Narada Muni meets the hunter
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Imported quote 15569 Such offenders cannot actually see the lotus feet of the Lord within themselves, nor are they even able to see the devotees of the Lord. The devotees of the Lord are so kind that they roam to all places to enlighten people in God consciousness. The offenders, however, lose the chance to receive the Lord's devotees, although the offenseless common man is at once influenced by the devotees' presence. In this connection there is an interesting story of a hunter and Devarsi Narada. A hunter in the forest, although a great sinner, was not an intentional offender. He was at once influenced by the presence of Narada, and he agreed to take the path of devotion, leaving aside his hearth and home. But the offenders Nalakūvara and Manigriva, even though living amongst the demigods, had to undergo the punishment of becoming trees in their next lives, although by the grace of a devotee they were later delivered by the Lord. Offenders have to wait until they receive the mercy of devotees, and then they can become eligible to see the lotus feet of the Lord within themselves. But due to their offenses and their extreme materialism, they cannot see even the devotees of the Lord. Engaged in external activities, they kill the internal vision. The Lord's devotees, however, do not mind the offenses of the foolish in their many gross and subtle bodily endeavors. The Lord's devotees continue to bestow the blessings of devotion upon all such offenders without hesitation. That is the nature of devotees.
(More...) "Birth after birth I desire to serve the lotus feet of the acaryas and live in a society of devotees." A spiritual atmosphere can be maintained only by living in a society of devotees and by serving the orders of the acaryas. The spiritual master is the best brahmana. At present, in the age of Kali, it is very difficult to render service to the brahmana-kula or the brahmana class. The difficulty, according to the Varaha Purana, is that demons, taking advantage of Kali-yuga, have taken birth in brahmana families. Raksasaḥ kalim asritya jayante brahma-yonisu (Varaha Purana). In other words, in this age there are many so-called caste brahmanas and caste Gosvamis who, taking advantage of the sastra and of the innocence of people in general, claim to be brahmanas and Vaisnavas by hereditary right. One will not derive any benefit by rendering service to such false brahmana-kulas. One must therefore take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master and his associates and should also render service to them, for such activity will greatly help the neophyte in attaining full satisfaction. This has been very clearly explained by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura in his explanation of the verse vyavasayatmika buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana (Bg. 2.41). By actually following the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga as recommended by Srila Narottama dasa Thakura, one can very quickly come to the transcendental platform of liberation, as explained in this verse (atyanta-samam). The particular use of the word anativelam ("without delay") is very significant because simply by serving brahmanas and Vaisnavas one can get liberation. There is no need to undergo severe penances and austerities. The vivid example of this is Narada Muni himself. In his previous birth, he was simply a maidservant's son, but he got the opportunity to serve exalted brahmanas and Vaisnavas, and thus in his next life he not only became liberated but became famous as the supreme spiritual master of the entire Vaisnava disciplic succession. According to the Vedic system, therefore, it is customarily recommended that after performing a ritualistic ceremony, one should feed the brahmanas.
(More...) Narada replied, "Yes, I'm sorry. I have come to you to find my own path, just to inquire from you. But I have seen that there are many boars and deer and rabbits on the path, and they are lying on the forest floor flapping before death, half-dead. Who has committed these sinful acts?"
(More...) Then Narada said, "If you are hunting all these poor animals, why don't you kill them at once? You half-kill them, and they are flapping in death-pains. This is a great sin. If you want to kill any animal, why don't you kill it completely? Why do you leave it half-killed, and allow the animal to die flapping?"
(More...) The hunter replied, "My dear Lord, my name is Mrigari, the enemy of the animals. According to the teachings of my father, I have been raised to half-kill the animals by leaving them flapping. When a half-dead animal flaps, I take great pleasure in that."
(More...) The hunter replied, "Oh, yes sir, I shall give you whatever you like. If you want some animal skins, come to my home. I have so many skins of animals, tigers, and deer. Whatever you like I shall give you."
(More...) Narada replied, "I do not want such things. But I want something else. If you kindly grant it to me, then I shall tell you. Please, henceforth from tomorrow, whenever you kill an animal, please kill it completely, and don't leave it half-dead."
(More...) The hunter replied, "Oh, my dear sir, what are you asking of me? Why are you asking this? What is the difference between half-killing and killing completely?"
(More...) Narada replied, "If you half-kill the animals, then they suffer too much pain, and if you give too much pain to other living entities, it is a great sin. When you kill an animal completely, there is much offense, but it is not so great as that accrued by half-killing an animal. In other words, pain which you give to the half-dead animals will have to be accepted by you also in some of the future births awaiting you."
(More...) Although the hunter was very sinful, yet in association of a great devotee like Narada, his mind became softened, and he was afraid of the sins. Those who are grossly sinful are not afraid at all of committing sins; but here we can see that because his purification began in the association of a great devotee like Narada, he was afraid of his sinful activities.
(More...) Narada replied, "If you actually want to follow my direction, then I can tell you the real path of being freed from these sinful reactions."
(More...) The hunter replied, "You are asking me to break my bow, but if I break it then what will be the means of my living?"
(More...) Narada then relieved the half-dead animals and, after getting free from that dreadful condition, they fled away. By seeing the miracle executed by Narada, the black hunter was struck with wonder, and after taking him to his home, he again bowed down at his feet.
(More...) Narada returned to his place, and the hunter, after returning to his home, began to execute the instructions which Narada had given him. In the meantime, the news spread among all the villages that the hunter had become a devotee, and therefore the residents of the villages came to see the new Vaishnava. It is the custom of persons following the Vedic way of life to bring some grains or some fruits whenever they go to see some saintly person. All the villagers saw that the hunter now had turned into a great devotee, and they began to bring eatables. So every day he was offered grains and fruit, so much that no less than ten to twenty people might eat there. But, according to Narada's instruction, he did not accept anything more than what he required to live on, for both himself and his wife.
(More...) When the two great sages, Narada and Parbut, came to the place of the hunter, and the hunter saw his Spiritual Master coming from the distance, he began to go to him with great respect. But while he was going to receive the great sages, there were ants on the field, and it was a hindrance to his passing. When he reached the sages, he wanted to bow down before them, but he saw there were many ants and he slowly cleared away the ants with his cloth. When Narada saw that the hunter was trying to save the lives of the ants in such a way, it reminded him of a verse from the Skanda Purana. That verse states: "Is it not wonderful for a devotee of the Lord, that he is not inclined to give any sort of pain, even to the ant?"
(More...) There is a nice verse in the Skanda Purana which says: "My dear Devarsi (Narada), you are glorious, and by your mercy even the lowest creature, such as a hunter, also became elevated to such a state of devotion, and attained transcendental attachment for Krishna."
(More...) The hunter replied, "You send so many people, and they bring so much eatables that we both cannot eat so much."
(More...) Narada replied, "That's all right. Whatever you are getting, it is all right. Now continue your devotional service in that way." And after saying that, both Narada and Parbut Muni disappeared from that place.
(More...) Prabhupada: Just we are doing so many places. So you produce your own food grains-not for making money but just for feeding yourself and the animals, cows. Keep cows, as many cows as possible, and produce, till the ground, field, and make water supply arrangement. If the investment is required, we shall do that. You have no worry about investment. We shall bring money from anywhere. But the work must be done very nicely. There must be good arrangement for water supply and for plowing and keeping the cows in order. Then you get sufficient milk, sufficient food grains and produce your own cloth. The girls and ladies, they can spine [spin] thread, and from the thread you make cloth, handlooms. So your first necessities of life, eating, and make little cottage, sleeping. And if you want sex, get yourself married, live peacefully. And when you are there, you can defend yourself. So the first necessity is how to eat and how to cover. That you have to provide. That is not difficult. You can do it. And then you become peaceful, no anxiety for your maintenance. And then cultivate this spiritual knowledge the same way. Have a temple there. Have... Go on chanting, offering prasadam. You have got your food grain. Don't be dependent on anyone else. Become self-independent. And don't be after money. Simply produce your bare necessities of life. Keep yourself fit, strong. And chant Hare Krsna, read book. Then you'll be strong. Is there any difficulty?
(More...) Prabhupada: But not that willfully do something wrong. That is punishment. There is punishment. If one unconsciously, without any knowledge, does something wrong, that is excused. But they do willfully. They know it is wrong, still they do it. That is punished. Knowingly. Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally said, asat eka stri-sahgi [Cc Madhya 22.87]. Those who are habituated to illicit sex are punishable. Asat. It is very, very bad. And still if somebody does like that, he is punished. This is going on: "All right." Here, illicit sex... The babajis, I heard, they say, "What is the wrong there? It is love." They say like that. They take it as love. "Gopis' love," they say. "Gopis used to do that, used to have illicit mixing, intermingling with Krsna. What is wrong?" They'll say. They get support from krsna-lila. Such rogues they are. Sahajiyas. There are many so-called gentlemen, they write books on krsna-lila, paint picture. "This is very nice. Krsna is advocating illicit intermingling." They take it as support of their sinful activities. I have seen personally, anyone who is a woman-hunter, he's being addressed by his friend, "Oh, you are like Krsna." They take Krsna as a man. How they will take instruction of Krsna? Avajananti mam mūḍhaḥ, param bhavam ajanantaḥ [Bg 9.11]. We are teaching people to become Krsna conscious, to become servant of Krsna, and the so-called gentlemen, enlightened gentlemen, take Krsna as a debauch, black debauch.
(More...) Please accept my blessings. I have received your letter of Sept. 11, 1970, and have noted the contents. It is nice that you are personally managing New Vrindaban now, and I am sure that everything is progressing nicely just to the standard. So for the present just continue in this way. Krishna will give you all intelligence how to do it. Regarding Mr. Ginsberg's article, yes, it may appear if it is followed by an adequate refutation. But kindly make the refutation very strong; then that will be nice. I am adding some points that you may elaborate on. 1) As you state, Krishna is identical with His name. That means that His name has the same qualities as Himself, i.e. sat, chit, ananda. No mundane vibration is eternal, otherwise why does it grow tiresome and have to be changed every other week. Nor do mundane songs produce real knowledge or bliss unending. Also, this transcendental vibration purifies one. Anyone can see practically how our students are becoming purified, but the chanters of material songs are not. 2) Ginsberg says these words are physical in a frankly physical universe. But this is not true, for actually everything is spiritual. It is only under certain conditions, viz. forgetfulness of Krishna that this internal or spiritual energy of Krishna becomes material. Therefore when we hear the name Krishna, which is identical with Krishna, we must remember, and in that way everything is purified. 3) Tennyson may have felt something when he chanted Tennyson, but does anyone else? Does Mr. Ginsberg want to chant Tennyson, Tennyson? But everyone enjoys chanting Krishna. That means there is something different about His name. He is the center of everyone and everything. 4) Krishna explains in the 7th Chapter of B.G. that there are four classes of men who approach Him. There are millions of men in distress, or searching for money, or curious, or searching for knowledge, but only a few come to Krishna, and all of them are mahatma-simply because they have come to the right place, Krishna. That is not by chance, but due to their past pious deeds. No one can approach Krishna without being purified, so this is the process. But no matter what the original motive, if one actually comes to Krishna he is mahatma. S.B. confirms it that if someone follows all the rules and regulations very nicely but doesn't come to Krishna it is useless, and similarly if someone comes to Krishna, even if he doesn't follow very nicely, he is perfect. Also, B.G. 7/19 says that the wise man after many births comes to know that Krishna is everything. So Krishna is central. So we may begin our chanting with some motive, but that is not the final stage. Love of Krishna is final, and how can we develop that unless we are chanting and thinking of Krishna? 5) Some analyst or priest or lover may widen the consciousness from this to that, but only Krishna is without limit and therefore can widen the consciousness infinitely. That is the difference. The material world has varieties of this and that, this thing more than that thing, but only Krishna is without limit, and if we desire ananda, bliss unending, we must go to Krishna. 6) Hare Krishna cannot be compared to any sexual cry because the sexual cry is a call for some partner to come satisfy the caller's desire. That means it is sense gratification. When we chant H.K. we are calling to Krishna to please let us serve You. So on the spiritual platform it is the service that is desired, but on the material it is sense gratification that is sought. The rest of the points I think you can cover nicely. Hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher,
(More...)A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Regarding your questions, your first question was should the devotee always speak the truth to everyone in all circumstances? The answer is yes, one should always speak the truth, but qualified devotee will be able to speak the truth always very palatable to everyone so that it will sound pleasing even to his enemy, that is the art of speaking truth. It is certainly so that we must speak the truth to all people, but how you say it that is another thing: satyam bruyat, priyam briya. When you become yourself little more experienced in Krishna Consciousness by preaching work and if you are sincere and serious to make progress in spiritual understanding, you need not have to worry yourself further because the truth will always be spoken by you in the proper manner. Krishna will give you that intelligence, you need not be concerned for it. Simply try to please Him always by your sincere service and chanting, that's all. Of course, for doing business with businessmen you have to lie business. Just like Krishna Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sometimes He also had to also fabricate something in emergency situations. Although He made promise not to interfere in the Battle of Kuruksetra, He was forced to break His promise just to save His pure devotee. So there is no prohibition one shall never tell lie, because for business of carrying our propaganda work sometimes it may be necessary. Krishna Consciousness means practical living, not something utopian or idealistic and vague. We simply do the needful, whatever pleases Krishna most, that's all. Gradually you will understand what it means to please Krishna and what it means to displease Krishna. That you will learn by studying our books and by yourself engaging in practical devotional service. In the material dealings there is always there is always something undesirable, but even so you cannot give up your occupation. Just like fire is very pure, still there is some smoke. You cannot avoid it. All these things can be rectified when the result is offered to Krishna. Otherwise even though you may do very honest business it has no utility whatsoever. Your question if a devotee has no appreciation for God but he has little appreciation for pure devotee, than what kind of devotee is this? If he has appreciation for pure devotee, then he must have appreciation for God. It is just like "Love me, love my dog.'' If he simply loves the dog and not the master, then what kind of love is that? I have remarked that in your country when friends met, one friend has one dog beside him, the other friend always bends down to pat the dog first, then he is very much appreciated by the dog's master and the friendly discussions can begin. It is something like that. Your next question was regarding the neophyte devotee who is unable to comprehend even the existence of God, how he shall ever become lover of God? Therefore he has to be engaged in deity worship, and gradually you will have that sense. It is obligatory for the neophyte devotees to be engaged in deity worship. Even if he has no love of God, by following the regulative principles and worshiping the deity he will awaken that dormant love, and if you have got some faith in your spiritual master, by engaging in serving your spiritual master you will also come to the point of love of God:
yasya prasadad bhagavata-prasadao yasya prasadanna-gatih kuto 'pi dhyayam stuvams tasya yasas trisandhyam vande guroh sri caranaravindam If one has appreciation for the spiritual master then he must follow the instructions of the spiritual master, and that means he is supposed to worship the deity in a certain way, like that. It is not possible to love the spiritual master without loving God. Your next question was about the free will, whether we have it or not? If one is not intelligent enough for making for making decisions, then all decisions shall be sanctioned by the spiritual master. Neophyte means no independent decisions, no free will, that means surrender. But when he is trained up then automatically he gets his freedom. Just like a small child can only eat such things which are sanctioned by his parents, not by his own discretion. Free will is that when the controller says do this, you can use your free will to do it or not to do it. You have got the power to not do:
(More...) Narada Muni, being a true spiritual master, is naturally kind and eager to see all souls go back to Godhead; therefore he mercifully agreed to accept Dhruva for instruction in how to find God. Dhruva told Narada Muni, "I want a kingdom not only greater than my father's but greater even than that of Lord Brahma, the controller of the universe." By the transcendental standards of Narada, the boy should not have taken the family insult seriously, but Narada reasoned, "Nevertheless, let him approach the Supreme Person, regardless of the reason." Narada then told Dhruva how to absorb himself in devotional service to the all-powerful Supreme Personality of Godhead.
(More...) After some days had passed, Narada was talking with his friend, the sage Parvata. Narada told him, "I have a disciple who was formerly a hunter. Let's go to see him." The two sages journeyed to the hunter's home. When Mrgari saw his spiritual master coming in the distance, he began running quickly toward him. On the way the hunter caught sight of many ants scurrying around his own feet. He wanted to bow down before Narada and Parvata, but he saw that if he did so he would crush some of the ants. So, slowly and gently, Mrgari cleared the ants away with a cloth. At last he fell down flat to honor his spiritual master.
(More...) Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/?qg=2514
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