Skandham-5. Chapter-1. Slokam-34 & 35 :

Skandham-5.  Chapter-1.

Slokam-34.

King Priyavrata then gave his daughter, Urjasvati, in marriage to
Sukracarya, who begot in her a daughter named Devayani.


Slokam-35.


My dear King, a devotee who has taken shelter of the dust from the lotus
feet of the Lord can transcend the influence of the six material whips—namely
hunger, thirst, lamentation, illusion, old age and death—and he can conquer
the mind and five senses. However, this is not very wonderful for a pure
devotee of the Lord because even a person beyond the jurisdiction of the four
castes—in other words, an untouchable—is immediately relieved of bondage to
material existence if he utters the holy name of the Lord even once.



Sukadeva Gosvami was speaking to Maharaja Parikshit about the activities of
King Priyavrata, and since the King might have had doubts about these
wonderful, uncommon activities, Sukadeva Gosvami reassured him. "My dear
King," he said, "don't be doubtful about the wonderful activities of Priyavrata.
For a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, everything is possible
because the Lord is also known as Urukrama." Urukrama is a name for Lord
Vamanadeva, who performed the wonderful act of occupying the three worlds
with three footsteps. Lord Vamanadeva requested three paces of land from
Maharaja Bali, and when Maharaja Bali agreed to grant them, the Lord
immediately covered the entire world with two footsteps, and for His third step
He placed His foot upon Bali Maharaja's head. Sri Jayadeva Gosvami says:



"All glories to Lord Kesava, who assumed the form of a dwarf. O Lord of the
universe, who takes away everything inauspicious for the devotees! O
wonderful Vamanadeva! You tricked the great demon Bali Maharaja by Your
steps. The water that touched the nails of Your lotus feet when You pierced
through the covering of the universe purifies all living entities in the form of
the River Ganges."


Since the Supreme Lord is all-powerful, He can do things that seem
wonderful for a common man. Similarly, a devotee who has taken shelter at
the lotus feet of the Lord can also do wonderful things unimaginable to a
common man, by the grace of the dust of those lotus feet. Caitanya
Mahaprabhu therefore teaches us to take shelter of the Lord's lotus feet:


"O son of Nanda Maharaja, I am Your eternal servant, yet somehow or other I
have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this
ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms of Your lotus feet." Lord
Caitanya teaches us to come in touch with the dust of the Lord's lotus feet, for
then there will undoubtedly be all success.


Because of the material body, every living entity in material existence is
always disturbed by sad-guëa, six whips—hunger, thirst, lamentation, illusion,
invalidity and death. Furthermore, another sad-guna are the mind and five
sense organs. Not to speak of a sanctified devotee, even a candala, an outcaste,
who is untouchable, is immediately freed from material bondage if he utters
the holy name of the Lord even once. Sometimes caste brahmanas argue that
unless one changes his body he cannot be accepted as a brahmana, for since
the present body is obtained as a result of past actions, one who has in the past
acted as a brahmana takes birth in a brahmana family. Therefore, they
contend, without such a brahminical body, one cannot be accepted as a
brahmana. Herein it is said, however, that even vidura-vigata, a candala—a
fifth-class untouchable—is freed if he utters the holy name even once. Being
freed means that he immediately changes his body. Sanatana Gosvami
confirms this:



When a person, even though a candala, is initiated by a pure devotee into
chanting the holy name of the Lord, his body changes as he follows the
instructions of the spiritual master. Although one cannot see how his body has
changed, we must accept, on the grounds of the authoritative statements of the
Sastras, that he changes his body. This is to be understood without arguments.
This slokam clearly says, sa jahati bandham: "He gives up his material bondage."



The body is a symbolic representation of material bondage according to one's
karma. Although sometimes we cannot see the gross body changing, chanting
the holy name of the Supreme Lord immediately changes the subtle body, and
because the subtle body changes, the living entity is immediately freed from
material bondage. After all, changes of the gross body are conducted by the
subtle body. After the destruction of the gross body, the subtle body takes the
living entity from his present gross body to another. In the subtle body, the
mind is predominant, and therefore if one's mind is always absorbed in
remembering the activities or the lotus feet of the Lord, he is to be understood
to have already changed his present body and become purified. Therefore it is
irrefutable that a caëòäla, or any fallen or lowborn person, can become a
brähmaëa simply by the method of bona fide initiation.


Continues...