Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble pranams! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!
This is in continuation of the previous offerings transcribing the wonderful class given by our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj in ISKCON centre, Kuala Lumpur on the Bhagavad Gita verse 4.10.
vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhā man-mayā mām upāśritāḥ
bahavo jñāna-tapasā pūtā mad-bhāvam āgatāḥ
Being freed from attachment, fear and anger, being fully absorbed in Me and taking refuge in Me, many, many persons in the past became purified by knowledge of Me—and thus they all attained transcendental love for Me.
In the previous offerings, we saw that Maharaj explained that
1. We have to get rid of the attachment with the knowledge that our material existence is temporary; Life or death is not in our hands and is under the control and supervision of Krishna.
2. Realizing the temporary nature, whatever time we are here we should behave very sanely and keep good relations with all the living entities and in situations that upset us, we should try to keep quiet and take shelter of Harinaam.
3. We should not get too much attached to material things and control our anger for our own good.
4. The process of birth is extremely difficult and realizing this we have to resolve ourselves not to enter into another material womb.
Maharaj goes on to explain the difficult process of birth and the same is posted here.
We are placed in an abominable position in the womb of the mother and with this situation also we are careless. We do not want to know about it. 'Alright, it may be, I will have another. This is how we are attached and this raga must go away and the raga will only go if we know the real position. That is why I am describing you. Bhagavatam is a beautiful granth. Granthraj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai! Srila Prabhupada ki jai! He has made it clear. Otherwise, we were quite like stone. We did not understand anything. He has made it clear. Please take help. Then He says, sa jantur jantu sambhave (SB 3.31.5) – in urine and stool what can you expect except the jantus i.e worm? There are plenty of worms produced around the delicate lump of our body and these germs are very hungry.
kṛmibhiḥ kṣata-sarvāṅgaḥ saukumāryāt pratikṣaṇam
mūrcchām āpnoty uru-kleśas tatratyaiḥ kṣudhitair muhuḥ
Bitten again and again all over the body by the hungry worms in the abdomen itself, the child suffers terrible agony because of his tenderness. He thus becomes unconscious moment after moment because of the terrible condition. (SB 3.31.6)
krmibhih, by those germs, the living entity is bitten again and again. saukumaaryaad pratikshanam, every moment the delicate body is bitten by the hungry germs. Think of that body! That body is completely helpless and garbhashaye, we are lying within the bag. We do not have the capacity to scratch. At least here the mosquito is there and we can scratch and get rid of it but in that condition, we cannot scratch. We cannot tolerate and we cannot stop the germs. We do not have mosquito nets or germ nets there and nobody to tell and nobody to hear except the Lord. Lord knows what we are undergoing. That is why He supplies the energy to tolerate all these things. Otherwise, we could be completely dead before we are born and then in that position, murcchaam apnoti uru kleshah - that living entity loses its consciousness time and again, again and again, again and again. It is in an unconscious position because of the biting of the germs and then
kaṭu-tīkṣṇoṣṇa-lavaṇa- rūkṣāmlādibhir ulbaṇaiḥ
mātṛ-bhuktair upaspṛṣṭaḥ sarvāṅgotthita-vedanaḥ
Owing to the mother’s eating bitter, pungent foodstuffs, or food which is too salty or too sour, the body of the child incessantly suffers pains which are almost intolerable. (SB 3.31.7)
Whatever the mother eats may be bitter food or hot chilly etc., and lavana – very salty, dry and bitter food, all these foods are mixed in her body and that juice is supplied to the living entity and as soon as it gets that hot food, again it is burnt. Outside germs are there to bite him and on top of this the mother does not take care and she takes the drugs, she smokes this and that. We do not have any care for the living entity who is lying in our womb and that is why in our Vedic traditions, as soon as the mother conceives the child, she behaves very cautiously. She hears the shastras day and night so that the child may get some relief from the torture in the womb and the mother also. Otherwise, we are in a completely pitiable condition and there is nobody to pity us. Outside people are thinking that the child is going to come, the child is going to come... they are celebrating. What are they celebrating? murchham aapnoti uru - so much trouble there and the hungry germs keep on biting again and again. And this is the condition in the womb and then
ulbena saṁvṛtas tasminn antraiś ca bahir āvṛtaḥ
āste kṛtvā śiraḥ kukṣau bhugna-pṛṣṭha-śirodharaḥ
Placed within the amnion and covered outside by the intestines, the child remains lying on one side of the abdomen, his head turned towards his belly and his back and neck arched like a bow. (SB 3.31.8)
It is covered by the intestines of the mother because as it grows, bigger and bigger there is no place in the womb and it has to get covered by different limbs of the mother and in that condition naikatraaste- it cannot remain in one place. It is tossed from one corner to the other corner and as the time goes, six months, seven months, eight months, nine months... by the force of the air we are tossed to the entrance to get out, and then he is forced to get out and there is no sufficient passage to get out. Again it is squeezed and struggles so much that he used to remember hundred births in the womb of the mother. As soon as he gets out, because of the trouble he experiences, he completely loses his smrti, remembrance and he who knew what he did in last hundred births, now he even does not know what is happening presently and this is the position in the material world also. If some living entity is troubled so much, if he gets miseries one after the other, then he loses the balance of his mind. It is not that he or she likes to lose the balance of the mind but it is the outside circumstances that force the living entity to lose the mind because that living entity is not firmly fixed at the lotus feet of Krishna and that is what Srila Prabhupada tells us that if we take these things into consideration, we will never be attached to anything and with this position, when the child comes out, he does not know what to do and he cries.
Maharaj went on to explain the further sufferings of the newborn child and the same shall be offered in the next mail, Krishna willing.
Thank you very much,
Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev,
Vaijayantimala devi dasi,
Abu Dhabi.
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