Krsna Book Audio Dictation - Chapter 79
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter Seventy-nine. Subject: "Liberation of Balvala, and Lord Balarāma's Touring in the Sacred Holy Places."
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After this, when there were ceremonial days on the full moon and dark moon fortnightly occasions, there appeared a great hailstorm. The whole sky became covered with dust, and the atmosphere became surcharged with filthy smell. Just after this, all the arena of sacrifice, the mischievous demons Balvala began to shower torrents of stools and urines and other impure articles. After this onslaught, the demon himself appeared with a great trident in his hand. He was a gigantic person, and his body appeared to be a huge mass of congregated carbon, black stacked together. His hairs on the head, his beard and moustaches appeared to be melted copper-like red, and because of his great beards and moustaches, his mouth appeared to be very dangerously fierceful. Lord Balarāma, as soon as saw the demon, immediately prepared Himself to strike him, taking carefully His plow and club, and he began to think how He could smash the great demon into pieces.
As soon as Lord Balarāma called for His plow and club, immediately they appeared before Him. The demon Balvala was flying in the sky, and Lord Balarāma at the first opportunity dragged him by His plow and immediately with anger slashed His club on the head of the demon, who was a great disturbance of the pious brāhmaṇas. By this striking by Balarāma, the forehead of the demon become fractured. There was profuse oozing out of blood from his forehead. Therefore, he began to scream very loudly, and in this way fell down on the ground. His falling down on the ground can be compared as if a great mountain with red oxide on the top became stricken by the thunderbolt and smashed down on the ground.
The inhabitants of Naimiṣāraṇya, learned sages and brāhmaṇas, by seeing this became very much pleased, and they began to offer their respectful prayers to Lord Balarāma. They offered their heartfelt blessings upon the Lord, and all of them said that Lord Balarāma's attempt to do anything would never be a failure. After this, the sages and the brāhmaṇas performed a ceremonial bathing of Lord Balarāma, exactly like the demigods do in case of King Indra's victory over the demons. The brāhmaṇas and the sages after this honored Lord Balarāma by presenting Him first-class new clothings and ornaments and a garland of victory, which was strewn by lotus flower, the reservoir of all beauty and never to be dried up, being in everlasting existence.
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After this incidence, He took permission from all the brāhmaṇas assembled at Naimiṣāraṇya and then, accompanied by other brāhmaṇas, came on the bank of the river Kauśika. After taking His bath in this holy place, He proceeded towards the river Sarayū and visited the source of the river. Thus He began to travel on the banks of the Sarayū River, and gradually He reached at Prayāga, where there is confluence of three rivers: Ganges, Yamunā and Sarasvatī. Here also He regularly took His bath, worshiped the local temples of gods and, as it is enjoined in the Vedic literature, He offered oblations to the forefathers, sages, etc. And after finishing this business, He reached the āśrama of Pulaha sage.
From there He went to Gaṇḍakī on the river of Gomatī. After this, He took His bath in the river Vipāśā. Then gradually He came down on the bank of the Śoṇa River. (The Śoṇa River is still running as one of the big rivers in the Bihar Province.) There also He took His regular bath and performed the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies. Gradually He came down to the pilgrimage Gayā, where there is the celebrated Viṣṇu temple. According to the advice of His father, Vasudeva, He offered oblations to the forefathers in this Viṣṇu temple.
From here He gradually reached the delta of the Ganges, where the sacred river Ganges has mixed with the Bay of Bengal. This sacred place is called Gaṅgāsāgara, and by the end of January every year still there is a great assembly of saintly persons and pious men even up to date, as much as there is assembly of saintly persons in Prayāga every year, which is called Māgha-melā fair.
Lord Balarāma, after finishing His bathing and ritualistic ceremonies at Gaṅgāsāgara, He gradually proceeded towards the mountain known as Mahendra Parvata. At this place He met the incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa Paraśurāma, and Lord Balarāma offered His respect to Paraśurāma by bowing down before him. After this, gradually He turns toward southern India and visited the banks of the river Godāvarī. After taking His bath in the river Godāvarī and performing the necessary ritualistic ceremonies, He gradually visited the other rivers of the name Veṇā, Pampā and Bhīmarathī. On the bank of the river Bhīmarathī, there is the deity Svāmī Kārttik. After visiting Kārttik, Lord Balarāma gradually proceeded to Śailapura, or Śolapura. This is a pilgrimage in the province of Mahārāṣṭra. This Śolapura is one of the biggest district in Mahārāṣṭra Province.
Then He gradually proceeded towards the Draviḍa-deśa. The southern India is divided into five parts, and they are called Paṣca-draviḍa, as northern India is also divided into five parts, called Paṣca-gauḍa. All the big ācāryas of modern age—namely Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṇu Svāmī and Nimbārka—all of them advented in these Draviḍa provinces. But Lord Caitanya appeared in Bengal, which is part of five Gauḍa-deśa.
The most important pilgrimage in the southern India, or Draviḍas, is Veṅkaṭācala, or commonly known as Bālajī. From here He proceeded towards Viṣṇukāṣcī. From there He proceeded on the bank of the Kāverī. He took His bath in the river Kāverī, then gradually reached Raṅgakṣetra. The biggest temple in the world is there in this Raṅgakṣetra, and the Deity Viṣṇu is celebrated as Raṅganātha. A similar temple of Raṅganātha is there in Vṛndāvana, although it is not as big as the temple in Raṅgakṣetra. Still, this Raṅganātha temple in Vṛndāvana is the biggest of all. While going to Viṣṇukāṣcī, Lord Balarāma visited also Śivakāṣcī.
After visiting Raṅgakṣetra, He gradually proceeded towards Madurai, or commonly known as the Mathurā of southern India. After visiting this place, gradually He proceeded towards Setubandha. The Setubandha is the place where Lord Rāmacandra constructed the stone bridge from India to Laṅkā (within brackets) (Ceylon). In this particular holy place, Setubandha, Lord Balarāma distributed ten thousand cows to the local brāhmaṇa priests. It is the Vedic custom that when a rich visitor goes to any pilgrimage he gives in charity to the local priest houses, cows, ornaments, garments, or in other words, all necessities of the brāhmaṇas.
This system of visiting pilgrimages and providing the local brāhmaṇa priests with all necessities of life has very much deteriorated in this age of Kali. The richer section of population is no more attracted by these pilgrimages because of their degradation in Vedic culture. And the brāhmaṇa priests also, who depended on such visitors, they have also degraded in their professional duty of helping the visitors. These brāhmaṇa priests in the pilgrimages are called paṇḍā or paṇḍitas. This means formerly they were very learned brāhmaṇas, and they used to guide the visitors in every details of the purpose of coming there, and thus both the visitors and the priests were benefited by mutual cooperation.
But from the description of Lord Balarāma's visiting the different places of…
(break) …people even before five thousand years ago visit...
(break) …He proceeded from there towards Kṛtamālā and Tāmraparṇī. These two rivers are also celebrated as sacred rivers, and Lord Balarāma took His bath in those rivers. From there He proceeded toward the Malaya hills. This Malaya Hill is very great. It is said that there are seven ranges of these hill. The Malaya Hill referred herewith is one of the seven ranges. The great sage of the name Agastya used to live in these Malaya hills, and Lord Balarāma visited him and offered His respect by bowing down before him. After taking his blessings and permission from there, He proceeded towards the Indian Ocean. And at the last point of the Cape there is a big temple of goddess Durgā. She is known as Kanyākumārī. This Kanyākumārī temple was also visited by Lord Rāmacandra, and therefore it is to be understood that this temple is existing for millions of years.
From there, He visited the Indian Ocean, or the Southern Ocean, where there is a pilgrimage known as Phālguna-tīrtha. This Phālguna-tīrtha is celebrated on account of Lord Viṣṇu of the name Ananta lying there. From there He visited another pilgrimage, known as Paṣcāpsarasa. There also He took regular bath and observed the ritualistic ceremonies. This pilgrimage is also celebrated as the place of Lord Viṣṇu; therefore, Lord Balarāma distributed there ten thousands of cows to the local brāhmaṇa priests.
Now, from Cape Comorin He turned towards Kerala. This country Kerala is still existing under the name of South Kerala in southern India. After visiting this place, He came to Gokarṇa-tīrtha. This Gokarṇa-tīrtha is the place of Lord Śiva, and Lord Śiva is worshiped there constantly. From there He visited the temple of Āryādevī, which is surrounded by water all around. From that island He went to the place known as Śūrpāraka. After this He took bath in the river known as Tāpī, Payoṣṇī, Nirvindhyā, then He came to the forest known as Daṇḍakāraṇya. This forest Daṇḍakāraṇya Lord Rāmacandra lived while He was exiled. Then He came on the bank of the river Narmadā, the biggest river in the central India. On the bank of this sacred river Narmadā there is a pilgrimage known as Māhiṣmatī-purī. Lord Balarāma, after taking regular bath in this pilgrimage, He came back again to the Prabhāsa-tīrtha, wherefrom He began His journey.
When He returned to Prabhāsa-tīrtha, He heard from the brāhmaṇas there that in the Battle of Kurukṣetra mostly the kṣatriyas are all killed. Thus He felt relieved that the burden of the world has been reduced. Actually, Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma appeared on this earth to lessen the burden of military strength created by the ambitious kṣatriya kings. That is the way of materialistic life: people are not satisfied by the absolute necessities of life, but create extra demands ambitiously. It is again checked up by the laws of nature, or by laws of God, appearing as famine, war, pestilence and similar catastrophes. When He, however, heard that the Kurus are still engaged in fighting, He came back to the battlefield on the same day when Bhīmasena and Duryodhana were just engaged in duel fighting. He wanted to stop them, as well-wisher of both of them, but they did not.
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When Lord Balarāma appeared on the scene, King Yudhiṣṭhira, his youngest brothers Nakula, Sahadeva, Lord Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna immediately offered their respectful obeisances to Lord Balarāma, but without speaking anything all of them remained silent. The reason is that Lord Balarāma was somewhat affectionate to Duryodhana, because Duryodhana specifically learned the art of fighting with club from Balarāmajī. Thus when the fighting was going on, King Yudhiṣṭhira and others thought that Balarāma might have come there to say something in favor of Duryodhana, and thus they remained silent.
At that time both Duryodhana and Bhīmasena were very much enthusiastic in the fighting with clubs, and in the midst of many audiences, both of them very skillfully were trying to strike the other, and while attempting to do so it appeared that both of them were dancing very nicely. In their dancing mood also it was clear that both of them were very, very angry.
As Lord Balarāma wanted to stop the fighting, He said as follows: "My dear King Duryodhana and Bhīmasena, I know that both of you are great fighter, both of you are well known in the world as great heroes in fighting. But still I think that Bhīmasena, by his bodily strength, is superior than Duryodhana. But at the same time, Duryodhana is superior in the art of fighting with club. Taking this into consideration, My opinion is none of you is inferior to the other in the matter of fighting. Under the circumstances, there is very little chance of one being defeated by the other. Therefore, I request you not to waste your time in fighting in this way. I wish that you may stop this unnecessary fight." (quotation close)
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Actually, the good instruction given by Lord Balarāma to both Bhīmasena and Duryodhana was equally beneficial for both of them. But both of them were so much wrapped up in anger against the other that they simply remembered their personal behavior in enmity since a very, very long time. Both of them took it a chance of killing the other, and therefore they did not give very much importance to the instruction of Lord Balarāma. Both of them became like madmen, remembering that strong accusation and ill behavior with one another. Lord Balarāma immediately could understand the destiny which was awaiting to both of them; therefore, He did not become very much eager further in this matter. Therefore, instead of staying there, He decided to return back to the city of Dvārakā.
Thus when He returned in the city of Dvārakā, He was received with great jubilation by relatives and friends, headed by King Ugrasena and other elderly persons, and all of them came forward to welcome Lord Balarāma returned back. After this, He again went to the holy pilgrimage Naimiṣāraṇya, and the sages, saintly persons, brāhmaṇas, all of them understanding that Lord Balarāma, although kṣatriya, was now retired from the fighting business because the brāhmaṇas and the sages were always for peace and tranquility.
All of them embraced Balarāma with great affection and induced Him to perform various kinds of sacrifices in that sacred spot of Naimiṣāraṇya. Actually, Lord Balarāma had no business to perform different kinds of sacrifices as they are recommended for ordinary human being. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore, He Himself is the enjoyer of all such sacrifices. As such, His exemplary action by performing sacrifices was only to give lesson to the common man how they should abide by the injunction of the Vedas.
After this, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Balarāma instructed the sages and saintly persons there on the subject matter of the living entities' relationship with this cosmic manifestation: how one should accept this whole universe, and how one should deal with them in order to achieve the highest goal of perfection. The highest goal of perfection is to understand that the whole cosmic manifestation is resting on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is also present all-pervasively in everything, including the minutest atom. This is the function of the Paramātmā feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
After this, Lord Balarāma took bath which is called avabhṛtha bath, accepted after finishing sacrificial performances. After taking His bath, He dressed Himself in new silken garments and, decorated with nice beautiful jewelries, along with His relatives and friends He appeared to be shining full moon along with the luminaries in the sky. Lord Balarāma is the Personality of Godhead Ananta Himself; therefore, He is beyond the scope of understanding by mind, intelligence or body. He descended exactly like human being and was behaving also in that way for His own purpose only. It can be simply explained as the Lord's pastime. Nobody can even estimate the unlimited demonstrations of His pastimes because He is all-powerful. Lord Balarāma is original Viṣṇu; therefore, anyone remembering these pastimes of Lord Balarāma in the morning, evening will certainly become a great devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus his life becomes successful in all respects.
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Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Seventy-ninth Chapter Kṛṣṇa in the matter of "Liberating of Balvala, and Lord Balarāma's Touring in Sacred Holy Places."