Teachings of Queen Kunti Consists of Kunti's Celebrated Prayers As Recorded in the Srimad Bhagavatam Together with Illuminating Commen Tary by His Divine Grace A
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lfisDivine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada FOUNDER-ACARYA OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS THE TRAGIC and heroic figure of Queen Kunti emerges &om an explosive era in the history of ancient India. As the wife of King Pal)QU and the mother of five illustrious sons (the Pal)<,lavas), she was a central figure in a complex political drama that fifty centuries ago culminated in the devas tating Kuruk�etra War. At the conclusion of the war, Queen Kunti approaches Lord Knl)a as He prepares to depart &om the scene of battle. Although Kunti is Lord Knl)a's aunt (He incarnated as her brother Vasudeva's son), she perfectly understands His exalted and divine identity as the Supreme Per sonality of Godhead. She knows full well that He descended from His abode in the spiritual world to rid the earth of demoniac military forces and reestablish peace and righteousness. Thus the prayers she offers Him on this occasion are not the conventional pious solicitations. Rather, they are philosophical reSections, devotional illumina tions, even mystical exultations. As such they have been recorded and immortalized in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, India's greatest philosophical and spiritual classic. Queen Kunti's prayers-the simple and il luminating outpourings of the soul of a great and saintly woman devotee-reveal both the deepest transcendental emotions of the heart and the most profound philosophical and theological penetra tions of the intellect. Her words have been recited, chanted, and sung by sages and philoso phers in India for thousands of years. Teachings of Queen Kunti consists of Kunti's celebrated prayers as recorded in the Srimad Bhagavatam together with illuminating commen tary by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada-Founder-Acarya of the In ternational Society for Krishna Consciousness, the most renowned Vedic scholar and religious leader of our time and author of more than sev enty volumes of translation and commentary on ·India's ancient Vedic literature. (continued on back flap) BOOKS by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Bhagavad-gita As It Is Srimad-Bhagavatam, Cantos 1-10 (50 Vols.) Sri Caitanya-caritalll{ta (17 Vols.) Teachings of Lord Caitanya The Nectar of Devotion The Nectar oflnstruction Sri lsopani�ad Easy Journey to OtherPlanets Kr�t;ta Consciousness: The Topmost Yoga System Kr�t;ta, the SupremePersonality of Godhead (3 Vols.) Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers Dialectical Spiritualism-A Vedic View ofWestern Philosophy Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of DevahUti Transcendental Teachings ofPrahlad Maharaja Teachings of Queen Kuntl Kr�t;ta, the Reservoir ofPleasure The Science of Self-Realization Life Comes From Life The Perfection of Yoga Beyond Birth and Death On theW ay to Kr�t;ta Geetar-gan (Bengali) Vairagya-vidya (Bengali) Buddhi-yoga (Bengali) Bhakti-ratna-boli (Bengali) Raja-vidya: The King of Knowledge Elevation to Kr�t;ta Consciousness Kr�t;ta Consciousness: The Matchless Gift Back to Godhead Magazine (Founder) A complete catalog is available upon request. Bhaktivedanta Book Trust 3764 Watseka Avenue Los Angeles, California 90034 His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada FOUNDER-ACARYA OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS 8 THE BHAKTIVEDANTA BOOK TRUST Los Angeles • London • Paris • Frankfurt • Bombay - Readers interested in the subject matter of this book are invited by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to correspond with its Secretary. International Society for Krishna Consciousness 3764 Watseka Avenue Los Angeles, California 90034 First Printing, 1978: 57,300 copies e> 1978 Bhaktivedanta Book Trust All Rights Reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Bhaktivedanta Swami, A.C., 1896-1977. Teachings of Queen Kuntl. Bibliography: p. Includes Index. BL1132.K8845 294.5'43 78-20437 ISBN 0:89213-102-0 Contents Introduction vii 1. The Original Person 1 2. Beyond the Senses 3 3. The Most Intelligent Woman 5 4. Approaching Kr�t;ta, the All-Pervading Truth 11 5. The Vision of Lotuses 21 6. The Master of the Senses 27 7. Dangerous Encounters 35 8. Let There Be Calamities 43 9. Decreasing the Fever of Illusion 53 10. The Property of the Impoverished 61 11. The Touch of Superior Energy 71 12. Bewildering Pastimes 79 13. The Vital Force of the Universe 87 14. Lord Kr�t:ta'sWonderful Activities 97 15. Beyond Birth and Death 105 16. Returning to Our Natural Consciousness 113 17. Lightening the Burden of the World 121 18. Liberation from Ignorance and Suffering 129 19. Crossing Beyond Illusion's Currents 139 20. Full Surrender 147 21. What Is Our Actual Value? 153 22. Beauty in Kr�t:ta's Presence 161 23. Natural Prosperity 169 24. Cutting Off Ties of Affection 177 25. Unalloyed Devotion 187 26. Enchantment by Kr�t:ta's Glories 197 Appendixes The Author 207 Refer�nces 209 Glossary 211 Guide to Sanskrit Pronunciation 215 Index to Sanskrit Verses 217 Synonyms for Sanskrit Verses 219 General Index 225 His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founder-Actirya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness PLATE ONE At the end of the eighteenth day of the Battle of Kuru�tra, all the great heroes of the Kuru dynasty and millions of warriors lay dead on the battlefield. Only the five sons of PaJ:.lQU and a small handful of others re mained to console the relatives of the slain. Prince Duryodhana's ambi tions had been smashed, yet his few surviving followers wished to find him some last revenge. Still, only Asvatthama was rash enough to carry out the scheme to mUrder the PaJ:.lQavas' five children in their sleep arid thus finish the line of succession. He had expected that this would please his master, but Duryodhana was appalled to hear of the atrocity and died in lamentation. Arrested and dragged to the Pal,lQavas' camp like a bound animal, Asvatthama was let free only by the astounding compassion of Draupadi, the slaughtered boys' mother, who pleaded for his life. But the shameless Asvatthama made one more attempt to kill the last heir of the Pal,lQavas, their unborn grandson in the womb of Uttara, by hurling the supreme brahmastra weapon. When she saw the missile flying straight at her, Uttara immediately ran to the shelter of Lord Kr�J:.la, who was just about to depart for His capital city. Kr�J:.la protected the PaJ:.lQavas and their mother Kunti from imminent death by stopping the weapon's un controllable heat and radiation with His own Sudarsana disc. Having delivered the PaJ:.lQavas from this last calamity, and seeing that all His plans were fulfilled, Lord Kr�J:.la was again preparing to leave. For years Duryodhana had tormented Queen Kunti's family, but Kr�J:.la had pro tected them at every turn-and now He was going away. Kunti was over whelmed, and she approached Kr�J:.la to offer Him prayers from the core of her heart. (p. 1) PLATE TWO As Queen Kunti begins her prayers, she immediately reveals her knowledge of Lord Kr�Q.a's exalted, divine nature: "0 Kr�Q.a, 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." In His original form as a young cowherd boy, Lord Kr�Q.a always resides in Goloka Vrndavana, the highest of the innumerable planets in the spiri tual realm. All of these planets are eternal, self-illuminated, and (except for Goloka Vrndavana itself) presided over by one of Kr�Qa's Vi�QU ex pansions. For the purpose of creating and maintaining the material uni verses, Kr�Qa expands into a different kind of Vi�Qu form known as Maha-Vi�Qu. Maha-Vi�QU sleeps within the Causal Ocean, and from His transcendental body myriad universes emanate like so many bubbles. Within each of those universal globes, Maha-Vi�QU expands Himself as Garbhodakasayi Vi�Qu, from whose navel a lotus flower grows. Upon that lotus appears Lord Brahma, the secondary creator in each universe. The final Vi�QU expansion is the all-pervading K�Irodakasayi Vi�Q.u, or Supersoul, who resides within every atom and within the heart of all creatures. In this way Kf�Qa is indeed "within and without everything," as Queen Kunti declares. (p. 1) PLATE THREE Foolish Duryodhana, maddened by greed for the throne, tried in many ways to destroy his imagined rivals the Pal)<;lavas. Queen Kunti recalls how he had tried to entice her sons to meet their death on the pretext of a friendly invitation for them to visit the new provincial palace at Varal)avata. Duryodhana's wicked friends had intentionally constructed this building out of combustible shellac and were planning to burn it down in the middle of the night with their enemies inside. But the saintly uncle of Duryodhana, Mahatma Vidura, gave forewarning to the Pal) <;lavas and Kunti thatthey were likely to meet with danger there. Heeding his advice they excavated a hidden tunnel beneath the palace. On the night secretly designated for the massacre, he sent them the following cryptic message: "Fire can burn a man's body, but not his eternal soul." Thus advised, the brothers and mother managed to escape in time. They thereupon went into hiding to avoid further attacks from their envious cousin. (p. 36) PLATE FOUR Here Queen Kunti recalls an atrocity that the Kurus (Dhrtara�tra's sons) had perpetrated upon her beloved daughter-in-law Princess DraupadL Once the PaQ.c;lavas (Kunti's sons) were invited to a chess match in the royal assembly of the Kurus.