Hare Krsna,
As I was studying and meditating on this lesson, I was trying to find the correlation between the pastime and the anartha it represented. According to the anartha chart shared by our teachers, this (and second) forest fire represents ‘disturbance of religious principles and interference with religious people who are atheist’. But nowhere in the pastime is interference with (or disturbance of) deviant religious principles indicated! I was wondering, where’s the connection?
Thankfully, a devotee brought out the connection beautifully. She wrote, “Misleading a conditioned soul from the path of Krishna consciousness is against religious principles, and by definition atheistic.” The cows were captivated by the allure of ‘greener grass’ on the other side of the dense forest. Similarly, the conditioned souls and sincere sadhakas are presented with various allurements to disturb us from the path of pure Krsna consciousness. More so during the solitary chanting of the Holy Name when the mind treats us with various material attractions that disturb our chanting. These allurements appear in the form of fruitive results, impersonal philosophy, economic development, sense gratification, and liberation. We have also seen “deviation” in the early days of ISKCON where some devotees jumped the ship and joined other Gaudiya lines because they wanted quick results (such as raganuga bhakti, siddha-deha, etc.) without having to undergo the strict regulative principles as prescribed by Srila Prabhupada.
All these allurements are like the forest fire that engulfs us and threatens to destroy our pure bhakti. A vigilant devotee will notice these allurements/deviations and will take appropriate action at the right time before it is too late. We can simply follow the example of the cowherd boys who took shelter of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma.
[The cowherd boys said:] O Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Most powerful one! O Rāma! You whose prowess never fails! Please save Your devotees, who are about to be burned by this forest fire and have come to take shelter of You! (SB 10.19.9)
Kṛṣṇa! Certainly Your own friends shouldn’t be destroyed. O knower of the nature of all things, we have accepted You as our Lord, and we are souls surrendered unto You! (SB 10.19.10)
Similarly, we must immediately take shelter of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma (or Gaura Nitai) to protect us from the forest fire of deviant religious principles. We should be so well conversant with the teachings of Srila Prabhupada that any time we come across philosophy that is not in line with his teachings, we must immediately take shelter of him and beg to protect us. I have done this so many times. This is why we must consider ourselves fortunate to study Srila Prabhupada’s books under the proper and expert guidance of our respected teachers (HG Dhruva Maharaja prabhu and HG Mother Samapriya); they have carefully guided and nourished our philosophical understanding, and pointed out any philosophical deviations that we express verbally or in our writings of the forum posts.
Krsna not only protects us physically. He also takes care to protect our bhakti and religious life (dharma) through His bonafide representatives if we surrender to Him sincerely. In return, Krsna will deliver us from these difficulties by immediately bringing us under the cooling shelter of the Bhandira tree (or His lotus feet, or under the protective care of His pure devotees).
Kṛṣṇa said, “Do not fear. Today I will use another means to protect you.” (SVT commentary on SB 10.19.11)
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Krsna Katha 