In the previous episode, we had witnessed Kamsa operationalizing a two-tier strategy to take on his lethal enemy, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. The first tier of security comes in the form of an elephant by name “Kuvalayaapeetham”, which is extremely ferocious in nature. Kamsa’s thought process was that, this elephant would easily kill Bhagawan Bala-Krishna as He enters the palace. Even if He somehow escapes the elephant, the next tier was a set of experts in “Malyuddha” (Kick-boxing). These people were extremely well-trained and they can take down anybody with ease. Thus, if at all Bhagawan Bala-Krishna manages to defeat these people, Kamsa can directly engage in a fight, head-on. With this, Kamsa was extremely confident that his enemy can be neutralized successfully. He was thus waiting eagerly for Bhagawan Bala-Krishna to arrive. Meanwhile, we’ve also witnessed that Kamsa had sent his minister, Akroora to bring Bhagawan Bala-Krishna from Gokula to Mathura.
Meanwhile, Akroora hurries his way to Gokula. So far, we’ve been witnessing what was happening at Mathura. Now let us shift our attention to what is going to happen at Gokula. Akroora arrives at Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s place at Gokula, and he is full of happiness and eagerness. Akroora was thinking within himself thus, “Oh! Until today, I was so unfortunate that every morning I’ve to wake up and look at Kamsa’s ugly face. However, today I’m going to get an opportunity to have a look at Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s divine face and hence let me prepare myself for it. Although Kamsa is cruel by nature, I’ve to thank him today, because, out of all the ministers, he chose me for this assignment. I’m getting this opportunity, which nobody else at Mathura has got!” Thus, even before he started his journey from Mathura, Akroora started having all such thoughts running in his mind! With this, he was eagerly waiting for the dawn to break and to take the chariot to ride fast to Bhagawan Krishna. Even as Akroora was coming along in the chariot, he was filled with such thoughts of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna, and he was in extreme happiness with the very thought that he’s going to get this divine opportunity of worshipping Bhagawan in person!
In today’s scenario, we too would have this feeling, isn’t it? I do not know if that would be true in case we’re going to a temple to worship Bhagawan, but, for instance, if we’re planning to travel to another location to visit a close relative, or even if we’re planning for a tourist trip to a hill-station or somewhere, we would start having that urge to go there, even before one week or ten days of the actual trip, isn’t it? For instance, the moment we book the flight tickets to go to Goa or some tourist destination, our heart and mind would totally delve into Goa, even if it is 15 days remaining for the trip to commence. We would start thinking and conceptualizing how would Goa be, how would be the hotel where we would be staying, how would the sight-seeing trips be, how would the food be, what kind of parties can we be part of, etc., isn’t it? Until the actual day of the trip arrives, we would be immersed in such thoughts! This was exactly the same feeling that Akroora underwent! The moment Kamsa called him and asked him to go and meet Bhagawan Krishna the next day, Akroora entered into a huge celebration mode within himself! He was imagining how would Bhagawan Krishna look like, how would Bhagawan receive him, how would he be able to talk to Him, how would Bhagawan Krishna react when he falls on to His feet to worship Him, etc. Thus, Akroora was completely sleepless that entire night and he was badly waiting for the morning to come, so that he could hurry his way to Gokula!
This, in fact, is one of the highest forms of “Bhakti”. The way Akroora was longing to have Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s divine darshan the next day, and the way Akroora forgot himself completely with these thoughts, are excellent spiritual lessons that we can learn. Of course, we also have such feelings – But mainly for worldly affairs like going on a holiday, visiting some close relatives / friends, etc. I do not know if we would have this same feeling if we’ve to go to a temple the next day. If we have this feeling towards Bhagawan, this is one of the greatest forms of “Bhakti” that we can have.
Huffing and puffing thus, Akroora finally reaches Gokula and knocks at Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s door. As he does that, a sort of fear creeps into Akroora’s mind. He was extremely excited, and too much excitement sometimes leads to a fear and lack of self-confidence. Here too, Akroora is getting skeptical thus, “Oh! What if Bhagawan chases us away, thinking that I’m a stranger? Or, if He comes to know that I’m from Kamsa’s place, what if Bhagawan attacks me and kills me? Or, what if He insults or ill treats me?” As Akroora was thinking thus, he gradually made up his mind thus, “Whatever it might be – Irrespective of how Bhagawan treats me or insults me or kills me, atleast I would have the divine opportunity to see Him with my two eyes. This itself is enough for me! I don’t mind however Bhagawan treats me when He sees me!”
Thinking thus, Akroora was waiting for Bhagawan Bala-Krishna to open the door. So for today, let us also join hands with Akroora and wait until Bhagawan lets us in! 🙂 How is Bhagawan going to receive Akroora? An absorbing episode awaits us tomorrow! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 