Text 41
evaṁ sva-karma-patitaṁ bhava-vaitaraṇyām
anyonya-janma-maraṇāśana-bhīta-bhītam
paśyañ janaṁ sva-para-vigraha-vaira-maitraṁ
hanteti pāracara pīpṛhi mūḍham adya
evam — in this way; sva-karma-patitam — fallen because of the reactions of one’s own material activities; bhava — compared to the world of nescience (birth, death, old age and disease); vaitaraṇyām — in the river known as Vaitaraṇī (which lies in front of the doorway of Yamarāja, the superintendent of death); anyaḥ anya — one after another; janma — birth; maraṇa — death; āśana — different types of eating; bhīta-bhītam — being exceedingly afraid; paśyan — seeing; janam — the living entity; sva — one’s own; para — of others; vigraha — in the body; vaira-maitram — considering friendship and enmity; hanta — alas; iti — in this way; pāracara — O You, who are on the other side of the river of death; pīpṛhi — kindly save us all (from this dangerous condition); mūḍham — we are all foolish, bereft of spiritual knowledge; adya — today (because You are personally present here).
My dear Lord, You are always transcendentally situated on the other side of the river of death, but because of the reactions of our own activities, we are suffering on this side. Indeed, we have fallen into this river and are repeatedly suffering the pains of birth and death and eating horrible things. Now kindly look upon us — not only upon me but also upon all others who are suffering — and by Your causeless mercy and compassion, deliver us and maintain us.
Prahlāda Mahārāja, a pure Vaiṣṇava, prays to the Lord not only for himself but for all other suffering living entities. There are two classes of Vaiṣṇavas — the bhajanānandīs and goṣṭhy-ānandīs. The bhajanānandīs worship the Lord only for their own personal benefit, but the goṣṭhy-ānandīs try to elevate all others to Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that they may be saved. Fools who cannot perceive repeated birth and death and the other miseries of materialistic life cannot be sure of what will happen to them in their next birth. Indeed, these foolish, materially contaminated rascals have manufactured an irresponsible way of life that does not consider the next life. They do not know that according to one’s own activities, one receives a body selected from 8,400,000 species. These rascals have been described in Bhagavad-gītā as duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ. Nondevotees, those who are not Kṛṣṇa conscious, must engage in sinful activities, and therefore they are mūḍhas — fools and rascals. They are such fools that they do not know what will happen to them in their next life. Although they see varieties of living creatures eating abominable things — pigs eating stool, crocodiles eating all kinds of flesh, and so on — they do not realize that they themselves, because of their practice of eating all kinds of nonsense in this life, will be destined to eat the most abominable things in their next life. A Vaiṣṇava is always afraid of such an abominable life, and to free himself from such horrible conditions, he engages himself in the devotional service of the Lord. The Lord is compassionate to them, and therefore He appears for their benefit.
yadā yadā hi dharmasya
glānir bhavati bhārata
abhyutthānam adharmasya
tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham
“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion — at that time I descend Myself.” (Bg. 4.7) The Lord is always ready to help the fallen souls, but because they are fools and rascals, they do not take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and abide by the instructions of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore although Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is personally the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, He comes as a devotee to preach the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa. One must therefore become a sincere servant of Kṛṣṇa. Āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa (Cc. Madhya 7.128). One should become a guru and spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world, simply by preaching the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā.