The Beginning of Sreemad Bhagwatam

(His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj)

 

04 Feb: To take complete shelter of Krishna is called Sharanagati. It is related in the Mahabharata, that when Duhshasana wanted to denude Draupadi in front of the kings and others such as Drona and Bhima, Draupadi cried out Krishna’s name, calling Him to rescue her. Krishna did save her, but not immediately. Because He came to the rescue a little late, Draupadi complained to Him. She said, “Thank You very much for saving me, but You could surely have come a little earlier. Why did You wait so long? What is the reason You delayed?”

 

Krishna replied, “ You called out My name, I admit. But those words were not enough. You did not take shelter of Me. At first you took shelter of Bhima and Arjuna thinking that they would come and kill Duhshasana and protect you. Why should I come if you think that Bhima and Arjuna can protect you? You uttered My name, but you did not take My shelter. You took shelter of Bhima and Arjuna.”

 

We cannot deceive Bhagwan . It is not possible. He is residing within us and sees everything.

 

Krishna: “Is it not true that you took shelter of Bhima and Arjuna?”

Draupadi: “Yes.”

Krishna: “Then why should I have come?”

Draupadi: “Well, You should have come after that.”

 

Krishna: “After that you took shelter of Drona, the teacher of the Kauravas and Pandavas. If Drona had intervened, no one would have had power to stop him. So why should I come if Drona could come and rescue you. Am I not correct?”

 

Draupadi: “Yes, You are correct.”

 

Krishna: “After that you took shelter of grandfather Bhishma, the formidable warrior, and most respected member of all the court. If he had intervened, no one could have done anything… You took shelter of him. Why should I come if Bhishma could rescue you? You did not take shelter of Me. Actually, you were crying, ‘Krishna, Krishna,’ but you had not taken shelter of me, but of those whom you could see before you. Why then should I have come? I thought, “Let them protect you.”

 

“After that, you took shelter of Dhritrashtra, and after that, all the other kings. After all that you tried to rescue yourself by holding tightly onto your cloth- with one hand up you were trying to hold onto your cloth. But I do not appear where sharanagati is only partial. I do not descend under such circumstances. When, you raised both your hands and called to Me, taking absolute shelter of Me, then I came immediately.”

 

Unless we take absolute shelter, we cannot have any kind of remedy of our miseries. As long as we do not submit to the Supreme Lord Krishna sincerely, completely, we shall have to suffer the distress of this world. We are trying to earn and maintain our worldly relations so that we might have happiness. Yet we can see the consequences of our attachment to non-eternal things – severe miseries. Even so, due to our ignorance, our misconception of self, we keep on trying for this ephemeral happiness. We have lost our money and we have lost our near and dear ones, but again we keep trying to get those things back again. If no human being is available, we acquire dog, a cat, a parrot or whatever, and become attached to that. Again and again we try for the non-eternal because the root cause of our affliction is not eliminated. This root cause is our misconception of self and the ignorance of thinking that by getting material benefits we will be truly benefited. As long as we do not surrender to the Lord, we will never be able to attain the ultimate goal of life.

 

The Kathopanishad (2.23) mentions:

 

nayam atma pravacanena labhyo

na medhaya na bahuna srutena

yam evaisa vrinute tea labhyas

tasyaisa atma vivrinute tanum svam

 

“God cannot be attained and realized by delivering lectures, by intellect, or by great erudition. The Supreme Lord will reveal His own eternal form only to a surrendered soul.”

 

And at the end of Bhagwad Geeta (18.65-66) Krishna has given His highest instruction to all conditioned souls of the world for their eternal welfare:

 

man-mana bhava mad-bhakto

mad-yaji mam namaskuru

mam evaisyasi satyam te

pratijane priyo ’si me

 

“Devote your mind to Me. If it is difficult to devote your mind to Me, serve Me; engage your senses in My service. If this is also not possible, worship Me. If even that is not possible, take absolute shelter of me. I promise you that you will surely get Me.”

 

sarva-dharman parityajya

mam ekam saranam vraja

aham tvam sarva-papebhyo

mokshayishyami ma shucah

 

“Relinquish all My previous spiritual instructions about dharma (the relative social – religious duties enjoined by the Vedas) and take absolute shelter of Me.”

 

The Bhagwad Geeta ends with Sharanagati, and that is where the Sreemad Bhagwatam begins.

 

Without Sharanagati, we cannot enter into the spiritual realm. When one becomes a person who is of Krishna and does only things for the satisfaction of Krishna, then that is called bhakti.