Danda 1995 - Suhotra Maharaja Archives

GOING BTG WITHOUT CHANGING BODYQuestion from Kamalavati ddDecember 16, 1995I was very surprised to read in SB 1.15.47-48 that "the Pandavas, beánycompletely washed of all material contamination, attained that abode in theirvery same bodies". In the purp SP writes "According to Srila Jiva Gosvami, aperson freed from the three modes of material qualities,..., and situated intranscendence can reach the highest perfaction of life without change of body."I was so surprised to read this because we hear so many times a day that we arenot the body. Moroever so many pure devotees in our parampara for exemple weredefenitly free from "the three modes of materiál qualities" but still we knowthat they have their eternal form in the spiritual world. Guru Maharaja, can youplease kindly explain this?Answer by Suhotra SwamiDecember 8, 1995First thing is, you have to be prepared for events in the lila of the Lord andHis devotees that are completely outside of your power of understanding. Then,one conclusion we are obliged to draw here is that the "bodies" of the Pandavasare actually their own transcendental siddha-deha forms. Just as Krsna appearsand disappears in His own form, coming to the material world and leaving itwithout changing His body, so also do His eternal associates like the Pandavas.That it indicates they became free of the modes of nature is a lesson for us,just like Arjuna's "falling into Maya" on the battlefield of Kuruksetra is alesson for us. But all this is happening under the direction and protection ofthe Supreme Personality of Godhead.JAYA & VIJAYAQuestion from Bhakta MaximDecember 22, 1995While reading Srimad Bhagavatam I came across one interesting statement in8.21.16-17. This is a description of a fight between Lord Vamanadeva'sassociates and Bali Maharaja's demoniac soldiers. But among other associates ofthe Lord, Jaya and Vijaya are listed that is quite surprising, since they weresupposed to be somewhere in material world by that time, having already takenbirth once as Hiranyaksa and Hiranyakasipu. The later was the great-grandfatherof Bali Maharaja. And they the two still had two more births in the materialworld ahead to go through. How was it possible for them to act in the meanwhileas the Lord's associates? Were they some other Jaya and Vijaya (may be there aremany on Vaikuntha)?Answer by Suhotra SwamiDecember 22, 1995One thing we should learn as devotees. As soon as our minds start to think,"How is this possible" in connection with the lila of the Lord and His devotees,we should become very conscious of our insignificance. But still, we should tryto understand and not be blind followers, so the question is good. Among theassociates mentioned are Nanda and Sunanda. But they are not the Nanda(Maharaja) and Sunanda Gopa of Goloka Vrndavana. They are another Nanda andSunanda from Vaikuntha. There are other examples of residents of differentregions in the spiritual sky sharing the same names. There is a cowherd bodynamed Arjuna, different from the Arjuna of the Bhagavad-gita, for instance.There are countless Vaikuntha planets with countless doorkeepers, servants,