After begetting five sons named (0.00.04) Prthu Maharaja continued to rule the planet. He accepted all the qualities of the deities who governed all other planets.

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

In each and every planet, there is a predominating deity. It is understood from Bhagvat Gita that in the sun there is a predominating deity named Vivasvan. Similarly there is a predominating deity of the moon and of the various planets. Actually the predominating deities in all the other planets are descendents from the predominating deities of the sun and moon. On this planet earth, there are two kshtriya dynasties and one comes from the predominating deity of the sun and the other from the predominating deity of the moon. These dynasties are known as Suryavansha and Chandravansha respectively. When Manarki existed on this planet, the chief member was one of the members of the Surya dynasty, were Suryavansha and the subordinates kings belonged to the Chandravansha. However Maharaja Prthu was so powerful that he could exhibit all the qualities of the predominating deities in other planets.

In the modern age people from earth have tried to go to the moon. But they have not been able to find anyone there. What to speak of meeting the moon’s predominating deity. The Vedic literature, however repeatedly informs us that the moon is full of highly elevated inhabitants who are counted amongst the demigods. We are therefore always in doubt about what kind of moon adventure the modern scientist of this planet earth have undertaken.

Lecture:

Today we are reading from Srimad Bhagvatam, canto 4, chapter 22 which is entitled Prthu Maharaja’s meeting with the queens, text 54.

Yesterday HH Bhakti Vaibhav Swami Maharaja had an exceptionally wonderful class in explanation of the previous verse which is describing how Prthu maharaja was situated in the liberated situation of pure devotional service. And in that state he performed his duties, one of which was to raise a family. With his most virtuous divine wife, Archi, he performed his household duties very perfectly and begot 5 sons. And how Prthu maharaja as a leader, showed an example by which the whole world could be elevated to the true goal of life. (0.04.30) Krishna said what the leaders of the society do, what great people do, the common people would follow. That is natural throughout the history of the world. We are very much influenced by association especially of those who have a prominent position in the society. I remember a few years ago, I was in an airplane with one of India’s greatest cricket stars. Do you know of cricketer’s? Here at Gita Nagari, at night, they may hear this irking noise but in India it is, if you put basket ball, baseball, football, hockey and all other sports of America together and multiply it by 100 , you get the enthusiasm of cricket in India. We got to know these things. Literally we have seen that there is practically riots and social unrest when the cricket team loses, especially India and Pakistan. Sometimes the cricket matches practically put the two nations on the verge of nuclear wars. I am not exaggerating. So when I went into this little, little tiny plane, just about a 20 seat plane, propellers from Belgaum and there were hundreds and hundreds of children running all over the place, running, running, running, because they understood this cricket star is coming in this airplane. They all wanted to see him, touch him, get his autograph, and tell the world that they have seen him. And he was hiding, hiding inside the airplane, and became very worried as he didn’t want to be bothered by others. And then he went to the back of the plane and went to sleep, and closed his eyes and every one was coming up and he was pretending to sleep. And then at the end when we landed, the pilot came up and the hostesses came up and all the passengers came up. And he didn’t look at them. He just looked forward and walked and totally ignored them. As he was walking down the runway, people were coming, he just, and he looked so disgusted that nobody wanted to even come near him. They wanted to but they were afraid to. And we were standing near the luggage together, I was standing besides him. People were coming up and he just wouldn’t… I was standing near him, I said, “You really look miserable, is there any way I can help you?” And then he just looked at me and smiled and said “Maharaja thank you very much.” Then he started telling me about how his grandmother was a devotee of Krishna and she taught him how to love sadhus and serve sadhus and all. So we had a nice talk. And then I told him, there are so many, these millions, not just hundreds but millions of people, who would do what ever you do, according to your life style. You are their role model. So you have a tremendous responsibility when you have influence. The more we have influence, the more we have power over people, the more we have a responsibility to live a life that would guide them properly as they would follow us. It’s a fact. Back in the 1940’s, there were movie actors in America, who would smoke cigarettes very nicely; very romantically they would smoke cigarettes and because of them millions of people started smoking cigarettes, thinking they would be romantic. They got addicted. There was one particular person who died of mouth cancer, throat cancer. Similarly millions of people are dying of cancer. So it is a fact, which people were in this society of America so superficial that they often copy, what people you wear, what people do, how they behave, how they talk, they copy. So it is so very important. (0.10.16) the Bhagvatam describes, if you have a role of leadership over others, even as a parent, mother, father, your first and foremost duty before God, is you lead them back home back to Godhead. If you don’t, what ever else you give them, will fail. It’s not just what we speak, it’s our actions. So Prthu maharaja was king and he understood his first and foremost responsibility to his citizens is that they never take birth again in this material world. Yes he had to keep that law and order, he had to develop the economy and he had to exert taxes for this purpose. So he did all of his duties very perfectly. But it was all in a way so that the spirit soul in their hearts would be liberated, be liberated from all sufferings for ever so they could return to their natural position of Krishna consciousness. And therefore he very very perfectly performed all of his social obligations in a way that would show people the spiritual path. He underwent all of the purificatory processes recommended for the master to show people the way of sanatana dharma. And he had five children. As it was explained yesterday, he had these five children according to his desire, which means according to Krishna’s desire. It was not whimsical. It was not selfish. It was done as an act of sacrifice. Krishna tells in Bhagvat Gita, sex life according to these religious principles is I am that. Krishna manifests himself in practices of devotional service which is non different than devotional service. To have children as a loving offering to the Lord to serve his mission within this world, that is devotional service. And Prthu maharaja was having children in pure devotional service. In today’s verse we find the five names of his children and also nice stories about the power of his children as they followed in his footsteps in the future verses of this chapter. It is also explaining how Prthu maharaja as a king imbibed the qualities of all the deities governing all other planets, the lokpalanam, demigods. In fact according to the shastras, for a good king, the Supreme Personality of the Godhead and all the demigods are manifested within him for his citizens. But Prthu’s father, he really misused and abused that position. Do you remember his name? His name is Vaina. He is a very very sinful person. He was in position of king and he proclaimed, according to the scriptures, that the Supreme Personality of Godhead and all the demigods, they are all manifested within the personality of the king, and therefore, you should worship me and reject all other forms of worship. Hare Krishna. So here is a person who took the scriptures to get people’s faith and then what he did is, he gave his own purport. Prabhupada did not like this. Prabhupada in one wonderful lecture, he became very excited. He was talking about how there are over hundred Bhagvat Gita translated in English. And he said when he came to America he couldn’t find a single one that was speaking the spirit of the message of Krishna. Every one gives their own commentary with their own idea. And he became very upset. He said, if you want to give your own idea then your own idea in your name, but don’t give it in Krishna’s name. (0.15.40) Bhagvat Gita can only be understood by a devotee. Prabhupada said, Bhagvat Gita is a book for devotees, teaching nothing but devotional service. If you want to teach some thing else then write your own book. But don’t put your nose in some one else’s business. Quote unquote from Prabhupada. He didn’t like this, taking Krishna’s name and giving their own appealing. Now why was Prabhupada so strong about it? That is serious, look at the world today. People are taking the authority of God’s words and giving their own opinions, which are very much influenced by their false ego, their aspirations, their fears, their hatred, their prejudice. And because of that people feel religion, there are intelligent people who are very sensitive and sincere about the welfare of humanity, who have come forward very strongly and say, “If we want to actually have a very peaceful world, we must abolish all religion”. Hare Krishna. Now we may say they are demons and they could be labeled as such on certain definitions but some of these people are very very philanthropic, and are really striving working for peace on earth. But they see in the name of religion, how much hatred, how much violence, on the basis of their name. And how on the basis of interpretation of scriptures that are bringing love and tolerance and forgiveness, its bringing hatred and vengeance. They are justifying people to do things that practically no aeithist would do. It’s murdering innocent people in the name of their God. It’s cleansing the world of the intredels. Yes, this is like, they consider it like ecology. If you want the world to be a good place, you have to clean up the pollution. You can’t be sentimental toward pollution. So anyone who doesn’t believe in the god, that we believe and follow the principles that we believe, then it is contaminating the earth. Why be sentimental prabhu, he should be dead. Clean it up. Then we can have a happy, peaceful place. But the problem is there are people like that in every religion to different degrees. Its people who on the basis of religious incidents that took place thousands of thousands of years ago, they still hate people. Yes. My father was Jewish. He was only Jewish Persian in his school and he used to get beat up everyday almost and why did they beat him up? They said, “You killed Jesus”. He was just a little boy. He said, “I didn’t do it”. This is reality. This is not just some cartoon show. This is reality. He was getting beat up every day. “You killed Jesus”. He said, “I didn’t do it”. “No, you did it”. So he had to learn to fight. He said, I liked you, he was a good person, and I would never do that. Something that happened 2000 years ago and you have certain interpretation of scriptures, hatred. Look at the Islamic terrorism today. And actually there has been terrorism throughout history in practically every religion for their political purposes. So it’s a problem. People hate each other and that hate, when it is packaged in religious form, it really goes deep in the heart and it has a whole philosophy to support it. Yes. You know Hitler, his hatred, Stallion’s hatred, it wasn’t, it wasn’t, very substantial. It was all political. And after they died, their own countrymen, they really didn’t, very few of them, they all understood, this was, he was just cheating us, he was just misguiding us. Yes. But when it is based on religious and true principles, that same hatred carries on for thousands of years, generation after generation. Because there is a philosophy behind it. There is perverted interpretation of scriptures and the name of God supporting it. Very dangerous. So Prthu maharaja, he was such a leader that he led his citizens by his own example toward Sanatana dharma, towards the universal principles of true religion and he was the very embodiment of that. And in this way, his father Vaina, he was such a culprit; he took the scriptures and misused it for his own envious, egoistic purpose. Did you read in the scriptures, the king is the manifestation of Supreme Personality of Godhead and all the demigods? That’s right, you see it’s there. All the acharyas, all the saints, they all say it. So I am your king, follow me, I am God. Stop all yagyas to all demigods, stop all devotion to the supreme god, and just do everything for me. Hare Krishna. Absolute power but corrupt absolutely. And the Brahmans, they came to him, saying, “We know the scriptures, this is not right, this is not right maharaja, this is not right. You are supposed to be leading us to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead and respect and honor the demigods who are all his devotees”. And he just said, “You are all nonsense, you are offenders, you are not following me”. And ultimately they tell some mantras, some omkara mantras, and then Prthu maharaja and they died. First he created so much corruption and misguided people so terribly. And the common people were all following him. People considered, look at America today. There people, villains and criminals are heroes. Yes. In Chicago, I feel when I was there last time, those bus tours to see the places of Alkopar, there were bus tours, and it’s probably untouchable bus tours. That’s a good name actually. But they have a different interpretation with that name. They think an untouchable is very good person. He heroised, he was just a person who was a murderer, criminal, a floater, just promoted prostitution and liquor and hero. My father told me that when he was a little boy, the most wanted person in FBI list was John Devenger, you ever heard of him? In the Calimag city, near Chicago, he lived two blocks from my father. And he was the number one person in the most wanted list. Should I be talking about this? Are you interested in it? Just be patient, it will have a spiritual purport. So here he is, he is a bank robber, he is a killer, he is just getting away from the police every time by his good intelligence. And he was living just a couple of blocks away. And the FBI is searching everywhere in the world for him, and I asked my father, because he was, he gave me a tour, not now, some years ago and I said, well everybody knows he was there, why don’t they tell the police about it. He said, “No no, he was a hero”. Everyone was just so honored that he was living in our neighborhood. There was a huge reward, some tens of thousands of dollars for anyone who gives information, for years nobody gave any information, because they wanted to protect him, because he was their hero. When kids were growing up, they were asking for autographs, because he a bank robber, a murderer, but he was always still a hero. They considered him like Robin Hood, because he was stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. The only problem is he never gave anything to the poor. So, how many people read books about these things or see movies. People go to the movies where there is the police and the gangsters. And most people are actually for the gangsters. Right. Because they are like heroes. They are cruel guys. Police. So there it was like that. Most of the people of his kingdom followed the way he lived. He was a gangster, without a gang, he was just a single person. He was just corrupted, egoistic, but he kept intense law and order according to his own interpretation. If anyone did anything that was not exactly according to his laws, they were apprehended and punished. There were no thieves; there were no robbers, except him. There was a story Prabhupada told about Alexander the great? Alexander the great caught a thief and he sentenced him to death. And the thief just honestly told him, he said, “The only difference between you and me is I am a little thief and you are a big thief. You destroy people’s consciousness and conquer them and take them over and I just steal some little some motor”. But the difference between you and me is, you are a big thief and I am a little thief. And Alexander the great thought about it and said you are right. He let the man go. He was defeated. The truth goes right to the heart. So ultimately the Brahmans, they had to dispatch king Vaina to the court of Yama. But then things became even worse. Why because now there is now no law and order. Now all the little thieves could do anything they want. So the Brahmans, they churned, of course Vaina’s mother loved him, he was her son. Mothers don’t see the defect you know. Alright he is a little naughty but he is my son. So she kept his body, she was so attached to his body; she kept his body in preservatives. So that was a good thing. The Brahmans churned his body through mantras and from that came Prthu Maharaja and his divine consort Archi. But he was a perfect king. He embodied the powers and the qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and especially of all the demigods. In fact he was an avatar of Vishnu, shaktivesha avatar. The power and the potencies of the Supreme Lord to perform the purpose of all demigods. And he had such God given powers that he could actually perform the work of the demigods. So idea is that, he accepted all the qualities of the deities who governed all other planets. Prabhupada explains briefly what a demigod, a devata is. They are very very highly empowered beings. Generally people who have immense good karma, who are devotees of Krishna but at the same time have some attraction to power, influence, wealth and enjoyment, such a person by their karma can actually take birth as a demigod. And these demigods, they are all devotees. If you offend a demigod, you commit a vaishnav apradh. Prabhupada and our acharyas of our Gaudiya vaishnav sampradaya and all vaishnav sampradayas teach us that we should not worship the demigods for material purposes and we should not equate the demigods to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is an offense. But sometimes devotees take it in an immature perspective. And they just demean the demigods. Bhagvat Gita teaches us we must honor and respect the demigods but we should not worship them for materialistic purposes or equate them to God. They are devotees. Now the situation of demigods is in many ways just like the devotees who get power and influence in this world. The tendency is to become proud. And to forget by whose grace we have these powers. Prabhupada tells a story, Punar mushtika bhava, a mouse that was afraid of a cat; it went to a yogi and said please, “I cannot tolerate this, make me a cat”. Then cats are chased by dogs, make me a dog. Then the dog is chased by tiger, make me a tiger. And then when he became a tiger, he obviously will go to the forest. Then he was looking at the yogi. And he said, “You want to eat me”. Ya, now I am a tiger. Punar mushtika bhava, again become a mouse. Yes, it’s a very important story. Krishna can give us powers. He can make a mouse into a tiger and he can make a tiger back into a mouse if we misuse our position. So Krishna’s Lila, so many of the great demigods, Krishna wanted to protect them out of love for them because they were actually doing good service but they were some how or other getting caught up. (0.34.49) that means when we perform devotional service we should not ever become attached to the fruits of our service. Because when you become empowered by Krishna, knowledge, influence and people start respecting you, and honoring and people start giving gifts. You think anything yours, then you are in a fallen condition. Krishna has given us the knowledge, Krishna has given us the powers, what ever attraction we have, its, it is because of Krishna. We shouldn’t use any of these things for our own sense gratification. And factually this is a great pitfall. That’s why there are avadutas who in our vaishnav sampradayas and Holy Scriptures we find some times people; they hide all their spiritual qualities because they do not want to be entangled by the respect and adoration that, being a saintly person may tempt us with. So many classic examples, Rishabhdev, he was king of the world; he was an avatar of the lord. But afterward he became an avaduta and he just, nobody even recognized him that he was their king. People just made fun of him and laughed at him. Yes. Sukhdev Goswami, he was a totally liberated soul, but he acted like a mad man, so that people just, just threw stones and dirt at him and criticized him and laughed at him. Bharat maharaja, he was a great king of the world, highly spiritually realized but he got entangled by that so he became jad bharat. He completely hid all of his spiritual qualities in his heart and he was totally inoffensive, he was living a perfectly religious spiritual life but he did it in such a way that people thought he was the lowest of the low. Hare Krishna. They would pass urine on him, throw stool at him, just take him and put him like a scare crow in a field to keep the birds away from the grain. And he just like did it. He never cared, he never resented. They took him to be sacrificed to the goddess kali to get his head chopped off, he just co-operated. He could have run away, he co-operated. But the lord always protected him. Why people become avaduta like this? Because they understand that when you are honored, when you are respected, it is a very very dangerous situation. Because false pride comes in your heart. So what happens when there is false pride? You offend other people and when you offend other people you are going to fall down. Not only devotees, if you offend any one, you are going to fall down. But if you offend devotees, that’s the most serious. In Shri Chaitanya Bhagvat, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He gave a very very clear instruction, He said it with a raised voice, with His arms raised. He said, “I will take you back to Godhead, if you just do two things, chant the holy names of the Lord and do not offend anyone”. Hare Krishna. That’s all. Just don’t offend people and chant the names of the Lord, Krishna will give you special mercy. He said, “Do not criticize anyone, and chant the names of the Lord”. We feel, usually new bhaktas do not criticize other devotees, because they feel, “I am the lowest”. But as you get higher and higher positions, the tendency becomes more and more. Just like the gurukulis, they call it, Ishavara bhava, and the sentiment of trying to be the lord. Yes. Thinking you are better than others, criticizing others, manipulating others. We have to be very careful. Now the demigods are very great devotees. Indra, if you read in Sanatana Gosvami’s Bhagvatamrita, or you read Srimad Bhagvatam, when Indra does yagyas in his swargalok, Vishnu personally comes, appears physically before him and accepts the offerings. That’s not an ordinary thing. Now Indra gets himself in a lot of troubles some times, but still he is a great devotee. So we cannot offend Indra. But still in that position, some times pride comes in. and Krishna, when he appeared in this world, He was so merciful, so loving, that He crushed the pride of all the demigods. Yes. The whole Govardhan pooja, ceremony, Krishna wanted to do so many things, He wanted to be with the brij wasis, every one through seven days and seven nights and every body could reciprocate to their full heart’s satisfaction without interruption. Otherwise gopis, gopas would play with Krishna all day, but then at night He would go home and they would just be in immense separation whole night, till the next morning, they could be with Him. And the gopis were always longing to be with Him. For seven days and seven nights everybody was with Krishna. Nobody had to go home. Krishna was standing before them in His Giridhari form. And He was glancing at every one and through His smile, His glance; He was reciprocating with everyone’s innermost heart’s desire. It was a beautiful; it was the most beautiful experience. Indra, he was outraged. There was some other reason for this Govardhan Lila. Krishna wanted to show how if you turn to Him, He will always protect His devotees even in the most insurmountable dangers. And He reciprocated intimately with the love of all His devotees. Such a special way. And He also wanted to curb the pride of Indra, because Krishna is Parmatma, He doesn’t need some report. He knows your heart from its innermost core. He knows your desires, He knows your motivation, He knows your purpose, and bhakti means Krishna accepts the purpose in which we offer, what we offer. So He sensed that Indra had pride. And out of love for him, He had to smash his pride and He did. As a seven year old little talkative boy, Indra didn’t know who He was; He was his lord and master. He tried to destroy Him with all His powers. It was so nice. There were torrents of rain, not the rain that you get in Gita Nagari. This is the samvartaka cloud that means the clouds of devastation. These clouds, they don’t fall, the rain doesn’t fall in drops, and it falls in pillars. Can you imagine just pillars of water, just pouring from the sky? It has the power, in just a matter of hours, to cover the entire; it causes the ocean to swell up so much, that the whole, the whole planet becomes just an ocean, one ocean. Nothing more than it. That’s the power of these clouds. And he sent all these clouds to Vrindavan. Lighting and thunders, gopas came running to Krishna, it was your idea Krishna that we do this Indra pooja instead we did this Govardhan pooja and now look Indra is very angry. Krishna smiled, he said don’t worry. And then he just lifted Govardhan hill like a little child lifts a mushroom with his little finger. It’s so wonderful. He said now every one come, come this Govardhan hill will be an umbrella for all of us. And all gathered in the umbrella. And they were so happy with Krishna, seven days and seven nights, they never wanted the rain to stop. They were so happy to speak with Krishna. And meanwhile how Krishna crushed the pride of Indra into fine powder. Now the samvartaka clouds with all of their strength, were trying to hurt the brij wasis, they couldn’t do anything. They were totally exhausted. They went back to Indra and said, “We are finished, we are defeated. Cant do anything”. And then Indra said, “No, I will go with you”. Then he came and they were sending winds. Bigger than hurricane George that attacked portiligo, George right? I know, I went to portiligo some years ago to visit (0.46.24). Big big hurricanes. I remember some years ago there was a big hurricane coming towards Cape Kenedy or Cape kenegro, and these billions of dollars of space equipment there and what ever else. The government, they were wondering, it could be a disaster if this hurricane comes from the ocean of Atlantic onto the earth. So ultimately what could they do? America is suppose to have the best army, the best military technology, the best intelligence, so ultimately they just told all the workers, thousands of workers, just evacuate, get out of there. That’s just little wind. But samvartaka clouds and Indra sending the highest torrential winds and he was shooting all their winds. These are the winds that can rip planets apart. All the winds, their winds were aimed at one thing. Some how or other just pushing Govardhan hill off the tip of Krishna’s little finger. Such winds, what made any typhoon, or hurricane or tornado look like a sweet breeze, they were just and they couldn’t move the hill from the tip of Krishna’s little finger. Days they were doing this. They were throwing torrents of rain and thunderbolts. And after seven days and seven nights, Indra saw, that even on the top of Govardhan hill, what to speak of underneath, on the top of the hill, all those seven days of torrential universal storms, he did not; he was not able to move one leaf from a tree. There were millions and millions of trees, one hundreds and millions of leaves; he could not separate a single leaf from a tree. He could not lift a single grain of dust. Not a single stone was moved. And all the cows and deers, most of the cows were underneath, but even on top, the deers and the animals, they were just going around their business very nicely. How was that possible? Because Govardhan hill was feeling such immense ecstasy. He was energized so deeply. Now this hill today is 21 kms to walk around it and it was far bigger in those days. But Giriraj was just feeling the tip of Krishna’s little finger underneath him. Now what is proportionately the tip of the little finger of a seven year old boy to a hill that’s gigantic hill? But because that touch of Krishna’s finger was on him, he was in ecstasy, Giriraj was in ecstasy. He was so empowered that Indra and all of his forces could not move a leaf or even cause a blade of grass to bend. Hare Krishna. So when Indra saw this, he was very humiliated. And false pride is like a fever. It intoxicates you. It’s intoxication. It’s like when a person is intoxicated with liquor or intoxicated with drugs, they just can’t perceive reality as it is. So that’s the way Indra was. He was intoxicated by false pride. But Krishna sobered him up. Then he understood everything as it is. That Krishna is the Supreme Lord, He is the Lord of all Lords, and I made this big gigantic apradh, I tried to kill Him and all His devotees and all His cows and everything. Indra was really upset. He became sober. What was that soberness? The clearing of the cloud of his false pride. And then he became very humble, very resentful. And he was thinking, and then he went to brihaspati, he went to Brahma brihaspati. And said, “You know, I made a big mistake. What should I do?” And brihaspati said, “You are a fool. You are such a fool, why did you do that?” You made a big offense. You can’t approach Krishna directly now. The only way to be forgiven from such offense is that you must go to Krishna’s devotees. If that devotee appeals to Krishna on your behalf then only will Krishna forgive you. You have to be sincere, you have to be genuine. Krishna loves cows. (0.52.37) Krishna loves the Brahmans and the cows. Why? Because of their compassionate work that He does through them within this world. So go to the mother of cows, Surabhi, and if she appeals on your behalf, then only will Krishna forgive you. So this was an extraordinary scene. Here is Indra; he is the king of heaven and with all the other demigods who we are reading about in swargalok, they are all under his supervision. Now there is, we are living in the loka, bhuloka, and above that is the swargalok which is the abode of the departmental heads of the universal creation. Chandra, vayu, surya, Agni, Indra, they are all very powerful demigods. 33 million of them and above that are the planets of the rishis, janaloka, maharloka, taploka and above that is sachloka, the abode of Lord Brahma. These are not just the demigods we are talking about; these are people who are just living very very very long lives, performing great great austerities, meditation. They are not concerned with wealth and the opposite sex and all that stuff, like the demigods. They are not concerned with power and influence. So in the swargalok, of all these tremendously powerful demigods, Indra is the king. Very powerful. You are leaving maharaja, I will end class in five mins so I could say good bye to you. Really within 5 mins I will end. Because if you leave and I don’t get the dust of your feet then I will be very deprived. So by his mercy class will end very soon. So to, where was I? Ya, Indra, swargalok, very powerful person. And here he is, with all his majestic crowns, his jewels and his gown and he is riding on airavata, the magnificent opulent elephant, and Indra is coming to a little cow and offering his obeisance’s and begging for mercy from a cow. This is such a wonderful scene. Isn’t it? His only hope was in the kindness of this cow. She is a mataji, a mother, yes, mother cow, and she said yes I will help you. And she was walking in Vrindavan, seeing what had happened. Surabhi comes up to Krishna in a place called Surabhi kunj and she said, he is very sincere, he begs forgiveness, please forgive. And because Surabhi Devi appealed on his behalf, Krishna accepted Indra. And he was willing to meet Indra and Indra just explained how he has, how Krishna’s mercy, his love is to protect him from his false pride. So it is very important. We have all made so many offenses. If a great devotee does not appeal to Krishna on our behalf, we have no hope. Just yesterday Bhaktitirtha swami maharaja was just saying how Prabhupada told us that he would be at the gates of the spiritual world to make sure we get in. Otherwise what hope do we have? If the great souls do not appeal on our behalf, Krishna will not hear. Yasya prasadad bhagvadprasado, if you please Krishna’s devotee, Krishna is pleased, if you do not please Krishna’s devotees, there is nothing in the 14 worlds we could do to please Krishna. Narottam das Thakur explains that if you offend Krishna, you can atone by chanting the holy names but if you offend a devotee, there is nothing that could save you except the dust of the feet of the devotee. Such change of heart, serving that devotee. This is Krishna’s plan, because Krishna loves his devotee so much. So Prthu maharaja, he manifested the same qualities of all the demigods with such total humble devotion, pure devotion. And because maharaja is leaving, we don’t have so much time to discuss the last section of this, about going to the moon. But I will say one thing; it’s a long subject, there has been books since that time, or even scientist are questioning whether they actually went to the moon or not and Prabhupada was speaking in various ways and devotees were getting kind of shaken up. But Prabhupada was not just speaking it, only from the factual point of view; he was speaking it for our spiritual survival. Prabhupada really brought it down to the distilled essence, do you have faith in the word of God as it is revealed in the scriptures and supported by all the great saints or do you have faith in mundane people, mundane philosophers and scientist, who are changing their theories every day or every generation. Where are you going to put your faith? If you want to go back to Krishna, you have to have implicit faith in Krishna’s words and that’s what is in the scriptures. There is a certain point, I heard one lecture, I remember I will milking a cow when I was listening to a tape. I will never forget it. I was in a little barn, a gowshala, milking a cow. And I hear Prabhupada, this tape is going on and Prabhupada is speaking, I think in Vrindavan and he said, he said we are not concerned whether they went to the moon or not. He said, whether they go to the moon or not, or whether they don’t go to the moon or not, or whether they go to the moon, or don’t go to the moon, the same problems are there, birth, old age, disease and death. And we are concerned with solving these problems of birth, old age, disease and death. We are not concerned with who goes to the moon or doesn’t go to the moon. We are concerned with solving these problems. Whether they go or not, are those problems going to be solved? And to solve these problems, we have to surrender to Krishna. That is our objective. Not to prove or disprove this. And then he said, but according to the Vedas, I don’t think they went. But Prabhupada’s point was, and this is very important, the whole purpose of life is to liberate ourselves from the egoistic disposition, that I am this body, and I am the controller, and I am the enjoyer and I am the proprietor. The whole purpose of our life is to love God. It’s the only happiness, it’s the only reality. And we will accept what is favorable for that and we will reject what is unfavorable. And it’s only through the Holy Scriptures and the great saints that we have an access to infinite mercy of Krishna. Therefore we have faith in guru, sadhu and sashtra. I will end here. Thank you very much. Srila Prabhupada ki jai. Srila Bhaktitirtha swami maharaja ki jai. Radha Damodar ki jai. Gaur premanande hari bol. Radhanath maharaja ki jai.