See the Lord in Everyone

In Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1, Chapter 11, verse 7 the residents of Dvaraka glorify the Lord in a wonderful manner when the Lord returns to Dvaraka from Hastinapura. The residents of Dvaraka are immensely separated from Krishna and they run towards Him as soon as Krishna enters Dvaraka blowing the fat-boweled conchshell, the sound of which removes the fear of all living entities.


bhavaaya nas tvam bhava vishva bhaavanaa
tvam eva maataatha suhrt patih pitaa
tvam sad gurur nah paramam ca daivatam
yasyaanuvrttyaa krtino babhuvima

"O creator of the universe, You are our mother, well-wisher, Lord, father, spiritual master and worshipable Deity. By following in Your footsteps we have become successful in every espect. We pray, therefore, that You continue to bless us with Your mercy." (SB 1.11.7)

The Supreme Lord always accepts and reciprocates in the way we pray to Him. He is the sum total and is complete in Himself. He attracts the devotees in any form, provided we surrender to Him. The formula for success in this verse is to follow the footsteps of the Lord.

1. Mata - Mother: The love of a mother is very special among living entities. The mother is the well wisher under all circumstances. Krishna declares in the Bhagavad Gita that He is the Mother to all living entities. In Bhagavad Gita verse 9.17 Krishna declares that "pitaaham asya jagato / mataa dhaataa pitaamahah". Srila Prabhupada in his transcendental purport very nicely says that "Not only are our father and mother parts and parcels of Krishna, but the creator, grandmother and grandfather, etc., are also Krishna. Actually any living entity, being part and parcel of Krishna, is Krishna."

2. Pita - Father: However advanced we progress in science, nobody can produce the seed to create a living entitiy, its Krishna's monopoly. He declares very clearly in Bhagavad Gita verse 14.4, "aham beeja-pradah pitaa" - I am the seed-giving Father.

3. Suhrt - Well wisher: Krishna states in Bhagavad Gita verse 5.29 that He is the well wisher of all living entities, "suhrdam sarva-bhutaanaam". Even though Duryodhana did not respect the Lord, the Lord was not happy when Duryodhana was killed. Though Krishna advised Bhima to hit Duryodhana in the thigh region, but when Duryodhana fell on the ground being attacked by Bhima, the Lord was not happy since he was the well wisher for Duryodhana as well. He personally went even as a messenger to Dhrtarashtra to be rightful to the Pandavas. This pastime explains the Lord's mercy on all living entities. He is the best well wisher.

4. Patih - Husband: Lakshmi Devi who worships the Lord in His most merciful Kama deva form affirms that the Lord is the only husband since the living entities playing the role of husband are not able to protect themselves and they are also under the three modes of nature. Though all of us run behind Lakshmi Devi, the Goddess of fortune is not able to quit from the Lord's feet which becomes newer and newer to Her every moment.

5. Guru - Spiritual master: When Lord Brahma, the Supreme Demigod could not find the source of his Lotus seat and did not have proper direction, the Lord guided him by uttering the word Tapa. His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada in his wonderful purport to verse 3.9.38 writes, "When a living entity desires to serve the Lord in transcendental loving service, the Lord helps the devotee in so many ways as the caitya-guru, or the spiritual master within, and thus the devotee can perform many wonderful activities beyond material estimation. By the mercy of the Lord even a layman can compose prayers of the highest spiritual perfection." When Dhruva Maharaj wanted to offer prayers to the Lord, since he was a small kid, he was not able to express his feelings when the Lord appeared before him. Being seated as the Super soul in everyone's heart, Lord understood Dhruva Maharaja's awkward position and with his conchshell he touched the forehead of Dhruva Maharaj and the small kid glorified the Lord with wonderful prayers. Lord is also the Jagat Guru. When we have the sincere determination and a strong spiritual desire, Krishna definitely talks and instructs us through spiritual master and devotees. When Arjuna completely surrendered to Krishna, Lord spoke the Bhagavad Gita.

6.Param Daivatam - The Supreme Worshipable Deity: Krishna says in verse 10.8 of Bhagavad Gita, "aham sarvasya prabhavo". "I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds." Even chief demigods like Brahma need to do a lot of meditation to hear His voice. They surrender to the Lotus feet of the Lord which is like an umbrella for all the surrendered souls.

The residents of Dvaraka truly understood the power of Krishna. The Lord is pleased to appear in the form/role that we desire. He is the reservoir of all qualities of the living entities. We all know that all entities are favored by the Lord. So whenever we deal with other people we need to treat them with utmost care since they are direct representatives of the Lord. Just like how a newly wedded couple gets many additional relatives when they tie the knot to the other person, in the same way we have already tied the kanti mala in our neck indicating that we belong to Krishna's family.

In his wonderful purport to the verse SB 1.8.41, Srila Prabhupada very nicely explains - "Pure devotee cuts off the limited ties of affection for his family and widens his activities of devotional service for all forgotten souls. To cut off all family affection means to broaden the field of activities. Without doing this, no one can be qualified as a brahmana, a king, a public leader or a devotee of the Lord."

We need not be upset that our mother, father or any other relative are not physically present with us. Everyone becomes our relative when Krishna is the center. Hence our family circle is expanded to all living entities. Even if we don't do any good to them, at least let us not harm them by our mind, body and words since such actions will displease Guru and Krishna. Our wonderful acharya Srila Prabhupada says, "A devotee who faithfully engages in the worship of the deity in the temple but does not behave properly toward other devotees or people in general is called a praakrta bhakta, a materialistic devotee, and is considered to be in the lowest position." Lets ensure we don't fall in the trap of praakrta bhakta.

To please Krishna, we need to surrender to Him and not to our demoniac mind. Our only business in this world is to glorify the Lord and His devotees.