The Indian Dharma

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the culmination of the discussion on how to increase our involvement on the “Bhakti-Maarga” and what did our great Aachaaryas do for it. The best and easiest way to do so is to imagine and internalize Bhagawan as a child. This is exactly the reason why we’ve seen a great emphasis being laid on the Krishna-Avatara by all the “Aachaaryas”, including the likes of Sage Shukaachaarya, Sage Paraashara, the Alwars, etc. We’ve also witnessed in the yesterday’s episode as to why Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is under prime focus as compared to other incarnations like Bhagawan Rama, Bhagawan Varaaha, etc. The reason is very simple – If we’ve to internalize Bhagawan as Rama or Varaaha, these incarnations are complex for us to digest and imagine. For instance, Bhagawan Rama was an epitome of “Dharma”. Given this fact, there would automatically arise a “fear” factor within us that what if Bhagawan would punish us for all the wrongdoings that we do? Moreover, Bhagawan Rama was a king! Can we imagine a great king of Bhagawan Rama’s stature to come down to our level and mingle with us? It might be easy for spiritually realized souls like Hanuman to internalize Bhagawan Rama in that way. But for ordinary people like us, it might be difficult, isn’t it? This is why, Bhagawan Himself felt this ardent need to bring His devotees closer to Him and this is the reason behind which Bhagawan incarnated as Bala-Krishna. The moment we say “Child”, all of us would have that zeal and urge to go near Bhagawan quite easily, isn’t it? This is why Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s “Leelas” are extremely important and this is why Sage Shukaachaarya and Sage Paraashara spent a great deal of time in explaining each of the “Krishna-Leelas” in a great deal of detail. 

Moving on thus, we’re going to witness the continuation of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna playing the divine flute and how the music emulating from the flute was responsible for a young woman by name “Chintayanti” to attain “Moksha”. We’ve witnessed in a few of our previous episodes as to how music is a great methodology for us to attain closeness to Bhagawan isn’t it? Now in this episode and the coming one, we’re going to witness a proof for the same. As Bhagawan Bala-Krishna sits on the river banks and keeps playing his divine flute, all the cows come and gather around Him. We’ve seen this earlier too. Sage Paraashara beautifully describes this scene with tears in his eyes. He explains thus, “Oh Maithreya! This particular scene of Bhagawan Venugopala captures my heart! Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is now getting surrounded by the cows and calves. As Bhagawan Bala-Krishna was very small and stout in size, the cows seem to be taller than Him. Hence, to listen to the divine music from the flute, the cows are bending towards Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and lending their ears to the divine flute. What a divine moment! Even cows are being attracted to this divine music!” 

Notwithstanding the divinity that Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s flute is producing, all the women in Gokula too aren’t spared! As they start listening to the music, all the women leave all their work then and there and start enjoying the divine musical experience. One such woman was this “Chintayanti”. She was a young woman living in one of the houses in Gokula who used to sell milk, curd and other milk products like butter, etc. She was a great devotee of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and every day when she used to prepare the milk products for sale at her kitchen, she used to literally wait to listen to the flute music of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. As she listens to it, she gets so engrossed into it in a way that she would fall on the floor unconscious! She would go into a state of “Trans” and ecstasy as the divine music pierces through her ears! On one occasion, as Chintayanti was working in her kitchen, she didn’t hear any music from Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. She was so eagerly waiting for the same, but for some reason, Bhagawans flute music didn’t reach her ears. Hours and minutes passed by, but of no use! She was losing her patience and couldn’t resist her urge to listen to the divine music! 

All of a sudden from nowhere, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s divine flute music pierced her ears, from a distance unusually close to her! The moment she heard the music, Chintayanti was excited beyond words and she knew that Bhagawan had answered her prayers and longingness. She immediately rushed out of her house to check where Bhagawan Bala-Krishna was. Was He closeby somewhere? Was He waiting outside her house to see her? As she rushed out of her house, unfortunately for her misfortune, her in-laws were sitting at the entrance. In those days, it wasn’t a good practice for a daughter-in-law to bypass her in-laws and walk out of the house. This means that the woman is very arrogant and disrespectful towards elders. Since she couldn’t do that, she was totally disappointed! Her Bhagawan is in the vicinity but she couldn’t really go out and check Him out! Tears flowed out through her eyes, out of immense despair and longing towards Bhagawan Krishna on one hand, but on the other hand, His flute music was soothing her to comfort! 

Thus, Chintayanti was caught clearly between two contrasting feelings – The sadness because of her inability to worship Bhagawan, and the happiness due to the music that is emerging from Bhagawan’s divine flute! What happened next? Was she able to see Bhagawan Bala-Krishna? Was she able to attain “Moksha”? Let’s wait eagerly for the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the important discussion on why it is the easiest to internalize Bhagawan as a child. We’ve seen an interesting conversation between Alwar and Bhagawan Vishnu with regards to this. Of course, Bhagawan is an embodiment of the entire universe, but being so, it is very difficult for normal people like us to internalize and imagine Bhagawan. This is what Alwar is trying to convey here – He wants Bhagawan to come in front of him in the form of a child, because a child is an embodiment of pure love and innocence. We would also agree to this point that when we see a child, irrespective of we being a male or a female, a sense of motherly love and affection automatically gets born within us, doesn’t it? We would immediately want to have the child in our arms and lap and to pamper it with all our love, isn’t it? This is the reason why the great ardent devotees of Bhagawan always prefer to see Him as a little child. By doing so, their motherly love overpowers them and this in turn transforms into “Bhakti” and unconditional surrender to Bhagawan’s divine lotus feet. This is exactly what is happening in the case of Sage Shukaachaarya, Sage Paraashara, etc. as well. When they narrate the Krishna-Leelas one after the other, they get so engrossed into imagining Bhagawan Bala-Krishna that they automatically shed tears of “Bhakti-Bhaava”. 

In these lines, there is yet another important question that might keep lingering in our minds. In fact, I’ve answered this question in a different angle in one of our previous episodes, but I feel that it’s worth revisiting that question in this context again. We’ve witnessed the entire Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana in our previous project, and now we’re witnessing Shri Vishnu Puraana here. In both these Puraanas, there is not much of a mention of the “Rama-Avatara ”, isn’t it? Although Sage Paraashara and Sage Shukaachaarya are giving a detailed accord on the various incarnations of Bhagawan Vishnu, starting from the “Koorma-Avatara”, “Varaaha-Avatara”, Bhagawan Vaamana, etc., when it comes to Bhagawan Rama, both the sages are very brief in their description. They quickly tell their disciples Sage Maithreya and King Parikshit that if they want to have a detailed accord on Bhagawan Rama, they should go and read the Ramayana text authored by Valmiki Bhagawan. They just tell this one sentence and give a jist of how Bhagawan Rama takes birth in this world as the son of King Dasharata and that’s it. They move on into the “Krishna-Avatara” in the Dwaapara Yuga. Whereas, when it comes to the “Krishna-Avatara”, both these “Aachaaryas” spent enormous time in describing the length and breadth of what Bhagawan Krishna did. We’ve seen that in the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana, Sage Shukaachaarya had dedicated the entire 10’th Skanda for describing Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. Here too, we’re witnessing the third “Amsa” for the past 100 episodes or more, wherein Sage Paraashara too is talking at length about Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. 

We might wonder here as to why these “Aachaaryas” were so partial towards Bhagawan Rama! In other words, we might be wondering why the same strategy wasn’t adopted to Bhagawan Krishna as well. For instance, Bhagawan Krishna has been described in detail by Sage Veda-Vyaasa in the Mahabharata text, isn’t it? All of us know that very well. Yet, why is Sage Paraashara and Sage Shukaachaarya taking all their time in describing Bhagawan Krishna at length? Moreover, since Sage Shukaachaarya was Sage Paraashara’s son, Sage Shukaachaarya could have easily said to King Parikshit to refer to his father’s Shri Vishnu Puraana text for a detailed accord on Bhagawan Bala-Krishna, isn’t it? Why didn’t he say that?

These are questions that might be lingering in our mind for a long time now. The answer to all these questions is very simple and straightforward. Imagining Bhagawan as a child, performing all His childhood pranks is the best way to increase the “Bhakti-Bhaava” in a spiritual seeker. We should always remember that the ultimate aim of both these texts (Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana and Shri Vishnu Puraana) was to instill the “Bhakti Bhaava” in the minds and hearts of King Parikshit and Sage Maithreya. Of course, both these texts talk about how the world was created, how Bhagawan Vishnu performed the “Srishti” with the help of Bhagawan Brahma, King Svaayambhuva Manu, etc. We’ve also witnessed all that in our earlier episodes too. However, the real “Bhakti-Bhaava” doesn’t come there. All that was just pieces of information that one can learn and grasp. The real “Bhakti-Bhaava” begins only when Bhagawan Bala-Krishna takes birth and starts playing in Gokula. 

This cannot be done even with Bhagawan Rama. This is because, Bhagawan Rama is an epitome of “Dharma”, as all of us know by now. If one has to be an epitome of “Dharma”, He has to demonstrate to the world through His actions, which is exactly what Bhagawan Rama did all through His incarnation. For someone to exhibit and practice “Dharma”, one should be an adult, isn’t it? Only then the person would have the maturity to follow “Dharma” principles. With this, the spiritual seeker might get an impression that if Bhagawan Rama is following the “Dharma” as per the book, He might be a very strict person. If we’ve to go in front of Bhagawan Rama, and if we’re epitomes of “Adharma” (Which we actually are), won’t Bhagawan Rama punish us and take us to task? This is a fear that lingers in all of us, isn’t it? Whereas, this fear doesn’t arise when we go near Bhagawan Bala-Krishna, as He’s a child! 🙂 We would automatically have that confidence that although we might be epitomes of “Adharma”, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna would still forgive us and accept us as His ardent devotees! 

Thus, the point is very clear here – The central focus of both these “Puraanas’ ‘ are Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and the reason behind it is to instil the Bhakt-Bhaava in all of us. So for today, let us understand this point very clearly and let us try and internalize Bhagawan Bala-Krishna in all our hearts, as we move forward with the next important “Krishna-Leela”. Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the discussion on how Sage Paraashara demonstrates an important characteristic of a “Guru” or a “Spiritual Master”. Sage Paraashara, along with Sage Shukachaarya and others are highly revered and respected as great Spiritual Masters because they have internalized Bhagawan within them and whenever they talk or narrate something about Bhagawan, they enter into a state of deep “Trans”, which automatically brings tears of “Bhakti” from their eyes. Now upon seeing this, what is the message that goes out to their disciples, Sage Maithreya and King Parikshit? The important message here is that, we would be able to experience Bhagawan deep within us only if we internalize Him completely. This is the perfect way through which a “Guru” enlightens the “Atman” of the disciple. We had witnessed a famous sloka in this context which clearly explains this important characteristic of a “Guru” – To remove the darkness (“Agnyaana”) of the disciple by instilling the light (“Gnyaana”) in him / her. Thus “Gnyaana” starts blooming in the disciple as he / she internalizes Bhagawan more and more within. 

Of course, having said thus, this process of “internalization” isn’t an easy task. It might be easier said than done. Now the question might arise amongst us as to how do we internalize Bhagawan within us? This is the reason why we’re experiencing Bhagawan as a little child in the form of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. If we’ve to imagine Bhagawan as the entire universe or the entire ocean waters or the entire set of rivers that flow through various parts of the world, etc. or if we’ve to imagine Bhagawan in the form of His huge “Vishwaroopa”, it is not going to be easy for us to do all this. In fact, Alwar explains this beautifully in one of his “Paasurams” in the ‘Divyaprabhandham” text. I shall convey the message that this “Paasuram” explains. This is an interesting conversation between Alwar and Bhagawan Vishnu. One fine day, Alwar, while performing his daily “Nitya-Anushtaana” (Routine prayers) talks to Bhagawan thus, “Oh Bhagawan! I understand that you’re omni-present (“Sarva-Antaryaami”)! You are an embodiment of mountains! You’re an embodiment of rivers! You’re an embodiment of the oceans! You’re the embodiment of the entire universe!” 

As Alwar says thus, Bhagawan replies back to him – “Oh Alwar! I’m very happy that today you’ve got this great realization about me! From now onwards, you may imagine me in the forms of the  mountains, oceans, rivers, universe, etc. and I’m not going to appear in front of you anymore! Once you’ve got the enlightened knowledge, there’s no purpose in coming in front of you every time, isn’t it?” Bhagawan talks this way purposefully to kindle Alwar’s Bhakti Bhaava more and more. Stunned by Bhagawan’s “seemingly cold” reply thus, Alwar replies back! He’s almost in tears upon hearing what Bhagawan just said to him. Alwar says thus, “Oh Bhagawan! I think you’ve grossly misunderstood what I was trying to say. I just said that you are the embodiments of the mountains, rivers, etc. But I never said that I would be able to imagine you in these forms! I’m totally incapable of all what you’re asking me to do. You’ve to come in front of me in the form of a child. Only then I can imagine you and internalize you within me!” 

Alwar continues thus, “Oh Bhagawan! It’s a known fact that you’re an embodiment of the entire world and universe put together. Nobody is denying that. But, we as normal Jeevatmas in this world are highly incapable in seeing and visualizing you in the form of the universe. For our small minds, we would be able to experience you only if you come in front of us in a form that we can grasp and imagine, isn’t it? Hence, Bhagawan! Please do not deny this devotee’s ardent request! You’ve to come in front of me in the form of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna! Only then I can enjoy your divine company!” Saying thus, Alwar was in tears of Bhakti and upon seeing the condition of Alwar, Bhagawan appeared in front of him as Bhagawan Bala-Krishna! 

So what do we understand from this conversation? The message that Alwar is trying to convey here is that, yes, Bhagawan is an embodiment of the entire universe. But to experience Him, it is grossly difficult and virtually impossible for us to imagine Bhagawan in such forms. For our little and immature minds, the easiest thing for us is to imagine Bhagawan and internalize Him as Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. This is exactly the reason why Sage Shukaachaarya spends so much of time in explaining Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s divine “Leelas” in the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana. This is precisely the same reason why Sage Paraashara spends such a lot of time in explaining about Bhagawan Bala-Krishna here as well. 

We might easily ask a question here – When Sage Maithreya asked about Bhagawan Krishna’s incarnation, Sage Paraashara could have easily skipped this part because his son, Sage Shukaachaarya has already explained all of this in his Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana. Sage Paraashara could have easily told Sage Maithreya to “refer” to the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana text for “more details” on Bhagawan Krishna, isn’t it? Why didn’t he do that? The sole reason for this is that, more than the storyline, the experience and internalization of Bhagawan can best be achieved only when we witness Bhagawan as a child. This is why a lot of emphasis is given to Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s divine “Leelas” in both these texts. This is also the reason why we’re spending so much time talking about Bhagawan Bala-Krishna for so many episodes as part of this blog series. 

So for today, let us understand this important point and let us wait till the next episode to witness the continuation of the “Bala-Krishna-Leelas” as explained by Sage Paraashara! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the discussion on how Sage Paraashara describes Bhagawan Bala-Krishna sitting on the banks of the river Yamuna, with His divine flute in His hands, with a yellow dress spread across His divine physical body which is black in color. For His black color, the yellow dress that He’s wearing, gives an appealing look. Along with the yellow dress, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna wears a set of divine ornaments around His neck and around His waist. This also adds to the beauty of Bhagawan as He sits blissfully over a tree trunk that kisses the gently-flowing waters of the River Yamuna. As Bhagawan Bala-Krishna sits thus and plays the flute, all the animals, birds and His friends flock around Him, enjoying the divine music that emulates from the divine flute. Meanwhile, we had also witnessed how the river water slowly caresses Bhagawan’s divine lotus feet and how the tree upon which He’s sitting is feeling ecstatic that Bhagawan is using the wood from it in the form of the flute. 

As Sage Paraashara imagines this form of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna, he’s moved into tears and for a moment, stops the narrative as Sage Maithreya looks on. We should remember that this entire “Shri Vishnu Puraana” is being narrated by Sage Paraashara, in response to the questions asked by his disciple, Sage Maithreya. As Sage Paraashara starts his discourse, we’ve witnessed in our earlier episodes of this project that he never stops in the middle for any form of break anywhere. However, at this juncture, Sage Paraashara stops his narrative for a few seconds to compose himself again, as he was totally engrossed into Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s divine form. As he was getting into a “Trans” state, tears automatically started flowing through his eyes. Upon seeing this, Sage Maithreya was also moved to tears of joy and “Bhakti”. Here we are witnessing how a “Guru” teaches Bhakti (True devotion) to his disciple, along with the spiritual contextual knowledge. Sage Paraashara could have easily gone on narrating about Bhagawan Bala-Krishna without a gap like this. However, he made sure that he gave this gap, so that his disciple also gets an opportunity to imagine the divine form of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna and internalize it. This is yet another greatness of a “Guru”. 

Thus, through this narrative, we’re witnessing a very important point here about the significance of a “Guru” or a “Spiritual Master”. We’ve been talking about this for the past 2-3 episodes as well, and today, we’re witnessing one more important point in regards to this. One of the main responsibilities of a “Guru” is that, more than teaching the mere subject or bookish knowledge to the disciple, a “Guru” should also make sure that the disciple gets an “experiential learning”. In today’s context too we’re seeing this quite a lot in our normal education system, isn’t it? Especially in science and mathematics-related subjects, we have a separate component for theory and another component for laboratory practice (Practicals). This gives the students an opportunity to try out things that they learn in the classroom as theory. Similarly for management students, we have various components of practical learning such as internship projects, application-based assignments, case studies, etc. These methodologies ensure that the students get an overall understanding of the subject, including the theory and experiential learning. 

Similarly in spirituality too, the theory is all what we’re witnessing here in this blog, episode after episode – How was Bhagawan Bala-Krishna born, how He grew up in Gokula, how He killed Kamsa, how He relocated to Dwaraka, etc. This is the theory part. The role of the “Guru” shouldn’t stop at this point wherein the disciple only learns the bookish stuff. In fact, to learn the bookish stuff, we do not need a “Guru” at all. Anybody can read through and learn stuff quite easily. However, the real contribution of the “Guru” to the spiritual growth of his / her disciple comes in the experiential learning aspect. The moment a disciple learns how to “internalize” Bhagawan within himself / herself, is when the value-add of the “Guru” comes in. This is why we often keep saying that if we’ve to have this experiential learning part in spiritual education, we require the divine grace of the “Guru”. This is why we have the famous sloka thus: 

“Agnyaana thimiraandasya gnyaanaanjana shalaakayaa!

Chakshurunmeelitham yena tasmmaih shri gurave namah!!”

This sloka clearly explains that the “Guru” is the one who brings out the disciple from the state of darkness (“Agnyaana”) and transcends him / her to the state of complete knowledge (“Gnyaana”). Now let us relate our discussion with this sloka – How does a disciple transcend from the state of “Agnyaana” to “Gnyaana”? It can only be with the experiential learning component, isn’t it? As we begin to internalize Bhagawan more and more within ourselves, we slowly get transformed from darkness to brightness. This is exactly what Sage Paraashara is doing to Sage Maithreya. As he is explaining the Vishnu Puraana content, he is making sure that he’s making Sage Maithreya slowly internalize Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s divine form into himself. 

So for today, let us understand this important point as the primary responsibility of a “Guru” or a “Spiritual Master” towards his / her disciples. 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 the continuation of an important discussion as to how Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is sitting on the banks of the River Yamuna and happily playing His divine flute, which is attracting all the living beings towards Him. We’ve already witnessed how this brings about unending bliss to the spiritual seekers of Gokula, and along with this, we’re currently witnessing some important subtle spiritual messages that Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is trying to convey. We’ve witnessed how the flute can be compared to a “Guru” or a “Spiritual Master” wherein, the “Guru” is a medium between the Jeevatman (Bhakta) and the Paramatman (Bhagawan). The biggest responsibility of a “Guru” is to bridge the gap between Bhagawan and the Bhakta. Similarly, the flute is also serving as a medium to bridge the gap between the two entities via music, which is one of the most divine ways in attaining proximity to Bhagawan. Secondly, we had also witnessed in yesterday’s episode as to how Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is sitting along the banks of River Yamuna, wherein the river waters have a beautiful opportunity to caress Bhagawan’s divine lotus feet. Upon seeing / imagining this beautiful sight, the great “Alwars” and “Aachaaryas” were in tears of joy and “Bhakti” and thus went into a “Trans”! 

We might think why these people are shedding tears for just a mere imagination. We might also wonder why aren’t we getting even a single drop of tear from our eyes, even though we read and listen to so much about Bhagawan every day! The difference is the level of involvement in them and in us – When the “Guru” listens about Bhagawan, He / She gives 100% into it and thus enters into a world wherein He / She couldn’t think of anything else other than Bhagawan. This is what we call a “Trans” moment. If one enters this stage, automatically we would also get tears of Bhakti as we imagine Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. In fact, this is the highest level of Bhakti that one can exhibit. This is why we’re seeing such beautiful descriptions and explanations given by Sage Paraashara, Sage Shukaachaarya, Sage Veda-Vyaasa, Valmiki Bhagawan, etc. If one has to compose thousands and thousands of slokas, compositions, etc. on Bhagawan, we can infer the level of imagination that these great “Aachaaryas” would have. This is why, in our Sanaatana Dharma, it is mentioned at various occasions that this is one important characteristic of a “Guru” or a “Spiritual Master” – Only if the “Guru” is able to experience Bhagawan in a “Trans” state, he / she can guide the disciple in that way. This is an important point that all of us should understand here. 

Moving on with this discussion further, we shall witness how Sage Paraashara has experienced the “Trans” state upon imagining Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. We’ve witnessed till now how Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is sitting on the banks of River Yamuna and playing the divine flute. Continuing with this further, Sage Paraashara imagines the divine appearance and form of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. As He is black in colour, the dress that He wears on top is suiting His colour excellently well. He’s wearing a yellow “Pitambara” (A type of dhoti with an overcoat), which is glittering like gold. Around His neck, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is wearing a couple of necklaces, which serve as divine ornaments (“Aabharna”). Near His forehead, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna has a small peacock feather that adds to His beauty.  We might even today be able to see all these in almost all portraits of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. With all these on Him, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is sitting on the banks of River Yamuna and playing the flute. 

Now that we’ve got a clear picture of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna, we shall also start trying to imagine Him in this divine form. We might be thinking that it might be difficult to imagine Bhagawan like this. Yes, in the initial times it would be difficult to imagine this and sustain this in our mind, as we’re into so many disturbances in today’s world. However, we should take that effort to get into this. There is no point in just keeping on grumbling that it is difficult. We should atleast take one step forward towards Bhagawan isn’t it? This is the reason why the Alwars and Aachaaryas are extremely successful in visualizing Bhagawan Krishna. 

Moving on further thus, Sage Paraashara explains beautifully a small conversation between the River Yamuna and the tree bark upon which Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is sitting and playing the flute. The River Yamuna talks to the tree bark thus, “Oh tree! Look at the divine opportunity I’ve got here! My waters are caressing and brushing through Bhagawan’s divine lotus feet! Who on earth would get this divine opportunity that I’m getting on a daily basis?” Upon hearing this from River Yamuna, the tree bark is replying thus, “Oh Yamuna Devi! Yes! You’ve got a divine opportunity! But look at what I’ve got! The flute which Bhagawan is playing upon is also made up of one of the blocks from my tree only, isn’t it? With this, I’m getting a divine opportunity of being amidst Bhagawan’s divine lips. Bhagawan is blowing air through the holes in the wooden block that is made out of me, isn’t it? So, both of us are immensely gifted, isn’t it?” 

Isn’t this an interesting conversation? This is of course an imaginary conversation here, but through this, we can see the level of the “Bhakti-Bhava” of Sage Paraashara. So for today, let us immerse ourselves into this Bhakti-Bhava of Sage Paraashara and enjoy this divine experience of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna sitting in front of us with the divine flute. We shall continue this further into the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed a very important discussion on why Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is playing the flute to generate the divine music, and why is He not singing directly through His mouth for the same. We had witnessed an important reason for this – The flute that Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is using is acting like a “Medium” through which music is propagated. This “Medium” is what we refer to in our Sanaatana Dharma as the “Guru” or the “Spiritual Master”. Just like how the flute acts like a medium between Bhagawan (Paramatma) and the Bhakta (Jeevatma) to propagate music, the “Guru” or “Spiritual Master” acts like a medium between Bhagawan (Paramatma) and Bhakta (Jeevatma) to propagate Bhakti and all His spiritual guidance and messages. If we hear all of it directly from Bhagawan, we would only get confused as whatever comes directly from Bhagawan might be extremely complex and might be difficult for normal people like us to comprehend. The best example is the Bhagawad Gita – Neither Arjuna himself, to whom Bhagawan Krishna explained, nor others could understand the full essence of what Bhagawan is trying to convey. This is why till date, research scholars across various countries are still conducting innumerable researches on the Bhagawad Gita. Only He knows what He has said! 🙂 

Another example of this is the Vedas. We’ve witnessed in our earlier episodes as to how the Vedas were born. Since the Vedas too have come directly from Bhagawan, it is extremely difficult or nearly impossible for all us to comprehend till date. This is why we have the “Guru” or “Spiritual Master” in the form of Sage Veda Vyaasa, who took it upon himself to compile the Vedas and segregate the complex text into the four sects – Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharvana Veda. Even then the Vedas is complex for us to understand and implement. This is where we have the “Ithihasas” and Puraanas” complied by Valmiki Bhagawan, Sage Veda Vyaasa, Sage Paraashara, Sage Sukhaachaarya, etc. who are all in the lineage of the great “Gurus”, who have simplified the Vedas and given to us for easy understanding. This is where the role of the “Guru” or Spiritual Master lies – The main responsibility is to act as a medium between us and Bhagawan and bring both of them together. This is exactly the flute’s role here. Thus, we should understand that Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is trying to convey the important message through the flute that the “Guru” is a very significant person in the “Bhakti-Maarga”. 

Moving on thus, Sage Paraashara explains how Bhagawan Bala-Krishna sits and plays the flute on the banks of River Yamuna every day. As He comes to the banks of the river, He sits in such a way that His divine lotus feet brushes through the fast-flowing waters of the river. He sits over a small bund and His feet get drenched in the water. Upon seeing and describing  this scene in the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana,  Sage Sukhaachaarya feels bad that had he be born as the water of the Yamuna River, he would also have had the divine opportunity to caress Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s feet gently, isn’t it? If we look into the “Divyaprabhandham” text compiled by the “Alwars” and the “Aachaaryas”, we would be able to witness their “Bhakti Bhaava”, wherein they would be in tears as they imagine this scene. 

We might be wondering why are these people in tears just by imagining scenes like these! It is only because they are getting tears, they are considered as “Aachaaryas” and it is only because we do not get anything while we read through all these, we’re considered “normal people” without any spiritual knowledge! This is yet another characteristic of a “Guru” or the “Spiritual Master”. A “Guru” is a person who experiences Bhagawan every minute and second of their divine incarnation. Because they are able to experience Bhagawan every minute, they automatically shed tears of “Bhakti” and this characteristic is what makes them revered and respected. From their outward appearance, we might easily tend to conclude that such people have gone mad or crazy, but the reality remains that the “Guru” is a person who is deep-rooted in Bhagawan all the time. In fact, it is only because great Spiritual Masters like Sage Veda Vyaasa, Sage Paraashara, etc. and the present-day Spiritual Masters like Shirdi Sai Baba, Bhagawan Ramana, Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, etc. are such deep-rooted souls towards Bhagawan, they have a huge following with lot of respect. 

Thus, for today, let us understand from this episode, this important characteristic of a “Guru”. Thus, from this episode wherein Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is sitting aside the banks of the River Yamuna and playing His flute, let us also imagine that we’re sitting alongside Him and listening to the divine music that is emulating out of His divine flute. We shall wait till the next episode to witness the continuation of this discussion on the various characteristics of a “Guru” that Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is illustrating further. Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed a different way through which the “Govardhana Leela” of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna could be viewed. Although Indra’s folly is quite evident in the way he exhibited his arrogance towards Bhagawan Bala-Krishna, one way of looking at it is that, by doing so, Indra performed the “Govinda-Pattabhisheka” for Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. This is a significant event because, Bhagawan Krishna never had any sort of a grand “Pattabhisheka” henceforth, even though He was the king of Mathura for a short duration after the demise of Kamsa, and also the king of Dwaraka henceforth. Hence, if we look at it in this way, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna was crowned a leader even during His childhood days. The divine names of “Govinda” and “Gopala” are exclusively meant for Bhagawan Bala-Krishna which signifies that He’s the leader of the entire cow community. We’ve seen this earlier too as to how Bhagawan Bala-Krishna drew all the cows around Him with His divine flute. Thus, this “Govinda-Pattabhisheka” assumes a lot of significance. 

Moving on thus, when we had discussed Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s flute playing, I had missed out mentioning an important point pertaining to it. We’ve witnessed this important question previously – Why did Bhagawan Bala-Krishna play the flute? We’ve seen that music is one of the most divine and easiest ways through which we can get closer to Bhagawan. But there’s an offshoot to this entire discussion. We might wonder why Bhagawan Bala-Krishna isn’t singing through His mouth, and why is He using an instrument to propagate His divine music to the world? This is a very important question for us to understand here. This might sound a bit silly outwardly, but there is a deeper spiritual meaning to it. Bhagawan Bala-Krishna, by playing the flute, is using the flute as  “medium” to propagate His divine music. This “medium” is what we refer to in our Sanaatana Dharma quite often as the “Guru”. Bhagawan’s “Upadesha” (Teachings) shouldn’t come directly from Him. They should come through an intermediate medium called the “Guru”. Only then we would be able to get the essence of what Bhagawan wants to convey. 

For instance, why do we have a filter in the middle, when we’ve to obtain water for drinking and cooking purposes at home? If we draw the water directly from the pipe, we might have many impurities in it, isn’t it? So as to clear those impurities and get the pure form of water, we have a “medium” in between called the filter. Of course, I’m not saying that Bhagawan’s divine teachings would be impure. I gave this example of a water filter just for our understanding. Let us not bring this example to Bhagawan. The point here is that, through the flute, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna is driving home the importance of a “Guru” or the “Spiritual Master”. We should always remember that even if we’ve to approach Bhagawan for anything, we shouldn’t directly go to Him. We should always go to Him through the Guru. I’ve spoken about this important point many times in the past, under many occasions. We’ve also seen this point during our Ramayana project as to how Hanuman was considered as the “Guru” who played the perfect mediating role in between Mother Sita and Bhagawan Rama. Thus, the Guru is someone who serves as a bridge between the Jeevatma and the Paramatma, and helps the Jeevatma in attaining the highest “Moksha”, which is in turn referred to as attaining the divine feet of the “Paramatma” (Bhagawan). 

We might have a counter question in mind here – Why shouldn’t we directly go to Bhagawan? What would happen if we bypass the Guru and approach Bhagawan? This is exactly what we saw during the Bhagawad Gita – While listening to it, Arjuna was totally confused! 🙂 In fact, the entire Gita-Upadesha began with a note of clearing Arjuna’s confusion. However, after hearing the full Bhagawad Gita, did Arjuna come out of his confusion? The answer is a big “NO”! 🙂 The fact is that his confusion only increased further! Thus, if we go to Bhagawan directly, He wouldn’t like it that much. Hence, He would make sure that He confuses us to the extent that we would have no other option but to go to a Guru to clear it off! For instance, now all of us are witnessing this “Shri Vishnu Puraana” text for the past 195 days or so. We’re witnessing how clearly and beautifully Sage Paraashara is explaining things. We’ve similarly witnessed Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana before this. We’ve again seen how clearly Sage Shukachaarya had explained things. However, if we’ve to sit down to understand the Bhagawad Gita in this way, it is going to be very confusing for us, with the way Bhagawan Krishna had explained things. In fact, Bhagawan Krishna has also explained the same thing in the Gita, which Sage Shukaachaarya and Sage Paraashara had explained. However, if this message comes from the “Gurus” like Sage Shukaachaarya, Sage Paraashara, Alwars, Aachaaryas, etc., the clarity that emerges is more than when it comes directly from Bhagawan. This is why we require the presence of a “Guru” or the “Spiritual Master”. 

Thus for today, let us understand the importance of this “Guru”, through the medium of the divine musical instrument called flute. Thus, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna played the flute, because He employed the flute as a “Guru” (A divine intermediary) to propagate the fact that music is one of the best ways to get closer to Bhagawan. 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 the continuation of the important discussion on why it is critical for us to prioritize Bhagawan in our list of routine activities of our lives. In this way, one method to prioritize Bhagawan is to pay a visit to those places where Bhagawan had incarnated physically, spent time with all His devotees, etc. In this way, the places of Gokula, Mathura, the Govardhana Mountain, Vrindavan, etc. are all very significant with regards to Bhagawan Krishna. Similarly, Ayodhya, River Sarayu, and all those places where Bhagawan Rama had travelled in the forest are also extremely significant, isn’t it? All of us know that the city of Ayodhya, often referred to as the “Ram-Janma-Bhoomi” is getting a huge facelift by the Government of India today, and within the next 1-2 years, this place would become one of the most important tourist attractions in the spiritual circuit. Given all these, isn’t it important for all of us to prioritize Bhagawan by visiting His sacred places to obtain His grace directly from them? Let’s think about it! 

Moving on, before we enter into the next important “Krishna-Leela”, we should understand one important as well as an interesting point here. As we had witnessed during the “Govardhana” episode, Indra had made a huge folly by taking on Bhagawan Bala-Krishna because he grossly underestimated Him. This is just one school of thought. However, there is another school of thought that exists with regards to this point. It says that through the unending rains, Indra poured all His respects to Bhagawan Bala-Krishna! We might wonder how, isn’t it? I shall give a brief description on this point in today’s episode.

We would have heard of this term called “Pattabhisheka” quite often in our previous episodes and projects that we had done till now. In our Ramayana project, we had witnessed the “Paaduka-Pattabhisheka”, “Shri Rama-Pattabhisheka”, etc. isn’t it? What does this term mean? It simply means, “Coronation”. So, if we consider Shri Rama-Pattabhisheka”, it means that Bhagawan Rama was coronated as the king of Ayodhya. Similarly, the “Paaduka-Pattabhisheka” means Bhagawan Rama’s “Paaduka” (Footwear) was coronated as the king of Ayodhya by Bhagawan Rama’s brother, Bharata. We’ve witnessed the series events that led to this, isn’t it? Readers might recollect them by reading through our Ramayana episodes if required.

Now that we’ve understood the meaning of the term “Pattabisheka”, we should look into how this “Pattabisheka” is performed. Again, in the “Yuddha Kaanda” of the Valmiki Ramayana, Valmiki Bhagawan describes in detail the process of this “Pattabisheka”. The person who is being coronated would be made to bathe in holy water, along with flowers of sweet fragrance, etc. We’ve witnessed in our Ramayana Project how Hanuman was responsible in bringing the holy waters from various oceans and rivers from around the world for the “Pattabisheka” ceremony. Thus, with all the holy waters, Bhagawan Rama’s “Pattabisheka” took place in a grand way at Ayodhya. 

Now let us see what is happening here during the “Krishna-Avatara”. By pouring the rain water over Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s head, isn’t Indra performing the “Pattabisheka” for Bhagawan? We should also understand that unlike Bhagawan Rama, Bhagawan Krishna never had the opportunity to get Himself crowned as the King of Mathura or Dwaraka later on. We’re going to witness in our later episodes, how Bhagawan Krishna had to “run” all the way to Dwaraka and then coronate Himself to be the king of that place. Hence, perhaps Bhagawan Krishna had that small desire in Him thus, “Oh! Moving on from Gokula, I’m never going to get an opportunity to have a formal ‘Pattabisheka’ henceforth, unlike my previous incarnation. Hence, Let me use this opportunity to get myself coronated by Indra! Anyway, Indra, being the leader of the Devas – If he does the coronation, it would be very valid and apt to what I am!” 

Thinking thus, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna allowed Indra to come up with the unprecedented rains, and with that, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna was crowned! 🙂 But we might have a question here – What was Bhagawan Bala-Krishna coronated as? This is where our “Alwars” and “Aachaaryas” beautifully describe this phenomenon as the “Govinda-Pattabisheka”. All of us know by now that Bhagawan Bala-Krishna had other divine names too – Govinda, Gopala, etc., which means, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna was the leader of all the cows. Thus, this cow-leader (Govinda) was coronated by Indra with the rain, which splashed upon Him along with the sweet-smelling flowers from the Govardhana Mountain. This was the condition that we had witnessed during the “Shri Rama-Pattabisheka” too, isn’t it? 

Thus, for today, let us worship Bhagawan Bala-Krishna undergoing the “Govinda-Pattabisheka ” from Indra and let us pray to Him for His unending divine grace. We shall wait till the next episode to witness the next important “Krishna-Leela” as described beautifully by Sage Paraashara. Stay tuned! 🙂 

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the culmination of the Govardhana instance, wherein we had worshipped Bhagawan Bala-Krishna as Bhagawan Govardhana-Giridhari. As this comes to an end, in due course of the previous episode, we had commenced witnessing an important point that pertains very much to our modern day as to why we should visit these important places atleast once in our lifetime. We had witnessed in these lines that it is important for all of us to prioritize our spiritual journey along with all other daily routines, job, family commitments, etc. In fact, many of us have this narrative today – If someone invites us for a spiritual “Yatra” to visit and worship Mathura, Govardhana Giri, Ayodhya or some place, we would immediately reply thus, “Oh! I’m quite young for all this! Let me retire at the age of 58 or 60 and let me think of all this after that!” 

We’ve to understand one important thing here – Nobody knows how long we are going to live in this world. Given the present pandemic situation of COVID-19, life has become so uncertain for many unfortunate families who are losing their beloved ones to the disease. Of course, I’m not trying to scare anybody here, but given the uncertainty factor of our life, even without the COVID-19 pandemic, we never know what is going to happen to us next minute. Hence, if we get an opportunity at this present moment to visit holy places where Bhagawan has lived and played during His incarnation, we should grab the opportunity with both our hands, and not postpone it any further. This is one way of looking at things. The second way of it is that, even if we’ve to wait for the age of 60+ to start going on “Yatras” and if we’re alive also, our physical body is bound to face lot of problems. For instance, we might become diabetic, or we might have other comorbid conditions that might not encourage us to travel at that point in time. Moreover, if we go for all these “Yatras”, the normal scene today is that, out of 100 people touring in a group, almost 75-80 of them would be above the age of 70. They would struggle to walk and climb steps at this age. If we’ve to visit Mathura and these areas during summer, it is going to be extremely hot. Whereas, if we’ve to visit Badrinath and other places, they are all amidst the Himalayas and we would have to climb steps, walk amidst steep slopes, etc. amidst the freezing cold. If we’re 70+, how would we have the strength in our body to do all these? Many people do it in their 70’s, but the risks and dangers involved are extremely high. Hence, if we look at it in this angle too, we should make sure that we grab our opportunities when we’re young and fit. 

Moreover, there’s a third angle to this point – Now that all of us (or many of us) are into high-paying jobs and we too in turn have huge career ambitions in life, we should think for a moment what I’m going to say – The more and more we rise up in our career, the lesser and lesser is our peace of mind and time for ourselves and for our spiritual growth. We should keep reminding ourselves time and again that the very purpose of this human birth according to our Sanaatana Dharma is to attain “Moksha”. Of course, I’m not saying that all of us should resign our jobs tomorrow itself and start doing penance. The point here is that, we should be able to balance our professional and spiritual requirements equally. 

I shall narrate a simple example to drive home this important point – Once there was a shopkeeper of a small shop in a city. Everyday his routine is to open the shop at 10 AM, go on till 2 PM, close the shop for lunch, have a nap till 5 PM, re-open the shop at 5:30 PM and go on till 8-8:30 PM and finally to call it “close” for the day. In many parts of our Bhaarata Desha (India) we might see this as a common practice for many shop owners. Once there was an Englishman who visited this particular shop to buy something in the afternoon. He was surprised that this shopkeeper closes the shop after 2 PM for the next three hours. This Englishman asks the shopkeeper thus, “Oh shopkeeper! It’s surprising for me that you’re wasting 3 hours of your productive business time. Do you imagine how much business you are losing during this time?” The shopkeeper asked the Englishman calmly thus, “Oh! So what? I’m happy with whatever business I’m doing during my working hours of the day, and I’m happy by napping in the afternoon during the hot time. This gives me a lot of peace of mind and I’m satisfied with whatever I have!” 

Upon hearing thus from the shopkeeper, the Englishman laughs at him and replies thus, “Oh fool! You do not know how much you’re losing! If you’re earning more money, you can expand your shop and make more business, isn’t it?” The shopkeeper politely asks him back, “So what?” The Englishman replies back, “So what? If you get more money, you can open one more shop in the next area and make more money!” The shopkeeper calmly replies thus, “What next?” The Englishman replies, “Next, you can expand your shop and set up multiple retail outlets all across the city! Your money inflow would be very high!” The shopkeeper again asks the same question thus, “What next?” The Englishman now says thus, “Oh! Then you can expand your brand to many other places in the state and maybe also all across India! You would become very famous!” The shopkeeper was unfazed by all this and again calmly asks, “What’s next?” The Englishman replies again, “Oh! Then you can expand your retail outlet across various countries like how Wallmart, Carrefour, etc. do! You would be one of the world’s most influential businessmen!” The shopkeeper again asks, “What next?” 

Now the Englishman says, “Oh! Then you can build many “Villas” and perhaps you can even own an island in some remote location! You can build a magnificent palace for yourself!” The shopkeeper asks again thus, “So what? What next?” Now the Englishman says, “Oh! Once you have your own island and villa, you can go there and relax whenever you want!” Now the shopkeeper replies thus, “Oh wow!! It is the same thing that I’m doing here at this moment, isn’t it? I’m relaxing whenever I want to! What is the big difference between relaxing here and relaxing at an island?” 🙂 

This might be funny for us to read through, but there’s a lot of meaning to it – Going behind money is fine. But if we start living our entire life for money, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy many other things in life. If we’ve to enjoy the experience of being connected to Bhagawan Bala-Krishna, we should make it a point to take some time off our routine, go to Mathura, Gokula and Vrindavan and be there for sometime. Only then we would be able to really enjoy whatever we’re reading here! So for today, let us understand this important point and let us wait till the next episode to witness the next important “Krishna Leela” as narrated by Sage Paraashara! Stay tuned! 🙂

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed how Bhagawan Bala-Krishna protected the entire village of Gokula from the wrath of Indra and Varuna by lifting the Govardhana Mountain in His little finger and providing shelter to all the hundreds of people and animals in the village. Since Bhagawan Bala-Krishna had the huge Govardhana Mountain in His hands, we worship Him to this day as Bhagawan Govardhana-Giridhari. This act of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna rendered Indra’s gimmicks totally useless. He made Indra and Varuna look like jokers with the rains pounding on the barren land with nobody getting affected due to Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s divine grace. Finally as this was continuing, Indra and Varuna Bhagawan too realized that their efforts were futile and ultimately the rains came to an end. Indra and Varuna realized their folly and thus decided to come and meet Bhagawan Bala-Krishna, so as to seek forgiveness. 

Meanwhile, before they came down, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna was giving all the Gokula residents a divine experience wherein all of them had the unique opportunity to worship Bhagawan Govardhana-Giridhari. Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s friends were taken by awe upon seeing Him balancing the huge mountain in His little finger. They ask Bhagawan Bala-Krishna as to how this is possible, to which Bhagawan Bala-Krishna “confuses” the children, as He always does! If we look into many instances of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna’s divine incarnation, it would be as if He’s confusing everyone with what He’s trying to convey. Even in the Bhagawad Gita, many of us aren’t able to understand what He’s exactly trying to say because of this reason only! 🙂 However, we should understand that Bhagawan Krishna is very clear in what He’s trying to convey. It is only we who lack that level of knowledge to deeply understand what He’s trying to say. If we try to understand with a bit more effort and concentration, we would definitely be able to understand what He’s trying to say. In due course, we would also be looking into many such instances wherein Bhagawan Krishna would seemingly be confusing with what He does, but a deeper understanding would let us know the real meaning behind His actions and words. 

As the rains came to a halt, and as the people of Gokula disperse off to their places again, Bhagawan Bala-Krishna meets Indra and Varuna Bhagawan. He thus gives them a stern warning as to not cause any harm to anyone, just on the pretext of being jealous or insecure. Bhagawan Bala-Krishna also issues a clear statement to Indra that He’s not going to be of any threat for his position as the leader of the Devas. Hearing this from Bhagawan, Indra seeks unconditional apology and leaves back to the Indra Lokha, along with his deputy, Varuna Bhagawan. Bhagawan Bala-Krishna too, forgives their mistakes and lets them go. Thus, with this we come to the end of the Govardhana episode and before we go into the next “Krishna-Leela” there is an important point that I would like to stress upon. 

We had witnessed this point in fact, in yesterday’s episode and subsequently in many previous episodes as well that we would be able to experience all these divine “Leelas” of Bhagawan Bala-Krishna only if we visit these places in person. In these lines, we had witnessed the location of Mathura city, Gokula village, etc. which are all along the either banks of the holy River Yamuna in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, some 50-60 kms off Delhi. This Govardhana Mountain that we’re currently discussing here can also be worshipped today, some 1-2 kilometers away from Gokula. There are a few huge rocks at that location, embedded in a small cliff. This entire structure is the Govardhana mountain, and it is this mountain which Bhagawan Bala-Krishna had lifted with His divine hands. If we go to this place today, we can have the divine opportunity to touch these rocks, bow down and worship the Govardhana Mountain. Of course, we should have the faith strong within all of us that these rocks are those which were touched by our beloved Bhagawan Bala-Krishna. 

More than the faith, we should somehow allocate time and effort for this. I’m sure that all of us who are reading this blog here are Bhaktas only. Faith is there in all of us. But the question here is that, how do we prioritize Bhagawan Bala-Krishna over all our other routines in life. There is usually a trend amidst all of us that if we’ve to go on a spiritual “Yatra” (Tour), we would immediately say, “Oh! Spiritual tour? Let’s go after the age of 65, or after retirement!” We should first of all realize that our next breath is not in our hands. Even in the present day, we’re seeing thousands and thousands of people (mainly youngsters) dying due to the Covid-19 pandemic and we’ve also started to realize how uncertain life is. Given this harsh reality, should we still keep postponing our visit to Mathura, Gokula, Vrindavan, Ayodhya, etc.? When we get an opportunity, no matter what our age and priorities are, we should make the best use to go and visit these places and enjoy the divine experiences of Bhagawan Krishna and Bhagawan Rama. 

So for today, let us realize this important point, and we shall continue this important discussion in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂