Srimad Bhagavatam – day 554
Hare Krishna
The Devatas continued, “O Srihari! You are the ruler of the universe. Through this incarnation You are reducing the burden of earth. The moment You incarnate on earth, all the evils and burdens will instantaneously disappear from here”.
Good feelings are as light as vapour. They fly. They are not bound by a gross form. People with good, noble feelings cannot contaminate the Earth. Contrary to them are those who are bound tightly to the Earth i.e. those who consider themselves to be the gross body, those who consider this earth to be everything in entirety, those who are filled with feelings of ‘I, mine, my house, my material possessions’ etc.
Such people are endlessly lost in the following line of thoughts- ‘My senses are my God, I need to pamper these sense organs; I have to decorate these sense organs; I need to beautify my body with ornaments; Aha! I am so beautiful; aha! I speak so eloquently; aha! I am a wonderful dancer’. Such persons cannot meditate upon the Lord’s lotus feet.
All day long their thoughts are concentrated upon the sofa newly purchased, the TV or the mobile phone recently procured. Such thoughts constitute their entire world. They will not think of any subject barring material possessions. What benefit they obtain from this is beyond one’s understanding. Such people are tightly bound to this universe.
Attempt to become as light as vapour. No impurity can then contaminate you. Swamiji is mixing science and spirituality to explain this subject. The Earth no longer feels our burden. The Lord need not incarnate to wash our impurities. Presently it appears as if Lord incarnates solely to wash away impurities. Each and every incarnation of the Lord is for this sole purpose. We fill ourselves with impurities. He has to come down to wash away our impurities.
Innumerable are His incarnations! Innumerable are His names! Whichever path a devotee treads, he believes firmly that the deity, in whom he has placed implicit faith, is an incarnation of the Supreme Lord. Why should his belief be considered wrong? He is right. Why do you think their deity has manifested in that form? The deity has taken a form solely to cleanse the devotee of his impurities.
In a similar fashion, the gross impurities of people had turned into an unbearable burden to Mother Earth.
The Devatas prayed, “O Lord, the moment it was evident that You are going to incarnate on Earth, all the burdens of Mother Earth were washed away. We are all relieved as everything will now be rendered pure. We believe this to be the Lord’s grace upon us.
The imprints of Your delicate, beautiful lotus feet are about to touch Earth. These imprints should eternally remain on earth, O Lord. Only then will we be exceedingly happy and peaceful, O Lord”.
When You walk, the imprints will fall on earth, isn’t it, O Lord? For this reason, Mathura is highly revered by devotees. The Lord walked on that land. Even to this date, in Mathura they point out to the house in which he was born. Although an eon has passed since his birth and many devastations have occurred during the time in between, they still lovingly point out to the homes where he wandered. ‘After all, the Lord incarnated in the immediately preceding eon, isn’t it? Naturally, the home where he was born remains intact’- they claim. While there is some degree of truth in their statements, not all are true. Nevertheless, it is absolutely true that the Lord wandered in that area. It is immaterial to us whether the guides speak the truth or not. What is important is that they are directing us towards the Lord. A true devotee will, while shedding tears of joy, offer obeisance to the Lord at every such place shown by the guides.
“The imprints of Your lotus feet are about to fall on earth. That itself is our fortune. These imprints will remain forever on earth. Even the denizens of heaven could not obtain this supreme fortune, O Lord”.
Although it is true that the Lord resides in heaven, the fortune of Earth cannot be obtained there.
“O Lord, You are the sole shelter who showers abhaya (assurance of fear-not) upon us”.
You are the Lord who protects. You are the Lord who reassures us to be fearless. You incarnate for this purpose.
“O Lord, birth is another of Your sports”.
How can You, the non-dual Lord who inherently is birthless, be bound by birth? You who are birthless playfully assume a gross form and take birth.
“There is no reason apart from this for Your birth”.
You incarnate solely to reassure us to be fearless. You incarnate for our benefit. You incarnate to uplift the Earth by eliminating the demons who are causing havoc here. You incarnate to wash away our impurities.
“O Lord, how can You, who exist as the Self, take birth? Birth, sustenance and death emerge out of ignorance. O best amongst the Yadavas! Previously You incarnated with names and forms such as Matsya, Hayagriva, Kurma, Narasimha, Varaha, Hamsa, Srirama, Vamana, Paraśurama and ruled all the three worlds. O Lord, please reduce the burden of Earth as You have done in the past. To You, we offer obeisance.”
Having glorified the Lord profusely, the Devatas now addressed Mother Devaki and said,
“O Mother Devaki! Previously Śeṣa (Ananta), who is a partial aspect of the Lord, entered your womb. O Mother, what more can be said of your fortune? Adiśeṣa himself entered your womb. Presently the Supreme Lord Srihari, who is incarnating for our well-being, is residing in your womb. Aha! How delightful this is!”
Aha! In order to rescue us He is incarnating in your womb. How fortunate you are, O mother! The Lord is taking a human form solely for our benefit. What can be said of our fortune?
“Kamsa, the king of the Bhoja dynasty, is attracting death towards him. The moment he was born, death was born along with him. Do not fear this Kamsa”.
This heartless demon has inflicted untold wounds on you, O mother. What can we say of the suffering you have endured! Mercilessly the wicked demon put your sons to death. This heartless demon perhaps has a body made of iron or wood, which is why he lacks good feelings. He is like a walking rock. Hard-heartedly he killed new born infants.
Narayana