of Devala Rsi, who was also taking a bath in the water. Upon this, the sagebecame very angry and immediately cursed him to become a crocodile. King Huhuwas very sorry when cursed in that way, and he begged pardon from the sage, whoin compassion gave him the benediction that he would be freed when Gajendra wasdelivered by the Personality of Godhead. Thus the crocodile was delivered whenkilled by Narayana."In the purport to verse 1 of this chapter, Srila Prabhupada states:"Indradyumna, in his birth as an elephant, attained salvation and became apersonal associate of the Lord in Vaikuntha, and the crocodile regained hisstatus as a Gandharva."As you point out, the purport to verse 4 says Huhu was promoted to the spiritualworld, while verse 5 states that when his crocodile body was destroyed, <strong>Maharaja</strong>Huhu resumed his original form as a Gandharva and thereafter returned toGandharvaloka.So two things are at work simultaneously. One is the curse of the sage, and theother is the mercy of the Supreme Lord. After beány cursed, <strong>Maharaja</strong> Huhubegged the sage for forgiveness and thus the chance to resume his formeridentity as a Gandharva. So the sage blessed him that he would be freed fromthe crocodile form when Miller by the Lord. Thus Huhu would return toGandharvaloka after the curse had run its course. The Lord does not contradictthe blessings of the rsis. Therefore when Huhu was delivered by the Lord, theLord accepted him as a resident of the spiritual world but let the sage'sblessing also take effect, by which Huhu was returned to Gandharvaloka.In the case of <strong>Maharaja</strong> Indradyumna, Sage Agastya did not make a provision forthe lifting of the curse because Indradyumna did not ask him to, since the kingaccepted the curse as the will of the Lord. So the result was that Indradyumalived out all his karmic reactions in the form of Gajendra and then wentstraight back home, Back to Godhead, when he was delivered by Lord Narayana.Comments by Diviratha dasJanuary 16, <strong>1995</strong>Your mentioning of the introduction of Chapter 4 of the 8th Canto reminds me ofanother question. Is it right that these introductions or summarizations werewritten by a sannyasi disciple of Srila Prabhupada? That is what I heard from adevotee, who worked closely with this sannyasi as he was preaching in Centraland Northern Europe.Answer by <strong>Suhotra</strong> SwamiJanuary 16, <strong>1995</strong>I do not know. If I were you, I would direct this question to a BBT Trustee, ora BBT editor like Jayadvaita <strong>Maharaja</strong> or Dravida Prabhu.But actually, if I were really you I wouldn't consider this question worthasking. The cover of any volume of the Srimad Bhagavatam states very clearlywho the author of the book is. We know that Prabhupada had assistants inpreparing the Bhagavatam, i.e. in the matter of checking the Sanskrit-Englishsynonyms, English editing, etc. But the final produkt is credited to SrilaPrabhupada alone. That includes the chapter summaries. Perhaps a disciple ofSrila Prabhupada wrote the summaries under his direction. I don't know. All Iknow is the final credit goes to Srila Prabhupada.This line of inquiry -- who really did what in putting together the SrimadBhagavatam or any of Prabhupada's BBT publications -- seems innocent and may
even be well-intentioned (let the credit go to who really deserves it), but infact it can have a sinister aspect as well. I remember a sannyasi who used topreach in E. Europe, and who was a BBT translator, who wanted to translatedirectly from Srila Prabhupada's dictated tapes of the Gita and Bhagavatambecause he did not trust the work done by Srila Prabhupada's disciples inrendering the final published BBT editions. So rather than open the door forsuch doubts about the fidelity of the published editions of Prabhupada'sbooks,why not just take at face value the cover credits: "His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada." I think that is what Srila Prabhupada and LordKrsna want us to do. That's why the credits are as they are.MEDICAL SCIENCE IN THE VEDASQuestion from Aprameya ddJanuary 14, <strong>1995</strong>Thank you very much for your elaborated answers. Now I have possibility to askyou some questions on COM.SB 2.7.21.p: "...it is therefore understood in this verse that medical scienceor knowledge in medicine was also inaugurated by the Personality of Godhead inHis incarnation Dhanvantari, and thus the knowledge is recorded in the Vedas."Where exactly it is recorded -- in Ayur Veda or somewhere else? Is thisknowledge in medicine stil available nowadays? Was it possible in the past byusing this medical science to change one's karma (for example when one is deadlyill and he could die at every moment but by expert treatement his life isprolonged), or this also depends on the karma whether one will be cured or willdie?Answer by <strong>Suhotra</strong> SwamiJanuary 15, <strong>1995</strong>In a talk in Bhubanesvara on January 21, 1976, Srila Prabhupada said as follows."There are books, Ayurvedic books. They are very nice. Everything can be done.Dhanvantari. It is given by Dhanvantari avatara, incarnation of Krsna."Regarding whether the knowledge of Vedic medicine is available nowadays,everything deteriorates in Kali Yuga. The books are still there as far as Iknow, but it is hard to find a qualified practicioner of Ayurvedic medicinenowadays. Also Ayurveda cures depend greatly on herbs, and the potency ofthese is much reduced in this age.It is not medicine, whether Vedic or Western or Chinese or Arabian medicine,that changes karma. It depends upon who is administering the cure, and how thepatient takes the cure. If the cure is given by a pure devotee, and if thepatient takes the full cure by taking up pure devotional service, then only cankarma be changed. Change of karma means changing from material karma tospiritual karma: kecit kevalaya bhaktya vasudeva parayana (SB 6.1.15). Thenonly are even the seeds of material karma destroyed. Otherwise, there are Vedicprescriptions that suspend the reactions of karma. But because the seeds ofkarma remain, one gradually takes up the same sinful habits which result in thesame reactions again. Prabhupada gives the example of venereal disease. Aperson may be cured of it by medicine, but so long as the seed of illicit sexualenjoyment remains in the heart, he'll be attracted again to engage in illicitsex, putting himself at risk of getting the same disease again.
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Vidyabhusana that argued yet anothe
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SELF-ENVYQuestions from Vrajendra K
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I was studying the second canto cha
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ATHEISMQuestion from Jahnu dasNovem
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two years old and under, in accorda
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that sense one would think the exte
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1) Yes, the message of Jesus is uni
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Paul rationalized that Jesus surviv
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Dear Maharaja,I see that it is a qu
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associates, etc. Lord Vamana has Hi