Re: The Extreme Mercy of the Lord

Date: 2005-09-20 Author: Devakinandan das

Hare Prabhus and Matajis! Please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!

It is very difficult to experience mercy in this world, especially with the steady upsurge of Yuga. Devotees should, however, always take heart that the Supreme Lord continues to shower His mercy on us struggling living entities, and He alone is sufficient to be our ultimate shelter in the precarious ocean of birth and death.

In Srimad Bhagavatam 3.2.23, Sukadev Goswami explains the mercy of the Lord as "extreme mercy, even to His enemy":

aho bakī yaṁ stana-kāla-kūṭaṁ jighāṁsayāpāyayad apy asādhvī lebhe gatiṁ dhātry-ucitāṁ tato ’nyaṁ kaṁ vā dayāluṁ śaraṇaṁ vrajema

Alas, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He who granted the position of mother to a she- demon [Putana] although she was unfaithful and she prepared deadly poison to be sucked from her breast?

Putana, the demon witch, was tasked by to kill baby Krsna in Vrndavan. She was to do so by suckling baby Krsna like a nurse or a loving mother would, only in this case, she smeared her breasts with the deadly kala-kuta poison. To play the part, Putana, who looked very terrible as a demoness, changed into a motherly coming to nurse Krsna. Though she was envious of Krsna and wanted only to kill Him, nevertheless she somehow or other offered her breasts to nurse the Lord. To make sure that she played the part convincingly so that no one in Nanda Maharaj's household would suspect her motives, Putana psyched herself to behave just like a loving elderly gopi who wanted to nurse baby Krsna. As a result, even when Mother Yasoda saw Putana enter the inner quarters to pick up the Lord, she did not, even for a moment suspect anything! The Lord however, sucked not only the breast of Putana, but her very life air, and killed her.

Srila Prabhupada instructs us in 10.6.37-38 of Srimad Bhagavatam that despite having wanted to kill the Lord, the Lord was so merciful to Putana that she was at once freed of all material contamination when Krsna killed her; more than that, Putana was immediately promoted to Vaikunthaloka and later she attained the position of a nurse and maidservant to assist mother Yasoda!

Prabhupada states in his purport: "Devotional service rendered to Krsna, whether directly or indirectly, knowingly or unknowingly, becomes successful"

This success of our devotional service is the direct result of the Lord's bestowing His mercy on us. Putana had no qualifications of a devotee, yet the Lord only took into consideration that

(i) she pretended to be like an affectionate mother and

(ii) took the trouble to disguise herself To looked the part before trying to kill Krsna! That was sufficient for the Lord to grant His mercy on her, because somehow or other, she discharged the service of trying to feed Him!

From this wonderful episode, we can catch a glimpse of the extreme mercy of the Lord. As Srila Prabhupada states in his wonderful purport to this verse: "Lord Krsna accepted the motherhood of Putana because she pretended to be an affectionate mother, allowing Krsna to suck her breast. 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?"

The point is not that we emulate Putana(!) but that we realise that if Putana, with so much envy and pretence, could obtain the mercy of the Lord, then how much more will the sincere devotional service attract Him!

As His Holiness Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj has noted: "Always carry a copy of with you; it is non- different from Krsna. Even if you do not read it, at least pretend to read it - even that gesture Krsna recognises and He will gradually purify you to finally read the Gita!"

Jai Srila Gurudev ki jai! Jai Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

Your servant, Devakinandan das Singapore.