Шримад-Бхагаватам 10.25.18
Bhakti Vijnana Goswami · Bombay · 2013
Chapters
Recitation of Srimad-Bhagavatam tenth canto
Om namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Om namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Today we are reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 25, "Krishna Lifts Govardhana Hill," Text 18. Tasmāt matsaraṇaṁ goṣṭhaṁ mad-nāthaṁ mat-parigraham
gopāye sva-ātma-yogena so 'yaṁ me vrata āhitaḥ. The community. The cowherd community. Madnatam. Who have me as their master. Who have me as their master. Matparigram. Matparigram. Own family. Go paye, I shall protect.
Svaatmayojena. By my personal mystic power. My personal mystic power. Saha Ayam. This. This. Meh. By me. By me. Vrata. Vrata. Vau. Wow. Wow. Ahitaha. Ahitaha. Has been taken. That's the beauty.
Translation: I must, therefore, protect the cowherd community by my transcendental potency, for I am their shelter, and I am their master. And indeed, they are my own family.
After all, I have taken a vow to protect my devotees. Purport.
The word matcharanam indicates not only that lord krishna was the sole shelter for the vrajajana, the people of Vrindavan, but also that lord krishna had established his home among them.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura quotes from the Amarakośa dictionary: Saranam griha raksitraha. The word sharanam can represent either home or protector.
The residence of Vrindavana adopted Krishna as their beloved child, friend, lover, and life itself. And the Lord reciprocated their feelings.
Thus, Lord Krishna lived among these fortunate people moving in their houses and fields. Naturally he would protect such intimate devotees from all types of danger. Shila Prabhuvadeki. Ja.
Tasmanmatcharanam goshtam, mannathammatparigraham, go paye svatmayogina. Soyamme Vrata Ahitaha. I must therefore protect the cowhead community by my transcendental potency, for I am their shelter, I am their master, and I am indeed, and indeed, they are my own family. After all, I have taken a vow to protect my devotees.
Om ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā cakṣur unmīlitam yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ. It's indeed a great honor for me to speak in front of all of you this morning, especially on the day of the beginning of Kartik, when Krishna performed his most amazing and wonderful pastimes, and especially on the day of Rasa Purnima, when Krishna started his Rasa dance.
Sukadeva Gosvami reveals Krishna's inner thoughts
And the verse today from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is very appropriate for us to understand the heart of Krishna. And this particular verse, Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains what Krishna was thinking.
Not often in the Vedic literature we can hear what somebody is thinking.
Usually, the external events are being described, but in this particular occasion, Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains what is going on in the mind and in the heart of Krishna.
And in this verse, Krishna is saying that this is my wrath, this is my vow, that I have to protect those who have surrendered fully unto me.
The whole tenth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is describing the sweet relationship between Krishna and his devotees. And therefore, this is the most important adhyāya, the book of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
The tenth skandha of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the most dear to the hearts of the devotees because it can give the love for the Supreme Lord.
When we see this reciprocate feeling between the Lord and his devotees, we will be able to understand what's going on in the heart of Krishna and we will be able to develop some sort of, at least a shadow of relationship with Krishna.
I wanted in the beginning to say a few words of how important it is to hear the tenth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, quoting the great ācārya of Puṣṭi-mārga, Vallabhācārya.
It's very interesting because he is the proponent of so-called krama theory explaining the structure of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
And he says that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is describing sarga, visarga, and so on and so forth, the 10 topics according to the skandhas or cantos of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. There are 10 topics of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Atrāsarga visargaś ca sthānaṁ poṣaṇam ūtayaḥ. Manvantareśānukathā nirodho muktir āśrayaḥ. And he says that the two first cantos of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the introduction to the whole book.
And starting from the third canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, all these topics are described in a chronological, so to speak, order.
And starting from the third kanta of Shimat Bhagavatam, all these topics are described in a chronological, so to speak, order. Starting with Sarga, the first creation. Visarga, the secondary creation, fourth canto.
And sthānaṁ, poṣaṇam ūtayaḥ, so on and so forth. So, in this explanation, the tenth canto is describing nirodha. And Niroda literally means destruction.
So, one may wonder why, according to Vallabhācārya and how he explains this, why tenth canto is describing destruction. And, of course, in the Tenth Canto there is a lot of destruction going on.
There is no shortage of destruction. Krishna is destroying, you know, all these demonic kings and fighting with them. But at the same time, we know this is not the essence of the Canto.
You cannot say, you cannot argue with a real force that the tenth canto is mostly describing the destruction.
The meaning of nirodha in yoga
So, Vallabhācārya explains it in a very beautiful way which may give us the idea of what we should do in order to obtain love for Krishna.
He takes nirodha, and this word nirodha definitely resonates with those practitioners who know what is yoga and who practice yoga or study yoga-śāstra, that this is the definition of Patañjali Muni. What is yoga?
Yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ. Yoga is basically what Patañjali Muni say in the second sutra of Yoga Sutra is that yoga is the destruction of the mind. Citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ. Destruction of the wandering propensity of the mind.
What is yoga?
Yoga is the practice which helps us to concentrate completely on a particular object and in this way attain mystic experience of self realization. The main obstacle for us to obtain the self realization is the wanderings of the mind. The mind is, you know, all over the place. It's just it's everywhere and nowhere in particular.
It's just all over the universe here and there and all this vrittis, you know, I'm constantly in anxiety, this and that.
And Patanjali Muni says that if you obtain this state of mind when the mind is not wandering anymore, when the mind is completely totally stable, then you achieve the goal of yoga. Yoga is citta vritti niroda.
This is yoga. Nothing else is yoga. Yoga is the destruction of this propensity of the mind. So, and we know and not only we know, even Krishna knows and Krishna says in Bhagavad-gītā that it's a very difficult process.
So much so that Arjuna says that forget it. I'm not going to do this. My mind is too—this just cannot stay, and this is, you know, this is what Arjuna says. What to speak about us?
Arjuna was able to hit the target of this little, you know, eye of the fish. And for that, with the rotating chakra wheel, you know, you need to have little stability in your mind to be able to do this.
You have to be really concentrated on the eye of the fish. So, but Arjuna says, I cannot do this, my dear Krishna. What to speak about us, the poor and fallen people of Kali Yug?
So many distractions like, see Radhanat Maharaj says the weapons of mass destruction. You know, the Kali Yuga is that everyone is attacked by these weapons of mass destruction. We are distracted in so many different ways.
So, what is the hope for us to obtain this goal of yoga? What is the hope for us to really practice yoga which is citta vritti niroda? And Vallabhācārya says, yes, there is only one hope for us.
It's to read and hear the tenth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Because this is niroda.
The tenth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is real nirodha because it helps us, if we really go deep into the subject matter of the tenth canto, to be absorbed in Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa only and nobody else.
Niroda in this particular case means that this wandering propensity of the mind becomes stopped. And this is described by Nārada Muni in his Nārada-bhakti-sūtra.
Where he very interestingly describes what happens with those people who hear about Kṛṣṇa. And that's important for us because this is the progression within our mind.
You know, the problem with us is that we have desires in the heart. And these desires in the heart or in the mind agitate the mind constantly. Really speaking, we don't need to be agitated by the external forces.
We're agitated, you know, from inside. Even if there is no external causes for agitation, we will be agitated because so many desires are laying dormant in our heart. So, what is the hope for us to be engaged in yoga?
The mind will be constantly agitated. So, in Nārada-bhakti-sūtra, Nārada Muni explains that what happens with somebody who hears about Kṛṣṇa. He says, first one becomes mad. First one becomes bewildered.
First one becomes really, you know, completely drunkard. He becomes happy in the heart. And then he says, stambambhavati.
Stambambhavati basically means Niroda. The next stage, you become absorbed. You become really absorbed. You want to know what's happening next. What is next?
And then he says, Ātmārāma. Then the next stage is that Ātmārāma bhavati, you are not dependent anymore from the external sources of enjoyment. You become completely, you become completely satisfied within yourself.
In other words, all the desires which were troubling your heart before that will be gone. Because of the stages, matir bhavati, stambhambhavati and ātmārāma bhavati.
And exactly the same kind of explanation is given by Vallabhācārya where he explains the design of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
He says that in the Tenth Canto you get the absorption and because of the absorption in topics of Krishna, the pastimes of Krishna, his dealings with the devotees.
You will get mukti because after niroda the mukti follows and mukti means that you're free from the sinful desires within your heart. And only after mukti when you're completely free from the sinful desires within your heart, from the desires which trouble your mind.
Only after that āśraya comes. Because āśraya means you completely have taken shelter of the Lord and you're completely, completely fearless. Means being abhayaṁ.
So, what explains is that if you listen the Tenth Canto, then only you will be able to obtain the shelter of the Lord and feel the protection of the Lord. Which comes later when all the desires are completely washed away from your heart.
In the beginning when you listen the pastimes of the Lord, still the sinful desires are still dormant and not really dormant. It would be nice if they were dormant. The sinful desires are quite wide awake in our hearts.
So, we listen the pastimes of Krishna.
But because of the power of this listening, the power of the hearing of these pastimes, if we really get absorbed in this, if we really try to do little endeavor to get absorbed in these pastimes, where you become amazed? And the wandering of the mind stops and because of the wandering of the mind stops, the purification of the heart takes place.
The sinful desires go away away and then at one point you will become completely fearless.
So much so that even at the point of destruction, at the point of the universal destruction, under the point of your death, you will not be able to move your mind from anything but Krishna.
You know, the death is a very dramatic experience and, you know, the mind — kṛṣṇa tvadīya-pada-paṅkaja-pañjarāntam. adyaiva viśatāṁ na sa rāja-haṁsaḥ.
King Khaṭvāṅga says, I don't know what will happen with my mind at the time of death. It will be very difficult for me to remember about you, my dear lord.
Krishna takes a vow of protection
So, what Vallabhācārya explains to us, he explains to us that if we really practice listening of this Tenth Canto, then only at the time of death we will be able to think about Krishna and nobody else. Only through this hearing process of these pastimes we will be able to really take shelter of Krishna and feel protection of Krishna. Not in a theoretical way but in a very practical way within the heart.
We will be able to — we will be totally convinced Krishna will take care of me. I don't have to take care of myself. He will give me the shelter. He will give me protection.
And here exactly why I wanted to first speak about this because Krishna himself assures us about this. He gives in this particular verse his rationale or his thinking.
He says that because these people have taken complete shelter of myself. Mac-caraṇam.
And of course, Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that mac-caraṇam also means that mac-caraṇam, they're my shelter. They're my home. And he says, they're my family.
And he also says, three times he says — three times he says — and because I'm their master, because they have taken me as their master, because I'm their family, they're my family, because they have taken me as their shelter. I have to protect them.
This is my vrata. This is my, this is my — vow. And he says, Ahitaha. Ahitaha means vartaman, means the present tense. Ahida means this is my vrata.
In other words, the commentators explain this verse saying that this is my this is my vrata always.
Krishna says this is my vrata not only for this particular incident but for those who have taken shelter of me, for those who have real relationship with me.
And he, three times he repeats, mat, mat, mat, which means with me. Those who have real relationship with me. What what what is the intention of this verse?
Krishna says, I take the complete I take the complete responsibility of them if they have real relationship with me.
The actual secret of this verse and very important message of this verse is that Krishna is taking the complete vow if we are. What what is our responsibility in this relationship?
Is that we have to really establish the relationship with Krishna within the heart within our heart. The relationship of love.
Indra's wrath and testing Vrajabasi faith
If we have taken this trouble of establishing relationship with him as the inhabitants of Rajabumi in this particular verse, then there is absolutely no doubt that Krishna will protect us.
And, of course, we all know the background of this story. Krishna says, don't worry, you know, why do we have to care about Indra? Indra is just a stupid demigod and proud too. You know, why should you worry about this?
You know, just just worship Govardhana Hill after all. It's it's more pleasing to me if you worship Govardhana Hill and, you know, poor, ignorant, naive, Vrajabasis believed Krishna.
And very soon, they regretted because Indra became angry at them. Kavi Karnapura says that because of this neglect of Vrajabasis, Indra felt acute headache in the heavens.
I never heard about, you know, usually we say that in the heavens there is no headaches.
But even in the heavens, in the heavenly planets, you may feel headache and not just ordinary inhabitants of the heaven felt headache. The king of the heavens felt headache because he was totally neglected.
Because in Svarga, in the heavenly planets, the ego is still there, and his ego was hurt so much. And he decided to take revenge.
He decided to somehow rather to get back to these inhabitants of Vrindavana, who according to his understanding were foolish and ignorant because they worship a pile of stones.
And of course sometimes ācāryas explain that even some Vrajabasis had some little doubts in their heart. Are we doing the right thing? Is it really possible that Govardhana will protect us?
Because they somehow rather deep within their heart knew that Indra will not let it go. That Indra will definitely do some some mischief, some nonsense. And there was some little doubt within their heart.
And Krishna here he says that, you know, and, you know, very soon, very soon whoever had little doubts, these doubts were confirmed.
Because on the very next day this, you know, massive clouds of universal destruction were sent by Indra and it became really dark.
And the hailstorm and the, you know, the rain and everything and it became so dark and everyone became so afraid. And at that time, they approached Krishna for protection.
And that's the dealings of Krishna with his devotees. You know, he gets us on the verge of total despair, total complete, when we're totally in despair.
You know, Krishna could have, you know, he could have, preached to Indra. Don't do it.
Or he could have kind of, you know, made some other arrangement to protect the Vrajabasis, but he really first made them suffer a little bit. And then gave the protection.
The first lesson of this particular verse is that Krishna does not give protection immediately. First, he really wants us to become desperate and say, Krishna, you know, after all, I have no other shelter than you. Do something about it. And I'm sure everyone has an experience of this in his own life.
Sometimes we think that, you know, when I become devoted, everything should become very nice in my life. Very soon, we will be able to find out that it's not exactly true.
And if we study the life of the real devotees, what to speak about us, you know, little devotees of Kali Yuga. If we study the lives of Pandavas, the lives of practically Prahlāda Mahārāja, everyone, you know.
Was anyone of them completely free from troubles? No. Everyone of them was completely full of troubles. The lives of everyone, of every devotee was just miserable.
Prahlāda Mahārāja was suffering, Pandavas was suffering, Draupadī was suffering so much, she was insulted. Till the very last moment Krishna was not coming to her help.
Until and unless she completely raised her hands and said, Krishna, protect me. After all, when you do worst... Till the time when she realized that there is no other shelter, Krishna would not come for her protection.
So, Krishna wants us first of all to become completely desperate for his protection, but then he gives protection. And he explains how he gives protection.
The unformalized love of Vrindavana pastimes
And this particular verse which is so important for us to understand, he says, I have to give protection to these people. Why? Because they have the relationship with me.
The main thing which I wanted to explain by speaking on this verse is that what Krishna stresses here: He stresses here the real relationship. He says they're connected with me. They're my family.
They have taken shelter of me and if this is the fact the second part of the agreement also becomes the fact I will protect them by all means. There is no doubt about it.
And this is actually the essence of his Vṛndāvana līlā, of his Braja līlā. The very interesting feature of this Braja līlā is that in Braja līlā nobody is connected with Krishna in a formal way.
The very important message of this Braja līlā is that Krishna doesn't like any formalities. Why? Because in Vrindavan everything is parakīya, right? Gopis are not connected with Krishna in a formal way.
Gopis were not duly married with Krishna. His parents also have a parakīya relationship with him because they're not real parents. They're adopted parents. So then everything, vātsalya is parakīya.
The friends which are there, they also have a relationship with Krishna. Their sakhya is also not real because they're not really equals with him. He's from the royal family and they're from a simple cowherd family.
It's not real sakhya, because we know that sakhya, the friendship can only be with our equals. And even those, you know, servants which are there, they also still have some tinge of relationship with Krishna.
And by stressing this illegal, so to speak, quote unquote relationship, Krishna wants to show and to prove to us that what he wants from us, what he really expects from us, is the real relationship, not the formal relationship.
And it is very interestingly described by Lord Shiva in Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta. I wanted to tell a little story because this is a story which really illustrates the message of this verse, the important message of this verse.
Krishna wants the real relationship. Krishna wants the real love. What happened in Brihad Bagavatavlet, Narada was looking for a real devotee.
And he ultimately came to Lord Shiva and Lord Shiva said, No, no, no. I'm not a real devotee. I'm, you know, I have so much ego. You know, how you can call me a real devotee? My ego is just blocking.
It's standing between me and Krishna, you know. Don't, you know, don't take me seriously. I'm not a real devotee. I'm just a, I'm just a pretender.
And then, Parvati, she became really excited and she said, I will tell you where you can find the real devotees.
You can find the real devotees in Vaikuṇṭha. And the monk, all these real devotees, they're great devotees, they're there in Vaikuṇṭha. They're serving the Lord all the time, twenty four hours a day, you know, constantly immersed in the service of the Lord.
Among them, the best is my dear friend Lakshmi. She's the best. You go to Vaikuṇṭha immediately. You will find the real devotee there. And Narada was really excited. He was ready to go to Vaikuntha.
He looked up in the Vaikuntha and he was ready to go there as a rocket to find the real devotee. Then Lord Shiva says, I will tell you something secret on your ear.
Lord Shiva didn't dare to say something contrary to his wife in front of her. Lord Shiva is also a little bit afraid of the troubles which his wife can cause to him.
So he called Nārada Muni, he says, yeah, you know, don't listen to her. She's just a silly woman. He didn't say this. He was very respectful. He said, you know, she's right. But this is not the real truth.
Don't go to Vaikuṇṭha. Oh, no. Actually, I'm really sorry because Parvati said, and now the Lakshmi, the Purna Lakshmi is there in Dvārakā. And she is living there with Lord Krishna, as Rukmini.
You go to Dvārakā and go to Hirsch. You will, you will see the real devotee there. And Lord Shiva, he calls Nārada aside and he says, no, no, no, no, no. Don't go to Dvārakā. Don't go to Rukmini.
If you want to see the real devotee, go to Prahlāda. And it's a very amazing statement.
What Lord Shiva wants to say to us, and to Nārada Muni of course, is that relationship which are there between Prahlāda and Krishna are closer than relationship which are there between Krishna and Rukmini. Why?
Because the relationship between Krishna and Rukmini have the formal frame in them.
Because there is a formality, the officially wedded couple and because of this formality, the relationship are not so deep. And he says, you go, if you want to see or experience or to find out who has the real love, go to Prahlāda. Because Prahlad is not, in any way or form, is connected formally with the Lord, but he has love in his heart. And because of this love, he experienced so much pain and still he remained steady in his devotion to the Lord.
Basically, what he wants to say to Nārada Muni is that we don't know what will happen with Rukmiṇī if she would have to go through what Prahlāda underwent in his life.
Because Rukmiṇī first—first quarrel between Rukmiṇī and Kṛṣṇa started even before they were duly married. You know, when Kṛṣṇa did a special haircut to her brother, she was not very happy.
So much so that even Balarāma started chastising Kṛṣṇa and said, you know, Kṛṣṇa, you know, it's not proper to deal in such a way with your brother-in-law.
Of course, later on Balarāma did a much thorough haircut to Rukmiṇī. He cut his hair. But in this particular incident he said, Kṛṣṇa, you're not doing the right thing. Why? Because Rukmini was angry at Krishna.
Why she was angry at Krishna? Because she was more appreciating the formal relationship than the relationship of the heart.
Here she is in front of Kṛṣṇa who is supposed to be her heart and soul and she's angry with him because some formal relationships are disturbed by Kṛṣṇa's action.
She values the relationship with her brother even more than the relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Even though she wrote this and so on and so forth. But, you know, she was disturbed by the action of Kṛṣṇa.
And Kṛṣṇa was doing so much trouble to the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana and they were never disturbed. Never. You know, why? Because they had this completely unflinching love.
When the gopīs came to Kṛṣṇa and at this night, at this night of Rāsa Pūrṇimā, Kṛṣṇa said, I wonder what I'm doing here in this dark forest at night, you know. Usually, don't wander alone in the dark forest at night, you know.
Why did you come here? And they said, oh, Kṛṣṇa, you know, you're just testing us. We know you called us. Krishna is causing troubles to his devotees. Why? To feel the sweetness of their love.
That their love is not caused by any selfish motive. That their love is real love.
Krishna's dependence on his devotees love
He's after this real love and therefore he's tasting this love and he's ready to reciprocate with this love no matter what. Whatever will happen, he will reciprocate with this love.
So, the real message of this verse when Krishna repeats three times, mutt, mutt, mutt. Is that they're connected with me and their connection is real and not formal.
And because their connection is real, I am ready to give all protection to them.
What happens with Nārada and Śiva, going back to our story, when Śiva takes aside Kṛṣṇa—sorry, Nārada—and says, you know, you go to Prahlāda. He says, Nārada. And it's very interesting. Extremely interesting.
Because he says, Nārada, it seems like you have forgotten a śloka from Purāṇas. Where Krishna himself discloses what he really values.
You were bewildered by the stupid words of my wife and you were ready to go to Rukmiṇī to find the real devotee. Why? Because you have forgotten a very important sloka from Puranas.
And Sanātana Gosvāmī, he explains commending on this verse that there is a viśva-prasiddha or very famous sloka from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
When he says Puranas, he means Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and perhaps in other puranas it is also quoted.
Where Krishna says, nāham ātmānam asyāśai bhaktaṁ sādhubhir vinā. This is a very important verse which also Jīva Gosvāmī quotes in Prīti-sandarbha and which Sanātana Gosvāmī quotes in Bṛhad-bhāgāmṛta explaining this, explaining this very point.
And this is the verse which Krishna Himself tells to Durvāsa Muni. And in this verse He says, I'm not, I cannot, you know, I cannot be happy by myself without my devotees.
What Krishna says in this verse that the happiness which I feel within myself, within my heart is not as important and overwhelming for me as the happiness which I feel from the relationship with my devotees.
Bhaktaṁ sādhubhir vinā. Without my devotees I cannot be happy. What can make me happy? Only relationship, only love can make me happy. Only love can make me really satisfied. Love with whom? Relationship with whom?
And he says, gatir mama parā. With those people who made me their supreme destination or supreme shelter. Those people who don't know any other destination, any other relationship. Gatir mama parā, parāṁ gatim.
For those people who don't have any other goal in their life. What Krishna is trying to explain to Durvasa Muni and why Acharya scored this verse for us because this is the very important understanding for us.
If we don't have any other goal than Krishna, if Krishna is the supreme goal of our life and our endeavors, then the relay then the real relationship are established.
If we have some other goal, if something else is our goal, even our own happiness, then Krishna may or may not give us protection. Then Krishna, there is no relationship.
When the real, real relationship is that, understand that nothing else can satisfy me, only relationship, only love. Krishna himself says that only love can satisfy me. And this is Krishna.
He says, śriyo naikaikāntino yathā.
Even the immense, even Lakshmi Devi, even, and he specifically says, even Lakshmi Devi, śriyo naikaikāntino yathā, the one who has this immense opulence, that will not bring happiness to my heart.
What can bring happiness to my heart? The real relationship, sincere relationship. Nothing else can satisfy me.
And that's exactly what Krishna says in this verse when he says, because these people are my own family, because the relationship with me are based on love, because they're connected with me, and the connection with me is real.
For this very purpose, I have to protect them. I have no other choice. I have to protect them. Goptarī, I must. This is my vrata. This is this is my vow. Because of the real relationship.
And of course, you know, in the next verse Krishna will lift Govardhana Hill and he will prove that it was not without a reason that he asked the vraja-vāsīs to worship Govardhana.
But, basically, the very interesting point of this verse is that Krishna says, why I feel obliged to protect them? Because they have real love for me. And because of this real relationship, they will be protected at any point of time. Always.
Developing pure love through hearing pastimes
Now, in the future, at the time of devastation, and therefore, they should not feel any, fear.
And, basically, if we're coming back to the beginning of our lecture, when we hear the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in this Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, where the real relationship between Krishna and the devotees are being described, we have to really try to feel the taste, taste of this relationship. The taste of complete total dedication of the devotees to Krishna who are ready to undergo any trouble, any problems for the sake of Krishna. And reciprocal feeling of Krishna who first, in the first place, causes these troubles, but then gives the complete protection to them to feel the sweetness of the love, to feel the real sweetness of this relationship.
And basically, the main lesson of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, of the tenth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and of the whole Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is that we only need love. We don't need anything else. There is no other dharma.
There is no other duty in our life which can make us happy.
That the very beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam when Sūta Gosvāmī says that the para-dharma of the living entity of the soul is to have the complete pure relationship with the lord. That should be our goal. That should be our only goal.
Everything else is just, is just useless waste of time.
So, this is few words which I wanted to speak about on the basis of this beautiful verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, where Krishna says that because they have real relationship, I'm obliged to give them shelter. I will protect them. There's no doubt about it.
And, you know, little troubles which we undergo in our life is a very little price for this feeling which we may get. Feeling of complete protection and real relationship with Krishna.
I'm speaking on my own experience, you know. Krishna is very merciful towards Russian devotees.
They're his favorites because he makes so many troubles to them and gives us assurance that, you know, don't worry. I will protect you. I feel obliged to protect you at the end of the day. Thank you very much.
So I guess we have to finish now.