared for fulfillment of your personal ambition. Due to your
long absence from your kingdom while fighting with the demons on behalf of
the demigods, your family, your children, your relatives and your
ministers have all passed away in due course of time. Time and tide wait
for no living man. Now even if you retire to your home, you will find that
no one is living there. The influence of time is very strong; all your
relatives have passed away in due course of time. Time is so strong and
powerful because it is a representation of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead; time is therefore stronger than the strongest. By the influence
of time, changes in subtle things can be effected without any difficulty.
No one can check the process of time. As an animal tamer tames animals
according to his will, so time also enters things according to its own
will. No one can supersede the arrangement made by the supreme time."
Thus addressing Mucukunda, the demigods requested him to ask for any kind
of benediction he might be pleased with, excepting the benediction of
liberation. Liberation cannot be awarded by any living entity except the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu. Therefore another name of Lord
Visnu or Krsna is Mukunda, He who can award liberation.
King Mucukunda had not slept for many, many years. He was engaged in the
duty of fighting, and therefore he was very tired. So when the demigod
offered benediction, Mucukunda simply thought of sleeping. He replied as
follows: "My dear Karttikeya, the best of the demigods, I want to sleep
now, and I want from you the following benediction. Grant me the power to
burn, by my mere glance, anyone to ashes who tries to disturb my sleeping
and awakens me untimely. Please give me this benediction." The demigod
agreed and also gave him the benediction that he would be able to take
complete rest. Then King Mucukunda entered the cave of the mountain.
On the strength of the benediction of Karttikeya, Kalayavana was burnt into
ashes simply by Mucukunda's glancing at him. When the incident was over,
Krsna came before King Mucukunda. Krsna had actually entered the cave to
deliver King Mucukunda from his austerity, but He did not first appear
before him. He arranged that first Kalayavana should come before him. That
is the way of the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; He
does one thing in such a way that many other purposes are served. He want
ed to deliver King Mucukunda, who was sleeping in the cave, and at the same
time He wanted to kill Kalayavana, who had attacked Mathura City. By this
action He served all purposes.
When Lord Krsna appeared before Mucukunda, the King saw Him dressed in a
yellow garment, His chest marked with the symbol of Srivatsa, and the
Kaustubha-mani hanging around His neck. Krsna appeared before him with four
hands, as Visnu-murti, with a garland called vaijayanti hanging from His
neck down to His knees. He was looking very lustrous, His face was very
beautifully smiling, and He had nice jeweled earrings in both His ears.
Krsna appeared more beautiful than a human can conceive. Not only did He
appear in this feature, but He glanced over Mucukunda with great splendor,
attracting the King's mind. Although He was the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, the oldest of all, He looked like a fresh young boy, and His
movement was just like that of a free deer. He appeared extremely
powerful; His excellence in power is so great that every human being
should be afraid of Him.
When King Mucukunda saw Krsna's magnificent features, he wondered about His
identity, and with great humility he began to inquire from the Lord, "My
dear Lord, may I inquire how it is that You happened to be in the cave of
this mountain? Who are You? I can see that Your feet are just like soft
lotus flowers. How could You walk in this forest full of thorns and
hedges? I am simply surprised to see this! Are You not, therefore, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the most powerful amongst the
powerful? Are You not the original source of all illumination and fire?
Can I consider You one of the great demigods, like the sun, the moon, or
Indra, King of heaven? Or are You the predominating deity of any other
planet?"
Mucukunda knew well that every higher planetary system has a predominating
deity. He was not ignorant like modern men who consider that this earthly
planet is full of living entities and all others are vacant. The inquiry
from Mucukunda about Krsna's being the predominating deity of a planet
unknown to him is quite appropriate. Because he was a pure devotee of the
Lord, King Mucukunda could immediately understand that Lord Krsna, who had
appeared before him in such an opulent feature, could not be one of the
predominating deities in the material planets. He must be the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Krsna, who has His many Visnu forms. He therefore
took Him to be Purusottama, Lord Visnu. He could see also that the dense
darkness within the mountain cave had already been dissipated due to the
Lord's presence; therefore He could not be other than the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. He knew very well that wherever the Lord is
personally present by His transcendental name, quality, form, etc., there
cannot be any darkness of ignorance. He is like a lamp placed in the
darkness; He immediately illuminates a dark place.
King Mucukunda became very much anxious to know about the identity of Lord
Krsna, and therefore he said, "O best of human beings, if You think that I
am fit to know about Your identity, then kindly tell me who You are. What
is Your parentage? What is Your occupational duty, and what is Your family
tradition?" King Mucukunda thought it wise, however, to identify himself
to the Lord; otherwise he had no right to ask the Lord's identity.
Etiquette is such that a person of less importance cannot ask the identity
of a person of higher importance without first disclosing his own
identity. King Mucukunda therefore informed Lord Krsna, "My dear Lord, I
must inform You of my identitification. I belong to the most celebrated
dynasty of King Iksvaku, but personally I am not as great as my
forefather. My name is Mucukunda. My father's name was Mandhata, and my
grandfather's name was Yuvanasva, the great king. I was very much fatigued
due to not resting for many thousands of years, and because of this all my
bodily limbs were flattened and almost incapable of acting. In order to
revive my energy, I was taking rest in this solitary cave, but I have been
awakened by some unknown man who has forced me to wake up although I was
not willing to do so. For such an offensive act, this person has been
burnt into ashes simply by my glancing over him. Fortunately, now I can
see You in Your grand and beautiful features. I think, therefore, that You
are the cause of killing my enemy. My dear Lord, I must admit that due to
the effulgence of Your body, unbearable to my eyes, I cannot see You
properly. I can fully realize that by the influence of Your effulgence my
powerful potency has been diminished. I can understand that You are quite
fit for being worshiped by all living entities."
Seeing King Mucukunda so anxious to know about His identity, Lord Krsna
began to answer smilingly, as follows: "My dear King, it is practically
impossible to tell about My birth, appearance, disappearance and
activities. Perhaps you know that My incarnation Anantadeva has unlimited
mouths, and for an unlimited time He has been trying to narrate fully
about My name, fame, qualities, activities, appearance, disappearance and
incarnation, but still He has not been able to finish. Therefore, it is
not possible to know exactly how many names and forms I possess. It may be
possible for a material scientist to estimate the number of atomic
particles which make up this earthly planet, but the scientist cannot
enumerate My unlimited names, forms and activities. There are many great
sages and saintly persons who are trying to make a list of My different
forms and activities, yet they have failed to make a complete list. But
since you are so anxious to know about Me, I may inform you that presently
I have appeared on this planet just to annihilate the demoniac principles
of the people in general and to reestablish the religious principles
enjoined in the Vedas. I have been invited for this purpose by Brahma, the
superintending deity of this universe, and thus I have now appeared in the
dynasty of the Yadus as one of their family members. I have specifically
taken My birth as the son of Vasudeva in the Yadu dynasty, and people
therefore know Me as Vasudeva, the son of Vasudeva. You may also know that
I have killed Kamsa, who was in a previous life was known as Kalanemi, as
well as Pralambasura and many other demons. They have acted as My enemies
and have been killed by Me. The demon who was present before you also
acted as My enemy, and you have very kindly burned him into ashes by
glancing over him. My dear King Mucukunda, you are My great devotee, and
just to show you My causeless mercy, I have appeared in this form. I am
very affectionately inclined toward My devotees, and in your previous
life, before your present condition, you acted as My great devotee and
prayed for My causeless mercy. I have, therefore, come to see you to
fulfill your desire. Now you can see Me to your heart's content. My dear
King, now you can ask from Me any benediction that you wish, and I am
prepared to fulfill your desire. It is My eternal principle that anyone
who comes under My shelter must have all his desires fulfilled by My
grace."
When Lord Krsna ordered King Mucukunda to ask a benediction from Him, the
King became very joyful, and he immediately remembered the prediction of
Gargamuni, who had foretold long before that in the twenty-eighth
millennium of Vaivasvata Manu, Lord Krsna would appear on this planet. As
soon as he remembered this prediction, he began to understand that the
Supreme Person, Narayana, was present before Him as Lord Krsna. He
immediately fell down at His lotus feet and began to pray as follows.
"My dear Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, I can understand that all
living entities on this planet are illusioned by Your external energy and
are enamored of the illusory satisfaction of sense gratification. Being
fully engaged in illusory activities, they are reluctant to worship Your
lotus feet, and because they are unaware of the benefits of surrendering
unto Your lotus feet they are subjected to various miserable conditions of
material existence. They are foolishly attached to so-called society,
friendship and love, which simply produce different kinds of miserable
conditions. Illusioned by Your external energy, everyone, both man and
woman, is attached to this material existence, and all are engaged in
cheating one another in a great society of the cheaters and the cheated.
These foolish persons do not know how fortunate they are to have obtained
this human form of life, and they are reluctant to worship Your lotus
feet. By the influence of Your external energy, they are simply attached
to the glare of material activities. They are attached to so-called
society, friendship and love like dumb animals that have fallen into a
dark well." The example of a dark well is given because in the fields
there are many wells, unused for years and covered over by grass, and the
poor animals, without knowing of them, fall into them, and unless they are
rescued, they die. Being captivated by a few blades of grass, the animals
fall into a dark well and meet death. Similarly, foolish persons, without
knowing the importance of the human form of life, spoil it simply for
sense gratification and die unnecessarily, without any useful purpose.
"My dear Lord, I am not an exception to this universal law of material
nature. I am also one of those foolish persons who has wasted his time for
nothing. And my position is especially difficult. On account of my being
situated in the royal order, I was more puffed up than ordinary persons.
An ordinary man thinks of becoming the proprietor of his body or of his
family, but I began to think in that way on a larger scale. I wanted to be
the master of the whole world, and as I became puffed up with ideas of se
nse gratification, my bodily concept of life became stronger and stronger.
My attachment for home, wife and children, for money and for supremacy
over the world, became more and more acute; in fact, it was limitless. So
I remained always attached to thoughts of my material living conditions.
"Therefore, my dear Lord, I wasted so much of my valuable lifetime without
any benefit. My misconception of life having been intensified, I began to
think of this material body, which is just a bag of flesh and bones, as
the all in all, and in my vanity I was like a dog who believes that he has
become the king of human society. In this misconception of bodily life, I
began to travel all over the world, accompanied by my military strength --
soldiers, charioteers, elephants and horses. Assisted by many commanders
and puffed up by power, I could not trace out Your Lordship, who is always
sitting within my heart as the most intimate friend. I did not care for
You, and this was the fault of my so-called exalted material condition. I
think that, like me, all living creatures are careless about spiritual
realization and are always full of anxieties, thinking, 'What is to be
done?' 'What is next?' But because we are strongly bound by material
desires, we continue to remain in craziness.
"Yet in spite of our being so absorbed in material thought, inevitable
time, which is only a form of Yourself, is always careful about its duty,
and as soon as the allotted time is over, Your Lordship immediately ends
all the activities of our material dreams. As the time factor, You end all
our activities, as the hungry black snake swiftly swallows up a small rat
without any leniency. Due to the action of cruel time, the royal body
which was always decorated with gold ornaments during life and which moved
on a chariot drawn by beautiful horses or on the back of an elephant
nicely decorated with golden ornaments, and which was advertised as the
king of human society -- that same royal body decomposes under the
influence of inevitable time and becomes fit for being eaten by worms and
insects or being turned into ashes or the stool of an animal. This
beautiful body may be nice while in the living condition, but after death
even the body of a king is eaten by an animal and therefore turns into
stool or is cremated in the crematorium and turned into ashes or is put
into an earthly grave where different kinds of worms and insects are
produced out of it.
"My dear Lord, not only do we become under the full control of this
inevitable time after death, but also while living, in a different way.
For example, I may be a powerful king, and yet when I come home after
conquering over the world I become subjected to many material conditions.
It may be that when I come back after being victorious all subordinate
kings come and offer their respects, but as soon as I enter into the inner
section of my palace, I myself become an instrument in the hands of the
queens, and for sense gratification I have to fall down at the feet of
women. The material way of life is so complicated that before taking the
enjoyment of material life one has to work so hard that there is scarcely
an opportunity for enjoying. And to attain the youthful condition with all
material facilities one has to undergo severe austerities and penances and
become elevated to the heavenly planets. If one gets the opportunity of
taking birth in a very rich or royal family, even then in that condition
he is always anxious to maintain the status quo and prepare for the next
life by performing various kinds of sacrifices and by distributing
charity. Even in the royal condition of life one is not only full of
anxieties because of political administration, but he is also in anxiety
over being elevated to heavenly planets.
"It is therefore very difficult to get out of the material entanglement,
but somehow or other if one is favored by You, by Your mercy only he is
given the opportunity to associate with a pure devotee. That is the
beginning point of liberation from the entanglement of material
conditional life. My dear Lord, only by the association of pure devotees
is one entrapped by Your Lordship, who is the controller of both the
material and spiritual existences. You are the supreme goal of all pure
devotees, and by association with pure devotees one can develop his
dormant love for You. Therefore, development of Krsna consciousness in the
association of pure devotees is the cause of liberation from this material
entanglement.
"My dear Lord, You are so merciful that in spite of my being reluctant to
associate with Your great devotees You have shown Your extreme mercy upon
me as a result of my slight contact with a pure devotee like Gargamuni. By
Your causeless mercy only have I lost all my material opulences, my
kingdom and my family. I do not think that I could have gotten rid of all
these entanglements without Your causeless mercy. Kings and emperors
accept the life of austerity to forget the royal condition of life, but by
Your special causeless mercy I have already been bereft of the royal
condition. Other kings exert themselves to get out of the attachment of
kingdom and family by acceptance of the hardships of renunciation, but by
Your mercy I do not need to become a mendicant or to practice
renunciation.
"My dear Lord, I therefore pray that I may simply be engaged in rendering
transcendental loving service unto Your lotus feet, which is the ambition
of the pure devotees who are freed from all kinds of material
contamination. You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and You can
offer me anything I want, including liberation. But who is such a foolish
person that after pleasing You he would ask from You something which might
be the cause of entanglement in this material world? I do not think any
sane man would ask such a benediction from You. I therefore surrender unto
You because You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, You are the
Supersoul living in everyone's heart, and You are the impersonal Brahman
effulgence. Moreover, You are also this material world, because this
material world is only the manifestation of Your external energy.
Therefore, from any angle of vision, You are the supreme shelter for
everyone. Everyone, either in the material plane or in the spiritual
plane, must take shelter under Your lotus feet. I therefore submit unto
You, my Lord. For many, many births I have been suffering from the
threefold miseries of this material existence, and I am now tired of it. I
have simply been impelled by my senses, and I was never satisfied. I
therefore take shelter of Your lotus feet, which are the source of all
peaceful conditions of life and which can eradicate all kinds of
lamentation caused by material contamination. My dear Lord, You are the
Supersoul of everyone, and You can understand everything. Now I am free
from all contamination of material desire. I do not wish to enjoy this
material world, nor do I wish to take advantage of merging into Your
spiritual effulgence, nor do I wish to meditate upon Your localized aspect
of Paramatma, for I know that simply by taking shelter of You, I shall
become completely peaceful and undisturbed."
On hearing this statement of King Mucukunda, Lord Krsna replied, "My dear
King, I am very much pleased with your statement. You have been the king
of all the lands on this planet, but I am surprised to find that your mind
is now freed from all material contamination. You are now fit to execute
devotional service. I am most pleased to see that although I offered you
the opportunity of asking from Me any kind of benediction, you did not
take advantage of asking for material benefit. I can understand that your
mind is now fixed in Me, and it is not disturbed by any material fault."
"The material qualities are three, namely goodness, passion and ignorance.
When one is placed in the mixed material qualities of passion and
ignorance, he is impelled by various kinds of dirtiness and *** desires
to try to find comfort in this material world. When he is situated in the
material quality of goodness, he tries to purify himself by performing
various kinds of penances and austerities. When one reaches the platform
of a real brahmana, he aspires to merge into the existence of the Lord,
but when one desires simply to render service unto the lotus feet of the
Lord, that is transcendental to all these three qualities. The pure Krsna
conscious person is therefore always free from all material qualities.
"My dear King, I offered to give you any kind of benediction, just to test
how much you have advanced in devotional service. Now I can see that you
are on the platform of the pure devotees because your mind is not
disturbed by any kind of greedy or *** desires of this material world.
The yogis who are trying to elevate themselves by controlling the senses
and who meditate upon Me by practicing the breathing exercises of
pranayama are not so thoroughly freed from material desires. It has been
seen in several cases that as soon as there is allurement, such yogis
again come down to the material platform."
The vivid example verifying this statement is Visvamitra Muni. Visvamitra
Muni was a great yogi who practiced pranayama, a breathing exercise, but
still when he was visited by Menaka, a society woman of the heavenly
planet, he lost all control and begot in her a daughter named Sakuntala.
But the pure devotee Haridasa Thakur was never disturbed, even when all
such allurements were offered by the prostitutes.
"My dear King," Lord Krsna continued, "I therefore give you the special
benediction that you will always think of Me. Thus you will be able to
traverse this material world freely, without being contaminated by the
qualities." This statement of the Lord confirms that a person in true
Krsna consciousness, engaged in the transcendental loving service of the
Lord under the direction of the spiritual master, is never subjected to
the contamination of material qualities.
"My dear King," the Lord said, "because you are a ksatriya, you have
committed the offense of slaughtering animals, both in hunting and in
political engagements. To become purified, just engage yourself in
bhakti-yoga practice and always keep your mind absorbed in Me. Very soon
you will be freed from all reactions to such sordid activities." In this
statement it appears that although the ksatriyas are allowed to kill
animals in the hunting process, they are not freed from the contamination
of other sinful reactions. Therefore it does not matter whether one is a
ksatriya, vaisya, or brahmana; everyone is recommended to take sannyasa at
the end of life, to engage himself completely in the service of the Lord
and thus become freed from all sinful reactions of his past life.
The Lord then assured King Mucukunda, "In your next life you will take your
birth as a first-class Vaisnava, the best of brahmanas, and in that life
your only business will be to engage yourself in My transcendental
service." The Vaisnava is the first-class brahmana, because one who has
not acquired the qualification of a bona fide brahmana cannot come to the
platform of a Vaisnava. When one comes to the platform of a Vaisnava, he
is completely engaged in welfare activities for all living entities. The
highest welfare activity for living entities is the preaching of Krsna
consciousness. It is stated herein that those who are specifically favored
by the Lord can become absolutely Krsna conscious and be engaged in the
preaching work of the Vaisnava philosophy.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Fiftieth Chapter of Krsna,
"Deliverance of Mucukunda."