Secondary Relationships

There are seven secondary relationships with Krsna. Hiranyakasipu, for example, was killed by an incarnation of the Lord, Nrsimhadeva, for the sake of his son. It is very difficult to understand the absolute nature of the Supreme Lord: to be killed by Him is another mellow. Hiranyakasipu is an eternal associate of Krsna, but Krsna wanted to fight. We cannot make God a stereotype-He is the most dynamic force. When Krsna wants to fight, He fights. Sometimes kings keep wrestlers and they mock fight. Similarly, when Krsna desires to fight, then He has to fight with His devotee. If Krsna desires to have a mother, then one of His devotees becomes His mother. If Krsna wants a wife, then one of the devotees becomes His wife. He is full, but at the same time He has unlimited desires. Don't think that Krsna has no desire. With that desire, He has become many. Sometimes we take pleasure in fighting. We make fighting parties; some friends form one party, and other friends form an opposite party, and they fight. That is enjoyment, not fighting. Similarly, the killing of a devotee by Krsna is also a sporting pastime. In the absolute world there is no such thing as discrimination, yet every variety exists.

The secondary as well as the primary relationships relished by Krsna and His devotees are described in The Nectar of Devotion. When the relationship between Krsna and His devotee is joking, it is called hasa-rasa. Another relationship is that of adbhuta, wonder. Hiranyakasipu was struck with wonder at the form of Nrsimhadeva, half-lion and half-man. He did not know whether the form was an animal or man or God or a demigod. This is called adbhuta, being struck with wonder. There is also another reciprocation vira, chivalry, as in the fighting between Bhisma and Arjuna. Bhisma was taking pleasure in piercing Krsna with arrows. Blood was oozing from Krsna's body, and ultimately He took a wheel and presented Himself before Bhisma: "I have taken the weapon. Just see!" The description of Bhisma's worshiping Krsna by fighting appears in the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. It is not that Krsna can be worshiped only by offering flower garlands. A devotee also has the power to love Krsna by piercing His body. Otherwise it is not complete. The impersonalists cannot enter into the kingdom of completeness. There is eternal bliss in fighting with Krsna and in seeing Krsna bloodstained. That is described in this scene from the Bhagavatam. Bhisma enjoyed seeing Krsna with His hair covered with the dust kicked up by the horses on the battlefield. Krsna was in anxiety that His devotee Arjuna would be killed. He appeared disturbed and perspiring, while at the same time Bhisma was piercing Him with arrows. That scene was remembered by Bhisma: "I want to see that Krsna." This is reciprocation. Hiranyakasipu wanted to see Krsna as an enemy, and therefore he began to torture His own son so that Krsna would come as His enemy and kill him.

Other relationships were displayed when Krsna appeared as a gigantic boar form in the sky to deliver the earth. At that time the earth planet had fallen in the mire of the nether world, and all the demigods prayed to Krsna to get it out. When features such as ghastliness, astonishment, wonder, anger and dread are displayed in different pastimes of the Lord, these are not direct relations, but are indirect. In the absolute world, however, there is no difference between the feature of wonder or the loving feature of Krsna embracing Radharani or Krsna playing with the damsels of Vraja. There is no such difference in the absolute world.

For purposes of calculation, there are a total of twelve different relationships with Krsna. Out of the twelve, five are primary, and the seven others are secondary. But there is no difference between the primary and secondary relationships. We should always remember that this is the Lord's absolute variety. This transcendental variety is always absolute, and so there is no difference. That is not to be understood on the material platform because here there is antagonism in the variety, but in the spiritual world there is no antagonism. Everything is relishable.