ÄsÄ«naḥ saá¹viÅ›aá¹s tiá¹£á¹han
bhuñjÄnaḥ paryaá¹an mahÄ«m
cintayÄno hṛṣīkeÅ›am
apaśyat tanmayaṠjagat
ÄsÄ«naḥ - while sitting comfortably in his sitting room or on the throne; saá¹viÅ›an - or lying on his bed; tiá¹£á¹han - or staying anywhere; bhuñjÄnaḥ - while eating; paryaá¹an - while walking or moving; mahÄ«m - on the ground, going hither and thither; cintayÄnaḥ - always inimically thinking of; hṛṣīkeÅ›am - the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the controller of everything; apaÅ›yat - observed; tat-mayam - consisting of Him (Kṛṣṇa), and nothing more; jagat - the entire world.
While sitting on his throne or in his sitting room, while lying on his bed, or, indeed, while situated anywhere, and while eating, sleeping or walking, Kaá¹sa saw only his enemy, the Supreme Lord, HṛṣīkeÅ›a. In other words, by thinking of his all-pervading enemy, Kaá¹sa became unfavorably Kṛṣṇa conscious.
ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« has described the finest pattern of devotional service as ÄnukÅ«lyena kṛṣṇÄnuśīlanam, or cultivating Kṛṣṇa consciousness favorably. Kaá¹sa, of course, was also Kṛṣṇa conscious, but because he regarded Kṛṣṇa as his enemy, even though he was fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, his Kṛṣṇa consciousness was not favorable for his existence. Kṛṣṇa consciousness, favorably cultivated, makes one completely happy, so much so that a Kṛṣṇa conscious person does not consider kaivalya-sukham, or merging into the existence of Kṛṣṇa, to be a great gain. Kaivalyaá¹ narakÄyate. For a Kṛṣṇa conscious person, even merging into the existence of Kṛṣṇa, or Brahman, as impersonalists aspire to do, is uncomfortable. Kaivalyaá¹ narakÄyate tridaÅ›a-pÅ«r ÄkÄÅ›a-puá¹£pÄyate. KarmÄ«s hanker to be promoted to the heavenly planets, but a Kṛṣṇa conscious person considers such promotion a will-o’-the-wisp, good for nothing. DurdÄntendriya-kÄla-sarpa-paá¹alÄ« protkhÄta-daá¹á¹£á¹rÄyate. YogÄ«s try to control their senses and thus become happy, but a Kṛṣṇa conscious person neglects the methods of yoga. He is unconcerned with the greatest of enemies, the senses, which are compared to snakes. For a Kṛṣṇa conscious person who is cultivating Kṛṣṇa consciousness favorably, the happiness conceived by the karmÄ«s, jñÄnÄ«s and yogÄ«s is treated as less than a fig. Kaá¹sa, however, because of cultivating Kṛṣṇa consciousness in a different way — that is, inimically — was uncomfortable in all the affairs of his life; whether sitting, sleeping, walking or eating, he was always in danger. This is the difference between a devotee and a nondevotee. A nondevotee or atheist also cultivates God consciousness — by trying to avoid God in everything. For example, so-called scientists who want to create life by a combination of chemicals regard the external, material elements as supreme. Such scientists do not like the idea that life is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. As clearly stated in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (mamaivÄá¹Å›o jÄ«va-loke jÄ«va-bhÅ«taḥ), the living entities do not arise from a combination of material elements, such as earth, water, air and fire, but are separated portions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one can understand the position of the living entity as a separated portion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by studying the nature of the living entity one can understand the nature of the Supreme Godhead, since the living entity is a fragmental sample of the Godhead. But because atheists are not interested in God consciousness, they try to be happy by cultivating Kṛṣṇa consciousness in various unfavorable ways.
Although Kaá¹sa was always absorbed in thoughts of Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he was not happy. A devotee, however, whether sitting on a throne or beneath a tree, is always happy. ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« resigned from office as a government minister to sit beneath a tree, yet he was happy. TyaktvÄ tÅ«rṇam aÅ›eá¹£a-maṇá¸alapati-Å›reṇīṠsadÄ tucchavat (á¹¢aá¸-gosvÄmy-aá¹£á¹aka 4). He did not care for his comfortable position as minister; he was happy even beneath a tree in Vá¹›ndÄvana, favorably serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the difference between a devotee and a nondevotee. For a nondevotee, the world is full of problems, whereas for a devotee the entire world is full of happiness.
viÅ›vaá¹ pÅ«rṇa-sukhÄyate vidhi-mahendrÄdiÅ› ca kÄ«á¹Äyate
yat-kÄruṇya-kaá¹Äká¹£a-vaibhavavatÄá¹ taá¹ gauram eva stumaḥ
(Caitanya-candrÄmá¹›ta 95)
This comfortable position of a devotee can be established by the mercy of Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu. Yasmin sthito na duḥkhena guruṇÄpi vicÄlyate (Bg. 6.22). Even when a devotee is superficially put into great difficulty, he is never disturbed.
