THE CURE FOR ALL DISTRESS

Reading from Srimad Bhagavatam Canto3,Chapters 14 and 15

     Mother Diti had given birth to two inauspicious personalities due to her uncontrolled passion. However she is reassured by her husband Kasyapa that all is not lost since the Personality of Godhead Himself will kill them personally and thereby give them the highest benediction. One of her grandsons will be recognized as a great Pure Devotee of the Lord Prahlada Maharaja performing uncommon acts and showing all good qualities. 

   How is that? A Pure Devotee grandson? After all Diti has done the unthinkable!

"The learned Kaśyapa said: Because of your mind’s being polluted, because of defilement of the particular time, because of your negligence of my directions, and because of your being apathetic to the demigods, everything was inauspicious. SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 3:14:38 (LINK)

 But Krishna promises: 

"Even if one commits the most abominable actions, if he is engaged in devotional service, he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated."

 In this next verse we see that Diti is a devotee. Because who else would be happy to know that her sons would be killed by God? 

"Diti said: It is very good that my sons will be magnanimously killed by the arms of the Personality of Godhead with His Sudarśana weapon. O my husband, may they never be killed by the wrath of the brāhmaṇa devotees."

SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 3:14:42 (LINK)

Interesting to note that she is relieved to know that they will not be killed by the brahmins. Bhaktivendanta Swami explains this is because the Lord does not appear by the wrath of a brahmin but that to be killed directly by the Lord is a great benediction. It is a form of the Mercy of the Lord    

 So the time had come for Diti to give birth and sure enough the entire universe became filled with in-auspiciousness at the appearance of her sons. A great darkness expanded everywhere and then the entire universe became completely dark. This certainly alarmed the demigods on the higher planetary systems whose ability to perform their duties was suspended. They were frantic at not knowing what ill fortune might be arriving. The demigods approached the chief of the Demigods, Lord Brahma with their pleas for relief. 

     Now what solution did Lord Brahma have? Amass a great army? Form an investigating committee? Find an alternative source of energy and get the lights back on?
     No. His solution was to narrate the glories of the Pastimes of the Lord, His eternal abode, the Vaikuntha planets and the offenses of Jaya and Vijaya, the Lord's gatekeepers. How they had unnecessarily blocked Lord Brahma's four saintly sons from entering Vaikuntha mocking them for appearing like children and thereby committing an offense to devotees. Because of this they had taken birth as Diti's sons.
     Lord Brahma gives a most beautiful description of the Vaikuntha world. A world where everything and everyone is self-effulgent. There is no anxiety, fear or anger since there is no birth or death. There are lush forests and trees full of flower-bearing and fruit-bearing plants and trees. Their fragrances fill the air. Many varieties of songbirds. Everything and everyone is engaged in pleasing the Lord. There are unlimited goddesses of fortune whose bodily features are gorgeous being made more beautiful having been touched by the Lord.
     Lord Brahma laments that human beings who have the opportunity to hear these descriptions but do not and instead waste their time listening to talks of the temporary material world. He expresses his own desire to take birth as a human just so he can engage in such talks and thereby attain perfect religious truth and knowledge. 

     "Lord Brahmā said: My dear demigods, the human form of life is of such importance that we also desire to have such life, for in the human form one can attain perfect religious truth and knowledge. If one in this human form of life does not understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His abode, it is to be understood that he is very much affected by the influence of external nature." SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 3:15:24 (LINK)

     The next verse is very significant. Lord Brahma continues: 

     "Persons whose bodily features change in ecstasy and who breathe heavily and perspire due to hearing the glories of the Lord are promoted to the kingdom of God, even though they do not care for meditation and other austerities. The kingdom of God is above the material universes, and it is desired by Brahmā and other demigods. SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 3:15:25 (LINK)

As we learn later, Lord Brahma does indeed take birth as an human being and has the opportunity to become totally absorbed in glorification of the Lord. He appears as Haridas Thakur in Chaitanya lila. Chaitanya lila is extraordinary, in that, in this incarnation the Lord is distributing love of God and He himself is exhibiting ecstatic symptoms in the mood of His own devotee, Radharani.

     In this way, Lord Brahma's good fortune is realized.