(Synopsis of a talk given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj in Rangeeli Mahal, Barsana, India, on September 26, 2009)

Devotion to Radha Krishna has a few conditions. The main condition is selflessness. This means having no desires. Desires are of two kinds: (1) mayic or worldly desires, such as three of the four aims of human existence, namely dharma (observing religious principles), artha (material wealth), kam (sensual desire), and (2) amayic or non-worldly desires, namely the desire for moksha or mukti (absolute liberation from Maya). Dharma relates to the satvik quality of Maya, arth relates to the rajas quality of Maya, kam relates to the tamas quality of Maya and moksh is nirguna or beyond all the qualities of Maya.

In the Bhagwatam (3/29/8) Bhagwan Kapil explained to Devahuti, his mother, that there are four kinds of devotion, and complete surrender of the mind is required for all of them. They are (1) tamas devotion related to tamas desires, (2) rajas devotion related to sensual desires, (3) satvik devotion for the attainment of the celestial abode, and (4) kaivalya devotion for the attainment of moksh or liberation. This includes the nondual realisation of jnanis. (Chandogya Upanishad 8/15/1, Vasudeva Upanishad 1, Vedant 4/4/22)

Moksh or liberation is actually of five kinds. One of these, ekatva mukti relates to absolute liberation. In this realisation, a jnani loses his personal identity and merges into an impersonal state of God forever. This attainment is dangerous in the sense that once the soul merges into absolute divinity, it no longer has a chance to attain divine love.

Out of the five kinds of liberation, four of these (including ekatva mukti) are considered selfish because the practitioner has some desire he wishes to fulfill through that attainment. The one who renounces these desires attains the braj ras or divine love of the Gopis.

The divine love of the Gopis is of three kinds: (1) sadharani rati, (2) samanjasa rati, and, (3) samartha rati.

Sadharani rati is still related to one’s desire to receive happiness from God. Samanjasa rati and samartha rati are the selfless forms of love expressed by the Braj Gopis, who held the highest place in the divine world. The Bhagwatam explains (3/29/8-12) that the selfless Braj Gopis reached the most elevated state of divine love called mahabhava. Because of this, (Bhagwatam, 10/14/30, 32, 34) even Brahma prayed to one day be blessed with receiving these Gopis’ foot dust.

In worldly love, selfishness is always present. Selfishness means we are selfishly searching for our own happiness. Love in the world is always increasing and decreasing depending on the degree to which our self-interest is fulfilled. If our self-interest is satisfied, we feel love. If our self-interest is harmed, we feel hate. In this way the temperature of our love is always changing – either it is running hot or cold – and that, too, could be for the same person.

The definition of selflessness or nishkamata is to be free of all desires related to the qualities or gunas of Maya, and to have no desire for the four selfish forms of liberation. True selflessness means following the example of the highest class of sadharani rati Gopis and only having the desire for Shri Krishna’s happiness in one’s heart.

Karmi, gyani, yogi agya Govinda Radhey
Bhakta niskham hi hai gyani bata dey.

(New kirtan verse written by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on October 12, 2009, in Bhakti Dham, Mangarh)

The karmi, the one who performs ritualistic actions with the aim to realise celestial happiness, the jnani, the one who desires to realise nondual liberation and merge into God, and the yogi, the one who practices yoga with a desire to attain siddhis or yogic powers, are all ignorant. Only the selfless bhakt, the one who practices devotion to God with a desire to receive His grace and attain His divine vision and love is truly knowledgeable. (It is only through bhakti that our ultimate aim of true and ever-lasting happiness is fulfilled.)

© Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat and Bhakti Bliss, 2009

Contributed by Mrs. Narmadha Sundar

Sant Narasinh Mehta

Junagad was an ancient Guajarati town, which was culturally advanced. Narshima Mehta was a Brahmin by birth and was born in Junagad. He lost his parents when he was seven. He had great bhakthi on his brother and sister-in-law. He used to spend all his time playing with the village boys and didn’t attend school properly. Once after playing for a long time, a tired Narshi went home and asked his sister-in-law for some water. But his sister-in-law who was very angry with Narshi’s playfulness spoke harshly to Narshi. This greatly offended young Narshi and that night itself he left from home and went a long way towards a forest. He kept roaming here and there with no food or water and was very tired and totally exhausted. He then suddenly saw a Shiva temple.  Narshi went into the temple and embraced the Shivalinga and cried out, ”Shiva,  Shankara, Mahadeva, Neelakanda” and prostrated in front of him. He became totally engrossed with the lord that, Narshi started meditating on Lord shiva. Seven days passed. He didn’t eat anything and didn’t feel anything. He kept chanting the Panchakshara mantra “Namashivaya”. Lord shiva on seeing Narshi’s unwavering bhakthi and vairagya revealed himself and said to him, ”My child, I am pleased with your bhakthi. Tell me what your heart desires.”

Narshi embraced the feet of lord and said, ”I am an ignorant child. I don’t understand the good and bad in this world around me. You have to bless me”. Lord Shiva gave him Gnana and blessed him with a divine vision by which Narshi saw the river Yamuna in Vrindavan with lord Krishna dancing with the Gopis.

He was thrilled with the vision of the rasaleela, performed by the lord, in which numerous Krishna forms and numerous Gopis took each others hands, dancing in pairs. In his vision Lord Krishna even explains the truths about jeevathma and paramathma and blesses Narshi with the divine ability to compose hymns on the lord.

In the meantime Narshi’s uncle came searching for him and finally located the Shiva temple and saw Narshi sitting there in a sublime state singing. He was astonished on hearing Narshi’s divine kirtan and pleaded to him, ”My child, why did you move out of the house, we are all suffering a lot without you, please come back with me”. Narshi said, ”I have been blessed with the darshan of lord because I was shouted at, so I am not upset about what happened at home”. Narshi then went back home with his uncle. From then onwards Narshi did Krishna and Shiva aradhana daily. He composed many kirthans on the various gunas of god. Everyone was amazed on his stature of bhakthi. And as time rolled on, Narshi came of marriageable age. Though his thoughts were never on marrying, he was married to a Brahmin girl and in due course they had two children, one boy and a girl. With passage of time Narshi’s children came of marriageable age.

The wedding in Narshi’s family

Near Junagad there was a village called Shampur. There lived a merchant Tripuranthak who was a rich and powerful man in his village. He had a daughter who had reached marriageable age. In the same town there lived a vaishnava bhaktha named Krishna Bhatt who was well known among the people. One day the lord appeared in Krishna Bhatt’s dream and said, ”Bhaktha, you should join the hands of Narshi’s son and Tripuranthak’s daughter in marriage”. Krishna Bhatt had great respect for Narshi. He immediately took an oath that he should conduct this wedding that the lord ordained.

Krishna Bhatt then went to Tripuranthak and told him about his divine dream, ”There is a Brahman at Junagad who is pious and a great Vaishnava.  I have made an agreement with him to offer your daughter to his son”. This is the Lord’s wish. The merchant laughed at the proposal and said, ”I will accept this , but with one condition,  Narshi has to bring as dowry all the materials equal to my status”. Krishna Bhatt felt happy and immediately started to Junagad.

Narshi was immersed in Krishna bhajans and Krishna Bhatt came in and sat beside him and was overwhelmed with all his kirtans. After the bhajans was over Krishna Bhatt introduced himself, ”swami, I am Krishna Bhatt from Shampur. I have heard a lot about you. It is my great blessing to hear your kirtan in person. I was excited”. Narshi said, ”I am not praiseworthy as you think”. Krishna Bhatt said, ”your name and fame has spread every where. I will tell you the reason for my presence. There is a rich man in Shamapur.  He has a daughter. Ours lord’s wish is to join the hands of your son with his daughter. So I have come here for your acceptance. ”Narshi was shocked and said, ”Is this possible, will it happen? I am a poor man with no money and he is a rich man. I should not be greedy”. Krishna Bhatt said, ”If you are willing to accept  our lord’s wish, I will take care of the remaining things. Don’t worry”. Narshi nodded his head and said, ”If It’s our lord’s wish then let it happen so”. Krishna Bhatt said, ”I will fix the date and we will have the wedding in the bride’s house”.

Returning to Shampur Krishna Bhatt came to Tripuranthak house and said, ”I have fixed the date, the bridegroom will come surely tomorrow for the wedding with all the ornaments and dowry that you asked for. Go and make all necessary preparations. ”Tripuranthak laughed and said, ”Narshi is all alone, how can he come tomorrow since he has no money of his own? However as you say that the whole idea is the lord’s wish, I will not go against it”. Krishna Bhatt felt bad on Tripurnthak comment but he didn’t show it and asked him to go ahead with the arrangements.

On the next day Narshi’s family took the tambura and cipla and started moving to Shampur doing bhajans. All family members came behind him. The procession seemed to look as if they were going on a yatra. The Lord on seeing his poor bhaktha Narshi along with the groom and others all dressed shabbily  not carrying any riches required for a wedding decided to intervene, immediately he along with Rukhmini and Sathya Bhama disguised as a rich diamond and gold  bangles merchant accompanied by his consorts came and joined the procession.  And now the whole procession became so enriched by their presence. As the procession was nearing Shampur a white horse and other carriages were found waiting for them.

The Lord gave divine Darshan in all his glory to Narshi alone and said that he would go in front and do all the arrangements. New dresses and ornaments were given to Narshi’s relatives and he asked the Bride groom to come riding on the white horse and all the others to come on the carriages. Narshi on seeing the Lord himself personally making all arrangements and passing instructions was overwhelmed and he happily chanted “Hari Vitthala, Hari Narayana”. All the relatives adorned themselves with beautiful silk cloth and gold ornaments and the entourage entered into Shampur. Krishna Bhatt on seeing the wedding party understood the leela and went to Tripurathaka’s house and told him “You teased Narshi, and now he is coming here carrying lots of riches, but there is no sufficient place to keep the materials in your house. What are you going to do? “Tripuranthaka felt ashamed and ran towards the procession to welcome them.

 As he came near them Lord Krishna who was disguised came to him and said “My name is Sawalasa, I am from Dwaraka and I am here as Narshi’s agent we need a three storeyed building to keep all the materials that Narshi is bringing and as Narshi is a very very rich man you should accommodate him and his relatives in a big bungalow. But I think you have made no arrangements, so let’s work fast and arrange everything as quick as possible”. Tripuranthaka felt much ashamed and eagerly waited to welcome Narshi.

On seeing Narshi, Tripuranthaka immediately fell on his feet and asked to be forgiven for his mistake of not realizing Narshi’s greatness. Narshi however told Tripuranthaka that, all that was happening was in accordance with the Lord’s will and he need not feel bad about himself and that though he was a very ordinary person the Lord chose to shower his love on the couple by bringing them together in holy matrimony.

The second wedding in Narshi’s family

Narshi had a daughter of marriageable age who was so beautiful and kind hearted. Narshi who was always in Krishna dhyana was not worried about his daughter’s wedding plans. Meanwhile due to Krishna krupa a very rich merchant came to Narshi’s house and on seeing his daughter he requested Narshi to give his daughter in marriage to his son. Narshi after great perusal about marrying into a rich family finally took it as Lord Krishna’s wish and agreed and got his daughter married. However the merchant’s wife, now the mother in law was so evil and demanded a huge amount of dowry and said she would take Narshi’s daughter as a daughter in law only after Narshi brought her the dowry she demanded.

Since Narshi was so poor he couldn’t give the money and his daughter continued to staying with he parents. This made Narshi very sad. With no development whatsoever time passed after a while Narshi’s wife insisted him to take his daughter to her husband’s house. Narshi with confidence derived from the strength of Krishna naama took his daughter to her in-law’s house. But the mother in law didn’t treat Narshi properly and demanded for the money immediately.

Something strange happened and Narshi found himself promising her that he would give the dowry within a short period of time and left his daughter in their house. Coming back to his house he felt heavy in his heart. He couldn’t sleep thinking about the day’s happenings.

At that time a few Vaishnava’s came to Narshi’s house. They were on their way to Dwaraka. They were carrying a lot of money with them and due to the threat of robbers on the way to Dwaraka and as they had much respect on him the Vaishnava’s said “ You keep this money with you but can you arrange for the money to be given at Dwaraka?”. Strangely Narshi found himself saying “Surely, I have a friend in Dwaraka for whom I will give you a letter, on seeing which he will give you the money immediately. Narshi got the money and gave them the letter. After reaching Dwaraka however the sadhus were not able to meet the person as Narshi mentioned and after searching everywhere they sat on the sea shore not knowing what to do next.

 Meanwhile Narshi with sadness took the money the sadhus had entrusted with him and went to his daughters house and gave the money to her in-law and came back home. But he had felt bad that he had cheated all the sadhus and cried inconsolably. At Dwaraka Shaymalan came to the sea shore and gave the money to the sadhus and left. He was a very tall looking and handsome man and he spoke highly of his friendship with Narshi. The sadhus’ were taken aback by his divineness and felt blessed by his darshan. The sadhus then had darshan of Dwarakadeesan and completed their yatra and came back to Narshi’s house with great happiness and they explained about their unforgettable encounter with Narshi’s friend Shyamalan and their darshan at Dwarka and even showed him the signature that Shyamalan had made on the letter that Narshi had given. Narshi got the papers and on seeing God’s grace dropped down crying. The vaishnavas too understood God’s leela and felt happy.

“Vaishava Janatho”

A composition of Narshi on humanness that greatly inspired M.K. Gandhi is the famous Vaishnava Janatho.

(Synopsis of a lecture given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on September 22, 2009, in Golok Dham, New Delhi, India)

God only graces the souls. Except for this, He has no other work. If anyone ever asks you,”What does God do?” Your answer should be, “Grace.” All his other actions are a result of His desire to grace. His gracious nature forces Him to perform all other kinds of action.

The Gita (4/13) says that God has the title of “doing nothing while simultaneously doing everything”. He is the abode of two opposite and simultaneously existing characteristics. The Bhagwatam says that even the intellects of great scholars fail at this point when they hear or read about these contradictory characteristics of God.

The scriptures say that God has no desire. Only the one who has something to attain forms desires. God has nothing to attain so He doesn’t have any desire. He is also ever-existing, all-knowing and eternally happy. Why then should He have any desires? On the other hand, we are repositories of unending desires. So when God doesn’t have to achieve anything, then the question of His having desires doesn’t arise. But still He performs action.

For example, God created this universe. What was the reason? This is an important question. The Taitariya Upanishad says, “God is defined as the One who creates everything. All the living and non-living, sentient and insentient beings are maintained by Him, and at the time of mahapralay (final dissolution) of the universe, everything merges into Him.”

(1) God is atmaram. God is also referred to as atmaram, completely desireless. Why then did He create this impure, temporary, material and lifeless world? All of God’s qualities are the opposite of what is found in this creation!

God is the supreme enlivener, yet He created a lifeless world. God is an ocean of divine bliss, but there is not a single drop of true happiness in this world. When we entered this world, we made our start by shedding tears, and we keep on crying until our death time. But if God is not like this, then why did He create such a bad world? He should have at least created a nice world. After all, He is better than the best. What then was the reason for this material world?

(2) God is ajanma. God is called ajanma, eternally unborn. But still He appeared on this earth. What was the reason for this? The cause for an embodied soul’s rebirth is the consequence of his actions. But when God doesn’t perform actions at all, then how did He take birth? Why is He called “Nanda-kumar” (the son of Nanda), “Dasharath-kumar” (the son of Dasharath), “Vasudev-kumar” (the son of Vasudev) and so on? Is He the father of the eternal soul or is the soul His father? The Vedas say that each and every individual soul, from an ant to creator Brahma, are all His children. But God says, “No, Nanda was My father.” This is very odd!

(3) God is satyasankalp. The Katha Upanishad (2/3/3) and the Taitariya Upanishad (2/8) say the even death itself is scared of God. He is that great a destroyer. With one single thought, God causes uncountable worlds to merge into His being. He doesn’t have to do anything. He just thinks. So He is also called satyasankalp. Yet, on the other hand, when Shri Krishna was attacked by Jarasandha in Braj, He was so scared He ran from Braj and kept on running until He crossed India’s border and finally came to live on an island called Dwarika. These activities of God are very difficult to understand.

(4) He is poornkam. God is divinely contented, but in Braj He asks the souls for love. For example He performed the pastime of raas with the Gopis. These characteristics are completely opposite to each other. How is it possible for God to exhibit both of them?

God embodies several completely opposite characteristics. But in His original form He is always ever-existing, all-knowing, and ever-blissful (sat-chit-ananda). He actions may be contrary to His original nature, but He remains always established in His original nature.

God and God-realised Saints are beyond the reach of Maya. They have no relationship with mayic or material subjects. Saints attain such a state that even Maya can’t enter. They don’t have any desire or any need to perform action after reaching that state. They become fully satisfied. With nothing left to do for themselves, whatever the Saints’ do is only for the spiritual welfare of others. What could they do? In this regard, they are completely helpless. They have crossed the limits of Maya and attained divine happiness. Now they only grace the souls. Similarly, whatever God does is only to grace the souls.

Before creation, all the uncountable individual souls were in a dormant state within God’s own personality. God thought, “I must grace the souls.” Feeling compassion, His kripa shakti, power of grace, came forward, created the material world and placed the souls there so they would have the chance to do devotion and attain their ultimate goal: God. This was only God’s grace upon us.

After creating the world, He also made so many arrangements for our survival such as making available food, water, air, land, and so on. He didn’t do that for Himself. He created all these things only for us with His grace. His gracious nature compels Him to perform all these actions. His kripa shakti makes Him the servitor of His devotees. What can He do? He is completely helpless because gracing the ignorant souls is His nature.

On the other hand, we can’t grace anyone because we exclusively desire our own happiness. But God and the Saints exclusively think of and work for the welfare of others.

This is a brief description of divine grace.

© Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat and Bhakti Bliss, 2009.

(Pad kirtan or bhajan composed by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj describing Shri Radha’s causeless grace. Exerpted from Dainya Madhuri of “Prem Ras Madira”.)

Hamari Radhey, deenan ki rakhavar.
A devotee says, “Our Radhey is the protector of destitutes.”

Deen pukar sunat hi dhavati, tanik na lavati bar.
As soon as She hears a destitute soul calling out for Her, She goes to him without even a moment’s delay.

Jogi japi tapi sadhan-bal, khojat nipat gamar.
Those who practise yoga, worshipping rituals and severe austerities ignorantly attempt to attain Her grace through the strength of their own efforts.

Panch prapanch na chhutat ranchak, bahey siddhi majhadhar.
The desires of their senses are not completely destroyed and due to this they fall into the trap of yogic powers.

Jehi ras lagi hari har tarsat so, barsat yehi darbar.
That divine love-bliss, which even Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva long for, is causelessly showered on the humble and destitute souls in the court of Shri Radha.

Piyat ‘Kripalu’ soi ras japar, kripa karati sukumar.
Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj says, “Oh, Kishori Ji! He alone can drink the nectar of this divine love bliss who is blessed with Your causeless grace.”

© Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat and Bhakti Bliss, 2009.

(Synopsis of a talk given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj in Bhakti Dham, Mangarh, India, on September 16, 2009.)

Yesterday it was explained that although God is causelessly gracious, He doesn’t grace everyone. Since eternity we have been under the control of Maya, due to which we have revolved in the cycle of birth and death in the 8.4 million life forms, and experienced unending suffering. Yet God has also graced some selected souls with His divine knowledge, bliss and eternal life. He even says, “Aham bhakta paradheenah.” “I walk beyond My loving devotees to be blessed by their footdust.”

Once there was a great devotee of Lord Krishna named Ambarish. Ambarish was a king. Sage Durvasa, who had great yogic powers and also a very bad temper, went to Ambarish’s kingdom. Durvasa became so angry with Ambarish, that he created a kritya, a evil spirit, and ordered him to go and cut off Ambarish’s head. When God saw this, He also became angry and released His divine weapon, the chakra, and ordered it to cut off not only the demon’s head, but also Durvasa’s head – even though Durvasa was a brahmin. Out of fear, Durvasa ran everywhere seeking protection from the chakra, but he only received one answer wherever he went, “This is the order of supreme God. We can’t help you.”

Finally Durvasa went to Ambarish and begged him to save his life. Ambarish pleaded with God and requested him not to kill Durvasa. Thus, Durvasa was saved. So God says, “I am under the control of My devotees. Although it seems I am the supreme controller, but in reality, My devotees control me by their love.”

Prabhu taru tar, kapi dar par.

During the descension of Lord Ram, once all the monkeys including Hanuman Ji were sitting on the branches of a tree, and Lord Ram was seated below the tree. Because both were absorbed in love, neither Lord Ram nor the monkeys were aware that it was a breach of propriety and proper behaviour for a servant (the monkeys) to sit on a level higher than his master’s head (Lord Ram).

You may also be familiar with the helpless condition of Lord Krishna with the Gopis. Not everyone was as greatly blessed as these particular souls. But this partiality must mean that there is some kind of business transaction in the spiritual area just as there is in the world. God must have demanded something that all of these souls offered, and in turn they received His grace.

But what did they offer? Initially, they were also under the control of Maya like us. They even broke records for being controlled by Maya, which no one in the entire world’s population could break. Saint Tulsidas was so attached to his wife, he didn’t realize he used a snake as a rope to climb to her room to see her. But the same Tulsidas became God realised in that very birth. Is there any sinner like Valmiki on this whole earth planet who couldn’t pronounce ‘Ram’? Yet he also became a Saint, and wrote the entire Ramayana even before Lord Ram’s descension.

What could we offer to God? Our senses, mind and intellect are all material and everything God has is divine. The Kena Upanishad (1/3-8) says that our senses, mind and intellect function due to God’s power. They are enlivened by God. How could we expect our enlivened senses to give us knowledge of God, the supreme enlivener?

The Mundaka Upanishad (3/1/8) also says the God’s divine vision is not attained through any kind of spiritual practice. The Katha Upanishad (1/3/10-11) says that beyond the senses are their sense perceptions, beyond the sense perceptions is the mind, beyond the mind is the intellect, beyond the intellect is the soul, beyond the soul is Maya, and beyond Maya is God. How could our intellect reach up to God’s level? Maya is present even at the final limit of the mind.

Go gochar jahan lagi man jai,
so saba maya janehu bhai.

The mayic senses, mind and intellect can’t grasp God’s divine subjects. Let alone God, the material senses, mind and intellect fail to grasp even material subjects. For example, ears and eyes are both made of the same material elements. But the work of the ears can’t be done by the eyes and vice versa. When our material senses can’t grasp even material subjects, how could they grasp God, who is a divine subject?

If material eyes could see God, then that God would be completely false. In fact, we have seen God uncountable times during His descensions, but what did we do when we saw Him? We criticised him, “So He is the son of Nanda? I heard He was God. Oh, no – that is impossible! He is just a naughty boy.” When God’s descension ended, only then we started chanting His name.

We have met uncountable Saints in innumerable births. God is not senior to the eternal souls. We were always there during the descension of God and Saints in one form or another. But due to the decision of our intellect, we rejected them. Instead of respecting them, we criticised them and ruined whatever we could have earned spiritually. We were not able to take advantage of their presence.

Even beyond this, God dwells in our very heart, but we still are not benefiting from this. We don’t have faith in this. We are aware of this fact, but there is a doubt in our mind if God is truly present and seated in our hearts or not. If we could realise His presence, we would stop committing all kinds of sin. So God says, “Don’t try to understand Me. Just beg me for My divine happiness.”

There are three ways of getting something from someone. First, if you are strong, you could just snatch it away forcefully. Second, you could steal it. Third, if you are weak, you could beg for it. In God’s case you can’t snatch or steal anything. He is all-powerful and all-knowing. So the only possible way is to beg Him for His divine love. Just beg Him. He is your father. He is the form of bliss and compassion. He doesn’t expect anything from you.

We do beg, but we do this superficially. Instead we have to ask Him just as innocently as a newborn baby. An infant has only one remedy for every situation – he cries, then his mother comes. That mother is not all-knowing, but God is. So just shed tears of longing and beg Him. Don’t apply your intellect to spiritual matters; apply it in the world. God is not captured by our words, He only looks to our internal feelings.

So if we are able to attain freedom from Maya and eternal divine bliss simply by crying, then is God causelessly gracious or not?

Think about it.

© Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat and Bhakti Bliss, 2009

(Synopsis of a talk given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj in Mangarh, India, on September 16, 2009.)

Before analysing who is Radha Rani, we should first analyse who we are. The soul, your “I” or “me” is the ishta dev or worshipped deity of your body. The body consists of the senses, mind and intellect. This means that the senses, mind and intellect serve and are devoted to the soul. How do we perform action? It is only possible due to what belongs to you – your senses, mind and intellect. Therefore, whatever we actions we perform, we perform only for the happiness of the soul or the “I”.

The Brihadaranya Upanishad (4/5/6) says that no wife can do anything for the happiness of her husband, no husband can do anything for the happiness of his wife. No father can do anything for his son’s happiness, no son can do anything for his father’s happiness. Thus, no one does anything for the happiness of another, nor can they do anything for another’s happiness. Every single moment we work for our own happiness, which is the happiness of the soul.

Everyone makes plans, “How can I get happiness? What should I do?” If someone interferes in these plans, it is seen that even a son could kill his father, a husband could kill his wife, and so on. So many other things happen like this in the world. All of you hear about these incidents and feel surprised. Why are you surprised? Someone created an obstacle in the path to someone else’s happiness, and that person found a way to eliminate the obstacle. What is so surprising about this?

Wherever we feel our selfish desires are being fulfilled, we develop a positive attachment to that situation. If our selfish desires are being fulfilled 100%, then our love and attachment is 100%. If their fulfillment is decreased to 50%, then our love decreases to 50%. If we feel our selfish desires are not being fulfilled at all, we decide the other person is a fraud.

For example, a father asks his son to bring him a glass of water. The son runs and brings it to his father, “Oh, my son is Shravan Kumar (the ideal of a perfect son)!” After a few minutes, he again asks his son to bring his spectacles. But this time the son ignored his father and didn’t get up. “Didn’t you hear what I said? Go and get my spectacles!” The son still didn’t move. The father says with disgust, “My son is a demon!” What happened to the love that he felt earlier?

So everyone desires his own happiness. No one develops any love for another if he doesn’t feel that his selfish desire is being fulfilled. If someone creates an obstacle in between, people even murder one another for the sake of happiness.

Thus everyone is a servant of his own soul, not a servant of any other. Similarly, the soul is a servant of supreme God. The Subala Upanishad (7/1) says that the soul is the body of supreme God and supreme God is the supreme soul of all the souls. The Bhagwatam (10/14/55) says that even supreme God has a soul – His soul is known as Shri Radha. Thus, the link is as follows: the body is the servant of the soul, the soul is the servant of supreme God, supreme God is the servant of His soul, Shri Radha.

That supreme God adoringly presses Shri Radha’s lotus feet in the innermost kunjas of Vrindaban. But 99.9% of the people think that Shri Radha and Shri Krishna are husband and wife. This is not correct. Traditionally in this relationship, the husband is not allowed to touch his wife’s feet.

Kamala (Mahalakshmi) is Shri Krishna’s wife, who descended as Rukmini, the main queen of Shri Krishna in Dwarika.

Once in Dwarika Shri Krishna went into a swoon, and in this state He repeatedly uttered, “Radhey… Radhey…” Rukmini felt very bad about this and she started wondering, “Who is this Radha who could cause my husband to fall unconscious?” When Shri Krishna came to a normal consciousness, she asked, “Who is Radha?” Shri Krishna said, “She lives in Braj. But what good will it do if you know Her? Please never mind.” But Rukmini stubbornly refused to leave this topic and kept asking Shri Krishna about Her. Finally Shri Krishna found a way to answer her question.

Once Shri Krishna started acting as if He was in so much dire pain He could die. All of His queens were extremely worried. By chance, Narad Ji was passing through Dwarika. He came into the palace and saw the atmosphere was quite serious. He asked Rukmini, “Mother, what happened?” She answered, “Shri Krishna is in pain. I don’t know what happened to Him.” Narad Ji thought, “Hmmm… this is just play acting on Shri Krishna’s part. But once I was turned into a monkey due to this kind of divine pastime, so this time I’m keeping quiet.” He went to Shri Krishna and said, “Lord, what happened to you?” Shri Krishna said, “Narad Ji, I am in a lot of pain.” So, knowing that the pain was not real, Narad Ji asked, “Could you please tell me what the treatment is for this pain?” Shri Krishna answered, “If I can get the footdust of any mahapurush (true divine Saint) then I will be cured.”

Narad Ji thought, “I am also a Saint, but no! I’m not getting involved in this play! And all of Shri Krishna’s 16,108 wives are the greatest Saints. They can give their footdust to Him!” He went to the queens and proposed this idea to them, and they all started shouting, “Narad Ji – have you gone mad? How can a wife give her footdust to her husband? She will become defamed in history and will also go to hell!” Again Narad Ji went to Shri Krishna and asked, “My Lord, from where should I get this footdust?” Shri Krishna suggested he go to Braj and obtain it from the Gopis. He went to Braj where the Gopis eagerly offered their footdust, and came back. Shri Krishna took that footdust and was cured.

So when the divine servants of Shri Radha, the Gopis, have such elevated love for Shri Krishna, what could be said about Shri Radha’s love? Thus, Shri Radha is the soul of supreme God, Shri Krishna. This is just a brief description of Shri Radha’s personality.

© Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat and Bhakti Bliss, 2009.

(Pad kirtan or bhajan composed by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj describing Shri Radha’s incomparable divine nature. Exerpted from Shri Radha Madhuri of “Prem Ras Madira”.)

Shri Shyama Ju ko, aiso sarala subhaya.
The divinely simple nature of Shri Radha is such…

Jaiso nahin kahun sunyo na dekhyo,
haun kaha bhujahin uthaya.
…that it has never been heard of or seen before; I am declaring this as the truth.

Jaki nakh-mani-chandra-chandrikahin,
Shambhu smadhihin dhyaya.
The effulgence of Her toenails is meditated upon as formless God by Lord Shiva in his thought-free yogic trance of nirvikalpa samadhi.

Take sanga rain din biharati,
Braj-vanachari samudaya.
Because of Shri Radha’s infinite kindness, even the Gopis, the village maidens of Braj, eternally participate in Her divine pastimes,

Taji Brajarahun bhajati, bhajata jo,
krandana karuna sunaya.
The greatest proof of Her endless mercy is that upon hearing the sincere cries of a soul who seeks refuge in Her, She leaves even Shri Krishna and rushes to that soul at once.

Jasu ‘Kripalu’ sharana gahi Giridhara,
asharana sharana kahaya.
Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj says, “To what extent can I explain Her causeless grace? It is only because Shri Krishna has Himself taken refuge in Shri Radha that He is known asharana sharana, the refuge of destitutes.”

© Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat and Bhakti Bliss, 2009.

Yesterday was Janmashtami Day.  Janmashtami Day is a worldwide celebration of Krishna’s birthday and is one of the biggest celebrations in India, especially for Krishna-devotees, Hindus and bhakti yogis (devotional yogis).  During this celebration/festival, people flock to Mathura and Vrindavan where Krishna was born to pray and be blessed at the temples there.  All over, people join in kirtan, chant holy mantras and worship idols of Krishna to celebrate him.  Krishna has many avatars (incarnations) including that of the Supreme Soul and the God above all others.  As I was reading about this holiday, I was struck by the similarities in Krishna’s story and in that of Jesus.

Krishna was born to poor, enslaved parents, under the rule of his maternal uncle, Kansa.  His parents knew he would be murdered by his uncle so he transformed into a baby (he was born as an adult, with 4 arms, carrying the 4 weapons of a conch, disc, club and lotus) and his parents exchanged him with a girl in a nearby village.  His father, Vasudeva, carried him across the Yamuna River as the seas parted to make their journey possible.  He found a newborn girl that belonged to a family of cowherds and took her, leaving Krishna.

When Kansa saw the girl, he bashed her against a stone and killed her.  She immediately transformed and became the Goddess Durga, and pronounced “The enemy you contemplate is living somewhere else. You are a fool to hurt innocent children. Krishna will kill you.”   Krishna avoided death, even after Kansa enlisted the demon Putana to kill all newborns.  Putana disguised herself as a giant, beautiful woman and offered to breastfeed Krishna.  She had poison on her nipples and her intention was to kill him, however, being thesupreme God, he sucked the life from her without any injury to himself.

The gopis (elder woman of the village) took him in, and tried to protect him.  As Srila Prabhuapada explains in his book on Krishna, “The elderly gopis of Vrindavana were so absorbed in affection for Krishna that they wanted to save Him, although there was no need to, for He had already protected Himself. They could not understand that Krishna was the Supreme Personality of Godhead playing as a child.”  The light mischief Krishna got into as a child and the games he played are what led to the creation of music, art, literature and dance.  This divine play is called lila.  A famous story explains how Krishna stole ghee to feed to the monkeys.  Images of Krishna as a child often show him playing with pots of ghee and milk because of this.

After enduring more attempts on his life, and revealing the true nature of himself, Krishna killed evil Kansa, with the help of his brother Balarama.  Essentially, the story of Krishna is the story of good overcoming evil and of liberation conquering bondage.  From the Bhagavad Gita, on Krishna, “Whenever and wherever dharma declines and a-dharma reigns, then and there do I appear to liberate my beloved devotees, rectify misdeeds, and rebuild righteousness.” (Bhagavad Gita 4.7-8).

His story of growing up goes on and on and there are lots of attempts on his life I left out before he kills Kansa, as well as stories after he kills Kansa and becomes a pirince in the court of Yadu with his brother and falls in love with the beautiful Radha. If you’re interested in Janmashtami, check out this website.  And if you want to continue reading about his childhood, click here.  HARE KRISHNA!!!!!

(Exerpted from “Leela Madhuri” of “Prem Ras Madira” by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj)

Nachat ta, thei thei Nandakumar.
Shyamsundar is dancing in the bowers of Vrindaban.

Sakhiyan kahat, “Tatat ta thei thei,” manju kunja majhar.
The Gopis are singing, “Ta-ta-ta ta thei thei” (the notes used in Indian classical dance).

Bajat charan choom chananana noopur, kinkini dhooni jhanakar.
Krishna’s anklets are making a beautiful tinkling sound, which is accompanied by the sweet jingling sound of His ornamental waistbelt.

Hastak, mastak, kati, pad, bhrikutin, bheda dikhai nihar.
Through the movements of His hands, forehead, waist, feet and eyebrows, He is expressing the various moods of the dance.

Bajat chang, mridanga, dhol, dhap, sabai suran ik sar.
Percussion instruments such as the mridanga, changa, dholak, and tambourine, are all being played in rhythm.

Pancham sur son kunja-viharini, gavati rag malar.
Shri Radha is singing in raga Malhara in the middle key of the musical scale.

Kabahun bilambit, kabahun madhya laya, kabahunk drut laya dhar.
The rhythm of the singing and the dancing is sometimes slow, sometimes medium paced, and sometimes fast.

Lalitadik sangeet swaminihun, karat swaran vistar.
Lalita and other eternal associates of Shri Radha, who are experts in classical music, are stretching the keys through grace notes (tanas) and augmentations (alapas).

Kahat ‘Kripalu’ sakhiyan saba “Jai ho! Jai ho! Jai balihar!”
In the words of Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji, all the Gopis gathered there are joyously calling out, “Glory to Shri Radha Krishna! Glory to this enchanting scene!’

© Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat and Bhakti Bliss, 2009.

Know The Secret Of Happiness That The Gopis Knew

Gopis were very unique, as devotees. They had no consciousness of the body at all; they were all the while attached only to the principle that is embodied in It. They were eager to know the `other’, not to experience ‘this’. As a matter of fact, it is the identification with the gross body that lies at the root of all the cruelty, injustice, greed, violence and falsehood that parade all over the world. It is this that breeds desire, that multiplies wants, that makes man ride on the waves of whim and fancy. When he is not able to catch up with his ambition, man becomes a prey to disappointment and grief, hate and avarice.

If you ask God to fulfil your wishes, your worship is degraded into an act of bargaining; your reverence is equated with what you receive; you are selling homage for so much of satisfaction. You become a paid servant, a hired labourer, insisting on wages and calculating how much is got for the work done. Be on the other hand, a member of the family, feel that you are the Lord’s own, do every task as `my work’ `my task’ without any idea of the return therefore; then the work does not tire, it is done well. When this attitude is taken up by you, you feel not clamour for wages at all. The Master will maintain you and your people as He feels you deserve. This secret of happiness the Gopis knew; you must also live out your lives on these lines.

(Sri Sathya Sai Baba – extracted from Divine Discourse on 19th August 1965)

Reference

Kadamb is considered sacred as it is very closely associated with Divine KrishnRadha.

This is the tree under which the Divine couple spent time in Their various leelas.

It finds mention in all hindu scriptures.  It normally flowers in the monsoon months

of June-July and the flowers give a pleasent fragrance.

Close up of a Kadamb flower

Kadamb flower; seed

The beautiful flowers

A grown kadamb tree from Nathdwara

A Kadamb tree

Sathya Sai Baba

The program depicted Bhagawan’s love for mankind throughout the ages. It showed scenes of His various incarnations and messengers to uplift man to enable him to realise his divinity. The entire group of 276 performed a medley of songs in 7 languages, woven together with narration. 57 Bal Vikas (SSE) children provided a dramatic portrayal through skits and dances.

The six episodes focused on the majesty of Rama, the mischief of Krishna, the serenity of the Buddha, the compassion of Jesus, the glory of Allah, and the grandeur of Bhagawan Baba

The first scene was set to a backdrop of uplifting songs, which described the glory and might of the Lord, and illustrated the power of the vanaras’ devotion to Lord Rama as they built the bridge to Lanka. Our prayer is to be, likewise, humble instruments in Lord Sai Rama’s mission.

The second episode focused on the mischief of Krishna, who charmed Mother Yashoda and the Gopis as He stole yogurt and butter. His leelas, dramatized to a bhajan, inspire us to awaken the God within who will steal our butter-soft hearts. This scene was followed by a song that reminds us to remember Hari (Lord Krishna) in all that we think, say, and do.

Set to a traditional chant followed by a bhajan, the next scene depicted the Lord Buddha’s peaceful aura. His presence was enough to calm the restless minds of spiritual aspirants depicted by SSE students. By controlling the senses and purifying their intake, the heart shall become Prasanthi Nilayam and Sai will reside within.

The fourth episode showed Jesus showering His unconditional love and compassion on the blind, the hungry, the sick, and the needy. Seeing Jesus’ loving service, others, who previously were unwilling to serve, follow suit and therefore are transformed themselves.

The fifth episode showed a traditional Sufi dance set to an uplifting Qawwali praising Allah. The songs of Allah demonstrated that Bhagawan (in all His forms) is the ultimate embodiment of All that Is as He is the One behind everyone and everything.

For the grand finale, the boys and girls created two hearts at the Lotus Feet of Bhagawan Baba while the entire group sang “Hum Ko Tumse Pyar Kitna.” This represented that the whole world – all faiths, religions, castes, and sects – is arriving at the Lotus Feet of Bhagawan to participate in His Divine Mission.

Swami responded to this outpouring of love by coming down into the group of children for a photograph. He granted padanamaskar to several of them, materialized a gold chain for one boy, and distributed prasadam to everyone.

Swami’s pleasure was evident as He invited the group to sing several bhajans in His Divine Presence. After accepting Arathi, Swami raised both hands in blessing to all.

Reference (With Pictures)

 It was one of the autumn nights. The wind was chill and the trees were still. The moon was high and my sleep was not nigh. The silhouette of the painting that hung on my bedside wall was enchanting me and I drowsed.

It was an autumnal moonlit night and the soft enchanting music pulled me towards its source. The music enchanted me to revel in ecstasy. The trees, rivers, flowers, leaves, animals, birds and everything were becharmed and lulled. I couldn’t stop moving in the path, where flowers bloomed in myriad colors and varieties and the moons rays dispelled the darkness. I lost my locomotion but the music was reigning me. I was oblivious to what was happening to me.

I reached the banks of a river which was scintillating with the moon’s reflections, I turned to move towards the music again and on the banks of the river I saw a tall Bluish male figure wearing yellow garment on His blue form, leaning on a tree. He was sporting a small peacock feather over His coiffed hair. There were many women dressed beautifully, long silk skirts hugging their legs, a silk blouse and a silk half-sari which covered their faces. He was playing the flute, from which the music poured and filled the air. The womenfolk were singing and dancing around Him in circles. I was enthralled to watch Him. He was seen in poly forms. It enraptured me to no end.

There were many small groups, where He danced with two women, with each women, group of women, in between two women and entertaining them with His love. There was something ethereal about the performance. The love that was flowing between them was infectious. They danced with no tiring and I watched with my love flowing to Him.

Sometime went by and after their fast dance He sat down and the womenfolk formed a circle around Him and fanned Him with the broken branches of the tress. They then moved towards the river, which was shining with the moon’s reflection. They got down into the water and as if to get rid of the fatigues they relaxed in the water. They played spraying water on each other and He was also spraying the water on every one of them. He tried to hold tightly each one while the other sprayed the one who was caught by Him. I was too bathed in His love-play. Then they slowly got out of the water and dressed themselves with dry clothes and dressed Him with divine garments. I was totally transferred from earth to a Place beyond anything. I couldn’t stop my tears which were pouring down from my eyes. Then out of blue, He happened to turn and see me standing on the banks and I started to sob uncontrollably. I felt like I was pulled towards Him and the trancelike was slowly fading.

Suddenly my eyes popped open and found the room to be bathed with sunlight. I touched my cheeks and found them to be tears stained. I looked on the wall side picture of Rasa Lila I had hung. I felt like He (My Krishna) was smiling at me. I couldn’t help but smile to myself and bowed down my head in shyness.

Here’s something I found really interesting:
Learning Love From The Gopis of Vrindavan

To what extent the stuff mentioned in the article is true, I don’t know, but it sure is worth the read. According to the article:

• Since the scriptures define woman as ‘one who fears’, and there is no human being totally fearless, we are all women and the only true male in this world is Krishna.
  I can almost hear my male chauvinist friends screaming.

• Love and one’s beloved should be kept secret.
  “Love is a lamp lighted inside the temple of the heart. Till the gate of the mouth is closed it burns uninterrupted inside. However, once the mouth opens and the outside air enters, it flickers and dies out.”
  Interesting. So instead of shouting ‘I love you’ on top of roofs, better whisper it in someone’s ears.

• Love Krishna like the Gopis loved him rather than like how a mother loves her child. It is the only way of loving without any inhibitions.
  Makes sense.

• Ram and Sita, Vishnu and Lakshmi, though both are loving couples, lacked the “everyday sweetness of encounter” which the Gopis shared with Krishna.
  Again, makes sense.

• One of the reasons Krishna is dark is “because he lives in the eyes of the gopis, which are lined with black kohl, leaving a permanent mark on him.”
  I love this reason

• The love the Gopis have for Krishna goes far beyond the physical. Loving Krishna gives you everlasting peace.

And if ever you are in the process of dying under a pile of assignments/projects/tests, but unable to really study because you are too busy enjoying the rain, listening to good music, daydreaming about gorgeous eyes and fingers, getting drunk on double chocolate cookies and consuming milo as if it were oxygen, here’s another way for you to procrastinate: make a list of all the ways you procrastinate.