Jaya and Vijaya are cursed by the Kumāras
Jaya and Vijaya are eternal servitors of the Lord, but at the same time, they committed a mistake in stopping the sages. The Lord offers a solution to the situation.
« The ‘Fall’ of the Jīva, as Explained by Śrīla Prabhupāda
Jaya and Vijaya are cursed by the Kumāras
At the end of chapter 3.15, the four Kumāras offer prayers to the Lord when He appears at the gate. In chapter 3.16, the Lord answers them and offers a solution to the situation. Jaya and Vijaya are eternal servitors of the Lord, but at the same time, they committed a mistake in stopping the sages. The Lord understood that the essence of the problem was that the Kumāras were anxious to see Him, and therefore He went personally there, accompanied by Lakṣmī Devī, to give them an audience. In his purport, Prabhupāda mentions the case of Haridāsa Thākura, who was also not allowed to enter the temple in Jagannātha in Purī to see the deities. Just like Lord Viṣṇu came to see the Kumāras, He was also coming personally to see Haridāsa Thākura as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. As he explains, “The Lord is so merciful that even if there is some impediment for the devotee, He Himself manages matters in such a way that the devotee is not bereft of having audience at His lotus feet.”
However, there was still the question of the offense committed by Jaya and Vijaya. To this, the Lord said:
“These attendants of Mine, Jaya and Vijaya by name, have committed a great offense against you because of ignoring Me. O great sages, I approve of the punishment that you who are devoted to Me have meted out to them. To Me, the brāhmaṇa is the highest and most beloved personality. The disrespect shown by My attendants has actually been displayed by Me because the doormen are My servitors. I take this to be an offense by Myself; therefore I seek your forgiveness for the incident that has arisen.” (SB 3.16.2-4)
In his purport to 3.16.2, Śrīla Prabhupāda makes the point that an offense to a devotee of the Lord is always wrong, and even if one is promoted to Vaikuṇṭha, there is still some chance that one may commit offenses. The difference, however, is that even if such advanced devotees accidentally commit an offense, they are protected by the Lord, different from conditioned souls who are averse to the Lord and thus have to face the results of their activities by themselves:
“To commit an offense at the feet of a devotee of the Lord is a great wrong. Even when a living entity is promoted to Vaikuṇṭha, there is still the chance that he may commit offenses, but the difference is that when one is in a Vaikuṇṭha planet, even if by chance one commits an offense, he is protected by the Lord. This is the remarkable fact in the dealings of the Lord and the servitor, as seen in the present incident concerning Jaya and Vijaya. The word atikramam used herein indicates that in offending a devotee one neglects the Supreme Lord Himself.
By mistake the doormen held the sages from entering Vaikuṇṭhaloka, but because they were engaged in the transcendental service of the Lord, their annihilation was not expected by advanced devotees. The Lord’s presence on the spot was very pleasing to the hearts of the devotees. The Lord understood that the trouble was due to His lotus feet not being seen by the sages, and therefore He wanted to please them by personally going there. The Lord is so merciful that even if there is some impediment for the devotee, He Himself manages matters in such a way that the devotee is not bereft of having audience at His lotus feet.”
The Lord very politely accepted the offense of Jaya and Vijaya like an offense committed by Himself, saying that “A wrong act committed by a servant leads people in general to blame his master, just as a spot of white leprosy on any part of the body pollutes all of the skin.”
He then accepted the curse uttered by the Kumāras by saying: “These servants of Mine have transgressed against you, not knowing the mind of their master. I shall therefore deem it a favor done to Me if you order that, although reaping the fruit of their transgression, they may return to My presence soon and the time of their exile from My abode may expire before long.”
From verses 3.16.6 to 3.16.12, the Lord reassures the Kumāras of His appreciation for their devotional service and of His divine protection to all His devotees. As Prabhupāda explains in his purport, this does not apply just to pure devotees like the Kumāras, but in fact to any person who is seriously practicing Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. Even if one is not a pure devotee now, the fact that one is practicing means that it is just a matter of time before he or she becomes purified, and as a result, one is immediately accepted by the Lord, who is ready to give protection to His devotee:
“The conclusion is that if one takes to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness with all seriousness, he is to be understood as already purified, and Kṛṣṇa is ready to give him protection by all means. The Lord assures herein that He is ready to give protection to His devotee even if there is need to cut off part of His own body.” (SB 3.16.6 purport)
The Lord protects His devotees
One of the meanings of this passage is that the Lord is so eager to protect His devotees that He is ready to even cut off His own arm if it somehow becomes hostile to them, what to speak of punishing His doormen. A devotee can thus be confident in his practice of devotional service and understand that although material reverses can be present, his ultimate success is assured. No one can prevent a devotee from achieving perfection, apart from the devotee himself.
On the other hand, the Lord also glorified the attitude of Jaya and Vijaya, who, although being cursed by the brāhmanas, didn’t think of retaliating. On this, the Lord said:
“On the other hand, they captivate My heart who are gladdened in heart and who, their lotus faces enlightened by nectarean smiles, respect the brāhmaṇas, even though the brāhmaṇas utter harsh words. They look upon the brāhmaṇas as My own Self and pacify them by praising them in loving words, even as a son would appease an angry father or as I am pacifying you.” (SB 3.16.11)
Prabhupāda explains the whole situation in more detail in his purport to verse 3.16.12: “From this statement we can understand how anxious the Lord is to get his servitor back into Vaikuṇṭha. Therefore this incident proves that those who have once entered a Vaikuṇṭha planet can never fall down. The case of Jaya and Vijaya is not a falldown; it is just an accident. The Lord is always anxious to get such devotees back again to the Vaikuṇṭha planets as soon as possible. It is to be assumed that there is no possibility of a misunderstanding between the Lord and the devotees, but when there are discrepancies or disruptions between one devotee and another, one has to suffer the consequences, although that suffering is temporary. The Lord is so kind to His devotees that He took all the responsibility for the doormen’s offense and requested the sages to give them facilities to return to Vaikuṇṭha as soon as possible.”
The Kumāras could understand that although the Lord was speaking as if He were wrong, He was speaking in such a humble way just to show them His favor. The words of the Lord sounded mysterious to them, because although the Lord is the Supreme Controller of everything and the cause of all causes, worshipable by all demigods, He values so much brāhminical culture that He sets the example himself by worshiping brāhmanas like the four Kumāras. This is all due to His causeless mercy to all. They elaborate on this point in their prayers later in the chapter:
“O Lord, You are the protector of the highest of the twice-born. If You do not protect them by offering worship and mild words, then certainly the auspicious path of worship will be rejected by people in general, who act on the strength and authority of Your Lordship. Dear Lord, You never want the auspicious path to be destroyed, for You are the reservoir of all goodness. Just to benefit people in general, You destroy the evil element by Your mighty potency. You are the proprietor of the three creations and the maintainer of the entire universe. Therefore Your potency is not reduced by Your submissive behavior. Rather, by submission You exhibit Your transcendental pastimes.” (SB 3.16.23-24)
When the word “brāhmanas” is mentioned, it should be understood that it refers to both brāhmanas and Vaiṣnavas. Vaiṣnavas are automatically brāhmanas, because they practice the essence of brāhminical culture, which is devotional service to the Lord. In his purports, Prabhupāda elaborates on the crucial importance of brāhmanas and Vaiṣnavas to human society and concludes that, “If the authorities or the leaders of society do not give special respect to the brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas and do not offer them not only sweet words but all facilities, then the path of progress will be lost to human civilization. The Lord personally wanted to teach this, and therefore He offered so much praise to the Kumāras.”
After being praised by the Lord in such a way, the hearts of the Kumāras were softened, and they regretted having cursed Jaya and Vijaya, understanding now that they are eternal servitors of the Lord and have all good qualities. Their mistake in stopping them can’t thus be considered a fault, but just an accident, and should not have been taken seriously. Thinking like this, they said:
“O Lord, whatever punishment You wish to award to these two innocent persons, or also to us, we shall accept without duplicity. We understand that we have cursed two faultless persons.” (SB 3.16.25)
The whole incident is a great example of Vaiṣnava etiquette. Jaya and Vijaya committed a mistake by not allowing the Kumāras to see the Lord, and as a result, the sages became angry and cursed them. The gatekeepers, however, did not retaliate, remaining humble. The Lord then appeared in the scene, pacifying the Kumāras with soft words and taking the blame for the actions of his servitors. As a result, the Kumāras also became humble and regretted having cursed Jaya and Vijaya, understanding that they are faultless servants of the Lord.
The Lord then revealed His divine plan behind the whole situation:
“O brāhmaṇas, know that the punishment you inflicted on them was originally ordained by Me, and therefore they will fall to a birth in a demoniac family. But they will be firmly united with Me in thought through mental concentration intensified by anger, and they will return to My presence shortly.” (SB 3.16.26)
In his purport, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains: “The Lord stated that the punishment inflicted by the sages upon the doorkeepers Jaya and Vijaya was conceived by the Lord Himself. Without the Lord’s sanction, nothing can happen. It is to be understood that there was a plan in the cursing of the Lord’s devotees in Vaikuṇṭha, and His plan is explained by many stalwart authorities. The Lord sometimes desires to fight. The fighting spirit also exists in the Supreme Lord; otherwise how could fighting be manifested at all? Because the Lord is the source of everything, anger and fighting are also inherent in His personality. When He desires to fight with someone, He has to find an enemy, but in the Vaikuṇṭha world there is no enemy because everyone is engaged fully in His service. Therefore He sometimes comes to the material world as an incarnation in order to manifest His fighting spirit.”
After receiving the darśana of the Lord, the Kumāras felt fully satisfied and returned to their duties in the material world.
Jaya and Vijaya come to the material world
The Lord then addressed Jaya and Vijaya, revealing that although He could nullify the curse of the sages, He chose not to do so. Instead, He gave His approval to it, fixing a term of three lives, in which Jaya and Vijaya would come to the material world as demons, and then return to their positions in the spiritual world. With this, the scene for many of the pastimes narrated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was set. Jaya and Vijaya would appear as Hiraṇyakaśipu and Hiraṇyākṣa, setting the stage for the appearance of the Lord as Varāhadeva and Nṛsimhadeva, as well as the appearance of Prahlāda Maharaja and others. Later, they would appear as Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa, leading to the appearance of Lord Rāma and many wonderful pastimes, and in their last lives they would come as Śiśupāla and Dantavakra, participating in the Lord’s pastimes outside Vṛndāvana.
The “fall” of Jaya and Vijaya thus happened with the consent of the Lord; otherwise, it would be impossible for any external force, including even a brāhminical curse, to push two eternal associates of the Lord out of their eternal positions in the spiritual world. As Prabhupāda concludes, “All these incidents, therefore, were designed by the Lord Himself for the sake of His pastimes in the material world.”
The Lord also added that:
“This departure from Vaikuṇṭha was foretold by Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune. She was very angry because when she left My abode and then returned, you stopped her at the gate while I was sleeping.” (13.16.30)
Lakṣmī Devi had also become dissatisfied with the gatekeepers when they didn’t allow her to see the Lord when He was sleeping, and this was also a factor that the Lord took into account in His decision.
In their lives as demons, Jaya and Vijaya would practice mystic yoga in anger, by constantly thinking of the Lord as an enemy. In this way, they would be cleansed of the offense they committed against the Kumāras and very quickly return to their original positions in the spiritual world.
“After thus speaking at the door of Vaikuṇṭha, the Lord returned to His abode, where there are many celestial airplanes and all-surpassing wealth and splendor. But those two gatekeepers, the best of the demigods, their beauty and luster diminished by the curse of the brāhmaṇas, became morose and fell from Vaikuṇṭha, the abode of the Supreme Lord. Then, as Jaya and Vijaya fell from the Lord’s abode, a great roar of disappointment arose from all the demigods, who were sitting in their splendid airplanes.” (SB 13.16.32-34)
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