Çré Çayana Ekädaçé Issue no:189 10th July 2022

The Cause Of All Causes

The Atrocities of King Kamsa A Prison For Conditioned Souls
Srila Sukadeva Goswami Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura

The Cause Of All Causes The Characteristics Of Krishna’s Pastimes

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Prakata Lila and Aprakata Lila
Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura

Circulaton 32,991
 Issue no 189, Page — 2
The Atrocities of King Kamsa
Srila Sukadeva Goswami
My dear King Pariksit, despite the going out and
returning of Vasudeva the doors inside and out-
side the house returned to being locked as before.
Thereafter, the inhabitants of the house, especially
the watchmen, heard the crying of the new born
child and thus awakened from their slumber.
Hearing this, all the watchmen very quickly
approached King Kamsa, the ruler of the Bhoja
dynasty, and submitted the news of the birth of
Devaki's child. Kamsa, who had awaited this news
very anxiously, immediately took action. The evil
King Kamsa immediately got up from bed, think-
ing, “Here is Käla, the supreme time factor, which
has taken birth to kill me!” Thus overwhelmed,
Kamsa, his hair scattered, hurried to the place
where the child had been born. Helpless Devaki
piteously appealed to Kamsa: My dear brother, all
good fortune unto you. Don’t kill this girl. She will
be your daughter-in-law. Indeed, it is unbecoming
of you to kill a woman.
My dear brother, by the influence of destiny you
have already killed many babies, each of them as
bright and beautiful as fire. But kindly spare this
daughter. Give her to me as your gift. My lord,
my brother, I am destitute, being bereft of all my
children, but still, I am your younger sister, and
therefore it would be worthy of you to give me
this last child as a gift. Piteously embracing her
daughter and crying, Devaki begged Kamsa to
allow her to keep the child, but he was so cruel
that he chastised her and forcibly snatched the
child from her arms. Having rejected all family
relationship with his sister due only to his intense
selfishness, Kamsa, who was sitting on his knees,
grasped the new-born child by the legs and tried
to dash her against the stone prison wall.
The child, Yogamaya-devi, the younger sister of
Lord Visnu, slipped upward from Kamsa’s hands
and appeared in the sky as Devi, the goddess
Durga, with eight arms, completely equipped
with weapons. Goddess Durga was decorated
with flower garlands, annointed with sandalwood
pulp and dressed with excellent garments and
ornaments made of valuable jewels. Holding in
her hands a bow, a trident, arrows, a shield, a
sword, a conch shell, a disc and a club, and being
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praised by celestial beings like Apsaräs, Kinnaras,
Uragas, Siddhas, Cäraëas and Gandharvas, who
worshiped her with various presentations, she
spoke as follows. O Kamsa, you fool, what will
be the use of killing me? The Supreme Person-
ality of Godhead, who has been your enemy
from the very beginning and who will certainly
kill you, has already taken His birth somewhere
else. Therefore, do not unnecessarily kill more
children. After speaking to Kamsa in this way, the
goddess Durga, Yoga-maya, appeared in different
places, such as Varanasi, and became celebrated
by different names, such as Annapurna, Durga,
Kaali and Bhadra.
After hearing the words of the goddess Durga,
Kamsa was struck with wonder. Thus, he ap-
proached his sister Devaki and brother-in-law
Vasudeva, released them immediately from their
shackles, and very humbly spoke as follows. Alas,
my sister! Alas, my brother-in-law! I am indeed
so sinful that exactly like a man-eater [Räkñasa]
who devours his own child, I have killed so many
sons born of you. Being merciless and cruel, I have
forsaken all my relatives and friends. Therefore,
like a person who has killed a brähmaëa, I do
not know to which planet I shall go, either after
death or while breathing. Alas, not only human
beings but sometimes even providence lies. And
I am so sinful that I believed the omen of provi-
dence and killed so many of my sister’s children.
O great souls, your children have suffered their
own misfortune created by their previous ac-
tions. Therefore, please do not lament for them.
All living entities are under the control of the
Supreme, and they cannot always live together.
In this world, we can see that clay pots, jars and
other products of the earth are manifest, remain,
deteriorate and then disappear, merging again
with the earth. Similarly, the bodies of all condi-
tioned living entities are annihilated, but the living
entities, like the earth itself, are unchanging and
never annihilated [na hanyate han-yamäne çarére].
One who does not understand the constitu-
tional position of the body and the soul [ätmä]
becomes attached to the bodily concept of life.
Consequently, because of attachment to the body
and its by-products, he feels affected by union
with and separation from his family, society and
nation. As long as this continues, one continues
 nityaà bhägavata-sevayä
his material life. My dear sister Devaki, all good for-
tune unto you. Overseen and controlled by prov-
idence, everyone in this world suffers and enjoys
the results of his work. Therefore, although your
sons have unfortunately been killed by me, please
do not lament for them. In the bodily conception
of life, one remains in darkness, without self-re-
alization, thinking, “I am being killed” or “I have
killed my enemies.” As long as a foolish person
thus considers the self to be the killer or the killed,
he continues to be responsible for material obliga-
tions, and consequently he suffers the reactions of
happiness and distress. The desperate Kamsa con-
tinued to beg, “My dear sister and brother-in-law,
please be merciful to such a poor-hearted person
as me, since both of you are saintly persons. Please
excuse my atrocities.” Having said this, Kamsa fell
at the feet of Vasudeva and Devaki, his eyes full of
regretful tears. Fully believing in the words of the
goddess Durga, Kamsa showed familial affection
for Devaki and Vasudeva by immediately releasing
them from their iron shackles. When Devaki saw
her brother actually repentant while explaining
ordained events, she released all her anger. Simi-
larly, Vasudeva was also free from anger. Smiling,
he spoke to Kamsa as follows. O great personality
Kamsa, only by the influence of ignorance does
one accept the material body and bodily ego. The
philosophical truths that you have stated are cor-
rect. Persons in the bodily concept of life, lacking
self-realization, differentiate in terms of “This is
mine” and “This belongs to another.” Persons
with the vision of differentiation are imbued with
the material qualities of lamentation, jubilation,
fear, envy, greed, illusion and madness. They are
influenced by the immediate cause, which they are
busy counteracting, because they have no knowl-
edge of the remote, supreme cause, the Personality
of Godhead.
Having been thus addressed by the pure-heart-
ed Devaki and Vasudeva, who were now fully
appeased, Kamsa felt pleased, and with their
permission he entered his home. After that night
passed, Kamsa summoned his ministers and
informed them of all that had been spoken by
Yoga-maya [who had revealed that He who was
to slay Kamsa had already been born some-where
else]. After hearing their master’s statement, the
envious asuras, who were enemies of the demi-
gods and were not experienced in gentle dealings,
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Issue no 189, Page—3
advised Kamsa as follows. If this is so, O King of
the Bhoja dynasty, beginning today we shall kill
all the children born in all the villages, towns and
pasturing grounds within the past ten days or
slightly more. The demigods always fear the sound
of your bowstring. They are constantly in anxiety,
afraid of fighting with you. Therefore, what can
they achieve by their endeavours to harm you?
While being pierced by your arrows, which you
discharged on all sides, some of them, who were
injured by the multitude of arrows but who desired
to live, fled the battlefield, simply to escape your
fury. Defeated and bereft of all weapons, some of
the demigods gave up fighting and praised you
with folded hands, and some of them, appearing
before you with loosened garments and hair, said,
“O lord, we are very afraid of you.” When the
demigods are bereft of their chariots, when they
forget how to use weapons, when they are fearful
or attached to something other than fighting, or
when their bows are broken and they have thus
lost the ability to fight, Your Majesty does not kill
them. The demigods boast uselessly while away
from the battlefield. Only where there is no fighting
can they show their imagined prowess. Therefore,
we have nothing to fear from such impotent demi-
gods. As for Lord Visnu, He is in seclusion in the
core of the hearts of the yogés. As for Lord Siva, he
has gone to the forest. And as for Lord Brahma, he
is always engaged in austerities and meditation.
The other demigods, headed by Indra, are devoid
of prowess. Therefore, you have nothing to fear
from anyone. Nonetheless, because of their enmi-
ty, our opinion is that the demigods should not be
neglected. Therefore, to uproot them completely,
engage us in fighting them, for we are ready to fol-
low you. As a disease, if initially neglected, becomes
acute and impossible to cure, or as the senses, if
not controlled at first, are impossible to control
later, an enemy, if neglected in the beginning,
later becomes insurmountable. The foundation of
all the demigods is Lord Visnu, who lives and is
worshiped wherever there are religious principles,
traditional culture, the Vedas, cows, brähmaëas,
austerities, and sacrifices with proper remuner-
ation. O King, we, who are your adherents in all
respects, shall therefore kill the Vedic brähmaëas,
the persons engaged in offering sacrifices and
austerities, and the cows that supply milk, from
which clarified butter – an essential ingredient of
Bhāgavata Mahāvidyālaya
 Issue no 189, Page — 4
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sacrifice is obtained. The brähmaëas, the cows,
Vedic knowledge, austerity, truthfulness, control
of the mind and senses, faith, mercy, tolerance and
sacrifice are the different parts of the body of Lord
Visnu, and they are the paraphernalia for a godly
civilization. Lord Visnu, the Supersoul within the
core of everyone’s heart, is the ultimate enemy of
the asuras and is therefore known as asura-dviö.
He is the leader of all the demigods because all the
demigods, including Lord Siva and Lord Brahma,
exist under His protection. The great saintly per-
sons, sages and Vaiñëavas also depend upon Him.
To persecute the Vaiñëavas, therefore, is the only
way to kill Visnu.
Thus, having considered the instructions of his
bad ministers, Kamsa, who was bound by the
laws of Yamaraja and devoid of good intelligence
because he was a demon, decided to persecute
the saintly persons, and the brähmaëas, as the
only way to achieve his own good fortune. These
demons, the followers of Kamsa, were expert at
persecuting others, especially the Vaiñëavas, and
could assume any form they desired. After giving
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these demons permission to go everywhere and
persecute the saintly persons, Kamsa entered his
palace. Surcharged with passion and ignorance
and not knowing what was good or bad for them,
the asuras, for whom impending death was wait-
ing, began the persecution of the saintly persons.
My dear King, when a man persecutes great souls,
all his benedictions of longevity, beauty, fame, re-
ligion, blessings and promotion to higher planets
will be destroyed.
- Çrémad-Bhägavatam (Bhägavata Puräëa) » Canto 10: The Summum
Bonum » Chapter Four » Verses 1-46 » Translations by His Divine Grace
A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
The Cause Of All Causes
His Divine Grace
A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Krishna is the eternal cause of all causes (sar-
va-käraëa-käraëam [Bs. 5.1]). One who has no
connection with Krishna is inevitably distracted
by immediate causes and cannot restrain his vi-
 nityaà bhägavata-sevayä
sion of separation or differences. When an expert
physician treats a patient, he tries to find the origi-
nal cause of the disease and not let his attention be
diverted by the symptoms of that original cause.
Similarly, a devotee is never disturbed by reverses
in life. Tat te 'nukampäà susamékñamäëaù (SB
10.14.8). A devotee understands that when he is
in distress, this is due to his own past misdeeds,
which are now yeilding reactions - although by
the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
these are only fractional to what they should have
been. Karmäëi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhäjäm
(Bs. 5.54). When a devotee under the protection
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is to suffer
because of faults in his past deeds, by the grace
of the Lord he experiences but a little misery. Al-
though the disease of a devotee is due to mistakes
committed sometime in the past, he agrees to suffer
and tolerate such miseries, and he depends fully
on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus he
never experiences the material states of lamenta-
tion, jubilation, fear and so on. A devotee never
sees anything to be unconnected with the Supreme
Personality of Godhead as Srila Madhvacarya,
confirms by quoting from the Bhaviñya Puräëa:
bhagavad-darçanäd yasya
virodhäd darçanaà påthak
påthag-dåñöiù sa vijïeyo
na tu sad-bheda-darçanaù
- Çrémad-Bhägavatam (Bhägavata Puräëa) » Canto 10: The Summum Bonum
» Chapter Four » Verse: 28 » Purport by His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada.
A Prison For Conditioned Souls
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura
Those devotees who understand that there is
nothing material that can give us eternal happiness
are called akiïcana because they want nothing
from this world. There is no real happiness in this
world. The material world is simply a prison for
conditioned souls. We are imprisoned here be-
cause we are averse to Krishna. This is the cause of
our unlimited miseries and distresses. According
to the dictation of the mind, which is compared
to the superintendent of a prison house, we think
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Issue no 189, Page—5
our lesser miseries happiness and our bigger mis-
eries great suffering. Fools who run after material
happiness find themselves simply entangled in
Mäyä’s network.
Attached householders think, “Creating a home
and family will make us happy. We will find our-
selves some servants and will understand every-
thing we want to know through the manipulation
of our senses.” The desire to become a politician,
literateur, scholar, aristocrat, philanthropist, na-
tional leader, or pious worker is simply an attempt
to master the illusory energy. The spiritual author-
ity Prahlada Maharaja however, has warned us not
to foolishly engage our senses in external activity
or to aspire for selfish interest.
We think we have become masters in this world
because we have become attached to family life and
accepted the body as the self. We think the material
world and everything in it is for our enjoyment.
Earth, water, fire, air, ether, sun, moon, planets,
stars, animals, birds, trees, and creepers— we
imagine that all have been placed here for us to
enjoy. Along with that idea, we think everyone
and everything here has been designed to serve
us. We never think about the actual purpose of
this material world. The truth however is very
different. The entire material world is intended to
be an ingredient for the Supreme Lord’s worship.
If we are not worshiping Hari, we have no right to
take even a blade of grass from this world.
- Amåta Väëé: Nectar of Instructions of Immoratality His Di-
vine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada Com-
piled by Sripada Bhakti Mayukha Bhagavat Maharaja Adapted
and Published by Isvara dasa Translated from Bengali by Bhumipati das
The Characteristics Of Krishna’s Pastimes
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
What are the characteristics of Krishna’s pas-
times?
In His pastimes, Krishna alone is the supreme
enjoyer and the living entities are enjoyed by Him
in the eternal abode of Vrndavana. These pastimes
are blissful and unlimited. They are eternal and
uninterrupted.
- (Kalyäëa-kalpataru)
Bhāgavata Mahāvidyālaya
 Issue no 189, Page — 6
What are the considerations of Krishna’s pas-
times?
Although the quality of being self-satisfied is
eternally present in Krishna, the quality of enjoying
pastimes is also eternally present in Him. For the
Supreme Lord to possess contradictory character-
istics in perfect harmony is natural. In one aspect,
Krishna has the quality of self-satisfaction, and in
another aspect, He manifests His opposite quality
of enjoying pastimes with others. This is part of His
supernatural capacity for enjoyment.
- (Caitanya-çikñämåta Part 2. 7/7)
Who are the highest personalities in the catego-
ries of äçraya, worshiper, and viñaya, the object
of worship?
The limit of äçraya-tattva is Sri Radhika, the
personification of attachment to Sri Krishna,, and
the limit of viñaya-tattva is Çré Krishna Himself, the
personification of conjugal pastimes.
- (Caitanya-çikñämåta Part 2. 7/7)
What is the truth of Krishna’s manifest and
unmanifest pastimes?
The pastimes of Krishna are of two types: manifest
and unmanifest. The Gokula Vrndavana pastimes
which are visible to the eyes of ordinary people are
called manifest pastimes, and the pastimes that are
not able to be seen through material eyes are called
Krishna’s unmanifest pastimes. These unmanifest
pastimes are always manifest in Goloka Vrndavana,
and by the will of Krishna, they become visible to
the thoroughly spiritualised eyes.
- (Brahma-saàhitä 5/3)
What are internal meanings of these terms:
Mathura, Vasudeva, Devaki, and Kamsa?
In the pious land of Bhärata-varña is Mathura,
which is the manifestation of absolute knowledge.
There King Vasudeva, who is the personification of
pure goodness, took birth. Vasudeva appeared in
a family of devotees and married Devaki, the sup-
posed sister of Kamsa, who is the personification
of atheism. Fearing the Lord’s advent from this
couple, the wretched Kamsa of the Bhoja dynasty
arrested them and put them in the jail which fa-
cilitated their constant remembrance of Krishna.
- (Çré Kåñëa-saàhitä Chapter 4)
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What is the internal meaning of the six sons
of Devaki and the seventh son, Baladeva?
The couple Vasudeva and Devaki gradually begot
six sons, such as Yasa and Kirti, but Kamsa, who
was always antagonistic to the Lord, killed them in
their childhood. Sri Baladeva’s nature is to always
perform service to the Lord and He is the transcen-
dental reservoir of all living entities. He was their
seventh son and appeared in the womb of Devaki,
who represents a heart filled with knowledge, but
out of fear of His maternal uncle Kamsa, He was
taken to His home in Vraja.
- (Çré Kåñëa-saàhitä Chapter 4)
Have the pastimes of Krishna been created to
imitate from human behavior?
The pure activities of Krishna have been per-
ceived through the spiritual trance (samädhi) of
perfectly self-realised persons like Vyasadeva.
Krishna’s activities are not part of mundane history
like those of people who live under the clutches
of the illusory energy (mäyä), because His activi-
ties are not limited to any time or place. Thus His
activities are not at all comparable with those of
ordinary people.
- (Çré Kåñëa-saàhitä Chapter 3)
Why are all the pastimes of Krishna called
‘eternal’?
Krishna performs different pastimes in the hearts
of different devotees depending on their qualifi-
cation at a particular time. Krishna takes birth in
one devotee’s heart, He steals the gopés’ clothes
in another’s, and He performs the räsa dance in
another’s. He kills Putana in one other devotee’s
heart, He kills Kamsa in another’s, He has an
amourous exchange with Kubja in yet another’s,
and He enacts His disappearance in the heart of a
devotee who is leaving his body. The planets, like
the living entities, are innumerable. As one pastime
takes place on one planet, another pastime takes
place on another planet. In this way, each pastime
continually takes place. Therefore, all of the Lord’s
pastimes are eternal; there is no discontinuation,
because the Lord’s energies are always active.
- (Çré Kåñëa-saàhitä Chapter 7)
- Bhaktivinoda Väné Vaibhäva Published by Isvara
dasa
 nityaà bhägavata-sevayä
Prakata Lila and Aprakata Lila
Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura
Lord Krishna's three dhamas—Dvaraka, Mathu-
ra, and Vrndavana differ from each other according
to how much the Lord manifests His earthly, hu-
man pastimes (nara-lélä ) —and to what degree of
intensity rustic sweetness (mädhurya) is manifest.
Lord Krishna's nara-lélä is of two varieties: manifest
(prakata) and unmanifest (aprakata). Performing
endless pastimes with His intimate associates, Lord
Krishna reveals all the varied moods of different
human ages—balya-lélä (childhood), pauganda
(boyhood), kaisora (puberty), and vilasa (mature
amorous love). When these eternal pastimes cease
being visible in the material world they are known
as aprakata-lélä, but when these same pastimes
of the Lord and His associates are manifest in the
mundane plane they are described as prakata-lélä.
Lord Krishna travels between His different holy
abodes (dhamas) such as Mathura, Vrndavana,
and Dvaraka only in His manifest pastimes (praka-
ta-lélä). When the Lord makes journeys we can
therefore understand His activities are prakta-lélä.
Krishna's arrivals and departures from the dhamas
do not occur in His aprakata-lélä. The entire praka-
ta-lélä such as His janma-lélä (birth) and mausala-
lélä (the internecine conflict that destroyed Yadu
dynasty) are seen in the innumerable universes in
an arranged sequence. In each of these universes
exist a Vrndavana, Mathura, and Dvaraka visible
to the residents of those planets. The Lord's pas-
times may be compared to the sun: The sun is
seen during the day in a specific place and time
every year, while it yet remains invisible in other
areas. Similarly, the Supreme Lord, Krishna, while
remaining in His own abode, Vrndavana, reveals
His original form in His complete pastimes in one
particular universe, but He wishes out of His sweet
will to shroud it in other universes.
In manifest pastimes (prakata-lélä), the Lord's
boyhood pastimes, for example, are continuous
and transcendental, enacted in His original form.
But the disappearance pastimes (mausala-lélä) and
the pastime of kidnapping the captured queens
are like illusions conjured by magic. We must un-
derstand that the reason for exhibiting these two
make believe pastimes (krttim-lélä,), is to hide the
truth that His pastimes are eternal. In Krishna's
prakata-lélä some of His associates, by His own
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will, do see gem studded Vrndavana dhama in all
its sublime splendour, but others, also by His own
will, are not given that vision.
It is worth noting that some very advanced dev-
otees are able to directly view the Lord's pastimes
even after He has concluded His prakata-lélä. This
is because of their profound devotional involve-
ment, their intense spiritual eagerness, and the
divine wishes of the Lord.
In this way, it is established that of all the forms
and manifestations of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, that of Lord Sri Krishna, son of Nanda
Maharaja, is paramount, and that amongst His
many dhamas Gokula, Vrndavana, is the top-
most. Lord Krishna's superlative excellences of
prema-mädhurya (divine conjugal love), lélä-mäd-
hurya (transcendental pastimes), venu-mädhurya
(expertise in playing the flute), and çré vigra-
ha-mädhurya (matchless beauty) solely existing
in Vrndavana dhama.
- Çré Bhägavatamrta-Kana - Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura Translated
by Sarvabhavana dasa
!!!! Sri Sri Nitai Gaurchandra Jayati !!
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Quotations from the books, letters, and lectures of
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
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