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Question: Why do Krsna and Balarama seem to have different opinions? Does this mean that there is always a right thing to do and that depends on the person?

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Jayapataka Swami: Why do Krsna and Balarama have different opinion? Well, They are people. See, people each one has their own opinion. That is the variety and spice of life. Sometimes, like Balarama was angry when Arjuna kidnapped Subadra and He wanted to get back at Arjuna. But Krsna said, ‘no, leave him alone, Subadra wants it!’ Like this He convinced. So this lila sometimes Krsna and Balarama do. But Krsna would sometimes fall at His elder brother’s feet. Sometimes Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda had different opinions. Lord Caitanya wanted to kill Jagai and Madhai for their offence to Lord Nityananda. But Lord Nityananda requested, please give Me these two in charity! So actually, there is always agreement but we have some apparent disagreement in some rasa. Now Laksmana, He is Balarama, He came as the younger brother of Lord Ramacandra. He said that it is very difficult. At least, you know, Krsna is the Supreme Person, at least if He is the older brother, He would have some leverage, but as the younger brother, He had no leverage! Krsna is the Supreme Person plus He is the older brother, so He did not have any hope. So actually, Krsna and Balarama when Krsna took Rukmini on Her request, then Rukmi, he came and attacked Krsna. Krsna pulled out His sword and defeated him. But Rukmini requested, ‘please don’t kill him because he is My brother!’ So Krsna nipped his moustache, his hair, all over. Balarama came and said, ‘I knew this is Krsna!’ So yes, sometimes Krsna and Balarama disagreed, but actually They love each other and that is their lila that sometimes They disagree. Similarly, Balarama went on pilgrimage during the Kuruksetra war,but He returned just at the time Bhima was fighting with Duryodana. Bhima struck his thigh and broke it because Gandari, the wife of Dhritarashtra, she voluntarily tied her eyes and accepted blindness as a chaste wife because her husband was blind and she voluntarily accepted being blind. So with that she had told Duryodana that she would open her eyes and look at him and whatever she would look at he would be invincible. Then Krsna told him that ‘how can you be naked before your mother? You should at least wear a gamca or something!’ So he wore a gamca and his thighs were covered, so he was not protected in the thighs. So Bhima defeated Duryodana by hitting him below the waist in the thighs and Balarama disagreed. ‘He said this is not fair.’ But Krsna knew that what Duryodana was doing was also not fair. He was getting special blessing from his mother to be invincible. So the only way that Bhima could defeat Duryodana was if he hit him in the thigh and everywhere else he was covered by his chaste mother’s glance. So He sometimes disagreed so that is Their rasa and in the end Krsna and Balarama love each other. That I realize how in the spiritual world everything is based on love. Here in the material world, unfortunately, it is not based on love. But in the spiritual world, everything is based on love. Who would like to be in the spiritual world! Thank you!
09-NOVEMBER-2019 BHAKTIVEDANTA MANOR, ENGLAND