King Kulasekhara

Expressions researched:
"Emperor Kulasekhara" |"King Kulasekhara" |"Kulasekhara" |"Maharaja Kulasekhara"

BG Chapters 7 - 12

BG 8.2, Purport:

At the time of death all the bodily functions are disrupted, and the mind is not in a proper condition. Thus disturbed by the bodily situation, one may not be able to remember the Supreme Lord. Mahārāja Kulaśekhara, a great devotee, prays, "My dear Lord, just now I am quite healthy, and it is better that I die immediately so that the swan of my mind can seek entrance at the stem of Your lotus feet." The metaphor is used because the swan, a bird of the water, takes pleasure in digging into the lotus flowers; its sporting proclivity is to enter the lotus flower. Mahārāja Kulaśekhara says to the Lord, "Now my mind is undisturbed, and I am quite healthy. If I die immediately, thinking of Your lotus feet, then I am sure that my performance of Your devotional service will become perfect. But if I have to wait for my natural death, then I do not know what will happen, because at that time the bodily functions will be disrupted, my throat will be choked up, and I do not know whether I shall be able to chant Your name. Better let me die immediately."

SB Canto 2

SB 2.4.21, Purport:

The pure devotee, by the grace of the Lord, absolutely loses all attraction for material enjoyment, and to keep free from contamination he always thinks of the lotus feet of the Lord. King Kulaśekhara, a great devotee of the Lord, prayed:

kṛṣṇa tvadīya-pada-paṅkaja-pañjarāntam

adyaiva me viśatu mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ

prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ

kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaṁ kutas te

(MM 33)

"My Lord Kṛṣṇa, I pray that the swan of my mind may immediately sink down to the stems of the lotus feet of Your Lordship and be locked in their network; otherwise at the time of my final breath, when my throat is choked up with cough, how will it be possible to think of You?"

SB Canto 4

SB 4.9.29, Purport:

A pure devotee has no demand from the Lord. His only concern is to serve the Lord sincerely and seriously, and he is not at all concerned about what will happen in the future. In the Mukunda-mālā-stotra, King Kulaśekhara, author of the book, states in his prayer: "My dear Lord, I don't want any position of sense gratification within this material world. I simply want to engage in Your service perpetually."

SB 4.23.13, Purport:

Every devotee desires to give up the body while it is sound physically and mentally. This desire was also expressed by King Kulaśekhara in his Mukunda-mālā-stotra:

kṛṣṇa tvadīya-padapaṅkaja-pañjarāntam

adyaiva me viśatu mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ

prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ

kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaṁ kutas te

(MM 33)

King Kulaśekhara wanted to give up his body while in a healthy state, and he thus prayed to Kṛṣṇa to let him die immediately while he was in good health and while his mind was sound.

SB 4.28.15, Purport:

At the last stage of life, the different gates of the body are choked by the effects of disease, which are caused by an imbalance of bile, mucus and air. Thus the living entity cannot clearly express his difficulties, and surrounding relatives hear the sound "ghura ghura" from a dying man. In his Mukunda-mālā-stotra, King Kulaśekhara states:

kṛṣṇa tvadīya-padapaṅkaja-pañjarāntam

adyaiva me viśatu mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ

prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ

kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaṁ kutas te

(MM 33)

"My dear Kṛṣṇa, please help me die immediately so that the swan of my mind may be encircled by the stem of Your lotus feet. Otherwise at the time of my final breath, when my throat is choked up, how will it be possible for me to think of You?"

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 4.33, Purport:

Many realized souls, such as Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī and King Kulaśekhara, have recommended with great emphasis that one develop this spontaneous love of Godhead, even at the risk of transgressing all the traditional codes of morality and religiosity. Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, one of the six Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana, has written in his prayers called the Manaḥ-śikṣā that one should simply worship Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa with all attention. Na dharmaṁ nādharmaṁ śruti-gaṇa-niruktaṁ kila kuru: one should not be much interested in performing Vedic rituals or simply following rules and regulations.

King Kulaśekhara has written similarly, in his book Mukunda-mālā-stotra (MM 5):

nāsthā dharme na vasu-nicaye naiva kāmopabhoge

yad bhāvyaṁ tad bhavatu bhagavan pūrva-karmānurūpam

etat prārthyaṁ mama bahu-mataṁ janma-janmāntare ’pi

tvat-pādāmbho-ruha-yuga-gatā niścalā bhaktir astu

"I have no attraction for performing religious rituals or holding any earthly kingdom. I do not care for sense enjoyments; let them appear and disappear in accordance with my previous deeds. My only desire is to be fixed in devotional service to the lotus feet of the Lord, even though I may continue to take birth here life after life."

CC Adi 6.42, Purport:

King Kulaśekhara, in his very famous book Mukunda-mālā-stotra, prays:

nāhaṁ vande tava caraṇayor dvandvam advandva-hetoḥ

kumbhī-pākaṁ gurum api hare nārakaṁ nāpanetum

ramyā-rāmā-mṛdu-tanu-latā-nandane nābhirantuṁ

bhāve bhāve hṛdaya-bhavane bhāvayeyaṁ bhavantam

"My Lord, I do not worship You to be liberated from this material entanglement, nor do I wish to save myself from the hellish condition of material existence, nor do I ever pray for a beautiful wife to enjoy in a nice garden. I wish only that I may always be in full ecstasy with the pleasure of serving Your Lordship." (MM 4)

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 9.79, Purport:

Śrī Raṅga-kṣetra (Śrī Raṅgam) is a very famous place. It lies in the district of Tiruchchirāpalli, about ten miles west of Kumbhakonam and near the city of Tiruchchirāpalli, on an island in the Kāverī River. The Śrī Raṅgam temple is the largest in India, and there are seven walls surrounding it. There are also seven roads leading to Śrī Raṅgam. The ancient names of these roads are the road of Dharma, the road of Rājamahendra, the road of Kulaśekhara, the road of Ālināḍana, the road of Tiruvikrama, the Tirubiḍi road of Māḍamāḍi-gāisa, and the road of Aḍa-iyāvala-indāna. The temple was founded before the reign of Dharmavarma, who reigned before Rājamahendra. Many celebrated kings like Kulaśekhara and Yāmunācārya (Ālabandāru) resided in the temple of Śrī Raṅgam. Yāmunācārya, Śrī Rāmānuja, Sudarśanācārya and others also supervised this temple.

CC Madhya 9.178, Purport:

Southern Mathurā, presently known as Madurai, is situated on the banks of the Bhāgāi River. This place of pilgrimage is specifically meant for the devotees of Lord Śiva; therefore it is called Śaiva-kṣetra, that is, the place where Lord Śiva is worshiped. In this area there are mountains and forests. There are also two Śiva temples, one known as Rāmeśvara and the other known as Sundareśvara. There is also a temple to Devī called the Mīnākṣī-devī temple, which displays very great architectural craftsmanship. It was built under the supervision of the kings of the Pāṇḍya Dynasty, and when the Muslims attacked this temple, as well as the temple of Sundareśvara, great damage was done. In the Christian year 1372, a king named Kampanna Udaiyara reigned on the throne of Madurai. Long ago, Emperor Kulaśekhara ruled this area, and during his reign he established a colony of brāhmaṇas. A well-known king named Anantaguṇa Pāṇḍya is an eleventh-generation descendant of Emperor Kulaśekhara.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 32:

In the Mukunda-mālā-stotra, compiled by King Kulaśekhara, one of the prayers says, "My dear Lord, You are the deliverer of living entities from the hellish condition of materialistic life, but that does not matter to me. Whether I am elevated to the heavenly platform or remain on this earthly planet or am dispatched to some hellish planet, that does not matter at all to me. My only prayer is that at the time of my death I may simply remember Your two beautiful feet, which are just like lotus flowers fructifying during the autumn season."

Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 1, Purport:

A devotee of Godhead is he who glorifies the Personality of Godhead under the dictation of transcendental ecstasy. This ecstasy is a by-product of profound love for the Supreme, which is itself attained by the process of glorification. In this age of quarrel and fighting, the process of chanting and glorification recommended here by King Kulaśekhara is the only way to attain perfection.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 1, Purport:

King Kulaśekhara, an ideal pure devotee of the Lord, shows us by his own realization how to offer prayers to the Lord. Since he is a mahā-jana, an authority in the line of devotional service, it is our prime duty to follow in his footsteps in order to achieve the highest devotional platform.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 1, Purport:

King Kulaśekhara next addresses the Lord as Varada, "the bestower of benedictions," because it is He alone who can deliver to us the actual substance—spiritual bliss. When we detach ourselves from His association, we are always in the midst of want and scarcity, but as soon as we get in touch with Him, our gradual endowment with all bliss begins. The first installment of this bliss is the clearance of the layer of dust that has accumulated in our hearts due to millions of years of material association.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 1, Purport:

King Kulaśekhara next addresses the Lord as Dayāpara, "He who is causelessly merciful," because there is no one but the Lord who can be a causelessly merciful friend to us. He is therefore also called Dīna-bandhu, "the friend of the needy." Unfortunately, at times of need we seek our friends in the mundane world, not knowing that one needy man cannot help another. No mundane man is full in every respect; even a man possessing the greatest riches is himself needy if he is devoid of a relationship with the Lord.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 1, Purport:

At any time and any stage of life one can freely chant them, but we are so unfortunate that we are too misled even to adopt this simple process. This is the way of Māyā, the Lord's misleading energy. However, one can avoid her ways simply by always remembering the lotus feet of the Lord. King Kulaśekhara prays for this facility from Mukunda, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 2, Purport:

The Lord takes great pleasure in being addressed as Devakī-nandana ("the son of Devakī"), Nanda-nandana ("the son of Nanda"), Yaśodā-nandana ("the son of Yaśodā"), Daśarathī ("the son of King Daśaratha"), Janakī-nātha ("the husband of Janakī"), and so on. The pleasure one gives the Lord by addressing Him by such names is many, many times greater than the pleasure He enjoys when He is addressed as the Supreme Father, the Greatest of the Great, Parameśvara, or anything of that nature, which indicate volumes of awe and veneration. Therefore the names King Kulaśekhara uses to glorify the Lord in this verse indicate his intimate transcendental relationship with the Lord.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 2, Purport:

King Kulaśekhara, knowing how pleased the Lord is to be addressed by a name indicating His transcendental relationships with His intimate devotees, and knowing also the potency of the name Kṛṣṇa, has chosen to glorify the Lord by addressing Him as Devakī-nandana and Kṛṣṇa. The king also addresses Him as Vṛṣṇi-vaṁśa-pradīpa ("the brilliant light in the Vṛṣṇi dynasty") because millions of generations of the Vṛṣṇi dynasty became sanctified by the Lord's appearance within it.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 3, Purport:

But a pure devotee does not belong to either of these two bewildered classes. Neither aspiring to enjoy the imitation peacock nor condemning it out of disgust, he seeks the real peacock. Thus he is unlike either the deluded fruitive worker or the baffled empiricist. He is above these servants of material nature because he prefers to serve the Lord, the master of material nature. He seeks the substance and does not wish to give it up. The substance is the lotus feet of Mukunda, and King Kulaśekhara, being a most intelligent devotee, prays to gain that substance and not the shadow.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 3, Purport:

A pure devotee of Lord Nārāyaṇa, or Mukunda, is not at all afraid of any circumstance that may befall him. Despite all difficulties, therefore, such a pure devotee asks nothing from the Lord on his own account. He is not at all afraid if by chance he has to visit the hellish worlds, nor is he eager to enter the kingdom of heaven. For him both these kingdoms are like castles in the air. He is not concerned with either of them, and this is very nicely expressed by King Kulaśekhara in Text 6.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 3, Purport:

A pure devotee of the Lord like King Kulaśekhara does not pray to God for material wealth, followers, a beautiful wife, or any such imitation peacocks, for he knows the real value of such things. And if by circumstance he is placed in a situation where he possesses such things, he does not try to artificially get out of it by condemnation.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 3, Purport:

Although a pure devotee does not bother himself about what is going to happen next in his material situation, he is always alert not to forget his ultimate aim. King Kulaśekhara therefore prays that he may not forget the lotus feet of the Lord at any time. To forget one's relationship with the Lord and thus to remain overwhelmed by material hankerings is the most condemned mode of life.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 3, Purport:

The spiritual quality of serving the Lord out of transcendental affinity will be pervertedly reflected as love for wine, women, and wealth in different forms. The so-called love of material things—even love for one's country, community, religion, or family, which is accepted as a superior qualification for civilized human beings—is simply a perverted reflection of the love of Godhead dormant in every soul. The position of King Kulaśekhara is therefore the position of a liberated soul, because he does not want to allow his genuine love of God to become degraded into so-called love for material things.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 3, Purport:

Unfortunately, in this iron age the members of well-to-do families generally misuse their wealth. Instead of improving their spiritual condition, they are misled by faulty association and fall victim to sensuality. To be saved from this faulty association, King Kulaśekhara prays fervently to the Lord that he may never forget His lotus feet in any future birth. A devotee who perfects his devotional service certainly goes back to Godhead without a doubt, so for him there is no question of birth or death.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 4, Purport:

King Kulaśekhara is a pure devotee, and as such he is not eager to improve himself by the standards of the empiric philosophers, distressed men, or fruitive workers of this world. Pious acts may lead a mundane creature toward the path of spiritual realization, but practical activity in the domain of devotional service to the Lord need not wait for the reactions of pious acts. A pure devotee does not think in terms of his personal gain or loss because he is fully surrendered to the Lord. He is concerned only with the service of the Lord and always engages in that service, and for this reason his heart is the Lord's home.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 4, Purport:

Pure devotees like King Kulaśekhara are particularly careful to avoid a process that will end in their becoming one with the existence of the Lord, a state known as advandva, nonduality. This is simply spiritual suicide. Out of the five kinds of salvation, advandva is the most abominable for a devotee. A pure devotee denounces such oneness with the Lord as worse than going to hell.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 4, Purport:

As His separated expansions, the living beings are part and parcel of the Lord. The Lord expands Himself into plenary parts and separated parts to enjoy transcendental pastimes, and if a living being refuses to engage in these transcendental blissful pastimes, he is at liberty to merge into the Absolute. This is something like a son's committing suicide instead of living with his father according to the rules the father sets down. By committing suicide, the son thus sacrifices the happiness he could have enjoyed by engaging in a filial loving relationship with his father and enjoying his father's estate. A pure devotee persistently avoids such a criminal policy, and King Kulaśekhara is guiding us to avoid this pitfall.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 4, Purport:

A pure devotee like King Kulaśekhara refuses to associate with beautiful soft-skinned women. There are different grades of women on different planets in the universe. Even on the earth there are different types of women who are enjoyed by different types of men. But on higher planets there are women many, many millions of times more beautiful than the women on this planet, and there are also many pleasure abodes where they can be enjoyed. The best of all of these is the Nandana Gardens on Svargaloka.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 4, Purport:

This restraint cannot be imposed by force; it must be voluntary. Such restraint automatically develops in the course of one's executing devotional service. Thus one who is already engaged in devotional service need not restrain his senses artificially. A pure devotee like King Kulaśekhara, therefore, neither desires sense enjoyment nor exerts himself to restrain his senses; rather, he tries only to engage himself in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, without any stop.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 5, Purport:

The Absolute Truth is realized in three phases, namely, the impersonal Brahman, the localized Paramātmā, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A person who attains the highest stage of spiritual realization—realization of the Supreme Personality of Godhead—automatically prays as King Kulaśekhara does here.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 6, Purport:

By contrast, a pure devotee like King Kulaśekhara has complete knowledge of both matter and spirit. He does not say that everything material is false, yet he has nothing to do with anything material, from heaven down to hell. He fully understands the statement in the Bhagavad-gītā that from the lowest planets up to Brahmaloka, the highest planet in the universe, there is no spiritual bliss, which the living beings hanker for. Therefore the pure devotee, being in full knowledge of spiritual life, simultaneously rejects material relationships and cultivates his spiritual relationship with the Lord. In other words, the spiritual knowledge a devotee possesses not only allows him to reject material existence, but it also provides him with an understanding of the reality of positive, eternal spiritual existence. This is the understanding King Kulaśekhara expresses in this prayer.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 1.28-29 -- London, July 22, 1973:

If we are serious of being transferred to the loka, to the place, where Kṛṣṇa is, then we have to train up the mind so nicely that at the time of death I can remember Kṛṣṇa. Therefore one great king, Kulaśekhara, he is praying to Kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇa tvadīya pada-paṅkaja... What is that verse? Tvadīya, kṛṣṇa tvadīya pada-paṅkaja (MM 33). I am just forgetting. The idea is, Kulaśekhara, King Kulaśekhara is praying to Kṛṣṇa, adyaiva viśatu me mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ. Adyaiva. Prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ smaraṇaṁ kutas te. He is praying, "Kṛṣṇa, I am now in good health. So kindly award me death immediately." Adyaiva. "Immediately, so that my mind, who is just like a swan, he can take pleasure by entering into stem of Your lotus flower feet." Kṛṣṇa's feet is always compared with lotus flower, and the lotus flower has got a stem.

Lecture on BG 2.1-10 and Talk -- Los Angeles, November 25, 1968:

Somebody is supplying me nice paraṭā and I am eating. (laughs) But, being hungry, oh, my hunger is not satisfied. I'm eating, eating, till the dream is end. So if you practice, this is the technique. We have to practice in this way, that when all functions of this body will be stopped at the time of death, oh, we shall remember some way or other, Kṛṣṇa. Then successful. Immediately successful. That is the technique. Therefore Kulaśekhara is praying,

kṛṣṇa tvadīya-pada-paṅkaja-pañjarāntam

adyaiva viśatu me mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ

prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ

kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaṁ kutas te

(MM 33)

Lecture on BG 2.1-10 and Talk -- Los Angeles, November 25, 1968:

The devotee, a great devotee, King Kulaśekhara. He has a nice book, Mukunda-mālā-stotra. I began translating, commenting, this line in Vṛndāvana. So the first verse is he's comparing his mind with the swan. I think you have seen, Jayānanda, when we were walking in Seattle in that park, in a lake the swan were diving near the lotus. You have seen? Yes. That is the practice. The swan takes pleasure where there is, I mean to say, what is called, lotus or lily, lilies. There's a stem. They dive and they entangle their long neck with the... That is their sporting. So Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, we call, lotus feet.

Lecture on BG 2.40 - London, September 13, 1973:

At the time of death, somehow or other, if you can remember Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa, your life is successful. Therefore, practice, practice, while you are strong, while you are in good life, practice how to remember Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa, always. Therefore Kulaśekhara, Mahārāja Kulaśekhara, he has written his Stotra-mālā, very important. In the first stotra he said:

kṛṣṇa tvadīya-pada-paṅkaja-pañjarāntam

adyaiva viśatu me mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ

prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ

kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaṁ kutas te

(MM 33)

He's thinking, "My Lord, Kṛṣṇa, now I am strong. Kindly give me the chance to die immediately. Give me the chance. Because now I can remember. But if I die in the natural way, when I am too old, it may be that kapha-pitta, because this is the body of tri-dhātuka, kapha, pitta, vāyu, so my throat will be choked up by mucus and I may be unconscious, I may not be able to chant at the time of death Your name. So now I am strong, please immediately give me death."

Lecture on BG 7.28-8.6 -- New York, October 23, 1966:

Now, if you go on with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, your, the ultimate result of Kṛṣṇa consciousness... What is the ultimate result? The ultimate result is described here. Now, anta-kāle: "at the time of your death." That is called anta-kāle—now end everything, all our activities, all this proprietorship, everything is now ended. Not end. It is just going to, just at the verge of your point of death... Anta-kāle ca mām eva (BG 8.5). Mām eva. Kṛṣṇa says, mām: "unto Me, Kṛṣṇa." So therefore one who is always, constantly in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, naturally, at the time of his death he'll think of Kṛṣṇa. This is a practice. This is a practice. Just like that King, er, Kulaśekhara. He has got many nice verses about his devotional service, and in one verse he describes about his position.

Lecture on BG 9.2 -- Calcutta, March 7, 1972:

Of all yogis"—there are different kinds of yogis—yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntarātmanā, "one who is thinking of Me, Kṛṣṇa, always, Kṛṣṇa...," kṛṣṇa bha..., sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravinda, "thinking of Kṛṣṇa in the last stage..." Just like Kulaśekhara Mahārāja:

kṛṣṇa tvādīya-pada-paṅkaja-panjarāntam

adyaiva viśatu me mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ

prāna-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ

kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaṁ kutas te

(MM 33)

"Kṛṣṇa, now I am healthy and my mind is just like swan. The swan likes to entangle himself with the stem of lotus flower." So, kṛṣṇa tvadīya-padapaṅkaja-pañjarāntam adyaiva me viśatu mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ. So rāja-haṁsaḥ. The mind is rājahaṁsaḥ. It should be trained to be entangled with the lotus stem of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.8 -- Bombay, December 26, 1972:

So unless you practice, how you can remember Kṛṣṇa at the time of death? Therefore, Saṁrāj Kulaśekhara, the great emperor devotee, he is praying to Kṛṣṇa,

kṛṣṇa tvadīya-pada-paṅkaja-pañjarāntam

adyaiva viśatu me mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ

prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ

kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaṁ kutas te

(MM 33)

"My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, now I am healthy. I am thinking rightly. Kindly give me immediately death, and I can be entangled with Your lotus feet tight, like the swan entangles itself with the lotus stem." You have seen, the swans take pleasure by entangling itself with the lotus stem. It goes down the water and catches the stem and binds itself. In this way, it is a sporting of the swan. So Samraj Kulaśekhara says, mānasa. Kṛṣṇa tvadīya-pada-paṅkaja-pañjarāntam adyaiva viśatu me mānasa-rāja-hāmsaḥ. "At the present moment my mind is just like the swan. It is playing with Your lotus stem. So, let me die immediately.

Lecture on SB 1.9.40 -- New York, May 22, 1973:

Unless we are practiced to think of Kṛṣṇa always, how at the time of death we can think of Him? Therefore Kulaśekhara says:

kṛṣṇa tvādiya-padapaṅkaja-pañjarāntam

adyaiva me viśsatu mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ

prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ

kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaṁ kutas te

(MM 33)

Mahārāja Kulaśekhara king, a great devotee, is praying to Kṛṣṇa, "Kṛṣṇa, this is the opportune time. Now I am healthy. I am quite in good health so let me die immediately, thinking of You, because my whole purpose is to think of You, of Your pastimes, at the time of death. So generally, at the time of death, kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ, the whole system becomes disarranged. There are coughing, there are headache, there is some pain, this is general system. Sometimes they are so intolerable that the man who is going to die, he cries.

Lecture on SB 6.1.28-29 -- Honolulu, May 28, 1976:

If we practice throughout whole life "Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa," then there is good chance of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, because at the time of death everything becomes disordered. The tongue becomes disordered, the mind becomes disordered. There is a verse by Kulaśekhara. He was praying to Lord, adyaiva me viśatu mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ, prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ smaraṇaṁ kutas te (MM 33). He was praying to the Lord, "My Lord, Mukunda, now I am healthy, very strong. Everything is all right. My mind is in order. My health is in order. So I am praying to You, let death come immediately so that I can soundly remember Your name.

Lecture on SB 6.2.13 -- Vrndavana, September 15, 1975:

So nice thing, Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, some way or other, if we can take it very seriously, then our life will be succesful at the end of life if we can chant. Therefore Yamunācārya says... Not Yamunācārya; Kulaśekhara Mahārāja. He was also emperor.

kṛṣṇa tvadīya-pada-paṅkaja-pañjarāntam

adyaiva viśatu me mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ

prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha vāta pittaiḥ

kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaṁ kutas te

(MM 33)

He is praying, "My Lord, now I am healthy. I am quite conscious. So this time, if I absorb my mind in Your lotus feet and die, it is very good. It is very good because in the natural time of death, the three elements—kapha, vāta—they'll be dismantled, and there will be different sounds, and mind will be distracted. Brain will be falling. So hardly there is possibility of chanting Your holy name. The best thing is: now I am feeling healthy. My whole system, physical system, is quite fit. Let me chant and die immediately." This is desire of the devotee.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Soren Aabye Kierkegaard:

Devotee: Even if you commit sinful activities all your life, if he is there at your deathbed then you can be saved from your sins.

Prabhupāda: That is quite possible, you see, because he can remind you. But at the time of death, when everything is stopped, the functions of the body, kapha, pitta, vāyu, therefore Kulaśekhara says that "Let me die immediately." Actually, natural death means I will be encumbered with so many things, natural disturbance of this body, the disturbance, they'll be choked up, and cough, mucus, so many things. So unless one is practiced, it is not possible. Therefore practice is required from the very beginning-austerity, penance, brahmacārī, celibacy, like that. These things have to be practiced.

Philosophy Discussion on Arthur Schopenhauer:

Prabhupāda: This is not suicide. This is... Our life is continuation, but on account of impure understanding we are getting different types of body and you are suffering different varieties of miseries. So this suicidal, this is not suicidal, that voluntarily accepting death, so that by dying, if he thinks of the spiritual life, he gets it. Just like Kulaśekhara, he has got a poetry that... In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated, yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajanty ante: (BG 8.6) we get next life according to the desire at the point of death. So generally, when death takes place, one sometimes remains in coma, all the bodily functions becomes defunct, he dreams in different ways and so on, so on. So he cannot dream or think independently. Therefore sometimes the intelligent class, they think that "If I meet death in sound health, then I can think of my next life, go back to home, back to Godhead, and I achieve it. Because at the time of death my thinking will be taken into consideration. So if by thinking of Jagannātha if I die, then I go back to Jagannātha."

Purports to Songs

Purport to Prayers by King Kulasekhara -- Los Angeles, December 25, 1968:

(This) verse was sung by King Kulaśekhara, a great king, and, at the same time, a great devotee of the Lord. His songs are recorded in the book known as Mukunda-mālā-stotra. That is very famous book. It is sung by many devotees. So it does not matter whether a man is king, or a poor mendicant. Everyone has the facility to become the greatest devotee of the Lord.

Purport to Prayers by King Kulasekhara -- Los Angeles, December 25, 1968:

Generally we say "Lotus feet". But where the lotus flower is there, the white swans, they come to the lotus flower and try to play with the stem. They sport, going down the water, and be entangled with the stem of that lotus flower. That is their sporting. So King Kulaśekhara is praying that "Let the swan of my mind be immediately entered into the network of the stem of Your lotus feet." So that means he wants to engage his mind on the lotus feet of the Lord immediately. There is no question of delaying.

Purport to Prayers by King Kulasekhara -- Los Angeles, December 25, 1968:

So King Kulaśekhara says that "I cannot wait up to that time when everything will be topsy-turvied. Now my mind is sound. Let me enter immediately in the stem of your lotus feet." That means he's praying: "Let me die in the sound condition of my life so that I can think of your lotus feet." In other words, he's giving us lessons that if we do not practice to engage our mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa when our mind is sound, how it is possible to think of Him at the time of death?

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- April 1, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: ...important thing, mām, Kṛṣṇa. They practice it, always remembering Kṛṣṇa. Then at the end of life, ante nārāyaṇa-smṛti. That is perfection of life. But how one will remember, ante, then? There is a verse of... Just wait.

Chandobhai: Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran... (BG 8.6).

Prabhupāda: No. Just wait. There is a verse by Kulaśekhara. Kulaśekhara. Adyaiva viśatu me mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ. He says. He says, "My Lord..." The idea is that "Now I am in quite fit order. So let me remember You and die. Because at the end of... At the end of... Kapha-pitta-vāyu, there will be disorder. Smaraṇaṁ kutas te (MM 33). At that time, it is..."

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Conversation with George Harrison -- July 26, 1976, London:

Prabhupāda: The Mukunda-māla-stotra... There was a big emperor, Samrat(?), Kulaśekhara, emperor Kulaśekhara, he was a great devotee. So he wrote some poetry. Formerly, kings were so advanced, rajarṣi. They are king, at the same time, saintly persons. In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is said imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2)—this science of Bhagavad-gītā was learned by the rājarṣis. People were happy therefore. The head, or the executive, they were all saintly persons. So this Kulasekhara, he writes in the beginning of his poetry, "Kṛṣṇa, O Kṛṣṇa..." Kṛṣṇa tvādīya-pada-paṅkaja-pañjarāntam. The paṅkaja means lotus flower. So Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet is just like lotus flower. The lotus flower has stem down, and the swans, they take pleasure to go down the water and entangled by the stem. Have you seen their pleasure? Yes. That is their great sporting, to be entangled by the stem and come out, in this way, go deep, this is their sporting. So this Kulasekhara is praying, "My Lord Kṛṣṇa, let my swan of mind be entangled with the stem of Your lotus feet." Kṛṣṇa tvādīya-pada-paṅkaja-pañjarāntam adyaiva: "Immediately"—viśatu—"let enter." Who? Adyaiva viśatu me, "My," mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ, "my mind, which is just like a swan." So why adyaiva, immediately? He says that prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye, "At the time of death," prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ, "when the physical condition of the body will be in disorder," kapha, pitta, vayu will not be in order.... Prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ kaṇṭhāvarodha, "At that time I shall not be able to speak. I'll 'ahn, ahn,' but that's all. So I may not be able to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Better I am now in good health, so let my mind be entangled in the stem of Your lotus feet." Very nice poetry.

Morning Walk -- December 5, 1976, Hyderabad:

Guest (8) (Indian man): Your Divine Grace, there is Mukunda-mālā-stotra by Kulaśekhara Mahārāja. Are there any translations of that in the English and other languages? (indistinct) ...ślokas with you (indistinct) Kṛṣṇa mantra?

Prabhupāda: Yes. I think we have translated Kulaśekhara... It is not published, but I have translated.

1973 Correspondence

Letter to Satsvarupa -- Los Angeles 19 April, 1973:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated April 15, 1973 with enclosure of m/s. Narada Bhakti Sutra. . I have no objection to your publishing it, however there are many, many mistakes in the Sanskrit which have to be corrected, so I am returning the m/s. to you under separate cover. Regarding "Prayers of King Kulasekhara," I never said I was displeased with your publishing it in BTG.