In the previous episode, we had witnessed two important points and their substantiations – Firstly, we had established the fact that our “Sanaatana Dharma” is the only religion in the world that gives equal respect and importance to all living beings, inclusive of plants, animals, human beings, etc. We had witnessed how animals too exhibit their share of “Bhakti” towards Bhagawan and how they had attained “Moksha” with Bhagawan’s divine grace. In similar lines, if we look at our traditional “Sanaatana Dharma” practices, every animal is assigned its own significance and we worship them. For instance, we worship the serpent (Snake) as Bhagawan Aadisesha, who serves as the divine bed for Bhagawan Vishnu. Similarly, we worship Bhagawan Garuda, who is an eagle by nature. Bhagawan Garuda serves as Bhagawan Vishnu’s vehicle. In similar lines, we worship Bhagawan Vishnu as an incarnation of a fish in the Matsya Avatara, as a pig in the Koorma Avatara, as a lion in the Narasimha Avatara, etc., isn’t it? Similarly, we witness the rat being the vehicle of Bhagawan Ganesha, the peacock being the vehicle of Bhagawan Muruga, Bhagawan Shiva in the form of a dog, worshipped as Bhagawan Kala-Bhairava, and the likes.
Obviously, all of us know how the holy cow is worshipped in our Sanaatana Dharma. The cow is supposed to be the residing place of Goddess Mahalakshmi and is often referred to as the “Go-Maata”. Here, “Go” means cow in Sanskrit. As this is the significance of the cow, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna too wants to bring it out to the world and spread the message that the cow is one of the holiest animals in this world. This is precisely the reason why Bhagawan Bala-Krishna spends so much time with the cows at Gokula and in turn, He is also worshipped as “Bhagawan Gopala”. We’ve thus witnessed in the past 2-3 episodes as to how Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is having fun with the cows, and we’re continuing with the same today too.
Now as Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is growing up a little further, He somehow gets an interest to learn how to play the flute. Many of us might know the musical instrument called “flute”. This flute has its separate and unique significance because Bhagawan Bala-Krishna Himself has played it with His own little divine hands to attract the cows towards Him. The music that emulates from the flute is often referred to as the “Venu-Gaanam” and this is the reason Bhagawan Bala-Krishna has another divine name called “Bhagawan Venu-Gopala”. Here, “Venu” means flute. We would often be able to see lot of portraits of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna holding the flute in His hands and the cows flocking all around Him, isn’t it? This is what we’re going to witness and experience now.
As Bhagawan Bala-Krishna learns to play the flute, He starts playing it so beautifully that all His little companions and friends sit around Him and listen. All of them get immersed in the divine “Venu-Gaana” of the flute and this is one of the most blissful moments that Bhagawan Bala-Krishna gives to His ardent devotees around. Not only the companions of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna are attracted towards Him, but also the cows, dogs, pigeons, and all sorts of animals too get attracted towards the “Venu-Gaana” from Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. Thus, the entire Gokula village is slowly mesmerised by the divine music emulating from Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s flute!
We might wonder why is Bhagawan doing this here – It is a clear message to all of us that if we’re ardently devoted to Bhagawan, He pulls us like a magnet towards Him and immerses us into unending divine bliss. Being besides Bhagawan is perhaps the best gift that He can give us, isn’t it? Thus, we should realize that this is one way that Bhagawan pulls all of us towards Him. Some “Atmans” get pulled through divine music, some “Atmans” get pulled through some “Leelas” that Bhagawan performs, some other “Atmans” need the stick in hand to be pulled towards Bhagawan, and some other “Atmans” would prefer high spiritual practices to attain Bhagawan. Thus, we can see here that different Bhaktas follow different paths to attain Bhagawan, and this path of getting attracted towards Him (via the “Venu-Gaana”) is now highlighted here by Bhagawan Krishna.
So for today, let us enjoy Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s divine “Venu-Gaana” and let us imagine that we’re amidst Him, enjoying the mesmerizing music. Of course, this is one of the greatest and the most divine experiences that we can experience during this Krishna-Avatara description. We shall wait till the next episode to continue this further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 