Introductionplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigTeachings of Queen Kuntī, Introduction
Introduction
The tragic and heroic figure of Queen Kuntī emerges from an explosive era in the history of ancient India. As related in the Mahābhārata, India’s grand epic poem of 110,000 couplets, Kuntī was the wife of King Pāṇḍu and the mother of five illustrious sons known as the Pāṇḍavas. As such, she was one of the central figures in a complex political drama that culminated fifty centuries ago in the Kurukṣetra War, a devastating war of ascendancy that changed the course of world events. Th…
The Original Personplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigTQK 1: The Original Person
Śrīmatī Kuntī said: O Kṛṣṇa, I offer my obeisances unto You because You are the original personality and are unaffected by the qualities of the material world. You are existing both within and without everything, yet You are invisible to all.
Beyond the Sensesplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigTQK 2: Beyond the Senses
Beyond the Senses
" māyā-javanikācchannam ajñādhokṣajam avyayam na lakṣyase mūḍha-dṛśā nato nāṭya-dharo yathā"
Being beyond the range of limited sense perception, You are the eternally irreproachable factor covered by the curtain of deluding energy. You are invisible to the foolish observer, exactly as an actor dressed as a player is not recognized.
The Most Intelligent Womanplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigTQK 3: The Most Intelligent Woman
The Most Intelligent Woman
" tathā paramahaṁsānāṁ munīnām amalātmanām bhakti-yoga-vidhānārthaṁ kathaṁ paśyema hi striyaḥ"
You Yourself descend to propagate the transcendental science of devotional service unto the hearts of the advanced transcendentalists and mental speculators, who are purified by being able to discriminate between matter and spirit. How, then, can we women know You perfectly?
" kṛṣṇāya vāsudevāya devakī-nandanāya ca nanda-gopa-kumārāya govindāya namo namaḥ"
Let me therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto the Lord, who has become the son of Vasudeva, the pleasure of Devakī, the boy of Nanda and the other cowherd men of Vṛndāvana, and the enlivener of the cows and the senses.
The Vision of Lotusesplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigTQK 5: The Vision of Lotuses
The Vision of Lotuses
" namaḥ paṅkaja-nābhāya namaḥ paṅkaja-māline namaḥ paṅkaja-netrāya namas te paṅkajāṅghraye"
My respectful obeisances are unto You, O Lord, whose abdomen is marked with a depression like a lotus flower, who are always decorated with garlands of lotus flowers, whose glance is as cool as the lotus, and whose feet are engraved with lotuses.
The Master of the Sensesplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigTQK 6: The Master of the Senses
O Hṛṣīkeśa, master of the senses and Lord of lords, You have released Your mother, Devakī, who was long imprisoned and distressed by the envious King Kaṁsa, and me and my children from a series of constant dangers.
My dear Kṛṣṇa, Your Lordship has protected us from a poisoned cake, from a great fire, from cannibals, from the vicious assembly, from sufferings during our exile in the forest, and from the battle where great generals fought. And now You have saved us from the weapon of Aśvatthāmā.
Let There Be Calamitiesplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigTQK 8: Let There Be Calamities
Let There Be Calamities
" vipadaḥ santu tāḥ śaśvat tatra tatra jagad-guro bhavato darśanaṁ yat syād apunar bhava-darśanam"
I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths.
" janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrībhir edhamāna-madaḥ pumān naivārhaty abhidhātuṁ vai tvām akiñcana-gocaram"
My Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education, and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling.
" namo ‘kiñcana-vittāya nivṛtta-guṇa-vṛttaye ātmārāmāya śāntāya kaivalya-pataye namaḥ"
My obeisances are unto You, who are the property of the materially impoverished. You have nothing to do with the actions and reactions of the material modes of nature. You are self-satisfied, and therefore You are the most gentle and are master of the monists.
The Touch of Superior Energyplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigTQK 11: The Touch of Superior Energy
My Lord, I consider Your Lordship to be eternal time, the supreme controller, without beginning and end, the all-pervasive one. In distributing Your mercy, You are equal to everyone. The dissensions between living beings are due to social intercourse.
" na veda kaścid bhagavaṁś cikīrṣitaṁ tavehamānasya nṛṇāṁ viḍambanam na yasya kaścid dayito ‘sti karhicid dveṣyaś ca yasmin viṣamā matir nṛṇām"
O Lord, no one can understand Your transcendental pastimes, which appear to be human and so are misleading. You have no specific object of favor, nor do You have any object of envy. People only imagine that You are partial.
" janma karma ca viśvātmann ajasyākartur ātmanaḥ tiryaṅ-nṝṣiṣu yādaḥsu tad atyanta-viḍambanam"
Of course it is bewildering, O soul of the universe, that You work, though You are inactive, and that You take birth, though You are the vital force and the unborn. You Yourself descend among animals, men, sages, and aquatics. Verily, this is bewildering.
" gopy ādade tvayi kṛtāgasi dāma tāvad yā te daśāśru-kalilāñjana-sambhramākṣam vaktraṁ ninīya bhaya-bhāvanayā sthitasya sā māṁ vimohayati bhīr api yad bibheti"
My dear Kṛṣṇa, Yaśodā took up a rope to bind You when You committed an offense, and Your perturbed eyes overflooded with tears, which washed the mascara from Your eyes. And You were afraid, though fear personified is afraid of You. This sight is bewildering to me.…
Beyond Birth and Deathplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigTQK 15: Beyond Birth and Death
Some say that the Unborn is born for the glorification of pious kings, and others say that He is born to please King Yadu, one of Your dearest devotees. You appear in his family as sandalwood appears in the Malaya Hills.
" apare vasudevasya devakyāṁ yācito ‘bhyagāt ajas tvam asya kṣemāya vadhāya ca sura-dviṣām"
Others say that since both Vasudeva and Devakī prayed for You, You have taken Your birth as their son. Undoubtedly You are unborn, yet You take Your birth for their welfare and to kill those who are envious of the demigods.
" bhārāvatāraṇāyānye bhuvo nāva ivodadhau sīdantyā bhūri-bhāreṇa jāto hy ātma-bhuvārthitaḥ"
Others say that the world, being overburdened like a boat at sea, is much aggrieved, and that Brahmā, who is Your son, prayed for You, and so You have appeared to diminish the trouble.
" bhave ‘smin kliśyamānānām a vidyā-kāma-karmabhiḥ śravaṇa-smaraṇārhāṇi kariṣyann iti kecana"
And yet others say that You appeared to rejuvenate the devotional service of hearing, remembering, worshiping, and so on, in order that the conditioned souls suffering from material pangs might take advantage and gain liberation.
" śṛṇvanti gāyanti gṛṇanty abhīkṣṇaśaḥ smaranti nandanti tavehitaṁ janāḥ ta eva paśyanty acireṇa tāvakaṁ bhava-pravāhoparamaṁ padāmbujam"
O Kṛṣṇa, those who continuously hear, chant, and repeat Your transcendental activities, or take pleasure in others
Full Surrenderplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigTQK 20: Full Surrender
Full Surrender
" apy adya nas tvaṁ sva-kṛtehita prabho jihāsasi svit suhṛdo ‘nujīvinaḥ yeṣāṁ na cānyad bhavataḥ padāmbujāt parāyaṇaṁ rājasu yojitāṁhasām"
O my Lord, You have executed all duties Yourself. Are You leaving us today, though we are completely dependent on Your mercy and have no one else to protect us, now when all kings are at enmity with us?
What Is Our Actual Value?plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigTQK 21: What Is Our Actual Value?
What Is Our Actual Value?
" ke vayaṁ nāma-rūpābhyāṁ yadubhiḥ saha pāṇḍavāḥ bhavato ‘darśanaṁ yarhi hṛṣīkāṇām iveśituḥ"
As the name and fame of a particular body is finished with the disappearance of the living spirit, similarly, if You do not look upon us, all our fame and activities, along with the Pāṇḍavas and Yadus, will end at once.
Beauty in Kṛṣṇa's Presenceplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigTQK 22: Beauty in Kṛṣṇa’s Presence
Beauty in Kṛṣṇa’s Presence
" neyaṁ śobhiṣyate tatra yathedānīṁ gadādhara tvat-padair aṅkitā bhāti sva-lakṣaṇa-vilakṣitaḥ"
O Gadādhara [Kṛṣṇa], our kingdom is now being marked by the impressions of Your feet, and therefore it appears beautiful. But when You leave, it will no longer be so.
" ime jana-padāḥ svṛddhāḥ supakvauṣadhi-vīrudhaḥ vanādri-nady-udanvanto hy edhante tava vīkṣitaiḥ"
All these cities and villages are flourishing in all respects because the herbs and grains are in abundance, the trees are full of fruits, the rivers are flowing, the hills are full of minerals, and the oceans full of wealth. And this is all due to Your glancing over them.
O Lord of the universe, soul of the universe, O personality of the form of the universe, please, therefore, sever my tie of affection for my kinsmen, the Pāṇḍavas and the Vṛṣṇis.
O Lord of Madhu, as the Ganges forever flows to the sea without hindrance, let my attraction be constantly drawn unto You, without being divided to anyone else.
O Kṛṣṇa, O friend of Arjuna, O chief among the descendants of Vṛṣṇi, You are the destroyer of those political parties which are disturbing elements on this earth. Your prowess never deteriorates. You are the proprietor of the transcendental abode, and You descend to relieve the distresses of the cows, t…