Q. What is the best devotional service?
A. Subjectively speaking any service performed in love is best. However, Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami teaches that loving service in conjugal love is sweetest if we make an objective analysis of the various flavors of love. Therefore he calls it madhura (sweet).
Q. Why did Krishna in Mahabharata kill all the great fighters like Bhisma, Drona and Karna, by cheating?
A. It was the only way they could be killed. Great souls cheat others for a great cause. There is no difference between Krishna’s telling the truth and his lying, except for the fact that his lying is sweeter.
Q. Is it true that during the time of Mahaprabhu everyone on the planet was liberated?
A. It has been mentioned like this in Caitanya-caritamrta. There it is stated that by the mercy of Advaita Acarya this happened, sankirtana pracariya saba jagat tarila advaita-prasade loka prema-dhana paila. Haridasa Thakura said this of Mahaprabhu as well. He compared it to Krishna’s bhauma-vrindavana-lila, taiche tumi navadvipe kari’ avatara sakala-brahmanda-jivera karila nistara. However, it can be taken to mean that with his appearance in the world the liberation of everyone on earth is assured in due course. Just as an earthquake sets a tidal wave in motion and transforms a foreign land in due course. This is one way to think of it.
Q. Re: Indra’s role in the lila of Krishna lifting Govardhana Hill. In Srila Prabhupada’s Krishna Book, after Krishna convinced the residents of Vrindavana not to perform the Indra Yajna, it is described how Indra calls Krishna an ordinary man and expressed how he wanted to destroy the residents of Vrindavana and the cows. This appears very serious, especially as this was directed towards Krishna’s most dear devotees. Yet Krishna was so merciful to Indra. I am confused about Indra’s real role in this. Indra offers beautiful prayers to Krishna and Krishna treats him kindly, yet later in the Krishna Book, when Satyabhama uproots a parijata tree on the heavenly planet, Indra and other demigods offer resistance, an action which was not appreciated by Sri Sukadeva Goswami. Also I am curious as to why Indra approached Krishna at a secluded place after he tried to drown the inhabitants of Vrindavana, rather than approaching the inhabitants of Vrindavana and apologizing for his actions. Is there a special significance to this?
A. Indra’s offense to the inhabitants of Vrindavana was very serious. Because of this even Brahma did not know how to advise him when he sought to rectify himself. His reluctance to come before all of the inhabitants of Vrindavana reveals that his remorse was half-hearted. Indeed, he tried to get Surabhi to speak on his behalf rather than personally apologize to Krishna. Yet Krishna accepted his apology, and made it easier for him to make it by arranging it in a secluded place. While in one sense the secluded place implies that self-searching must come from deep within the seclusion of our heart, in this case it was also a concession for Indra. This reveals further the extent of Indra’s pride, which is a large part of the lesson to be learned from this chapter—material opulence begets pride.
Later in heaven Krishna arranged for Satyabhama to uproot the parijata tree. She took it, not Krishna. This outraged Indra, and he fought with Krishna backed by a host of gods only to be defeated. Previous to this Indra had given a praijata tree to Krishna when he established the city of Dvaraka. So he was outraged at Satyabhama’s audacity and confused as to how Krishna could be so henpecked as to allow her to act so disrespectfully in heaven. He also questioned Krishna in his mind for his having brought Satyabhama along with him in the first place. Krishna is after all difficult to understand, muhyanti yat surayah.
When Krishna then defeated Indra and all the gods, he turned to Indra and offered the tree to him, telling Indra that he could have it back for the pleasure of his wife Saci. Embarrassed, Indra allowed Krishna to take it. The point of this lila is that Krishna is not attached like a materialistic man is to his wife, nor controlled by his material sakti. Although it appeared that he was, his relationship with Satyabhama was transcendental. In contrast, Indra himself was attached. Furthermore, this lila illustrates that Krishna is prepared to fight all of the gods if necessary to fulfill his promise to his devotee, for previously he had promised the parijata tree to Satyabhama.
The role of Indra in the Bhagavatam is thus one in which he is repeatedly embarrassed by his actions born of the intoxicating influence of pride resulting from material opulence.
