How can Supreme Lord WHO IS GREATER THAN ALL be cursed or booned?

In the 11th Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam Maharaja Pariksit asked the same question to Sri Sukhdeva Goswami:

SB 11.1.8: King Parīksit inquired: How could the brāhmanas curse the Vrsnis, who were always respectful to the brāhmaṇas, charitable, and inclined to serve senior and exalted personalities and whose minds were always fully absorbed in thought of Lord Krsna?

SB 11.1.9: King Parīksit continued inquiring: What was the motive for this curse? What did it consist of, O purest of the twice-born? And how could such a disagreement have arisen among the Yadus, who all shared the same goal of life? Please tell me all these things.

To which, Sri Sukhdeva Goswami gave a nice summary of the events that took place (Sambha dressed up like a girl, etc.)...

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.1.24

bhagavān jñāta-sarvārtha

īśvaro 'pi tad-anyathā

kartuḿ naicchad vipra-śāpaḿ

kāla-rūpy anvamodata

SYNONYMS

bhagavān — the Supreme Lord; jñāta — knowing; sarva-arthaḥ — the meaning of everything; īśvaraḥ — quite capable; api — although; tat-anyathā — otherwise; kartum — to make; na aicchat — He did not desire; vipra-śāpam — the brāhmaṇas' curse; kāla-rūpī — exhibiting His form of time; anvamodata — He gladly sanctioned.

TRANSLATION

Knowing fully the significance of all these events, the Supreme Lord, though capable of reversing the brāhmaṇas' curse, did not wish to do so. Rather, in His form of time, He gladly sanctioned the events.

PURPORT

Ordinary persons may be surprised or bewildered that the Lord gladly sanctioned the cursing and destruction of His own dynasty. The word anvamodata used here indicates taking pleasure in something, or giving sanction or approval. It is also mentioned, kāla-rūpī: Kṛṣṇa gladly gave His sanction to the brāhmaṇas' curse in the form of time. ŚrīlaBhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda has commented that the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇacandra, decided to maintain the curse intact in order to protect the actual principles of religion and destroy the unbecoming offense of the deceitful members of the Kārṣṇa dynasty. It is clearly explained in Bhagavad-gītā that the whole purpose of the Lord's descent into the material world is to reestablish the authentic principles of religion by which the conditioned souls who are suffering intensely under the laws of material nature can regain their original existential status as eternally liberated servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. The living entity comes to this material world with a desire to lord it over material nature, although the living entity is in fact not a lord but an eternal servant. Due to this perverted tendency to exploit the entire world for his sense gratification, the living entity is also prone to try to pervert the principles of spiritual life so that the eternal religious principles become appropriate to his own material sense gratification. Religion, however, is meant for pleasing the Supreme Lord by obeying His laws. And therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself personally comes from time to time to revive and enliven the correct method of devotional service to His lotus feet. In the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is clearly stated that Lord Kṛṣṇa had completed the vast majority of His pastimes on the earth and was now making the final arrangements for His departure. Therefore, He wished to leave behind a vivid lesson for the living entities of this age that any so-called religious person, even if he is so exalted as to take birth in the Lord's personal family, cannot violate the respect and reverence which is due to the pure devotees of the Lord, such as Nārada Muni. The principle of serving the pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa is so essential for spiritual advancement that the Lord exhibited the inconceivable pastime of causing the destruction of His entire dynasty just to impress this point upon the conditioned souls of Kali-yuga ... The activities of the transcendental body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be understood in any ordinary mundane way. That is the essential meaning of this chapter.

The second to last sentence: "The activities of the transcendental body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be understood in any ordinary mundane way" is the ultimate answer, and something you already know. Further, Lord Vishnu is also the preserver of the Material Creation, thus it is his responsibility to also guide people religiously, and accepting curses with humility sets a proper example.

The Bhagavad Gita has those two verse (4.7 - 4.8)

Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion--at that time I descend Myself.

In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.

END

Krsna always gets his happiness from serving his devotees and for this reason he happily accepts these curses. He upholds religiosity by doing so. Though He is beyond boons and curses He happily engages in both since it gives Him great pleasure to serve those who love Him.

Just to add a final thought. Lord Krsna asked Lord Shiva for a son like him so that the son (Samba) can be used to destroy the Yadavas (Lord Shiva being the destroyer and all). The leela of the Lord is incomparable and simply astounding.

A final reason is that Lord Vishnu represents the mode of Goodness (sattva-guna) which sustains everything (though I have no idea how to expand on this)... just food for thought i guess?

I hope this helps,

Your Servant,

Replies

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Radhe May 29, 2013 at 8:32pm

In the 11th Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam Maharaja Pariksit asked the same question to Sri Sukhdeva Goswami:

SB 11.1.8: King Parīksit inquired: How could the brāhmanas curse the Vrsnis, who were always respectful to the brāhmaṇas, charitable, and inclined to serve senior and exalted personalities and whose minds were always fully absorbed in thought of Lord Krsna?

SB 11.1.9: King Parīksit continued inquiring: What was the motive for this curse? What did it consist of, O purest of the twice-born? And how could such a disagreement have arisen among the Yadus, who all shared the same goal of life? Please tell me all these things.

To which, Sri Sukhdeva Goswami gave a nice summary of the events that took place (Sambha dressed up like a girl, etc.)...

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.1.24

bhagavān jñāta-sarvārtha

īśvaro 'pi tad-anyathā

kartuḿ naicchad vipra-śāpaḿ

kāla-rūpy anvamodata

SYNONYMS

bhagavān — the Supreme Lord; jñāta — knowing; sarva-arthaḥ — the meaning of everything; īśvaraḥ — quite capable; api — although; tat-anyathā — otherwise; kartum — to make; na aicchat — He did not desire; vipra-śāpam — the brāhmaṇas' curse; kāla-rūpī — exhibiting His form of time; anvamodata — He gladly sanctioned.

TRANSLATION

Knowing fully the significance of all these events, the Supreme Lord, though capable of reversing the brāhmaṇas' curse, did not wish to do so. Rather, in His form of time, He gladly sanctioned the events.

PURPORT

Ordinary persons may be surprised or bewildered that the Lord gladly sanctioned the cursing and destruction of His own dynasty. The word anvamodata used here indicates taking pleasure in something, or giving sanction or approval. It is also mentioned, kāla-rūpī: Kṛṣṇa gladly gave His sanction to the brāhmaṇas' curse in the form of time. ŚrīlaBhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda has commented that the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇacandra, decided to maintain the curse intact in order to protect the actual principles of religion and destroy the unbecoming offense of the deceitful members of the Kārṣṇa dynasty. It is clearly explained in Bhagavad-gītā that the whole purpose of the Lord's descent into the material world is to reestablish the authentic principles of religion by which the conditioned souls who are suffering intensely under the laws of material nature can regain their original existential status as eternally liberated servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. The living entity comes to this material world with a desire to lord it over material nature, although the living entity is in fact not a lord but an eternal servant. Due to this perverted tendency to exploit the entire world for his sense gratification, the living entity is also prone to try to pervert the principles of spiritual life so that the eternal religious principles become appropriate to his own material sense gratification. Religion, however, is meant for pleasing the Supreme Lord by obeying His laws. And therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself personally comes from time to time to revive and enliven the correct method of devotional service to His lotus feet. In the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is clearly stated that Lord Kṛṣṇa had completed the vast majority of His pastimes on the earth and was now making the final arrangements for His departure. Therefore, He wished to leave behind a vivid lesson for the living entities of this age that any so-called religious person, even if he is so exalted as to take birth in the Lord's personal family, cannot violate the respect and reverence which is due to the pure devotees of the Lord, such as Nārada Muni. The principle of serving the pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa is so essential for spiritual advancement that the Lord exhibited the inconceivable pastime of causing the destruction of His entire dynasty just to impress this point upon the conditioned souls of Kali-yuga ... The activities of the transcendental body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be understood in any ordinary mundane way. That is the essential meaning of this chapter.

The second to last sentence: "The activities of the transcendental body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be understood in any ordinary mundane way" is the ultimate answer, and something you already know. Further, Lord Vishnu is also the preserver of the Material Creation, thus it is his responsibility to also guide people religiously, and accepting curses with humility sets a proper example.

The Bhagavad Gita has those two verse (4.7 - 4.8)

Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion--at that time I descend Myself.

In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.

END

Krsna always gets his happiness from serving his devotees and for this reason he happily accepts these curses. He upholds religiosity by doing so. Though He is beyond boons and curses He happily engages in both since it gives Him great pleasure to serve those who love Him.

Just to add a final thought. Lord Krsna asked Lord Shiva for a son like him so that the son (Samba) can be used to destroy the Yadavas (Lord Shiva being the destroyer and all). The leela of the Lord is incomparable and simply astounding.

A final reason is that Lord Vishnu represents the mode of Goodness (sattva-guna) which sustains everything (though I have no idea how to expand on this)... just food for thought i guess?

I hope this helps,

Your Servant,

This reply was deleted.