Blog

It is said that a noble man accepts the good qualities of a person of
doubtful character, just as one accepts nectar from a stock of poison.
In His babyhood, Lord Krsna was administered deadly poison by Putana,
a she-demon who tried to kill the wonderful baby. And because she was
a demon, it was impossible for her to know that the Supreme Lord, even
though playing the part of a baby, was no one less than the same
Supreme Personality of Godhead. His value as the Supreme Lord did not
diminish upon His becoming a baby to please His devotee Yasoda. The
Lord may assume the form of a baby or a shape other than that of a
human being, but it doesn't make the slightest difference; He is
always the same Supreme. A living creature, however powerful he may
become by dint of severe penance, can never become equal to the
Supreme Lord. Lord Krsna accepted the motherhood of Putana because she
pretended to be an affectionate mother.

The asuras who fought against the Lord face to face got salvation due
to their being killed by the Lord. This salvation of the demons is not
due to their being devotees of the Lord; it is because of the Lord's
causeless mercy. Anyone who is slightly in touch with the Lord,
somehow or other, is greatly benefited, even to the point of
salvation, due to the excellence of the Lord. He is so kind that He
awards salvation even to His enemies because they come into contact
with Him and are indirectly absorbed in Him by their inimical
thoughts.

Actually, the demons can never be equal to the pure devotees, but
Uddhava was thinking in that way because of his feelings of
separation. He was thinking that at the last stage of his life he
might not be able to see the Lord face to face as did the demons. The
fact is that the devotees who are always engaged in the devotional
service of the Lord in transcendental love are rewarded many hundreds
and thousands of times more than the demons by being elevated to the
spiritual planets, where they remain with the Lord in eternal,
blissful existence. The demons and impersonalists are awarded the
facility of merging in the brahmajyoti effulgence of the Lord, whereas
the devotees are admitted into the spiritual planets. For comparison,
one can just imagine the difference between floating in space and
residing in one of the planets in the sky.

Lord Krsna's gentle behavior before His so-called superiors such as
His father, grandfather and elder brother, His amiable behavior with
His so-called wives, friends and contemporaries, His behavior as a
child before His mother Yasoda cannot bewilder a pure devotee like
Uddhava. Others, who are not devotees, are bewildered by such behavior
of the Lord, who acted just like a human being.

Lord Sri Krsna is the Lord of all kinds of threes and is independently
supreme by achievement of all kinds of fortune. He is worshiped by the
eternal maintainers of the creation, who offer Him the paraphernalia
of worship by touching their millions of helmets to His feet.

Despite being so wonderful, the Lord accepts the least qualification
of the living entity and awards him the highest reward. That is the
standard of His character.

Therefore, who but the Lord can be the ultimate shelter?


[ Srila Prabhupada Purport - Srimad Bhagavatam 3.2.21-24 (Uddhava to Vidura) ]