The Indian Dharma

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We’ve witnessed in the previous episode, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna entering Mathura city along with His brother, Balarama after ten long years. His Gokula tenure is now over and He is all set for the second phase of His incarnation. As Bhagawan Bala-Krishna enters Mathura, He is amazed with the very appearance of the city, with all the houses and streets. The two children wanted to enjoy the cityscape and thus sent Akroora and the chariot back to Kamsa’s palace. They took a stroll along the city streets, gazing at all the buildings around. It should be noted that the two children have never seen a city till now in their lives. All these ten years, they’ve been in a village and have never been exposed to how a city looks like. The two children were enjoying the views that they were getting all along. Also, before going into Kamsa’s palace, the children wanted to get nicely dressed, because they wanted to appear decent while going to meet the king. Even in our day-to-day life, if we’re going to attend an interview or if we’re going for any professional outing, we would be grooming ourselves nicely with a clean shirt, trousers, blazer and a tie, isn’t it? Similarly, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and Balarama also groomed themselves nicely with the best clothing available with the dhobi nearby, and also with some garlands and sandalwood paste. 

With all this in place, it is now time for the children to enter Kamsa’s palace. But we’ve already witnessed Kamsa’s three-fold security in place isn’t it? As Bhagawan Krishna enters, a huge elephant was waiting for Him at the entrance. This is the “Kuvalayaapeetham” elephant that Kamsa has arranged to take on Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. The elephant is raging in anger and is swaying its trunk here and there. The person who was in-charge of taming the elephant was also instructed by Kamsa to let the elephant loose once Bhagawan Krishna arrives at the scene. Accordingly, the elephant was released, and it straight away came to attack Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and Balarama. This was the first tipping point that Bhagawan Krishna had to face! As the elephant was raging its way towards Him, Bhagawan Krishna thought for a moment thus, “Oh wow! What a welcome I am getting at Mathura city! As Bhagawan myself, normally wherever I go, I get so much of love and affection and this was exactly the case during my previous “Rama-Avatara”. Now in this “Krishna-Avatara”, wherever I’m going, I’m only getting stick!” 

As Bhagawan was thinking thus for a moment, the elephant was right in front of Him. Bhagawan has to now manage this elephant before taking another step into Kamsa’s palace. He decided to take the elephant head on. With the help of Balarama, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna attacked the elephant, caught its trunk at the apt time, lifted it effortlessly, swayed the elephant with all His power and threw it into a corner! It might be difficult for us to even imagine what Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and Balarana achieved here! Kuvalayapeetham is not an ordinary elephant! It is the most powerful of all the powerful elephants, and it is this elephant that Bhagawan Bala-Krishna managed to defeat within minutes! Upon seeing this, the person in-charge of the elephant came to attack the two children. He was obviously a Raakshasa, and the children had to tame him now. Of course, taming Raakshasas wasn’t new for Bhagawan Bala-Krishna, isn’t it? He has been doing this all through the ten years of His incarnation! 🙂 Hence, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna effortlessly neutralized the person in-charge of the elephant too, and with this, the children enter the palace! 

As Bhagawan Bala-Krishna gives an entry, Kamsa was sitting on his throne, with all his ministers and people around him. So for today, let us also join hands with Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and enter into Kamsa’s palace along with Him. Now what is going to be Kamsa’s reaction as Bhagawan Krishna enters? An interesting accord awaits us tomorrow! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Bala-Krishna entering inside Mathura city for the first time after ten long years of His divine incarnation. Readers might remember well that Bhagawan Bala-Krishna was taken away from the Mathura jail by His father, Vasudeva overnight immediately after His divine incarnation. Vasudeva took Bhagawan Bala-Krishna all the way to Gokula and came back with a girl child which was born to Mother Yashoda. All of us know this “Charitra” by now. After that, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna spent all His ten years of childhood at Gokula and Vrindavan, which are adjacent to each other. We can worship all these places even today along the banks of the River Yamuna and with this, we can definitely feel the divinity of Bhagawan Krishna resonating in all these places – Provided we have the faith and confidence in Bhagawan Krishna. Thus, in yesterday’s episode we had witnessed Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and Balarama coming along with Akroora on the chariot and the three of them enter Mathura city. 

Upon seeing a city for the first time in their lives, the two children were so excited. Afterall, it is Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s hometown, isn’t it? It was like homecoming after ten long years. We would have that same feeling when we live outside of our hometowns, wouldn’t we? For instance, many of us might be residing abroad, and we wouldn’t have so many opportunities to visit our Bhaarata Desha, isn’t it? If such is the case, the moment we land in India after so many months or years, what would our feeling be? Won’t we feel excited to be back in our own country? Even though we might have all the possible luxuries in whichever country we might be living in, the feeling of being at home in India can never match any of those expensive luxuries that we might possess abroad, isn’t it? This was exactly the same feeling that Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and Balarama were going through. Although they lived a very good life at Gokula for the past ten years, the moment they entered into Mathura, they felt as if they were coming back home after ten long years. 

With this feeling of homecoming, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna requested Akroora thus, “Oh Akroora! I feel like this is my hometown and I feel as if I’ve regained something so precious that I had lost for all this while. This city is so dear to me. Hence, I don’t require the chariot anymore. I would love to walk along each street of the city and experience its beauty little by little. Hence, please take the chariot away. I shall reach Kamsa’s palace within sometime!” Saying thus, Bhagawan Krishna and Balarama sent Akroora away and they started walking along the streets of Mathura city. Akroora too acknowledged Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s words and left the children at a safe place from where they can enjoy the city. 

As the children started walking along the streets, the first place they went inside was the house of a “Dhobi”. We should remember that the children were making their way to the king’s palace, and how can they go there without getting properly dressed up? They’ve come from a village and we know how villagers would be dressed up, isn’t it? The children looked seemingly “shabby” with butter all over their faces and with bare minimal clothing. Hence, they enter a dhobi’s house in search of some good and decent attire for themselves, before going to meet the king. As the dhobi sees these two children coming along, he was so impressed and moved with their beauty and gave them the best clothes that he had. The two children wore the clothes given by the dhobi and left that place merrily. Next, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna had another desire – To decorate Himself with some flowers and garlands. Thus, the children’s next stop was a shop wherein the flowers and garlands were being sold. The shopkeeper knew that they were no ordinary children and decorated them with the best of the best flowers and garlands that were available. 

Next, the children wanted to get themselves “perfumed”! They wanted to be sweet-smelling when they went in front of the king! Hence, they entered the house of an old lady who was preparing fresh sandalwood. The smell of fresh sandalwood attracted the two children into the old lady’s house. Upon the children’s arrival, the old lady too was very pleased and she did all the beautification processes by herself. With this, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and Balarama were all ready to enter Kamsa’s palace. They had reached Mathura city, enjoyed the beauty of the place, roamed around the streets, got themselves dressed with some good clothing, got themselves decorated with some sweet-smelling flowers, garlands and sandalwood paste, and with this, they were all set to meet their uncle, Kamsa for the first time. 

So for today, let us join hands with the two children as they enter into the palace of Kamsa after ten long years. The children were very excited to see the tall buildings and infrastructure of the palace as they walk through! Let’s wait till the next episode to continue this further. Was Bhagawan Krishna’s entry into Kamsa’s palace smooth? Or, did He counter anything unforeseen? An absorbing accord awaits us tomorrow! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode we had witnessed Bhagawan Bala-Krishna teaching Akroora an important lesson for going a bit too much on his “I” attitude. We’ve witnessed how Akroora for a moment was thinking that it was only because of him that Bhagawan Bala-Krishna was moving on with His divine duties. However, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna was prompt to give a “pat” on Akroora’s head! Bhagawan Krishna has this habit always – If someone is trying to be oversmart, He would immediately “swing into action” and show who He really is. This is the same treatment meted out to Indra, Bhagawan Brahma, etc. when they tried to underestimate Bhagawan Bala-Krishna as a mere ordinary child. Akroora was no exception here – Although being an ardent devotee, Akroora’s mind slipped for a moment into the Maya, and Bhagawan Krishna was quick enough to bring him back to normalcy. As Bhagawan Bala-Krishna showed His omni-presence when Akroora was standing in the Yamuna waters, he was taken to the cleaners! Akroora realized his folly then and there and understood that it was Bhagawan Bala-Krishna who was using him as an instrument to execute His divine tasks. 

This is the realization that all of us should cultivate as we move forward with our spiritual pursuit – We should have the maturity to dedicate all our Karma to Bhagawan’s divine lotus feet. We should realize that Bhagawan is using us as an instrument to achieve something big for the benefit of the world. For instance, this blog on “THE INDIAN DHARMA” is being written for the past four years now. This can be attributed in two ways – The first way is me taking the credit for it! I can easily say that it is only due to my consistent effort and persistence that this blog is successfully entering into the fifth year of its existence, with over 1.5 lakh viewership from almost 110 countries. I can be proud of myself for this feat. However, Bhagawan doesn’t like this. The reason Bhagawan doesn’t like such an attitude is because the reality is different, and this is the second way of attributing it – It is He who is using me as an instrument to propagate His “Charitra” through my writing and through this blog, which serves as a platform for thousands of readers to enjoy Bhagawan’s divine experiences. If such is the reality, how can I take credit for this fully? Thus, we need to understand that everything that happens in this world, including the bad and evil, is for a definite purpose and it is Bhagawan who fuels all of it for some reason, best known only to Him. 

We would have witnessed this in our life too – At times when we’re going through a rough phase in our life, we tend to get sober and undergo a lot of suffering in numerous ways. However, it is upto us to take it in the right spirit – This suffering that has come to us, is a resultant of our own past “Karma”, isn’t it? We’ve already witnessed this point many times when we discussed the “Karma Theory” in detail. If we’re going through a bad phase in life, we should understand that our “Paapa” account is getting washed away. Similarly, if we’re going through an extremely good phase in life, our “Punya” account is getting washed away. Ultimately we should remember that we would be able to attain “Moksha” only when both these accounts are nullified! Hence, whenever we undergo suffering, we should understand that it is for a good purpose. Indirectly, Bhagawan is trying to wash away all our “Paapa-Karma” by making us undergo the suffering. If we take it in this way, life becomes smoother, and we would also be able to strengthen our spiritual pursuit. Thus, the important point that we should understand today is that, whatever actions that we do, Bhagawan is behind each and every thing – Be it good or bad. Ultimately our birth in this world as a human being is itself for a purpose, isn’t it? The purpose of Bhagawan giving us this human birth with access to all the spiritual material is for us to use all this and attain “Moksha”. Our focus should only be on the ultimate goal and should try and not deviate away from it. This is what Akroora’s lesson teaches us. 

Moving on thus, Akroora is now back on the chariot and the journey to Mathura continues. Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and Balarama are excited as they near the city limit of Mathura. They’ve so far been only in a rural setup, and it is for the first time in their lives that they’re entering a city. They’re amazed at seeing tall buildings and rows of houses here and there as they enter. So for today, let us also join hands with the two children and enter Mathura city along with them! 🙂 We shall wait till the next episode to witness what Bhagawan Bala-Krishna did next at Mathura! Stay tuned for an absorbing accord! 🙂 

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We’re at an important juncture wherein Akroora is getting entangled into something that we too often get into – The worldly “Maya” or Illusion! At one moment Akroora understands that the little child who is sitting on the chariot is Bhagawan Himself, and suddenly in the next moment itself, the “Maya” is forcing Akroora to look at Bhagawan Bala-Krishna as a mere ordinary child! With this, Akroora is underestimating Bhagawan Bala-Krishna, as he goes down to the river bank for performing his regular “Nitya-Anushtaana” for the evening. Akroora has this mindset as he gets carried away with the “Maya” that it was he who is instrumental in bringing Bhagawan Bala-Krishna to Mathura, and that He couldn’t have found an alternate way to reach Mathura else. Akroora was thinking that he was doing a great favor to Bhagawan Krishna for performing His duty. This “I” attitude is what all of us have most of the time in whatever “Karma” that we perform in our day-to-day life. While we perform any action, little do we have a thought that it is Bhagawan who is making us perform it, along with the effort that we’re putting through. When we succeed in the action, we totally tend to forget Bhagawan’s divine hand in it. However, when we encounter failure, we would squarely put the blame on Bhagawan that He didn’t care to help us out! 

This is exactly what is happening in the case of Akroora. When Akroora is escorting Bhagawan Krishna from Gokula to Mathura, he fails to realize that Bhagawan is using him as an instrument to execute His divine duties. Instead, Akroora started to think that it was solely because of his effort, Bhagawan Krishna was able to move forward with His incarnation. We can see here how easy it is to slip off the track, even though one might be an ardent devotee. We’ve to be extremely careful in this context and make sure that our mind doesn’t wander away. It is very easy for the mind to stray off and it has happened in many ardent devotees’ contexts too. This is where “mind control” is the first thing that any spiritual aspirant should strive for. Once the mind is brought under control, all other aspects would automatically start falling in place. Of course, it is easier said than done! Especially in today’s scenario wherein we’re plagued with so much external disturbance in the form of our professional requirements, family commitments, social media, etc. it is very easy for our minds to get carried and driven away from Bhagawan. Given all these external commitments and disturbances, it is also scientifically proven that our mind today cannot be in one place and context for more than two minutes together. This might be a startling and a shocking fact for many of us, but such is the intensity of the disturbances in today’s scenario. Amidst all this, if we’ve to control our mind and focus on our spiritual growth, it is not an easy task for any of us! If Akroora is being carried away with the Maya even when Bhagawan Krishna is right in front of him, what can we say about ourselves? We’re not seeing Bhagawan every day, are we? In such a scenario, it is going to be even more difficult for us in terms of bringing our mind under control. 

Of course, I’m not trying to scare anybody here by saying all this. All that is important here is that we need to put the right effort to bring our mind under control. Although it is an extremely difficult thing to do, we’ve to have the consistency of effort. The issue with all of us is this – We would start everything in a grand fashion – Daily prayers, meditation, etc. However, after one or two days, our efforts would start withering off! That is primarily because of the fact that when we sit down for meditation, that is the time when our mind would wander the most! All sorts of thoughts would enter into our mind and it would take us all around the world! 🙂 Because of this, we would try once or twice, and unable to control our mind, we would give it up so easily! This is where the lack of consistency comes in. Just because we’re unable to control our thoughts, should we give up the entire action of meditation? The answer is “No”! We’ve to keep putting in repeated efforts to bring our thoughts under control. It is only with repeated efforts and consistency will our mind come under control. Thus, the point here is that, if Akroora is getting carried away even with Bhagawan’s divine presence near him, where are we? Don’t we need that extra effort to get things right? Let us think about this important point today and let us start doing the needful. 

Moving on further with Akroora’s case, now Bhagawan Bala-Krishna too realizes that Akroora is going a bit overboard with his thought process and that He has to teach him a lesson. As Akroora was performing his “Nitya-Anushtaana”, all of a sudden, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna appeared in front of him amidst the waters of the river. Upon seeing this, Akroora was shell-shocked! How can Bhagawan Bala-Krishna enter into the water just like that? Wasn’t He sitting on the chariot? With this thought, Akroora immediately turns around to have a look at the chariot! There also, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna was sitting along with His brother, Balarama! Unable to believe this, Akroora again looks back into the river, and there too, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna was standing along with His brother Balarama! It is only now Akroora realizes that Bhagawan Krishna is omni-present! His divine presence was not only restricted to the chariot alone, but He is present everywhere! This is exactly what Bhagawan Bala-Krishna assured to the people of Gokula when He came out. Now after seeing this, Akroora was suddenly able to make sense of what Bhagawan explained to the Gokula people! He’s ever going to be at Gokula with all His friends and devotees! Bhagawan Krishna and Gokula can never be separated from each other! Similarly, Bhagawan Krishna would still execute His divine duties in several other places too! 

With this, Akroora realized the significance of Bhagawan Krishna! So for today, let us also realize this significance of Bhagawan Krishna and let us realize the fact that Bhagawan is always with us at any point of time. It is this faith that is important here for us to move on with our spiritual growth. We shall wait till the next episode to witness the continuation of Akroora taking Bhagawan Krishna and Balarama to Mathura City! Stay tuned! 🙂

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed Gokula giving a farewell to Bhagawan Bala-Krishna unwillingly and with a heavy heart. Bhagawan Bala-Krishna too acknowledges the ardent devotion of the Gokula people and assures them of His unending support and divine blessings at all times. Thus, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna gets on to the chariot along with His brother, Balarama and as Akroora rides the chariot, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna moves away swiftly from Gokula. The entire village is with a heavy heart and so is Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. However, His duties are compelling Him to move forward in His incarnation too. Thus, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna prioritizes His duties and gets along with Akroora to Mathura city, getting ready for a new phase of life thus. As the three of them are about to cross over the River Yamuna, it is dusk time (evening), and Akroora had to perform his “Nitya-Anushtaana” for the evening. Hence, Akroora stops the chariot at a small distance from the Yamuna river, requests the children to wait for ten to fifteen minutes before he comes back and takes them to Mathura again. Bhagawan Bala-Krishna too acknowledges Akroora’s request and off goes Akroora for his “Nitya-Anushtaana”. 

Now here comes yet another shocker for Akroora! As Akroora was performing his “Nitya-Anushtaana”, he was simultaneously admiring Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s divine physical form. He was internally worshipping Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and got engrossed into the beauty of HIs divine physical form. He was thinking within himself thus, “Oh! How does Kamsa have the heart to even harm this beautiful child? Forget killing.. How can one even think of causing any harm to this child? I’ve never seen a stone-hearted person as Kamsa!” Thinking thus, Akroora continues performing his “Nitya-Anushtaana” with tears of devotion in his eyes! 

As Akroora finishes it off, here comes a blip! Evern ardent devotees at times get carried away by the “Maya” (Illusion) of the world, and Akroora was no better an example for this! All of a sudden, a small thought came into Akroora’s mind that he was someone great and fortunate and that it was he who was instrumental in bringing Bhagawan Bala-Krishna to Mathura. Nobody else would have been able to do it! Akroora was thinking within himself that Bhagawan Krishna being an ordinary child, would not have been able to cross the Yamuna river bank to reach Mathura, and that He should thank him for His divine mission to continue further. Here, we’re witnessing an “I” attitude creeping inside Akroora all of a sudden! This made Akroora totally forget the fact that Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is not an ordinary child by any means! 

This “I” attitude comes within all of us many times. We would have noticed that if we’re performing any action and if we’re putting the right effort towards achieving it, we would automatically get that “I” attitude, isn’t it? If we’re successfully completing that action, immediately we would think, “Oh! It is only because of my effort that I was able to complete this action successfully! Nobody else had a role in my success!” However, if we fail in our attempt to complete a task successfully what would our reaction be? We would immediately put the blame on Bhagawan, isn’t it? 🙂 We would think “Oh! Bhagawan never stands by me for anything in life! Why can’t He help me in fructifying my actions and effort?” 

This is where the problem lies – If we achieve something, we completely forget that Bhagawan is behind us as an instrument for success! However, if we fail in our attempt, we immediately fail to acknowledge that we’ve not put our effort, but conveniently put the blame on Bhagawan! This is where our selfish attitude comes into play, no matter whether we’re an ardent devotee or not! This is where the “Maya” comes into play, and we’ve to be extremely careful. Akroora is getting entangled into a similar web here – He’s thinking for a moment that it is only because of him, Bhagawan Krishna is able to come to Mathura! Now comes the interesting part – How is Bhagawan Bala-Krishna going to respond to Akroora’s “selfish” thought? How is Bhagawan going to teach Akroora a befitting lesson? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had been at an important juncture and a transition point in the divine incarnation of Bhagawan Krishna – He’s at a tipping point where He’s going to move from “Phase 1” to “Phase 2” of His incarnation. Phase 1 was for ten years – His childhood days, which He happily spent at Gokula as the son of Nandagopa and Mother Yashoda. We had witnessed this phase in a great detail for over 45 episodes here. As Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is now ten years old, it is time for Him to move on with His other important duties. It is at this same time, Akroora enters the scene and is about to escort Bhagawan Krishna and Balarama from Gokula to Mathura. However, as Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is about to leave Gokula, the entire village is heart-broken! How can they leave their Bhagawan to go away just like that? As Bhagawan Krishna prepares Himself to leave, all the villagers including Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s childhood friends, the Gopikas, etc. start scolding Akroora left, right and center. They vent out all their frustration on poor Akroora, who was at the forefront of everything! He suddenly became the “villain” in all of Gokula people’s hearts, for the sole reason that he’s taking Bhagawan Bala-Krishna away from them! 

However, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna convinces all of them by saying that He would have to leave because it was the order of the king, and that, He had no other option but to obey the king’s instruction. He assures the Gokula people that He would certainly come back to all of them once the order of Kamsa is executed. As He said thus, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna gets on to the chariot and is driven away by Akroora towards Mathura. The entire Gokula village is dejected! Everybody had tears in their eyes and were unable to control their hard feelings. The Gopikas were devastated beyond words! They wanted to be alongside Bhagawan for their entire lifetime, but all of a sudden, Bhagawan left all of them alone, to fend for themselves! The entire village sank into despair. 

It was interesting to note even in yesterday’s episode that Bhagawan Bala-Krishna assured the Gokula village that He would come back to them at some point in time, but He never did that even once after this day. However, the Gokula people got impinged on to Bhagawan’s heart forever! Wherever Bhagawan Krishna went after this day, He carried all His Gokula people along with Him. He was emotionally mixed with Gokula, although He was not physically present amongst them. This shows clearly how Bhagawan Bala-Krishna gave practical lessons on “Detachment” to the Gokula people, even before He spoke at length about it in His Bhagawad Gita much later! The message is very clear – “Getting attached to even the physical form of Bhagawan or the Guru will itself pull us down in our spiritual progress!” We might wonder how is this possible? Why shouldn’t we get attached even towards Bhagawan’s beautiful physical form? Isn’t it only wrong that we do not get attached to worldly affairs? The answer is very simple – We’ve to internalize Bhagawan within us. If we do so, even the physical form of Bhagawan in front of us wouldn’t matter! This is the highest lesson in spirituality that Bhagawan Krishna is trying to teach the Gokula people, and in turn, all of us as well! 

As days progressed, whenever He’s free, Bhagawan Krishna thinks of Gokula and the people and sheds tears of love and compassion. Once, Uddhava, Bhagawan Krishna’s minister at Dwaaraka spotted Bhagawan in tears and asked Him for the reason. Bhagawan kept silent and didn’t answer Uddhava at that moment. However, He explained to Uddhava how He was so dear to the people of Gokula and how they’re missing His divine presence a lot. At that point, Uddhava didn’t understand the significance of what Bhagawan was explaining to HIm. Later on, after many years, Bhagawan Krishna once sent Uddhava to Gokula to check out on the people as to whether they still remember Him or not. Uddhava was also damn sure that the people would have forgotten Bhagawan Krishna by now! He thus goes and enquires to the Gopikas that whether they remember Him or not! To His dismay, the moment the Gopikas heard the name of “Krishna”, all of them jumped up immediately with immense joy and eagerly asked about Him to Uddhava! As Uddhava mentioned to them that Bhagawan Krishna is now the king of Dwaaraka, the Gopikas were immensely happy! They shed tears of joy and appreciated Uddhava’s words that Bhagawan still remembers all of them intact, and that this was what they were longing to hear. Although they didn’t see Bhagawan physically, they were so happy because they had internalized Bhagawan within them and they spent every moment of their time only with Bhagawan Krishna! Upon seeing this reaction from the Gopikas, Uddhava really understood what the Gopikas mean to Bhagawan Krishna! 

So for today, let us understand these important lessons of “Detachment from Bhagawan’s physical form” and “Internalizing Bhagawan within us”, through this event of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna leaving Gokula forever. We shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed Akroora reaching Gokula and being welcomed by Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and His brother Balarama. As Akroora enters inside, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and Balarama fall on Akroora’s feet as a token of respect to the senior person. Akroora did not expect even a bit of this from Bhagawan Bala-Krishna as he was shell-shocked! Who is falling on to whose feet? It should be the reverse isn’t it? Akroora should be falling onto Bhagawan’s divine feet, but the contrary is what was happening. Akroora thus immediately lifted Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and Balarama and submitted the small amount of flowers and fruits that he had brought for both of them as a token of his devotion. Bhagawan accepts the token of devotion from Akroora, makes him comfortable and asks him the reason of his visit. Upon this, Akroora explains that Kamsa was organizing a “Dhanur Yaga” and that, he wanted Bhagawan Bala-Krishna to be a part of it. Akroora also explains that he has come to Gokula to take Bhagawan Bala-Krishna along with him while returning back to Mathura. 

As Akroora says thus, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna too thinks within Himself thus, “Oh! Ten years have passed by at Gokula! I think it’s time for us to move on in life, with our other important agendas. We have a lot to accomplish, and we cannot stay on at Gokula any longer!” Thinking thus, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna has a look and a smile at Balarama and replies back to Akroora thus, “Oh Akroora! I too think that I should be part of the great Dhanur Yaga being organized by my uncle, Kamsa. I’m sure it would be a grand event. Also, all through my life I’ve been in a village setup here at Gokula. So it would be a wonderful opportunity for me and Balarama to have a glimpse of the urban lifestyle at Mathura. Hence, myself and Balarama are ready to come along with you to Mathura. Please take us!” 

Upon hearing this from Bhagawan Bala-Krishna, Akroora was very happy and excited. He was getting yet another opportunity to take the two children on his chariot, all the way to Mathura. As Bhagawan Bala-Krishna was getting ready to leave Gokula, the entire village was shell-shocked! How come all of a sudden Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is leaving Gokula once and for all? Is He never going to come back ever again? Mother Yashoda and Nandagopa did not know what to reply to Akroora. However, since it was the order from the king, they weren’t able to say much to Akroora. Meanwhile, all the Gopikas gathered around Akroora and Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and enquired what was happening. When they came to know that Bhagawan is leaving Gokula for good, they couldn’t bear that separation. Unable to hide their emotions thus, all the Gopikas start scolding Akroora left, right and center! The Gopikas scold thus, “Oh! Who gave you the name “Akroora”? You are supposed to be a “Kroora” who is separating Bhagawan from all of us! How did you get that intention to separate Bhagawan from His ardent devotees? Moreover, if Bhagawan Bala-Krishna goes to the city, He would come across beautifully dressed girls and women, who would also talk and interact sweetly! We are villagers, and we do not have that capacity to dress beautifully and talk sweetly! Once He gets to meet them, He will forget all of us!” 

Saying thus, the Gopikas were in tears. Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s childhood friends too were in tears as they couldn’t bare this cruel separation! However, as Bhagawan is set to leave, He gives an assurance thus, “Oh Gopikas and all my friends! Let me assure you this to all of you – No matter wherever I am and whatever I do from now onwards, all of you will always have a special place in my heart! I shall never forget your ardent love and devotion that you’re showing towards me till date. I request you to bear this physical separation for a while and I shall come back to all of you very soon!” It is very interesting to note here that Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is promising that He would come back to Gokula some time later, but till the end of His incarnation, Bhagawan Krishna never came back to Gokula even once. Many years later when Bhagawan Krishna went to Dwaaraka, He once sent His minister, Uddhava to Gokula to check on the Gopikas. That was it! 

However, the lesson that we should learn here is that we should be able to detach ourselves even from Bhagawan’s divine physical form. We should internalize Bhagawan completely into our heart and soul and thereby continue our Bhakti-Bhaava towards Him! So for today, let us learn this hard lesson through Bhagawan Bala-Krishna leaving Gokula forever, and let us join hands with the Gokula villagers to bid a send off to Bhagawan Krishna once and forever! We shall continue this in the next episode and till then, stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed Akroora reaching Gokula, primarily for two reasons – One obviously as per the order given by Kamsa to bring Bhagawan Bala-Krishna to Mathura city, to “participate” in the “Dhanur Yaga” that Kamsa was “planning” to do! However the second reason is what is very important here – Akroora, being an ardent devotee of Bhagawan Krishna, was eagerly waiting for a chance to worship Him in person. As Kamsa’s “administrative” instruction has given Him a golden opportunity to go to Gokula and pay His respects to Bhagawan, Akroora couldn’t control his happiness. He was sleepless all night, and was eagerly waiting for the dawn to arrive. As soon as the morning arrives, Akroora hurries on to his chariot and races his way to Gokula. We’re now at a point wherein Akroora has reached Gokula and is eagerly waiting for Bhagawan Bala-Krishna to open the door for him. Meanwhile, Akroora was having thousands of questions running in his mind as he was waiting for Bhagawan Krishna to arrive. These questions were out of his sheer eagerness to worship Bhagawan. At the same time, these questions gave rise to a sort of fear in Akroora’s mind. What if Bhagawan rejects him straight away if He comes to know that he has come from Kamsa? Or, what if Bhagawan attacks and kills him then and there, thinking that he is a Raakshasa? Or, worst comes to worst, what if Bhagawan Krishna never turns out to see him? 

As Akroora was thinking thus, he started getting tears in his eyes. With these tears, Akroora gives a faint knock at the door of Bhagawan Krishna’s house. He couldn’t hold his excitement and fear – Both at the same time. However, what is going to happen now is a sharp contrast with what Akroora was thinking! The moment when the door opens, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna was right there in front of him with a beaming smile! Akroora was taken aback by this firstup! He never expected first of all for Bhagawan Krishna to come and directly open the door. Moreover, the way in which Bhagawan Bala-Krishna welcomed Akroora was right opposite to what Akroora was thinking in his mind. Upon seeing Akroora, Bhagawan Krishna didn’t even ask him who he was. He immediately addressed Akroora by his name and welcomed him inside the house! This was the second shock that Akroora had! Now that Akroora had been welcomed inside the house, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and Balarama being children, fell on Akroora’s feet and worshipped him! The first two shocks that Akroora received were slightly better. But this third shock that he received – Akroora couldn’t stand it anymore! He burst into tears as he lifted Bhagawan Krishna and Balarama from his feet. Akroora was shell-shocked! He had come to Gokula to worship Bhagawan Krishna, but on the contrary, Bhagawan Krishna is worshipping him! How can this happen? Akroora replies to Bhagawan thus, “Oh Bhagawan Krishna! As per the protocol, you are Bhagawan and I’m your “Daasa” (Devotee). Accordingly, it should be this Akroora who should fall on your feet and worship you. But you’re doing the contrary here! How can this be feasible?” 

As Akroora says thus, he is completely in tears. Upon seeing Akroora’s state, Bhagawan Krishna smiles at him and hugs him warmly in His arms! What an opportunity for Akroora! Just like how Hanuman got a warm embrace from Bhagawan Rama in the Ramayana, here, Akroora is getting a warm embrace from Bhagawan Krishna! Such is the respect that Bhagawan gives to His devotees, if the devotion is pure and steadfast. This is the lesson that all of us should learn and understand from the Akroora and Hanuman episodes – True devotion towards Bhagawan, melts His heart completely! If our devotion is pure, Bhagawan would definitely answer our prayers in the most welcoming way, just like how He did for Akroora and Hanuman. 

Continuing further thus, Akroora explains to Bhagawan Krishna, the agenda behind his visit. Akroora explains to Bhagawan that His uncle, Kamsa is calling Him to Mathura city, to participate in a “Dhanur Yaga” that he is planning to do, and hence, he has sent Akroora as a messenger to receive Him. Now what is Bhagawan Bala-Krishna going to do? Is He going to go with Akroora straight away, or, is He going to do otherwise? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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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! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed Kamsa deciding to take Bhagawan Bala-Krishna head on. He has had enough with sending a trail of Raakshasas to kill Him. All the Raakshasas went to Gokula, but none came back – Only to get killed by the enemy then and there! As Kamsa decides thus, we’ve witnessed in yesterday’s episode that Sage Naarada too has a role in motivating Kamsa to “go for the kill”, rather than waiting for someone to do the job. Sage Naarada explains how Kamsa was fooled by Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and how He escaped from the Mathura city jail and fled to Gokula overnight. This explanation from Sage Naarada angered Kamsa even more! With this, Sage Naarada has done his part to perfection! An angry brain cannot think wisely, isn’t it? Kamsa is now extremely angry and the anger is getting over his head now. He thus calls Akroora and instructs him to bring Bhagawan Bala-Krishna to Mathura city. 

Meanwhile, Kamsa is making his plans very clear – He tells Akroora thus, as he is about to start – “Oh Akroora! Tell Krishna that his uncle Kamsa is arranging for a grand “Dhanur-Yaaga” at Mathura City and he wants Krishna to be a part of the offering!” Saying thus, Kamsa sends off Akroora to Gokula. Akroora makes his way to the village with a puzzled mind. Why should Kamsa call Bhagawan Krishna all of a sudden? Why is this “Dhanur Yaaga” taking place now? On what pretext is it happening? Is it a conspiracy plan to target Bhagawan Krishna? Akroora thinks to himself, “Anyways, whatever it might be! Kamsa has given me an opportunity to worship Bhagawan Krishna in person. Till today, I’ve been thinking and longing for His divine presence, but today, let me use this golden chance to meet Him in person and to surrender to His divine feet!” Akroora was a great and an ardent devotee of Bhagawan Bala-Kirshna. 

As Akroora comes by, meanwhile, Kamsa chalks out his plan – He arranges a two-tier security for himself, to protect himself from being attacked by Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. First tier of security is through a huge elephant by name “Kuvalayaapeetham”. This is the most important and the strongest of all elephants in town. Kamsa orders this “Kuvalayaapeetham” elephant to be tied at the entrance of the palace. As Bhagawan Bala-Krishna makes His way to the palace, the elephant would be untied and it would attack Him. Bhagawan Bala-Krishna shouldn’t be able to match the strength of this elephant and He would be killed by it. This is plan number one! 🙂 

Apart from this, Kamsa makes another backup plan (Plan B) – Even if Bhagawan Krishna somehow wins over the elephant and enters into the palace, there would be 6 to 7 “Mallyudha” experts (In modern day, “kick-boxing”) who could take Bhagawan Krishna hands down with ease! The strength of these 7 kick boxers would never be able to match one Bhagawan Krishna! This was Kamsa’s thought process. Accordingly, Kamsa invites these well-trained kick-boxers to arrive at Mathura city on the stipulated date and time. With this, Kamsa ensures that the plans are in place to tackle the enemy who is about to come. Meanwhile, Kamsa also orders his team of ministers to make an announcement to the entire city about the “Dhanur Yaaga” that he has “arranged”. With that, the announcement should also include that Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is a “special invitee” for the function. As Kamsa does so, he had his “Plan C” ready too – If at all Bhagawan Bala-Krishna manages to defeat these kickboxers, he himself would enter the stage and fight Bhagawan Bala-Krishna directly. This would happen only if Plans A and B end up in a failure. Kamsa was so confident that neither of the first two plans would fail ever. With this, Kamsa was eagerly waiting for the arrival of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna, and to teach Him a lesson as to who this Kamsa really is! 

As this was happening at Mathura city, Akroora meanwhile reaches Gokula and is eagerly waiting to worship Bhagawan Bala-Krishna! What happens next? Is Bhagawan Bala-Krishna going to accompany Akroora to Mathura? What is going to be the reaction of the people of Gokula if their beloved Bhagawan Bala-Krishna leaves them once and forever? Let’s wait for the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂