Friendship

Vivasvan Jhugroo, Aug 15 2011

Hare Krishna to everyone.

 

Is there any verse or chapter referring about friendship from the Bhagavad-Gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam.

All Glories to the The Spiritual Master and all the Devotees

Thank you

S.J

 

Ashutosh Pandey, Aug 15 2011

Bhagavad-gita 5.29

and

Bhagavatam 1st canto 5th chapter many slokas

 

Vivasvan Jhugroo, Aug 15 2011

 

Thank you a lot.

 

Bhaktivinode Das, Aug 15 2011

Dear Vivasvan,

 

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

All glories to Srila Sankarshan Das Adhikari Gurudeva.

 

Kindly find the references below that I have come across in my reading.

*“Krsna says that suhrdam sarva-bhutanam (Bhagavad-Gita 5.29) : “I am friend of all living entities*,” sarva-bhutanam. Not only human society, but animal society, the plant society, the aquatic society, there are so many living entities. Ananta-koti. Sa anantyaya kalpate. The living entities, there is no limit. There are so many quantities. And Krsna says that suhrdam sarva-bhutanam jnatva mam santim rcchati: “When one understands that I, Krsna, is the friend of everyone…” Krsna, when says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66], He does not say to Arjuna. He says to all living entities, without any exception. Sarva-bhutanam. Suhrdam sarva-bhutanam. This is position of Krsna.”

*- A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam

3.25.43 Bombay, December 11, 1974*

*Lord Krishna says to Arjuna in Bhagavad-Gita 4.3: *

“That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as *My friend* and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science.”

* *

*Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad-Gita 12.13-14: *

“One who is not envious but is a *kind friend to all living entities*, who does not think himself a proprietor and is free from false ego, who is equal in both happiness and distress, who is tolerant, always satisfied, self-controlled, and engaged in devotional service with determination, his mind and intelligence fixed on Me — such a devotee of Mine is very dear to Me.”

*Srimad Bhagavatam 10.47.6:*

“The *friendship* shown toward others — those who are not family members — is motivated by personal interest, and thus it is a pretense that lasts only until one’s purpose is fulfilled. Such *friendship* is just like the interest men take in women, or bees in flowers.”

PURPORT by *A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada*

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura explains here that attractive women, like flowers, possess beauty, fragrance, tenderness, charm and so on. And as bees drink only once of a flower’s nectar and then leave it for another, fickle men abandon beautiful and devoted women to pursue other pleasures. This tendency is condemned here by the gopis, who gave their hearts completely to Sri Krsna. The gopis wanted only to exhibit their charms for Lord Krsna’s pleasure, and in the pain of separation they questioned the motives of His friendship with them.

These are the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. Both Lord Krsna and the gopis are completely liberated souls engaged in spiritual loving affairs. By contrast, our so-called loving affairs, being perverted reflections of the perfect loving relationships in the spiritual world, are polluted with lust, greed, pride and so on. Like all liberated souls, the gopis — and certainly Lord Krsna Himself — are eternally free of these lower qualities, and their intense loving affairs are motivated exclusively by unalloyed devotion.

Your servant,

Bhaktivinode das

Premal, Aug 16 2011

Hare Krishna Prabhu

All glories to Swami Prabhupada

Please accept my humble obeisances

How is it Prabhu we can understand Krishna is a friend of all living entities?  My question in the context to other than human form is how would they get affected or be helped by Krishna in other forms?

Ys servant

Premal prabhuji

 

Bhaktivinode Das, Aug 16 2011

Dear Premal Prabhu,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to Srila Sankarshan Gurudeva.

Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 3.15.31:

“The word suhṛttama, “best of all friends,” is important. As Lord Krsna states in the Bhagavad-gita, He is the best friend of all living entities. Suhrdamm sarva-bhutanam. No one can be a greater well-wishing friend to any living entity than the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is so kindly

disposed towards everyone that in spite of our completely forgetting our relationship with the Supreme Lord, He comes Himself — sometimes personally, as Lord Krsna appeared on this earth, and sometimes as His devotee, as did Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu — and sometimes He sends His bona fide devotees to reclaim all the fallen souls. Therefore, He is the greatest well-wishing friend of everyone, and the Kumaras wanted to see Him.”

Lord Krishna as the paramatma (supersoul) of all living entities always accompanies them. He is situated in the heart next to all souls. He is ever waiting for us properly use our free will and turn our face unto Him with surrender and love in our heart.

Even if someone is averse to the Supreme Lord, he still provides them water to drink, food to eat, air to breathe…..This proves that he is indeed a kind friend.

Wherever devotees are present in this universe, their mere presence purifies the atmosphere around them. For example, wherever the devotees go, they chant the holy names not only for their benefit, but also for the benefit of the living entities around them. The sound of the holy name is non-different from the Lord. Simply by coming in contact with the sound vibration, the souls present in plant, animal or insect bodies get amazing spiritual benefits.

When food is offered to the Lord, all the grains, plants involved get benefited The person who plucked the fruits, the gardener and all living entities involved get sukriti (unknown spiritual credits).

There is a beautiful story described in detail in Caitanya Caritamrita on how the devotees and the Lord showed compassion to an animal and how he got delivered from the clutches of repeated birth and death. Every year one month before caturmasya (four month period of the rainy season) Sivananda Sena would lead a party of two hundred devotees from Bengal to Jagannatha Puri to attend the annual Ratha-Yatra festival. He would pay for everyone’s food, tolls, ferries, and lodging. He personally arranged for their comfort. Sivananda Sena showed Vaisnava compassion for all living entities, be they man or beast. When a stray dog joined the party Sivananda Sena fed the dog and even paid his boat fare. When the dog disappeared one day Sivananda sent 200 men to search for him. Upon arriving in Puri, they saw Lord Caitanya throwing coconut pulp to the dog. The dog became purified of all material contamination by eating the maha-prasadam remnants of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Not seeing the dog the next day, Sivananda Sena understood that the dog had attained liberation by the mercy of Lord Caitanya.

Once Sripad Ramanujacarya fed a fish the maha-prasadam of the deity. The fish jumped out of the water to grab the prasadam in its mouth and before it could enter the water again the fish assumed a Vaikuntha form and entered the Vaikuntha planets. The disciples of Ramanuja saw this and inquired from their guru as to why they had not yet received a Vaikuntha form since they had received maha-prasadam many times. Ramanuja replied that his disciples were trying to enjoy the prasadam which is an aparadha, offense. The fish he said made no such aparadha and therefore he attained Vaikuntha.

There is a story in our puranas of a hunter who shot an arrow on a flying swan for his food. The swan fell down in a circular fashion 3 times above a tulasi plant. The swan attained a 4 handed spiritual form and was taken to Vaikuntha in a swan aeroplane.

Your servant,

Bhaktivinode das

 

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, Aug 16 2011

Hare Krishna!

These are all wonderful answers. Thank you to the wonderful devotees who ask all these nice questions and the wonderful devotees who write the answers and also the wonderful devotees who are reading the answers sincerely. Together you are making this planet into a spiritual paradise. To you I offer my humble obeisances.

Just to expand on the wonderful devotees’ wonderful explanation… Prahlada Maharaja tells us this:

sri-prahrada uvaca

sravanam kirtanam visnoh

smaranam pada-sevanam

arcanam vandanam dasyam

*sakhyam* atma-nivedanam

iti pumsarpita visnau

bhaktis cen nava-laksana

kriyeta bhagavaty addha

tan manye ‘dhitam uttamam

“Prahlada Maharaja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Visnu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, *considering the Lord one’s best friend*, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words) — these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Krsna through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.” SB 7.5.23-24

Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport “Therefore, as a sincere friend of Krsna, one should preach this philosophy, requesting everyone to surrender unto Krsna”… later in the same purports, he writes:

(8) Sakhyam. In regard to worshipping the Lord as a friend, the Agastya-samhita states that a devotee  engaged in performing devotional service by sravanam and kirtanam sometimes wants to see the Lord personally, and for this purpose he resides in the temple. Elsewhere there is this statement: “O my Lord, Supreme Personality and eternal friend, although You are full of bliss and knowledge, You have become the friend of the residents of Vrndavana. How fortunate are these devotees!” In this statement the word “friend” is specifically used to indicate intense love. Friendship, therefore, is better than servitude. In the stage above dasya-rasa, the devotee accepts the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a friend. This is not at all astonishing, for when a devotee is pure in heart the opulence of his worship of the Deity diminishes as spontaneous love for the Personality of Godhead is manifested. In this regard, Sridhara Svami mentions Sridama Vipra, who expressed to himself his feelings of obligation, thinking, “Life after life, may I be connected with Krsna in this friendly attitude.”

In other words, friendship is a key aspect of Krishna Bhakti!

Srila Prabhupada says in a lecture, the Lord wants our friendship, but we don’t want. He is always our friend, but we are not His friends. When will we want to really be the Lord’s friend?

Your servant,

Mahabhagavat Das