Chapter 38 · Class prep
A printable handout for teaching this chapter. For each verse with Personal Guidance, you'll see Prabhupāda's translation, the essence, two or three practical applications, and a discussion prompt. Press ⌘P / Ctrl P to print as a handout.
BG 38.1
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: After passing the night in the city of Mathurā, the high-minded Akrūra mounted his chariot and set off for the cowherd village of Nanda Mahārāja.
Essence. After a night in Mathurā, the high-minded Akrūra mounts his chariot and sets off for Nanda's village. A devotee on a sacred mission rises early and travels with quiet purpose, letting the journey itself become preparation.
BG 38.2
As he traveled on the road, the great soul Akrūra felt tremendous devotion for the lotus-eyed Personality of Godhead, and thus he began to consider as follows.
Essence. Traveling, Akrūra feels tremendous devotion for the lotus-eyed Lord and begins to reflect. Movement and contemplation pair well — the body in motion gives the mind room to remember Kṛṣṇa.
BG 38.3
[Śrī Akrūra thought:] What pious deeds have I done, what severe austerities undergone, what worship performed or charity given so that today I will see Lord Keśava?
Essence. Akrūra wonders: what pious deeds have I done, what austerities undergone, what worship performed, that I should see Lord Keśava today? Genuine devotees experience the chance to meet the Lord as outsized fortune, not entitlement.
BG 38.4
Since I am a materialistic person absorbed simply in sense gratification, I think it is as difficult for me to have gotten this opportunity to see Lord Uttamaḥśloka as it would be for one born a śūdra to be allowed to recite the Vedic mantras.
Essence. Akrūra calls himself materialistic and absorbed in sense gratification, comparing his chance to see Uttamaḥśloka with a śūdra being allowed Vedic mantras. Honest self-appraisal — not false modesty — sharpens the devotee's gratitude.
BG 38.5
But enough of such thoughts! After all, even a fallen soul like me can have the chance to behold the infallible Supreme Lord, for one of the conditioned souls being swept along in the river of time may sometimes reach the shore.
Essence. Enough of such thoughts, Akrūra says — even a fallen soul like him may, like a drifting soul in time's river, sometimes reach the shore. Devotees catch themselves spiraling and choose hope; grace does occasionally find the unlikely.
BG 38.6
Today all my sinful reactions have been eradicated and my birth has become worthwhile, since I will offer my obeisances to the Supreme Lord’s lotus feet, which mystic yogīs meditate upon.
Essence. Today, Akrūra concludes, all his sinful reactions are eradicated and his birth made worthwhile, because he will offer obeisances at the Lord's lotus feet. A single act of surrendered worship justifies an entire life.
BG 38.7
Indeed, today King Kaṁsa has shown me extreme mercy by sending me to see the lotus feet of Lord Hari, who has now appeared in this world. Simply by the effulgence of His toenails, many souls in the past have transcended the insurmountable darkness of material existence and achieved liberation.
Essence. Akrūra notes the irony that Kaṁsa — envious and demoniac — has shown him extreme mercy by sending him to see Hari. Even enemies become instruments in Kṛṣṇa's plan; opposition can deliver us to the Lord.
BG 38.8
Those lotus feet are worshiped by Brahmā, Śiva and all the other demigods, by the goddess of fortune, and also by the great sages and Vaiṣṇavas. Upon those lotus feet the Lord walks about the forest while herding the cows with His companions, and those feet are smeared with the kuṅkuma from the gopīs’ breasts.
Essence. Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet are worshiped by Brahmā, Śiva, Lakṣmī, sages and Vaiṣṇavas, yet they walk the forest herding cows, smeared with kuṅkuma from the gopīs' breasts. The same feet adored cosmically are intimate with daily Vraja life.
BG 38.9
Surely I shall see the face of Lord Mukunda, since the deer are now walking past me on my right. That face, framed by His curly hair, is beautified by His attractive cheeks and nose, His smiling glances and His reddish lotus eyes.
Essence. Deer cross to Akrūra's right — an auspicious omen — and he is sure he will see Mukunda's curly-haired, lotus-eyed, smiling face. Devotees notice gentle confirmations along the way; the universe sends small reassurances to those expecting Kṛṣṇa.
BG 38.10
I am going to see the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu, the reservoir of all beauty, who by His own sweet will has now assumed a humanlike form to relieve the earth of her burden. Thus there is no denying that my eyes will achieve the perfection of their existence.
Essence. Akrūra is going to see Viṣṇu, reservoir of beauty, who has assumed a humanlike form to relieve the earth — his eyes will achieve the perfection of their existence. The senses fulfill their purpose only when they meet the Lord they were made for.
BG 38.11
He is the witness of material cause and effect, yet He is always free from false identification with them. By His internal potency He dispels the darkness of separation and confusion. The individual souls in this world, who are manifested here when He glances upon His material creative energy, indirectly perceive Him in the activities of their life airs, senses and intelligence.
Essence. Akrūra describes the Lord as witness of cause and effect, free of identification with them, dispelling separation by His internal potency. Souls perceive Him indirectly through their own life airs, senses and intelligence — He is the inner light by which we see anything at all.
BG 38.12
All sins are destroyed and all good fortune is created by the Supreme Lord’s qualities, activities and appearances, and words that describe these three things animate, beautify and purify the world. On the other hand, words bereft of His glories are like the decorations on a corpse.
Essence. Words describing Kṛṣṇa's qualities, activities and appearances destroy sins and animate the world; words bereft of His glory are 'decorations on a corpse'. Most speech is cosmetic on death — His glories are speech that brings the body of life.
BG 38.13
That same Supreme Lord has descended into the dynasty of the Sātvatas to delight the exalted demigods, who maintain the principles of religion He has created. Residing in Vṛndāvana, He spreads His fame, which the demigods glorify in song and which brings auspiciousness to all.
Essence. Kṛṣṇa has descended into the Sātvata dynasty to delight the demigods who maintain His religious principles, residing in Vṛndāvana and spreading auspicious fame. Religious life is sustained by remembering the Lord's specific appearances, not by abstract principle.
BG 38.14
Today I shall certainly see Him, the goal and spiritual master of the great souls. Seeing Him brings jubilation to all who have eyes, for He is the true beauty of the universe. Indeed, His personal form is the shelter desired by the goddess of fortune. Now all the dawns of my life have become auspicious.
Essence. Today Akrūra will see the goal and guru of great souls; seeing Him is the eyes' jubilation, and His form is Lakṣmī's chosen shelter. Now all the dawns of his life have become auspicious — meeting Kṛṣṇa retroactively redeems every previous morning.
BG 38.15
Then I will at once alight from my chariot and bow down to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, the Supreme Personalities of Godhead. Theirs are the same feet that great mystic yogīs striving for self-realization bear within their minds. I will also offer my obeisances to the Lords’ cowherd boyfriends and to all the other residents of Vṛndāvana.
Essence. Akrūra plans to alight from his chariot, bow to Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, and to the cowherd boyfriends and all Vṛndāvana's residents. The devotee bows to the Lord and to the Lord's family — devotional respect spreads beyond the central figure.
BG 38.16
And when I have fallen at His feet, the almighty Lord will place His lotus hand upon my head. For those who seek shelter in Him because they are greatly disturbed by the powerful serpent of time, that hand removes all fear.
Essence. When Akrūra falls at His feet, the almighty Lord will place His lotus hand on his head — the hand that removes all fear from those troubled by the serpent of time. Surrender invites a touch that does not happen any other way.
BG 38.17
By offering charity to that lotus hand, Purandara and Bali earned the status of Indra, King of heaven, and during the pleasure pastimes of the rāsa dance, when the Lord wiped away the gopīs’ perspiration and removed their fatigue, the touch of their faces made that hand as fragrant as a sweet flower.
Essence. That same hand made Bali and Purandara into Indra, and during the rāsa dance touched the gopīs' faces to wipe their perspiration. The same hand that empowers kings consoles tired lovers; cosmic and tender are one gesture.
BG 38.18
The infallible Lord will not consider me an enemy, even though Kaṁsa has sent me here as his messenger. After all, the omniscient Lord is the actual knower of the field of this material body, and with His perfect vision He witnesses, both externally and internally, all the endeavors of the conditioned soul’s heart.
Essence. Even though Kaṁsa sent him, Akrūra trusts the omniscient Lord — knower of every field — will not treat him as enemy; He sees external mission and internal devotion alike. Kṛṣṇa reads our inner condition, not our outer assignment.
BG 38.19
Thus He will cast His smiling, affectionate glance upon me as I remain fixed with joined palms, fallen in obeisances at His feet. Then all my contamination will at once be dispelled, and I will give up all doubts and feel the most intense bliss.
Essence. Akrūra anticipates Kṛṣṇa's smiling, affectionate glance dispelling his contamination, doubts, and bringing the most intense bliss. A single divine glance does what years of internal work struggle to accomplish.
BG 38.20
Recognizing me as an intimate friend and relative, Kṛṣṇa will embrace me with His mighty arms, instantly sanctifying my body and diminishing to nil all my material bondage, which is due to fruitive activities.
Essence. Kṛṣṇa will recognize Akrūra as intimate friend and relative, embracing him, sanctifying his body, and reducing material bondage to nil. Recognition by the Lord, not by the world, is what finally undoes karma.
BG 38.21
Having been embraced by the all-famous Lord Kṛṣṇa, I will humbly stand before Him with bowed head and joined palms, and He will address me, “My dear Akrūra.” At that very moment my life’s purpose will be fulfilled. Indeed, the life of anyone whom the Supreme Personality fails to recognize is simply pitiable.
Essence. After the embrace, Kṛṣṇa will address him 'My dear Akrūra' — at that moment, life's purpose will be fulfilled, for to remain unrecognized by the Supreme is pitiable. Being called by name by the Lord is the actual graduation of a soul.
BG 38.22
The Supreme Lord has no favorite and no dearmost friend, nor does He consider anyone undesirable, despicable or fit to be neglected. All the same, He lovingly reciprocates with His devotees in whatever manner they worship Him, just as the trees of heaven fulfill the desires of whoever approaches them.
Essence. The Lord has no favorite and no enemy, yet lovingly reciprocates with each devotee in the manner of their worship, like heaven's wish-fulfilling trees. Equality and personal reciprocation coexist in Him.
BG 38.23
And then Lord Kṛṣṇa’s elder brother, the foremost of the Yadus, will grasp my joined hands while I am still standing with my head bowed, and after embracing me He will take me to His house. There He will honor me with all items of ritual welcome and inquire from me about how Kaṁsa has been treating His family members.
Essence. Balarāma will grasp Akrūra's joined hands, embrace him, take him home, honor him with welcome rites, and ask how Kaṁsa has treated the family. The Lord's elder brother extends formal, sustained hospitality — devotion includes hosting and asking after relatives.
BG 38.24
Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, while the son of Śvaphalka, traveling on the road, thus meditated deeply on Śrī Kṛṣṇa, he reached Gokula as the sun was beginning to set.
Essence. Deeply absorbed in meditation on Kṛṣṇa, Akrūra hardly notices the road, yet his chariot reaches Gokula at sunset. When the heart is fixed on Kṛṣṇa, the practical journey still completes — perhaps better than when over-managed.
BG 38.25
In the cowherd pasture Akrūra saw the footprints of those feet whose pure dust the rulers of all the planets in the universe hold on their crowns. Those footprints of the Lord, distinguished by such marks as the lotus, barleycorn and elephant goad, made the ground wonderfully beautiful.
Essence. In the pasture Akrūra sees the footprints of the feet whose dust is held by all planetary rulers — feet marked with lotus, barleycorn and elephant goad — making the ground wonderfully beautiful. Even traces of the Lord transfigure the ordinary ground.
BG 38.26
Increasingly agitated by ecstasy at seeing the Lord’s footprints, his bodily hairs standing on end because of his pure love, and his eyes filled with tears, Akrūra jumped down from his chariot and began rolling about among those footprints, exclaiming, “Ah, this is the dust from my master’s feet!”
Essence. Overwhelmed, hairs on end, eyes streaming, Akrūra jumps down and rolls among the footprints, exclaiming 'This is dust from my master's feet!' Devotion is bodily — sometimes the right response is to fall to the ground.
BG 38.27
The very goal of life for all embodied beings is this ecstasy, which Akrūra experienced when, upon receiving Kaṁsa’s order, he put aside all pride, fear and lamentation and absorbed himself in seeing, hearing and describing the things that reminded him of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Essence. The goal of life for all embodied beings is this ecstasy — when Akrūra put aside pride, fear, and lamentation, fully absorbing himself in seeing, hearing, and describing things that reminded him of Kṛṣṇa. Risking everything outwardly, he became free inwardly.
BG 38.28-33
Akrūra then saw Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma in the village of Vraja, going to milk the cows. Kṛṣṇa wore yellow garments, Balarāma blue, and Their eyes resembled autumnal lotuses. One of those two mighty-armed youths, the shelters of the goddess of fortune, had a dark-blue complexion, and the other’s was white. With Their fine-featured faces They were the most beautiful of all persons. As They walked with the gait of young elephants, glancing about with compassionate smiles, Those two exalted personalities beautified the cow pasture with the impressions of Their feet, which bore the marks of the flag, lightning bolt, elephant goad and lotus. The two Lords, whose pastimes are most magnanimous and attractive, were ornamented with jeweled necklaces and flower garlands, anointed with auspicious, fragrant substances, freshly bathed, and dressed in spotless raiment. They were the primeval Supreme Personalities, the masters and original causes of the universes, who had for the welfare of the earth now descended in Their distinct forms of Keśava and Balarāma. O King Parīkṣit, They resembled two gold-bedecked mountains, one of emerald and the other of silver, as with Their effulgence They dispelled the sky’s darkness in all directions.
Essence. Akrūra sees Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma going to milk the cows — yellow and blue garments, autumn-lotus eyes, dark-blue and white complexions, the most beautiful of all persons. The Lord doesn't only descend for cosmic feats; He shows up dressed for evening chores.
BG 38.34
Akrūra, overwhelmed with affection, quickly jumped down from his chariot and fell at the feet of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma like a rod.
Essence. Overwhelmed with affection, Akrūra quickly leaps from his chariot and falls at the feet of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma like a rod. Real devotion abandons dignity instantly — the planned dismount becomes an immediate fall.
BG 38.35
The joy of seeing the Supreme Lord flooded Akrūra’s eyes with tears and decorated his limbs with eruptions of ecstasy. He felt such eagerness that he could not speak to present himself, O King.
Essence. Tears flood Akrūra's eyes and ecstatic eruptions cover his limbs; eagerness leaves him unable even to introduce himself. Real meeting with Kṛṣṇa silences speech and rewrites the body.
BG 38.36
Recognizing Akrūra, Lord Kṛṣṇa drew him close with His hand, which bears the sign of the chariot wheel, and then embraced him. Kṛṣṇa felt pleased, for He is always benignly disposed toward His surrendered devotees.
Essence. Kṛṣṇa recognizes Akrūra, draws him close with the cakra-marked hand, embraces him, and is pleased — He is always benign toward surrendered devotees. The same hand that can kill Kaṁsa welcomes the messenger sent by Kaṁsa.
BG 38.37-38
As Akrūra stood with his head bowed, Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa [Balarāma] grasped his joined hands, and then Balarāma took him to His house in the company of Lord Kṛṣṇa. After inquiring from Akrūra whether his trip had been comfortable, Balarāma offered him a first-class seat, bathed his feet in accordance with the injunctions of scripture and respectfully served him milk with honey.
Essence. Balarāma grasps Akrūra's joined hands, takes him home with Kṛṣṇa, asks about his trip, offers a first-class seat, bathes his feet per scripture, and serves him milk with honey. Devotion includes ritual hospitality, not just emotional welcome.
BG 38.39
The almighty Lord Balarāma presented Akrūra with the gift of a cow, massaged his feet to relieve him of fatigue and then with great respect and faith fed him suitably prepared food of various fine tastes.
Essence. Balarāma gifts Akrūra a cow, massages his feet to relieve fatigue, and feeds him fine food with respect and faith. Even on a fasting day Akrūra accepts because eagerness to receive in the Lord's house overrides external formality.
BG 38.40
When Akrūra had eaten to his satisfaction, Lord Balarāma, the supreme knower of religious duties, offered him aromatic herbs for sweetening his mouth, along with fragrances and flower garlands. Thus Akrūra once again enjoyed the highest pleasure.
Essence. Balarāma offers aromatic herbs, fragrances and garlands; Akrūra enjoys the highest pleasure once again. Devotional life layers small pleasures — bath, food, scent, flowers — into a quiet, sustained delight.
BG 38.41
Nanda Mahārāja asked Akrūra: O descendant of Daśārha, how are all of you maintaining yourselves while that merciless Kaṁsa remains alive? You are just like sheep under the care of a butcher.
Essence. Nanda asks Akrūra how the family is surviving with merciless Kaṁsa alive — they are like sheep under a butcher's care. Even joyful reunions include grim political questions; devotion doesn't ignore the world's danger.
BG 38.42
That cruel, self-serving Kaṁsa murdered the infants of his own sister in her presence, even as she cried in anguish. So why should we even ask about the well-being of you, his subjects?
Essence. Cruel Kaṁsa murdered his sister's infants in front of her as she cried; how can subjects fare any better? Honest naming of evil is part of devotee speech; we don't have to pretend tyrants are tolerable.
BG 38.43
Honored by Nanda Mahārāja with these true and pleasing words of inquiry, Akrūra forgot the fatigue of his journey.
Essence. Honored by Nanda's true and pleasing words of inquiry, Akrūra forgets the fatigue of his journey. Truthful, warm conversation with devotees actually undoes physical exhaustion.