64 qualities

 
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The dealings of Lord Krsna and Bhismadeva on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra are interesting because the activities of Lord Sri Krsna appeared to be partial to Arjuna and at enmity with Bhismadeva; but factually all this was especially meant to show special favor to Bhismadeva, a great devotee of the Lord. The astounding feature of such dealings is that a devotee can please the Lord by playing the part of an enemy. The Lord, being absolute, can accept service from His pure devotee even in the garb of an enemy. The Supreme Lord cannot have any enemy, nor can a so-called enemy harm Him because He is ajita, or unconquerable. But still He takes pleasure when His pure devotee beats Him like an enemy or rebukes Him from a superior position, although no one can be superior to the Lord. These are some of the transcendental reciprocatory dealings of the devotee with the Lord. And those who have no information of pure devotional service cannot penetrate into the mystery of such dealings. Bhismadeva played the part of a valiant warrior, and he purposely pierced the body of the Lord so that to the common eyes it appeared that the Lord was wounded, but factually all this was to bewilder the nondevotees. The all-spiritual body cannot be wounded, and a devotee cannot become the enemy of the Lord. Had it been so, then Bhismadeva would not have desired to have the very same Lord as the ultimate destination of his life. Had Bhismadeva been an enemy of the Lord, He could have annihilated him without even moving. There was no need to come before Bhismadeva with blood and wounds. But He did so because the warrior devotee wanted to see the transcendental beauty of the Lord decorated with wounds created by a pure devotee. This is the way of exchanging transcendental rasas, or relations between the Lord and the servitor. By such dealings both the Lord and the devotee become glorified in their respective positions. The Lord was so angry that Arjuna checked Him when He was moving towards Bhismadeva, but in spite of Arjuna's checking, He proceeded towards Bhismadeva as a lover goes to a lover, without caring for hindrances. Apparently His determination was to kill Bhismadeva, but factually it was to please him as a great devotee of the Lord. The Lord is undoubtedly the deliverer of all conditioned souls. The impersonalists desire salvation from Him, and He always awards them according to their aspiration, but here Bhismadeva aspires to see the Lord in His personal feature. All pure devotees aspire for this.    (More...)
Besides the above-mentioned five transcendental qualities, there are five other qualities which can be seen in the Spiritual Sky, especially in the Vaikuntha planets where Narayana is the predominating deity. They are: 1. inconceivable potencies; 2. able to sustain innumerable Universes; 3. the Seed of all incarnations; 4. to give the highest perfection to enemies who are killed by Narayana; and 5. the most attractive of the self-realized persons. The above-mentioned 60 qualities are visible up to Narayana. And Krishna has four other special qualities which are: 1. able to manifest wonderful Pastimes, 2. His transcendental flute-playing; 3. eternal youth; 4. His Personal Beauty.    (More...)
The spiritual master is eternally perfect, and his self is Lord Sri Krsna's very self in the sense that the self of the spiritual master is in perfect harmony with the Supreme Self. It may here be recalled that Krsna is the Self in the hearts of all: "I am the Self, O conqueror of sleep, seated in the hearts of all creatures. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings." (Bg. 10.20) Although Sri Krsna is the Self seated in the hearts of all living entities throughout the entire creation, He exists independent of them. "In My transcendental form I pervade all this creation. All things are resting in Me, but I am not in them. Again, everything that is created does not rest on Me. Behold My mystic opulence: Although I am the maintainer of all living entities, and although I am everywhere, still My Self is the very source of creation." (Bg. 9.4-5) This is the sublime philosophy of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva: the Lord is simultaneously, inconceivably one with all living entities and yet different from them. Srila Prabhupada, in a letter to a disciple, explained this philosophy very clearly: "Just as fire and heat cannot be separate and in one sense both can be called fire, still heat is not fire. Another example, electricity and the powerhouse; although practically one and the same, still the powerhouse is not electricity. On the whole, the power and the powerful, although sometimes indistinguishable, still are different. That is the philosophy of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva propounded by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. As such, the spiritual master is the Mercy Representative of Krsna. As Mercy Representative, he is worshiped by the disciples as Krsna, but at the same time he is not identical with Krsna. Sometimes it is said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna is the Master Krsna, whereas the spiritual master is the Servant Krsna. As it is said by Svarūpa Damodara Gosvami, Radha and Krsna are one, still, in order to serve, Krsna's pleasure potency, Radharani, appears separately. Therefore the conclusion is that the spiritual master as Servant Krsna is always respected as good as Krsna, but he is never identified with Krsna, which is Mayavadi philosophy." (Srila Prabhupada, letter, 8/29/70) Although Lord Sri Krsna is the Self seated in the hearts of all, all creatures are not accepted as spiritual masters because they are not always in harmony with the Supreme Self. There are degrees of perfection involved. The bona fide spiritual master is known as nitya-siddha, and the conditioned living entities are known as nitya-baddha. "Persons who have achieved eternal, blissful life exactly on the level of Sri Krsna, and who are able to attract Lord Krsna by their transcendental loving service, are called eternally perfect. The technical name is nitya-siddha. There are two classes of living entities-namely, nitya-siddha and nitya-baddha. The distinction is that the nitya-siddhas are eternally Krsna conscious without any forgetfulness, whereas the nitya-baddhas, or eternally conditioned souls, are forgetful of their relationship with Krsna. The position of the nitya-siddhas is explained in the Padma Purana in connection with the narration of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Satyabhama Devi. The Lord tells Satyabhama: 'My dear Satyabhama Devi, I have descended to this earthly planet by the request of Lord Brahma and other demigods. Those who are born into this family of Yadu are all My eternal associates. My dear wife, you should not consider that My associates are ever separated from Me; they are My personal expansions, and almost as powerful as I am. Because of their transcendental qualities, they are very, very dear to Me, as I am very, very dear to them.' " (NOD 211-212) The spiritual master is certainly a nitya-siddha, but one who claims the spiritual master to be Lord Krsna Himself is committing a great offense. "As is stated in the Bhagavad-gita by the Lord Himself, His birth, deeds and activities are all transcendental. Similarly, the birth, deeds and activities of the associates of the Lord are also transcendental. And, as it is an offense to consider oneself to be Krsna, so it is offensive to consider oneself to be Yasoda, Nanda, or any other associate of the Lord. We should always remember that they are transcendental; they are never conditioned souls. It is described that Krsna, the enemy of Kamsa, has sixty-four transcendental qualities, and all of the ever-liberated souls who accompany the Lord have the first fifty-five of the qualities, without any doubt. Such devotees are related to the Supreme Personality in any of five transcendental mellows-namely, neutrality, servitorship, friendship, parenthood and conjugal love. These relationships with the Lord are eternal, and therefore nitya-siddha devotees do not have to strive to attain the perfectional stage by executing regulative devotional principles. They are eternally qualified to serve Krsna." (NOD, 213)    (More...)

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