Category:Controlling the Breath: Difference between revisions

The verdict of the Vedic scriptures is īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ: Kṛṣṇa is the supreme controller. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda reveals a higher truth found in the pastime of Vṛndāvana—that this Supreme Controller becomes a subordinate toy in the hands of His pure devotees. This phenomenon is not due to any lack of power on Kṛṣṇa's part, but is a manifestation of His bhakta-vātsalya, His intense affection for His devotees. When love reaches its peak, the Lord forgets His position as God and agrees to be controlled.

Śrīla Prabhupāda first establishes the ontological position of Lord Kṛṣṇa. In the material world, everyone is controlled by the laws of nature, but Kṛṣṇa is the controller of those laws. He is the Parameśvara, the one who controls everyone but is controlled by no one. To understand God means to understand this position of absolute sovereignty.

• Krsna means He is controller, but nobody is there to control Him. That is Krsna; that is God. This is the science of understanding. God means He is controller of everything, but He has no controller.
• Isvarah paramah krsnah: the supreme controller is Krsna. Krsna is never controlled by anyone, for He is the controller of everyone - sarva-karana-karanam.
• In India, still there are many saintly persons. They are simply interested with the supreme controller. So by their research work they have found out the supreme person who is simply controller but He is never controlled by anyone. That is Krsna.
• Krsna is the controller of everyone, but there is no one superior to Him, no one to control Him; nor is there anyone equal to Him, no one to share His platform of absolute control. This may sound very strange, for there are many so-called gods nowadays.

While force or intellect cannot capture God, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that unalloyed devotional service (bhakti) is powerful enough to subdue Him. Just as a chaste wife wins over her husband through service, a devotee purchases Kṛṣṇa through pure love. The Lord is so attracted to the love of His devotees that He willingly accepts a subordinate position, allowing Himself to be chastised, ordered, or bound.

• A devotee can understand how powerful is unalloyed devotional service to Krsna; it is so powerful that Krsna can be controlled by an unalloyed devotee.
• As chaste women bring their gentle husbands under control by service, the pure devotees, who are equal to everyone and completely attached to Me in the core of the heart, bring Me under their full control.
• The perfection of the karmis, jnanis, yogis and others remains attractive only as long as one does not come to the point of devotional service, which is so great and significant that it can control the supreme controller, Krsna.
• As the result of this great silence, My dear wife (Rukmini), you have purchased Me (Krsna) for all time; I have come eternally under your control.

The perfection of controlling Kṛṣṇa is exhibited by the residents of Vṛndāvana. Śrīla Prabhupāda vividly describes how Mother Yaśodā pursues Kṛṣṇa with a stick, how the gopīs make Him dance, and how the cowherd boys defeat Him in wrestling. In these relationships, the awe and reverence of Godhead are covered by the sweetness of intimacy (sakhya, vātsalya, and mādhurya rasas).

• A devotee like Mother Yasoda, a devotee like Radharani, devotees like gopis, devotees like the cowherds boy, they can control Krsna. That is Vrndavana life. So this Krsna consciousness movement is trying to take you there.
• To control over Krsna is not a very easy job; unless one is a great devotee, he cannot... Just like the cowherd boys. They used to rise on the shoulder of Krsna. Krsna was defeated in play.
• In this way (the gopis encouraged Krsna in different ways, He would then smile and dance according to their desire, as if He were a wooden doll in their hands), Krsna came completely under the control of the gopis.
• Mother Yasoda was so advanced in devotional service that Krsna agreed to be controlled by her stick. In other words, the five principal mellows are so great and glorious that they are able to control the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Kṛṣṇa's submission to His devotee is not a loss of power but an increase in perfection. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that Kṛṣṇa finds pleasure in this exchange. He does not want to remain only the Supreme Father; He wants to become the child or the friend of His devotee. The Māyāvādīs desire to merge into God, but the Vaiṣṇava desires a position even greater than God—to become the controller of God through love.

• Everyone is being controlled by God, but a devotee is so exalted that Krsna says that "I wish to be controlled by you." This is Krsna's position.
• The Mayavadis they want to merge into the Supreme, but we want to become father of Krsna. Why merge? More than Krsna. The devotee can beget Krsna. Krsna accepts that. Yes, I shall become your child. I shall be controlled by your stick.
• The exchange of spiritual happiness between Krsna and His devotee in which Krsna is controlled by His devotee is compared to an ocean of nectar into which the devotee and Krsna plunge.
• Lord Krsna thought: "If one regards Me as the Supreme Lord and himself as a subordinate, I do not become subservient to his love, nor can it control Me."

Śrīla Prabhupāda is careful to distinguish between Kṛṣṇa being controlled by devotees and Kṛṣṇa being controlled by māyā. Kṛṣṇa is never under the influence of the material energy; He controls māyā. Therefore, it is foolishness (mūḍha) to think that Kṛṣṇa takes birth or acts under the compulsion of karma. His subordination is reserved strictly for His internal potency of love.

• Maya, the illusory energy, is under the control of Krsna, so how could maya control Him? One who thinks that Krsna, like us, is controlled by maya is described in Bhagavad-gita as mudha, a fool.
• We are compelled to take birth. Krsna does not take birth in such condition. Atma-mayaya. Because maya is under the control of Krsna. So how maya can control Krsna? One who thinks that Krsna is also like us, controlled by maya, they are called mudhas.
• Persons who are themselves under the control of supernatural power cannot believe that Lord Krsna is not under any control beyond Himself in the matter of sense enjoyment. They cannot understand that His senses are transcendental.

Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that the purpose of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to elevate the living entity to the platform of Vṛndāvana life. While the ordinary conception of God ends with His might and power, the devotee aspires to reach that confidential realm where the Supreme Lord is conquered by pure love, becoming the son of Mother Yaśodā or the lover of Rādhārāṇī.

Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Controlling Krsna. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience his teachings in their direct, verbatim form.

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