trahi trastan bhrtya-vitrasa-hasi
rupam cedam paurusam dhyana-dhisnyam
ma pratyaksam mamsa-drsam krsisthah
My lord, because you dispell all the fear of your devotees, I request You to save us and give us protection from the terrible fear of Kamsa. Your form as Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is appreciated by yogis in meditation. Please make this form invisible for those who see with material eyes.
 

Purport by His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Srila Prabhupada.
 

The word dhyana – dhisnyam is significant in this verse because the form of Lord Vishnu is mediated upon by yogis (dhyanavasthita-tad-gatena manasa pasyanti yam yoginah). Devaki requested the Lord, who had appeared as Lord Vishnu, to conceal that form, for she wanted to see the Lord as an ordinary child, like a child appreciated by persons who have material eyes. Devaki wanted to see whether the Supreme Personality of Godhead had factually appeared or she was dreaming the Vishnu form. If Kamsa were to come, she thought, upon seeing the Vishnu form he would immediately kill the child, but if he saw a human child, he might reconsider. Devaki was afraid of Ugrasena-atamaja; that is, she was afraid not of Ugrasena and his men, but of son Ugrasena. Thus she requested the Lord to dissipate that fear, since He is always ready to give protection (abhiyam) to His devotees. “My lord,” she prayed, “ I request You to save me from the cruel hands of the son of Ugrasena, Kamsa. I am praying to Your Lordship please rescue me from this fearful condition because You are always ready to give protection to Your servitors.” The lord has confirmed this statement in the Bhagvad Gita by assuring Arjuna, “You may declare to the world, My devotee shall never be vanquished.”
While thus praying to the Lord for rescue, mother Devaki expressed her motherly affection: “I understand that this transcendental form is generally perceived in mediation by the great sages, but I am still afraid because as soon as Kamsa understands that You have appeared, he might harm You. So I request for the time being You become invisible to our material eyes.” In other words, she requested the Lord to assume the form of an ordinary child. “My only cause of fear from my brother Kamsa is due to your appearance. My Lord Madhusudhana, Kamsa may know that You are already born. Therefore I request you to conceal this four-armed form of Your Lordship, which holds the four symbols of Vishnu- namely the conchshell, the disk, the club and the lotus flower. My dear Lord, at the end of annihilation of the cosmic manifestation, You put the whole universe within Your abdomen; still, by Your unalloyed mercy, You have appeared in my womb. I am surprised that You imitate the activities of ordinary human beings just to please your devotees.”
 

Devaki was so afraid of Kamsa that she could not believe that Kamsa would be unable to kill Lord Vishnu, who was personally present. Out of motherly affection, therefore, she requested the Supreme Personality of Godhead to disappear. Although because of the Lord’s disappearance, Kamsa would harass her more and more, thinking the child born of her was hidden somewhere, she did not want the transcendental child to be harassed and killed. Therefore, she requested Lord Vishnu to disappear. Later, when harassed, she would think of Him within her mind.
 

Translation:
 

My lord, because you dispell all the fear of your devotees, I request You to save us and give us protection from the terrible fear of Kamsa. Your form as Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is appreciated by yogis in meditation. Please make this form invisible for those who see with material eyes.

Om agyan timirandasya ………
 

I often sing the beautiful song by the great devotee Kaviraj (baja hu rai mana …. vrinde re - time 6.17 to 6.59) prayer to the mind that please always keep yourself in remembrance of the loving service of divine son of Nanda Maharaj, because in that remembrance of Shri nanda nandan one becomes fearless (abhayam).
This world is a place of misery predominately because we are always under the umbrella of abhayam or fear. Fear is the greatest misery and we can understand that of the four animal propensities – eating, sleeping, mating, and fearing, fearing is the most prominent because it underlies all others. When you are eating, when you are endeavoring to get food to eat, fear is underlining because when you do not get that food you will starve. So therefore people are motivated to work hard to eat out of fear. Similarly, sleeping - people work very hard to have nice palatial building or house, a apartment or a nice place for sleeping; Why? They are motivated essentially out of fear because if they do not have this protection, they would suffer. And as far as mating, fear is the name of the game in mating. When we have a wife, a husband, when we have children there is always a fear that they will leave us, they will be hurt, they will die, they will not be properly cared for.
 

So in this way, human life is motivated primarily out of fear. People are very anxious for security. People work their whole life to create the feeling of security, security at the present moment and after they retire, they want to think that my wife, my children, myself, who I care for and even after they die they want to leave behind an estate which will give security for those who are near and dear to them out of fear- out of fear what would happen if they do not have.
How many times children when they love their parents, they pray to God please do not let my parents die. They love a dog, please do not let my dog die. This is fear. This anxiety of fear is underlined in every aspect of material life and it’s the prime motivation. What is lust? Lust is an insatiable desire why people are so much anxious to acquire the objects of sense gratification - this is out of fear; the fear if I don’t get it now then I cannot be satisfied.
 

Factually, fear is all pervading in this material existence and it is explained by Govinda Das “my dear mind this whole world which is abhayam full of fear ultimately is Mrtyu loka it is ultimately a place of death.” Death can come to us any moment and death means losing everything I work so hard for through out my life therefore everyone is afraid of death, directly or indirectly. One who keeps his mind on the immortal on the eternal becomes free from all fear. Such a person becomes abhayam, fearless. As long as our mind is attached to any thing temporary, it will be full of fear. And, as soon as the mind fixes itself on what is eternal there will be no fear, no anxiety. What is the difference between Kuntha and Vaikuntha? This material world is Kuntha, because everything in this material world all manifestations are temporary. Therefore it’s a place of anxiety because it’s a place where fear is underlining everything. But Vaikuntha because it is the sat-cit-ananda loka. It is the eternal world where nothing is temporary. There is no fear and without fear there is no anxiety. Vaikuntha. So one who keeps his mind on the lotus feet of Shri Krishna, such a person his free from all anxiety and has no fear.
 

We have in this verse something very wonderful. We try to analyze and understand. Devaki and Vasuedev, how much their minds were fixed on Krishna. In their previous birth they performed so many long long years of tapasaya. They renounced all the temporary things of this world, they were simply eating dry leaves that would fall from the trees. Living in the forests, wearing nothing but a tree bark, they were completely fixing their mind on Krishna and Lord Narayan through the whole testing austerity, for so many thousands of celestial years. Obviously they were beautiful people, keeping their minds fixed on the eternal.
 

They were given the benediction that lord Narayan would himself take birth as their son and through out so many years when they heard the benediction on that faithful day of their wedding - that the eight child will kill you Kamsa, they could understand that the eight child would be Krishna. Therefore, they were willing to have six children. They were willing to witness these six children ruthlessly, cold bloodedly murder before them because they understood that this is our service. Whatever happens to our children that is in Krishna’s hand but we must continue to have children until the eight child who is going to be Krishna as born - He wants us to have eight children. If we do not, He will not take birth in the world. So we must assist Him, however much we our attached to these children, however much pain it causes us to see them die, we are willing to tolerate it for Krishna’s mission. So you can understand throughout these many years in the prison cell of Kamsa, they were simply having their minds fixed on Krishna and when Krishna was within her womb she became the very abode of the holy dham of the lord.
 

The demigods were gathered around to offer prayers and obeisances and at last when Krishna was finally born from the womb, He appeared as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, decorated with the four symbols of Narayan. So in this way Vasuedev and Devaki their minds were one hundred percent engrossed in the lotus feet of lord Krishna (bhaja hu ra mana 16.27 to 16.31). He is the personification of this verse, so why? Is it a contradiction - their mind completely immersed in the remembrance of Krishna, in service of Krishna, in meditation on Krishna but here Devaki is explaining that I am very afraid. How can there be in fear? Fear is born in darkness. Darkness cannot exist in the present of the light, the sun. Krishna is the Supreme sun (Krishna surya sama, maya haya andhakar …..17.07to 17.10) where the sun exists darkness cannot. Krishna is light, the sun and Maya is darkness. Krishna says in the third canto of Bhagvatam that one who takes shelter of My lotus feet becomes so fearless that even fear personified is afraid of Me. So what you have to worry. So fear personified is afraid of Krishna, and Krishna the shining son in His beautiful form of Narayan which is unmistakably the Supreme Personality of Godhead is right before Devaki giving a personal audience and what is her prayers? I request you to save us and give us protection from the terrible fear of Kamsa. How is it that the darkness of fear exists in the presence of divine light of Vishnu?
 

Srila Prabhupada is explaining very nicely that the nature of the fear is not material. It was eternal because it was seated in the attitude of loving service to the lord. It was actually Krishna’s causeless mercy that under the spell of yoga Maya although Narayan in his majestic form, the Lord of Vaikuntha was right before her, she had the parental feelings that this is my son, this is my child and I don’t fear what happens to me but I fear what happens to You, that Kamsa I have seen how he has so ruthlessly killed six of my children, the seventh by some inconceivable arrangement was a miscarriage and went somewhere else. But now, if he sees You in this beautiful form of Vishnu he will know for certain that You are the enemy that he has been warned against and he will come and he will try to harm you, he will try to kill you. She’s explaining, I know you are the cause of all causes, I know you are the source of everything, I know you are the creator maintainer, destroyer of everything that exists but still You are my son and as my son I am very much afraid that this rakshasha demon will hurt you. Therefore, please make Yourself invisible, please conceal this divine form of Yours. This is love.
 

In the impersonalist school of philosophy all of these human attributes such as fear, such as belonging, such as feelings of separation they are all considered illusion or Maya and they are when the object of these feelings is something temporary. Therefore the philosophy is (jagan ….20.45 to 20.47) there is no varigatedness. There is only one Brahman, truth and therefore any of these feelings are based on illusion, they are based on Maya.
Therefore to be completely indifferent and detached is the perfection of those who aspire after this impersonal conception of mukti. But we find that higher than that liberated state, beyond attachment to all material objects of the senses, there is a sphere of yogamaya in the spiritual world where all of these attributes are directed towards the eternal loving service of the lord, for the purpose of creating ananda ecstasy.
 

The Lord has three features - sat-cit-ananda. To understand the Brahmin feature of the Lord – sat, is to understand it’s eternal nature. In that eternal nature, (aha) there is no varigatedness, there is no separation of identity between you and Him, conscious. Therefore these feelings, these human like feelings, that we experience in this world, do not exist at all in the that eternal realm of Brahma jyoti. But that is only partial realization of God - sat cit and ultimately ananda. Ananda means the pleasure potency of Lord and in that pleasure potency, in order for there to be pleasure there must be love, in order for there to be love there must be reciprocation. Therefore all of these feelings that we have in this world which are imperfect perverted reflections are perfectly manifested in the spiritual hearts of those persons who have achieved sat cit ananda realizations. We do not want to give up these feelings, we want to purify them. We don’t want to give up lust or anger or pride or greed, we want to purify them. What does lust mean? To long for something. That’s how lust means - a longing.
 

Srila Prabhupada explains that the prize of Krishna consciousness is the tears you shed, a longing for Krishna. So we want to purify that longing and make its goal Krishna. Similarly greed - greed is a terrible demon in our hearts. We don’t want to vanquish greed, we want to purify it. Rupa Goswami explains in bhakti rasamrit sindhu that to be Krishna conscious, to be a pure devotee you have to be greedy for Krishna and greedy for service to Krishna - the transcendental greed, without that we cannot be a good devotee. The greed is never for my own selfish interest, the greed is to serve others, to please Krishna, to surrender more and more to Krishna, to offer more and more to Krishna - the greed of giving, the love.
 

Prabhupada tells a story of the thief who just happened to be going around looking for some place where he could make a fortune and he heard some sadhu reciting the Bhagvatam. He was describing Krishna who was just a baby child, how mother Yashoda decorates him with beautiful golden jewelry which has valuable jewels decorating. So he was thinking, a young child wearing this it will be very easy to steal from Him and they are saying that he roams through the forest with other little boys (aah) this I will make a fortune very easily. So he went to Vrindavan and throughout the whole time he didn’t want to forget what this child look like. He was constantly meditating on His lotus eyes, His peacock feather decorated on His head, His beautiful complexion which looked like a black rain cloud, He had lotus feet and pinkish soles, His hairs are beautifully kept and His dhoti was like color of lightning. In this way he did not want to forget the description because then he may not find Him. So the whole way, he was walking he was simply greedy and out of intense greed he was meditating on finding Krishna. Because the object of his greed was Krishna by the time he came to Vrindavan and met Krishna he fell at His lotus feet and surrendered everything. He said I don’t want to take anything from You. I simply want to give You my life. I am Your eternal servant. So whatever our natural propensities are don’t try to destroy them, try to purify them by putting them in the direction of Krishna’s lotus feet.
 

Anger, we find so many instances. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Himself became very angry to protect the devotees. Similarly we find great devotees, great acharayas how they become angry in the service of Krishna to try to help others, to try to impress a point. Hanumanji, Arjuna, in order to fight the war they had to become fiercely angry. This is purified anger because there was no selfish motivation. It was not due to frustrated desire. It was simply to increase their service. So this is sac-cit-ananda. The bliss of the realization of bhakti is when all of these natural emotions are simply utilized as an offering in the pleasure of Sri Krishna in the service of our Guru Maharaj. So here Devaki is showing a realization far more than complete detachment. If Krishna was born of her and she said Oh nothing to worry about, You are God, let Kamsa do whatever he wants. That will not be so imbue with love as the way she is feeling here - My dear Lord, I am Your mother and the mother must be always afraid for her child. So please make Yourself invisible.
 

In the lila of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, there are also many similar instances, when Lord Gaur Hari was just a little child He was doing all mischievous things and His father was afraid that if He does these mischievous things He will grow up to be bad boy so I must sometimes reprimand Him, sometimes punish Him, sometimes spank Him, sometimes scold Him. So, one day a very very learned Brahmin, saint appeared to him in his dream and said “ Jaganath Mishra don’t you know that your son is the Supreme Bhagvan. He is Narayan. He is the original form of Krishna, the creator of this entire existence, the source of Maha Vishnu. He is the cause of all causes. He is all that is and you are chastising Him, you are scolding Him, You are punishing Him, you are spanking Him – don’t you see what an offense this is.” Jaganath Mishra said maybe you are right, maybe He is all these things but He is my son and if I don’t teach Him properly how to behave who will teach Him. Although he realized that He was God that was secondary to the feeling of love that he had as a parent.
 

So this is the same sentiment as Devaki. She was not afraid for herself, she was afraid for Krishna. She was afraid that there would be some inconvenience or some harm upon Krishna. This is love. And actually Prabhupad describes in purport that if Krishna would disappear as she wants, she would be in more trouble. As for as for her own sake if Krishna appears and then Kamsa comes and Kills it, then the eight child son is dead then there is no fear of Devaki any more he’ll let her go. I don’t have to fear you any more He’s dead. The benediction is been nullified by my strong hands. The best thing they could have done, Krishna would have stayed there and Kamsa would have been killed.(30.38-30.45)From the material point of view that is correct. But why is she telling Krishna to be invisible. By telling Krishna to become invisible, she knew that kamsa would have such wrath, he would be so angry that he would further persecute (31.15-31.18). For Krishna’s protection I’m willing to die. For Krishna’s protection I’m willing to remain in this jail cell, in this dungeon for the rest of my life. That was her fear. Her fear was selfless. It was the fear of divine love.
 

This is the glory of Devaki and of course when she is asking Krishna in the next verse:
 

(janma…..31.52-32.02) “O Madhusudhan, because of Your appearance I am becoming more and more anxious in fear of Kamsa.
Therefore please arrange for that sinful Kamsa to be unable to understand that You have taken birth from my womb.”
 

Purport : Devaki addressed the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Madhusudhan. She was aware that the Lord had killed many demons like Madhu, who are hundreds and thousands of times more powerful than Kamsa. Yet, because of affection for that transcendental child, she believed that Kamsa could kill Him. But how could she believe that – if she knew He was Madhusudhan, who killed such great demons as Madhu, who were far greater than Kamsa. How could she still believe that Kamsa would kill Him. It was Krishna in her heart who was creating that belief only to increase the quality of her love as her mother.
 

She was aware that the Lord had killed many demons like Madhu, who are hundreds and thousands of times more powerful than Kamsa. Yet, because of affection for that transcendental child, she believed that Kamsa could kill Him. Instead of thinking of the unlimited power of the Lord, she saw the Lord with affection. Therefore, she requested the transcendental child to disappear. Now this is the nature of divine love and it is also the process of coming to this divine platform by divine love. That whatever we have, whatever natural feelings we have acquired simply learn how to dovetail them, how to direct them in the selfless loving service of Shri Krishna. This is the path of Bhakti.
 
 
Any Questions.
 
 
Q. 1) Is it right to say that material fear increases forgetfulness of Krishna and spiritual fear increases love of Krishna?
 

R. 1) Yes. But we must also define what is material fear and what is spiritual fear. Shrila Prabhupad in his role as an acharya would often times offer personal prayers to the Lord just to show us the way. Shrila Bhaktipad tells us that one time when he was with Shrila Prabhupad in Boston in his personal quarters, with his beautiful deities of Radha and Krishna, he was simply meditating on the beautiful form of the Lord and he said to Bhaktipad, he said that I am simply praying to Radha and Krishna that I never forget them and fall into maya. This type of fear will keep us from ever falling into maya. We should be afraid to ever forget Krishna. The only fear a devotee has that he may forget Krishna. Let anything happen – as long as I am remembering you my Lord, I am perfectly situated. You can take away anything, You can give anything. Whatever You want to do just let me remember You. That is my only fear. So, therefore that type of fear will always keep us in Krishna’s lotus feet. Even in Goloka Vrindavan, the gopis are always afraid that Krishna is going to leave. What is that fear? That fear only increases the feelings of love. That imminent feeling of separation is a type of fear- vipralambha .
 
But material fear is based on attachment to the temporary objects of the senses. So until one actually is thoroughly detached from material life real transcendental fear will not awaken in his heart. But in our state now we have so many fears, we have to learn to dovetail to fear the right thing. Don’t try to give up fear but try to fear the right thing. You can’t just extinguish fear. So fear My Lord let me never forget you, let me never fall down and disappoint you again. That should be our fear. Let me never offend the devotees.
 

Just like our Mother Hrishikesh, she died by being murdered in one of the African countries just recently. And just few weeks before she left her body, she knew the situation. She wrote a letter to me. In this letter, she was describing the situation of this country. How all the foreigners were being asked to evacuate immediately because thousands of people were cold blooded killed everyday in the streets. She was seeing people being killed all the time. It was a government takeover. She said any minute the devotees can be killed. I don’t know if I will survive plus I have malaria and I am very weak. I can’t travel. Then after describing on and on and on and on about all the terrible conditions and fearful situations of life and death, she said I am not afraid of any of these things. I only have one fear in my life. The only fear I have is that I may offend a vaishnava. Whether I live or die makes no difference to me. But to offend a vaishnava that I am terribly afraid of. That is transcendental consciousness. That is transcendental fear.
 

Is there anything else?
Q.
R. Yes. There are three types of offenses – mental offense, verbal offense and
physical offense.

But in kalayuga our mental offenses are not held so much against us. If it is out of our control, if we deliberately pondering upon it then it’s just a matter of time till it must come out as a verbal or physical offense. You cannot hold it in. But if you are mentally offensive but you understand that this is a terrible offense and you become afraid of it and you really try to rectify in your heart by taking shelter of Krishna then actually you will make advancement in that situation.
But if you ponder on it, you relish it, you nourish it then that mental offense will create a ruination of your spiritual life. Because ultimately you are responsible for what you say and you are responsible what you do. And what is in your mind must come out in your words and actions in due course of time. Unless we are striving very sincerely to overcome it.
Q.
R. You should go away. You should do one of two things. The Vedas say three things. We only recommend two things (laughter). According to the Vedas you should kill him, you should cut out his tongue and you should kill yourself. But don’t do that because this is a preaching movement. The people will not be attracted if devotees are doing like this. But that’s to the extent the Vedas explain it’s serious disturbances to your spiritual life. Therefore the two alternatives you have is that you must defeat that person, change his dialogue or you must go away. If you don’t have the power and potency to defeat that person and his criticism and if you do not go away, your spiritual life will be blemished. You must go away. You must say I’m sorry, I’ve come to this movement, you are a devotee, all respects to you, but I’ve come to this movement to glorify Krishna and His devotees. I can associate with any karmi person and have a discussion like this. Therefore, my dear Prabhu I have nothing to do with you unless you are positively glorifying Krishna and His devotees . Don’t ruin my spiritual life. My Guru Maharaj forbidden me of hearing this from you or anybody else. So haribol! And you go away.
 
If you are not bold enough to say that just say I have to go. But go away. Whatever it takes you must leave. If you saw a cobra standing before you with his hoods raised and his fangs shining ready to bite you. What would you do? You would run away ah! Well I’ll tell you something that cobra is not even one lakh of a fraction as dangerous as a devotee who is blaspheming another devotee. Because the most the cobra can do is to kill this body which has to die anyway and you take off where you left off spiritually. But hearing criticism of devotees, is lie a cobra who has the potency to put his fangs and inject his venom in your very heart and soul. Ah! Which is more dangerous?

You should be more afraid of hearing the criticism and speaking the criticism of vaishnavas. You should be more fearful of that than when you are thrown in a pit of thousands of cobras.
Yes.
Q.
R. Indirectly yes. Like Kamsa. Unlike Kamsa, actually they are fortunate, they will not have to suffer terribly hellish consequences. But in the end after all their hellish consequences of suffering, because they thought of Krishna, they are actually Krishna conscious, but they are unfavorably Krishna conscious . Kamsa had to suffer. He was Krishna conscious. But because he was unfavorable, he had to suffer his whole life. He was totally in fear. He was in total anxiety. He could not enjoy anything and ultimately he was beaten to death by Krishna. So he had to undergo uncomprehendble pain but in the end he was neglected. These people also because of their offenses, they are going to have to suffer terribly but in the end after that suffering is gone however much they were thinking of Krishna, it’s going to be their great asset.